The Origin of Tel Dor Hacksilver and the Westward Expansion of the Phoenicians in the Early Iron Age: The Cypriot Connection

Jonathan R Wood,Carol Bell,Ignacio Montero-Ruiz

doi:10.5325/jeasmedarcherstu.8.1.0001

Abstract

Abstract A recent reanalysis of compositional and lead isotope legacy data from the early silver hoards of the southern Levant (ca. twelfth–ninth centuries BCE) identified that not only was most of this hacksilver mixed but that it probably derived from the Pyritic belt of southern Iberia, the Taurus mountains in Anatolia, and a third unknown source. We propose that the unknown component of Tel Dor's hacksilver was silver potentially derived from ores mined at Kalavasos on Cyprus. The presence of Cypriot silver in the southern Levant complements finds of Phoenician pottery on Cyprus, supporting that there was continuity of trade from the end of the Bronze Age to the beginning of the Iron Age between Cyprus and the Levant. Furthermore, our findings suggest that the technology required to smelt and cupellate argentiferous jarosite ores was first practiced on Cyprus prior to risky and costly ventures to Iberia.

Highlights

In terms of technological transfer, the fact that similar technologies are required to extract silver from jarosite ores suggests that the smelting technology as well as the cupellation technique were transmitted over the same maritime trade routes
We propose that the people with the know-how to exploit jarosite for silver were the people with an archaeological footprint in both Cyprus and Iberia in the Early Iron Age
We further suggest that these people were Phoenicians, tempered by sustained presence on Cyprus where they developed this know-how

Summary

Introduction

The Pennsylvania State University, University Park (USA) Sandra A. ASSISTANT EDITORS Hanan Charaf, Lebanese University (Lebanon) Louise A. Salam Al-Kuntar, University of Pennsylvania (USA) Lorenzo d’Alfonso, New York University (USA) Jere L. University of Washington (USA) Ina Berg, University of Manchester (UK) Reinhard Bernbeck, Freie Universität Berlin (Germany) Eric H. The George Washington University (USA) Anastasia Dakouri-Hild, University of Virginia (USA) Stella Demesticha, University of Cyprus (Cyprus) Elif Denel, American Research Institute in Turkey, Ankara (Turkey). Harvard University (USA) Matthew Harpster, Koç University (Turkey) Rabei G. University of Haifa (Israel) Mark Leone, University of Maryland, College Park (USA) Thomas E. University of California, San Diego (USA) Alexander Nagel, State University of New York, FIT (USA). Cornell University (USA) Donald Whitcomb, The University of Chicago (USA) Naama Yahalom-Mack, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem (Israel)

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Discussion

Conclusion