View
229
Download
0
Category
Preview:
Citation preview
8/14/2019 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf Technology, Trade, And the Bronze Age World ThePoet006102
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/early-metallurgy-of-the-persian-gulf-technology-trade-and-the-bronze-age 1/269
http://thepoetslibrary.blogspot.com/
8/14/2019 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf Technology, Trade, And the Bronze Age World ThePoet006102
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/early-metallurgy-of-the-persian-gulf-technology-trade-and-the-bronze-age 2/269
8/14/2019 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf Technology, Trade, And the Bronze Age World ThePoet006102
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/early-metallurgy-of-the-persian-gulf-technology-trade-and-the-bronze-age 3/269
EARLYMETALLURGYF THE PERSIAN ULF
Technology, Trade, and the Bronze Age World
8/14/2019 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf Technology, Trade, And the Bronze Age World ThePoet006102
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/early-metallurgy-of-the-persian-gulf-technology-trade-and-the-bronze-age 4/269
A M E R I C A N S C H O O L O F PR E H IS T O RI C R E S E AR C H M O N O G R A P H S ER IE S
Series Editors
C. C. LA MB ER G- KA RL O VSKY, Harvard Univer si ty
DA VID P ILBE AM, Harvard Univers i ty
O F ER BAR-YOSEF, Harvard University
Editorial Board
S TE V E N L. K U H N, Univers ity of Ar izona, Tucson
D A N I E L E . L I E B E R M AN, Harvard UniversityR I C H AR D H . M E A D 0W, Harvard University
MA RY M. VO IG T, The Coll ege o f Wi l l iam & Mary
H E N R Y T. W RI G H T, Univers i ty of Michigan, An n Arbor
Production Editor
W R E N F 0 U R N I ER, Harvard University
The American School of Prehistoric Research (ASPR) Monographs in Archaeology an d
Paleoanthropology present a series of documents covering a variety of subjects in the archaeology
of the Old World (Eurasia, Africa, Australia, and Oceania). This series encompasses a broad range
of subjects-from the early prehistory to the Neolithic Revolution in the Old World, and beyond
including: hunter-gatherers to complex societies; the rise of agriculture; the emergence of urban
societies; human physical morphology, evolution and adaptation, as well as; various technologies
such as metallurgy, pottery production, tool making, and shelter construction. Additionally, the
subjects of symbolism, religion, and art will be presented within the context of archaeological stud-
ies including mortuary practices and rock art . Volumes may be authored by one investigator, a team
of investigators, or may be an edited collection of shorter articles by a number of different special-
ists working on related topics.
8/14/2019 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf Technology, Trade, And the Bronze Age World ThePoet006102
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/early-metallurgy-of-the-persian-gulf-technology-trade-and-the-bronze-age 5/269
Technology, Trade, and the Bronze Age World
Lloyd R. Weeks
Brill Academic Publishers, Inc.
Boston Leiden2003
8/14/2019 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf Technology, Trade, And the Bronze Age World ThePoet006102
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/early-metallurgy-of-the-persian-gulf-technology-trade-and-the-bronze-age 6/269
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-PublicationData
Weeks, Lloyd R., 1970-
Early metallurgy of the Persian G ulf : technology, trade, and the Bronze Age World 1Lloyd R. Weeks.
p. cm. American school of prehistoric research mo nogra ph series ; ol. 2)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-391-04213-0
1. Bronze age-Persian Gulf. 2. Me tal-work , Prehistoric-Persian Gulf. 3. Min es and
mineral resources, Prehistoric-Persian Gulf. 4. Excavations-(Archaeology)-P ersian
Gulf. 5. Bronze-Persian Gulf-Metallurgy. 6. Tin bronze-Persian Gulf. 7. Persian
Gulf-A ntiquities. I. Title . 11. Series.
ISSN 1543-0529
ISBN 0-391-04213-0
O Cop yright 20 04 by Brill Academic Publishers, Inc., B oston
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, translated, stored in
a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic,
mechanical, photocopying, recording o r otherwise, w ithout prior writ ten
permission fr om th e publisher.
Authorization to photocopy i tem for internal or personal
use is granted by Brill provided tha tthe app ropriate fees are paid directly to T he Co pyright
Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Drive, Suite 910
Danvers M A 01 923, USA.
Fees are subject to change.
PRINTED I N T HE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
8/14/2019 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf Technology, Trade, And the Bronze Age World ThePoet006102
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/early-metallurgy-of-the-persian-gulf-technology-trade-and-the-bronze-age 7/269
Contents Foreword vii
Preface ix
Acknowledgments xi
List of Figures xiii
List of Tables xvii
lntroduction 1
Outline and Genesis of the Project 1
Copper Production and the Bronze Age Econom
of Southeastern Arabia 4
Alloying Practices in Bronze Age Southeastern Ar
Investigation of the Bronze Age Tin Trade 5
Analytical Techniques 6
Outline of Chapters 6
Geology and Early Exploitation of Copper
Deposits in Southeastern Arabia 7
Geology of Northern Oman and Masirah 7
Copper Deposits in Southeastern Arabia 12
Early Research into Ancient Copper Production
in the Oman Peninsula 14
German Mining Museum Project in Oman 22
Periodicity in Copper Production in Prehistoric
Southeastern Arabia 33
Organization of Early Copper Production 43
Copper-Base Objects in Bronze Age Southeaster
Arabia 54
Summary 57
Analyzed Artifacts: Contexts and Chronology
AI Sufouh 59
Unarl 61
Unar2 63
Tell Abraq 64
Results of Compositional Analyses 71
lntroduction 71
Elemental Concentrations 73
Elemental Relationships: Rank-CorrelationAnalys
Principal Components Analyses (PCA) 99Summary 102
Discussion of Compositional Results 105
lntroduction 105
Iron and Sulfur 105
Arsenic, Nickel and Cobalt 109
Tin-Bronze 121
Alloy Use in Different Object Categories 124
Summary 127
8/14/2019 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf Technology, Trade, And the Bronze Age World ThePoet006102
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/early-metallurgy-of-the-persian-gulf-technology-trade-and-the-bronze-age 8/269
Lead lsoto pe Analysis in Archaeology 129
Theoretical Basis of the Lead lsotope Technique 129
LIA in Archaeology 131
Issues for Archaeological LIA in the Gulf Region 134
Summary 143
Lead lsotope Data from the Gulf
(L. R. Weeks and K. D. Collerson) 145
lntroduction 145
Radiogenic Outliers in the Analyzed Umm al-Nar Period
Objects 145
Isotopic Differences by Site 147
Differences by Composition (Alloy Group) 150
lsotopic Comparisons with Bronze Age Objects from the
Gulf 152
Absolute Provenance 155
Tin-Bronze in Wider Western Asia: Important Lead
lsotope Studies 160
LIA: Summary of the Main Findings 163
Tin and Tin-Bronze in Early Western Asia 165lntroduction l65
Tin Deposits n Western Asia and Surrounding Regions 166
Archaeological Evidence for Early Tin-Bronzes 173
Texts Referring o the Bronze Age Use and Trade ofTin 178
Summary of Archaeological, Geological and Textual
Evidence 180
Tin-Bronze in the Gulf: Patterns of Acquisition 181
Reconsidering the Tin Problem 187
Summ ary an d Conclusions 197
Aims Reiterated 197
Summary of Major Results l98
Prospects for Future Research 200
Appendix
Analytical Techniques and
Data Treatment 203
References 209
Index 247
8/14/2019 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf Technology, Trade, And the Bronze Age World ThePoet006102
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/early-metallurgy-of-the-persian-gulf-technology-trade-and-the-bronze-age 9/269
Foreword Mesopotamia, as has often been stated, lacked resources.
lack of metal ores required this world of, at times, indepe
city-states and, at other times, empire, to look to distant
in order t o procure its metauores.
Mesopotamian technology, however, was not a form
administrative or scribal concern. When it came to metal
nology written texts offer limited information and are all
silent on the training, organization, and recruitment of m
smiths. Similarly, the texts are vague, or more typically si
as to the geographical provenience from whence they obt
their metallore, its quantity, quality, price, or techniques o
rication. It is left to the archaeologist and the recovered m
artifacts, workshops, associated tools, and mines, to addr
these questions.
As important as the recovery of the metal object is its
analysis. Analyses are especially helpful with regard to elu
dating the sources of the metauore, the techniques of thei
manufacture, and the uses to which they were put. Recen
there has been a trend in historical narrative to focus upo
given item and build upon it a regional, even global, histo
the world. Thus, we have the history of the world accord
spices, salt, cod-fish, homespun, maps, the banana and th
potato, clocks, tobacco, and of course slaves, to mention
few volumes that have produced a macrohistory accordin
single item. Archaeologists have long been practitioners o
such an approach. The study of metals, archaeometallurg
long had pride-of-place in such an approach. This monog
attests to the contribution of both archaeology and our a
of new analytical techniques in the study of metallurgy.
Decades ago V. G. Childe placed metallurgy on the to
his list of important crafts. He maintained that the develo
ment of early civilizations was a consequence of the inven
of metallurgy (Childe 1930). Bronze-working, he believed
encouraged the manufacture of tools, which in turn led t
more productive agriculture, and the growth of cities. Sev
five years ago, Childe (1930:39) could point out that "Ot
documents from Mesopotamia, also written in the wedge
characters called cuneiform, refer to the importation of c
from the mountainous region east of the Tigris and of m
and stones from Magan (probably Oman on the PersianGulf)". As demonstrated in this volume Childe's location
Magan as an important source of copper is shown to be
entirely correct.
In this volume Lloyd Weeks adds a significant chapt
our study of archaeometallurgy. His initial focus is the
v i i
8/14/2019 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf Technology, Trade, And the Bronze Age World ThePoet006102
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/early-metallurgy-of-the-persian-gulf-technology-trade-and-the-bronze-age 10/269
Arabian Peninsula where he introduces us to a new corpus
of metal artifacts from the United Arab Emirates.
Surprisingly, a significant percentage of these metals,
recovered from the site of Tell Abraq, are tin-bronzes.
Importantly, these artifacts, and others from near-by
sites, are subject to Proton-Induced X-ray Emission
analysis (PIXE). With these results in hand his horizon
widens and takes on a review of metallurgy within the
Bronze Age of the entirety of the Arabian Peninsula,
where an extensive amount of archaeometallurgical work
has been undertaken within the past few decades. Finally,
his volume offers an up-to-date review of the enduring
"tin-problem" within the context of the greater Near
East. Again, Childe (1928:157) confronted the problem:
"The Sumerians drew supplies of copper from Oman,
from the Iranian Plateau, and even from Anatolia, but
the source of their tin remains unknown". Today we
have answers, even if they must still be regarded as par-
tial ones. With a full appreciation of the complexity ofinteractions that characterized the thi rd millennium
throughout the Near East the author is not reticent to
offer conclusions. Thus, he states that . . . the absolute
source of the metal [tin-bronze] is likely to have been far
to the north and east in Afghanistan or central Asia". The
central Asian source has been given reality by the recent
discovery in Uzbekistan and Tadzhikistan of Bronze Age
settlements and mines involved in tin production
(Parzinger and Boroffka 2003). How is it then that if
central Asian tin was reaching the Arabian Peninsula
that there is a paucity, indeed a very great poverty, of
contemporary tin-bronzes on the Iranian Plateau? The
question does not allude the author. In fact, nothing
within the data base, either bibliographic nor artifactual,
escapes his lens.
With careful attention to detail, a comprehensive
appreciation of the evidence at hand, while subjecting
the relevant evidence to laboratory analysis, Hercule
Poirot would be in agreement that Lloyd Weeks' study
adds both substantial evidence and clues that point
toward an emerging solution of the century long case ofthe "tin-problem".
Finally, thanks are due to Mr. Landon T. Clay whose gen-
erous support over the years include some of the metals
analysis reported upon in this volume.
C. C. Lamberg-Karlovsky
v i i i
8/14/2019 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf Technology, Trade, And the Bronze Age World ThePoet006102
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/early-metallurgy-of-the-persian-gulf-technology-trade-and-the-bronze-age 11/269
Preface This volume examines the production and exchang
copper and its alloys in the Bronze Age Persian Gu
During the third and second millennia BCE, the Gu
was a critical long-distance trade route by which p
tige goods such as lapis lazuli, carnelian and ivory
reached wider western Asia. Additionally, the Gulf
tioned as a major metal supply route for Mesopota
and southwestern Iran, and abundant cuneiform so
testify to the flourishing copper trade between the
centers of southern Mesopotamia and the Bronze A
Gulf polities of Dilmun and Magan.
Multiple aspects of the Bronze Age Gulf trade
work are investigated in this research program, wh
based upon the archaeometallurgical analysis of co
alloy objects from four third millennium BCE sites
the United Arab Emirates. The data generated by c
positional and lead isotope analyses are integrated
geological information from southeastern Arabia a
technological studies of early copper smelting in thregion, and provide important insights into a numb
issues of archaeological significance. These range f
technological aspects of early copper-base alloy pro
tion in southeastern Arabia, to more anthropologic
informed research regarding the interaction of specia
copper production, exchange, and social complexity
early Arabia.
The broader archaeological issue of the Bronze
tin trade is also investigated in detail. The trade in
metal linked vast areas of western Asia, from the In
Iranian borderlands to the Aegean, through a series
overland and maritime trade routes and exchange r
tionships that are only hazily understood. The disco
of tin and tin-bronze objects in third millennium BC
contexts in the U.A.E., demonstrated conclusively i
present volume, provides important new evidence f
discussion of the tin trade, a long-standing problem
Bronze Age western Asian archaeology.
8/14/2019 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf Technology, Trade, And the Bronze Age World ThePoet006102
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/early-metallurgy-of-the-persian-gulf-technology-trade-and-the-bronze-age 12/269
This page intentionally left blank
8/14/2019 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf Technology, Trade, And the Bronze Age World ThePoet006102
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/early-metallurgy-of-the-persian-gulf-technology-trade-and-the-bronze-age 13/269
AcknowledgmentS This book began i ts l ife as a doctoral dissertat io
unde rtaken a t the Universi ty of Sydney, Australia
Although subsequent periods of research have re
in the substant ial reworking of the o riginal text ,
well as many addi t ions, the ideas and approaches
tained wi thin i t remain those which were sh aped
strongly by my thesis supervisors, Dan Potts (Uni
of Sydney) and Richard Tho mas (Universi ty of W
Sydney). I would l ike to express my grat i tude forguidance during that cri t ical and seemingly endle
period, an d in part icular t o D an P ot ts for his prac
and intel lectual input into s o many aspects of the
My thesis was assessed by Andreas Hauptmann
(Deutsches Bergbau-Museum, Bo chum), Roger M
(Ashmo lean Museum , O xfo rd) , and Vincent Pigo
(Insti tute of Archaeology, London), and this volu
has been greatly improved by their constructive
ments and cri ticisms.
Of course, this volume has reached i ts presenform since my arrival at the Peabody Museum an
funded throu gh the goo d graces of the Am erican
School of Prehistoric R esearch (ASPR ). I wou ld l
sincerely thank the ASPR and in part icular Karl
Lamberg-Karlovsky an d O fer Bar-Yosef for the o
tuni ty to produ ce this s tudy, and for shepherding
manuscript when i t threatened to st ray. Grea t th
must also be extended to W ren Fournier , who ac
prod uct ion edi tor for the volume and oversaw al
aspects of the editorial and production processes,
including some part icularly t ime-consuming ad ap
tions of images.
The volume is based upon a large number of
rial analyses, for which the assistance of numero
scholars and inst i tut ions must be acknowledged.
PIXE analyses were conducted by Grahame Baile
Phi lip Johnson and Ed Stelcer at the Aust ral ian
Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation, L
Heigh ts, N.S.W., an d Rainer Siegele provided im
tant inform at ion on the accuracy and precision o
data. Th e TIMS lead i sotope analyses of art i factTell Abraq were conducted at the Departme nt of
Sciences, University of Queensland, by Ken Coll
and Im mo Wendt . The more recent MC-ICP-MS
topic analyses of m aterial from A1 Sufouh, Un ar
Unar2 were also conducted at the Universi ty of
8/14/2019 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf Technology, Trade, And the Bronze Age World ThePoet006102
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/early-metallurgy-of-the-persian-gulf-technology-trade-and-the-bronze-age 14/269
8/14/2019 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf Technology, Trade, And the Bronze Age World ThePoet006102
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/early-metallurgy-of-the-persian-gulf-technology-trade-and-the-bronze-age 15/269
List of Figures Major archaeological sites of the U.A.E.
Geological units comprising the Oman
Mountains
Ma jor co pper deposits and metallurgical
sites of so uthea stern Arabia
Slag heaps at Samdah, Om an
Slag fields at Tawi 'Arja, Om an
Settlement at M aysar 1, the mining area
M2 , and the cemetery M 3Evidence for Umm al-Na r Period mining at
Maysar 2, Oman
Ham mer and anvil stones from Maysar 1,Oman
Fragmen ts of the base of a smelting furnace
from Maysar 1, Om an
Slag typology for Umm al-Na r Period copper
production at Maysar 1
2.10 Iron Age smelting remains from Om an
2.11 Iron Age copper slag from 'Arja in Om an
2.12 Periods of copper production in southeasternArabia
2.13 Slag-filled planoconvex copper ingot from
Al-Aqir in Oman
2.14 Hoard of planoconvex copper ingots found
at Maysar 1 in House 4
2.15 Third millennium BCE copper-smelting
settlement of Zahra 1, O m an
2.16 Iron Age slag heap at Raki 2, O m an
3.1 Chronology of the excavated tom b
assemblages
3.2 A1 Sufouh Tom b I after excavation (fro m wes t
3.3 Fragments of copper-base objects from A1
Sufouh analyzed in this study
3.4 Un arl Umm al -Nar Period tomb
3.5 Fragments of copper-base objects from
Un ar l analyzed in this study
3.6 Unar2 to mb after excavation, showing
chamber designations (from north)
3.7 Fragments of copper-base objects from
Unar2 analyzed in this study
3.8 Tell Abraq tom b after excavation (from north)3.9 Two copper-base rings from the Tell Abraq
tomb, as excavated in position on phalanges
3.10 Copper-base objects from Tell Abraq
analyzed in this study
x i i i
8/14/2019 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf Technology, Trade, And the Bronze Age World ThePoet006102
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/early-metallurgy-of-the-persian-gulf-technology-trade-and-the-bronze-age 16/269
3.1 1 Spearhead TA21 83 from the Tell Abraq Urnm
al-Nar Period tom b
3.12 Daggerlknife blade TA226 8 from the Tell
Abraq Urnm al-Nar Period tomb
3.13 Daggerlknife blade TA227 0 from the Tell
Abraq Urnm al-Nar Period tomb
3.14 Daggerlknife blade TA2315 fro m the Tell
Abraq Urnm al-Nar Period tomb
3.15 Daggerlknife blade TA2440 from th e TellAbraq Urnm al-Nar Period tomb
3.16 Socketed spear head TA2 757 from the Tell
Abraq Urnm al-Nar Period tomb
4.1 Sulfur concentrations in A1 Sufouh, Unarl,
Un ar2 an d Tell Abraq objects
4.2 Sulfur concentrations in all Urnm al-Nar
Period objects analyzed by PIXE
4.3 Iron concentrations in AI Sufouh, Un ar l ,
Unar2 and Tell Abraq objects
4.4 Iron concentrations in all Urnm al-Nar Period
objects analyzed by PIXE
4.5 Cobalt concen trations in AI Sufouh, Una rl ,
Unar2 and Tell Abraq objects
4.6 Cob alt conc entration s in all Urnm al-Na r
Period objects analyzed by PIXE
4.7 Nickel conc entration s in A1 Sufouh, U na rl ,
Unar2 and Tell Abraq objects
4.8 Nickel conc entrations in all Urnm al-N ar
Period objects analyzed by PIXE
4.9 Arsenic conc entrations in A1 Sufouh, U na rl ,
Unar2 and Tell Abraq objects
4.10 Arsenic conc entration s in all Urnm al-Nar
Period objects analyzed by PIXE
4.1 1 Selenium concentrations in A1 Sufouh, Unarl ,
Unar2 and Tell Abraq objects
4.12 Selenium conc entration s in all Urnm al-Nar
Period objects analyzed by PIXE
4.13 Silver conc entration s in all Urnm al-Na r
Period objects analyzed by PIXE
4.14 Lead concentra tions in A1 Sufouh, U n ar l,
Unar2 and Tell Abraq objects4.15 Lead concentrations in all Urnm al-Nar
Period objects analyzed by PIXE
4.16 Tin concentration s in A1 Sufouh, U na rl,
Unar2 and Tell Abraq objects
4.17 Tin concentrations in all Urnm al-N ar
Period objects analyzed by PIXE
4.1 8 Negative correlation between t in and cobalt
in the Urnm al-N ar objects analyzed by PIXE
4.19 Arsenic and nickel in Urnm al-Nar Period
objects analyzed by PIXE
4.20 Nickel and cobalt in the Urnm al-Na r Period
objects analyzed by PIXE
4.21 Arsenic and cobalt in the Urnm al-Nar Periodobjects analyzed by PIXE
4.22 Tin and silver in the Urnm al-N ar Period
objects analyzed by PIXE
4.23 Element Correlations as found in a PCA of
the unmodified PIXE composit ional data and
PIXE data converted to rank-order
4.24 PCA scattergram of untransformed PIXE data
for ob jects from Tell Ab raq a nd A1 Sufouh
4.25 PCA scattergrams of ranked PIXE data for
all Umm al-Nar Period objects
4.26 PCA scattergrams of Urnm al-Nar Period
copper objects only
4.27 PCA scattergrams of Urnm al-Nar Period t in-
bronzes only
4.28 Alloy use in the four Urnm al-N ar Period
tomb assemblages
Iron and sulfur levels in finished objects in
comparison to secondary refining waste from
the settlements of Saar and Muweilah
Nickel, arsenic, and tin concentrations in
Umm al-Nar Period objects
Tin concentrations in Urnm al-Nar Period
objects analyzed by PIXE, and previously
analyzed Iron Age objects from
southeastern Arabia
Alloy use in different object categories
Lead isotope data for massive sulfide deposits
from Oman, in comparison to mid-ocean
ridge basal ts (MO RB )
Isotopic variability of copper ores from
individual ore deposits in Om an LIA data for copper ores from Om an
Isotopic composition of Omani ores, in
comparison t o copper ingots an d finished
objects from southeastern Arabia and Bahrain
xiv
8/14/2019 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf Technology, Trade, And the Bronze Age World ThePoet006102
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/early-metallurgy-of-the-persian-gulf-technology-trade-and-the-bronze-age 17/269
LIA data for all Urnm al-Nar Period objects
from th e U.A.E. analyzed in this study
LIA data for all Urnm al-Nar Period objects,
arranged by site
LIA data for all Urnm al-Nar Period objects
by alloy category
207Pb1206Pb isotopic composition of Urnm
al-Na r Period copper objects from the UAE
analyzed in this study207Pb/206Pb Isotopic ranges for Urnm al-Nar
Period objects analyzed in this study
LIA data for Urnm al-Nar Period objects
analyzed in this study, and Gulf copper ingots
analyzed previously
LIA data for Urnm al-Nar Period copper
objects analyzed in this study, and copper-base
artifacts and prills analyzed by Prange et al.
(1999: Figure 7) 15 4
LIA data for Urnm al-Nar Period copper-lowtin and tin-bronze objects analyzed in this
study, and copper-base artifacts and prills
analyzed by Prange et al. (19 99: Figure 7) 1 5 4
LIA data for Urnm al-Nar Period objects
analyzed in this study, and copper-base
artifacts and prills from Saar, Bahrain 1 5 5
LIA data for Urnm al-Nar Period copper
objects analyzed in this study, and copper
artifacts and prills from Wadi SuqILate Bronze
Age contexts at Tell Abraq (Weeks 19 99) 1 5 5
LIA data for Urnm al-Nar Period tin-bearing
objects analyzed in this study, and tin-bronze
artifacts and prills fro m Wadi SuqILate Bronze
Age contexts at Tell Abraq (Weeks 19 99 )
LIA da ta for copp er objects from the
U.A.E. analyzed in this study, and O ma ni
copper ores
7.13 LIA dat a for copper-low tin objects from the
U.A.E. analyzed in this study, and Om ani
copper ores
7.14 LIA data for t in-bronze objects from theU.A.E. analyzed in this study, and Om an i
copper ores
7.15 LIA data fo r AsINi-copper objects from the
U.A.E. analyzed in this study, and Om ani
copper ores
7.16 LIA data for Urnm al-Nar Period objects
analyzed in this study, and Indian ores
and slags
7.17 LIA data for Urnm al-Nar Period objects
analyzed in this study, Iranian copper ores
and slags
7.1 8 LIA data for Urnm al -N ar Period objects
analyzed in this s tudy, and Sau di Arab ian
copper an d t i n ores7.19 LIA data for Urnm al-Nar Period objects
analyzed in this study, in comparison to the
isotopic characteristics of copper ores from
Anatolia, the Aegean, Feinan and Timna
7.20 LIA da ta for t in (an d zinc)-bearing objects
from the Aegean and northwestern A natolia,
in comparison to t in-bronzes an d copper-low
tin objects from the U.A.E.
M ap showing ore deposit s and archaeologica
and metallurgical si tes mentioned in Cha pterEight
SR2 target cham ber schematic
The relationship between PIXE sensitivity
and atomic number
The relationship between PIXE
and element concentration
Chrom ium concen trations in al
PIXE samples
precision
.l analyz ed
8/14/2019 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf Technology, Trade, And the Bronze Age World ThePoet006102
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/early-metallurgy-of-the-persian-gulf-technology-trade-and-the-bronze-age 18/269
This page intentionally left blank
8/14/2019 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf Technology, Trade, And the Bronze Age World ThePoet006102
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/early-metallurgy-of-the-persian-gulf-technology-trade-and-the-bronze-age 19/269
List of Tables Chronological periodization of southeastern
Arabian prehistory
Geology and strat igraphy of the north ern
Oman Mounta ins
Objects from A1 Sufouh analyzed by PIXE
Objects from Un ar l analyzed by PIXE
Objects from Unar2 analyzed by PIXE
AMS Radiocarbon dates associated with the
Tell Abraq tom bObjects from the Tell Abraq to mb analyzed
by PIXE
PIXE composit ional data for objects from
A1 Sufouh
PIXEcompositional da ta of objects from Una r1
PIXE compo sitional data for objects from Una r2
PIXE composit ional data for objects from
Tell Abraq
Sulfur concentrations in Urnm al-Nar Period
objects analyzed by PIXESulfur levels recorded in previous analytical
studies
Iron c oncentrations in Urnm al-Nar Period
objects analyzed by PIXE
Ironlev elsreco rdedin previous analytical studie
Cobalt con centrations in Urnm al-N ar Period
objects analyzed by PIXE
Cob alt levels in previously analyzed objects
Nickel concentrations in Urnm al-Nar Period
objects analyzed by PIXE
Nickel levels recorded in previous an alytical
studies
Zinc conce ntrations in Urnm al-Nar Period
objects analyzed by PIXE
Zin c levels recorded in previous analytical studie
Arsenic concentrations in Urnm al-Nar Perio
objects analyzed by PIXE
Arsenic levels recorded in previous analytical
studies
Selenium concentrations in Urnm al-Nar Per
objects analyzed by PIXESilver concentrations in Urnm al-Nar Period
objects analyzed by PIXE
Silver levels recorded in previous analytical
studies
x v i i
8/14/2019 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf Technology, Trade, And the Bronze Age World ThePoet006102
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/early-metallurgy-of-the-persian-gulf-technology-trade-and-the-bronze-age 20/269
4.20 Antimony levels recorded in previous analytical
studies 92
4.21 Lead concentrations in Umm al-Nar Period
objects analyzed by PIXE 92
4.22 Lead levels recorded in previous analytical
studies 94
4.23 Tin conc entration s in Umm al-Nar Period objects
analyzed by PIXE 94
4.24 Ran k-co rrelation coefficients for all Umm al-NarPeriod objects 9 7
7.1 Lead isotope data for objects from A1 Sufouh,
Un ar l , Unar2, and Tell Abraq 146
x v i i i
8/14/2019 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf Technology, Trade, And the Bronze Age World ThePoet006102
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/early-metallurgy-of-the-persian-gulf-technology-trade-and-the-bronze-age 21/269
Introduction
Outline an d Genesis o f th e ProjectThis volume presents a study of early metal produc-
tion, exchange and use in the Persian Gulf region.
The issues addressed range from technological aspects
of early metal extraction and alloy production, to the
broader socioeconomic issues related to the produc-
tion and trade of metallic resources in the Gulf and
the use of tin and tin-bronze in early western Asia
(Figure 1).
Metallurgical studies have been of primary interest
in the archaeology of the Gulf from the earliest peri-
ods of work in the region. This is chiefly a result of
scholarly debate regarding the location of the lands of
Dilmun and Magan, which are mentioned in Bronze
Age historical texts from Greater Mesopotamia and
which were intimately linked with the supply of copper
to the Sumerians, Akkadians and Babylonians in the
third and early-second millennia BCE (e.g. Oppenheim
1954 ; Leemans 196 0; Muhly 1973 a; Weisgerber 198 3;
Potts 1B o a : 133-149). Archaeological and Assyriological
research in the twentieth century have paid great atten-tion to locating the lands of Dilmun and Magan, and
it is now clear that both are to be placed within the
Gulf region: Dilmun in the central Gulf, incorporating
eastern Saudi Arabia and particularly Bahrain from the
later third millennium BCE onwards, and Magan at
the southern end of the Gulf, incorporating southeast-
ern Arabia and, perhaps, some areas of southeastern
Iran (Heimpel 1987).
While these debates over historical geography
back t o the nineteenth Century (Potts 1986:271-27
archaeological research in the Persian Gulf region i
comparatively recent pursuit. Fieldwork in southea
Arabia was initiated by Danish archaeologists in th
1 9 . 5 0 ~ ~nd a great deal of research since that timeallowed the development of a secure chronology f
prehistoric southeastern Arabia (Table p) , and a so
what less assured understanding of the economic,
nological, social and p olitical characteristics of thes
early Gulf societies. Th e archaeological evidence in
cates that, by the early third millennium BCE (the
Period ), relatively small, sedentary co mm unities ex
in southeastern Arabia that were founded upon a
cultural subsistence and the exploitation of marine
resources (Potts 199713). The evidence fo r sm all nuof copper-base objects from collective Hafit graves
Frifelt 1975b) suggests tha t local copper extraction
already begun by this period. This subsistence basi
hu ma n settlement persisted into the later third mill
um (the Umm al-Nar P eriod), when i t was supplem
by a new form of subsistence adaptation based upo
specialized production and exchange of various com
modities (e.g. copper, ceramics, and stone vessels) w
southeastern Arabia (Cleuziou and Tosi 1989 , 20 00
This regional exchange network represented a criti
adaptation in an environment where resources wer
plentiful but often strongly localized geographically
The development of an integrated local economic
tem in southeastern Arabia was contemporary wit
dramatic increase in the number of known settlem
and with material remains from sett lement and fun
ary contexts indicating extremely far-flung trade c
tacts with regions such as Meso potamia, Iran, the
Valley, central Asia and the central Gulf (Potts 199
1993e, 2003 a, 2003 b). However, set tlements remai
relatively small, usually no larger than a few hectarand there is no evidence for the development of lar
political institutions o r significant social hierarchies
(Crawford l9 98 : l3 8). In the early second mi l lenniu
BCE (the Wadi Suq Period) there was a dram atic re
tion in the number of settlements, an occurrence th
has been related to the increasing importance of
nomadic pastoralism as a subsistence regime (Cleuz
1981; Carter 1997 ).
8/14/2019 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf Technology, Trade, And the Bronze Age World ThePoet006102
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/early-metallurgy-of-the-persian-gulf-technology-trade-and-the-bronze-age 22/269
Figure 1.1 Major archa eological sites of th e U.A.E. referred to i n the text.Ob jects analyzed in this volum e co me fro m AI Sufouh, Unarl,
and Tell Abraq.
2 Early Metallu rgy of the Persian Gulf
8/14/2019 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf Technology, Trade, And the Bronze Age World ThePoet006102
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/early-metallurgy-of-the-persian-gulf-technology-trade-and-the-bronze-age 23/269
It is against this background that the evidence for Table 1.1
third millennium copper extraction in southeastern Chronological Periodization of Southeastern Arabian Prehistor
Arab ia, the copper mou ntain of Ma gan , must be
considered. The large scale of this production was
demonst rated from the late 19 70s through archaeomet-
allurgical research by the German Mining Museum in
the Sultanate of Oman (Weisgerber 1980b, 1981;
Hauptmann 1985, 1987; Yule and Weisgerber 1996;
Weisgerber and Yule 1999 ; Prange et al . 199 9). Thisongoing field project established the production of
copper in southeastern Arabia from as early as the
Umm al-Nar Period, and the high-volume copper
trade between the Gulf area and Mesopotamia sup-
ported by these studies and by cuneiform references is
regarded as crucial in the socioeconomic development
of the region in the Bronze Age and later (e.g. Edens
1992). The composit ional and lead isotope analyses
(LIA) which form the substantive core of this volume
were undertaken on copper-base objects of this period,
from four Umm al-Nar Period collective assemblages
tha t can be dated between 2450-1900 BCE (see
Chapter Three for details).
As outlined above, the data and discussions pre-
sented in the following chapters exist within a local
technological framework largely constructed by the
German research in Oman. Nevertheless, the new
analyses represent an important complement to the
German research in two respects. Firstly, the analyses
provide evidence of metal use in settlements that are
not associated with primary copper production, whichhas until recently been the main focus of the German
research (althoug h see Prange et al . 1 99 9). Secondly,
the analyses are important for our understanding of
metal use in more northerly areas of the Oman
Peninsula rather than those where the German team
has tradit ionally worked. Looking beyond the data
from southeastern Arabia itself, the results of this
study can be related to broader regional developments
in western Asia, particularly the development of min-
ing, metallurgy and pyrotechnology on the IranianPlateau, the adoption of new alloys such as tin-
bronze in neighboring regions of western Asia, and
the long-distance trade in metals that linked the Gulf
with complex societies stretching from the Indus Valley
to Anatolia.
Broad Chronological Phase Cultural Period
BRONZE AGE Hafit Period
3100-1 300 BCE) Umm al-Nar Period
Wadi Suq Period
Late Bronze Age
I R O N AGE Iron I
1300-300 BCE) Iron IIlron Ill
Absolute Da
Chronolog ical periodization o f southeastern Arabian prehisto
Note: Periodization a fter Velde 2003), otts (1997b),and Mag(1996b).
The genesis of the volume lies in previous ana
of material from the site of Tell Abraq in the U.A.
undertaken by the autho r in 1 995 (Weeks 199 7).
study analyzed the changes in copper alloy use at
Abraq through the entire occupational sequence of
site: a period of two millennia spanning ca. 2300-
BCE. The study showed that tin-bronze had been
at Tell Abraq from the earliest phases of its occup
in the third millennium, alongside objects of relati
pure copper and arsenical copper. As such, the fin
contrasted strongly with previous studies of early
use in southeastern Arabia (e.g. Hauptmann 1987
Hauptmann et al . 1988; Berthoud et al . 1980, 19
These studies had indicated that tin-bronze was
extremely rare in the region in the third millenniu
and was not consistently used until the end of the
ond millennium.Th e analyses of the Tell Ab raq objects thu s raise
question of whether Tell Abraq, clearly the largest si
the Gulf coast of southe astern Arabia dur ing the late
and second millennia (Potts 1993 a),was somehow u
in terms of its access to metallic resources. For e xam
has been proposed that Tell Abr aq func tioned as the
outlet for O ma ni copper in the last centuries of the th
millennium (Frifelt 19 95 ) and the site may therefore
had greater access to a variety of metal resources and
other luxu ry goods than m ost sites in the O ma n PeniAlternatively, Carter (2 00 1 19 6) has suggested that T
Abra q might be best regarded as a trading post betw
the centrallno rthern Gulf and South Asia; an except
al site not well integrated economically with southe
ern Arabia beyond the northe rn coastal region.
Introduction
8/14/2019 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf Technology, Trade, And the Bronze Age World ThePoet006102
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/early-metallurgy-of-the-persian-gulf-technology-trade-and-the-bronze-age 24/269
These early archaeometallurgical analyses from
Tell Abraq suggested the possibility of differences in
metal procurement patterns between northern and
southern areas of the Om an Peninsula. Further
basic questions posed by the Tell Abraq analyses
related to the c hronology of the earliest tin a nd tin-
bronze use in the region, and the mechanisms and
routes by which this clearly foreign material
reached the Gulf. However, due to the dearth of
analytical programs on chronologically and geo-
graphically related metal objects, the Tell Abraq
analyses stood somewhat in isolation. As a conse-
quence, it was difficult to assess whether the site
was representative of more widespread metallurgical
practices in southeastern Arabia, or whether it was
indeed unique in its metalworking technology and
access to fore ign resources. The analyses of objects
from three other to mb assemblages in the norther n
U.A.E., fro m the sites of A1 Sufouh , Una rl , andUnar2, are thus significant in providing a more
secure analytical basis to support the discussion of
the issues raised by the initial Tell Abraq analyses.
Additionally, excavation of the second half of the
Umm a l-Nar Period tomb at Tell Abraq was com-
pleted in 1997-1998, bringing to light many more
copper-base objects from the late third millennium
BCE. The analysis of a sub-set of these newly recov-
ered objects using a fully quantitative technique was
deemed desirable, in order to support the results of
the semi-quantitative EDS analyses of material from
the site undertaken previously.
As a group, analyses of the four to mb assem-
blages allow for a relatively clear understanding of
developments in alloying technology and r aw mat e-
rial exchange patte rns over the last half of the thir d
millennium BCE in the northe rn Oma n Peninsula.
Such issues are indeed the focus of much of the dis-
cussion presented in this volume. However, other
issues such as the organization of copper produc-
tion in Bronze Age southeastern Arabia, a nd thelocal and foreign factors t hat influenced the scale
of production, and the role of the Gulf in the third
millennium tin tr ade are also addressed. These the-
oretical and substantive issues are outlined below
in greater detail.
Copper Production and the Bronze Age
Economy of Southeastern ArabiaOne of the main theoretical foci of this volume relat
not t o the interpretation of the analytical data gene
by PIXE and LIA, but to an investigation of the org
zation of copper production in Bronze Age southea
Arabia, and an examination of the integration of co
production with other local subsistence activities. As
noted above, the Umm al-Nar Period witnessed wha
many archaeologists have characterized as an incre
level of cultural and economic integration. The
exchange of copper produced in the mountainous ar
of the interior no doub t played a significant role in
integration. In Chapter Two, the possible effects of f
back between greater economic integration and incr
ingly specialized craft production are examined in d
The implications of these factors for our understand
of emerging social complexity in Bronze Age southe
ern Arabia are also addressed.The importance of local exchange systems in gener
demand for copper is emphasized partly to counte
the prominence that has previously been granted t
foreign demand for copper from areas such as
Mesopotamia, Dilmun, and perhaps the Indus Valley
is clear that both local and foreign demand played a
in determining total output of copper in the third m
nium, and also the ways in which that production w
organized. As will be seen in Chapter Two, the arch
logical evidence for particular modes of copper prod
tion in Bronze Age Oman is very scarce. Nevertheles
there is some evidence for Bronze Age copper extrac
sites producing at very different scales, which might
tatively support the notion of distinct modes of prod
tion. Whether such differences can be linked to chro
ogy, production for local or foreign markets, or oth
factors remains uncertain.
Prehistoric copper production in Oman, beginni
around 3000 BCE, also witnesses distinct periods of
growth and decline, to the point where long periods o
complete abandonment of the industry have been hypsized in the Late Bronze Age and the Late Pre-Islamic
Period. This "periodicity" or "cyclicality" of product
is another reflection of changes in local and foreign
demand for copper, in addition t o environmental fac
changing technology, and historically contingent pol
4 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf
8/14/2019 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf Technology, Trade, And the Bronze Age World ThePoet006102
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/early-metallurgy-of-the-persian-gulf-technology-trade-and-the-bronze-age 25/269
and economic events in southeastern Arabia and neigh-
boring regions of western Asia. In Chapter Two, the many
factors that may have caused the periodicity of copper
production in southeastern Arabia are examined in detail.
Alloying Practices in Bronze Age
Southeastern Arabia
Considerable information regarding early metalworking
practices in southeastern Arabia is generated by the ana-
lytical data presented and discussed in Chapters Four and
Five. When the compositional analyses are compared with
the work of the German Mining Museum, important fac-
tors regarding the production and use of certain alloy
types, changes in local ore types exploited, and in the tech-
nology of extraction can be examined.
A brief note on terminology is required here to facili-
tate the discussion. All objects made of copper and its
alloysarereferred o ascopper-baseobjects.In theanalyzed
assemblages from Umm al-Nar Period southeastern
Arabia, the most common alloy types are pure copper
(which contains less than one percent of arsenic, nickel,
zinc and lead, and less than two percent t in) , tin-bronze
(copper with more than two percent t in), arsenical cop-
per (copper with more than one percent arsenic), and
nickel copper (copper with more than one percent nick-
el). The last two alloy types are commonly grouped
together under the label As/Ni-copper, which includes all
copper samples with more than one percent of arsenic
andlor nickel. No a pr or assumptions are made regard-
ing the intentional production of these alloys.
Justifications for these definitions can be found in
Chapters Four and Five.
The discussion of the compositional data focuses on
the production and use of tin-bronze and As/Ni-copper.
Based upon mineralogical studies of ore deposits in
southeastern Arabia, it is suggested that the latter alloy is
probably a local product. In addition to the investigation
of the particular kinds of Omani ore deposits that may
have produced such an alloy, discussion focuses upon the
various mechanisms by which As/Ni-copper may havebeen produced and the material properties that may have
differentiated it from pure copper and from tin-bronze.
Analyses of alloying processes for the production of tin-
bronze are also addressed, based upon tin concentra-
tions in the objects and also evidence from minor and
trace element concentrations. Chronological aspects
tin-bronze use in the northern Oman Peninsula are
investigated and significant differences in the use of
bronze and As/Ni copper for specific object categori
are visible. The technological, economic, and ideolo
factors that may have mediated processes of alloy s
tion in third millennium southeastern Arabia are di
cussed in detail.
Investigation of the Bronze Age Tin Trade
The investigation of early tin and tin-bronze use in th
northern Oman Peninsula is important for understan
early metal use and trade both within the Gulf, and i
wider western Asia. The tin sources used in Bronze A
western Asia remain unidentified after more than 50
of investigation (Muhly 1973a; 1985a; 1993a; Stech
Piggot 1986) and related fieldwork, analytical progra
and archaeological debates are actively in progress (e
Yener and Vandiver 1993a; Moorey l994:297-30 1;
Alimov et al. 1998; Yener 2000). The debate is conce
as much with the trade routes and mechanisms by wh
tin and tin-bronze may have moved in the third mille
um as it is with the absolute source of the material. T
discovery of early tin-bronze use at Tell Abraq has hi
lighted the possible role of the Gulf trade in the distr
tion of this material, an avenue which had been large
under-emphasized due to the dearth of tin-bronzes re
ed in other compositional studies of material from
Bahrain and southeastern Arabia (e.g. McKerrell
1977:167; Hauptmann et al. 1988; Prange et al. 199
The archaeological objects from the four Umm al
Period tomb assemblages analyzed in this volume add
siderably to the body of evidence for early tin-bronze u
the Gulf. Furthermore, the significance of the timing a
frequency of early tin-bronze use in the Gulf for gener
discussions of Bronze Age Gulf archaeology is address
In particular, the possible cultural contacts tha t might
account for the use of tin in the central Gulf and in so
eastern Arabia are assessed. Any discussions of this na
rely for their validity upon multiple strands of evidencfrom geology, archaeology and early textual sources (
Muhly 1985a, 1993a; Penhallurick 1986; Stech and P
1986), and these are presented in detail in order to re
satisfactory conclusion regarding the likely sources of
used in the Gulf in the Bronze Age.
Introduction
8/14/2019 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf Technology, Trade, And the Bronze Age World ThePoet006102
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/early-metallurgy-of-the-persian-gulf-technology-trade-and-the-bronze-age 26/269
The possible significance of the early tin-bronze
exchange in the Gulf for wider western Asia is also con-
sidered in detail. The results of the LIA of more than 40
objects from the four Umm al-Nar Period tomb assem-
blages provide crucial evidence for this discussion. The
isotopic data provide important information on the
extent of the early tin and tin-bronze trade in western
Asia and beyond an d the possible technological and
socioeconomic implications of this trade are discussed
in detail.
Analytical Techniques
As noted above, the data presented in this volume
involve both compositional and lead isotopic analy-
ses. The compositional analyses were undertaken
using the technique of Proton-Induced X-ray Emission
(PIXE). Details of the application of the PIXE tech-
nique to the objects analyzed in this study, as well as
information on accuracy, precision and sensitivity ofthe data, are provided in Chapter Four and Appendix
One. PIXE analyses have been successfully used as the
basis of a number of archaeometallurgical analysis pro-
grams in the Old World (e.g. Fleming and Swann
1985:142).
Currently, the use of LIA is much debated within
archaeological science and archaeology in general
(e.g. Budd et al. 1995a, 1 995b, 1996 ; Muhly 19 95a;
Pernicka 1995a; Tite 1996; Knapp 2000; Gale 2001).
As the issues surrounding the application of LIA to
archaeological provenance studies can be complex, a
detailed discussion of the development of LIA in
archaeology is given in Chapter Six. LIA can provide
extremely useful information in the generation and
assessment of novel archaeological hypotheses regard-
ing provenance (e.g. Pernicka e t al. 1 990, 1993 ), as
demonstrated by the results presented and interpreted
in Chapter Seven. Useful results are dependent upon a
detailed understanding of both geological and anthro-
pogenic factors controlling lead isotope signatures of
archaeological objects, and the value of integratingisotopic and compositional data is clear (e.g. Pernicka
1995 a; Bridgford 2000; Begemann et al. 2001).
Details of the analytical technique for LIA and infor-
mation on data precision and accuracy can be found
in Appendix One.
Outl ine of Chapters
Following this introductory chapter, Chapter Two pr
ents the background to the present study, summarizi
previous geological and archaeological work relevan
early metallurgy in the Gulf region. It incorporates a
extensive discussion of the factors that affected the s
and periodicity of early metal extraction in southeas
Arabia; an examination of the organization of Umm
Nar Period copper production; an assessment of the
gration of various specialized production regimes (in
ing metallurgy) in Bronze Age southeastern Arabia,
presentation of the evidence for copper-base object f
cation and alloying technologies. Chapter Three revi
the chronological and contextual information on the
objects analyzed in this volume. Chapter Four presen
and summarizes the compositional data for all analy
samples on an element-by-element basis. It concludes
with a statistical analysis of elemental correlations in
collected data, and of the chemical characteristics ofarchaeological metal assemblages from each of the fo
funerary structures. The implications of the composi
a1 data and statistical analyses are discussed in Chap
Five, with particular focus upon the types of ores tha
may have been exploited in the Umm al-Nar Period
the production and use of various local and imported
copper-base alloys such as As/Ni-copper and tin-bro
Chapter Six is a summary of theoretical and practica
developments in the application of LIA to archaeolog
a background to Chapter Seven, where the results of
LIA of copper-base objects from the four Umm al-N
Period tomb assemblages are presented. Particular at
tion is paid to the possible local and foreign metal so
that were used to produce the analyzed copper-base
objects. Chapter Eight focuses more specifically on t
possible sources of tin used in the Gulf in the Bronze
and includes a discussion of the trade routes, exchan
mechanisms, and socioeconomic importance of the t
millennium BCE tin and tin-bronze trade in western
The overall results of the research are summarized in
Chapter 9.
6 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf
8/14/2019 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf Technology, Trade, And the Bronze Age World ThePoet006102
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/early-metallurgy-of-the-persian-gulf-technology-trade-and-the-bronze-age 27/269
2 Geology and EarlyExploitation ofCopper Deposits inSoutheastern Arabia
This chapter addresses the nature of copper deposits in
southeastern Arabia and past archaeological studies of
ancient copper production in the region. The first sec-
tion of the chapter begins with a brief description of
the geology of southeastern Arabia, and the A1 Hajjar
Mountains in particular, including the basic stratigraph-
ic units, their time of formation, and the mechanisms of
their emplacement. Subsequently, a detailed description
is given of the various copper deposits of southeastern
Arabia, their geological setting, mineralogy, and impor-
tance for ancient metal production.
In the second section of the chapter, archaeological
research into ancient copper production in southeastern
Arabia is discussed. Early approaches to provenance
and the question of the location of Magan are dealt
with first, followed by a section on early geological and
archaeological surveys in the region and a discussion of
the work of the German Mining Museum in Oman.
The discussion of early primary copper extraction in
southeastern Arabia concludes with an investigation of
the apparent periodicity in copper production in theBronze and Iron Ages, and an examination of the ways
in which copper production was organized and inte-
grated into the broader Bronze Age economy of the
region. The chapter concludes with a discussion of
changes in the technology of copper-base object fabrica-
tion over the course of the Bronze Age, examining both
the range of items produced and the alloying practices
that are evidenced.
Geology of Northern Oman and MasirahAll of the copper deposits of southeastern Arabia,
the exception of those on Masirah Island, are to b
found within various geological units of the northe
Oman or A1 Hajjar Mountains. In the following se
tions, brief descriptions of the geology of the A1 H
Mountains and Masirah Island are given, as they
an important basis for the understanding of ancien
copper mining and production in southeastern Ara
Geology of the Northern Oman (A1 Hajjar) Mounta
The A1 Hajjar Mountains are comprised of a numb
different groups of rocks, whose genesis, location
association have been explained in different ways
the course of geological research in the region, dat
as far back as the 1900s (Pilgrim 1908). Althoughprehensive local geological research did not begin
the 1960s, the geology of Oman and the U.A.E. is
tively well understood for a number of reasons. In
ticular, the search for new oil and gas reserves was
primary motivator of early geological research in t
region, as was the chance to study the world's bes
exposed and most complete piece of former oceani
mantle and crust, the so-called "Semail Ophiolite"
(Glennie 1995:6-9; Batchelor 1992:109). A numbe
important general studies of the mountains have b
published (e.g. Greenwood and Loney 1968; Glennie
1974; Robertson et al. 1990), as well as publication
specific geological units within the mountains, par
larly the ophiolite (e.g. Lippard et al. 1986; Boudi
and Nicolas 1988).
The various geological divisions used to descri
and explain the geology of the northern Oman
Mountains (see Glennie 1995; Lippard et al. 1986
given in Table 2.1 in stratigraphic order (oldest at
bottom) . The table indica tes the basic bipartite d
sion of the rocks of the region into autochthonousallochthonous sequences. The autochthonous units
include basement granites and shallow marine sedi
that were deposited on the Arabian continental she
platform, and which remain in the position in whi
they formed. These units include the "Basement",
"Hajar Supergroup" and "Aruma Group" discusse
Glennie (1995:23-32) and Lippard et al. (1986:9-1
and date from the Precambrian to the Late Cretace
8/14/2019 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf Technology, Trade, And the Bronze Age World ThePoet006102
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/early-metallurgy-of-the-persian-gulf-technology-trade-and-the-bronze-age 28/269
Above these autochthonous units sit two series of
allochthonous rocks, so-named because they have been
moved from their place of formation into their current
position by various geological processes. Allochthonous
units are noted in Table 2.1. The lower of these units,
the "Hawasina," is composed largely of marine sedi-
ments that were deposited on the floor of an ancient
ocean called the Neo-Tethys, which lay to the northeast
of Arabia, between mid-Triassic and mid-Cretaceous
times (ca. 270-70 million years ago [Ma]; Lippard et al.
1986:12; Glennie 1995:4). The upper allochthonous unit
is the Semail Ophiolite, a section of oceanic upper man-
tle and crust that formed on the floor of one part of the
Neo-Tethys in the Mid-Cretaceous (ca. 105-170 Ma;
Glennie 1995:4-5).
From about 10 5 Ma, active spreading ridges in the
Neo-Tethys and the South Atlantic Ocean focused great
horizontal compressive forces upon the oceanic crust of
the Neo-Tethys, causing it to rupture and leading to theformation of an eastward-dipping subduction zone
(Glennie 1995 53 ). It was in fact the presence of this
subduction zone that led to the formation of the Semail
oceanic crust in the associated back-arc environment of
the subduction zone (Lippard et al. 1986:Figure 4.11).
As described by Glennie (1995:5), at 10 5 Ma these three
groups of rocks (the autochthonous series and the two
allochthonous series) lay side-by-side, with the granites
and shallow marine sediments of the Arabian shelf to
the west and the newly-forming oceanic crust of the
Semail to the east. The Hawasina sediments overlay
older and deeper oceanic crust in between the Arabian
platform and the Semail crust.
The subduction zone in the Neo-Tethys and the
compressive forces which initiated the formation of the
Semail oceanic ridge led to the emplacement of first the
Hawasina sediments and then the Semail oceanic litho-
sphere over the Arabian shelf in the period between
about 105 and 70 Ma. The relative direction of trans-
port was from northeast to southwest, and the distances
involved were of the order of several hundred km(Shackleton and Ries 1990:721). Horizontal compressive
forces ceased to operate at around 75 Ma, and the uplift
of the partially subducted, buoyant continental crust
onto which the Hawasina and Semail units had been
emplaced led to the detachment of the Semail nappe
from its contiguous oceanic crust and the local eleva
of parts of the nappe above sea level for the first tim
(Glennie l995:%-56).
At this time, however, the rock units formed a c
of low-relief islands rather than a mountain range. I
was not until approximately 30 Ma that these units
uplifted to form the Oman Mountains, as a result of
compressive forces arising from the separation of Ar
from Africa and the collision of the Indian plate wit
southern edge of Eurasia (Glennie 199.55). In the in
vening period between about 70 and 30 Ma
(Mastrichtian-Lower Tertiary), shallow marine sedi
ments were deposited above a number of the rock u
that formed the island arc. These units remained in
relative place of formation after the uplift of the Om
mountains, and are thus referred to by Glennie
(1995:Table 1)as "neo-autochthonous".
The Oman Mountains, in their present form, co
prise an arc more than 700 km long and up to 150 wide, parallel to the Gulf of Oman. They extend fro
the Musandam Peninsula and the Straits of Hormuz
the north to Ras a1 Hadd in the southeast at an elev
of generally between 500-1,500 m, although Jebel
Akhdar rises to ca. 3,000 m (Lippard et al. 1986:l-2
The rock formations that comprise the Oman Moun
are illustrated in Figure 2.1.
The most extensive geological unit of the moun
is the Semail Nappe, with an area of approximately
20,000 km2 and a thickness of between five and ten
metres, which has been broken into 1 2 generally int
blocks of varying sizes as a result of erosion and of
ing during and after emplacement (Glennie et al. 19
The Hawasina outcrops mostly on the southern and
western extremities of the Oman Mountains , but al
occurs in the interior of the mountains, for example
the type site of the "Hawasina Window" in Wadi
Hawasina, and in the Dibba Zone in the north. The
upper and lower autochthonous units of the mount
range are exposed in the region of Jebel Akhdar, in
mountains south of Muscat, in the Huqf region, anthe northern end of the Oman Mountains in the
Musandam Peninsula. Neo-autochthonous rocks ar
in the A1 Ain region, particularly at Jebel Hafit, and
the coastal region between Saih Hatat and Ras al-H
in Oman (Glennie 1995:Figure 10).
8 Early Metallurgyof the Persian Gulf
8/14/2019 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf Technology, Trade, And the Bronze Age World ThePoet006102
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/early-metallurgy-of-the-persian-gulf-technology-trade-and-the-bronze-age 29/269
Table 2.1
Tectonostratigraphic Units of the Northern Oman Mountains
Age (Ma BP) Stratigraphic Unit
Mostly shallow marine limestones (Maastrichtian-Early Tertiary) of: 1) the Hadhramaut Group, and;
Formed 105-95 Oceanic crust (Mid-Late Cretaceous), consisting of: 1) a crustal sequence of extrusive basaltic pillow
lavas and interbedded pelagic sediments;
a sheeted dyke complex; high-level plutonic roc
and layered peridotites and gabbros;
2) a mantle sequence of peridotites and harzburgites
3) a basal metamorphic sheet of amphibolites and
Formed 270-70 Mostly calcareous sandstones (U. Permian-Turonian)
deposited as turbidites, comprised of: 1) the Umar Group;
2) the AI AridhIKawr Groups, and;
3) the SumeiniIHamrat Duru Groups (including the
Wahrah Formation).
Aruma Group (Allochthonous Unit)
1) Simsima limestones (U. Cretaceous-L.Tertiary);
2) Fiqa shales and conglomerates of the Juweiza
Formation (Campanian),and;
3) conglomerates and turbidites of the Muti Forma
(Santonian-Campanian).
270-90 Upper Autochthon (= Hajar Supergroup)
Shallow marine limestones and dolomites comprised of
(in the central mountains): 1) the Wasia Group (M. Cretaceous);
2) the Kahmah Group (L. Cretaceous);
3) the Sahtan Group (Jurassic), and;
41 the Akhdar Grow (U. Permian-U.Triassic).
650-270 Lower Autochthon
A sedimentary sequence of limestones and dolomites consisting of: 1) Palaeozoic siltstones of Saih Hatat, Quartzites of
J. Qamar and J. Ramaq, and;
2) Eocambrian rocks of the eastern Huqf.
850-650 Basement (Autochthonous Unit)
Jebel Ja'alan sedimentary rocks (Precambrian)
Geology and stratigraphy of the northern Oman Mountains.
Geology and Early Exploitation of Copper
8/14/2019 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf Technology, Trade, And the Bronze Age World ThePoet006102
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/early-metallurgy-of-the-persian-gulf-technology-trade-and-the-bronze-age 30/269
Figure 2.1 The geological units comprising the Oman Mountains.
Geology of Masirah Island
Masirah Island is located 24 km off the southeastern
coast of O ma n (Figure 2.2). The island is 64 km long
and up to 16 km wide, with a highest elevation of 27 7
m (Moseley 1969:293-294). It contains a suite of rocks
that are very similar to those of the Semail Nap pe,
including mantle serpentinites, ultramafic to gabbroic
cumulates, m assive gabb ros, shee ted dykes, basaltic pil-
low lavas and radiolarian cherts (A bbotts 198 1; Moseley
1990 :665). These rocks w ere originally thou ght t o repre-
sent a pa rt of the Sernail Na pp e (M oseley 196 9; cf.
Moseley an d Ab botts 19 79 ), however, recent geologicalresearch has determined th at th e oph ioli tic rocks of
Masirah are genetically unrelated t o the m ainland ophi-
olite, being late Jurassic-Early Cretac eous in age
(145-125 Ma; G nos et al . 1997; Meyer et al . 199 6;
Smewing et al. 1 991 ).
The ophiolitic rocks of Masirah Island are unu
in that they were em placed a long t ime after their
mation, having drifted in oceanic lithosphere for
approximately 90 M a (Meyer et al. 1996:187). Th
are actually two dist inct ophioli te nappes on Masi
Island (Gno s and P errin 199 6:55), the upper of wh
was obducted onto the lower between the late
Maastrichtian and the pre-Eocene (ca. 60-50 Ma ;
and Perrin 1996:62). It is likely that the emplacem
of the lower Masirah Ophioli te onto the Arabian s
was related to the northward movement of the Ind
plate (although this is a complicated issue; for a fuexplanation and illustration, please see e.g., Mosele
Abbotts 1979 ; Shackleton an d Ries 1 990 ; Smewin
al. 19 91) , and took place sl ightly after the o bdu ct
the upper ophioli te nappe onto the lower (G nos an
Perrin 1996:62).
10 Early Meta llurgy of t he Persian Gulf
8/14/2019 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf Technology, Trade, And the Bronze Age World ThePoet006102
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/early-metallurgy-of-the-persian-gulf-technology-trade-and-the-bronze-age 31/269
Figure 2.2 The major copper deposits and metallurgical sites of southeastern Arabia (triangles) and third millennium settlements (sma
circles).
Geology and Early Exploitation o f Copper
8/14/2019 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf Technology, Trade, And the Bronze Age World ThePoet006102
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/early-metallurgy-of-the-persian-gulf-technology-trade-and-the-bronze-age 32/269
Copper Deposits in Southeastern ArabiaThe vast majority of copper deposits in southeastern
Arabia (Figure 2.2) are hosted in rocks of the Semail
Ophiolite, the formation and emplacement of which is
described above. As show n in Table 2.1, th e Semail
Ophiolite consists of rock series with both mantle and
crustal origins. Th e mantle series is the lowe st strati-
graphic unit in the Semail Nappe, and is composed
mostly of variably serpentinized ultramafic rocks (most-
ly tectonized harzburgites and dunites) with an estimat-
ed maximu m thickness of 10-12 km (L ippard et al.
1986 :41). The peridotites of the ma ntle series are over-
lain by a magmatic assemblage of cumulate gabbros and
peridotites up to four km thick (th e Layered Series ),
and a sequence of high-level plutonic rocks (t he High-
Level Intrusives ), generally gabbros, of up to 500 m
thick (Lippard et al. 1986:14, 41). The high-level intru-
sives are stratigraphically overlain by a she eted diabase
dyke complex of up to 1.5 km in thickness, which actedas a feeder fo r an overlying extrusive sequence of
basaltic pillow lavas up to tw o km thick. Th e extrusive
basalts are interbedded and overlain by pelagic sedi-
ments (Lippard et al. 1986:41, Figure 3.3).
Massive Sulfide Deposits of the Semail Extrusive Series
The largest copper deposits in southeastern Arab ia a re
those con centrated in the Semail upper extrusive
sequence. These massive sulfide deposits are strata-
bound within the pillow lavas of the ophiolite, although
they are not exclusively associated with any particular
strat igraphic interval , and a re directly comp arable to
the large copper deposits of the T rood os Ophioli te in
Cyprus (Coleman 1977:124-126; Batchelor 1992:108;
Lippard et al . 1 986:1 27). The copper, iron an d zinc-rich
ores are exha lative sedimentary depo sits formed either
in sea-floor depressions near oceanic ridges or as a
result of sea-m ount volcanism (Ixer et al. 1984 :123;
Ha up tma nn 1985 :27). The ore metals themselves origi-
nated in the volcanic rocks, from which they were
mobilized by hydrothermal seawater solutions(Jankovic, 1986:27; Hau ptma nn 1985:27).
The massive sulfide deposits are com prised primari-
ly of p yrite (FeS 2), chalco pyrite (C uFe S2),and sphaleri te
(Z nS ), bu t exhibit well-developed gossans con sisting of
brightly colored iron oxides, hydroxides and sulfates in
addit ion to secondary copper minerals such as mal
( C U ~ C O , ( O H ) ~ ) ,zurite ( C U ~ ( C O ~ ) ~ ( O H ) ~nd ra
native copper (Coleman 1977:125; Ixer et al . 1984
Hau ptma nn 1985:26; Weisgerber 1 987:170 ) .
Cem entation zones or zones of secondary enrichme
are not seen in the massive sulfide deposits (Ha up t
1985:25; Hauptm ann e t al. 1988:35), al though the
considerable quanti t ies of secondary sulfur-contain
minerals such as bornite (Cu5F eS4), halcocite (Cu
and covelli te (C uS) in some deposits (Ix er et al .
1984:120 and Table 2; Smewing et al. 1 97 75 36 ).
The three largest deposits in the region occur i
hinterland of Sohar, at the sites of Bayda, Lasail an
'Arja, while other massive sulfide deposits and stoc
works a re known at Zu ha, Raki , Hayl as-Safi l and
Daris in the Su ltanate of O ma n (Calvez and Lescuy
19 91 ). Detailed summ aries of the for mation a nd m
alogy of these deposits can be found in numerou s p
cat ions (e.g. Ixer et al . 198 4, 1986 ; Hauptm ann1985:25-27; Lippard et al . 1986:127-128; Lescuye
al. 1 988 ; Calvez and Lescuyer 1 99 1; Batchelor 199
Azry et al . 1993).
The extrusive lavas of the upper Semail ophioli
were formed as a result of two separate but nearly
temporary magmat ic events ( M 1 and M 2). The form
tion of the first series of pillow lavas (th e V1 o r
Geotimes unit), which form s the footwall of al l the
massive sulfide deposits in southeastern Arabia, wa
related to the first magmatic event. The Geotimes U
directly overlies the sheeted dyke c om plex from wh
was derived (Batchelor 1992:11 4) and w as formed
late Albian to early C enoman ian t imes (Calvez and
Lescuyer 1991 . The Bayda massive sulfide depos it
thoug ht to have been formed by hydrothermal activ
this t ime (Batchelor 1992: 11 4) .
Th e upper lava unit (V 2, consisting of the Lasa
Alley Units) is related to the second m agmatic even
(M 2) , and its earliest manifestations a re associated
the hydrothermal activity that formed the massive s
deposits at Lasail an d 'Arja, as well as those at Z uhRaki a nd Hayl as-Safil (Batchelor 19 92:114). Thus,
majo rity of massive sulfide deposits in the Semail
Ophioli te occur a t the contact between the V1 an d
volcanic units. The Lasail ore deposit has a hanging
of Lasail Unit lavas, whereas the 'Arja deposit has a
1 2 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf
8/14/2019 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf Technology, Trade, And the Bronze Age World ThePoet006102
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/early-metallurgy-of-the-persian-gulf-technology-trade-and-the-bronze-age 33/269
hanging-wall of Alley Unit lavas (Ix er et al. 198 4:Figure
2) . This volcanic an d hy drothe rma l activity is of
Cenom anian to Turonian age and represents the most
important period of copper mineralization related to the
Om an M ountains (Batchelor 1992:11 4 ) .
Othe r C oppe r Deposits of the Semail Ophiolite
Although the largest copper deposits of the Oman
Mountains occur as massive sulfide deposits in theupper extrusive sequence, smaller vein-type deposits are
in fact found thro ugho ut the ophioli te c rustal sequence
and in mant le sequence rocks (H auptm ann
1985:21-3 1).Minor sulfide concentrations are found in
the sheeted dyke complex (Weisgerber 1 9 8 0 ~ :15;
Weisgerber l98Oa: 89; Ha uptm ann and Weisgerber
1980:13 4) and high level gab bros, often associated with
northwest-southeast trending faults (Cole man
1977:124; Lippard et al . 1986:128). Copper deposits
are also known from lower in the crustal sequence, at
the contact between cumulate gabbro and cumulate
peridoti te near the petrological Mo ho (Coleman et al .
1978:12; Weisgerber 1980c:115; Weisgerber 1981 :190),
and along major fractures within the mantle harzbur-
gites (Goett ler et al. 1976:46-47; Hau ptma nn
1985:21-31; Lorand 19 88; Batchelor l9 9 2 :l l4 ). It is
likely that a lot of this fracture mineralization is related
to mineralization at higher levels within the ophiolite
extrusive sequence (Batchelor 199 2:114 ), although
some deposits lie along northwest-trending faults relat-
ed to younger tectonics (Coleman et al . 1978 12).
Although these deposits are generally small, with
lengths of less than 600 m and widths of less than 20 m
(Hau ptma nn 1985:27; Batchelor l9 92 : l l4 ) , they are
frequently of high grade and contain significant quanti-
ties of secondary minerals such as brochantite
( C U & ~ ~ ( O H ) ~ ) ,alachite, azurite and chrysocolla
(C uS i03 .2H 20 ) n addi t ion to primary chalcopyri te and
pyrite (Go ett ler et al . 1976:47-50; Hau ptma nn 1985:26;
Hauptmann e t a l. l 9 8 8:35). Geological researchers in
southeastern Arabia have commonly noted an associa-tion between ancient slag heaps and these lower ophi-
olit ic copper deposits (Greenwo od and Loney l96 8:3 1;
Glennie et al. 1974 :284; Goettler et al. 197 6; Coleman
et al . 1 978 ; Batchelor 1992 :114), and have therefore
suggested th at these ores, ra ther than th ose of the massive
sulfide deposits, were of the greatest importan ce for
early metallurgy in the region (Goettler et al. 1976:4
Hau ptma nn et al . 1 988 :35). There are significant di
ences in the mineralogy of the massive sulfide depos
and those from lower in the ophiolite sequence
(Hau ptma nn 1985:21-31) which, when compared t
compositional data from the analysis of archaeologi
copper-base objects, also support such a conclusion
(Hau ptma nn et al. 198 8:35).It should, however, be noted that significant
amounts of low-grade oxidized copper minerals wer
available in the gossans (i.e. the upper weathered zo
of the massive sulfide deposits of the extrusive sequ
(Weisgerber 198Oc:115-1 16 ), and that a numbe r of
deposits in the vicinity of Wadi Jizzi were wo rked a
early as the third millennium BCE (Weisgerber
198 7:1 45) . This is in contrast t o the evidence sugge
that the unaltered primary copper ores of the massiv
sulfide deposits (i.e. chalcopyrite and bornite) were
work ed on a significant scale until the local Iron Ag
around the beginning of the first millennium BCE
(Weisgerber 19 87:14 5).
Ophiolitic Cop per Deposits o n Masirah Island
A com mo n feature of oph iolites is the occu rrence of
massive sulfide deposits in the various rock units, pa
ularly extrusive rocks, of which they are comprised
(Coleman 1977:124). There are thus st rong a pr or
sons to suspect the presence of copper deposits on
Masirah Island. In fact, copper mineralization was
reported o n Masirah Island as early as the 18 40s (C
18 48 ) in the form of disseminated carbonates (mala
and azurite) associated wi th haemat i te (F e2 03 ) n qu
veins (Batchelor 1992:117) . Othe r copper mineraliz
tions are found in rocks of the sheeted dyke comple
(Moseley 1990:Figure 5 ) and pil low lavas on the isl
(Moseley and Abbotts 1979:Figure l ) , and i t has be
suggested tha t the M asirah Ophioli te and small oph
lites at Ra's al-Madrakah and Ra's al-Jibsch on the
by main land carry obvious poten tial for Cyprus-tycopp er mineralization (Batchelor 1992 :117).
Only a small amo unt of archaeological work ha
been carried out on Masirah Island, but even the ea
geological repo rts mention the presence of ancient s
heaps (Batchelor 1992 :117) . Archaeological informa
Geology and Early Exploitation of Copper
8/14/2019 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf Technology, Trade, And the Bronze Age World ThePoet006102
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/early-metallurgy-of-the-persian-gulf-technology-trade-and-the-bronze-age 34/269
and radiocarbo n analyses indicate tha t copper mining on
Masirah Island can be placed at least as early as the
eighteenth century BCE (Weisgerber l9 8 8:footnote 7;
Weisgerber 199 1:3 27 ), and the cop per of the island is
therefore significant for discussions of Bronze Age pro-
duction and trade in the region.
Non-O phiolitic Copper Deposits in Southeastern Arabia
In addition to copper deposits within rock units of the
Semail Op hiolite, small copper mineralizations c an be
found within stratigraphic units that underlie the Semail
Nappe. Both massive sulfide and vein-type mineraliza-
t ion is found within Haw asina rocks in the Sultanate of
Om an and the U.A.E. (e.g. Hau ptma nn et al . 1988 :48).
The largest Hawasina hosted copper deposit is that at A1
Ajal, no t far from M uscat (Lescuyer et al. 198 8; Calvez
and Lescuyer 1 991) . This Late Permian (>2 50 M a)
deposit, roughly 1 00 m long and five m thick, has high
levels of go ld an d silver but a relatively low c once ntra-tion of copper in the gossan as a result of considerable
leaching (Batchelor 1992:117) .
Further to the north, a number of geological surveys
in the U.A.E. (Greenwo od and Loney 19 68; Hassan and
Al-Sulaimi 197 9) have dem onstrate d small veins of frac-
ture-related copper mineralization in Hawasina rocks.
Th e mineralization is usually of chalcopyrite with vary-
ing quantities of secondary copper carbonates (mala-
chite), silicates (ch rysoc olla) and secondary sulfur-bear-
ing species such as chalcocite (Greenwood and Loney
1968:29-3 1, 51 ). At present, there is no archaeological
evidence for the exploitation of Hawasina-hosted
deposits in southeastern Arabia.
Early Research into Ancient Copper
Production in the Oman Peninsula
Cuneiform Sources Referring to D ilmun, Mag an
and Meluhha
The investigation of copper production in the region of
southeastern Arabia began with the study of
Mesop otamian Bronze Age cuneiform documents. Overthe course of the third and early second millennia BCE
the Gulf, know n to the Mesopotam ians as the Lower
Sea, was the most cri t ical trade route for the supply of
luxury goods an d som e essential raw materials to the
Me sopo tamian alluvium (T. F. Potts 1 99 4) . A significant
body of cuneiform texts, dating from the Jemdet Na
Period to the Old Babylonian Period, records the
exchange of cloth, textiles, grain, silver, oils and oth
Mesop otamian manufactured goods with polit ies of
Lower Sea, for the procurement of various types of
woo d, semi-precious stones, ivory and above all , co
(Leemans 1960:lO-12; Oppenh eim 19 54) . These
cuneiform texts are our earliest historical references
copper trade in the Gulf region, and are reviewed hdue to their imp ortance for reconstructions of early
per production in southeastern Arabia.
The three toponym s associated with the Gulf tr
are Dilmun, Maga n an d Meluhha , each of which is
tioned as a supplier of copper at various periods in
Mesopotamian history: Magan and Meluhha are ref
to only in the Sargonic-Ur I11 periods (ca. 2350-200
BCE), whereas the topo nym Dilmun occurs from th
Late UrukIJemdet Nasr Period through to the Isin-L
an d Old Babylonian Periods, ca. 3100-1750 BCE(Heimpel 1987, 1988, 1 993; Pot ts 1990 a). There i s
strong agreement between archaeological and textua
dence for locating Dilmun on the Arabian littoral o
central Gulf, incorporating Tarut Island by the midd
the third millennium BCE and conc entrated primari
the islands of Bahrain a nd Failaka by the beginning
the second mi llennium BCE (C rawford l9 9 8: -8 an
Figure 1.2; Potts 1 99 0a ). Likewise, the archaeologic
evidence for extensive Bronze Age copper extractio
the Su ltanate of O man (see below) can be correlate
with cuneiform references to M agan as a major sup
of copper, in order to suggest tha t Magan encompa
the area covered by the modern countries of the U.A
and O ma n (Potts 1990a:133-149; Heimpel 19 88) .
association between the Om an Peninsula and the
Sumerian copper-supplying land of Magan had alre
been suggested in the nineteenth century based upo
graphical considerations (Potts 1986:271-272), and
the second decade of the twentieth century early his
cal references to cop per production in Om an ha d b
used to supp ort the association (Potts 1990a:117) .However, the details of a number of Old Akkadian
tary campaigns against the region (a nd the booty th
brought back to Mesopotamia) are more equivocal,
suggest the possibility that areas on the north of the
Straits of Hormuz were also included within the
14 Early Metallurgyof the Persian Gulf
8/14/2019 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf Technology, Trade, And the Bronze Age World ThePoet006102
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/early-metallurgy-of-the-persian-gulf-technology-trade-and-the-bronze-age 35/269
Mesopotamian conception of Magan (Glassner 1989;
Heimpel 19 87 ). Although the possibility of a political
entity spanning the Straits of Hormuz finds parallels in
mo re recent Sasanian-early Islamic polities which did
just tha t (Wilkinson 1979 :889 ), archaeological assem-
blages from each side of the Gulf are so distinct as to
suggest that M agan occupied only so utheastern Arabia.
Almost al l the third m illennium BCE cuneiform
texts from southern Mesop otamia which ment ion spe-
cific toponyms as copper sources speak of copper from
ei ther Mag an o r Di lmun (T. F. Potts 1994:Table 4.1).
Me luhha, th e third poli ty of the Low er Sea, is men-
tioned only rarely as a copper supplier, and then for
amo unts of only a few ki lograms (Leemans 1960:16 1).
The com mon associat ion of Meluhha wi th the supply
of carnelian, lapis lazuli, gold, precious wood s, and
especially ivory, suggests tha t the topon ym is to be
related to the region between the M akr an coast and
Gujar at , enc ompassing si tes of the In dus civilization(Heimpel 1993) .
Dilmun and the Pre-Sargonic Gulf Trade
Cuneiform references t o Dilmun occur as early as the
late fourth millennium BCE, in both lexical lists and
economic docum ents of the Archaic Texts from the
Eanna precinct in Uruk. In these texts, Dilmun is men-
tioned in association with a particular type of metal axe,
and there is a part ial text which refers to Dilmun co pper
and another which mentions a Dilmun garment (Nissen
198 6; Englund 198 3). From Pre-Sargonic Lagash, texts
from the reigns of Lugalanda and Urukagina in the
twenty-fourth century BCE indicate the receipt of
Dilmun copper from the merchant Ur-Enki, in quanti t ies
on the order of 1 00 kg. Contemporary texts show that
items such as milk, cereal products, fat, salve and possi-
bly cedar resin, in addition to the wool and silver more
commonly seen in later periods, were trad ed to Dilmun
in return for copper a nd w ood . Such successful trading
expedit ions seem to have been comm emorated by the
dedication of bronze models of Dilmun ships to the god-dess Nanshe, at her temple in Lagash (Potts 1990a:1 82).
There are also a number of references to Dilmun in the
cuneiform documen ts from Ebla in Syria, dated to the
mid-third millennium. Dilmun occurs as a toponym and
as an element in professional titles (Potts 1986:Table l ) ,
and it seems that the Dilmun shekel was used in eco
nomic transactions in Ebla (Potts 1986:Table 1; Pet
19 83 ). Significantly, there are also references to Dilm
copper an d Dilmun t in at Ebla (Pett inato 1983:77-7
As there are no kno wn copp er sources in easter
Saudi Arabia o r Bahrain, these early references to
Dilmun co pper are usually taken to indicate Dilmun
role as a transhipment center for copper produced f
ther afield. The later significance of Magan as a co
supplier, and the evidence of copper production in
later third millennium in southeastern Arabia, are o
invoked as reasons t o see the earliest Dilmun coppe
originating in the Om an Peninsula (e.g. Cleuziou a n
Mkry 2002:282). As has been described above, ther
evidence for the widespread use of copper-base obje
in southeastern Arab ia by the late fourth m illennium
BCE, but as yet local production has not been conc
sively demonstrated before the Umm al-N ar Period
below). Thus, the hypothesis that the early-third minium cuneiform references to Dilmun copper reflect
mary co pper extra ction in southeastern Arabia is y
be verified.
Gulf Trade in the Old-A kkadian to Ur 111Periods
By the Old Akkadian Period, direct connections are
established between all the polities involved in the G
trade. This fact is most clearly indicated by the claim
Sargon that , under his rule, ships from Dilmun, Ma
and M eluhha docked a t the quay of his ci ty a t Agad
(Heimpel 1987:no. 13 ). Economic texts detailing co
mercial traffic with D ilmun are relatively scarce at t
t ime (Potts 1990a:18 3), al though Dilmunites and
Dilmun boats are still mentioned. A particular type
copper traded at the time, designated as urudu-a-EN
is know n from a han dful of Old A kkadian texts, an
thought to represent copper from Dilmun. In a num
of texts this type of copper is explicitly recorded as
ing come from Dilmun, and W aetzoldt and Bachma
(1984:6) regard urudu-a-E N-da as coming from Dil
even when the source is not specifically identified.Dilmun's role in the Gulf trade in wood and copper
further documented by inscriptions of Gudea of Lag
(Potts l99O a:l84 ). Copper from Magan i tself is men
tioned in only very minor quantities at this time
(Heimpel 1987:no. 20 ), and Manishtusu's reference
Geology and Early Exploitation of Coppe r
8/14/2019 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf Technology, Trade, And the Bronze Age World ThePoet006102
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/early-metallurgy-of-the-persian-gulf-technology-trade-and-the-bronze-age 36/269
campaign against a region across the Lower Sea, where
he traveled to the metal mines, is rather equivocal:
althoug h the crossing of the L ower Sea from Sherihum
(in Iran ) would suggest a location somew here on the
Arabian side of the G ulf, Ma gan is not m entioned by
name, a nd the mines are said to be for KU, usually tran s-
lated as silver or precious metal (Glassner 19 89 ).
Thu s, it is difficult to regard the tex t as the first historical
reference to copper production in O man (contra Potts1990a:138), al though Glassner's ( l98 9:1 86 ) claim that
the lack of silver in southeastern Arabia suggests that
Ma gan lay on the Iranian side of the Gulf is contradicted
by medieval references to silver and gold m ines in Om an
(Weisgerber l987:1 47 ).
By the Ur I11 Period , Ma gan seems to have been
more important than Dilmun in the Gulf trade, and mer-
chants from Ur traded directly with M agan. There are no
references to copper trade d fro m Dilmun a t this time,
even though there are scattered references to Dilmunitesin Southern Me sopotamia and to a continued trade with
Dilmun (Po tts 1990a:186). A number of texts from the
reign of Ibbi-Sin indicate that a M esop otam ian merchant
by the name of Lu-Enlilla received large amounts of gar-
ments and w ool (an d at other t imes, oil and leather
objects) from the storehouse of the temple of Nann a in
order to buy copper in Magan (Leemans 1960:19 ). These
economic docum ents are su pplemented by a slightly earli-
er text which indicates that the temple received from Lu-
Enlilla a tithe of goods that were ob tained o n a trip to
Magan: n ot only copper (more than 15 0 kg), but also
beads of semi-precious stones, ivory and Ma gan
onions (Oppenheim 1954:13; Leemans 1960:21).
Dilmun in Isin-Larsa and Ol d Babylonian Sources
Magan is not mentioned in cuneiform sources after the
Ur I11 period, and there is a corresponding increase in the
frequency of references to Dilmun, which is particularly
associated with the acquisition of copper (Oppenheim
195 4:15). From the Larsa Period a t Ur, specifically the
tenth-nineteenth years of the reign of Rim-Sin (ca.1813-1 804 BC on the Middle chron ology: Van de
Mieroop 1992:136-137) there exist a number of famous
texts related to the activities of Ea-nasir, an alik Tilmun
or Dilmun trader, who was involved in the copper trade
in the Gulf. Individual maritime trading expeditions to
Dilmun, probably unde rtaken by Ea-nasir himself
(Leemans 1960 :52), were financed by large num bers
investors, who each contributed a small amount of c
tal to the mission in the form of silver rings, baskets,
sesame oil, and textiles (Van de Mier oop 199 2:196 ).
Upon return fro m Dilmun, the proceeds were divide
amongst the investors, who frequently complained a
the quality of the copper that had been supplied to t
(Oppenheim 1954:lO-11). Although the archives frothe house of Ea-nasir indicate that the trad e was u nd
taken by private merchants, the Palace was involved
proceedings as sometime investor, and th roug h the c
tion of taxes upon the completion of the expedition
de Mieroop 1992:19 7; Leemans 1960:SO). Leemans
(19 60:5 4), in fact, sees the Palace as Ea-nasir's majo
client. Earlier in the second millennium, it seems tha
Ningal temple was more involved in the trade than t
Palace, insofar as tithes of goods or votive offerings
cured by Dilmun traders were deposited at the templ(Leemans 1960:19-22; Van de Miero op 19 92:19 7).
volume of the copper tra de was large: texts fro m the
early Larsa period contain references to tithes of hun
dreds of kilograms of copper from trade expeditions
Dilmun (Leemans 1960:23-36), while individual tex
from the from the house of Ea-nasir in Ur mention u
18,000 kilograms of copper (Leemans 196050).
Oppenheim 1 54: 13 ) contrasts the copper trade
undertaken by Ea-nasir with that of Lu-Enlilla from
Ur I11 Period. The goo ds traded between M esopotam
and the Gulf in the Lu-Enlilla and Ea-nasir archives
very similar, but the economic context of financing th
venture is different: in the Larsa Period, Ea-nasir acte
private merchant (even thoug h the Palace may have c
ly monitored and been a major beneficiary of the tra
whe reas in the Ur I11 Period, L u-Enlilla seems to have
been an agent of an institution, the Na nna temple
(Oppenheim 1954:14 ) .
Sometime between the fall of Larsa and the dec l
the Dynasty of Ha mm urab i, Dilmun ceased to supply
per to sou thern Mesop otamia. A lthough still mentioncuneiform sources, it was kno wn only for its local ag
tural products and sw eet water, not as a supplier of c
per (Oppenheim 1954:15-1 6). Crawford (1996,
1998:154-155) has suggested that this was probably
result of the disruption caused by the establishment o
16 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf
8/14/2019 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf Technology, Trade, And the Bronze Age World ThePoet006102
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/early-metallurgy-of-the-persian-gulf-technology-trade-and-the-bronze-age 37/269
unified Babylon under Hammurabi, and his conquest of by those of eighteenth and nineteenth Century Europ
Mari and the middle-Euphrates region. Hammurabi's
actions simultaneously decimated Mesopotamia's major
point of access to the Gulf trade, led to a widespread
depopulation of southern Mesopotamia, and opened up
routes to alternative copper sources in Anatolia and the
Mediterranean. It is perhaps no coincidence that a text
from the fifth year of the reign of Hammurabi's succes-
sor, Samsu-Iluna, bearing the first cuneiform reference to
copper from Cyprus (Alashiya), also contains the last
reference t o Dilmun copper (Potts 1990a:226; Crawford
1998:155).
As for the earlier periods of the Gulf trade, the cop-
per of the Dilmun trade in the Isin-Larsa and Old
Babylonian Periods is most commonly regarded as having
originated in southeastern Arabia. As outlined below,
however, the evidence for copper production at this peri-
od in the Oman Peninsula is extremely limited, a situation
which is surprising given the fact that the Gulf coppertrade seems to have reached its greatest extent at this
time. Any hypotheses suggesting the exclusive origin of
early second millennium Dilmun copper in Oman are
impossible to evaluate at this stage, and will require
extensive archaeometallurgical research to verify.
Arab and European Historical Sources
There is an enormous chronological gap before the next
historical references to copper production in southeastern
Arabia in the tenth century CE. These sources consist of
Arab historical and legal documents from the medieval
period and later (Weisgerber 1987: 47-148), which are
supplemented by the accounts of early European explor-
ers in the Gulf region (Potts l99Oa: 114-1 17). They pos-
sess the distinct advantage of referring directly to copper
production in Oman, rather than t o the trade through the
Gulf of copper which may or may not have originated in
southeastern Arabia.
Amongst the earliest of these sources is the Arab his-
torian and geographer Abul Hasan Ali Al-Mas'udi, who
visited Sohar in the early tenth century CE and notedthat copper was produced in the region. A later Persian
manuscript from the fourteenth century CE by Al-
Mustaufi indicates the production of gold, silver and iron
in southeastern Arabia (Weisgerber 1987:147), but does
not mention copper. These accounts were substantiated
explorers in the region such as Carsten Niebuhr, J. R
Wellsted, H. J. Carter, A. Germain and S. B. Miles (
1990a:114-116; Carter 1848). These observers refer
sistently to local copper mines in Oman and on Mas
Island, although the operational status of these mine
appears uncertain.
There are also Arabic historical texts dealing wit
mining regulations in Oman. The earliest reference is
Jami by Ibn Ja'far which dates to ca. 900 CE, while
in the vicinity of Izki and in Wadi al-Jizzi are mentio
in the twelfth century CE without specific reference t
materials extracted from them (Weisgerber 1987:147
Potts l9 9Oa:ll4) . The records indicate that mines co
be sub-let from their owners, probably merchants in
Sohar, for 10 percent of the net profit of the mine (J.
Wilkinson 1979:892). Rules existed to cover the leas
mines when the lessee had terminated work or when
was not being paid. Mining licenses could be unlimitbut could also be granted for limited time periods of
100 years, and included details of the topographical
of the claim (Weisgerber 1987:148). Additionally, pa
ships existed between owners and miners, in which p
and risks were shared (Weisgerber 1987:148).
These early legal documents and historical sourc
addition to the reports of the first European explorer
the region, provide important information which can
necessarily be supplied by archaeological evidence alo
For example, information on the administration and
control of mining in the tenth century CE adds consi
ably to our understanding of the organization of pro
tion at this time, while the limited evidence for local
duction recounted by later European explorers can a
corroborate archaeological evidence of declining prod
tion in the second millennium CE. Unfortunately, the
accuracy of some of the European material is questio
(Potts 1990a:115), while the Arabic sources focus pr
ly upon the laws of mine ownership and the division
profits (Potts 1990a:114-115; Weisgerber 1987:147-
without mentioning important operations such as orecentration, smelting, and refining. Archaeometallurgi
evidence will always be critical in supplying evidence
copper production in periods where historical data a
lacking, and for providing a material framework to
in the interpretation of historical records when they
Geology and Early Exploitation of C opper
8/14/2019 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf Technology, Trade, And the Bronze Age World ThePoet006102
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/early-metallurgy-of-the-persian-gulf-technology-trade-and-the-bronze-age 38/269
Early Scientific A nalyses
The earliest scientific investigation of copper produc-
tion in the region was undertaken in the 1920s, as
one component of research into the sources of copper
used by the Sumerians (Peake 1928) . In this analyti-
cal program, a number of early copper objects from
Mesopotamian sites such as Ur, Kish and Tell al-
Ubeid, were analyzed for their composition. It was
hoped that such analyses, when linked with analyses
of ores and slags from western Asian mining regions,
could have provided evidence of which sources were
most likely to have provided the copper used by the
Sumerians.
The conclusions of the study were founded upon
the idea that relatively high percentages of nickel
characterized both the ore sample from Oman and
early copper objects from Mesopotamia. It followed
that, during the third millennium, at least some cop-
per used in Mesopotamia was obtained from Oman
(Peake 1928). While recent research has indeed indi-
cated that this conclusion is true, the metallurgical
bases of the arguments used in the Antiquity article
are in fact erroneous. Modern geological and archae-
ological research indicates that nickel occurs in many
copper deposits of western Asia (Cheng and
Schwitter 1957:351; Muhly 1973a:229), and therefore
high nickel levels in archaeological objects cannot be
used to suggest that early Mesopotamian copper
came from the relatively nickel-rich deposits of
Oman. Additionally, nickel does not occur with the
same frequency in all the copper deposits of Oman
and the U.A.E., meaning that copper produced in
southeastern Arabia could have very low levels of
nickel (Hastings et al. 1975 :lS ; Goettler et al.
1976:46-47; Batchelor 199 2). In general, the reliabili-
ty of using compositional data to source archaeologi-
cal objects of copper has been increasingly ques-
tioned since the 1970s (e.g. Craddock 1976;
Craddock and Giumlia-Mair l988; Pollard and
Herron 1996:302 ff.; Budd et al. 1996; Pernicka1999). Another problem with this early study was
the extremely small database employed to support
hypotheses of provenance. A total of only 20 archae-
ological objects were analyzed, along with one cop-
per slag and one ore sample from Oman.
Geological and Archaeo logical Surveys in the Early 1
The next phase of research into early metallurgy in
southeastern Arabia did not occur until the 1970s
involved the first significant archaeological and
tific study of the material remains of ancient sm
ing operations within Oman. During this period
importance of southeastern Arabia to studies of
Gulf copper trade was first clearly demonstrated
through the discovery of evidence for copper pr
tion from the third millennium BCE onwards. T
archaeological evidence came to light primarily
through research programs conducted by the geo
cal survey company Prospections Limited Oman
(Goettler et al. 197 6) , by Harvard University
(Hastings et al. 1975 ), and by the Institute for
Human Palaeontology in Rome (Tosi 1975).
Geological research in the region was under
by Prospections Limited Oman from 1973.
Interestingly, geological survey for copper depos
Oman was to a large degree inspired by Geoffre
Bibby's then recently published book, Looking fo
Dilmun (Bibby 1970; Goettler et al. 1976:43). O
of the major approaches utilized in Prospection
Limited's survey for copper deposits was the que
tioning of local inhabitants with regard to their
knowledge of old smelting places in the mounta
(Weisgerber 1991b:79). As a result, the investiga
of Prospection Limited resulted in some importa
archaeological discoveries, including the remains
at least 44 ancient production sites. These sites
recognized primarily by the presence of slag pro
duced by ancient smelting operations, estimated
ally to range from "a few tons to, in one instan
more than 100,000 tons" (Goettler et al.
1976:43-44). Examples of slag heaps associated
early copper smelting in the region are illustrate
Figures 2.3-2.4. Nineteen deposits were estimate
have at least 1 ,000 tonnes of slag. The variation
the size of slag deposits at different smelting sit
were thought to reflect the fact that smelting options at a newly discovered ore body were part
the prospecting process (Goet tler et al. 1976:44
this model, small slag heaps represented "test ru
in which the viability of an ore body had been
assessed and found to be non-economic.
18 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf
8/14/2019 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf Technology, Trade, And the Bronze Age World ThePoet006102
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/early-metallurgy-of-the-persian-gulf-technology-trade-and-the-bronze-age 39/269
Figure 2.3. Slag heaps at Samdah, Oman (from Weisgerber 1978:PI. 12b).
Evidence for the extraction of copper ores was
also recorded. Surface mining was recorded in the
form of small pits and trenches, as well as larger
"open" pits of up to 1 00 m wide, while shafts and
adits of considerable depth were found at a number of
sites. The overall impression gained by the geologists
of Prospection Limited was that "a major effortinvolving extremely hard, highly organized work was
mounted" in order to extract an d process the copper
ores (Goettler et al. 1976:45).
Consideration was also given to the technology
employed in the copper smelting and the types of
ores exploited. It was suggested that secondary c
per minerals such as malachite, azurite and turq
( C U A ~ ~ ( P O ~ ) ~ ( O H ) ~ - S H ~ ~ )ould have been the
mary ores utilized. This supposition was support
by the fact that 23 of the 44 production sites w
adjacent to workings in shear zones in basic intr
sions, in which only secondary minerals were pr(Goettler et al. 1976:46-47). It was thought that
ondary ores would have provided a high-grade f
to the smelters, and would have been easily seen
separated by early miners due to their bright col
Additionally, the major sulfidic ore found in Om
Geology and Early Exploitation of Copper
8/14/2019 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf Technology, Trade, And the Bronze Age World ThePoet006102
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/early-metallurgy-of-the-persian-gulf-technology-trade-and-the-bronze-age 40/269
Figure 2.4. Slag fields at Tawi 'Arja, Oma n (after Weisgerber 1978: PI. 18a).
deposits, chalcopyrite, was generally found to be high-
ly intermixed with other minerals in the ore body, and
hence difficult to extract by hand sorting (Goettler et
al. 1976: 47). Native copper was regarded as occurring
so rarely as to have been insignificant for early copper
use in the region (Goettler et al. 1976:47).
Establishing the periods of use of the mines and
smelters located in the geological survey was considered
of basic interest, but conclusions were difficult to draw
and required the introduct ion of archaeological evidence.
Goettler et al. (1976:45) suggested three main periods of
exploitation: a pre-Islamic phase, a phase dating to the
nineth to tenth centuries CE, and finally a phase dating to
the fifteenth to sixteenth centuries CE. Workings of the
pre-Islamic phase were considered, partly on archaeolog-
ical evidence collected by the Harvard Archaeological
Survey, to have been worked as early as 2500 BCE, possi-
bly continuing into the second millennium BCE (Goettleret al. 1976:45-46). The later phases of extraction were
determined through the analysis of pot-sherds from vari-
ous smelting sites, and also through the radiocarbon
dating of charcoal inclusions in slag samples (Goettler
et al. 1976:46).
Evidence of third millennium BCE mining ac
ties was also recorded by the Italian expedition to
Oman (Tosi 1975) and by the Harvard Archaeolog
Survey (Hastings et al. 1975). The Harvard survey
not aimed solely at the discovery of sites related t o
per production, nevertheless third millennium BCE
with evidence of copper smelting were recorded at
Samad 5, Batin 1, and Zahir 2-3 (Hastings et al.
1975:12 and Figure 2). Fieldwork by the Italian mi
also generated discussion on ancient mining in the
region, and Tosi and Piperno suggested that "surfac
mining in the deposits or the gathering of metal-be
pebbles from the wadi beds probably prevailed ove
actual mining operations" (Tosi 1975:198). The ev
for third millennium copper smelting in the region
regarded by the Italian mission as very similar to m
third millennium material with which the authors w
already familiar, from the site of Shahr-i Sokhta inIranian Seistan (Tosi 1975:202). However, the reco
structions of smelting technology suggested by both
Italian mission and the Harvard team (Hastings et
1975:12) were speculative efforts unsupported by
tific analyses of the extant smelting remains.
2 0 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf
8/14/2019 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf Technology, Trade, And the Bronze Age World ThePoet006102
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/early-metallurgy-of-the-persian-gulf-technology-trade-and-the-bronze-age 41/269
Brief mention is made, in both archaeological and to scientifically determine the provenance of coppe
geological reports from the early 1970s, of the impor-
tance of these discoveries for the location of the land
of Magan. A number of compositional analyses of ore
was presented by Prospection Limited (Goettler et al.
1976:49-SO), in which the presence of nickel was
demonstrated (particularly for deposits in shear zones
in ultrabasic rocks), in support of the conclusions of
Peake (1928) discussed above. In contrast, Hastings et
al. (1975:l.S) noted that, although there was good evi-
dence for the production of copper in the region in the
third millennium BCE, at the time of their article there
was no clear evidence for the export Omani copper in
the Bronze Age. Indeed, the area was regarded by these
researchers as "a scene of quiet well being untouched
by the maelstrom of Mesopotamia or Iran" (Hastings
et al. 1975:15). Sensibly, however, they allowed that
excavation might change the reconstructions suggested
by their survey data.Thus, the archaeological and geological work car-
ried out in Oman between 1973 and 197 5 was able to
demonstrate significant evidence for ancient copper pro-
duction in the region. Theories were proposed regarding
the technologies and processes of copper smelting at var-
ious periods in the region's past, although archaeometal-
lurgical and related analyses were extremely limited.
Estimation of the periods of copper production also
proved problematic, while calculations of the volume of
copper production in the various periods of extraction
were not possible due to this chronological uncertainty,
in addition to the incomplete nature of survey and the
lack of detailed archaeometallurgical analyses.
Analyses by the Centre Natio nal de la Recherche
Scientifique CN RS ), France
In the late 1970s and early 1980s, a number of
archaeometallurgical studies were published by scholars
from the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique
(CNRS) , he Commissariat 'Energie Atomique, and
the Laboratoire de Recherche des Musies de Francethat included analyses of material from southeastern
Arabia (Berthoud 1979; Berthoud et al. 1980, 1982;
Berthoud and Cleuziou 1983). The articles represented
an effort to characterize the evolution of alloying tech-
niques in early western Asia (Berthoud et al. 1982) , and
used in various regions bordering the Gulf in the fo
and third millennia BCE (Berthoud et al. 1980;
Berthoud and Cleuziou 1983). Surprisingly, these w
the first published analyses of copper-base objects
the Gulf since the work of Peake for the Sumerian
Copper Committee in the 1920s.
The provenance program was based on two
of compositional data: one on copper ores from
ous ancient mining regions in western and centra
Asia, the second on copper objects from Iran,
Mesopotamia and southeastern Arabia (Berthoud
Cleuziou 1983:242). Berthoud et al. (1980:88;
Berthoud and Cleuziou 1983:242-243) noted a g
similarity in the composition of copper used in t
mid-third millennium from the "Vase i a Cache
late third millennium BCE copper objects from U
and Umm al-Nar Period objects from southeaste
Arabia (Hili and Umm al-Nar Island), as well astinct differences in the composition of copper pr
duced in Iran and Oman. They concluded, amon
other things, that southern Mesopotamia and
Khuzistan obtained their copper from southeaste
Arabian sources at least by the Early Dynastic I11
period, and perhaps as early as the EDII period
(Berthoud and Cleuziou 1983:243).
The analytical approach of Berthoud (1 979)
been questioned (Seeliger et al. 1985:642-643, n
74 ) on the grounds that the analyses were of an
accuracy and precision insufficient to allow the
ed conclusions of the work, and on the limited n
ber of analyses used to characterize copper produ
in different areas (Hauptmann 1987:209; Hauptm
et al. 1988:34). The claimed ability of the analys
satisfactorily delineate between southeastern Ara
and Iranian ore sources has been particularly dis
ed. The limited nature of the ore database is par
larly clear in some instances, for example in sou
eastern Arabia where analyzed ores contained ar
levels of up to only 690 ppm, whereas objects frthe region contained up to seven percent arsenic
(Berthoud et al. 1982 :45) . Nevertheless, the Fren
analytical program was important for providing
first characterization of the chemical composition
significant numbers of copper-base objects from
Geology and Early Exploitation of Copp er
8/14/2019 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf Technology, Trade, And the Bronze Age World ThePoet006102
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/early-metallurgy-of-the-persian-gulf-technology-trade-and-the-bronze-age 42/269
southeastern Arabia, and for focusing on material
from the northern part of the Oman Peninsula, in
the modern U.A.E. The subsequent work by the
German M ining Museum, to which we wi ll now
turn, has deal t almost exclusively wi th material from
more southerly regions, in the modern day Sul tanate
of Oman.
German Mining Museum Project in OmanThe work in O man of the German Mining Museum
began in January 1977 , as a collaboration with the
Om an D epartment of Antiquit ies and scholars from the
Universi ty of Naples (Cos ta 1978:9) . It was agreed at
that t ime that a G erman expedit ion t o the region was to
be entrusted with all studies concerning archaeometal-
lurgy (C osta 197 8:13), and impo rtant field seasons were
conducted by this expedit ion in the late 197 0s and early
1980s (Weisgerber 1978a, 1978b, 1980b, 1980c, 1981,
1 987 , l 9 8 8; Hauptmann and Weisgerber 1980;Hauptman n 1985, 1987; Hauptma nn et al . 1988).
Germ an research in the Sultanate of Om an with a
strong, though far from exclusive, emphasis upon copper
produ ction continues t o this day (e.g. Yule 1 99 6; Yule
and Weisgerber 1996 ; Prange et al. 1 99 9) .
The early survey work of the Germ an team was able
to build upon the results of the geological survey under-
taken by Prospection Limited in the early 1970s
(Weisgerber 1 978a :20), and was part icularly focused
upon the importance of Om an and sou theastern Arabia
in general as a potential location of Magan (e.g.
Weisgerber 1983, 1984, 1991b). This research focus was
inspired by Geoffrey Bibby's Looking for Dilmun
(Weisgerber 1991 :76), and remains a hallmark of more
recent archaeometallurgical w ork on Om ani material by
the Germ an team (Prange et al. 19 99 ).
The ir initial research centered u pon mining sites in
the hinterland of Sohar, at Lasail, Bayda, 'Arja a nd
Samdah, and on the third millennium BCE site of
Maysar 1 in the Wadi Samad that had been discovered
by the Ha rva rd A rchaeological Survey (Figure 2.2;Hasting s et al. 197 5; Weisgerber 19 78 a; see also
Lambe rg-Karlovsky 2001:xxxiv-vi). It wa s soon realized
that the vast majori ty of the more tha n 15 0 mining and
smelting sites that they recorded were worked in the
Islamic period (W eisgerber 1980 b:68; l98O c: 11 5) ,
althoug h it was recognized tha t evidence for earlier
ods of production at these sites could occasionally b
found (e.g. Weisgerber 1980 b:lO l; 198 l: l87 -19 0).
si tuation encoun tered by the G erman team in O man
paralleled by tha t in Cyp rus, where evidence for sig
cant Bronze Age production is often obscured or
destroyed by later Phoenician and R oman workings
(Weisgerber 1 982:2 8).
Over the course of fo ur field seasons in the Sulof Oman , the German M ining Museum expedit ion
able to provide an outline of the periods of copper
duction in the region (e.g. Weisgerber l 9 8 1:Abb. 4)
characterize the development of copper mining and
extraction technology (e.g. Hau ptma nn 19 85 ), est im
the volume of cop per produced in some historic a nd
historic periods (H aup tma nn 198 5:108-1 O9), and b
to address the social and economic implications of t
industry for southeastern Arabia (e.g. Weisgerber
l98Oc:11
7-1 18 ). Additionally, as the archaeology osoutheastern Arabia was s o poorly k now n in the 19
the fieldwork of the German mission was crucial in
development of a basic chronological framework fo
cussion of the archaeology of the region (W eisgerbe
1982 :29). As such, the results of these investigation
rank as amongst the most important contributions
archaeology of southeastern Arabia by a single rese
group. The archaeometallurgical results of this rese
are summ arized below.
Periods of Production
It is est imated tha t there are ap proximately 5 0 majo
copper deposits an d more tha n 10 0 minor deposits
mountains of northern Om an (Weisgerber 1983:270
The majority of these ore-bodies show signs of expl
tion in the Islamic period, however multi-period
exploitat ion has been found to be comm onplace
(Weisgerber 198 3:27 4) and the e arliest period of co
exploitat ion in the region can be traced back t o the
millennium BCE. The G erman mission in Om an has
vided a reasonably secure chronological basis for thcussion of various periods of copper production in
southeastern Arabia based upon typological analyse
excavated m aterial (e.g. Weisgerber 1987:Figure 76
Ha up tma nn 1985:38-40) and programs of scientifi
ing, notably radiocarbon and thermoluminescence (
2 2 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf
8/14/2019 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf Technology, Trade, And the Bronze Age World ThePoet006102
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/early-metallurgy-of-the-persian-gulf-technology-trade-and-the-bronze-age 43/269
50 1OOmI l l , , )
Figure 2.5.The settle me nt at Maysar 1, the m in ing area M2,and the cemetery M3, in Oman ( f rom
Weisgerber 1983: Figure 2).
Geology and Early Exploitat ionof Copper
8/14/2019 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf Technology, Trade, And the Bronze Age World ThePoet006102
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/early-metallurgy-of-the-persian-gulf-technology-trade-and-the-bronze-age 44/269
Weisgerber 1981:250-251 an d Abb. 95; Yule and duced only abo ut 1 00 tonnes of slag (Weisgerber 19
Weisgerber 19 96:1 41 ). Nevertheless, some limitations in 1981; Hauptma nn 1985:92-95). Al though only aro
the chronological a ttribu tion of smelting sites do exist,
and their effect on archaeological theories ar e discussed
in the relevant sections below.
As outlined below, evidence for local copp er pro -
duction in the H afit Period is entirely circumstantial,
and includes the presence of copper objects in Hafit
graves and in the uppe r levels of fifth-third millenn iumBCE shell-middens at Wadi Shab GAS1, Ra's al-Hamra
and Ra's al-Hadd. Copper production sites of this peri-
od ar e not reported by the G erman researchers, however
an early but undated trial and error phase of copper
production from Maysar 1 is thoug ht to represent cop-
per extrac tion prior t o the Bliitezeit of produ ction a t the
site in the late third m illennium BCE (H aup tma nn
l9 85 : l l 3) . Copper droplet-slags from this period at
Maysar 1 are extremely high in copper, suggesting an
inefficient extraction of metal which m ay have been ca r-ried out in open crucibles (H aup tma nn 1985:92 ). A sec-
ond smelting site recorded at al-Batin has been dated by
thermoluminescence to ca. 25 00 BCE, i.e. a few cen-
turies before production a t Maysar 1 (Yule 19 96 ; Yule
and W eisgerber 1 996 :141 ). Th e slag from al-Batin is
typologically distinct from that produced later in the
Urnm al-Nar Period (Yule and Weisgerber 199 6: 4 l ) ,
but little more can be said about the technology of cop-
per extraction in southeastern Arabia in the early-mid
third millennium BC.
Archaeological evidence suggests an expa nsion of
production from the later third millennium BCE. Sites of
this period are generally referred to in German reports
as Bronze Age (third to second millennium) , b ut are
clearly regarded as dating to the Urnm al-Nar Period
rather than the Wadi Suq Period (Hauptmann
1985:113-115). At least twenty sites with evidence for
copper extraction are l isted by Hau ptma nn
(1985:116-117), some of the most impo rtant being
Maysar 1, Assayab, Bilad al-M aaidin, Wadi Salh 1 and
Tawi-Ubaylah (Weisgerber l 9 81 l 7-190; Hauptmannet al. 1988:35). Up to 4,000 tonnes of slag are recorded
at individual Bronze Age smelting sites, although the
reconstructions of smelting technology depend mostly
upon material excavated from the late Urnm al-Nar
Period settlement at Maysar 1 (Figure 2.5), which p ro-
20 sites with Bronze Age slag were recorded by the
German team, they envisage that contem porary cop
extraction would have taken place a t many, perhaps
most, of the known copper deposits in the region
(Weisgerber 1984:198; Hauptman n l985:95 ). The e
dence from many sites may have been completely co
ered or destroyed by later mining activities, particulduring the e arly Islamic period. T he association of U
al-Na r Period burial cairns with num erous extractio
sites showing no signs of Bronze Age exp loitation is
regarded as suggestive of the w idespread distributio
early mining an d sm elting activities in the region
(Weisgerber 1 78a: 19-20). Howe ver, this hypothesi
unproven.
Th e combined results of archa eological survey,
vation and archaeometallurgical analysis have allow
reconstruction of the volume of copp er produced insoutheastern Arabia in the second half of the third m
lennium BCE. Based o n the am ou nt of Bronze Age
recorded at smelt ing sites in O ma n (ca. 10,00 0 tonn
and an experimentally calculated slag to copper rati
between 5: l and 10:1, Hauptmann (1985:108) was
to arrive at a minimum figure for Urnm a l-Nar Peri
copper production of between 1,000 and 2,00 0 ton
Given the likelihood that many Urnm al-Nar Period
smelting sites were destroyed by later mining activit
conservative estimate of total production of betwee
2,000 and 4,000 tonnes was suggested (Hau ptma nn
1985:108).
Extensive evidence for copp er use in the Wadi S
Period exists in the form of copper-base grave go od
(Velde 2003:109-112; Weisgerber 199 1a; Potts
1990a:252-253), and primary copper production is
thought by some scholars to have continued in this
od, perhaps at levels similar to that in the preceding
Urnm a l-N ar P eriod (e.g. Velde 20 03: 109 ; Weisgerb
19 88:2 85 ). However, it must be stressed tha t the us
copper objects is at best circumstantial evidence fortemporary primary copp er extraction (c ontra Velde
2003:109), given the fact that much of the copper u
in the Wadi Suq Period could have been obtained fr
robbing the richly-furnished Urnm al-Nar Period gr
that covered the peninsula, or th rough trade (e.g.
24 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf
8/14/2019 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf Technology, Trade, And the Bronze Age World ThePoet006102
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/early-metallurgy-of-the-persian-gulf-technology-trade-and-the-bronze-age 45/269
Weisgerber l981 2 l9 ). In contrast to the third millenni-
um or the Iron Age, very few Wadi Suq Period settle-
ments are known (Velde 2003:Table 1; Carter 1997),
and none sh ow evidence for primary copper sm elting
such as that seen in the Wadi Fizh or a t Maysar 1. The
only clear evidence for contem porary primary produ c-
tion is the presence of copper mines on Masirah Island,
which have been radiocarbon dated to approxima tely
18 00 BCE (Weisgerber 198 8:note 7; unfortunatelydetails of calibration are not given). In addition, copper
smelting in this period has been hypothesized based
upon the presence of Wadi Suq type tombs in Wadi Salh
and W adi Samad in areas adjacent to copper sm elting
refuse, al though the co ntemporaneity of the tombs an d
the sme lting practices is far fro m certain (Weisgerber
1988:285 and note 7 ). N o publ ished reports exist
regarding the volume of slag of Wadi Suq date from
these sites, and the technological basis of pro duction
remains unk now n (Yule and W eisgerber 1996: 14 4) .If it is main tained th at significant copp er produc tion
continued into the second millennium BCE in O man , the
continued non-appea rance of Wadi Suq extraction and
smelting sites must be explained through either: 1)
incomplete survey; 2 ) near-complete destruction o r
obscurement by later production, o r; 3) problems in the
recognition or dating of this material on archaeological
sites (cf. Ha up tma nn 1985 :95). With fieldwork by the
Germa n mission continuing into the 1990 s, the l ikeli-
hood of incomplete survey as an explanation for the
dea rth of W adi Suq-related sm elting sites is quickly
diminishing (cf. Weisgerber 1 98 8:2 85) . Likewise, the
discovery of B ronze Age an d Iron Age smelting remains
amongst extensive early Islamic operations at numerous
sites suggests tha t the seco nd factor is unlikely t o have
completely compromised the search for second millenni-
um smelting remains. With regard to the third possibili-
ty, Velde (200 3:10 9) has suggested that the scanty
knowledge of second millennium mate rial culture at
the t ime the German surveys were undertaken may have
affected the reco gnition of Wadi Suq Period smeltingsites. However, even the early publications of the
Germ an team (e.g. Weisgerber 1981 :219) show aware-
ness of the second millennium funerary material recov-
ered by Frifelt (1 97 5a ) in the Wadi Suq and by the
French excavations at the Hili-8 settlement (Cleuziou
1980 , 19 81 ). The non-recognition of this m aterial b
Germ an researchers, therefore, seems unlikely.
Furthermore, the continuation of the Germa n fieldw
into the late 199 0s, when 2nd millennium material
ture sequences were much more clearly known, sug
that the continued scarcity of Wadi Suq Period sme
sites is unlikely to be explained by non-recognition
diagnostic material remains.
It is the chronological range of putative BronzAge sme lting sites which may require closer scruti
Th e ceramic material fro m Bronze Age smelting site
located within settlements (e.g. Maysar 1, Wadi Fiz
shows tha t they da te exclusively to the later Umm a
Period (e.g. Weisgerber 1981:Abb. 17 ). However, m
Bronze Age smelting sites are not associated with
tlement remains and, consequently, lack ceramics. T
sites are thus dated by com parison to M aysar 1 sla
typologies rather tha n to ceramic typologies, and co
feasibly cover a greater time period than Maysar 1Specifically, such sites may hav e resulted f rom prim
copper produ ction well into the Wadi Suq Period.
Clearly, detailed archae ometallurgical investigations
required at such extraction sites, and in areas such
Ma sirah Island where som e evidence for Wadi Suq
Period copper production does exist . Unti l such wo
has been undertaken, reconstructions of the volume
periodicity of local copper production in the second
lennium BCE, such as presented by Weisgerber
(1981:Abb. 4 ) and H auptmann (1985:Abb. l ) , em
conjectural (see below).
An increase in copper production has been hyp
sized for the Iron Age in sou theastern A rabia, as a
of the first exploitation of the massive sulfide depos
the upper extrusive sequence of the Semail Ophioli
(Weisgerber l988:286 ). At least twenty a rchaeologi
sites related to Iron Age copper extraction are reco
(Hauptman n 1985:1 6-1 1 7) , including large-scale
(Weisgerber 19 87 :15 0), slag fields, and settlements
which copper processing was a n imp ortant econom
activity (e.g. Cos ta and Wilkinson 1987:99-10 3). Sof the mor e imp orta nt sites include Lasail (Weisger
1987 :150), Raki (Weisgerber 1988:286; Yule an d
Weisgerber 1996:142-144; Weisgerber and Yule
1999:109-116 and Figure 12 ) and 'Arja site 13 2
(Weisgerber 1987: 4 8) , al though analysis of archae
Geology and Early Exploitation of Copper
8/14/2019 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf Technology, Trade, And the Bronze Age World ThePoet006102
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/early-metallurgy-of-the-persian-gulf-technology-trade-and-the-bronze-age 46/269
allurgical finds is minimal and technological details of
Iron Age smelting processes remain largely unknown
(Yule and Weisgerber 1996: 14 2) . Evidence for techno-
logical change within th e Iron Age is provided by strati-
fied slag deposits from Raki, which show two different
slag types, and w hich a re at least partially da table to ca.
1100-800 BCE by radiocarbon determinations
(Weisgerber and Yule 1999:115 ) .
Iron Age sites face, in general, the same prob lems of
preservation as Bronze Age sites. They are very prone t o
destruction by early Islamic activities, particularly as
they concentrated upon the exploitation of the same ore
bodies (massive sulfide deposits) as mined in the Islamic
period, a nd their original number w as undoubtedly
greater than that observed through modern survey and
excavation. As for the Bronze Age, Iron Age copper
extraction at a num ber of si tes has been postulated on
the basis of nearby Iro n Age burial cairns (e.g. Yule and
Weisgerber 1996:1 4 2 )Although no published estimates exist for the
amo unt of copper produc ed in the Iron Age, a consider-
able increase from preceding Bronze Age output is clear,
judging from the volume of surviving extraction waste.
Single smelting sites with as much as 45,000 tonnes of
Iron Age slag have been recorded (Hauptmann
1985 :107, 116-117; cf. Yule an d Weisgerber
1996:142-144), and a minimum production of
7,000-20,000 ton nes can be confidently suggested,
based on Hauptmann's (1985:108-109) calculations for
the massive sulfide extraction of the early Islamic peri-
od and the presence of more tha n 80 ,000 tonnes of Iron
Age copper slag at the si tes of R aki 2 an d Tawi Raki 2
a lone (Hauptmann 19 85: l l6 -11 7) . The grea t quanti ty
of copper-base objects from Iron Age tombs in south-
eastern Arabia, for example Qidfa (Im-Obersteg 1987;
Cor boud et al . 19 88 ) and IbriISelme (W eisgerber
l 9 8 1:232-233; Yule and Weisgerber 2 00 1) , provides
addit iona l circumstantial suppo rt for the large-scale
local production of copper in the Iron Age.
A significant gap seems to exist in the evidence forcopper production in southeastern Arabia between the
mid first millennium BCE and the mid first millennium
CE. Very few radioc arbon dates exist for smelt ing oper-
ations f rom the first millennium BCE (see Weisgerber
1981:Abb. 95 ), as sites were dated by the presence of
diagnostic Iron Age or Lizq Period ceramic sherd
Pottery of the later first millennium BCE and early
turies CE in Om an (the so-called Samad Period )
no t been recovered from an y smelting si tes, and the
evidence for prod uction is provided by some slag s
ples from 'Arja which yielded late pre-Islamic radio
bon age ranges of the fifth to seventh centuries CE
(Weisgerber 1980 b:Table 2; Weisgerber 1987:148-1
and Table 1 4) . At present, copper processing of thi
period is recorded only at two sites in the vicinity o
Bayda gossan, and a t Raki (Yule 1996 :176), al thou
is thoug ht tha t late Sasanian exploitat ion of other c
per mines in the region is likely (Weisgerber 1987:
Copper production in southeastern Arabia reac
its greatest extent in th e early Islamic period, a nd t
enorm ous quanti t ies of waste material generated by
these activities have obliterated most traces of earli
activity. Almost all the known copper deposits of t
Om an M ountains were worked at this time (Weisg1980 :115; Weisgerber 1980:68; Weisgerber 198 3:2
Production wa s found to have peaked in the ninth
tenth centuries CE, based upon ceramic finds and
numerous radiocarbon analyses (Weisgerber
1991b:80-81), with quanti t ies of slag of up to 100
tonnes reported from Lasail . Mo st impo rtant si tes
this period were located in the hinterland of Sohar,
which provided the trading outlet for the enormou
plus of produ ction (Wh itehouse 1979:874-875; J.C
Wilkinson 1979:892), and included Samdah (ca. 40
tonnes of slag), 'Arja an d Bayda (Hau ptm ann
1985:116-117). Inland si tes such as Raki and Wad
were also important copper sources (Hauptm ann
1985:116-117).
Because of the large quantities of available arc
logical evidence, a grea t deal is know n abo ut the te
nological aspects of copper production in this perio
and, to a lesser extent, the organization of pro duct
at the m ining si tes and the econom ic regulation of
trade in this material through Sohar (J. C. Wilkins
1979:892; Weisgerber 1987 :144). Around 600,000tonnes of early Islamic slag have been recorded in
Oman and calculations of production during this p
od, based upo n a slag to copper ra t io of between 1
and 10:1, suggest a total outp ut of between 48,000
60,000 tonnes of copper (Ha uptm ann 1985:108-10
2 6 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf
8/14/2019 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf Technology, Trade, And the Bronze Age World ThePoet006102
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/early-metallurgy-of-the-persian-gulf-technology-trade-and-the-bronze-age 47/269
Figure 2 6 Evidence for Umm al-Nar Period mining at Maysar2, Oman (from Weisgerber l98Ob: Abb.48).
There appears to be a hiatus between the large-
scale copp er produ ction of the early Islamic period in
southeastern Arabia and subseq uent product ion, the
first evidence for which d ates to the twelfth century CE
(Weisgerber l98Oc: 118-1 19 ; Weisgerber l 9 8 1 Table 2) .
Copper ext ract ion from the twelfth century o nwards is
represented by much less archaeological evidence,
reflecting drastically reduced levels of pro duction an d
lower levels of technological unde rstandin g in comp ari-
son to earlier smel t ing operat ions (H au ptm ann
1985:103-107). Approximately forty extraction si tes
dating from the twelfth to nineteenth centuries CE are
know n from Germ an surveys and excavation in Oman ,
some of the most impor tant being Abu Zainah a nd
Tawi 'Arja (Ha uptm ann 1985:107, 116-117). Copp er
product ion (whether cont inuous o r no t ) over theseseven centuries produced a total of approximately
25,000 tonnes of slag which, at a rat io of slag to cop-
per of between 6.7:l and 8.3:1, represents a total pro-
duct ion of 3,000-3,700 tonnes of copper (Ha up tma nn
1985:109) .
Mining
In the Umm al-Nar Period, evidence of techniques u
in the mining of copp er ores comes primarily fro m
in the vicinity of the settlement of Maysar 1 (Weisg
1983:271). The nearest mining site, Maysar 2 (Figu
2.6), is less than 10 0 m from Maysar 1 and contain
dence in the form of deep surface scratches for th
extraction of appr oxim ately 10 ,000 m3 of ore and
gangue through open cast mining (Weisgerber 1980
Weisgerber 198 0b:89 an d Abb. 28 ). Oth er mine site
this period, M aysar 1 6 and Maysar 49, exhibit evid
for similar extraction techniques, al though at M ays
deeper mining is suggested by the presence of two i
fil led shafts (Hau ptm ann 1985:91).
In the vicinity of May sar, the most frequently m
copper deposits of the third millennium BCE were tsmall, fault-controlled stock-w ork ores located in b
and ultrabasic rocks of the ophiolitic upper mantle
sequence or the lower cumulate sequence of the oph
crust (Weisgerber 198010389; Hauptmann 1985:Abb
These ores, altho ugh of a sulfide basis like all copp
Geology and Early Exploitation of Copper
8/14/2019 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf Technology, Trade, And the Bronze Age World ThePoet006102
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/early-metallurgy-of-the-persian-gulf-technology-trade-and-the-bronze-age 48/269
ores in southeastern Arabia (Weisgerber 198 3:270 ), had
intense areas of secondary mineralization, including such
species as malachite, chrysocolla, brochantite and
antlerite ( C U ~ S O ~ ( O H ) ~ ) .he ores selected h ad low pro-
portion s of iron sulfide (pyr ite) and copper-iron sulfide
(chalcopyrite), and high copper co ntents of five to 5 6
percent (Ha up tma nn 1985:91) , both of which are impor-
tant considerations for early smelting technology.
Significantly, copper ores fro m such de posits are likely tohave different mineralogical cha racteristics to massive
sulfide ores from the extrusive sequence. In particular,
nickel (Ni) ,arsenic (A s)and cobalt (C O) evels are l ikely to
be higher in the types of deposit exploited a t Maysar, as
mineral species containing these elements are often inter-
grown w ith the local copper ores (Ha uptm ann et al .
1988:35).
As noted above, very little is know n ab ou t copp er
mining in the following Wadi Suq Period. Mines da ted to
ca. 18 00 BCE by radiocarbo n analysis have been record-ed on M asi rah Island (Weisgerber 1988:28 5), but n o fur-
ther details of mining techniques or the ores extra cted are
availab le. Similarly, alth oug h smelting rem ains of Iron
Age date are know n from abou t 20 sites in Om an, l i tt le
has been writ ten o n mining techniques of this period. The
Iron Age is said to represent the first period in which the
ophioli t ic m assive sulfide depo sits were exp loited for
their copper content (Weisgerber l 9 8 8:286), and Iron
Age mining activities are likely to ha ve been significantly
destroyed by early Islamic operations in the region (e.g.
Weisgerber 19 87:14 8). Evidence from th e si te of Lasail
suggests that a n enorm ous open cast mining area in the
deposi t gossan, up to 30 m deep, may date to the f i rst
millennium BCE (Weisgerber 1987 :1 5 0 ) .
Th e most extensive evidence for min ing activities in
southe astern Arabia comes, unsurprisingly, fro m the
early Islamic period . As noted by Weisgerber
(1980c:115), mining techniques in O man were shaped by
the geological nature of copp er deposits in the oph ioli te.
The m ost intensely mined dep osits in O ma n were those in
which significant am ou nts of copper remained in the gos-San. In som e cases, the goss an itself was nea rly com plete-
ly removed in a procedure whereby the weathered a nd
concentrated ore-body was dug in front , the ore was
taken ou t at the spot , and the w aste deposited behind
(Weisgerber l98 O c: l l 6) . Si tes such as Assayab, M ul laq
and Samdah show evidence for the removal through
ing of large am ou nts of the original gossan (W eisger
1980c:116) .
For other depo sits, und ergrou nd m ining using g
leries, shafts an d pits is evidenced. Rectan gular shaf
ca. 80 X 60 cm (Weisgerber 198013366-67 and Abb.
typical of mining ope rations of this period at si tes su
Bayda, Tawi Ubaylah, Lasail and al-Sayab, a nd incl
shafts and galleries have been found a t depths of up
87.5 m (Weisgerber 1987:150 and Figure 67 ).
Archaeological evidence indicates tha t these galleri
had roof s upp orts of acacia wo od a nd roofs of date
matting , l ighting was provided by terraco tta oil lam
and o re and gangue were removed throug h the use o
ing devices such as windlasses as well as by han d
(Weisgerber 1987 :150-15 1, Figure 68 ). For al l peri
of mining activity in southe astern A rabia, the disco
of metall ic extr actio n tools is unlikely because of th
fidic natu re of the ores, which ge nerated a n acidic eronm ent wi thin the mine deposi ts that wo uld have
dest royed an y remaining metal art i facts . As for the
Age, the mos t imp orta nt ores sou ght by the early Is
miners were mixed i ron a nd i ron-copp er sul fides
(Hau ptma nn 1985:95) , as well as t he ex tens ive low
centage copper mineral izat ion in the gossans of the
sive sulfide deposi ts ( Ha uptm ann 19 85:107-108, A
85 ). Analyses of slags produced in this period ind ic
tha t relatively li t tle gangue ma terial was included in
furnace charge, suggest ing that ei ther the massive f
of the ore made sort ing easy or that o re concentrat i
processes prior to smel t ing were more thorou gh in
early Is lamic period (Hau ptma nn 19 85:95) . The co
conten t of the concen trated sulfidic ores used for sm
ing was in the range of 15-20 percent (Ha up tma nn
1985:95) .
The mining of copper ore is not thoug ht to have
take n place to any significant extent in the later Isla
per iod in Om an (H auptm ann 1985:103) . Copper p
duction in the twelfth to n ineteen th centuries CE is
thoug ht to have relied on the reworking of earl ierIslamic and perh aps pre-Islamic slag, as evidenced b
pi ts d ug into m any slag heaps of these periods a t s i t
where later Islamic workings are know n (Weisgerb
1978 a:19; Weisgerber 198 0b:73 ; Weisgerber
1987 :160 -161 ; H aup t m an n 198 5 : 103 ) .
28 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf
8/14/2019 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf Technology, Trade, And the Bronze Age World ThePoet006102
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/early-metallurgy-of-the-persian-gulf-technology-trade-and-the-bronze-age 49/269
Figure2.7. Hammer and anvil stones from Maysar l , Oman (from Weisgerber 1978: PI. 1 1c).
Ore Concentration
In all periods of copper production in southeastern
Arabia, ore crushing and concentration was carried out
using hand held hammerstones and large stone anvils.
Numerous examples of such objects are known from
third millennium BCE levels at Maysar 1 (e.g.
Weisgerber 1978a:Pl. l l c ) as well as a t sites of the
Islamic period such as Samdah and Tawi 'Arja (e.g.
Weisgerber 1978a:Figure 9, P1 15b, 21d; Weisgerber
1987:152-153).
Anvil stones are usually identified by the presence
of multiple concavities caused by repeated hammering
(e.g. Weisgerber 1978a:Pl. 21c), and smaller cubic ham-
merstones often show evidence for use of all six faces
during ore crushing and concentration activities (e.g.
Weisgerber 1978a:Figure 10). There is little or no vari-ation through time in the typology of the hammer and
anvil stones used in southeastern Arabia, and such
items are thus chronologically non-diagnostic when
seen at smelting sites in the region. Maysar 1 examples
are illustrated in Figure 2.7.
Smelting
The evidence for copper smelting in southeastern Ar
in the third millennium BCE comes primarily from
Maysar 1 settlement site excavated by the German
The archaeological remains from this site have been
documented in a number of publications (e.g. Hasti
al. 1975; Weisgerber 1978a; 1980b; 1981), and are
icant for the presence of large amounts of material
as ore, slag, furnace fragments and bun-shaped cop
ingots which indicate the primary extraction of cop
the site. This range of material, in addition to the e
dence from the nearby extraction site of Maysar 2,
allowed a detailed reconstruction of the smelting te
nology used at Maysar 1 in the third millennium BC
(Hauptmann 1985; Hauptmann et al. 1988).
The earliest copper production at Maysar 1occin the first half of the third millennium BCE, althoug
archaeometallurgical evidence of these operations is
extremely limited. Very small smelting furnaces or cr
cibles were used, although no evidence of their actua
form remains, and secondary oxides and sulphur-be
Geology and Early Exploitation of Copp er
8/14/2019 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf Technology, Trade, And the Bronze Age World ThePoet006102
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/early-metallurgy-of-the-persian-gulf-technology-trade-and-the-bronze-age 50/269
Figure 2.8 Fragments of the base of a smelting furnace from Maysar 1, Oman
(from Weisgerber 1983: PI. 9).
copper minerals were processed (Hauptmann 1985:92) .
Only moderate smelting temperatures were reached, the
reduction of copper ores to metal was incomplete and the
separation of copper from slag was poor, leading to slags
with very high copper contents of up to 30 percent
(Hauptmann 1985: 113) .The nature of the analyzed slags
of this period from Maysar 1 strongly suggests that these
operations represent a "trial and error" phase of copper
production at the site
Later Umm al -Nar Period smelting at Maysar 1uti-
lized a mixture of the secondary ores mined at sites such
as Maysar 2, Maysar 16 and Maysar 49, including mala-
chite and chrysocolla as well as sulfur-containing ores
such as brochantite (Hauptmann et al. 1988:36,71-72).
No roasting of the ores was undertaken prior to smelting
operations (Hauptmann et al. 1988:36, 71-72). These
ores were mixed with charcoal produced from local treeand shrub species (e.g. acacia, prosopis and zizyphus),
and iron ores such as haematite (Fe203) nd limonite
were used as fluxes (Hauptmann et al. 1988:37). The
iron-rich fluxes were necessary as the copper ores used
were intensively intergrown with siliceous country rock,
not all of which could be removed during ore conce
tion processes.
The surviving furnace fragments from Maysar 1
Figure 2.8) indicate that the smelting furnaces in use
site were made of leaned clay, and had a diameter of
40-50 cm, a height of approximately 40 cm and a vo
of between 10 and 15 liters (Weisgerber 1983:274;
Hauptmann 1985:92). Exact details of the forced air
ply to the furnaces are not known, although fragmen
tuygres have been recorded at the site and the use of
lows is regarded as likely (Hauptmann 1985:92). Th
number of furnace fragments at Maysar 1 in compar
to the quantity of slag has suggested to the German t
that smelting furnaces of the third millennium BCE a
Maysar 1 had a short lifespan, and were frequently r
(Hauptmann 1985:92).
During the one-step smelting process, both copprelatively pure matte (mostly Cu2S, with low levels o
were produced. Copper was precipitated within the f
nace by reduction of the ore in the presence of charco
and also by the principle of the "roast reaction", in w
matte is oxidized to cuprite (Cu 20),which then reac
3 Early Metallurgy of the PersianGulf
8/14/2019 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf Technology, Trade, And the Bronze Age World ThePoet006102
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/early-metallurgy-of-the-persian-gulf-technology-trade-and-the-bronze-age 51/269
with the remaining m atte to prod uce m etallic copper, as
follows (Hau ptma nn 1985:94):
I. 2Cu2S + 3 0 2 2 C u 2 0 + 2 S 0 2 +
2. Cu2S + 2Cu2O 6Cu + SO2+
The oxide-sulfide mineral interaction central to
Hauptma nn's roast reaction is thus akin to the concep t of
CO-sm elting nvestigated by a num ber of archa eom etal-
lurgists (e.g. Lechtman and Klein 1999 ; Rostoker and
Dvo rak 1991 ; Rostoker et al. 1 98 9) , which will be dis-cussed later in this volume with regard to the prod uction
of arsenical copper alloys. Studies of the slag and furnace
fragments from Maysar indicate that temperatures in the
range 1,150-1,200 degrees C were achieved in the fur-
naces (Hauptman n et al. 198 8:3 64 0) .How ever, the vis-
cosity of the resulting slag/matte/copper m ix within the fur-
nace was relatively poor, meaning th at sep aration of these
elements was sometimes less than ideal (Hau ptma nn et al.
1988:40). Slag was tapped from the smelting furnace in a
viscous state, and thus frequently contain ed high levels ofresidual copper (see Hau ptma nn 1985:1 9-120). Examples
of the different types of slag found a t Maysar 1 are illustrat-
ed in Figure 2.9.
At the end of the smelting process, the newly-won cop-
per an d matte were separated by mechanical means
(Hauptman n 1985:1 4 ) , although high levels of sulfur an d
iron in analyzed copper sam ples from the region indicate
tha t significant am ounts of matte can remain in copper pro-
duced by this process (Hau ptm an n et al. 1988:37 ; see also
Rostoker et al. 1989:Figures 6-7). Following mechanical
separation, the small copper lumps produced by the primary
smelting oper ation were rem elted together in ceramic cru-
cibles and finally cast into planoconvex ingots in approp ri-
ately-shaped cavities dug into the sandy floor of the copper
workshop s at Maysar 1 Weisgerber and Yule 2 00 3:4 84 9)
without being further refined (Hauptmann 1985:93-94).
There is no clear evidence from M aysa r 1 o indicate that
the matte produced during primary sm elting was further
processed into metallic copper, although this is envisaged
(Hau ptma nn 1985:Abb. 74; Hau ptma nn et al. 1988:37).
Th e total prod uction of copper in the settlement atMaysar 1 s thought to hav e been relatively small, and p rob-
ably for domestic use (H auptm ann 19 85:114). In compari-
son, much larger contemporary extraction and smelting
sites such as Wad i Salh 1 and Taw i Ubaylah have been
recorded in Om an, suggesting that pro duction o n a larger
o Gasblasen
W Kupferstein
Kupfer
Figure2.9. A slag typolo gy for U mm al-Nar Period copper pr
tion a t Maysar l , showing (A) large tapslags, B) plate-like tap
with negative impressions of mixed cop per-m atte concentra
on the base,(C) thin tapslags or plate-slagsyand (D) droplet-
(from Hauptmann 1985:Abb. 16).
scale may also hav e occurred in southeastern Arabia in
Umm al-Nar Period (H auptmann 198 5:34,95 ,114). T
issue is furthe r investiga ted below. Reg ardless of the sc
prod uction activities, copper extraction a t all know n s
seems to reflect a similar technological basis to that se
the settlement metallurgy of M aysar 1 (Weisgerber
1981:210).
In con trast to the Um m al-Nar P eriod, very little i
know n regarding Wadi Suq or Iron Age smelting techn
in southeastern Arab ia. Slag or o ther extraction debris
Wadi Suq date has not been recorded by the G erman m
sion. Although m ore tha n twe nty sites with evidence f
Age smelting have been recorded (see Figure 2.1O), the
blocky black slag with fragments of brick-red lining o
outside and the silvery gray tapslags (see Figure 2.1
which are characteristic of I ron Age smelting operation
remain largely unanalyzed (Weisgerber 1987 :148 ; Yul
Weisgerber 1996:144; cf. Hau ptm ann 198 5:123 ). Iron
smelting furnaces seem to h ave been excavated in area
soft ground, and used over more than one smelting op
tion, how ever very few other technical details have beegiven (Weisgerber 1987:14 8) . During the HellenisticIS
period in southeastern Arabia, the possibility of small-
copper smelting in crucibles within settlements is sugg
by excavated material from M leiha, in the U.A.E. (P
and Orzechowski 1994:30-32).
Geology and Early Exploitation of Copper
8/14/2019 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf Technology, Trade, And the Bronze Age World ThePoet006102
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/early-metallurgy-of-the-persian-gulf-technology-trade-and-the-bronze-age 52/269
Figure 2.10. lron Age smelting remains from Oman, including hammer stones and slag (from Costa and Wilkinson 1987: PI.51).
Figure 2.1 1 lron Age copper slag fromlArja in
Oman (after Weisgerber 1978: PI. 16a).
The next major smelting operations in the reg
are those undertaken in the early Islamic period, i
9th and tenth centuries CE. These operations have
vast quantities of archaeometallurgical remains at
extraction sites in southeastern Arabia, and as a re
are very well studied and characterized (Hauptma
1 985 ). As noted above, predom inantly massive sul
ores were exploited at this time, and a complicate
relatively advanced extraction technology was deve
to deal with the primary, unweathered ores of pyr
chalcopyrite and bornite (e.g. Hauptmann
1985:107-108, Abb. 79 ). The extraction process i
early Islamic period is best conceived of as a com
ed process involving repeated stages of alternating
roasting and smelting operations (Weisgerber 1987
see also Rostoker et al. 1989:70-72 and Figure 1Poor quality ores would require more roasting stag
than better quality ones, and historical evidence fr
sixteenth century CE Europe suggests that the tota
roasting time for the ores could have approached
month (Hauptmann 1985:96).
32 Early Metallurg y of the Persian Gulf
8/14/2019 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf Technology, Trade, And the Bronze Age World ThePoet006102
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/early-metallurgy-of-the-persian-gulf-technology-trade-and-the-bronze-age 53/269
The ores were roasted in a series of stone- and
mortar-l ined pits, usually ab out l m in diameter, which
were dug into hill slopes at the production sites
(Weisgerber 198 0b:A bb. 7 ). Subsequently, they were
smelted in shaft furnaces du g into rocky hill slopes,
often behind and above roasting installations, in the
vicinity of the mines themselves (Weisgerber 1987:154) .
Early Islamic roasting ovens and smelting furnaces have
been excavated at a number of sites in Oman and theU.A.E., such as Lasail, Bayda an d 'Arja an d Wadi
Ma dhab , an d show a great degree of structural similari-
ty across the region.
Each smelting opera tion produ ced 20-50 kg of tap-
slag (e.g. Weisgerber 1978a:Figure 2 ) and 5-6 kg of cop-
per matte containing 50-60 percent copper, which
would have separated by density in the tapslag pit at the
front of the furnace (Ha upt ma nn 1985:114; see also
Fran klin et al. 1 97 6) . Following initial sme lting, the
refined copper m atte, separated mechanically from theiron-rich slag, would have been roasted and re-smelted a
number of times before finally being reduced to metallic
copper (Hau ptma nn 1985:Abb. 79). The smel ting fur-
naces used in south eastern A rabia in the early Islamic
period were relatively robust, as they were used for sig-
nificant periods of time an d occasionally rebuilt
(Weisgerber l987 :15 6). The location of the furnaces
seems to have been changed when too much slag buil t
up in th e direct vicinity, and s o individual slag heap s
from this period tend n ot to exceed 6,000 tonnes
(Weisgerber 19 87:15 6).
Following the cen tury or so of early Islamic smelting
in southeastern Arabia, there is a gap in archaeological
evidence for copper extraction (see above) followed by
the introduction of completely new and technologically
inferior smelting techniques in the twelfth t o nineteenth
centuries CE. Indeed, slags of this period f rom such sites
as Tawi 'Arja and Abu Zaina h were initially thou ght to
represent the remains of prehistoric smelting operations
due to their low technological standar d (Weisgerber
1978b:29-30). Radiocarbon analyses of charcoal inclu-sions on th e slags soon indicated their relatively recent
age (Weisgerber l981:Table 2) .
As noted above, there seems to have been little min-
ing of co pper ores a t this time, and the basic smelter
feed consisted of recycled early Islamic slag with high
matte content an d some iron oxides and secondary
per minerals from early Islamic refuse piles (Haup
1 985: 103-1 04 ). The smelting furnaces used were b
shaped and were part ly dug into the ground
(Ha uptm ann 1985:Abb. 82 ). A small clay superstru
withou t a chimney shaft , extended above ground
(Hau ptma nn 1985:104). Slag and mat te were no t t
from these furnaces, but rather were allowed to sol
after smelting. This resulted in a large slag cake witcopper matte ingot at i ts base which was extract
destroying the furnace superstructure an d digging t
remains from the g round (Weisgerber 1987 : 15 9) . E
smelting operation therefore required the constructi
a com pletely new furnace, u sually in the vicinity of
vious examples, leading to the characteristic thin an
dispersed natu re of the bowl-slag fields of this perio
(Weisgerber 198 7: 15 9) . The slag a nd matte w ould
been separated by mechanical means. No evidence
regarding the further treatment of the copp er matteduced in twelfth to nineteenth century CE smelting
ations has been recorded at any archaeological sites
Oman, so the final stages in the production of meta
copper at this time remain u nknown (Hau ptma nn
1985:107).
Periodicity in Copper Production in Prehisto
Southeastern Arabia
As described above, archaeometallurgical research
regarding the chronology of copper produc tion in O
indicates that mining and extraction processes wen
through a number of periods of low or negligible o
An expression of this variability is given in Weisger
(1981:Abb. 4 ) summ ary of early German w ork in t
region, which suggests a significant reduction in co
production in the second millennium BCE, and a co
plete lack of production between ca. 500 BCE and
CE, and ca. 1200-180 0 CE. Although these exact r
are mo dified in more rec ent publications (cf. Weisg
l 9 88:285 on W adi Suq mining; Weisgerber 198 7:
148-149 on Sasanian workings; Hauptmann 1985:for twelfth to nineteenth century w orkings), coppe
duction in Oman still appears to exhibit a distinct
dicity. The factors contributing to such variations i
per production in the Bronze and Iron Ages are dis
in this section.
Geology and Early Exploitation o f Copper
8/14/2019 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf Technology, Trade, And the Bronze Age World ThePoet006102
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/early-metallurgy-of-the-persian-gulf-technology-trade-and-the-bronze-age 54/269
Figure2.12 Periods of copper production in southeastern Arabia. Part a) after Hauptmann (1985: Abb. 1). Part b) show-
ing average copper production (tonneslyear) or the regions based upon the calculations of Hauptmann (1985: 115)
and data in Batchelor (1992:Table 1). Data: Umm al-Nar Period production = 4,000 tonnes, duration = 400(min.)-
700(max.) years. Iron Age production = 10,000 tonnes, duration = 500(min.)-1,00O(max.) years. Early Islamic production
= 60,000 tonnes, duration = 100years.Twelfth-nineteenthcentury CE production = 3700 tonnes, duration = 700 years.
Modern production = 107,200 tonnes from 1983-1990.
The summary of periods of production given by
Hauptmann (1985:Abb. 1) s presented in Figure
2.12(a ). The diagram is adm ittedly schematic, bu t never-
theless unintentionally suggests that copper production
occurred at similar levels in the Umm al-Nar Period, the
Iron Age, the early Islamic Period, and the modern peri-
od of the O man Mining Company. Mo re problematical-
ly, the diag ram intentionally suggests th at these levels of
production w ere much higher than those of the second
millennium BCE an d the twelfth-nineteenth centuries
CE. A rough guide to the levels of copper production in
the region is provided by averaging estimations for totalproduction in each period over the duration of the peri-
od, a s is presented in Figure 2.1 2( b) . This is a gra ph of
the average copper production (tonneslyear) in each
period, based on the production volumes determined by
Hauptman n (1985:115) and data in Batchelor
(1992:Table 1). n contras t to Haup tmann's depicti
Figure 2.12(b ) suggests that copper production in th
Umm al-Nar and early Islamic periods, and the late
twentieth century were different by orders of magni
and that Umm al-Nar Period copper production wa
probably of a scale much m ore comparab le to the
twelfth-nineteenth century CE workings in the regi
than to the industrial production of the early Islami
mo dern p eriods. This realization is critical in consid
the organization of copper production in prehistori
southe astern A rabia, as discussed below. Likewise,
continuation of copper production thr ough out the ond millennium BCE suggested by Hauptmann's di
is not currently supported by any mo re archaeologi
evidence than is available for the Late Pre-Islamic P
(see abov e), which is presented as a period of zero c
per production.
34 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf
8/14/2019 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf Technology, Trade, And the Bronze Age World ThePoet006102
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/early-metallurgy-of-the-persian-gulf-technology-trade-and-the-bronze-age 55/269
In attempting to explain these variations in produc-
tion, the first question that arises is whether the pattern
is the result of incomplete or unrepresentative archaeo-
logical research. The position taken in the following dis-
cussion is that, given the extent and duration of
archaeometallurgical fieldwork in Oman, it is likely that
the observed variations in copper production are a rela-
tively accurate reflection of real phenomena, and require
archaeological explanation. The major caveat that must
be considered when evaluating this assumption is the
lack of detailed archaeological research on Masirah
Island. Given the lone radiocarbon date of ca. 1800 BCE
that has come from a copper mine on the island (see
above), this locality might contain evidence critical for
our understanding of Wadi Suq Period and Late Bronze
Age metallurgy. As noted above, there is also an element
of uncertainty regarding the absolute date of the
"Bronze Age" smelting remains recorded by the German
Mining Museum, and a continuation of copper produc-tion into the Wadi Suq Period is possible.
To begin, there are a number of factors that likely
affected production levels at all periods in the history of
copper extraction in southeastern Arabia. The first of
these is the environmental cost of large-scale copper
smelting, especially in terms of the amount of wood and
wood-charcoal required for generating the high tempera-
tures and reducing atmospheres necessary for smelting.
A calculation of the wood requirements for the roasting
and smelting of 600,000 tonnes of slag in the early
Islamic Period, for example, suggests that perhaps 25
million acacia trees were harvested over a period of
approximately 100 years to produce the required
amounts of charcoal (cf. Weisgerber 1980a:75-76;
l98Oc: ll9; Hauptman 19 8S: ll4) . It is thought that
such activities may have exhausted wood supplies, at
least within the region of the mines themselves, and led
to severe deforestation and desertification (Weisgerber
1991b:86). These figures, when applied to the
10-20,000 tonnes of slag produced in the Umm al-Nar
Period (see above), suggest that perhaps a million treeswere harvested for copper smelting in the second half of
the third millennium BCE. Likewise, the minimum
80,000 tonnes of recorded Iron Age slag might have
required the harvesting of several million trees.
Although the amount of fuel required in the prehistoric
period is much lower than for the complex Islamic
ing and smelting operations, the reduced output of
Wadi Suq Period also correlates with increasing arid
in the region (e.g. Brunswig 1989; Carter 1997), wh
may have exacerbated the effects of large-scale fuel
ering. Thus, the enormous fuel requirements of Bro
Age and Iron Age smelting operations may have ult
mately limited output, and may partially explain th
observed periodicity in Omani copper production.
The second factor to be considered for all preh
toric periods in southeastern Arabia is the prevalen
copper procurement through grave robbing. For ex
ple, although the evidence for primary copper prod
tion diminishes in the early second millennium BC
great number of copper-base objects are known fr
Wadi Suq and Late Bronze age funerary contexts,
secondary copper refining and casting are known f
Tell Abraq (Weeks 1997) and the Shimal settlemen
(Vogt and Franke-Vogt 1987) . Likewise, there is a nificant number of copper-base objects, and coppe
working areas, known from settlements and graves
the later first millennium BCE and early centuries
(e.g. Ploquin and Orzechowski 1994; Haerinck 19
yet this is a period for which no evidence of prima
production has been recorded. It is likely that in th
periods, the recycling of copper objects through to
robbing was an important practice. Objects deposi
graves represented a source of metal that required
pler technology and fewer resources to exploit, an
whose distribution was significantly wider than tha
the copper ores themselves. Indeed, recycling must
regarded as an economically-viable alternative to p
mary copper smelting for any period of Oman's m
using past, particularly from the late third millenn
BCE onwards. It is likely, however, that tomb-robb
could have supplied only local needs, not foreign
demand, especially given the practice of depositing
per-base objects in burials which continued into th
early first millennium CE.
In contrast to these factors which may have oed at all periods of local copper production, it is a
apparent that some of the variations in output bro
coincide with economic and social changes in wide
western Asia: Umm al-Nar Period production with
florescence of the Gulf t rade (e.g. Edens 1992); W
Geology and Early Exploitation of Copper
8/14/2019 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf Technology, Trade, And the Bronze Age World ThePoet006102
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/early-metallurgy-of-the-persian-gulf-technology-trade-and-the-bronze-age 56/269
Suq recession with its collapse (e.g. Crawford 1998);
early Islamic Period "industrial" production with the
boom period of the Indian Ocean trade (e.g. Whitehouse
1979). That is, it seems clear tha t copper production in
southeastern Arabia also responded to historically con-
tingent events and processes. In the following discussion,
the socio-economic and technological factors which
interacted to affect copper production in southeastern
Arabia are discussed.
Origins and Growth of Production in the
Third Millennium BCE
As described later in this chapter, the firs t copper-base
objects appear in southeastern Arabia in the late four th
to early thi rd millennium BCE, in both settlement and
funerary contexts. Given the long history of metal use
in the neighboring regions of Baluchistan, Iran and
Mesopotamia prior to the third millennium, the origins
of metallurgy in southeastern Arabia have usually beenseen as external rather than indigenous. The origin of
the southeastern Arabian copper ext raction technology
in southeastern Iran or Baluchistan is regarded by some
scholars as particularly likely, even "obvious"
(Cleuziou and M ir y 2002:304). These areas have a
long history of primary metal extraction, and demon-
strable technological parallels with the Oman Peninsula
in other crafts, such as ceramic production. In fact, the
stylistic and technological aspects of early pottery pro-
duction in southeastern Arabia bear such close resem-
blance to contemporary industries across the Straits of
Hormuz tha t a movement of people between the
regions has been hypothesized ( Mi ry 1996:168-1 69) .
However, while the evidence for the origin of early
Omani pottery technology in Iran/Baluchistan is com-
pelling, the lack of information on the earliest copper
production in southeastern Arabia means that
hypotheses regarding the origins of smelting technolo-
gy remain conjectural. The little evidence that does
exist in Oman suggests a low level of technological
understanding characterizable as a "trial and error"phase of production (Hauptmann 1985:92), which is
inconsistent with the direct adoption of a developed
extraction technology. Difficulties in assessing such
hypotheses are further exacerbated by our limited
understanding of earlier and contemporary metal
smelting in the putative "origin" zone, at sites suc
Tepe Ghabristan, Tal-i Iblis and Shahdad on the
Iranian Plateau (Pigott 19 99a) . Well-studied extr
tion procedures, such as those known from Bron
Age site of Tepe Hissar, for example (Pigot t et a
1982; Pigott 1989 ), cannot be paralleled in Oma
The evidence might therefore best be considered
an example of "stimulus diffusion": the idea of
use may have originated elsewhere, for example
the people who brought pottery technology to so
eastern Arabia, but the smelting technology itsel
not, and was developed locally. A Mesopotamian
connection to early Omani copper extraction wa
hypothesized in a number of early archaeologica
studies, based upon the discovery of Jemdet Nas
pottery vessels and beads in local Hafit graves a
side the earliest copper-base objects (e.g. During
Caspers 1971:43; Frifelt 1980:27 8). However,
Mesopotamia was a center of metalworking andproduction of finished objects rather than of min
and smelting, and the presence of Mesopotamian
prospectors in Oman (e.g. Orchard 1995:155; Fr
198 0) seems a priori to be unlikely.
Mesopotamian influence on early copper pro
tion in southeastern Arabia is much more likely t
have been in the economic sphere rather than the
technological. For example, the expansion in scal
geographic scope of the Gulf trade from the third
lennium has been related to an increasing
Mesopotamian demand for metals, woods, and lu
goods that, with the collapse of the Uruk expansi
could no longer be obtained from lands to the no
of Mesopotamia (e.g. Crawford 1998:34; Cleuzio
and Tosi 1989:30; Potts 1990a:92). Some scholar
regard the scale of Omani copper production as
reflecting this Mesopotamian demand quite direct
C. Edens (1992:130-132), for example, hypothes
dramatic increase in the demand for copper in th
Akkadian Period, as copper moved from a luxury
good to a necessity in Mesopotamian society. Coproduction in southeastern Arabia is thought to h
escalated in response to this changing demand, p
as a result of the fact that participation in the Gu
trade had become "deeply embedded" in local so
eastern Arabian communities (Edens 1992:118).
36 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf
8/14/2019 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf Technology, Trade, And the Bronze Age World ThePoet006102
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/early-metallurgy-of-the-persian-gulf-technology-trade-and-the-bronze-age 57/269
The theorized increase in Mesopotamian demand
and Omani copper production is contemporary with a
significant expansion in the number and size of southeast-
ern Arabian settlements, and the three developments have
therefore been regarded as causally linked (e.g. Berthoud
and Cleuziou l983:243-245; Cleuziou 2002: 199-200).
Costa and Wilkinson (1987:232), for example, suggest
that copper production was "the prime stimulus" behind
the expansion of settlement in the Umm al-Nar Period,
and it is not hard to find parallels with models relating
external demand to intensification of settlement in other
copper-producing regions of Bronze Age western Asia
(e.g. Knapp 1986:12). Omani participation in the long-
distance exchange network linking Mesopotamia and
Meluhha, grounded upon copper production, also intro-
duced a great variety of foreign goods of prestige nature
into the region. As discussed fully in Chapter Eight, the
exchange of these goods probably played a significant
role in the economic integration of southeastern Arabia.The significance of this newly-emerged integration for
copper production is discussed below.
General studies of the cuneiform sources discussed
above also suggest that Magan's role in the Gulf trade
peaked in the later third millennium BCE, contemporary
with the increased Mesopotamian demand for copper
hypothesized by Edens. Unfortunately, although Umm al-
Nar Period copper production refuse can be clearly differ-
entiated from that of the Iron Age or the early Islamic
Period, there have been no systematic studies of variation
in the scale and technology of copper extraction within
the more than half a millennium span of the Umm al-Nar
Period itself. While the evidence from the site of Maysar 1
suggests a date in the last few centuries of the third mil-
lennium BCE, the date of other "Bronze Age" smelting
sites is far from certain. Thus, it is impossible from
archaeological evidence to support or deny hypotheses
like increased Omani copper production in the Akkadian
Period, much less causally link this increased production
to category shifts in Mesopotamian demand for raw
materials and the expansion of Omani settlement.Regardless of the limitations of the available archaeologi-
cal evidence, there can be little doubt that external factors
such as those outlined above played a role in the develop-
ment and scale of Umm al-Nar Period copper production
in southeastern Arabia.
Having considered southeastern Iran and
Baluchistan in terms of the origins of Omani metall
and Mesopotamia in terms of increasing foreign de
for the raw material, one could also consider the rol
other trading partners of Magan, notably Dilmun a
Meluhha, as important consumers of southeastern
Arabian copper. The evidence for copper use in bot
these areas is significant, although reliable analytica
links to the use of Omani copper are scarce. The ca
the use of Omani copper in Dilmun seems simplest,
Dilmun's role as middleman in the Bronze Age copp
trade through the Gulf is well established). Neverthe
the limited evidence that exists comes only from the
minal third and early second millennia BCE (Prang
al. 1999 ; Weeks forthcoming a) , and while strongly
indicative of the use of Omani copper, may also sup
the use of metal from other sources.
The case for the use of Omani copper in the In
region is less certain: the presence of planoconvex iat Lothal has been regarded as evidence for the use
southeastern Arabian copper, as has the trace eleme
composi tion of objects from the site and elsewhere
southern Harappan orbit (Rao 1979:233;
1985524-527). Needless t o say, these arguments ar
limited strength, as planoconvex ingots occur widel
across western Asia and are unlikely to have been a
exclusive product of southeastern Arabia (Chakrab
l998:311; Weisgerber and Yule 2003:48), and trace
ments can only rarely provide a conclusive guide to
metal provenance. Nevertheless, hypotheses suggest
the use of Omani copper in the Indus are plausible,
the archaeological evidence for exchange between t
two regions (Weisgerber 1984; Potts 1993c; Edens
1993), and the likelihood tha t a region as large as t
Indus must have been utilizing copper from multipl
sources (Kenoyer and Miller 1999:117-1 18). Certai
such theories deserve to be assessed on their archaeo
cal merit, rather than dismissed as reflecting suppos
political biases or the desire to explain South Asian
lization as non-indigenous (cf. Chakrabarti and Lah1996:199).
Having discussed the external factors affecting
per production in Bronze Age southeastern Arabia,
clear that the internal factors, including the demand
copper from a growing Omani population increasin
Geology and Early Exploitation of Cop per
8/14/2019 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf Technology, Trade, And the Bronze Age World ThePoet006102
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/early-metallurgy-of-the-persian-gulf-technology-trade-and-the-bronze-age 58/269
rel iant on metals, must also have influenced p rodu c-
tion. The scale of local consumption is reflected in
the large number of copper-base objects deposited in
the Umm al-Nar Period collective graves found across
the peninsula (e.g. Benton 1996 ; Pot ts 20 00) . These
funerary practices must have been supported by levels
of copper production much higher than seen in the
early third millennium, where comparatively few cop-
per-base objects are known from funerary contexts(see below). A corresponding increase in metal use in
Umm al-Nar Period sett lements is also seen, with
sites such as Umm an- Na r Island (Frifel t 199 5) , Tell
Abraq (Weeks 199 7), Bat (Fri felt 1979:5 84), Ra's al -
Jinz RJ-2 (Cleuziou and Tosi 2000 57-5 9), and
G hanadha 1 (A1 Tikri t i 19 85:15) containing relat ively
large numbers of copper-base objects.
In examining the internal socio-economic factors
affect ing copper product ion in southeastern Arabia,
the n ature of local subsistence and exchange pat ternsis of particular significance. The third millennium is
usually characterized as a period of increasing cultur-
al integration in the Oman Peninsula, directly related
to the expa nsion and consol idat ion of intra-regional
t rade networks l inking the complementary subsistence
regimes of coastal and inland sett lements (Cleuziou
and Tosi 2000:26; Cleuziou and Tosi 1989:17;
Crawford 1998:120; Mkry 1997: 188 ; Charpent ier
199 6). There seems l it tle dou bt th at copper produced
in the mountainous interior would have been a signif-
icant component of this internal exchange system,
along wi th agricul tural and marine products, as
attested by the distribution of metal at Bronze Age
sites across the peninsula. For example, the abun-
dance of copper objects in debris contexts from Ra's
al-Jinz RJ-2 suggests that copper was far from a rare
resource in this coastal area distant from inland pri-
mary production centers (Cleuziou and Tosi
2000:57-59), and this finding is supporte d by discov-
eries at other third millennium coastal sites listed in
the preceding paragraph.The increasing economic integration of the region
may thus have played a role in the expansion of local
copper production. Although the power of long-dis-
tance exchange to act as an agent of economic growth
has been emphasized by a number of scholars,
Figure 2.1 3 A slag-filled planoconvex copper ingot from AI-A
Oman (Hauptmann1987:Abb. 2).
Cleuziou and Tosi (2000:71 n. 21) are no doubt
rect in stat ing that local exchange networks were
much greater importance than foreign exchange t
economic welfare of the Bronze Age inhabitants o
Oman Peninsula. Parallels can be drawn with a
thought-provoking analysis of Bronze Age metal
ext ract ion in Europe by S. Shennan (19 99 ), thatexamined the production of copper in the eastern
in cost-benefit terms, based around Ricardo's La
Com parative Advantage and the notion that ear
copper producers were rat ional economizers
(199 9:353 ). Shennan's study was i tself based u po
38 Early Metallurgyof the Persian Gulf
8/14/2019 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf Technology, Trade, And the Bronze Age World ThePoet006102
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/early-metallurgy-of-the-persian-gulf-technology-trade-and-the-bronze-age 59/269
earlier ethnographic studies of pre-modern production
and inter-regional exchange systems in the Grassfields
region of Cameroon, undertaken by M. Rowlands and
J. Warnier (Shennan 1999:353). The model could be
reduced to the idea that "it is not worth producing
commodity X yourself if you're better off producing
commodity y and obtaining commodity X in exchange
for it, in other words, by specializing" (Shennan
1999 :353). According t o Ricardo's Law, specialization
is ultimately rooted not only in the localized distribu-
tion of necessary raw materials, but in regional vari-
ability in the costs of production caused by ecologi-
cal, technological and social determinants (Shennan
1999:354; see also Costin 2001:308).
Ricardo's Law represents an explicitly formalist
understanding of production and exchange systems,
which some scholars may regard as unjustified.
Nevertheless, the economic nature of the Gulf trade
is made eminently clear by the surviving cuneiformevidence from Mesopotamia (see above). Although
often funded by large Mesopotamian institutions, the
copper trade was undertaken as a venture in which
the economic success or otherwise of the individual
merchant was calculable. Moreover, specific details of
the trade, especially the attempts to distribute raw
materials of questionable quality for which Ea-Nasir
was so strongly criticized by his partners, clearly
resemble aspects of modern entrepreneurial behavior.
The presence of a number of planoconvex copper
ingots from Bahla with deliberately-produced cores of
slag (see Figure 2.13) tallies well with the cuneiform
evidence for complaints about low quality copper
traded by Ea-Nasir. It has been suggested that these
ingots represented a votive deposit for a dam at Al-
Aqir, and that their slag cores reflect the production
of "cheaper" offerings to an unknown deity or
deities (Weisgerber and Yule 2003:SO-51). However,
such an interpretation is far from certain, and the
ingots might also indicate that the Omani producers
of the copper sought economic gain from theiractivities, to the point of deception. Overall, the
"spirit of the gift" seems not to have influenced
exchange relationships to a significant extent, and a
formalist approach to Gulf copper production and
trade seems justified.
Similarities are immediately apparent betwee
pre-modern Grasslands and Alpine Bronze Age e
nomic systems described by Shennan, and the so
eastern Arabian Bronze Age production and exch
network. For example, there is evidence for onl
limited number of production centers for Oman
black-on-red funerary pottery in the region in t
third millennium, whose wares were distributed
regional and sub-regional scale (M6ry 1996, 20
Similarly, there is evidence for localization of sh
ring production in the Ra's al-Jinz and Ra's al-
regions (Charpentier 1994; Cleuziou and Tosi
2000:35), soft-stone vessel manufacture at Mays
and elsewhere (Weisgerber 1981; David 199 6).
each of these cases (pottery, shell rings, soft-sto
vessels), the geographical distribution of raw m
als would have allowed for production to take
at a great many more locations than it actually
was. The fact the production loci are limited innumber suggests that some form of regional spe
ization existed in third millennium southeastern
Arabia, that might be understood as reflecting
operation of Ricardo's Law. The variability and
complementarity of specialized subsistence and p
duction activities within southeastern Arabia, an
the regional exchange systems that developed in
Umm al-Nar Period, have been commented upo
numerous scholars.
Most importantly for our study, Shennan
(1999:362) noted that "one of the consequence
large scale regional exchange systems that opera
on Ricardian principles ... s that they led to eco
ic growth. That is to say, total regional produc
is higher than it would have been if individual
munities had remained self-sufficient". Ricardo's
is significant in providing an economic underpin
for the interdependence of specialization, exchan
and economic growth in so-called "commercial"
models of the development of social complexity
Brumfiel and Earle 1 98 7: l) . Such growth in thBronze Age exchange system of southeastern A
has been commented upon specifically by Cleu
and Miry (2002:307, 310), who emphasize that
exchange is "the main concept which rules any
cessful adaptation to an ecological milieu in Ara
Geology and Early Exploitation o f Copper
8/14/2019 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf Technology, Trade, And the Bronze Age World ThePoet006102
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/early-metallurgy-of-the-persian-gulf-technology-trade-and-the-bronze-age 60/269
Thus, the significance of intra-peninsular exchange
networks in the development of southeastern Arabian
copper production should not be underestimated.
When examining the apparent increase in social
complexity in the region in the later third millennium,
it is also useful to consider the nature of the exchange
systems which develop under Ricardian principles:
although all benefit from increased specialization and
economic integration, not all benefit to the same
degree (Shennan 1999:354). The inequalities inherent
in the developing regional exchange system, and the
competition between local and kinship groups that this
fostered, may have played a significant role in the
development of social complexity in southeastern
Arabia in the Umm al-Nar Period, as discussed more
fully below.
Possible Reduction in C opper Production in the
Second Millennium BCE
There is a dramatic reduction in the amount of evi-
dence for copper production in southeastern Arabia in
the early second millennium BCE. As discussed above, it
is difficult to know if this lack of evidence reflects an
actual reduction in production in the Wadi Suq Period,
or if it is merely a product of a biased archaeological
record or uncertainty in the interpretation of the evi-
dence. A number of scholars have argued, based upon
circumstantial evidence, that copper production in the
Wadi Suq period continued at levels similar to those
seen in the third millennium. However, there is little in
the way of conclusive evidence to support either posi-
tion, and it is wor th considering some of the factors that
may have contributed t o a decline in Wadi Suq Period
copper production, as hypothesized by Weisgerber
(1981) and Hauptmann ( 1985).
In particular, the apparent reduction in copper
extraction is contemporary with a decline in the number,
size, and complexity of settlements in southeastern
Arabia (Cleuziou 1981; Carter 1997; Magee 1999:51).
This change was initially regarded as a transition to anarchaeological "dark age", resulting from the domestica-
tion of the camel and a consequent move to full-time
camel nomadism (Cleuziou l 9 81).However, recent evi-
dence for the continued presence of sedentary communi-
ties throughout the second millennium has made it clear
that this period represents an evolution in the prehis
of southeastern Arabia society (Pott s 1997b:52), ra
than a revolution as initially characterized.
Nevertheless, while a transition to full-time nomad
is no longer supported by the evidence (e.g. Carter
1997; Potts 1997b:52) , an explanation of the deve
ment of the Wadi Suq Period that incorporates at l
some movement away from sedentary life remains
sible (cont ra Carter 1997:96) . The transition from
third millennium cultural milieu in which nomadic
ments and seasonal sites played a significant role (
Cleuziou and Tosi 1989, 2000; Crawford 1998:14
one in which nomadism played a greater or domin
role is not difficult to imagine. This view is compa
with the archaeological evidence, which indicates
very few large sites are occupied in the second mil
um BCE, that these few sites are all located in the
northern coastal region (Carte r 1997:Figure 2), an
tha t they witness a strong (though not complete) r
entation of their economy away from agricultura l
duction to the exploitation of marine resources (C
1997:94; Potts 1997b352).
Significantly, an hypothesized move towards
nomadism cannot be used a priori to explain a re
tion in the amount of copper produced in southea
Arabia. The ability of nomadic groups to mine an
smelt large quantities of copper has been demons
ed in other Bronze Age archaeological contexts, m
notably on the Eurasian Steppe at the site of Karg
(Chernykh 2002). Such evidence counters Carter's
(2001:196) claims that there was a lack of perma
sedentary settlement in the copper-producing regi
of inland Oman "such as would underpin an exp
trade in copper of the scale indicated by the
Mesopotamian texts". A better explanation of the
uation perhaps lies in the decay of the integrated
tem of exploitation of agricultural, marine and m
al resources that characterized the third millenniu
BCE. As discussed earlier in this chapter, the eco
integration and regional specialization of producwithin southeastern Arabia a t that time no do ubt
to a growth in the scale of the local economy. In
trast, there is evidence to suggest that the Wadi S
Period witnessed an economic disintegration char
terized by significantly reduced regional interacti
40 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf
8/14/2019 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf Technology, Trade, And the Bronze Age World ThePoet006102
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/early-metallurgy-of-the-persian-gulf-technology-trade-and-the-bronze-age 61/269
(e.g. Magee 1999:51). In particular, the limited
importance of agricultural settlements in the interior
oases (Car ter 19 97) was almost certainly of great sig-
nificance, representing the disappearance of one of
the major nodal categories of the Bronze Age regional
exchange system. The consequent reduction in eco-
nomic integration is indicated archaeologically by the
proliferation of raw-material sources exploited for
pottery and stone vessel manufacture in the second
millennium, and the lower quality of the vessels pro-
duced, which suggests the existence of non-specialized
product ion at multiple locations (David l996: 3 8-39;
MCry 2000) , in addition t o "new patterns of distribu-
tion and consumption" (Cleuziou and Miry
2002:302). Reduced intra-regional integration, if
operating within the economic model discussed by
Shennan (199 9) , may have led to lower levels of cop-
per production.
Of course, it is also possible to relate the reducedWadi Suq Period copper production t o broadly contempo-
rary external economic factors. These include, in particu-
lar, the reduction in the foreign demand for Omani copper
caused by political upheavals in Mesopotamia, the avail-
ability of Anatolian and Cypriot copper in Babylonia by
ca. 1750 BCE, and the end of the Mature Harappan
Period in the Indus region at ca. 1900 BCE.
The general importance of the Gulf trade for the
Mesopotamian political economy is indicated by a num-
ber of Mesopotamian cuneiform inscriptions in which the
rise to power of a leader is accompanied by claims allud-
ing to his newly-restored control of t rade through the
Gulf. Examples include Ur-Nanshe's claims of wood
brought from Dilmun (Potts 1990a:88), Sargon's boast of
boats from Dilmun, Magan and Meluhha docking at the
quay of Agade, and the "restoration" of the Magan trade
into Nanna's hands achieved by Ur-Nammu (Potts
1990a:144). It is interesting tha t these declarations gener-
ally come from the formative periods of new political
entities in southern Mesopotamia, indicating tha t politi-
cal instability in southern Mesopotamia could have seri-ously deleterious effects on the Gulf trade (e.g. Crawford
1996). Thus, the political and economic changes in
southern Mesopotamia in the Old Babylonian Period
(Crawford 19 96) almost certainly had a serious effect on
the demand for southeastern Arabian copper.
Looking to the east, the status of the Indus regio
consumer of Omani copper is still disputed (e.g.
Weisgerber 1984; Rao l985:.S24; Cleuziou and Tosi
1989:42; Chakrabarti and Lahiri 1996:199). As has b
discussed above, the use of Omani copper in the Indu
region remains a very plausible hypothesis due to the
graphical proximity of the two regions, the archaeolo
evidence for close exchange contacts between them, a
the likelihood that an area as large and densely occup
as the Indus was utilizing copper from a multiplicity
sources. Any reliable proof of this hypothesis, howev
will depend upon further programs of archaeometall
cal research. Even if copper was not exchanged betw
the two regions, the demise of the Harappan civilizat
may nevertheless have been important for copper pro
tion in southeastern Arabia, as a factor in the general
decline in scale and geographic scope of the Gulf trad
the early second millennium BCE.
Significantly, however, the cultural and economdevelopments in the various regions discussed abov
not perfectly synchronized. The Wadi Suq Period in
southeastern Arabia, and the dramatic changes in s
ment size, frequency, location, and subsistence that
acterize it, is generally regarded as beginning betwe
2000-1900 BCE. This is broadly CO-incidentwith t
disappearance of Magan from Mesopotamian cune
sources, and the end of the Indus civilization. Howe
cuneiform evidence indicates that the first quarter o
second millennium BCE witnessed a flourishing cop
trade between Dilmun and Mesopotamia. Thus, if t
meager evidence for primary copper production in
Wadi Suq Period is regarded as an accurate reflectio
the situation, it is possible that "Dilmun" copper w
coming from a region other than southeastern Arab
this time, a possibility already suggested by R. Cart
(2001:196). As discussed in Chapter Seven, there is
dence from archaeological lead isotope analyses wh
may tentatively support the idea that some metal fr
non-Omani sources was reaching Dilmun (Weeks, f
coming a) . However, one other factor t o consider, anoted above, is the imprecise chronology for coppe
extraction in the Oman Peninsula. "Bronze Age" sm
ing sites recorded by the German Mining Museum
Project, usually dated to the Umm al-Nar Period, co
feasibly represent the remains of copper production
Geology and Early Exploitation of Cop per
8/14/2019 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf Technology, Trade, And the Bronze Age World ThePoet006102
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/early-metallurgy-of-the-persian-gulf-technology-trade-and-the-bronze-age 62/269
the Wadi Suq Period. Regardless, it is clear tha t explan a-
t ions for the changes in copper production in southeast-
ern Arabia in the early second millennium BCE must
allow for com plex interactions between local and
regional economic systems, environmental considera-
t ions, and the ways in which copper production was
articulated with broader subsistence practices.
Expansion and Co ntraction of Iron Age
Copper Production
Copper prod uction in southeastern Arabia again attains
significant levels in the local Iron Age. The increase in
the qu antity of smelting debris dating to the late second
or early first millennia BCE can be correlated with the
dram atic expansion of settlement in piedmont a reas of
southeastern Arabia, probably related to the introduction
of falai irrigation technology in the local Iron I1 period
(Magee 1 99 9) . Internal factors seem to have played a
major role in the development of copper production atthis time, most notably the increase in demand generated
by a greatly exp ande d popula tion. This hypothesis is
supp orted by numerous examples of large-scale local
consumption of copper-base objects (Weisgerber l988).
These include unrobbed Iron Age tombs such as the col-
lective horseshoe-shaped grave fro m Q idfa in Fujairah
which contained hundreds of leaf-shaped arrowheads,
dozens of vessels, large braceletslbangles, axes, and more
than 1 0 hilted copper daggers (Corb oud et al. 1988 ), the
purported tomb robber's hoard from IbriISelme with
more than 30 0 copper-base objects including vessels,
braceletslbangles, and hilted dag gers (Yule and
Weisgerber 20 01 ), and the graves and settlement occupa-
tion at A1 Qusais in Duba i which produced m ore than
800 copper-base arrowheads (Potts 199Oa:359-361).
Interestingly, the increase in copper production in
the Iron Age is contem porar y with an increase in
regional economic integration, very similar in na ture t o
that seen in the Umm al-N ar Period. Although the
absolute scale of sett lement and po pulation in O ma n in
the Iron Age was greater than in the third m illennium, asimilar polycentric distribution of power is hypothe-
sized (Magee 19 995 4-5 5), based upo n the control of
regionally diverse and complementary resources. Magee
and C arter (19 99:17 6) have proposed a mod el in which
coastal , desert , and inland sett lements formed a
regionally-specialized econ om y that, following th
model discussed above, is l ikely to have generated
increase in local copper production. P. Magee (per
comm unicat ion) sees greater local demand for copp
related part icularly to increasing conflict between I
Age poli ties (an d the consequen t need for weapo nr
and the role of copper implements in status display
newly-emergent elites. There is some evidence that
Age copperwo rking was practiced by attached speists , if the conc entration of cop per wo rkin g activit
within the unusual columned building at Muweilah
any guide (Davis 199 8). The role of at tach ed speci
in the generation and maintenance of social hierarc
has been widely discussed (e.g. Earle 1994:426 ff.)
indeed a similar si tuation in the Umm al-Nar P erio
might be indicated by the location of copp erw orkin
facil it ies directly ad jacent to the m ain tow er a t Hil
(Cleuziou 1989).
The dearth of archaeometallurgical research oIron Age copper smelting means that is virtually
impossible to address the technological developme
which may have underlain this increase in copper
duction in southeastern Arabia. It seems that the
Age saw the first large-scale exploitation of the m
sive sulfide copper deposits (Weisgerber 198 8 286
incorporating the smelting of both oxide ores from
gossan and unaltered sulfide ores. The massive su
deposits at sites like Lasail, Bayda and 'Arja are t
largest copper ore-bodies in southeastern Arabia,
the abil i ty to exploit them would no doubt have
allowed a significant increase in copper productio
the region. However, certain technological advance
would have been required to effectively utilize the
fidic ores, and intensive mining would have been
essary to exploit the low-grade oxide mineralizati
the gossans. The lack of detailed archaeological ev
dence for these mining and smelting technologies
cludes the formation of a sound hypothesis regard
their effect on Iron Age copper extraction.
Assessing the impact of foreign demand for Ocopper in the Iron Age is also difficult. There is a
complete lack of textual evidence regarding south
ern Arabia in the early first millennium BCE, and
not until the reign of Assurbanipal in 640 BCE th
Neo-Assyrian cuneiform sources mention a ruler o
42 Early Metallurgyof the Persian Gulf
8/14/2019 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf Technology, Trade, And the Bronze Age World ThePoet006102
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/early-metallurgy-of-the-persian-gulf-technology-trade-and-the-bronze-age 63/269
8/14/2019 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf Technology, Trade, And the Bronze Age World ThePoet006102
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/early-metallurgy-of-the-persian-gulf-technology-trade-and-the-bronze-age 64/269
socio-political consequences of specialized metal pro-
duction on ancient societies can be traced back to the
writings of V. Gordon Childe and his contemporaries.
However, as noted by Clark (1995 ) and Wailes
(1996b:5), much early archaeological research on spe-
cialized production proceeded without an explicit under-
standing of what was in fact meant by the term "special-
ization". One result of this lack of definitional clarity
was that anachronistic analogies based upon modern
craft specialists and specialization were commonly
employed (e.g. Clark 1995 ; Budd and Taylor 1994),
with mining, smelting and smithing in particular regard-
ed by Childe (1937:40, 134-136) as demanding full-time
specialization. Such biases limited the ability of scholars
such as Childe to accurately characterize and compre-
hend the great variability of early specialized production
systems, and to assess their interaction with other social,
political, and economic factors.
These oversights have been remedied in the modern
literature on the topic, where explicit (if sometimes com-
peting) definitions of specialization can be found (esp.
Costin 2001, 1991; Clark 1995; Clark and Parry 1990) .
Specialization can be defined in the simplest terms as the
degree to which there are fewer producers than con-
sumers of a particular object or material (Costin
2001:276), with the caveat that consumers are non-
dependents of the producer. Correspondingly, as distri-
bution is a necessary complement to specialization, it is
clear that specialized production was as widespread in
prehistory as exchange, and must have existed in one
form or another in most societies (Clark 1995:279).
Archaeological studies of specialization are abundant ,
and have focused predominantly o n identifying different
types of specialized production in past societies, and
determining the relationship between craft specialization
and social complexity (e.g. Costin 1991; Clark and
Parry 1990; Stein and Blackman 1993; Cross 1993;
Wailes 1996a; Brumfiel and Earle 1987; Peacock 1982;
Van Der Leeuw 1977).
The material correlates of particular specialized pro-duction regimes have received particular attent ion. This
is because definitions of specialization in non-Capitalist
contexts have most commonly been extracted from his-
torical sources or ethnographic studies, in which the
type or degree of specialization is recognized by such
characteristics as the amount of time spent in a parti
activity, the proportion of subsistence needs obtaine
from the activity, payments in goods or money receiv
for production, and the existence of a name for the s
cialist activity (Costin 1991:3). These characteristics
few or no readily identifiable material correlates, an
reconstruction of production systems in non-literate
ancient societies would be an impossible undertaking
such variables were all that was available for investig
tion. However, it is obvious that ancient production
processes do leave behind material remains, and Cos
(1991 :l) has suggested that production should be m
readily reconstructable from archaeological evidence
a number of other economic processes (such as exch
that have received a great deal of archaeological atte
tion. The material remains of production processes (
tools, raw materials, waste products, finished object
and their differential spatial distributions, have sign
cant potential to act as indices of both the type and
extent of specialization. They can provide a window
specific craft production systems.
From the preceding paragraph, it can be seen t
accurate reconstructions of ancient production syste
are dependent upon two main factors. These relate
our ability to:
1. Identify the material remains of specific pr
tion technologies (i.e. tools, raw materials,
waste, finished products).
2. Recognize the material correlates of special
production, which might include variations
the spatial distribution of production loci,
well as evidence for the standardization, sk
and efficiency of manufacturing techniques
Understanding of the first component derives la
from detailed technical studies of archaeological m
als, informed by laboratory analyses, modern exper
tal reconstructions of ancient technologies, and by
ethnographic and historical accounts of non-indust
production technologies. The second component is
haps more complex and frequently less certain in itcomes, requiring the development of ethnographical
historically, or otherwise empirically-informed theo
(i.e. middle-range theories) relating artifact attribute
and the differential spatial distribution of productio
indices to specific forms of specialized production.
44 Early Metallurgyof the Persian Gulf
8/14/2019 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf Technology, Trade, And the Bronze Age World ThePoet006102
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/early-metallurgy-of-the-persian-gulf-technology-trade-and-the-bronze-age 65/269
One of the most frequently cited methodologies for
investigating specialization and production in the
archaeological record is that developed by Costin
(1991). As noted by Clark (1995:288), this is partly
because Costin's discussion of the issue, like the impor-
tant work of Evans (1978) before it, focuses very close-
ly upon the identification of the archaeological corre-
lates of production behavior. To use Costin's (1991:43)
own words, her definition of specialization "is relative-
ly straightforward to operationalize archaeologically",
and focuses upon the four production variables of con-
text, concentration, scale, and intensity (Costin
1991:8-18, Figure 1.4). Context reflects the degree of
elite sponsorship of production, varying from attached
to independent production. Concentration represents
the spatial distribution of production loci, varying from
dispersed to nucleated. Scale is a measure of the size
and constitution of individual production units or
groups, varying from small and usually kin-based unitsto larger groups of unrelated individuals. Intensity repre-
sents the amount of time spent doing the specialized task
in comparison to other activities, varying from part-time
to full-time. Based on the most common associations of
these four variables, Costin constructs a typology incor-
porating eight production types, e.g. "community spe-
cialization" and "nucleated workshops", which can be
compared to those found in earlier typologies of craft
production, including Peacock (1982 ) and Van Der
Leeuw (1977).
The clearest conclusion t o be drawn from the
archaeological literature on craft production is that
"specialized" copper production in southeastern Arabia
could have taken a number of different forms: from
small scale, independent, part-time or seasonal produc-
tion by semi-specialists to full-time production with
very high output by specialists attached to large politi-
cal institutions. Given the emphasis that has been
placed upon certain types of craft specialization in the
development of political complexity (e.g. Wailes 1996a;
Clark and Parrty 1990; Brumfiel and Earle 19 87) , theimplications of these different production types for our
understanding of Bronze Age southeastern Arabia are
clear. Utilizing the categories discussed by Costin (1991)
allows us to move beyond the a priori and un-enlight-
ening understanding of metallurgy as a specialized
discipline, to examine in detail the economic, techno
cal and socio-political factors that contoured coppe
duction in Bronze Age southeastern Arabia. The evi
for the mode(s) of copper production prevalent in
Bronze Age southeastern Arabia is addressed below.
Primary Copper Production in Bronze Age
Southeastern Arabia
The manufacture of any copper object incorporates
number of discrete stages of production, from minin
ore preparation, smelting, and refining, to object fa
tion processes such as casting and hammering.
Significantly, there is clear potential for a geographi
separation of these productive activities: it is not on
theoretically possible for these processes to have tak
place in widely separated locations, it is clear from
archaeological record of Bronze Age southeastern A
that primary extraction was generally undertaken n
copper ore sources, while newly-won (and probablyrecycled) copper was utilized for object fabrication
habitation sites distant from the loci of primary cop
extraction. Such a wide geographical focus (Omani
per was used as far away as Mesopotamia and perh
the Indus Valley) introduces many difficulties in the
interpretation of production. In the following discu
therefore, the focus is upon the organization of prim
copper extraction only, i.e. mining, smelting, and th
production of ingots. Copper in ingot form is a wid
exchanged category of material that moved both wi
and beyond the boundaries of Bronze Age southeas
Arabian society. Newly-won raw copper and semi-
processed copper ingots form a class of goods whos
production and trade can be studied, in many respec
separately from the productive processes associated
object fabrication in southeastern Arabian settlemen
sites and across western Asia.
Even a study of production limited to primary c
per extraction is not without complications. Each o
main activities of mining, ore processing, and smelt
has unique requirements in terms of technological aritual knowledge, tools, raw materials, physical stre
etc., and each may have had distinctly constructed i
ologies delineating the status of the activity, rights o
participation, access to requisite knowledge (Ottaw
2001). Thus, there is no reason to assume that min
Geology and Early Exploitation o f Copper
8/14/2019 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf Technology, Trade, And the Bronze Age World ThePoet006102
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/early-metallurgy-of-the-persian-gulf-technology-trade-and-the-bronze-age 66/269
ore processing, and smelting were organized along simi-
lar lines, or that production groups for each of these
activities were constituted in the same way (i.e. of the
same or similarly related individuals).
In the case of southeastern Arabia, evidence for
early copper extraction of the standard required to ade-
quately reconstruct production systems is meager. For
example, the archaeological evidence available for
Bronze Age mining is almost non-existent. Where esti-
mations of the scale of orelgangue extraction are avail-
able, as at Maysar 2 (10,000 cubic meters of rock
mined using open-cast methods), no data regarding the
duration of exploitation, or the scale of production (i.e.
size of production units) is available. Archaeological
evidence of ore processing activities is available from
many sites, but again the lack of chronological and
spatial control at most Bronze Age sites severely limits
attempts at explanation. Furthermore, the archaeologi-
cal evidence for houses, storage areas, and other habi-tation remains at copper extraction sites, which is cru-
cial for assessing the possible scale and intensity of pro-
duction, is extremely limited. Such information is avail-
able only from sites where primary extraction was
undertaken in sedentary habitation contexts, as at
Maysar 1 and Wadi Fizh 1, and only Maysar 1 has
been the subject of archaeological excavation
(Weisgerber 1980b, l9 81; Hauptmann 1985).
As a result, reconstructions of copper production in
the region have utilized estimates of total output as a
proxy for the organization of extractive industries.
Hauptmann's estimates of total copper production in
Bronze Age southeastern Arabia are of the order of a
few thousand tonnes (see above), a value that indeed
seems very large when considered in terms of the num-
ber of individual smelting operations that it might rep-
resent. For example, if one smelting furnace produced
approximately five kg of copper per operation (see
above), then Bronze Age production in southeastern
Arabia represents hundreds of thousands of smelting
operations. These raw numbers suggest the possibilityof highly specialized, large-scale, intensive and closely
controlled copper production in the region. Based upon
such considerations, Hauptmann (1 85: 114) regards
copper production at some sites in Bronze Age Oman
as having taken place "on an industrial scale".
However, the absolute level of output is not us
by Costin (1991) in her analyses of specialized pro
tion, and she has outlined the weakness of such an
approach (Costin 2001:291):
"The use of 'output' as an indicator of the org
zation of production warrants greater caution, part
larly in the absence of detailed knowledge of techn
gy, intensity, and an approximation of the number
sources or work groups and the time over which a
assemblage was produced and used ...There is, at be
only a weak correlation between the quantity of an
fact recovered, the output (or scale of production)
the individual production units making those objec
and the way production was organized."
Archaeological and ethnographic research has
repeatedly demonstrated that very high levels of o
can be achieved by groups operating under relative
simple production regimes (White and Pigott 1996
Shennan 1998:200-201). Thus, when the limitationthe archaeological evidence from southeastern Arab
regarding chronology, scale, and intensity are consi
ered, industrial organization becomes only one pos
explanation for high total output, and is certainly
more plausible than less intense production underta
over many generations or centuries. Given the chro
logical limitations of the evidence from Oman, larg
scale extraction (as seen in the open-cast mining op
tions at Maysar 2) cannot be linked with intensive
exploitation of the resource. Furthermore, the copp
deposits most frequently exploited in Bronze Age
are relatively small, numerous, and found across a
area, a factor that limited the ability to intensify m
activities at individual large ore deposits.
On a smaller scale, estimates of total output a
Maysar 1 (Weisgerber 1980b, 1981; Hauptmann 1
in the Wadi Samad, Oman, have also been used as
proxy for the way in which production was organi
The relatively small amount of primary smelting sl
found at Maysar 1 (approximately 100 tonnes) is
regarded as evidence that copper production was a"part-time activity, one that for most residents was
ondary to agricultural and pastoral pursuits" (Ede
and Kohl 1993:26) . It is doubtful whether it is cor
(or even useful) to classify copper production at M
1 as "secondary" to agricultural production based
46 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf
8/14/2019 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf Technology, Trade, And the Bronze Age World ThePoet006102
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/early-metallurgy-of-the-persian-gulf-technology-trade-and-the-bronze-age 67/269
total output: a term such as complementary is perhaps
more appropriate. Nevertheless, the location of metal
extraction facilities within an agricultural village does
indeed suggest that metal production was integrated
with subsistence production, with resultant implication
for the intensity of production. It seems likely that pro-
duction in such a context was seasonal, if not in terms
of the total cessation of production, at least in terms of
changes in productive intensity. This is not a surprising
conclusion, for as noted by Costin (2001:280), the evi-
dence from ethnographic studies overwhelmingly indi-
cates that "for most nonindustrial artisans production
intensity varies throughout the year".
Seasonal production of copper in southeastern
Arabia is also thought to have been indicated by other
evidence, notably the location of sites in relation to
natural resources:
"It is interesting that the third millennium copper
smelting sites found in 197 5 were all located near water
and arable land...These settlements are no t situated on
top of the ore deposits as became true later on. The dif-
ference between the third millennium smelting village in
its fertile surroundings compared with later Islamic
smelting villages in places where cultivation would be
very difficult, suggests that in early times copper produc-
tion was an integrated part of community life while later
on it became a specialized industry, possibly for export
at the behest of foreign authorities" (Hastings et al.
1975:12).
It is clear that characteristics other than "overall
output" must be studied in order to adequately under-
stand the organization of copper production, and the
investigation of the evidence from individual sites is an
obvious starting point. Examination of the distribution
of metal production refuse at Maysar 1 and other sites
in the Wadi Samad facilitates an investigation of the
context, concentration, scale and intensity of productive
activities.
At Maysar 1, pyrotechnological processes were dis-
tributed across a number of architectural units. House1 has been described as a coppersmith's workplace for
purifying smelted copper and perhaps further reworking
it (Weisgerber 1981:192). It contained the base of a
smelting furnace, near which was an irregular pit partly
covered by an ashy layer, that contained small slag
Figure 2.14The hoard of planoconvex copper ingots found
Maysar 1 in House4 (from Hauptmann 1985:Abb.61).
droplets, lots of charcoal, and small fragments of f
nace, in addition to another pit filled with charcoa
(Weisgerber 198Ob:82). House 4 contained a firepl
possible kiln (Weisgerber 198013: 8 8) , and a hoard o
plano-convex copper ingots weighing about six kg
Figure 2.14; Weisgerber l 9 81 192 ). Evidence for m
lurgical activities also came from one area of Hous
separated from the rest of the house by a small wa
The main installation was a large oval fireplace wi
broken furnace fragments and copper slag and a g
deal of ash (Weisgerber 1981:193). Copper ingot f
ments were also recorded on the surface of House
which displayed two phases of use. In the earliest
phase, a large storage vessel was dug into the grou
filled in its upper levels with charcoal. Other small
were found nearby, one of which contained a large
copper axe (Wesigerber 1980b:Abb. 78.5). The fac
these installations were related to copper smelting
only demonstrated indirectly, by material incorpora
into the walls of the second phase of the house. Th
walls contained furnace, slag, crucible and mould ments (Weisgerber 198013:8 8-89).
Based upon the above evidence, Hauptmann
(1985:114) has described copper production at Ma
1 (see Figure 2.5) as being organized along "small
workshop" lines, probably for domestic use. Some
Geology and Early Exploitation of Copper
8/14/2019 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf Technology, Trade, And the Bronze Age World ThePoet006102
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/early-metallurgy-of-the-persian-gulf-technology-trade-and-the-bronze-age 68/269
Figure 2.1 5The third millennium BCE copper-smelting settlement of Zahra l , n the Wadi Bani 'Umar al-Gharbi, Oman. Crosses indicate
centrations of furnace fragments (after Costa and Wilkinson 1987:Figure 35).
fusion is introduced by the fact that, amongst archaeol-
ogists who have discussed the organization of produc-
tion, the term "workshop" has a number of incompati-
ble definitions. Clearly, the Maysar 1 "workshops" dis-
cussed by Hauptmann agree with the use of the term asdefined by Peacock (1982:9), but are better referred to
as simply "production loci" using Costin's (2001:296)
terminology. Regardless, surveys of third millennium
BCE sites in the Wadi Fizh and Wadi Bani 'Umar al-
Gharbi west of Sohar (see Figure 2.15) provide similar
examples of smelting installations within the bound
small sedentary agricultural villages (Costa and
Wilkinson 1987:223), although such sites unfortun
remain unexcavated.
However, reconstructions of the organization ocopper production at Maysar 1 must account not o
for the existence of specialized production loci (e.g
House l ) , but also for the agglomeration of a numb
such production loci within the one settlement (i.e.
Houses 1, 4, 6 and 31) . Weisgerber, for example, ha
48 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf
8/14/2019 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf Technology, Trade, And the Bronze Age World ThePoet006102
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/early-metallurgy-of-the-persian-gulf-technology-trade-and-the-bronze-age 69/269
contrasted the findings from Maysar 1 with those from
a small test trench at the site of Maysar 6, about one km
to the southwest. There, remains of smelting operations
or pyrotechnology were absent from surface collections
and excavated deposits, and animal bone was much
more abundant. Weisgerber (1981:205) thus regarded
Maysar 6 as a "Wohnsiedlung", in contrast to Maysar
1, which he characterized as a Wirtschaftsiedlung". He
regarded the apparent concentration of production in
one site as a clear indication of the "social differentia-
tion" of the Bronze Age population of the Maysar area
(Weisgerber l9 81 197 ). Although such conclusions
remain to be thoroughly evaluated (excavations at
Maysar 6 were very limited), the archaeological data
indicate a concentration of individual production loci in
the settlement at Maysar 1, which is suggestive of spe-
cialization at a level above the individual household or
workshop.
It is possible to summarize the situation, using thevariables proposed by Costin. Firstly, the context of cop-
per production at Maysar 1 seems to have been inde-
pendent of any elite control. There is no evidence at the
site for the existence of elites who could have controlled
the output of a group of attached specialists. Of course,
such elites could have lived in a different location, but,
as discussed more fully below, the evidence for elites
with coercive political, economic, or military powers in
third millennium southeastern Arabia is very limited.
Examining the concentration of production, it can be
seen that copper smelting refuse was concentrated with-
in a number of architectural units in both the northern
and southern areas of Maysar 1. Hauptmann has sug-
gested that each unit represented a "workshop", and it
is clear that a number of distinct production loci existed
at Maysar 1, each specifically oriented towards the
extraction of copper. Looking at a larger scale,
Weisgerber has contrasted the rich evidence for craft
production at Maysar 1 with the apparent absence of
such activities at the nearby contemporary site of
Maysar 6, as a demonstration that production wasnucleated in certain settlements. Regarding the scale of
production, it seems that the size of individual produc-
tion units was not particularly large, probably represent-
ing production by autonomous household units. It is,
therefore, highly unlikely that workgroups were com-
posed of unrelated individuals. Finally, the apparent
gration of copper extraction with subsistence activit
Maysar 1, although not conclusively demonstrated,
suggest that the intensity of production changed on
seasonal basis, indicating tha t copper extraction can
have been only a part-time specialization for the inh
tants of the site.
Using the typology developed by Costin ( l 9 91
1.1),we would describe copper extraction a t Maysa
as representing "community-based production". Th
category of specialized production is defined simply
"autonomous individual or household-based produc
units, aggregated within a single community, produc
for unrestricted regional consumption" (Costin 199
Such a reconstruction faces the problem that the int
ed market (local, regional, international) for the cop
ingots produced at Maysar 1 is unknown, but the g
al division of production into a number of individua
household units at Maysar 1 seems quite clear.Production systems similar to that which characteriz
primary copper extraction Maysar 1 have been desc
in other archaeological production typologies: for e
ple, Van Der Leeuw's (1977:Table 1)category of "v
industry".
However, an adequate understanding of copper
duction in Bronze Age southeastern Arabia is unlike
be achieved by examining only the evidence from
Maysar 1. Indeed, both ethnography and archaeolo
have highlighted instances in which the production
particular good was organized in very different way
within the one society. In the particular case of sout
eastern Arabia, field research has indicated that the
were a few Umm al-Nar Period copper extraction si
much larger than Maysar 1 or sites in the Wadi Fizh
These larger extraction sites have thousands of tonn
slag and, unlike Maysar 1 and Zahra 1, are not fou
within or directly associated with sedentary agricul
settlements. In fact, around 80 percent of the total
10,000 tonnes of Bronze Age slag recorded during
German fieldwork came from only two sites: TawiUbaylah and Wadi Salh 1, each with approximately
4,000 tonnes of slag (Hauptmann 1985:95). The qu
tion that immediately arises is whether such differen
in the amount of debris at extraction sites are indic
of differences in the organization of production. Fo
Geology and Early Exploitation o f Copper
8/14/2019 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf Technology, Trade, And the Bronze Age World ThePoet006102
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/early-metallurgy-of-the-persian-gulf-technology-trade-and-the-bronze-age 70/269
example, Hauptmann (1985:95) regards such sites as
representing Bronze Age copper production at an
"industrial" scale, in contrast to production on a smaller
scale as typified by Maysar 1 and Zahra 1.
Of course, Hauptmann's claims are only for output
at an industrial scale, not for truly industrial production.
In a strict sense, industrial production requires "industri-
alization" of the manufacturing process as occurred in
eighteenth century Britain: the development of factories
which produced full-time utilizing full-time specialists,
and relied upon power other than that provided by
humans o r animals, such as water mills and steam
engines (Peacock 1982:10).The requirement for non-
human o r animal sources of power indicates clearly tha t
industrial copper production was not undertaken in
Bronze Age Oman, and even the requirement for full-
time production is far from demonstrated in the Omani
case, as has been shown above for Maysar 1. Costin's
(2001:280) discussion of the ethnographic data on pre-modern production systems must once again be borne in
mind, particularly her conclusion that "it is well to more
seriously consider seasonality-and the ability to work
year-round-in studies that assert high intensitylfull-time
production." In assessing the evidence from Bronze Age
Oman, the realization that production without "industri-
al" organization can nevertheless lead to very high levels
of ou tput (e.g. Burton 1984 ) is an important one.
The location of two very large extract ion sites, ca.
250 km apart towards the northern and southern ends of
the copper-bearing Semail Ophioli te, is perhaps signifi-
cant. Tawi Ubaylah in the north represents the closest
copper source to the third millennium settlement agglom-
eration in the A1 AinIBuraimi oasis (Cleuziou 2003). One
obvious reconstruction of non-industrial production a t
Tawi Ubaylah might see the site as representative of sea-
sonal (or more sporadic) operat ions over several cen-
turies, undertaken by household, kin or community
groups from the nearby oasis during lulls in the agricul-
tural cycle. Parallels for such a mode of production can be
drawn with the long-term, intensive, seasonal exploita-tion of other localized resources in the Oman Peninsula,
such as the processing of marine resources a t the Bronze
Age site of Ra's al-Jinz 2 (Cleuziou and Tosi 2000) .
Looking further afield, V. Pigott's (1998)analysis of
Bronze Age copper production in Thailand has utilized
ethnographic studies of stone quarrying (Bur ton 198
suggest that production a t a very large scale could re
from repetitive exploitation (every few years) by coo
tive kin or residence-based groups within tribal socie
Moreover, Muller's (1984)study of salt production i
Colonial Nor th America indicates that a large quanti
production refuse can accumulate at a production sit
was probably exploited by non-specialist producers o
seasonal basis, but over a very long period of time.
Muller's study demonstrates the crucial distinction
between site specialization and producer specializati
tha t must be made when investigating prehistoric pro
tion systems.
Therefore, the much greater scale of productio
Tawi Ubaylah in comparison to a site like Maysar
could represent one or a combination of numerou
tors. It may reflect a different mode of production
more intensive and larger-scale production made p
ble by the greater size of the workforce from the AAinIBuraimi oasis available for mining and smeltin
has been ethnographically observed that increasing
community size not only provides the potential fo
greater output, but also allows for more diversity
the types of specialized production practiced by th
polity as a whole (Costin 2001:274). However, a s
lar agglomeration of Bronze Age population canno
currently be documented for the Wadi Salh 1 regi
Alternatively, as basic questions regarding the dur
of smelting operations at Bronze Age sites remain
unanswered, the greater scale of smelting debris a
Tawi Ubaylah and Wadi Salh 1 might simply refle
production over a longer period. These sites could
resent examples of "site specialization" as defined
Muller. Certainly, given the lack of published evid
for habitation remains in the vicinity of Tawi Uba
its status as a specialized production site, or "limi
activity" area is clear. This is interesting, as sites
as Maysar 1 and Wadi Fizh 1 have been regarded
full-activity sites, where metal extraction was in
ed with daily and seasonal subsistence activities above). In general, the fact that some extraction
are associated with permanent settlements and o
are not suggests that there was more than one m
of specialized copper production in Bronze Age
southeastern Arabia.
5 0 Early Metallurgyof the Persian Gulf
8/14/2019 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf Technology, Trade, And the Bronze Age World ThePoet006102
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/early-metallurgy-of-the-persian-gulf-technology-trade-and-the-bronze-age 71/269
In discussing this issue, an accurate unders tanding Support for such a reconstruction is provided by
of the socio-political organization of the region in the
third millennium BCE is critical, as indigenous social and
political formations no doub t influenced the nature of
primary extraction (e.g. O'Brien 1998; Pigott 199 8) .Of
course, the relationship between social organization an d
production is not determinative, but "with increasing
social complexity the potential for complex procurement
systems is enhanced" (Pigott l998: 215 ).More generally,Costin (1991:2)has observed that a t rue understanding of
the organization of a production system requires an
understanding of both the na tural and social contexts in
which it operates.
It is well established that the th ird millennium in
southeastern Arabia witnessed an increase in the level of
economic articulation and integration between local farm-
ing, fishing, and herding communities (e.g. Cleuziou and
Tosi 1989).Such integration is usually regarded as having
been strongly affected by prevailing environmental condi-
tions, particularly the intense localization of productive
natural resources in the Arabian peninsula that necessitat-
ed the development of connections between groups of spe-
cialized producers and the emergence of "trade as a subsis-
tence activity" (Afanas'ev et al. 1996; see also Cleuziou
and Tosi 1989 ; Cleuziou and Mkry 2002; Piesinger
1983:709).
Regardless of its underlying causes, it is clear from the
distribution and small size of known Umm al-Nar Period
settlements (contra Orchard 1995; Orchard and Stanger
1994),and the limited adoption of administrative tools
such as stamp seals (Cleuziou and Tosi 2000:59-63), that
economic integration was not accompanied by the devel-
opment of a state-like political structure (Crawford
l998:138; Cleuziou 2002:225). In fact, the socio-political
organization of southeastern Arabia in the third millenni-
um has most commonly been compared to that of the
ethnographically-documented, kin-based, tribal groups of
that inhabited the region into modern times (e.g. Cleuziou
and Tosi 1989:17; Cleuziou 2003:140; Cleuziou
l996:162; Crawford 1998:140). Following such a recon-
struct ion, the Umm al-Nar Period villages built around one
or a small number of stone and mudbrick towers are best
seen as the manifestation of a polycentric distribution of
power between numerous, competing petty sheikhs or
rulers (cf. Edens and Kohl 1993:25-26; Edens 1992:128).
analysis of funerary evidence from southeastern Ara
and by Mesopotamian historical texts. In the cuneifo
sources, sporadic references to "kings" of Magan in
third millennium (Potts 1990a:137, 144) suggest a h
degree of social hierarchy in the southern Gulf regio
than indicated by the material record. However, thes
texts are probably best seen as resulting from either
"inflationary" tendencies of Mesopotamian royal intions (distorting the standing of their eastern counte
in order to increase the prestige of military victories
trade relationships, cf. Heimpel 1987:44; Kohl 2001
228-229), or as reflections of short-lived military co
tions formed in response to Mesopotamian aggressio
(Cleuziou 1996:161).
Regarding the funerary evidence, while the rich
goods found in Umm al-Nar Period graves such as at
Abraq (Potts 2000) are suggestive of differences in w
or status amongst members of the community, the c
tive nature of burial may reflect strong ideological
tions operating against the formation of entrenched
political hierarchies. However, as stated by (Cleuzi
2003:141):
This strong manifestation of 'equality' inside
the community should not be taken as testimo
ny of a strictly egalitarian society, but rather
as an ideological affirmation beyond diversity
and power amongst the living.
Tosi, Crawford (1998) and Cleuziou (20 02,2 00
clearly regard Umm al-Nar Period burial practices as
emphasizing a social system based around membersh
kinship groups, or "corporate lineage groups of com
descent" (Tosi 1989:155) . Leadership is conceived o
proceeding by negotiation and the manipulation of "
intricate web of matrimonial, economic and social re
tions" (Cleuziou 2003:145) rather than the possessio
significant coercive power.
The increasing complexity in Bronze Age southe
ern Arabia can thus be seen as having developed mo
strongly along heterarchical rather than hierarchicalSignificantly, a number of scholars have stressed the
importance of interregional exchange and economic
cialization in the horizontal integration of such com
polities (e.g. White and Pigott 1996: 170).Productio
exchange of commodities in the region did indeed in
Geology and Early Exploitation of Coppe r
8/14/2019 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf Technology, Trade, And the Bronze Age World ThePoet006102
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/early-metallurgy-of-the-persian-gulf-technology-trade-and-the-bronze-age 72/269
fy in the Umm al-Nar Period (e.g. Afanas'ev et al. 1996;
Cleuziou and Tosi 2000:26), and there is evidence for
increasingly specialized production: pottery manufacture
in the Hili oasis and wider Oman (Miry 1996, 2000);
soft-stone vessel manufacture at Maysar 1 and elsewhere
(Weisgerber 1981; David 1996), and shell rings in the
Ra's al-Jinz and Ra's al-Hadd regions (Charpentier 1994;
Cleuziou and Tosi 2000:35). This aspect of regional spe-
cialization and inter-regional exchange has been
addressed above, where the discussion focused upon
Ricardo's Law of Comparative Advantage as the econom-
ic force underlying the development of specialized pro-
duction at the community and sub-regional levels.
Funerary pottery, soft-stone vessels and shell rings seem
to have been manufactured under household or commu-
nity-based modes of production. The evidence for copper
production at Maysar 1 fits comfortably within this
model of geographically-localized production for distri-
bution within southeastern Arabia, but the large sites ofTawi Ubaylah and Wadi Salh 1 raise other possibilities.
Finally, in comparing Bronze Age copper extrac
with the production of items such as pottery, shell r
and soft-stone vessels, we must remain cognizant of
major differences between the scale of demand for
Omani copper and these other commodities. Althou
some Omani pottery vessels and soft-stone vessels w
traded overseas, particularly to the central Gulf reg
(M iry 2000; David 1996), pottery, soft-stone and s
rings were produced predominantly for consumers
in southeastern Arabia. Copper, on the other hand,
although utilized locally in undoubtedly large quan
may at certain times or locations have been produc
predominantly for foreign markets. The great differ
ences in scale of Omani smelting sites might therefo
be a reflection of production for different consume
with different scales of demand. A parallel for this
tion can be drawn with archaeometallurgical recon
tions of Iron Age copper exploitation on Cyprus, w
very large copper extraction sites are also found to
contemporary with extraction on a much smaller,
Figure 2.16 An Iron Age slag heap at Raki 2, Oman (after Wesigerber and Yule 1999:PI.4).
52 Early Metallu rgy of the Persian Gulf
8/14/2019 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf Technology, Trade, And the Bronze Age World ThePoet006102
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/early-metallurgy-of-the-persian-gulf-technology-trade-and-the-bronze-age 73/269
"workshop" scale. It has been hypothesized that the
large-scale extraction on Cyprus might be for export,
while workshop production is focused towards local
consumption (Kassianidou l998:23 8) .
As can be seen from the above discussion, the
archaeological evidence for the organization of copper
extraction in Bronze Age Oman is so minimal as to
make hypothesizing over modes of production a rather
difficult undertaking. The evidence for copper produc-
tion a t sites such as Maysar 1, Zahra 1, and Wadi Fizh 1
suggests household or workshop production loci
agglomerated at an extra-household level: a village or
community-based craft. The evidence from Tawi
Ubaylah and Wadi Salh 1 is equivocal, especially given
the complete lack of evidence regarding the duration of
operations at either site, and the number of production
units that may have simultaneously operated a t each.
Nevertheless, the scale of production at Tawi Ubaylah
and Wadi Salh 1 suggests the possibility of copperextraction at the extra-community level. There is no evi-
dence from the Umm al-Nar Period for any long-lived
political hierarchy tha t may have emerged to control
such a production system, although at least one ethno-
graphic study of stone quarrying (Burton 1984) has
demonstrated that such leadership is not essential to co-
ordinate production within a large, kin-based, tribal
groups. Clearly, more fieldwork will be required to elab-
orate our understanding of the organization of copper
production in third millennium southeastern Arabia.
Organization of Production in Later Periods
The same issues can be raised again in regard to copper
production in Iron Age southeastern Arabia, although
unfortunately at this time there is even less evidence
from archaeometallurgical studies to support the archae-
ological data. In contrast to what appears to have been
the predominant integration of third millennium copper
production within villages concerned with agricultural
and pastoral subsistence activities, surveys in Wadi Fizh
suggest that a different relationship may have existed inthe Iron Age (Costa and Wilkinson 1987:225, 232) . Iron
Age settlements in the region show much less evidence
for primary copper extraction, whist the enormous size
of Iron Age slag heaps at sites such as Raki 2 (ca.
45,000 tonnes; see Figure 2.16) and Tawi Raki 2 (ca.
40,000 tonnes) indicates that production levels are
haps many times higher than in the Umm al-Nar Pe
(see above). Furthermore, Iron Age mining and sme
for the first time dealt with ores from the massive s
deposits: both the low grade secondary mineralizati
the gossans and the sulfidic ores of the unweathered
body (Weisgerber 1987, 1988; Hauptmann 1985:A
85). These deposits are much larger than those expl
in the third millennium BCE, and fewer in number.
Thus, we have a situation whereby higher levels
production were undertaken at a limited number of
er copper ore bodies, and intensive, even full-time p
duction seems much more probable. The apparent f
tional distinction of Iron Age settlements into agric
al and smelting sites, which more closely parallels t
uation of the early Islamic period, may reflect such
mode of production, although further field research
be required to adequately address this issue. Produc
is certainly on a large scale, but whether it is organiat a community or extra-community level is almost
impossible to determine given our limited informati
the scale of smelting operations at any one time, the
chronological duration within the Iron Age, and the
sibility of seasonality in production. Interestingly,
although levels of copper production are significant
higher in the Iron Age than in the third millennium,
political organization of the region seems similar: th
is no evidence for development of a clear settlement
archy, large public buildings, or a state-like level of
plexity. Despite rare references to "kings" of the reg
in cuneiform sources, the distribution of power is st
generally characterized as polycentric (e.g. Magee 1
Clearly, the high output of copper in Iron Age south
ern Arabia reflected the economic complexity of the
region rather than its political stratification.
As for most other categories of information rela
to copper extraction in southeastern Arabia, the be
dence for the organization of production comes from
early Islamic Period. Reconstructions of output at t
time indicate clearly that copper was produced on aindustrial scale, although not classifiable as "indust
following the strict definitional requirements of the
outlined above. Individual mining and extraction si
such as Lasail have up to 100,000 tonnes of slag; th
total amount of early Islamic slag reported from Om
Geology and Early Exploitation of Copper
8/14/2019 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf Technology, Trade, And the Bronze Age World ThePoet006102
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/early-metallurgy-of-the-persian-gulf-technology-trade-and-the-bronze-age 74/269
is more than half a million tonnes; and the estimated
total copper production is 60,000 tonnes over a period
of only a century (see above). Our understanding of the
organization of this industrial-level production is
informed by a small number of historical sources, which
provide fragmentary evidence for trading, contractual
arrangements, taxes and administration
Archaeological survey and excavation have delineat-
ed the settlement structures associated with mining and
smelting sites, and indicated the physical mechanisms by
which copper production was organized and controlled
at the extraction sites themselves. Basic settlement struc-
tures with storage areas for crucial elements of produc-
tion and subsistence, such as water and charcoal, a re
known from 'Arja, Lasail, Samdah, Mullaq, Wadi as-
Safafir and other sites (Weisgerber l98O:ll8; Ibrahim
and El Mahi 199 8). Most houses seem to have been con-
centrated into residential areas or villages in the vicinity
of the mines themselves, however different arrangementswere also seen. For example, at 'Arja production seems
to have been organized into units, in which one house
seems to be related to one mine, smelting furnace and
slag heap, and there is no evidence for the existence of
an accumulation of dwellings in one area to form a "vil-
lage" (Weisgerber 1987:158) . Utilizing the evidence from
early historical sources, these mining units are interpret-
ed as the remains of a production system in which each
miner (and perhaps additional k in) exploited his own
mine, essentially independently (Weisgerber 1987: 158).
Unfortunately, no historical texts survive which discuss
the organization of smelting, as opposed to mining.
Other aspects of settlement in the early Islamic mining
regions, such as mosques, graveyards and extensive
architectural features related to agricultural water man-
agement, have also been recovered archaeologically
(Weisgerber 1980:118; Ibrahim and ElMahi 1998:132).
Additionally, the presence of large, fortified buildings in
prominent and defensible locations (such as on hills,
high terraces, or at the entrance to the mining wadis) at
many early Islamic sites has been used to suggest thepresence of people who had some role in the control or
protection of the mining district (Weisgerber 1980:117).
The function of Sohar as the outlet for the majority
of copper produced in the Wadi al-Jizzi area is also sup-
ported by historical documentation (Whitehouse
1979:874; J. C. Wilkinson 1979:892), and by archa
logical evidence from Sohar itself (Williamson 1973
and Figure 3a). A contextualization of the evidence
early Islamic copper production with other archaeo
cal and historical evidence is far from complete,
although efforts at defining the inter-relationship of
tlement and copper exploitation in the hinterland o
Sohar have been undertaken (Costa and Wilkinson
Ibrahim and El Mahi 1998). It is clear that copper
duction and agriculture were specialized activities c
out in separate areas, leading to inter-dependence
between Sohar and its mining hinterland (Costa and
Wilkinson 1987:232).
Copper-Base Objects in Bronze Age
Southeastern Arabia
Having examined the evidence for primary
extraction, we turn now to the evidence of
copper
how suc
metal was utilized locally in the production of finisobjects. This section will focus predominantly on th
types of finished objects that were produced, rather
on the technology of their production, as evidence
secondary refining and fabrication at Umm al-Nar
Period sites is slim and understudied. As summarize
Weeks (1997:17-20), the most extensive evidence c
from Umm an-Nar Island, where crucible and moul
fragments and numerous metallic refining and casti
residues at test to the melting and refining of raw co
produced further inland. Metalworking areas have
been recorded at Hili 8, in Periods IIe and IIf (ca.
2500-2000 BCE), and small quantities of refining a
casting debris are found as early as Phase Ib (ca. 29
BCE) at the site (Cleuziou 1980, 1989). At Tell Abr
there is abundant evidence for metalworking in the
ond and first millennia BCE, but Umm al-Nar Perio
metalworking debris is limited to a single amorpho
metal lump dated to the terminal third millennium
(Weeks 1997:28). The evidence from sites such as B
(Frifelt l979 :584) and Ghanadha (A1 Tikriti 1985:1
where surface finds of copper-base scrap are said tonumerous, remains unstudied.
The earliest copper-base objects in southeastern
Arabia appear in the late fourth and early third mil
nia BCE, at middens and settlements such as Wadi
GAS1, Ra's al-Hadd and Ra's a1 Hamra (Durante a
54 Early Metallurg y of the Persian Gulf
8/14/2019 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf Technology, Trade, And the Bronze Age World ThePoet006102
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/early-metallurgy-of-the-persian-gulf-technology-trade-and-the-bronze-age 75/269
Tosi 197 7; Uerpm ann 1992:97; Cleuziou 1996:160 ; Tosi on Urnm an-Nar Island produced a similar array of
and Usai 2003:20), a t Hil i-8 Period Ib, where copper
working debris is also recorded (Cleuziou 1989:Pl. 33),
and in contem porary beehive and Hafit-type burial
cairns (Frifel t 1971 , 1975b ; Benton and Potts, 19 94 ).
Interestingly, the earliest use of copper-base objects at
Wadi Shab GAS1 and Ra's al-Hamra, although signifi-
cantly later than seen in the neighboring regions of
Mesopotamia, Iran, or Baluchistan, occurs in local mate-rial assemblages w hich a re still pre-ceramic. The objects
produced at this period are simple tools, such as small
blades, fish hooks and pinslawls, that occur in small
numbers on co astal sites with a strong orientation
towards seasonal exploitation of marine resources
(Cleuziou and Tosi 2000:26-27). The m etal objects from
Hafit tom bs include a num ber of copper-base i tems such
as blades, rivets, tweezers an d long awls or eye-pen-
cils (Frifelt 197 5b:61 -67, Figures 3, 5; Frifelt
1971:Figure 1 2; Cleuziou and Tosi 2000:26) commonlyassociated with bi-conical pottery of the Mesopotamian
Jemdet Nasr tradition. The technology of this copper
use remains uninvestigated, and it has not been demon-
strated whether these earliest metal objects were made
from local or imported copper. The considerable evi-
dence for later Urnm al-N ar Period copper produ ction in
the region makes it likely that they represent the prod-
ucts of the earliest copper extraction in southeastern
Arabia. This theory is supported by Frifelt (1975b:69),
wh o suggests tha t by the early third millennium, the
grave builders of BatIIbri and B uraimi were all engaged
in the copper trade from inner O man with Buraimi as a
market place at the crossroads and Urnm an-N ar as one
of their shipping places .
Occupation on Urnm an-Nar Island is thought to
have begun at around 2 700 BCE, and continued to as
late as 2200 BCE (Frifelt 1995:237-239). The inventory
of copper-base objects from th e collective tomb s on the
island is limited to simple tanged or riveted knives and
daggers, pinslawls and fish hooks (Frifelt 1991 98-103).
All the excavated pinslawls come fr om Grave V, regard-ed as earlier in date than material from Graves I, I1 and
V1 (Frifelt 19 91:1 25 ), althoug h v irtually identical objects
are recorded in later Urnm al-N ar Period tom bs a t A1
Sufouh (Benton 1996:Figure 19 2) and H ili No rth Tom b
A (Cleuziou and Vogt 1985:Pl. 28 ). Sett lement contexts
objects to that found in the graves, including fish ho
knivesldaggers, pinslawls, chisels, bore rs (hollow
cone-shaped p oints), and a blade axe. In addit ion, t
is evidence for metalworking in the form of copper
fragments, clay moulds, processing resides an d cruc
fragments (Frifelt 199 5:7 0, 188-191, Figures 108-1
263-280). A very similar array of copper-base objec
has been recovered from the seasonal Urnm al-NarPeriod settlement of Ra's al-Jinz ( RJ -2) in the Ja'alan
which also has evidence for the secondary working o
copper (Cleuziou and Tosi 200 054- 57, Figures 12-
Copper fish hooks, in particular, seem to be ubiquit
at coastal sites from the third millennium BCE onw
they are recorded in their hundreds at RJ-2 (Cleuzio
and Tosi 20 00 54 ) and known from sites as distant
Urnm a n-N ar Island and SWY-3, located near Suwa
the Arabian Sea (Me ry and Marq uis 1998:220-223
Figure 1 0 ). Overall, fish hook s, pinslawls, and bladtypify the copper-base objects found in third millen
settlement sites of southeastern Arabia, and indicate
basic m etalworking technology aimed at the produc
of simple and functional tools necessary for everyda
subsistence activities. Th e practice of m etalwo rking
in settlements at this time is attested by pieces of co
scrap an d wo rking debris found at si tes such as Hil
RJ-2, Bat and Tell Abraq (Cleuziou 1989; Cleuziou
Tosi 2000:54-59; Frifelt 1 97 95 84 ; Weeks 19 97 ). A
noted above, these metalworking operations are larg
unstud ied, but they likely included melting, casting,
secondary refining to remove impurit ies from raw c
per, but not primary smelting.
A more diverse array of copper-base objects, in
terms of typology, size, and perhaps metalworking t
nology, is found in graves of the later Urnm al-Na r
Period. Finger, toe, a nd earrings become a particula
comm on find category, for example a t Hili No rth T
A (Cleuziou and Vogt 1985:Pl. 28 ), Hil i Tomb N (A
Tikrit i and M ery 2000:213 and Figure 10 ), A1 Sufo
(Benton 1996:Figures 194-195), M oweihat (Haerin19 91 ) and Tell Abraq (Potts 2000 :77). A number of
examples of flat razors are also kno wn from Hili
Tomb N and Hili Nor th Tom b A (Al-Tikrit i and M e
2000:Figure 10 ; Cleuziou and Vogt 1985:Pl. 28.1 ),
Abraq (Potts 2000 :76), and Ra's al-Jinz (Cleuziou a
Geology and Early Exploitation o f Copper
8/14/2019 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf Technology, Trade, And the Bronze Age World ThePoet006102
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/early-metallurgy-of-the-persian-gulf-technology-trade-and-the-bronze-age 76/269
Tosi 2000:Figure 15 ). Th e very end of the third millenni- for more th an half of the 31 analyzed objects from U
um witnesses the introduction of the socketed spear-
head, as found in the Asimah grave alignment (Vogt
199 5) and in large numbers in the Tell Abraq to mb
(Po tts 2000:68-69). This type continues in use into the
Wadi Suq Period, as seen by its occurrence in graves a t
Shimal (Vogt and Franke-Vogt 1987:Figure 2 1) , Al-
Wasit (Al-Shanfari and W eisgerber 19895'1. 5 ) , Ghalilah
(Do naldso n 1985:Figure 28 ), Bidyah (A1 Tikriti 198913:PI. 73 ) and Gha nadh a Island (Al-Tikri ti 1985:Pl. 1 6) .
While some continuity is thus seen between the
metal assemblages of the third and second millennia
BCE in southeastern Arabia, the Wadi Suq Period and
Late Bronze Age also witness the intro duction of new
forms of weaponry. Examples include the long copper-
base swo rds fo und in collective bu rials at Al-Wasit,
Qa ttara h and Q arn Bint Saud (Cleuziou 1981:Figure 12;
Al-Shanfari and Weisgerber 1989:Pl. 5; Potts 1990a:252
and Figure 29) , and tanged arrow heads, often with
incised decoration, which appear at sites across the
peninsula from the mid-second millennium onwards
(Magee 1998a ). Additionally, copper- base vessels, which
are extremely rare in third millennium contexts in south-
eastern A rabia (e.g. Vogt 1995:Figure 55 ), appear more
frequently in tom b assemblages of the secon d millenni-
um BCE (e.g. A1 Tikriti 1989:Pl. 70-72).
A limited amount of compositional analysis of third
millennium BCE metalwork has been undertaken,
including fully-quantitative and semi-quantitative analy-
ses of objects from Umm an-N ar Island (Berthoud 197 9;Frifel t 1975, 1990; Craddock l 9 81;Hauptmann 1995;
Prange et al. 19 99 ), sites in A1 Ain (B erthou d 19 79 ) and
the Wadi Samad (H aup tma nn et al . 19 88) , and Tell
Abraq (Weeks 1997 ; Pedersen an d Buchwald 1 991 ). The
great majority of analyses have indicated that tin-bronze
was very rarely used at Umm al-Nar Period sites in
southeastern Arabia. Objects were predominantly of
copper, with the elemen ts arsenic an d nickel occurring in
quan tities of u p to four percen t o r higher, a pattern of
impurities generally consistent with contemporary ingot
and raw copper fragments from Maysar 1, Wadi Bahla,
Umm an-Nar Island and Ra's al -Hamra (H auptm ann
1987 , 1995; Hauptman n et al . 1988; Craddock 1 981) .
As has been noted previously, the Tell Abraq analyses
contrast strongly with this pattern; tin-bronze was used
al-Nar Period sett lement a nd fun erary contexts a t th
si te (Weeks 19 97 ). The only other t in-bronzes rep or
fro m this period a re isolated examples from a t omb
Hili (Berthoud 1979:Table 5 ), two objects from uns
fied sites in the region (Pran ge et al. 1999 :Figure 6 )
beads from Ra's al-Hadd (personal comm unication
Rea de). Evidence for the local working of tin-bronz
also provided by the analyses of a piece of metalwodebris from Hili-8 Period IIf, which contained ca. 0
percent tin (Cleuziou 1989:7 4).
Nevertheless, the first significant appe aranc e of
bronze in southeastern Arabia is still sometimes clai
to occur only in the second millennium BCE (e.g. Pr
et al. 19 99 ), before it becomes the dom inant alloy in
local Iron Age, as represented by the analyses of obj
from the IbriISelme hoard (Prange and H auptm ann
20 01) . However, composit ional variabili ty between
vidual assemblages seems to be a feature of south ea
Arabian metallurgy, making chronological distinctio
alloy use hard to su pport . For example, the analyses
sented in this volume clearly sup por t the findings of
Tell Abraq study regarding the use of tin-bronze in
third millennium BCE in the northern pa rt of the O
Peninsula. Such results cannot be used to push back
introdu ction or origin of tin-bron ze in the regi
however, as later assemblages such as that from the
second millennium Qattarah tomb contain no t in-br
objects (Cleuziou l9 8 :28 8). Likewise, the total dom
nance of the tin-bronze alloy in the southeastern ArIron Age suggested by analyses of the IbriISelme hoa
not evident at the Iron Age settlements of Tell Abra
Muweilah, where only one-quarter of finished objec
are of tin-bronze (Weeks, forthcoming b:Tables 3 an
1997:Table 7 ). The adop tion of t in-bronze technolo
southeastern Arabia is a complex issue which will b
cussed at length in the following chapters.
Alloys other than t in-bronze and AsINi-copper
extremely rare in southeastern Arabia before the end
the Iron Age. The exception concerns a group of tenobjects from collective graves on Umm an-Nar Islan
analyzed by both X -ray diffraction and atomic abso
tion sp ectrom etry (Frifelt 1991:lOO). Eight of the ob
contained significant amoun ts of zinc, in the two to
percent range, sometimes occurring in addit ion to o
5 6 Early Me tallurgy o f the Persian Gulf
8/14/2019 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf Technology, Trade, And the Bronze Age World ThePoet006102
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/early-metallurgy-of-the-persian-gulf-technology-trade-and-the-bronze-age 77/269
8/14/2019 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf Technology, Trade, And the Bronze Age World ThePoet006102
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/early-metallurgy-of-the-persian-gulf-technology-trade-and-the-bronze-age 78/269
dence for production units organized along household or
"workshop" lines, nucleated within individual agricul-
tural villages. Two larger smelting sites suggest the pos-
sibility of more intensive copper extraction, but critical
archaeological evidence regarding the duration and
intensity of production is absent, making conclusions
regarding multiple modes of Bronze Age primary copper
production impossible to verify.
Bronze Age copper production in southeastern
Arabia witnessed distinct periods of growth and decline,
which can be correlated with a number of technological,
environmental, and socio-economic factors. While there
is little evidence for the direct adoption of a developed
smelting technology from Iran or Baluchistan, the possi-
bility that the idea of copper extraction arrived via stim-
ulus diffusion from the north is plausible. Local extrac-
tion appears to have begun in the late fourth or early
third millennium BCE and there was a significant
increase in output over the course of the third millenni-
um. Increased Umm al-Nar Period production is corre-
lated with a growth of local population and settlement,
greater economic integration within southeastern
Arabia, and increasing intensity in maritime exchanges
with polities in Mesopotamia, Iran, the central Gulf and
the Indus region. In a similar manner, the apparent
decline in copper production in the early second millen-
nium BCE is correlated with a decline in the internal
economic integration of southeastern Arabia, the col-
lapse of the Gulf trade, and perhaps environmental
degradation exacerbated by excessive wood harvesting
for smelting. While most studies of copper production in
the region have stressed the importance of foreign mar-
kets in determining copper production levels in south-
eastern Arabia, it is clear that the scale and integration
of the local southeastern Arabian economy was also crit-
ical in determining levels of copper extraction and
exchange in the Bronze Age.
In contrast to the large-scale primary extraction that
characterized the Umm al-Nar Period, the object analy-
ses and descriptions presented earlier in this chapterdemonstrate little in the way of elaborate metalworking
techniques. Local metalworking industries were charac-
terized by a relatively limited array of simple tools relat-
ed to everyday subsistence activities, such as fish hooks,
pinslawls, and basic blades. Assemblages of metalwork
from contemporary funerary contexts demonstrate
wider repertoire, including non-utilitarian objects su
as rings and beads, in addition to weapons such as
spearheads. Compositional analyses have indicated
in addition t o local copper and copper alloys, foreig
metal was utilized in significant quantities at least o
site (Tell Abraq) in the northern Oman Peninsula an
perhaps in more limited quantities at other Umm al
Period sites. The potential importance of this foreig
metal for the local Omani metalworking industry, i
likely sources, and its use in southeastern Arabia ou
the settlement of Tell Abraq, will be discussed at gr
depth in the later chapters of this volume.
5 8 Early Metallur gy of t he Persian Gulf
8/14/2019 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf Technology, Trade, And the Bronze Age World ThePoet006102
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/early-metallurgy-of-the-persian-gulf-technology-trade-and-the-bronze-age 79/269
3 Analyzed Artifacts:
Contexts and Chronology
This chap ter presents background stratigraphic, chrono -logical and contex tual inform ation on the metal samples
that are analyzed in this volume. A total of 8 3 copper-base
objects of Urnm al-Nar date were analyzed using PIXE, in
ad dition t o the analysis of one tin ring by EDS. All objects
of Urnm al-N ar Period date analyzed compositionally
come from funerary contexts. Material was obtained from
four sites, including Urnm al-Nar-type tom bs at A1 Sufouh
(Du bai Emirate) and Tell Abraq (Sharjah Emirate), and
two Urnm al -Nar tombs known as Un arl and Unar2 near
the village of S himal (Ra s al-Khaimah E mirate) .
Approxim ately 2 0 copper-base objects have been analyzed
from each of the tombs, and efforts have been made to
analyze objects of varied typology from each assemblage.
The ch ronological ranges of the sites are sho wn in Figure
3.1, a nd are discussed more fully below.
AI Sufouh
Th e archa eological site of A1 Sufouh is located abo ut one
km from the mod ern shore of the Gulf, on the southern ou t-
skirts of the city of Du bai. Th e site, discovered in 198 8, con-
sists of a num ber of distinct, low moun ds with evidence forhum an oc cupation in the form of ash, shell , bone, pottery
an d othe r artifacts (Be nton 1996:20 ). Significant areas of
the site were destroyed du ring recent constru ction activi-
t ies, however a number of occup ation areas and a roun d,
stone-b uilt, Urnm al-Nar-type tom b survived an d were the
subject of rescue excavations in mid -l 994 (Du bai Mu seum )
and a tho roug h excavation in early 1 99 5 (University of
Sydney, see B enton 19 96 ).
Excavation of one occupation area (Area B) t
north of the Urnm al-Nar tomb revealed the edge
an extensive area of cooking hearths. Material fr
excavated deposits consisted primarily of burnt m
shell and fish bones, in addit ion to a number of
ceramic sherds datable typologically to the Urnm Nar Period. The Urnm al-Nar ceramics suggest th
occupation in Area B was at least part ly contemp
with the construction and use of the tomb at A1
Sufouh, although two sherds of Barbar pottery d
ered during excavation indicate continued occupa
or re-occupation in the early second millennium
(Weeks 199 6) . It has been suggested th at the si te
resents a seasonal camping ground that must hav
been utilized over a significant period of time. A
such, the si te is comparable to other ephemeral millennium coastal sett lements on the southern G
shores, such as Ras Gh anad ha (al-Tikri t i 19 85 ).
All the analyzed copper-base samples from A
Sufouh come from the main Urnm al -Nar tomb
site (Tom b I), shown in Figure 3.2. Th e tom b is
typical example of Urnm al-Nar Period funerary
architecture: it is circular, with a diameter of 6.5
and divided into six internal chambers. Both the
wall and the internal walls are made of unworke
stone blocks, although the ring-wall is faced wit
single layer of well-masoned ashlars (Benton
1996:Figures 21 and 23). A significant amount o
human skeletal material was excavated from with
the tomb itself and from three pits that were du
the vicinity of the tom b (Tom bs 11-IV). The estim
Tell Abraq -Unar2 -Unarl
Illlllllllllllll
AI Sufouh
I I 1 I I I I I
2700 2600 2500 2400 2300 2200 2100 2000 1900 180
Years BCE
Figure 3.1 Chronology of the tombs from which the copper-b
objects analyzed in this volume were excavated.
8/14/2019 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf Technology, Trade, And the Bronze Age World ThePoet006102
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/early-metallurgy-of-the-persian-gulf-technology-trade-and-the-bronze-age 80/269
number of individuals interred at the site is 121,
with a MNI of 13 people calculated for Tomb I
(Benton 1996:49).
Over 60 ceramic vessels have been recovered from
all burial contexts a t A1 Sufouh, including at least 20
examples of black-on-red Umm al-Nar style pottery
and three Iranian black-on-gray vessels from Tomb I
(Benton 1996:Figure 129). Further examples of Iranian
gray-wares were found in Tomb 11. Nearly 14,000
beads were recovered from burial contexts at the site,
over 90 percent of which were of serpentinite or talcose
steatite (Benton 1996:Figures 133-1 35, Table 1 0) .
However, other materials such as soft-stone, shell, rock
crystal and agate were also found, in addition to
approximately 300 carnelian beads (nine of which were
etched) and two lapis lazuli beads. Three lapis lazuli
pendants were also recovered (Benton 1996:Figure
198) . Copper-base objects such as blades, rings and
pins or awls were also recovered (Benton 1996:Figures183-195).
The excavated material from A1 Sufouh suggests
that the tomb was built and used in the middle of the
Umm al-Nar Period. In particular, the lack of se rie
re cente soft-stone vessels in the tomb assemblage sug-
gests that the tomb deposits pre-date the manufacture
of such objects in southeastern Arabia, which Benton
(1996:Table 17 ) places at ca. 2300-2000 BCE. The
black-on-red and grayware ceramics from the tomb
suggest deposition sometime shortly after the middle
of the third millennium BCE, and Benton (1996:Fi
204) has proposed a chronological range for the us
the tomb of ca. 2450-2300 BCE.
The copper-base objects from A1 Sufouh analy
in this volume are listed in Table 3.1 and some ar
illustrated in Figure 3.3. As can be seen, only sam
from Tomb I were analyzed, all of which were fo
in the western half of the tomb. Only material th
was already fragmentary was sampled, meaning t
daggers and blade fragments were analyzed but n
rings or pinslawls. The group of analyzed sample
thus a biased one in terms of object types.
Additionally, there is the possibility that the 22 a
lyzed fragments may have come from less than 2
objects. A total of 35 copper-base finished object
were recovered from the A1 Sufouh burials, includ
22 from Tomb I, as well as numerous unidentifia
metal fragments (Benton 1996: 145). Fourteen dag
blades are recorded from all burial contexts at thsite, and it must be remembered that material fo
in Tombs 11-IV could once have been interred in
Tomb I and have left fragmentary remains there
(although this view is contradictory to the chrono
cal associations proposed by Benton (1996), see
Kennet (199 8) for an alternative view). Comparis
of PIXE data (see Chapter 3 ) for the fragments in
cate groups of samples with very similar composit
but these are as likely to reflect a common metal
source (whether ingot or mine) as a common obje
Figure 3.2 AI Sufouh Tomb I after excavation, seen from the west (photo courtesy of Daniel Potts).
6 Early Metallu rgy of the Persian Gulf
8/14/2019 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf Technology, Trade, And the Bronze Age World ThePoet006102
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/early-metallurgy-of-the-persian-gulf-technology-trade-and-the-bronze-age 81/269
Unar lThe archaeological sites of Shimal lie about eight km
northeast of the modern city of Ras al-Khaimah, at
the foot of the limestone mountains which comprise
the Musandam Peninsula near the modern village of
Shimal (Vogt and Franke-Vogt 1987:Figure 2) . The
Umm al-Nar Period tomb designated Unarl was exca-
vated by the German Mission to Ras al-Khaimah in
1988 (Kastner et al. 1988), and remains largely
unpublished. A preliminary report on the discovery
and excavation of the tomb (Sahm 1988) provides
basic information on the cultural and skeletal materi-
al found, and on architectural, taphonomic and
chronological issues.
The tomb is a relatively large example of typical
Umm al-Nar type: circular (with a diameter of 11.5
m) , stone-built on a low plinth wall, and divided
internally into eight chambers by a north-south run-
ning dividing wall and three east-west cross walls(Sahm 1988:2). It is illustrated in Figure 3.4. The
tomb is badly disturbed, with architectural features
and archaeological material preserved more fully on
its eastern side. The tomb was robbed in antiquity,
and evidence exists to suggest that the robbery took
place only a short time after the construction and
use of the tomb (Sahm 1988:2), i.e. by the early sec-
ond millennium BCE.
The tomb is highly disturbed and only minor
areas of articulation are visible in the excavated
skeletal material, which is also largely burnt (Blau
and Beech, 1999:34) . Physical anthropological exami-
nation indicates that a minimum of 438 individuals
were buried in the tomb (Blau 2001:Table 1).Pottery
vessels and metal objects were found in small num-
bers inside the tomb, in addition to numerous beads
made of "steatite paste" and an etched carnelian
bead. A few examples of se rie re cente soft-stone
were recovered from immediately outside the tomb,
and it has been suggested that some of them may
post-date the third millennium BCE (Sahm 1988:3).The excavated ceramic vessels were mostly fine
wares and predominantly local black-on-red examples
but there were also three black-on-gray Iranian vessels
and one sherd of incised gray ware from Iran (Sahm
1988:Figure 10). Metal finds include one gold bead
and two silver beads, as well as a number of sma
fragments of copper-base objects such as rings an
pins or awls. Additionally, a broken socketed spe
head was excavated from the tomb deposit (Sahm
1988:Figure 11.3). The majority of the excavated
material from Unarl suggests a date in the middle
Umm al-Nar Period, ca. 2400-2200 BCE (Blau
2001:Table l ) , however the possibility of re-use
the late third or early second millennium cannot
excluded because of the presence of the socketed c
per-base spearhead.
The analyzed copper-base objects from Unarl
shown in Table 3.2 and examples are illustrated in
Figure 3.5. In addition to the rings and pinslawls m
tioned by Sahm, there are a number of thin, flat m
fragments from the tomb that may once have belon
to vessels or blades, and some curved fragments th
Table 3.1
Objects from AI Sufouh analyzed by PlXE
Reg. No. Context Object
ALSUFOOH
ALSUFOU
ASI-l
ASI-2
ASI-3
ASI-4
ASI-5
ASTOMBI a
ASTOMBI b
ASTOMBI c
ASTOM B1d
ASTOMBI e
ASTOMBI f
ASTOMBI g
ASTOMBI h
M10-15
M10-31
M 10-34
M 10-36
M 10-30
M10-41
M 10-43
Tomb I: chambers 4,6
Tomb I: chambers 4,6
Tomb I: chambers 4,6
Tomb I: chambers 4,6
Tomb I: chambers 4,6
Tomb I: chambers 4,6
Tomb I: chambers 4,6
Tomb I: chambers 4,6
Tomb I: chambers 4,6
Tomb 1:chambers 4,6
Tomb I: chambers 4,6
Tomb I: chambers 4,6
Tomb I: chambers 4,6
Tomb I: chambers 4,6
Tomb I: chambers 4,6
Tomb I: chambers 4,6
Tomb I: chambers 4,6
Tomb I: chambers 4,6
Tomb I: chambers 4,6
Tomb I: chambers 4,6
Tomb I: chambers 4,6
Tomb 1:chambers 4,6
blade fragmen
blade fragmen
flat fragment
thick flat fragm
thin flat fragm
blade edge fra
blade edge fra
blade fragme
blade edge fra
blade edge fra
thin flat fragm
thin flat fragm
thin flat fragm
thick flat fragm
thin flat fragm
blade edge fra
rivet
dagger-rivete
dagger-rivete
blade edge fra
dagger-tange
thin flat fragm
Copper-base artifacts from the Umm al-Nar Period tomb at A
Sufouh tha t are compositionally analyzed in this study.
Analyzed Artifacts: Contexts and Chronology
8/14/2019 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf Technology, Trade, And the Bronze Age World ThePoet006102
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/early-metallurgy-of-the-persian-gulf-technology-trade-and-the-bronze-age 82/269
8/14/2019 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf Technology, Trade, And the Bronze Age World ThePoet006102
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/early-metallurgy-of-the-persian-gulf-technology-trade-and-the-bronze-age 83/269
may have been tubes or spouts. Although the copper-
base objects remaining a t U na rl are obviously only a
small fraction of those w hich may once have been
interred there, enough typological diversity exists to
suggest that the compositional variability of the original
deposit may also be reasonably well represented.
Unar2
The Umm al-Nar tom b Unar2 (see Figure 3.6) is locatedin the Shihu village of Shimal North, in the Emirate of
Ras al -Khaimah, about 200 m south of the Una rl to mb
described in the previous section (Blau and Beech
1999 :34). The si te was excavated over tw o seasons in
19 97 and 1998 , reveal ing a ro und, s tone-bui lt tomb
with a diameter of approximately 1 4.5 m, making
Unar2 the largest Umm al-Nar funerary structure yet
discovered in southeastern Arab ia. The interior of the
tomb was divided into 1 2 chambers forming three sepa-
rate units, possibly related to familylkinship grou ps(Velde 199 9; see Blau 2001:Figure 3; Blau and Beech
1999:Figure 2 ), al though the original architectural fea-
tures of the tomb have been disturbed by tomb-robbing.
Evidence exists to suggest tha t the tom b m ay originally
have stood t o a height of abo ut three meters an d includ-
ed an upper story (Velde 1999 ).
The tom b remains partial ly unpublished, al thoug h
notes on the ceramic assemblage ( Ca rter 20 02 ) an d skele-
tal remains (Blau 2001 ; Blau and Beech 1 99 9) have
appe ared, and a brief site summary (Velde 19 99 ) and
physical anthro polog y report (Blau 19 99 ) have been post-
ed on the National M useum of Ras al-Khaimah website.
Anthropological studies by S. Blau (2 00 1,1 99 9) indicate
that a t least 43 1 ndividuals were interred in the Un ar2
tomb . Articulated skeletons were rare, being fou nd only
in chambers D and G, and more tha n 90 percent of the
disart iculated bone was bu rnt. As for most Umm al-N ar
tom b skeletal assemblages, the bones w ere predom inantly
of adults, althoug h fetal, infant, child an d adolescent
bones were found in each chambe r (Blau 19 99 ). t is sug-
gested by Velde (1 99 9) ha t bodies may first have beeninterred on the cham ber floors unti l no space remained in
the tomb , at which point the bones were removed for cre-
mation and later deposited in the upper story of the tom b
(see also Carter 2 0 02 5 ). The period of use of the tom b is
regarded as last ing mo re than 10 0 years (Velde 199 9).
Table 3.2
Objects from Unarl analyzed by PlXE
Reg. No. Context
L1 1D-PIN Unarl Tomb
L14N-PIN Unarl Tomb
LlSRlNG Unarl Tomb
M1 0-7 Unarl Tomb
M10-12 Unarl Tomb
M1 0-13V Unarl Tomb
M1 0-1 Unarl Tomb
M1 0-17 Unarl Tomb
M10-18 Unarl Tomb
M10-19 Unarl Tomb
M 10-20V Unarl Tomb
M10-21V Unarl Tomb
M1 0-22R Unarl Tomb
M 10-35 Unarl Tomb
M 10-38 Unarl Tomb
M10-39 Unarl Tomb
M 10-44 Unarl Tomb
M 10-46 Unarl Tomb
Object
pinlawl fragme
pinlawl fragme
ring fragment
flat fragment
thin flat fragme
thin flat fragme
tubelspout frag
ring fragment
ring fragment
ring fragment
thin flat fragme
tubelvessel frag
ring fragment
thin flat fragme
tubelspout frag
thin flat fragme
pinlawl fragme
ring fragment
Copper-base artifacts from the Unarl Umm al-Nar Period tom
Shimal that are compositionally analyzed in this study.
Figure 3.5 A selection of fragments of copper-base objects fr
Unarl analyzed in this study.Top row, left t o right: LISRING, M
M10-46, M10-18. Bottom row, left to right: M10-44, L14N-PIN,
PIN, M1 0-16, M10-1 2.
Analyzed Artifacts: Contexts and Chronology
8/14/2019 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf Technology, Trade, And the Bronze Age World ThePoet006102
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/early-metallurgy-of-the-persian-gulf-technology-trade-and-the-bronze-age 84/269
Figure 3.6 The Unar2 tom b after excavation, showing cha mber designations, viewed from the nor th (ph oto courtesty of D. Kennet).
Pottery a nd stone vessels, metal objects and jewelry
remained in the tomb even after robbing, with the pot-tery indicating contacts with Mesopotamia, Bahrain,
Iran an d the Indus Valley (Ca rter 2002; Velde 19 99 ).
Typical black-on-red indigenous fu nerary vessels com-
prise more than 80 percent of the ceramic assemblage,
while imported Iranian black-on-gray an d incised gray-
ware s represent just over 1 0 percent of the excavated pot-
tery (C arte r 2002:7-10). A small num ber of sherds of so-
called Kaf tari ware from Fars province in Ira n has been
recovered, a nd Barbar, Mesopo tamian and Indu s wares
are similarly rare (Ca rter 2002:9-10). Assessment of the
ma terial from the site was initially used to suggest a date of
ca. 2300-2100 BCE (Blau and Beech 1999:34 ). However,
ceramic parallels cited by Carter (2002:12-13) suggest a
foundation d ate perhaps 50-100 years later than this, and
aban donm ent some t ime in the last century of the third
millennium BCE, i.e. a cons truction an d use span ning ca.
2200-2000 BCE. Thus, al though earlier reports had
described the Unar2 tom b deposits as late Umm an -Na r
but n ot in the terminal phase, the new ceramic studies and
particularly the presence of a numb er of anoma lous
ceramic forms led Carter ( 20 02:1 3) o suggest that use ofUnar2 m ay have continued into the terminal Umm al-Na r
Period. Carter (2002:6) also observes tha t approxim ately
six percent of the an alyzed ceramic assemblage from
Un ar2 consists of later intrusive mate rial from the second
millennium, Iron Age and m ore recent periods. T he possi-
bili ty that any analyzed metal objects from Una r2 ar
intrusive is small, but should not be forgotten.The analyzed copper-base objects from Un ar2 a
listed in Table 3.3 and illustrated in Figure 3.7, and
sist primarily of rings, pins or aw ls and th in flat fra
ments. These are, in general, the largest metal objec
that remained in the tomb after i t was plundered in
antiquity. It is likely that a much larger and more ty
logically diverse gr oup of copper-base ob jects was o
buried within the tomb .
Tell Abraq
The archaeological site of Tell Abr aq is situated o n
border of the Emirates of Sh arjah and Umm al-Qaiw
several kilometers sou th of the present sh ore of the
The site has been systematically excavated f or five s
sons, from 19 89-1993 and in the winter of 199 7-19
following test excavations a t the site by an Ira qi tea
the 197 0s (Potts 199 0b ). Material from the first fou
seasons of excavation has been published and discus
in a number of places (P ot ts 1990b, 1991, 1 993 a),
some material from the most recent excavation seas
also published (Po tts 199 8, 2000 , 2003 b).Tell Abraq is one of the largest sites on the sou
ern shores of the Gulf, and shows evidence for con
ous occup ation from ca. 2300-300 BCE (i.e. Umm
Nar Period to Iron Age), with a later re-occupation
the Ed Du r period (Potts 1993 a). The chrono logy
64 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf
8/14/2019 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf Technology, Trade, And the Bronze Age World ThePoet006102
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/early-metallurgy-of-the-persian-gulf-technology-trade-and-the-bronze-age 85/269
8/14/2019 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf Technology, Trade, And the Bronze Age World ThePoet006102
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/early-metallurgy-of-the-persian-gulf-technology-trade-and-the-bronze-age 86/269
Figure 3.7 A selection of fragments of copper-base objects from Unar2 analyzed in this study.Top row, left to right: 1019-
4.108,1018-3.93,1019-3.104,1019-4.113,surf.56.Second row, left to right: 1014.76,1014.158,1012.52,1023-4.10,1019-5.71.
Third row, left to right: 1019-3.60,1022-2.160,1015.95,1007.42,1005.40. Bottom row, left t o right: 1023-2.1 10,101 9-3.59,
lOO7.41,lOl 5.1 44,101 9-3.1 24.
66 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf
8/14/2019 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf Technology, Trade, And the Bronze Age World ThePoet006102
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/early-metallurgy-of-the-persian-gulf-technology-trade-and-the-bronze-age 87/269
from a charcoal deposit running directly beneath the
tom b building surface sho w calibrated ranges in the last
third of the third millennium BCE (samples K-5574 and
K-5575, see Table 3.4 and Potts 1993a:Table l ) , rovid-
ing a useful terminus post qu m for the construction of
the tomb.
Due to a border dispute at the si te, the eastern
chamber of the Umm al -Nar tom b was not excavated
unti l 1997-1998, and remains largely unpublished. Asfor the western chamber, large amounts of disart iculat-
ed an d pa rt ially art iculated sk eletal material were
recovered, an d the M N I for the enti re tom b is about
330 individuals (D . T. Potts, personal communication).
The cultural material from the eastern chamber repre-
sents the kind of extremely rich assemblage that may
have characterized many Umm a l -Nar tombs prior to
robbery. In addit ion to numerous examples of local
Umm al-Nar ceramic and soft-stone vessels, pottery
from Mesopotamia, Bahrain, southwest and southeastIran was present in the tomb (Potts 1998:10, 28-29;
P o tt s 2000 : l l 6 ff.; Pot ts 20 03a). Addi t ional f inds
included: numerous copper-base objects; more than ten
ivory combs with Indus and central Asian parallels
(Potts 1998:28-29); at least four alabaster vessels
(Potts 2000:125 ); gold, lapis lazuli and carnelian beads
with parallels in the Indus Valley region; and gold and
silver animal pe ndan ts (Po tts 2000:24, 54; see also
Pot ts 200 3b).
A series of five radiocarbon dates were ru n o n woo d
charcoal from various levels of the bone deposit in the
eastern chamber, the results of which are published in
Potts and Weeks (1 99 9) , isted in Table 3.4. They con-
firm the dating of the tomb to the final stages of the
third m illennium BCE, but show no strat igraphic
dependence. In fact , the five dates fr om the eastern
chamber are statistically identical at a 95 percent confi-
dence level, and provide an average 20 calibrated range
of 2200-2040 BCE (Potts and Weeks 199 9).
The analyzed metal objects from Tell Abraq are
listed in Tables 3.4 and 3.5 and illustrated in Figures3.10-3.16. A total of 2 1 copper-base samples were
analyzed, representing 1 0 percent of the 202 co pper-
base objects recovered from the eastern tomb chamber.
Th e analyzed samples sho w significant typological
diversity, including rings, daggers, spearheads and thin
Figure3.8 The Tell Abraq tomb after excavation, looking rom
north (photo D.Potts).
Figure3.9 Two copper-base rings from the Tell Abraq tomb, asvated in position on disarticulated human phalanges (photo D
Potts).
flat fragments. The total assemblage of copper-bas
objects fro m the eastern chamb er of the tomb inclu
2 1 socketed spearheads similar to Wadi Suq types,
dagger blades of varying typology, an d more tha n 1
finger rings, toe rings an d earrings.
Analyzed Artifacts: Contexts and Chronology
8/14/2019 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf Technology, Trade, And the Bronze Age World ThePoet006102
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/early-metallurgy-of-the-persian-gulf-technology-trade-and-the-bronze-age 88/269
8/14/2019 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf Technology, Trade, And the Bronze Age World ThePoet006102
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/early-metallurgy-of-the-persian-gulf-technology-trade-and-the-bronze-age 89/269
Figure 3.10 A selection o f fragments o f copper-base o bjects from Tell Abraq analyzed in this study.
Top row, lef t t o r ig ht:TA2094,TA2679,TA281 6,TA233g1TA2677. M idd le row, lef t t o right:TA2440 (tip),
TA291 8,TA243S1TA2678. Bo tto m row, le ft t o right:TA2733,TA2732,TAI 785,TA2135.
Analyzed Artifacts: Contexts and Chronology
8/14/2019 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf Technology, Trade, And the Bronze Age World ThePoet006102
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/early-metallurgy-of-the-persian-gulf-technology-trade-and-the-bronze-age 90/269
Figure3.1 1 Spearhead TA21 83 from the Tell Abraq Urnm al-Nar Period tomb. Length ca. 26.7 cm.
Figure3.12 Daggerlknife blade TA2268 from the Tell Abraq Urnm al-Nar Period tomb. Length ca. 27.2 cm.
Figure3.1 3 Dagger/knife blade TA2270 from the Tell Abraq Urnm al-Nar Period tomb.
Figure3.1 4 Daggerlknife blade TA231 5 from the Tell Abraq Urnm al-Nar Period tomb. Length = 23.2.cm.
Figure3.1 5 Daggerlknife blade TA2440 from the Tell Abraq Urnm al-Nar Period tomb. Length ca. 19.5 cm.
Figure3.16 Socketed spearhead TA2757 from the Tell Abraq Urnm al-Nar Period tomb. Length = 33.8 cm.
70 Early Metallurgyof the Persian Gulf
8/14/2019 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf Technology, Trade, And the Bronze Age World ThePoet006102
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/early-metallurgy-of-the-persian-gulf-technology-trade-and-the-bronze-age 91/269
8/14/2019 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf Technology, Trade, And the Bronze Age World ThePoet006102
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/early-metallurgy-of-the-persian-gulf-technology-trade-and-the-bronze-age 92/269
Table 4.1
Compositionaldata for AI Sufouh objects
S Fe CO Ni Cu Zn As Se Ag Sb Sn
Lab Code Object (%) (%) (%) (%) (% ) (%) (%) ( P P ~ ) ( pp 4 ( P P ~ ) (96)
ASI-l
ASI-2
ASI-3
ASI-4
ASI-5M1 0-15
M10-31
M10-34
M10-36
M10-30
M1 0-41
M10-43
ALSUFOOH
ALSUFOU
ASTOMBI a
ASTOMBI b
ASTOMBI c
ASTOMBI d
ASTOMBI e
ASTOMBI f
ASTOMBl g
ASTOMBl h
AVERAGE MDL 0.10 0.007 0.01 0.012 0.008 0.04 0.007 50 240 700 0.13
flat fragment
thick flat fragment
thin flat fragment
blade edge
blade edgeblade edge
rivet
dagger-riveted-long
dagger-riveted-tang
blade edge
dagger-tanged
thin flat fragment
blade
blade
blade fragment
blade edge
blade edge
thin flat fragment
thin flat fragment
thin flat fragment
thick flat fragment
thin flat fraqment
PIXE compositional data for copper-base objects from AI Sufouh. Note: blank cells indicate concentrations below the MDL; nm = not me
Presentation of the PIXE Data
As noted above, the normalized PIXE data is presented
in Tables 4.1-4.4. However, the discussion presented
below employs a number of statistical summaries of
the PIXE concentration data. When the data for indi-
vidual elements are discussed, they are summarized sta-
tistically (Table 4.5) by giving the median and the
tenth-ninetieth percentile range. Furthermore, the statis-
tical summaries for each site are presented in three
broad categories: a summary for all objects from the
site, a summary for the subset of tin-bronzes (i.e. sam-ples containing more than two percent tin), and a sum-
mary for the samples with less than two percent tin
(designated "copper"). Details regarding the selection
and application of these statistical analyses are given in
Appendix One (Section 1.2.2).
In addition, summaries of previous analyses are
sented for most elements (e.g.Table 4.6). These summ
allow the composition of the Umm al-Nar Period m
al analyzed in this study to be compared with th
contemporary and later objects from southeastern A
analyzed as a part of othek analytical programs.
Summaries of previous analyses are provided for the f
lowing categories: Umm al-Nar Period objects
(2700-2000 BCE); Umm al-Nar Period ingot and r
copper fragments (2700-2000 BCE); Wadi SuqILat
Bronze Age objects (2000-1300 BCE); mixed WadiSuqIIron Age tomb groups (2000-300 BCE); and Iro
Age objects 1 00-3 00 BCE). Geographic and biblio
graphic details of the previously collected data summ
rized in these tables is given in Appendix One (Sect
1.2.3) . Important information on arsenic, nickel and
7 2 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf
8/14/2019 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf Technology, Trade, And the Bronze Age World ThePoet006102
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/early-metallurgy-of-the-persian-gulf-technology-trade-and-the-bronze-age 93/269
Table 4.2
Compositional data for Unarl objects
S Fe CO N
Lab Code Object (%) (%) (%) ( l
M10-7
M10-1 2
M10-13V
M10-16
M10-1
M10-1 8
M10-19
M 10-2OV
M10-21V
M10-22R
M10-35
M10-38
M 10-39
M10-44
M 10-4
L1 1D-PIN
L14N-PIN
LlSRlNG
flat fragment
thin flat fragment
thin flat fragment
tube/spout
ring
ring
ring
thin flat fragment
tube/vessel
ring
thin flat fragment
tubelspout
thin flat fragment
pinlawl
ring
pinlawlpin/awl
rinq
AVERAGE MDL 0.10 0.007 0.01 0.012 0.008 0.007 50 240 700 0.13 13
PIXE compositional data for copper-base objects from Unar l. Note: blank cells indicate concentrations below the MDL.
conc entration s in Bronze Age an d Iron Age objects has
also been presented in graph ical for m by Prange et al.
(1999 ) , and semi-quanti tat ive composit ional data exist
for co pper-base objects fro m the sites of Tell Ab raq
(Weeks 1997 )and Umm an-N ar Island (C raddock 1981).
Results of these studies are referred t o in the text w here
relevant, bu t are no t presented with the statistical sum-
maries of previous analytical programs.
In most cases, statistically summarized data distri-
butions are acc ompanied by graphical presentation of
the data to aid interpretation (e.g. Figure 4.1). Data are
summarized graphically in the form of frequency his-
tograms. The histograms are presented in ei ther per-
centage terms or ppm on a logari thmic scale, with each
orde r of magnitude divided into fou r geometric inter-vals. On the histograms, the bar delineated by cross-
hatching represents the number of objects in which the
elemental concentration was below the MDL. Further
details of the construction of these histograms are pro-
vided in A ppendix One (Section 1.2.4).
Elemental Concentrations
Sulfur S)
A sum mar y of the PIXE sulfur measurements fr om t
study is given in Table 4.5 and Figures 4.1-4.2. Rang
repor ted a re tenth to ninetieth percentile values. As s
sulfur conce ntrations a re less than one percent in mos
the sam ples. Seven of the 8 3 analyzed samples contai
conc entrations of greater than one percent, with lev
reaching as high as 5.5 percent in a sp earhe ad from
Abraq (TA218 3) and 3.7 percent in a riveted dagger
A1 Sufouh ( M 10- 34) . Relatively high sulfur c once nt
t ions appear in a thin flat fragment (TA2 732,2 .4 pe
S) an d an unidentified fragment (T A1785 , 1.5 percen
from Tell Abra q. Both Table 4.5 and Figure 4.2 indi
significant difference in the sulfur content of copperobjects and tin-bronzes, the latter containing lower m
sulfur concentrations a nd a significantly smaller ten
ninetieth percentile range. Further illustrating this p
only one analyzed tin-bronze, from Unar2, contains
excess of one percent sulfur (1015.144, 1.5 percent
Results of Compositional Analyses
8/14/2019 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf Technology, Trade, And the Bronze Age World ThePoet006102
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/early-metallurgy-of-the-persian-gulf-technology-trade-and-the-bronze-age 94/269
Table 4.3
Compositional data for Unar2 objects
S Fe CO N Cu Zn As Se Ag Sb Sn
Lab Code Object (%) (%) (%) (%) ( l W ('W (wm) (pprn) ( P P ~ ) (%l
lump 0.25
thin flat fragment 0.22
ring
ring
ring 0.45
thin flat fragment
ring
thin flat fragment 1.49
pinlawl
thin flat fragment 0.24
thin flat fragment
chisel?
ring 0.22
ring 0.53
pinlawl 0.20
thin flat fragment
thin flat fragment
pinlawl 0.09
pinlawl
pinlawl 0.37
lump
pinlawl 0.23
AVERAGE MDL 0.10
PIXE compositional data for copper-base objects from Unar2. Note: blank cells indicate concentrations below theMDL.
No consistent chronological variation in sulfur con-
centrations can be seen, although variation by site is
clear. Figure 4.1 documents objects from Unar2 that
have lower median S concentrations and ranges than
material from the other Umm al-Nar Period tomb assem-
blages. In particular, half of the analyzed objects from
Unar2 contain S concentrations of less than the minimum
detectable level (ca. 0.10 percent) of the PIXE technique.
Furthermore, only one object from Unar2, the previously
mentioned tin-bronze 1 15.144) contains more than
approximately 0.5 percent S.
Only a small number of previous analyses of S con-centrations in archaeological copper-base objects are
published, and these are summarized in Table 4.6. Fully
published analyses from the Umm and-Nar and Wadi
Suq Periods are all of copper objects, and have a much
lower median S concentration but a similar range of up to
ca. 0.8 percent. Contemporary samples analyzed in a p
ous study of the metallurgy at Tell Abraq (Weeks 199
Table 14) have median S concentrations of ca. 0.1-0.2
cent, close to the detection limit of the EDS analytical t
nique used, and a maximum value of ca. one percent S.
Analyses of Bronze Age copper ingots and raw cop
fragments by Hauptmann (1985:Table 21) show high S
centrations of up to approximately five percent, with m
an concentrations of approximately one percent S. Ana
of the same samples are given in Hauptmann et al. (19
but do not show S determinations. Similarly, high sulfu
concentrations of up t o six percent were found in the coingots from the slightly later Saar settlement on Bahrai
(Weeks, forthcoming a). The high sulfur concentration
these semi-processed objects suggest a relationship bet
S content and the degree of metal refining which will b
addressed in the following chapter.
74 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf
8/14/2019 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf Technology, Trade, And the Bronze Age World ThePoet006102
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/early-metallurgy-of-the-persian-gulf-technology-trade-and-the-bronze-age 95/269
8/14/2019 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf Technology, Trade, And the Bronze Age World ThePoet006102
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/early-metallurgy-of-the-persian-gulf-technology-trade-and-the-bronze-age 96/269
Table 4.6 all of the copper and so there must be another an
Sulfur levels recorded in previous analytical studies and sulfate is the likely candidate . Sulfur, like ch
Archaeological No. of Median Range rine, could potentially have been derived from the
Material Analyses Concentration % ( l groun dwa ter (see e.g. Ullah 1931 a:486 ; Caley
Objects 1971: 10 6) . The sulfur concentrations recorded in th
2700-2000 CE) 20 0.04 0.01-0.81 study are, however, similar to the analyses tha t have
IngotdRaw Copper carried o ut previously on un -corro ded sam ples using
2700-2000 CE) 9 0.99 0.58-4.38 ferent analytical techniques, as described above.
Objects Furthe rmo re, the metallographic analyses from the Gsites of Tell Abr aq (Weeks 199 7) ,Saar (Weeks, forthc
2000-1 00 BCE) 10 0.23 0.09-1 l 7i ng a ) , Ibr iJSe lme (Prange and Hau ptma nn 2001 )
ObjectsMuw ei lah (Weeks, forthcoming b ) demonst rate th
2000-300BCE) 26 0.20 0.09-0.79 presence of numerous copper-sulfide inclusions inObjects per-base objects of Bronze Age and Ir on Age date
I 00-300BCE) 5 0 1 7 0.04-0.71 These inclusions no do ub t reflect the presence of
per-sulfide inclusions in the Bronze Age copper inSulfur concentrations in copper-base objects from southeastern
Arabia analyzed in previous studies. Note: details of previous used in the Gulf region (Weeks, forthco ming b) , w
analyses may be found in Appendix One, Section 1.2.3. indicates the use of copper-sulfide ores in the prod
tion of these objects. This evidence suggests that tTh e analyses of material f rom W adi Suq, Late high sulfur concentrations of the early Gulf mater
Bronze Age and Ir on Age assemblages indicates sulfur analyzed in this volume reflect the sulfur content
concentrations similar to those seen in the Umm al-Nar the objects at thei r t ime of product ion, rather th a
Period objects analyzed in this volume, although a slight contribu t ions from the process of contaminat ion.
reduction through time is indicated by the figures. Most
samples have less than approximately 0.8 percent S,
but a number of objects with sulfur concentrations in
excess of one percent are recorded at the Late Bronze
Age sett lement of Shimal Area SX (Weeks 2000a), in
a mixed Wadi Suq-Iron Age tomb assemblage at
Sharm (Weeks 200 0b) , and in I ron Age tomb and
set t lement contexts at Qidfa and Muwei lah respec-
t ively (Weeks 2000 a; Weeks forthco ming b ). In the
central Gulf, half of the analyzed objects from the
Saar settlement containe d from 1.0-2.2 percent S,
and further support for a relat ionship between sul fur
levels in finished objects and degree of metal refining
was p rovided by the analyses of m etallurgical waste
samples from the site, which showed median sulfur con-
centrations of 1.3 percent, ranging up to 12 percent S
(Weeks, forthcoming a ).The possibility that sulfur could be present in the
samples as a result of cor rosion , in the for m of sulfate
m in erals su ch as bro ch an tite ( C U ~ S O ~ ( O H ) ~ ) ,as been
Iron (Fe)
Iro n levels in the objects analyzed by PIXE can be r
tively high, reaching concentrations of greater than
percent in some objects. The collected data are sum
rized in Table 4.7 a nd Figures 4.3-4.4, where clear
ferences by site an d alloy type can be seen.
The highest iron concentrations are reported i
two amorpho us lumps from the tombs at Unar
(1005.40, 6.6 percent Fe) and Tell Abraq (TA213
percent Fe). These objects are typologically simila
pieces of metalworking debris from settlement co
at Tell Abraq, Saar, and Muw eilah (Weeks 199 7; W
forthcoming a, b), and share the high iron con cent
tions common to such material. The presence of m
working debris in a tomb deposit seems unusual, b
may reflect the occupation of one of the people intewithin. A number of finished copper objects, such
blade (ALSUFOUH, 2.5 percent Fe) and rivet (M1
2.6 pe rcent Fe) from A1 Sufouh co ntain in excess of
suggested by R. G. Thom as (persona l comm unicat ion). percent iron, as does one thin flat fragment of tin-b
He states tha t the chloride figures do not account for from Un arl (M10-39 , 2.5 percent Fe).
76 Early Metallurgyof the Persian Gulf
8/14/2019 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf Technology, Trade, And the Bronze Age World ThePoet006102
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/early-metallurgy-of-the-persian-gulf-technology-trade-and-the-bronze-age 97/269
Figure 4.2 Sulfur concentration s in all Um m al-Nar
Period objects analyzed by PIXE, showing copper objec
(top) and tin-bronzes (middle).
Figure 4.1 Sulfur concentrations in AI Sufouh, Un arl,
Unar2 and Tell Abraq objects.
Results of Cornpositional Analyses
8/14/2019 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf Technology, Trade, And the Bronze Age World ThePoet006102
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/early-metallurgy-of-the-persian-gulf-technology-trade-and-the-bronze-age 98/269
Table 4.7
lron in Umm al-Nar Period objects analyzed in this study
Median Median Median Range Range Range
Iron (%) (all) (copper) (tin-bronze) (all) (copper) (tin-bronze)
AI Sufouh 0.72 0.72 0.1 7-1.62 0.1 7-1.65
Unarl 1.04 1OO 1.07 0.63-1.60 0.55-1.59 0.75-1.75
Tell Abraq 0.52 0.32 0.72 0.20-1.24 0.02-5.74 0.34-1.24
All Objects 0.70 0.68 0.72 0.1 7-1.57 0.09-1.73 0.27-1.21
lron concentrations i n Umm al-Nar Period copper-base objects from AI Sufouh, Unarl,
Unar2, and Tell Abraq analyzed by PIXE. Average. MDL= 0.007 percent Fe.
Figure 4.3 demon st rates that i ron conc entrat ions
are highest in the material from U na rl , w i th the most
com mon Fe conc entrations in the 1.0-1.8 percent
range, and no objects with less than 0.4 percent Fe. The
assemblages from A1 Sufouh and U nar2 have modes in
the 0.56-1.0 percent Fe range, but exhibit num erous
objects with conce ntrations of 0.1-0.5 percent Fe orless. The lowest mod e for th e analyzed assemblages is
for material from Tell Abraq, where m ost objects con tain
appro xima tely 0.32-0.56 percent Fe, and two have con-
centration s of appr oxim ately 0.0 3 percent Fe or less.
Th e differences between co pper sam ples and tin-
bronzes ar e clearly illustrated in Figure 4.4 and sum ma-
rized in Table 4.7. While both alloy groups sh ow distinct
modes in the 0.56-1.0 percent Fe range, the range of iron
concentrations in the copper samples is much higher tha n
in the tin-bronzes. Sam ples with less than 0.1 percent Fe
are not recorded in the analyzed tin-bronzes, where as six
copp er objects conta in such low Fe conc entration s. At the
higher end of the con centration rang e, only one tin-
bronze contains more tha n 1.5 percent Fe, whereas eight
copper objects contain from approximately 1.6-32 per-
cent Fe.
The d ata generated for iron concentrations in this
analytical program are significantly higher o n average
than Fe levels measured in previous ana lytical studies,
which are summarized in Table 4.8. Mo st Umm al-Nar
Period objects analyzed in earlier studies contained lessthan 0.5 percent Fe, al though one object from Hili ana-
lyzed by Berthoud (1979:Table 5 ) contain ed four percent
Fe. Th e earlier analysis of Umm al-N ar Period m aterial
from Tell Abr aq using EDS (Weeks 1997:Table 1 4)
revealed median Fe concen trations of appro xima tely 0.32
percent, with maximu m conce ntrations in the one to
percent rang e; very similar to the values for Tell Ab
ma terial foun d in this stu dy using PIXE. Similarly h
iron values a re reported in studies of late third m ille
um BCE copper ingots and ra w copper, commonly r
ing up to one percent Fe (H auptm ann 1987; Hau ptm
et al . 1988 ).Analyzed planoconvex copper ingots fthe Saar settlement contain approx imately four to t
percent Fe (Weeks, forthco ming a ), amongs t the hig
iron co ntent of all the analyzed Gulf objects, and th
composit ional data suggest a relat ionship between i
conten t and degree of refining.
For m aterial from later periods, iron concentra
in excess of on e percent have been recorded in Wad
SuqILate Bronze Age material from Masirah site 38
(H aup tma nn et al . 19 88 ), Shimal sett lement Area S
and Shimal tomb SH1 02 (Weeks 200 0a) . High iron
els were also recorded in an object from the mixed
Suq-Iron Age tomb deposits at Shimal tomb 2
(Crad dock 19 85) , and in a num ber of samples from
Sharm tom b (Weeks 2000 b). Previously analyzed Ir
Age objects have the lowest median iron concentra
as can be seen in Table 4.8, but a small number of
objects with more than one percent Fe are recorded
the Bithnah and Q idfa tombs (C orbo ud et al. 1 996
Weeks 20 00 a), from the IbriISelme hoard (Hau ptm
al. 19 88; Prange and H auptm ann 2 001 ), and from t
Muw eilah settlement (Weeks, forthcoming b).It is likely that higher Fe concentrations in the
analyses in this study result, in part, from the intr
tion of iron with contaminating soil and rock part
incorporated during corrosion. A correlation exist
between silicon and calcium contamination levels
78 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf
8/14/2019 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf Technology, Trade, And the Bronze Age World ThePoet006102
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/early-metallurgy-of-the-persian-gulf-technology-trade-and-the-bronze-age 99/269
Figure 4.4 lron concentrations in all Umm al-Nar Period
objects analyzed by PIXE, showing copper objects (top)
and tin-bronzes (middle).
Figure 4.3 lron concentrations in AI Sufouh, Unarl,
Unar2 and Tell Abraq objects.
Results of Compositional Analyses
8/14/2019 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf Technology, Trade, And the Bronze Age World ThePoet006102
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/early-metallurgy-of-the-persian-gulf-technology-trade-and-the-bronze-age 100/269
8/14/2019 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf Technology, Trade, And the Bronze Age World ThePoet006102
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/early-metallurgy-of-the-persian-gulf-technology-trade-and-the-bronze-age 101/269
AI Sufouh Copper ObjectsOnly
Unarl
CO h)
Tell Abraq
Figure 4.5 Cobalt concentrations n AI Sufouh, Unarl,
Unar2 and Tell Abraq objects.
Tin-Bronze Objects Only
All Objects
Figure 4.6 Cobalt concentrations in all Umm al-Nar
Period objects analyzed by PIXE, showing copperobjects (top) and tin-bronzes (middle).
Results of Compositional Analyses
8/14/2019 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf Technology, Trade, And the Bronze Age World ThePoet006102
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/early-metallurgy-of-the-persian-gulf-technology-trade-and-the-bronze-age 102/269
The sum mary of previously analyzed material present-
ed in Table 4.10 indicates tha t, while previously analyzed
samples have lower median co balt concentrations, samples
with significant COconcentrations a re found. In particu-
lar, analysis of Umm a l-Nar m aterial from Umm an -N ar
Island, Hili and Jebel Haf it by Berthoud (1979:Table 5 )
indicates three objects with greater tha n 2,00 0 pprn CO ,
with a highest concentrations of more tha n 5,000 pprn C o.
Likewise, a number of samples with greater than 2,000
pprn CO are recorded in Wadi Suq and Late Bronze age
contexts a t Masirah si te 38 (H auptm ann et al. 1 98 8) and
Shimal settlement Area SX (Weeks 2000 a), and in mixed
Wadi Suq-Iron Age tom b assemblages at Shimal tom b 2
(Craddock 19 85) and Sharm (Weeks 200 0b). In contrast ,
Table 4.1 0
Cobalt concentrations recorded in previous analytical studies
Archaeological No. of Median Range
Material Analyses Concentration (ppm) (ppm)
Objects
(2700-2000 BCE) 18 190 10-2,960
IngotsIRaw Copper
(2700-2000 BCE) 27 360 80-1,600
Objects
(2000-1 300 BCE) 18 680 240- 1,800
of more tha n 15 0 analyses of Iron Age material, only
tanged blade from the Qidfa grave contains more tha
2,000 ppm, and only two objects contain more than
1,000 pprn CO (Prange and Hau ptma nn 20 01; Week
forthcoming b, Weeks 2000 a). In a nu mber of cases
cobalt concentrations are associated with high iron l
although this correlation is not exclusive. Examples
include tw o copper ingots from Saar (Weeks, forthco
a) , and a num ber of high-iron pieces of metallurgical
debris from Saar and M uweilah (Weeks, forthcoming
Nickel (Ni)
The results of the PIXE compositional analyses for
el are summ arized in Table 4.11 a nd Figures 4.7-4.8
can be seen, there ar e significant differences by site
differences by alloy category.
Median nickel concentrations and absolute ran
are highest in the objects from A1 Sufouh and, to a
extent, Unar2. Seven copper objects from A1 Sufouand three from Un ar2 contain in excess of on e per
Ni, with the highest levels recorded in three thin f
fragments from A1 Sufouh (ASI-3, 2.8 percent Ni;
ASTomble, 3.2 percent Ni; ASTomblf, 3.4 percen
and a pinlaw1 from Unar2 (10 119-4.1 13, 2.1 perc
Ni). The differences between copper objects and ti
bronzes are illustrated by the fact that, while arou
Objects one quarter of copper objects contain more than o
(2000-300 BCE) 45 860 170-2,340percent Ni, only one tin-bronze object does: a low
bronze thin flat fragment from A1 Sufouh (A STo mbObjects 2.3 percent Ni) . While Figure 4.7 indicates that m o(1 300-300 BCE) 153 170 30-700 sites show a mod e in the 0.1-1.0 percent nickel ra
Cobalt concentrations in copper-base objects from southeastern Arabia it Can be seen that objects Unarl and
analyzed in previous studies. Note: details of previous analyses may Abraq show a mo de in the 0.03-0.06 percent Ni rbe found in Appendix One, Section 1.2.3.
Table 4.1 1
Nickel in Umm al-Nar Period objects analyzed in this study
Median Median Median Range Range Range
Nickel ( %) (all) (copper) (tin-bronze) (all) (copper) (tin-bronze)
AI Sufouh 0.57 0.48 0.32-2.74 0.31 -2.79
Unarl 0.1 9 0.21 0.06 0.04-0.84 0.04-1.30 0.03-0.59
Unar2 0.25 0.50 0.25 0.02-1 .l <0.012-1.74 0.05-0.86
Tell Abraq 0.1 0 0.07 0.1 1 <0.012-0.49 <0.012-0.54 0.03-0.28
All Objects 0.25 0.38 0.22 0.03-1.54 0.02-1.84 0.03-0.78
Nickel concentrations i n Umm al-Nar Period copper-base objects from AI Sufouh,
Unarl , Unar2, and Tell Abraq analyzed b y PIXE. AverageMDL= 0.01 2 percent Ni.
82 Early Metallurgyof the Persian Gulf
8/14/2019 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf Technology, Trade, And the Bronze Age World ThePoet006102
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/early-metallurgy-of-the-persian-gulf-technology-trade-and-the-bronze-age 103/269
Figure 4.8 Nickel conce ntrat ions i n al l Umm al-Nar
Period objects analyzed by PIXE, show ing cop per
ob jec ts ( top) and t in -bronzes (m idd le) .
Figure 4.7 Nickel concentrations in AI Sufouh, Unarl,
Unar2 and Tell Abraq objects.
Results of Compositional Analyses
8/14/2019 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf Technology, Trade, And the Bronze Age World ThePoet006102
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/early-metallurgy-of-the-persian-gulf-technology-trade-and-the-bronze-age 104/269
In particular, four rings from Unarl with tin-concentra-
tions in the 0.7-2.7 percent range (M 10 -17 , M1 0-19 ,
M10-46, LISRING) fall into this range of Ni concentra-
tions. In the later assemblages from U nar2 a nd Tell
Abraq, six objects with Ni concentrations of less tha n the
MD L of approximately 100 ppm are also recorded,
including three tanged-dagge rs from Tell Abr aq (TA226 8,
TA2270, TA2315).
A summary of the data obtained for Ni concentra-
tions in previous analytical studies is shown in Table
4.12, and indicates the presence of objects with high
nickel concentrations a t contem pora ry and later sites in
the region. Analyses by Berthou d (1979:Tab le S) , Frifelt
(1975; 1991) and H auptmann (199 5) have indicated that
objects with two t o four percent Ni are com mon o n
Umm an- Na r Island in the third millennium BCE, and
one fur ther object from the site with the extremely high
concentration of 2 1 percent Ni was recorded by
Berthoud (1979:Table 5 ). This object finds a parallel inan Um m a l-Nar Period ob ject, from an unspecified site,
which contained 12 percent Ni (Prange at al . 199 9:189 ).
Previous EDS analyses of Um m al-Na r m aterial from Tell
Abra q (W eeks 1997:Table 14 ) indicate a median nickel
concentration of 0.3 percent, with a maximum concen-
tration of approxim ately three percent and a num ber of
Table 4.1 2
Nickel levels recorded in previous a nalytical studies
Archaeological No. of Median Range
Material Analyses Concentration % ( l
Objects
(2700-2000 BCE)
IngotsIRaw Copper
(2700-2000 BCE)
Objects
(2000 -1 300 BCE)
Objects
(2000-300 BCE)
Objects
(1300-300 BCE)
Nicke l concent ra t ions in copper-base ob jec ts f rom southeastern
Arab ia ana lyzed i n prev ious s tud ies . Note : deta i ls o f prev ious
analyses may be fo und in A ppen dix One, Sect ion 1.2 .3.
samples in the one to t w o percent Ni range . These v
are significantly higher than those recorded at Tell A
using PIXE, but com pare well with the PIXE analyse
from A1 Sufouh, Unarl and Unar2 presented in this
study. In contrast, the remaining Umm al-Nar Period
analyses presented in graphical form by Prange et al.
(1999:Figures 4-5) suggest the most com mon N i con
tration is in the 0.2-0.5 percent range, with only one
sample containing in excess of o ne percent Ni.
Prange et al. (1999:Figure 5 ) trace a n increase in
nickel concentrations in objects from Oman and Bah
dated to the second millennium BCE, which may be
tially reflected in the analyses of material from the S
tomb , where nickel concentrations of three to five pe
are foun d in two rivets and a vessel rim fragmen t (W
2000 b). Objects with tw o to six percent Ni were also
foun d in the L ate Bronze Age settlement at Shimal Ar
SX and in the contemporary Shimal tomb SH 102 (W
20 00 a) . Likewise, analyses of mixed Wadi Suq IIron Atomb assemblages from Shimal by Craddock (19 85 )
cate a num ber of objects containing three to five perc
Ni. Th e pattern of increased N i conce ntration in the s
ond millennium BC is not seen at the Saar settlement,
where PIXE and EDS analyses revealed concentration
one to tw o percent Ni in only one finished object and
pieces of metallurgical debris (Weeks, forthcoming a )
Only one finished object analyzed thus far fro m a n ex
sively Iron Age con text con tains in excess of one perc
Ni (Prange et al. 1999:Figure 5 ; Weeks 2000 a; Prange
Hauptma nn 2001; Hau ptmann et al. 19 88), al though
pieces of metallurgical debris from Mu weilah c ontain
nickel in the one t o tw o percent range (Weeks, forthco
ing b). The differences in nickel content by alloy categ
are clear: all finished objects with greater than one pe
Ni ar e of copper, with the exception of one fragmen t
A1 Sufouh which is a low-tin bronze (A STo mb ld, app
mately tw o percent Sn). A spearhead from Suweiq an
lyzed by Hau ptma nn et al . (1988 )conta ins 1.2 percen
in addition to 3.8 percen t Ni.
As can be seen in Table 4.12, ther e is also a clearference between Ni levels in finished Umm al-Na r Pe
objects and those in contemporaneou s copper ingots
raw copper pieces. The ingots and r aw co pper pieces
lyzed in previous studies ( Hau ptma nn 198 7; Hau ptm
et al. 19 88 ) are datable to the late third millennium o
84 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf
8/14/2019 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf Technology, Trade, And the Bronze Age World ThePoet006102
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/early-metallurgy-of-the-persian-gulf-technology-trade-and-the-bronze-age 105/269
Table 4.13
Zinc in Umm al-Nar Period objects analyzed in this study
Median Median Median Range Range Range
Zinc (%) (all) (copper) (tin-bronze) (all) (copper) (tin-bronze)
AI Sufouh 0.1 1 0.1 1 0.09-0.1 1 0.09-0.1 1
Unarl nm nm nm nm nm nm
Unar2 0.1 0 0.1 0 0.1 0 0.09-0.1 2 0.09-0.1 1 0.09-0.1 2
Tell Abraq 0.1 0 0.1 0 0.1 1 0.09-0.1 3 0.09-0.1 4 0.09-0.1 2
All Objects 0.10 0.1 0 0.1 0 0.09-0.1 2 0.09-0.1 2 0.09-0.1 2
Zinc concentrations in Umm al-Nar Period copper-base objects from AI Sufouh,
Unarl, Unar2, and Tell Abraq analyzed by PIXE. Average MDL= 0.04 percent Zn. Note:
nm = not measured.
early second millennium, an d yet almos t all contain less
than 0.5 percent Ni a t a t ime when finished objects with
one to four percent Ni are commonplace. T his discrep-
ancy has been mentioned in a number of places (e.g.
Prange et al . 1999:190; Hau ptma nn et al . 19 88), and
will be discussed further below.
Zinc Zn)
Zinc concentrations measured by PIXE are summarized
in Table 4.13. Zinc levels were not recorded for al l
PIXE samples, given the problems created in X-ray-
based analyses of copper alloys by the proximity of the
copper and zinc a and P emission lines. Th e large
am oun t of copper in most samples tends to obscure the
small amoun ts of zinc that are present, leading to a lo w
sensitivity for Zn. Given the virtually inv aria nt values
reported for the m aterial analyzed in this study, and the
problems of spectral overlap mentioned above, i t seems
likely that Z n concentrations below approximately
1,500 pp m are art ifacts of sam ple matrix effects rathe r
than measures of concentration, an d are thus unreliable.
Previous an alytical studies have used a wide va riety
of analytical techniques, som e of which ar e more sensi-
tive to low zinc levels tha n PIXE. The se studies (see
Table 4.14) suggest that median Z n values of 300-500
ppm characterize pre-Iron Age finished copper objects
from the region, with tenth to ninetieth percenti le rangescommonly ex tending f rom ~ 10 0- 2 , 00 0 pm. Zinc l evels
recorded for late third o r early second millennium BCE
copper ingots and ra w copper pieces from southeastern
Arabia sh ow similarly low median values, and tenth t o
ninetieth percentile ranges of approximately 60-600
Table 4.14
Zinc levels recorded in previous analytical studies
Archaeological No. of Median R
Material Analyses Concentration (ppm) (p
Objects
(2700-2000 BCE) 28 105 20-4
Ingots/Raw Copper
(2700-2000 BCE) 28 230 60-6
Objects
(2000-1 300 BCE) 8 190 70-3
Objects
(2000-300 BCE) 23 350 100- 1
Objects
(1300-300 BCE) 134 40 20-9
Zinc concentrations in copper-base objects from southeaster
Arabia analyzed in previous studies. Note: details of previous ases may be found in Appendix One, Section 1.U.
ppm . However, analyses of daggers and fragm ents f
mid-third millennium BCE burials on Umm an-N ar
Island h ave revealed eight sam ples with Z n levels of
2.3-10.0 percent (Frifelt 19 75, 199 0) .The composi
of these objects is completely un-paralleled in south
ern Arabia before the Ed Dur period (Weeks 2000 a
will be discussed further below.
Arsenic As)
The composit ional data for arsenic is summarized b
in Table 4.15 and Figures 4.9 and 4.10, where sign
cant variation between assemblages is observable.
majority of objects from A1 Sufouh contain in exc
Results of Compositional Analyses
8/14/2019 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf Technology, Trade, And the Bronze Age World ThePoet006102
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/early-metallurgy-of-the-persian-gulf-technology-trade-and-the-bronze-age 106/269
Table 4.15
Arsenic in Ummal-Nar Period objects analyzed in this study
Median Median Media n Range Range Range
Arsenic (%) (all) (coppe r) (tin-bronze) (all) (copper) (tin-bronze)
AI SU~OU 1.82 1.80 0.24-3.64 0.20-3.65
Unar l 0.1 3 0.1 1 0.14 0.03-1.78 0.05-2.30 0.03-0.42
Unar2 0.91 0.72 0.91 0.03-2.20 0.01 -2.64 0.20-2.1 1
Tell Abraq 0.37 0.24 0.70 0.02-1.57 0.01 -2.75 0.34-0.94
All Objects 0.70 1OO 0.44 0.03-2.97 0.03-3.46 0.1 1-1.83
Arsenic concentrations in Um m al-Nar Period copper-base objects from AI Sufouh,
Unarl, Unar2, and Tell Abraq analyzed by PIXE. Average MDL = 0.007 percen t As.
of one percent As, and seven objects contain more
than three percent As. The highest levels occur in a
thin flat fragment (ASI-3, 6.2 percent As) and a blade
edge fragment (ASTom blc, 4.2 percent As). Arsenic
levels are generally lower in material from the other
tomb assemblages, al though half of the objects from
the Unar2 tomb contain m ore than one percent As,with the highest levels recorded in a pinlawl fragment
(surf.56, 3.9 percent As) and two t in-bronze rings
(1007.42, 2.4 percent As; 1019-5.71, 2.2 percent As).
All tomb assemblages contain objects wi th m ore tha n
two percent As, even when, as a t Una rl , many objects
have relatively low arsenic conce ntrations of less than
0.1 percent.
As illustrated in Figure 4.10, distinct differences in
arsenic content ca n be seen by alloy type, with a
greater range of arsenic composi t ions in copper sam -
ples than in t in-bronzes. Half of the analyzed copper
samples contain in excess of one percent As, whereas
only about one-quarter of the t in-bronzes contain this
much arsenic. At the lower end of the arsenic concen-
t rat ion ranges, i t can be seen that aroun d on e-quarter
of copp er samp les contain very low levels of arsenic,
less than 0.1 percent. In contras t , only 1 0 percent of
t in-bronzes contain such low arsenic concentrat ions.
The t in-bronzes are, as a g roup, m ore homogeneous
than the copper samples in terms of their arsenic con-
cent rat ions. Other than for the ends of the arsenic con-centration ranges, however, t in-bronzes show similar
median As levels to copper objects in most of the
assemblages.
Previous analyses of copper-base objects from
southeastern Arabia are summarized in Table 4.16.
The overall ranges of As concentrations reported
previous studies are very similar to those measure
this study using PIXE, excepting that fewer low ar
(less than 0.1 percent As) samples were found in t
earl ier studies. Chronological variat ion is clear in
results of previous analyses, in tha t there is a dist i
reduct ion in median arsenic concentrat ions an d rain the Iron Age. Previous analyses of Umm al-Nar
Period samples have revealed the reg ular presence
objects wi th greater than one percent As. From U
an- Na r Island, seven objects are recorded wi th m o
than two percent As, wi th concentrat ions reaching
approximately seven percent in two objects analyz
by Berthoud (1979:Table 5). The objects thus app
very simi lar in comp osi t ion to the contemporary m
rial from A1 Sufouh. Such compo sit ions were beco
less freque nt in analyses of Wadi Suq an d Wadi
SuqIIron Age material , al thoug h nine objects with
1.0-2.0 percent As were recorded in contexts from
Om an and the U.A.E (Ha uptm ann et a l. 1988 ;
Craddock 1985 ; Weeks 2000 a) and tw o objec ts w
greater than tw o percent As were recorded from t
tomb at Sharm (Weeks 200 0b ). Simi lar results are
sented in graphical form by Prange et al . (1999:Fi
5) , al though the pro port ion of Wadi Suq Period a
Late Bronze Age objects with on e to tw o percent A
slightly higher th an foun d in the other studies disc
here. In contrast , of the 15 4 Iro n Age objects for wAs conc entration s have been previously recorded, t
highest arsen ic concentra tions of 1 O-1.5 perce nt w
noted in only two objects from the Qidfa tomb (W
2000 a) and one f rom the se t tl ement a t Muwei l ah
(Weeks, forthcoming b ).
86 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf
8/14/2019 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf Technology, Trade, And the Bronze Age World ThePoet006102
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/early-metallurgy-of-the-persian-gulf-technology-trade-and-the-bronze-age 107/269
Figure 4.10 Arsenic concentrations in all Umm al-NarPeriod objects analyzed by PIXE, showing copper objec
(top) and tin-bronzes (middle).
Figure 4.9 Arsenic concentrations n AI Sufouh, Unarl,
Unar2 andTell Abraq objects.
Results of Compositional Analyses
8/14/2019 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf Technology, Trade, And the Bronze Age World ThePoet006102
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/early-metallurgy-of-the-persian-gulf-technology-trade-and-the-bronze-age 108/269
Additionally, as noted above for nickel, there is a
discrepancy between the As concentrations recorded in
previous analyses of copper ingots and raw copper
pieces and those found in finished objects. Only one
ingot fragment from Umm al-Nar Island and one raw
copper piece from Maysar contain more than one per-
cent As, while levels recorded in finished objects could
reach in excess of five percent As.
Selenium (Se)
Selenium levels recorded in this study are summarized
below in Table 4.17 and Figures 4.11-4.12. A signifi-
cant percentage of objects from the analyzed assem-
blages contain less than the minimum detectable level of
selenium for the PIXE system, of about 50 ppm.
Table 4.16
Arsenic levels recorded in previous analytical studies
Archaeological No. of Median Range
Material Analyses Concentration % ( )
Objects
(2700-2000 BCE) 20 1.43 0.1 9-5.42
IngotsIRaw Copper
(2700-2000 BCE) 28 0.41 0.08-0.87
Objects
(2000-1 300 BCE) 18 0.29 0.09-0.9 1
Objects
(2000-300 BCE) 5 8 0.28 0.04-1.04
Objects
(1300-300 BCE) 15 4 0.1 4 0.02-0.38
Arsenic concentrations in copper-base objects from southeastern
Arabia analyzed in previous studies. Note: details of previous
analyses may be found in Appendix One, Section 1.2.3.
Selenium concentrations in the 50-300 pprn range
most frequently found in the remaining objects,
although samples with 500 pprn Se or more are occ
sionally found. Examples include two tin-bronze rin
from the Tell Abraq tomb (TA2677, approximately
pprn Se; TA2816, approximately 1,100 pprn Se), a
per "lump" from Tell Abraq (TA2135, approximat
550 pprn Se), and a tin-bronze ring (1023-4.10, 50
pprn Se) and pinlaw1 fragment (surf.56, 500 pprn S
from Unar2. Variation by site is clear, with objects
Unarl having generally lower levels of Se than mat
from the other tomb assemblages, especially Unar2
A1 Sufouh.
The statistical summary presented in Table 4.17
indicates very few differences in Se concentration
between alloy categories, and the general similarity
copper and tin-bronze samples is also illustrated in F
4.12. It can be seen that, although the highest Se lev
are recorded in tin-bronzes, the majority of copper atin-bronze samples have very similar Se concentratio
The selenium concentrations recorded in previo
studies of Umm al-Nar Period material by Berthoud
(1979:Table 5) are very similar to those recorded in
study, with a median concentration of 150 pprn Se, a
maximum concentration of 600 pprn Se in 11 analy
samples. Slightly higher median values of approxim
350 pprn Se are recorded in the finished objects fro
Saar settlement on Bahrain, although maximum val
are still 600 ppm. Analyses of Wadi Suq, late Bronz
and Iron Age material from the U.A.E. indicates a s
reduction in selenium levels over time, with median
ues for objects from these periods not exceeding 10
pprn Se, and maximum values not greater than app
mately 400 pprn Se.
Table 4.1 7
Selenium in Umm al-Nar Period objects analyzed n his study
Selenium Median Median Median Range Range Range
( P P ~ ) (all) (copper) (tin-bronze) (all) (copper) (tin-bronze)
AI Sufouh 125 100 40 -2 50 <50-250
Unarl <50 <50 <50 <50-100 <50-100 <50-100
Unar2 175 275 150 <50-445 <50-430 <50-375
Tell Abraq <50 280 <50 <50-550 <50-280 <50-800
All Objects 100 100 100 <50-400 <50-355 <50-450
Selenium concentrations in Umm al-Nar Period copper-base objects from AI Sufouh,
Unarl, Unar2, and Tell Abraq analyzed by PIXE. Average MDL= 50 pprn Se.
88 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf
8/14/2019 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf Technology, Trade, And the Bronze Age World ThePoet006102
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/early-metallurgy-of-the-persian-gulf-technology-trade-and-the-bronze-age 109/269
Figure4.1 2 Selenium concentrations in all Umm al-Nar
Period objects analyzed by PIXE, showing copper
objects (top) and tin-bronzes (middle).
Figure 4.1 1 Selenium concentrations in AI Sufouh,
Unarl, Unar2 and Tell Abraq objects.
Results of Compositional Analyses
8/14/2019 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf Technology, Trade, And the Bronze Age World ThePoet006102
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/early-metallurgy-of-the-persian-gulf-technology-trade-and-the-bronze-age 110/269
8/14/2019 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf Technology, Trade, And the Bronze Age World ThePoet006102
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/early-metallurgy-of-the-persian-gulf-technology-trade-and-the-bronze-age 111/269
Antimony (Sb)
M edi an an t i m ony concen t r a t i ons fo r t he a s sem -
b l ages ana l yzed by P IX E fa l l w e ll be l ow t he M D L
of 70 0 ppm . L i kew i se , t en t h t o n i ne t i e th pe rcen t i l e
r anges r a r e l y exceed t he M D L fo r an t i m ony , l e t
a l one t he 3M D L va l ues neces sa ry fo r a ccep t ab l e
ana l y t i ca l p rec i s i on . H ow eve r , a num b er o f s am p l e s
con t a i n h i gh leve ls o f an t i m ony w h i ch can be r e li -
ab l y m easu red by P IX E , an d som e s i t es sho w l a rge rr anges o f an t i m ony concen t r a t i ons w h i ch can a l so
been re l i ab ly charac t er i zed by th i s t echnique .
N i ne o f 22 s am p l e s f rom A1 S u fouh con t a i n
m or e t han 70 0 pp rn S b , w i t h m ax i m um va l ues of
app r ox i m a t e l y 1 , 90 0 pp rn S b i n t w o t h i n f l a t cop -
p e r f r a gm e n ts ( A S T o m b l e a n d A S T o m b l f ) . N o
o t he r s i t e ha s m ore t han t h ree ob j ec t s w i t h g rea t e r
t han 70 0 pp rn S b . O t h e r h i gh-S b sam p l e s f rom
U m m a l -N ar con t e x t s i nc lude a t h i n f la t coppe r
f r a g m e n t fr o m t h e U n a r l t o m b ( M 1 0 -2 0 V , 5 , 2 5 0pp rn S b ) and a t i n -b ronze r i ng (1 007 . 42 , 1 , 85 0 pp rn
S b) and a t h i n f l a t t in -b ronze f r agm en t (1018 -3 . 99 ,
2 , 3 0 0 p pr n S b ) fr o m t h e U n a r 2 t o m b . N o o b j e c ts
w i t h m ore t ha n t he m i n i m um de t ec t ab l e level o f
an t i m ony w ere r eco rded f rom T e ll A braq .
A summary of previous analyses using more sen-
si tive techniques i s given in Table 4.20. These stud ies
concur w i th the PIXE analyses , i n t ha t very few sam -
ples wi th grea t er t han 1 ,000 pprn an t imon y were
recorded. A copper ch i se l and a copper axe f rom
M aysa r 1 contained 1,050 and 2,200 pprn Sb respec-
t ive ly ( Ha up tma nn e t al . 19 88) , and ana lyses by
Ber thoud (1979:Table 5) revea led one sam ple f rom
Umm a n-Na r Is land wi th 1 ,2 00 pprn Sb . Copper
ingot s and f ragment s of raw copper genera l ly con-
tained levels of less than 20 0 pprn Sb, wi th th e
except ion of a raw c opper f ragment f rom Maysar 1
t ha t conta ined ap proximate ly 3 ,300 pprn Sb
( H a u p t m a n n 1 9 8 7 ) . A c o p p e r a r r o w h e a d f r om t h e
Wad i SuqIIron Age deposi t of Shimal tom b 2 con-
tained approximately 1,700 pprn Sb, whi le a copperrivet and a t in-bronze vessel fragment fr om the m ixed
Wadi SuqIIron Age tomb deposi t at Sharm were also
foun d to conta in relatively high c once ntrat ions of
more th an 1 ,500 pprn Sb (Weeks 2000 b) . Samples
with more than 1 ,000 pprn an t imony are no t recorded
Figure4.1 3 Silver concentrations in all Umm al-Nar
Period objects analyzed by PIXE, showing copper
objects (top) and tin-bronzes (middle).
Results of Compositional Analyses
8/14/2019 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf Technology, Trade, And the Bronze Age World ThePoet006102
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/early-metallurgy-of-the-persian-gulf-technology-trade-and-the-bronze-age 112/269
in the previously analyzed Iro n Age objects from the
region (Prange and Ha uptm ann 200 1; Weeks, forthcom-
ing b; Weeks 200 0a) .
Lead (Pb)
The lead concentrations recorded in objects analyzed for
this study are summarized in Table 4.21 and Figures
4.14 and 4.15. Median lead concentrations are around
500 pp m, a nd the m ajority of samples contain less than1,000 pprn Pb, although individual sites show variation
in Pb concentrations. For example, more than 33 per-
cent of analyzed objects from U nar2 c ontains in excess
of 1,00 0 pprn Pb. Four samples contain greater than
3,000 pprn Pb, including a copper blade edge fragment
from A1 Sufouh (ASI-5, 6,600 pprn P b), a thin flat co pper
fragment from U na rl (M10-20V, 1.45 percent Pb ),
copper pinlaw1 fragment from Una r2 (surf.56, 5,25
pprn Pb) , and a t in-bronze ring from Tell Abraq
(TA2679, 1.3 percent Pb). Samples with lead conce
tions of less tha n the m inimum detectable level of
approximately 1 35 pprn Pb comprise approximatel
percent of the analyzed objects, and occur with sim
frequency in each of the four tomb assemblages.
The re does not a ppea r to be a distinct differencelead concen tration ranges be tween alloy groups, as i
trated in Figure 4.15. High lead levels (greater than
pprn Pb) occur with greater frequency in tin-bronzes
in copper samples (3 0 percent of tin-bronzes con tain
more tha n 1,0 00 pprn Pb, while only 1 8 percent of c
samples do) but whe n the analyses are examined on
Table 4.20by-site basis (see Table 4.21) it can be seen tha t in on
case (Tell Ab raq ) tin-bronzes have a gr eater range ofAntimony levels recorded in previous analyt ical studies
Archaeological No. of Median Rangeconcentrations than c opper samples, in ano ther case
(U nar 2) h e ranges are the same, and in the third casMaterial Analyses Concentration (ppm ) (ppm )( U n a r l )copp er objects have a greater range of Pb conc-
Objectstratio ns than tin-bronzes. Figure 4.15 does indicate a d
(2700-2000 BCE) 16 550 40-1 ,l 0 ent distribution pa ttern for lead concentrations in copIngots/Raw Copper objects and tin-bronzes. While both groups e xhibit a s
(2700-200 0 BCE) 26 50 20-20 0 fall off at the 1,000 pp m Pb level, tin-bronzes show a d
Objects bi-modal pattern in the 0.01-0.1 percent Pb range, wi
(2000-1 300 BCE) 15 5 0-340 strongest mode in the 560-1,000 ppm bracket, wherea
Objects distribution p attern for copper objects is invariant in t
(2000 -300 BCE) 53 150
Objects(1300 -300 BCE) 149 70
0-6600.01-0.1 percent range.
Lead levels recorded in previous analytical s
of material from southeastern Arabia are summa0-31 0
in Table 4.22. The results are, in general , simila
Antim ony concentrat ions in copper-base objects from southeastern those ob tained by PIXE. For al l periods, the maj
Arabia analyzed prev iously. Note: details o f previou s analyses in of samples conta in l ess t han approximate ly 50 0 Append ix One (1.2.3).
Table 4.21
Lead in U mm al-Nar Period objects analyzed in his study
Lead Median Median Median Range Range Range
(PPm) (all) (copper) (tin-bronze) (all) (copper) (tin-bronze)
AI Sufouh 380 350 <135-1180 <135-950
Unarl 550 600 250 < l 35-2830 200-2900 < l 35-1,600
Unar2 780 550 780 < l 35-2330 150-2280 < l 35-2,290
Tell Abraq 450 140 5 00 < l 35-1 700 < l 35-790 250-1,700
All Objects 500 400 700 <135-2130 <135-1560 <135-2,310
Lead concentrat ions in U m m al-Nar Period copper-base objects fr om AI Sufouh,
Un arl , Unar2, and Tel l Abraq analyzed by PIXE. Average MDL = 135 ppm .
92 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf
8/14/2019 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf Technology, Trade, And the Bronze Age World ThePoet006102
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/early-metallurgy-of-the-persian-gulf-technology-trade-and-the-bronze-age 113/269
Figure4.15 Lead concentrations in all Umm al-NaPeriod objects analyzed by PIXE, showing coppeobjects (top) and tin-bronzes (middle).
Figure 4.14 Lead concentrations n AI Sufouh, Unarl,Unar2 and Tell Abraq objects.
Results of Compositional Analyses
8/14/2019 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf Technology, Trade, And the Bronze Age World ThePoet006102
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/early-metallurgy-of-the-persian-gulf-technology-trade-and-the-bronze-age 114/269
Pb, a l though objec t s wi th 1 ,000-5 ,000 ppm Pb are Ibri ISelme hoard (wi th up to 6.35 p ercent Pb; Pra
somet imes fo und at Bronze Age sites like Umm a n- and H auptm ann 20 01) and a l a te pre-Is lamic, l ea
Na r Is l and (Ber thoud 1979:Table 5) , Maysar 1, and brass r ing f rom the tomb a t Bi thnah (5 .6 percent
Masi rah S it e 38 (Hau ptma nn e t a l . 19 88) , i n mixed Corboud e t a l. 199 6) .
Bronze and Iron Age tomb assemblages, for example Very high lead concentrations, and unusual allo
a t Sharm (Weeks 200 0b ) , and in I ron Age objec ts types, were also found in three objects from Umm a
from the Ibri ISe lme hoard (Prange and H auptm ann Na r Island datable t o the m id-third millennium BCE
200 1) and the Q idfa tomb (Weeks 2000 a) . A small (Frifel t 1975 a, 1 99 0). Two daggers and one unident
number of objects wi th mor e than one percent lead fragment were found to contain from 3.7-25.0 percwere also recorded in previous studies, including Pb. One of the daggers, in addition to 25 percent Pb
leaded t in-bron ze arro wh ead s from Wadi Suq -Iron contained approximately 2.3 percent zinc. Such lead
Age burials at Shimal Tomb 1 (3.5 percent Pb; centrations are uncomm on in southeastern Arabia a
Craddock 19 85 ) and Sharm (1 .2 percent Pb; Weeks western Asia generally in this period, although they
2000b), three leaded t in-bronze bracelets from the know n (see e.g. Malfoy and Me nu 1987 ; Philip 1 99
Table 4.22
Lead levels recorded i n previous analytical studiesTin (Sn)
Archaeological No. of Median RangeTin concentrations measured for the Urnm al-Nar P
Material Analyses Concentration (ppm ) (ppm )tomb assemblages are summarized in Table 4.23 an
illustrated in Figures 4.16 and 4.17. It is clear thatObjectsper with significant levels of tin, much higher than
(2700 -2000 BCE) 29 140would have been naturally present in locally-produc
IngotsIRaw Copper Omani copper, was present already in the region in
(2700 -2000 BCE) 28
Objects
10-260 mid-third millennium BCE, as indicated by the anal
material from A1 Sufouh. Although only one object
(2000 -1 300 BCE) 18 250 40-74 0
Objects
(2000 -300 BCE) 4 1 150 30-500
Objects
(1300 -300 BCE) 152 100 0-1,820
Lead concentrat ions i n copper-base objects from s outheastern
Arabia p reviou sly analyzed. Note: details o f previous analyses may
be fo und in A ppen dix One, Sect ion 1.2.3.
this site contained more th an tw o percent t in (the d
tion of a tin-bronze for the purpo ses of this study) ,
remaining objects from the site contained between 0
and tw o percent Sn (see Figure 4.16) . Such low-tin
objects might indicate the practice of recycling impo
tin-bron ze objects in this period, involving the mixi
imported tin or tin-bronze with local copper, but th
issue will be discussed in more detail in the followin
chapters. In total, 3 3 of the 83 Urnm a l-Nar Period
Table 4.23
T in i n Urnm al-Nar Period objects analyzed in his study
Median Median Median Range Range Range
Tin (%) (all) (copper) (tin-bronze) (all) (copper) (tin-bronze)
AI Su fou h 0.1 6 0.1 6 <0.13-1 .56 <0.13-1.27
Un ar l 1.03 0.20 7.7 <0.13-10.3 <0.13-1.04 2.2-1 3.9
Unar2 8.81 <0.13 21.4 <0.13-23.9 <0.13-0.47 5.1 -24.3
Tell Ab raq 3.99 <0.13 27.8 <0.13-38.8 <0.13-1.30 5.0-46.2
All Ob jec ts 1 04 <0.13 19.8 <0.13-24.6 <0.13-1.25 2.4-36.0
Tin concentrat ions i n Urnm al-Nar Period copper-base objects fro m AI Sufouh, Una rl ,
Unar2, and Tell Abraq analyzed by PIXE. Average MDL = 0.1 3 percent Sn.
94 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf
8/14/2019 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf Technology, Trade, And the Bronze Age World ThePoet006102
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/early-metallurgy-of-the-persian-gulf-technology-trade-and-the-bronze-age 115/269
Figure4 17 Tin concentrations in all Umm al-Nar Peri
obje cts a nalyzed by PIXE.
Figure 4 16 Tin concentra tions in AI Sufouh, Una rl,
Unar2 and Tell Abraq o bjects.
objects analyzed in this study contain more than tw
percent Sn, and are thus classified as tin-bronzes. T
represents ab out 4 0 percent of the assemblage, al th
distinct differences by site can be seen in tha t only
tin-bron ze is found at A1 Sufouh, roughly one -third
the Un ar l objects are of tin-bronze, while 50-60 pof objects from Unar2 and Tell Abraq are of tin-bro
Furthermore, the amo unt of t in in the t in-bronzes
increases fro m the earliest ma terial at A1 Sufouh to
latest material from Unar2 and Tell Abraq. As note
above, numerous objects from A1 Sufouh contain
appro xima tely 0.5-2.0 percent Sn. This pattern is r
ed at Un ar l , al though t in-bronzes with t in concent
tions or more than five percent begin to be seen at
t ime (see Figure 4.16). Examination of the U nar2 a
Tell Abraq material reveals a few low-tin bronzes w
tin concentrations of less than three percent, but a
matic increase in the number of tin-bronzes with m
than 1 0 percent Sn, with a distinct mode in the 18-
percent range. The overall distribution pattern for
shown in Figure 4.17, is tri-modal; most samples c
less than the MDL for t in on the PIXE system of a
imately 0.13 percent, however there is a strong mo
the one a nd tw o percent Sn range, and an even clea
peak in the 18-32 percent Sn range. The various al
practices and exchange mechanisms that may have
this patte rn will be discussed in the following chaptTin levels in the tin-bronzes are diverse, reachi
levels of greater tha n 4 0 percent Sn in two o bjects
Tell Abraq (TA2435, approximately 5 2 percent Sn;
TA2677, approximately 4 6 percent Sn). The very h
concentrations reported are almost certainly a reflec
Results of Compositional Analyses
8/14/2019 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf Technology, Trade, And the Bronze Age World ThePoet006102
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/early-metallurgy-of-the-persian-gulf-technology-trade-and-the-bronze-age 116/269
of sample corrosion, which comm only involves the
leaching of copper (b ut no t t in) from the object
matrix, leading t o a n increase in the propor tion of t in
remaining in the corrod ed object (Scott 199 1) . The
effect of corrosion on the analyzed PIXE samples is sug-
gested by the fact that measured t in levels in objects
which were uncorro ded o r contained significant remain-
ing metal were in al l cases less than 20 percent Sn
(al though uncorroded objects wi th approximately15-20 perce nt Sn were relatively com m on ). Analyses
returnin g concentra tions of greater than 2 0 percent t in
were exclusively of corroded material.
The analyses of the objects from the Umm al-N ar
tom b assemblages presented here contrast strongly with
the results of previous studies of contem pora ry m ateri-
al . Only three t in-bronzes were recorded in the analyses
of more than 80 Umm a l -Nar Period objects publ ished
in ful l or in part from Umm a n-N ar Island an d the Hi l i
Oasis in the U.A.E and other locat ions in Om an (Frifel t1975a , 1991; Craddock 1981; Ber thoud 1979;
Hau ptma nn e t a l. 19 88; Hau ptma nn 1995 ; Prange e t
al . 1999:Figure 6) . These three objects include a dagger
wi th six percent Sn from a tom b on Umm an -Nar
Island (Berthoud 1979:Table 5) and tw o objects wi th
more than approximately five percent Sn from unspeci-
fied locations in southe astern Arab ia (Pra nge et al .
1999:Figure 6 ). The new data from PIXE analyses are,
however, in accord wi th the se mi-quant i tat ive EDS
analyses of material from se t t lement and burial con-
texts at Tel l Abraq (Weeks 19 97 ), which indicated sig-
nificant t in-bronz e use at the site already by the third
millennium BCE.
Tin-bronze cont inues to compri se a round one-
thi rd of analyzed copper-base objects from second mi l -
lennium BCE contexts and mixed Wadi Suq-Iron Age
tomb assemblages (Craddock 19 85; Hau ptma nn e t a l.
1988 ; Prange et al . 1999:Figure 6; Weeks 2000a,
20 00 b) , before becoming the domina nt al loy used in
the region in the Iron Age. Analyses of mo re than 15 0
Iron Age objects presented by Prange and Hauptmann(20 01 ) , Pedersen and Buchwald (19 91 ) , Im-Obers teg
(19 87 ) and Weeks (For thcom ing b , 200 0a) i ndica te
that t in-bronzes account for approximately 8 0 percent
of analyzed copper-base objects from this period,
al thoug h there i s s t rong variat ion by si te .
Elemental Relationships:
Rank-Correlation Analyses
In the previous sec tions of this chapter, variat ion i
composit ion of objects has been summarized using
univariate, element-by-element ap proac h. A fi rst s
towar ds the exa mina t ion of correlat ions between
ments was provided by the sepa rat ion of objects i
copper and in-bronze compo si t ional groups,
these beginnings a re taken further in the f inal parthis chapter. The invest igat ion of elemental relat i
sh ips is impo r t an t i n unders t anding aspec ts of t he
sources used to prod uce th e objects and the proce
of al loy produ ct ion and select ion tha t affected th
manufacture.
Introduction and Description of Statistical Technique
In t h i s s ec t i on , b i va r i a te r e l a t i onsh i p s be t w een
m e n t s a r e i n v e s t ig a t e d , in a n a t t e m p t t o o u t l i n
l a t e n t s t ru c t u r e i n w h a t i s a l ar g e a n d c o m p l e xse t . T h i s s ec t i on beg i ns w i t h a n exam i na t i on o
b i va r i a t e co r r e l a t i ons be t w een e l em en t s fo r an
l yzed sam p l e s f r om d i f f e r en t s i te s . S uch r e l a t i o
sh i p s have been i nves t i ga t ed in a num ber o f p r
ous ana l y t i ca l s tud i e s f rom sou t he as t e rn A rab i
F o r ex am pl e , h i gh l eve ls o f a r s en i c a r e f r equen
as soc i a t ed w i t h h i gh l eve ls o f n i cke l i n cop pe r
ob j ec t s f rom t h i rd a nd second m i l l enn ium B C E
( H a u p t m a n n e t a l . 1 9 8 8 ; H a u p t m a n n 1 9 95 1 ;
P r a n g e e t a l . 1 9 9 9 ) .
Elemental asso ciations have been investigated i
PIXE data using the stat ist ical measure of associati
know n a s the correlat ion coefficient (denoted here
"r"; Freedman et al . 19 91:11 8). Values for the corre
t ion coefficient range from -1 to + l , i th -1 indicat
perfect negative correlat ion and + l ndicating perfe
posi tive correlat ion. Values a t or a round zero indic
very l it t le or n o correlation between the tw o variabl
However, r is a measure of l inear association , an d ca
poo r descriptor for non-l inear relat ionships betwee
variables, and in si tuations where o utl iers occur(Freedman et al. 1 991 :139-40). To overcome these
lems, the PIXE composi t ional da ta in percentagesl
have been converted to rank order, and the correla
coefficient calculated on the ranke d values. Th is i s
s im i l a r t o t he Spearman 's r ank -co rre l a t ion coeff
96 Early Metal lurg y of th e Persian Gulf
8/14/2019 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf Technology, Trade, And the Bronze Age World ThePoet006102
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/early-metallurgy-of-the-persian-gulf-technology-trade-and-the-bronze-age 117/269
described in Freund et al. (1988:499) , and provides a
"simple and theoretically sound cure" to the problems
of statistically describing non-linear elemental relation-
ships (Wright 1992:38) .
Using the rank-correlation coefficient, matrices of
elemental correlations have been constructed on a site-
by-site basis. The strongest positive correlations are
between arsenic, nickel, and cobalt, and perhaps anti-
mony. Lead is correlated with arsenic and nickel in
some assemblages, but also with silver and tin. Negative
correlations are seen at most sites, particularly between
copper and a series of alloying elements, including tin,
arsenic, and nickel, as well as iron. There is also a nega-
tive correlation observable between tin and cobalt in
some assemblages, and particularly in the analyses of
the assemblage as a whole. The correlation matrix for
all Urnm al-Nar Period objects as a group is presented
in Table 4.24.
Negative Correlations
A number of the negative correlations found in the
PIXE data can be explained as a result of the replace-
ment of one alloy constituent by another, given the
restrictions placed on concentration by the constant
sum of the normalized compositional data. For exam-
ple, copper and tin show large and statistically signifi-
cant negative r values (-0.73 on Table 4.24) for finished
objects from all sites. This strong negative correlation
can be simply explained by the fact that tin is the m
alloying component for copper-base objects in the
Bronze Age, and tin-bronzes will obviously have l
copper levels than un-alloyed objects.
Similar reasoning can be used to explain the n
tive correlations between copper and arsenic at A1
Sufouh and Tell Abraq, and in the group of Urnm
Nar objects as a whole: arsenic also replaces copp
alloys, whether these are intentionally produced o
In general, As concentrations are lower than Sn co
centrations in tin-bronzes, so the negative correlat
not as strong as for copper and tin.
The negative correlation between tin and cobal
gested by the rank-correlation analyses of the entire
Urnm al-Nar assemblage and the material from Tell
Abraq is illustrated in Figure 4.18. It can be seen th
only three tin bronzes contain in excess of 1,100 pp
CO (ASTombld, 1023-4.10, M10-22R), whereas mo
than 40 percent of copper objects contain more tha1,100 ppm Co. The result of the relationship betwe
Sn and CO is that a high positive correlation betwe
copper and cobalt is also reported by a rank-correla
analysis of the tin-bronzes.
Arsenic, Nickel, Cobalt and Antimony
Correlations significant at the 99 percent confiden
level were found between arsenic and nickel for a
Urnm al-Nar sites. In the correlation analysis of al
Table4 24Elemental relationships n U rnm al-Nar Period copper-base objects
S Fe CO N Cu As Se Ag Sb Sn Pb
S 1OO 0.20 0.1 6 -0.07 0.05 -0.06 -0.08 -0.1 1 -0.1 1 -0.19 -0.02
Fe 1.00 0.33 0.19 -0.30 0.08 0.02 -0.02 0.14 0.07 -0.05
CO 1.00 0.61 0.10 0.47 0.24 -0.09 0.44 -0.46 0.06
Ni 1 OO -0.30 0.82 0.47 0.1 7 0.57 -0.18 0.38
CU 1.00 -0.46 -0.37 -0.36 -0.09 -0.73 -0.32
AS 1OO 0.51 0.29 0.59 -0.04 0.46
Se 1OO 0.42 0.22 -0.01 0.27
Ag 1.00 0.08 0.26 0.41
Sb 1.00 -0.16 0.22
SnL 1.00 0.19
PbL 1 oo
Rank-correlation coefficients or all Urnm al-Nar Period objects analyzed in th is study. Statistically significan t values are
shown in bold.
Results of Com positio nal Analyses
8/14/2019 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf Technology, Trade, And the Bronze Age World ThePoet006102
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/early-metallurgy-of-the-persian-gulf-technology-trade-and-the-bronze-age 118/269
Tin vs. Cobalt
l0
Figure 4.18 The negative correlation between tin and cobalt
in the Urnm al-Nar objects analyzed by PIXE.
Arsenic vs. Nickel
Figure4.19 Arsenic and nickel in Urnm al-Nar Period objectsanalyzed by PIXE.
Nickel vs. Cobalt
Figure 4.20 Nickel and cobalt in the Urnmal-Nar Period objectsanalyzed by PIXE.
1-
Urnm al-Nar samples as a group, the positive As:
correlation was clearly the strongest elemental rel
ship (Table 4.24). The correlation between As and
illustrated in Figure 4.19. It can also be seen that
arsenic and nickel are correlated in tin-bronzes as w
as in copper objects, although absolute As and Ni
centrations are lower in the tin-bronzes (Figure 4.1
The correlations between nickel and cobalt and ars
and cobalt are illustrated in Figures 4.20 and 4.21
respectively. In both cases, the correlations are mu
stronger in copper objects than in tin-bronzes. It is
ly that these correlations reflect the mineralogy of
copper deposits that were the source for the analyz
objects, and this issue will be discussed in detail in
following chapter.
Antimony and arsenic are correlated in mater
from A1 Sufouh and Unar2. However, the strength
the correlation is significantly less than that betwe
As and Ni seen in all Urnm al-Nar Period materia
investigation of the relationship is hampered by th
low sensitivity of the PIXE technique in the determ
tion of Sb concentration. A correlation between A
Sb might be expected on a mineralogical basis, giv
their common occurrence in sulfidic copper ore bo
as species of the tennantite Cu12As4S13)-tetrahed
(CuI2Sb4Sl3) eries. Nickel and antimony are also
related in the Urnm al-Nar objects as a group (see
Table 4.24). As for the correlation between As an
however, assessing the relationship between Ni an
is complicated by the low sensitivity of the PIXE
measurements.
Tin and Silver
As noted above, silver concentrations seem to be
in tin-bronzes than in copper objects from Urnm a
Period contexts. However, tin and silver show sign
cant rank-correlation coefficients (at the 99 percen
level) only in material from Tell Abraq. At the 95
cent confidence level, correlations are also seen at
Unar2 and in the assemblage as a whole. The relaship between Sn and Ag concentrations in late thi
millennium BCE material is illustrated in Figure 4
It is clear that Ag concentrations in excess of app
mately 400 ppm occur much more frequently in t
bronzes than in contemporary copper objects.
o tin-bronze
98 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf
W H
8/14/2019 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf Technology, Trade, And the Bronze Age World ThePoet006102
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/early-metallurgy-of-the-persian-gulf-technology-trade-and-the-bronze-age 119/269
Principal Components Analyses (PCA)This section presents the results of principal com pone nts
analyses (PCA) of the collected PIXE da ta, which were
conducted in order t o further investigate elemental cor-
relat ions, and to c haracterize the composi t ional variabil -
i ty within an d between m etal objects from individual
tom b assemblages. PCA is a widely used mu ltivariate
tool useful in reducing large, multi-dimensional da ta sets
to l imi ted numbers of compo nents (usual ly six or less) ,which describe significant amo un ts of the latent struc-
ture in the da ta an d can be easily conceived of and repre-
sented graphically (W right 1992:34-63; Mage e et al .
199 8:239 ). The technique i s conceptual ly simple
because, as noted by Wright (1992:60 ), i t is nothing
more th an the extension, into hyperspace, of the simple
conc ept of lines of best fi t thro ugh a system of points .
Thu s, PCA is a l inear technique, and w orks best when
the relat ionships between variables and between the
compon ents an d the variables are l inear also. In orde r toavoid the possibili ty of overlo oking non-linea r correla-
t ions wi thin the col lected PIXE da ta, the concentrat ions
in percentage and ppm form have been converted to
rank-order, as suggested by Wright (1992 :38). This
tran sfo rm ation provides the equivalent of a PCA of the
rank-correlat ion coefficient (Wright l99 2:3 8).
The PCAs presented in this section were carried o ut
using the progra m MV-Nutshell (R.V.S. Wright 19 94 ). A
standa rd correlation PCA was used, as it is widely consid-
ered to be the most a ppro priate m ultivariate descriptive
technique for quan ti tat ive com posit ional data (e.g.
Magee et al . 1998:239).
Correlations Between Elements
Correlat ions between di fferent element concen trat ions
in analyzed metal samples can be investigated using
PCA, as above using the rank -corre lat ion coefficient.
The resul ts of the PCA of the ranked composi t ional
data are best i l lustrated graphical ly in one, or a series
of, bivariate scat tergrams. In the fol lowing scat ter-
grams, the proximity of elements reflects the correla-t ion between them. E lements th at plot very closely
together o n a PCA scat tergram are posit ively correlat -
ed , whereas e l ement s t ha t p lo t wide ly apa r t a re nega-
t ively correlated. Th e resul ts are discussed below, an d
thei r impl icat ions are addressed in Ch apte r Five.
Arsenic vs. Cobalt
10 I
W copper
tin-bronze
Figure 4.21 Arsenic and cobalt in the Umm al-Nar Period
objects analyzed by PIXE.
Tin vs. Silver
10000
0.1 1 10 Sn ( )
Figure4.22Tin and silver in the Umm al-Nar Period
objects analyzed by PIXE. One high-silver outlier i s no
shown.
As il lustrated in Figure 4.23, the elemental c
lat ions found by the PCA of the composi t ional d
and the ranked da ta sho w s imil ar pa t t e rns to tho
presented in the previous sect ion. The relative pr
imi ty of arsenic, nickel, coba l t and an t imon y on
scat tergrams in Figure 4.23 indicates a st rong co
tion between these elements. This correlat ion is l
to reflect mineralogical issues related to the ores
to pro duce the copp er in the objects , an i ssue tha
will be discussed in detail in the following chapte
The st rong negat ive correlat ions between copper,and nickellarsenic a re indicated by the large dista
between these elements o n the PCA scat tergrams
Figure 4.23. These elements form the points of a
angle on the PCA plots , represent ing the three m
common al loy types found wi thin the assemblage
Results of Com positional Analyses
8/14/2019 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf Technology, Trade, And the Bronze Age World ThePoet006102
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/early-metallurgy-of-the-persian-gulf-technology-trade-and-the-bronze-age 120/269
8/14/2019 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf Technology, Trade, And the Bronze Age World ThePoet006102
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/early-metallurgy-of-the-persian-gulf-technology-trade-and-the-bronze-age 121/269
Tell Abraq objects (see above, Tables 4.5-4.23). An
exception t o this difference is TA2135, a high As/Ni/Fe
"lump" which plots with the A1 Sufouh objects in Figure
4.25B. It is possible that the chronological separation of
the two assemblages may explain their compositional
divergence: A1 Sufouh is the earliest tomb assemblage
analyzed, while Tell Abraq is the latest.
While the objects from A1 Sufouh and Tell Abraq
appear to have quite different compositions, the material
from the Una rl and Unar2 tomb assemblages is much
more difficult to separate compositionally, and also shares
compositional similarities with Tell Abraq and A1 Sufouh
objects (see Figure 4.25C) . It is notable, however, that a
high proportion of objects from Unar2 fall into the bot-
tom right quadrant of the PCA plots in Figure 4.25, along
with five objects from Tell Abraq and only one each from
Unar l and A1 Sufouh. These objects are generally tin-
bronzes, characterized by relatively high lead and arsenic
concentrations, and occasionally high silver levels. As thePCA plots suggest, this kind of bronze is found with par-
ticular frequency at Unar2.
Separate PCAs performed on the subsets of copper
objects and tin-bronze objects were also undertaken. As
can be seen in Figure 4.26, very few consistent composi-
tional differences can be seen between copper objects
from each of the four tomb assemblages, although as
noted above, Tell Abraq and A1 Sufouh objects show rela-
tively distinct minor and trace element patterns. In con-
trast, it appears that tin-bronzes from Unar l, Unar2, and
Tell Abraq are made from compositionally distinct mate-
rial. As illustrated in Figure 4.27, Unarl tin-bronzes are
quite distinct from those of Tell Abraq, and examination
of the element loadings for this PCA would suggest that
sulfur, iron and cobalt are present in higher concentra-
tions in the Unarl tin-bronzes, whereas tin and silver are
found in higher quantities in the Tell Abraq tin-bronzes.
These conclusions are verified by the compositional sum-
maries presented in Tables 4.5-4.23 above. While some of
the tin-bronzes from Unar2 have compositions similar to
those from Tell Abraq or Unar l, most have a different
Figure 4.25 PCA scattergrams of ranked PlXE data for all
Umm al-Nar Period objects, showing element and object
loadings (A), and objects loadings by site (B, C). Note the
different scales of plots A B and C.
distribution in multi-dimensional space which correlates
with relatively high levels of nickel, arsenic and lead in
these tin-bronzes. Again, these conclusions are supported
by the previously presented compositional data summaries
(Tables 4.5-4.23).
Results o f Comp osit ional Analyses
8/14/2019 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf Technology, Trade, And the Bronze Age World ThePoet006102
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/early-metallurgy-of-the-persian-gulf-technology-trade-and-the-bronze-age 122/269
Summary
Figure 4 26PCA scattergrams of Umm al-Nar
Period copper objects only, showing element and
object loadings (top) and object loadings by site(bottom).Note the different scales of the upper
and lower plots.
Figure 4 27PCA scattergrams of Umm al-Nar
Period tin-bronzes only, showing element and
object loadings (top) and object loadings by site
(bottom).
An overview of the analyses of the A1 Sufouh, Un ar
Unar2 and Tell Abraq assemblages highlights a num
of chronological andlor site-specific variations in m
lurgical technology and alloy use. As illustrated in
Figure 4.28, objects of unalloyed copper, occasiona
containing significant amounts of iron and sulfur a
impurities, are used throughout the archaeological
sequence covered, approximately 2450-2000 BCE.The dominant alloys utilized include copper with o
to six percent arsenic andlor one to 3.5 percent nic
(AsINi-copper), and copper with more th an two pe
cent tin (tin-bronze). AsINi-copper is particularly
prominent in the earlier Umm al-Nar objects f rom
Sufouh, but appears in all four tomb assemblages
studied. Of the 26 AsINi-copper objects recorded
ing analysis (3 1 percent of the tota l assemblage), 1
contained both arsenic and nickel in quantities of
greater than one percent, 15 contained copper wit
only arsenic in excess of one percent, and one obj
contained only nickel in excess of one percent.
Statistical analyses of bivariate and multivariate el
mental associations indicate that arsenic and nicke
are highly correlated in the analyzed objects, sugg
ing a mineralogical association which will be dis-
cussed further in the following chapter. Additional
mineralogical factors probably underlie the relatio
ships between arseniclnickel and the trace element
cobalt and antimony, which were clearly observed
the statistical analyses.
Tin-bronze objects were also found in all tomb
assemblages, although in contrast to AsINi-copper, ti
bronze appears gradually over the course of the later
third millennium BCE (see Figure 4.28) . A few tin-
bronzes with low tin concentrations are recorded at A
Sufouh and Una rl , whereas very high frequencies of
bronze use (50-60 percent of objects) are observed in
latest Umm al-Nar assemblages from Unar2 and Tell
Abraq. The increase in the frequency of tin-bronze u
in the tomb assemblages was accompanied by anincrease in the concentration of tin in the bronzes th
selves. The tin-bronzes are also characterized by high
levels of silver than contemporary copper and AsINi-
copper samples, and by higher lead concentrations in
the case of Unar2 tin-bronzes.
102 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf
8/14/2019 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf Technology, Trade, And the Bronze Age World ThePoet006102
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/early-metallurgy-of-the-persian-gulf-technology-trade-and-the-bronze-age 123/269
A number of objects, particularly from the Unar2 to southeastern Arabia, an area totally devoid of tin
tomb, are ternary alloys with significant concentrations deposits. In addition, alloy use in different object ca
of both tin and arsenic. Interestingly, given the high cor- gories is investigated, as a guide to the metallic prop
relation between arsenic and nickel in the analyzed ties which were most crucial to the adopt ion of new
objects, a nickel concentration of more than one percent alloys, especially tin-bronze, in later third millenniu
was reported in only one tin-bronze object, from the A1 BCE southeastern Arabia.
Sufouh tomb. Other complex alloys are rare, but include
two objects with one to two percent lead (a thin arseni-
cal copper fragment and a tin-bronze ring) and a tin-
bronze ring from Unar2 with 2.4 percent arsenic and 2.3
percent silver.
Principal components analyses of the collected PIXE
compositional data indicate that the strongest composi-
tional differences between individual tomb assemblages
are between material from A1 Sufouh (very few tin-
bronzes and relatively high concentrations of arsenic,
nickel, cobalt and ant imony) and Tell Abraq (numerous
tin-bronzes, relatively high silver concentrations, and
low concentrations of As, Ni, CO and Sb). Given thatthese are, respectively, the earliest and latest Umm al-
Nar tomb assemblages analyzed, a chronological factor
might explain the observed compositional diversity.
Material from the chronologically intermediate tomb
assemblages of Una rl and Unar2 has characteristics sim-
ilar to material from both A1 Sufouh and Tell Abraq,
although compositional idiosyncrasies in the objects
from each site are also observable.
PCA of the copper objects and tin-bronzes as sepa-
rate groups indicates that the copper objects from each
of the tomb assemblages were relatively similar in terms
of their minor and trace element compositions. In con-
trast, the tin-bronzes from Unarl, Unar2 and Tell Abraq
were relatively distinct in terms of their overall composi-
tion, with Unarl tin-bronzes higher in sulfur and iron,
Unar2 tin-bronzes higher in arsenic and lead, and Tell
Abraq tin-bronzes distinguished by higher levels of silver
and low cobalt concentrations.
In the following chapter, the various metallurgical
practices and exchange patterns that have shaped the
compositional data presented here are discussed.Attention is paid particularly t o the mining, smelting
and alloying processes which may have facilitated the
production of the AsINi-copper so prominent in the
early Umm al-Nar Period objects from A1 Sufouh, and t o
the exchange systems which brought tin and tin-bronze
Results of Compositional Analyses
8/14/2019 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf Technology, Trade, And the Bronze Age World ThePoet006102
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/early-metallurgy-of-the-persian-gulf-technology-trade-and-the-bronze-age 124/269
A1 Sufouh Unar l
Unar2 Tell Abraq
Figure4.28 Alloy use in the four Umm al-Nar Period tomb assemblages.
104 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf
8/14/2019 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf Technology, Trade, And the Bronze Age World ThePoet006102
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/early-metallurgy-of-the-persian-gulf-technology-trade-and-the-bronze-age 125/269
5 Discussion of Compositional
Results
Introduction
This chapter addresses the PIXE compositional data
summarized in Chapter Four. Mineralogical and techno-
logical perspectives are examined to determine the nature
of the ore sources that may have been exploited, and to
review processes of alloy selection and manufacture.
Discussion of alloying practices in the metal assemblages
is relevant to elements such as tin, arsenic, and nickel
that are present in amounts greater than one to two per-
cent, although these same elements are commonly pres-
ent in quantities of less than one percent and the bound-
ary between "alloying element" and "impurity" is in
some cases unclear (cf. Wertirne 1973:8 82). A detailed
discussion of different approaches to the question of
"intentionality" in alloy production is presented.
Furthermore, compositional analyses of copper-base
artifacts have frequently been used as the basis for dis-
cussions of provenance and reconstructions of trade pat-
terns (e.g. Berthoud et al. 1980; Malfoy and Menu 1987).
The feasibility of using "diagnostic" trace element con-
centrations alone to outline ore sources has been serious-ly questioned over the last twenty years and more (e.g.
Craddock 1976:94; Gale and Stos-Gale 1982: 11; Budd
et al. 1992:678; Craddock and Giumlia-Mair 1988),
although elements which are more likely to be represen-
tative of provenanceasopposed to ext rac tion or alloying
processes have been delineated by Pernicka (1999).
However, as has been noted by Moorey (1982:82), "once
industries had developed to the point.. .when a variety of
ores were being used under different conditions, wit
without fluxes, alloys were commonplace, and the re
cling of copperwork was normal practice, provenien
studies depending on elemental analysis are as likely
confuse as they are to clarify the relationships of sou
areas and distant production centres". When the mu
factors potentially contributing to the final composi
of a metal object are considered, the difficulties invo
in determining provenance based purely upon comp
tional analysis are clear.
However, compositional studies can play an imp
tant role in discussions of trade, if interpreted within
framework that allows for the complexity involved in
metal extraction and object fabrication and the comp
tional heterogeneity of many ore sources (e.g. Budd e
1996) . For example, basic geological considerations the areas in which tin deposits are likely to occur
(McGeehan-Liritzis and Taylor 198 7) the geology of
southeastern Arabia precludes the formation of such
deposits, and the use of t in in copper-base objects fro
this region is therefore important information for del
ing the movement of tin or tin-bronze into this area.
In the sections below, a number of different asp
of the PIXE data are discussed. Firstly, the significan
the iron and sulfur levels found in the samples is
addressed. Subsequently, the compositional data for
two major alloy categories (arseniclnickel-copper an
bronze) are investigated, with particular emphasis o
sible techniques of production, aspects of alloy selec
and the trade in metals.
Ironand Sulfur
Iron and sulfur are addressed here together because
frequently appear combined in non-metallic inclusio
copper objects as a result of the exploitation of Cu-F
sulfides (Hauptmann et al. 1988:37; Weeks, forthcom
and are both impurities that are generally removed dthe refining process to improve the quality of the fin
object. As outlined in Chapter Four, iron concentrat
in the Umm al-Nar Period objects were commonly o
order of 0.2-2.0 percent, with a mode in the 0.56-1.
percent Fe range. Objects generally contained less th
one percent sulfur, with one mode in the 0.18-0.32
cent S range and another for samples with S concen
tions less than the MDL of approximately 0.1 percen
8/14/2019 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf Technology, Trade, And the Bronze Age World ThePoet006102
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/early-metallurgy-of-the-persian-gulf-technology-trade-and-the-bronze-age 126/269
8/14/2019 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf Technology, Trade, And the Bronze Age World ThePoet006102
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/early-metallurgy-of-the-persian-gulf-technology-trade-and-the-bronze-age 127/269
However, the refining and purification of raw copper
seems generally to have been the responsibility of the
metalworker who received the material at its destina-
tion, rather than the producer of the metal at its
source (Moorey 1994:243, 249; Moorey et al. 1988:47;
Craddock and Giumlia-Mair l988:318). Although the
tendency to trade copper of highly variable quality
was no doubt a problem for merchants in the late
third and early second millennia in southern
Mesopotamia (Oppenheim 1954; Leemans 1960:19-54),
and may even have led to an occasional attempt at
deception (Hauptmann 1987:Abb. 2; Weisgerber and
Yule 2003), it was probably undertaken to avoid the
further use of fuel in source areas with limited wood
supplies, and facili tated by the ease of purification of
the metal at its destination. Iron concentrations could
easily be reduced to approximately 0.5 percent by the
refining of the raw copper in a crucible (Craddock
and Meeks 1987:192). With the addition of sand orcrushed quartz to the molten metal, an iron-rich cru-
cible slag would form and float to the surface of the
metal, where it could be removed by skimming
(Tylecote and Boydell 1978).
Iron concentrations in copper ingots and raw cop-
per pieces analyzed in previous studies of Gulf metal-
lurgy are occasionally very high; in the one to four
percent Fe range in Umm al-Nar Period ingots from
Oman (Haup tmann 1987 ) and up t o 10 percent Fe in
ingots from the early second millennium BCE settle-
ment of Saar on Bahrain (Weeks, forthcoming a) . Such
high iron levels match those of raw copper produced
by extraction processes involving slag production at
other sites in western Asia such as Timna (see
Craddock and Giumlia-Mair l988:Figure 182), and
would have had a strongly deleterious effect on the
working properties of the metal. In southeastern
Arabia, a number of forms of evidence suggest that
such raw copper was regularly refined prior to object
fabrication. Firstly, the widespread presence of metal-
lurgical refining debris on settlements in southeasternArabia and on Bahrain suggests that copper refining
away from areas of primary production was common-
place. For example, at the Bronze Age sites of Ra's al-
Jinz (Cleuziou and Tosi 2000:57), Tell Abraq (Weeks
1997), Qala'at al-Bahrain (e.g. Harjlund and Andersen
1994:378) and Saar (Weeks, forthcoming a), and
Iron Age settlement of Muweilah (Weeks, forthcom
b), many hundreds of fragments of metallurgical r
ing waste have been recovered. The compositiona
for metallurgical waste samples from these sites (W
1997; Weeks, forthcoming a, b) indicate that refin
was carried out primarily to remove impurities of
and sulfur from the raw copper (see Figure 5.1).
Secondly, the relatively low iron concentrations of
most finished objects analyzed in this volume in c
parison to data for raw copper ingots are suggesti
a refining stage between smelting and object fabri
tion. However, the presence of relatively high iron
centrations (in excess of approximately one percen
in more than one-quarter of the analyzed objects
cates that refining may not have been rigorously p
ticed in the production of objects at settlements in
southeastern Arabia.
The experimental smelting studies of Tylecote(1977) indicated that iron levels in raw copper pr
duced from roasted sulfidic ores are much lower
in copper objects produced by direct reduction fro
oxide ores. The commonly posited beginning of th
exploitation of massive sulfide deposits in southeas
Arabia in the Iron Age (Weisgerber 1987:145;
Weisgerber 198 8:286), which probably required the
introduction of the roasting techniques necessary t
exclusively exploit such ores, may be reflected in th
lower Fe concentrations in Iron Age samples analy
in previous studies.
Figure 5.1 Iron and sulfur levels in finished objects from AI Su
Unarl, Unar2, and Tell Abraq, in comparison to secondary refin
waste from the later settlements of Saar (Bahrain) and Muwei
(U.A.E.).
Discussion of Compositional Results
8/14/2019 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf Technology, Trade, And the Bronze Age World ThePoet006102
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/early-metallurgy-of-the-persian-gulf-technology-trade-and-the-bronze-age 128/269
Sulfur
As for iron, sulfur can be introduced to the furnace
charge as a component of the copper ore, or through the
slagging and fluxing components (Rapp 198 9: 107; cf.
Tylecote 1977:Table 5).A study by Rapp (1989) has sug-
gested that the sulfur concentrations of finished objects
may be a good discriminator of smelted copper as
opposed to native copper, as well as potentially indicate
the type of ore that was used. Rapp's research indicates
that S concentrations in native copper are generally very
low (on average <400 ppm), with slightly higher values
recorded in oxidized copper ores like malachite and azu-
rite (on average <1,000 ppm S), while copper smelted
from sulfur-bearing ores is likely to have significantly
higher S concentrations. However, other studies have sug-
gested that the discrimination of ore type based on sulfur
and other trace elements is not possible (Ericson et al.
1982). For example, Tylecote's (1977:Table 5) study of
the sulfur concentrations of oxide and roasted sulfideores show no significant differences between the two ore
types, and a study of the compositional groupings observ-
able in Early Bronze Age metal objects in the British Isles
ignores sulfur and iron concentrations as "not significant
for classification purposes" (Northover l977:69). In
other instances, the use of sulfidic ores is thought to have
been demonstrated by the presence of copper sulfide
(matte ) nclusions in copper objects, although the reliabil-
ity of such a conclusion has been brought into question
by the observation of matte inclusions in copper objects
produced from relatively pure oxidized copper ores (Gale
et al. 1985: 91-92; Charles 1980:164) .
Thus, the issue of determining ore types utilized in
antiquity by examining the sulfur composition of contem-
porary finished objects is a complex one. In addition to
the requirement for distinct differences in the sulfur con-
centrations of oxide and sulfide ores, correct attributions
to ore types must also account for the effects of the:
1. Possible roasting of sulfidic ores prior to smelt-
ing to remove sulfur.
2. Sulfur content of the fluxes used during smelting.3. Refining processes undertaken after the initial
smelting.
4. Contribution of sulfur by alloying and recycling
additions.
5 . Possible presence of sulfur as a contaminant.
Obviously, roasting processes which are designe
either to concentrate copper-sulfides and oxidize iro
sulfides (part ial roasting), or to convert copper-sulfi
to oxides (dead-roasting) will affect the amount of s
in the final metal. Significant contributions of sulfur
fluxing agents have been noted in the smelting and t
element partitioning studies undertaken by Tylecote
(1977:Table 5; Tylecote et al. 1977), while almost a
newly-smelted copper produced from a slagging pro
is likely to have required refining to reduce its iron
tent (see above). These refining operations will also
significantly reduced the sulfur concentration of the
ished metal object (Tylecote et al. 1977:330). When
added to the further unknown sulfur contribution o
alloying components (e.g. Charles 1980:164) and th
possible inclusion of recycled material of uncertain
position, attempts to determine ore type based on su
levels can be seen to face the same problems which
confounded metal provenance studies based only oncompositional data.
In a southeastern Arabian context, determining
whether the sulfur concentrations in the analyzed P
samples represent the use of oxide or sulfide ores is
issue of little concern. The high sulfur levels (from
approximately 0.2-1.2 percent) in copper ingots fro
Maysar 1 result from the presence of matte inclusio
(consisting of nearly pure Cu2S) in the objects, whic
demonstrated to have resulted from the use of sulfu
bearing ores as well as oxide ores in the smelting ch
(i.e. CO-smelting) lready by the third millennium BC
(Hauptmann et al. 1988:36-37). The composition o
matte in the Maysar 1 ingots probably indicates tha
fur-bearing ores with a low iron concentration (chie
brochantite) were selected for use (however, see
Lechtman and Klein 1999, for smelting experiments
high-Fe charges that produced copper with no iron-
ing matte inclusions). Very large matte inclusions of
tively pure copper sulfide have also been observed i
copper ingots from the Early Dilmun settlement of
(Weeks, forthcoming a:Figure 3). The occasional ocrence of copper ingots with high levels of iron and
is thought to reflect instances where ores with highe
iron contents have been smelted, with both the iron
sulfur present in the metal as matte inclusions
(Haup tmann et al. 1988:36-37).
108 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf
8/14/2019 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf Technology, Trade, And the Bronze Age World ThePoet006102
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/early-metallurgy-of-the-persian-gulf-technology-trade-and-the-bronze-age 129/269
Matte inclusions have been observed in finished
objects from the region, particularly at Tell Abraq
(Pedersen and Buchwald 1991 7; Weeks 1997:Figures
34-36), and a re likely to accoun t for the majority of the
sulfur and at least part of the iron present in the finished
objects analyzed by PIXE. The high sulfur con tent of the
Umm al-Na r Period objects thus results fro m the smelt-
ing of mixed oxide and sulfur-bearing copper ores, and
the incomplete sep aration of metall ic copper from thematte which was also produced during the one-step
smelting process employed in southeastern Arabia in the
Bronze Age (H aup tma nn 198 5). A comparison of Fe and
S concentrations in finished objects and secondary refin-
ing was te is illustrated in Figure 5.1, an d suggests raw
copper produc ed in sou theastern Arabia w as refined
prior to object fabrication principally t o remove such
iron a nd su lfur impurities. The high levels of iro n seen in
many of the analyzed samples cannot be accou nted for
purely by the presence of iron-rich matte inclusions (as
proposed by Hauptm ann et al. 19 88:37 ). As described
above, iron-bearing fluxes can contribute a significant
amo unt of metallic iron to the raw cop per produced
during a smelt.
Arsenic, Nickel and Cobalt
As noted in the previous chapter, nickel and arsenic
occur frequently in the copper-base objects analyzed in
this volume at concentrations of approximately one to
five percent, and occasionally higher. C obalt levels in
finished objects are commonly in the range of 0-0.3 per-
cent, with a few objects containing more than 0.5 per-
cent Co. The results of the PIXE analyses concur with
previous analyses of material from southeastern Arabia,
and more generally with analyses of early metal objects
from both the Old an d New W orlds. Enormous numbers
of analyses of copper-base objects have clearly indicated
that in m any areas of Europe, Asia an d the Americas
copper objects with significant levels of arsenic and
other elements such as antimony and nickel were a fea-
ture of early me tallurgy (as even a curso ry glance a t theliterature will reveal, e.g. Cheng and Schwitter 1957;
Charles 19 67, 19 80; Junghans et al. 1968 ; Branigan
1974:71-76; Eaton an d McKerrell 1976:Figure 9; Eaton
1977; Heskel and Lamberg-Karlovsky 1980; Moorey
1982:87, 1994:250-251; Agrawal 1984; Cowell 19 87;
Malfoy and M enu 1987; Hosler 1988 , 1995; Lecht
1988, 19 96; Lechtman and Klein 199 9; Chernykh 1
Riederer 199 4; Lahiri 1995:Figure 2; Tadmor et al .
1995; Hauptm ann 1995; Montero Fenoll6s 1997:1
In the following sections, the data for As, Ni a
CO conc entration s in the objects analyzed in this vo
are discussed in relat ion to data from sou theastern
Arabia and elsewhere. The possible mineralogical a
technological reasons for the production and use ofhigh-AsINi objects are investigated, in addition to e
nations fo r the chronological variat ion in As, Ni an
concentrations.
Mineralogy: Associations of Arsenic, Nickel,
Cobalt and Copper in Ore Deposits
In both the Old World.. .and the Americas, copper
arsenic al loys were produced over a vast area, from
Russia to Great Britain and from Chile to Mexico. T
production was made possible by the relatively larg
number of metallic mineral species that contain arse
by their geological CO-o ccurrencewith ores of coppe
and by the widespread association of these ores in t
earth's crust (Lechtman 1996 :477).
As the passage above suggests, the widespread
duction and use of copper with As concentrations o
greater than approximately one percent is at least p
related to the mineralogy of the copper deposits wh
were exp loited in antiquity. A similar explan ation is
ly to be an important factor in the appearance of hi
levels of elements such as antimony , nickel and c oba
some early copper-base objects. Ores containing ars
antimony, nickel and cobalt can be found associated
with copper in the oxidized, enriched and prima ry o
zones of many weathered ore deposits (Charles 198
Pigott 1999 a, 19 99 b). For example, arsenopyrite (F
is virtually ubiquitous in the primary unweathered z
of many copper deposits (Rutley 1988:250), includi
those in Peru used by the early metal producers of t
Andean culture area (Lechtman 1988:356; 1996:47
Antimony an d arsenic are often concentrated in theondary enriched zone of copper deposits as copper s
farsenides, where they form a mineralogical series f
tennanti te (Cul2As4S I3) o tetrahedrite (Cu12Sb4S1
(Dan a 1958:454; Tadmor et al . 1995 ; Shalev et al .
Lechtman 1 988, 1 996 ), as found in a number of co
Discussion of Compositional Results
8/14/2019 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf Technology, Trade, And the Bronze Age World ThePoet006102
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/early-metallurgy-of-the-persian-gulf-technology-trade-and-the-bronze-age 130/269
mines in eastern Turkey and Iran (e.g. Zwicker
1977:106; 19 89) . Such ores are l ikely to w eather to
malachite and azurite and other com plex oxides of cop-
per, arsenic and antimony th at ar e present in the u pper
oxidized zone of many copper deposits (Lechtman
1996:477; Rapp 1988:25; Budd et al. 1992 :680; Charles
1985:25).
To give a relevant exam ple of the m ineralogical
association of copper with elemen ts such as As, Sb, Niand CO , the Talmessi mine in the Ana rak region of Ir an
has been described as follows:
An extraordinary assemblage of primary and
secondary m inerals has been identified at the
Talmessi mine, including primary copper,
nickel and coba lt arsenides (algonodite,
domeykite, nickeline, rammelsbergite, saf-
flonite, skutterud ite), native copper, chal-
cocite, and concretionary pitchblende. In
more or less intimate assoc iation ar e the lessabu nd ant sulfides (pyrite, galena, sphaleri te,
bornite, covell ite, chalcopyrite) and cuprite
(Bariand et al . 1993:464).
In addition to this collection of minerals, native copper,
nickel an d cob alt have been recorded a t Talmessi, and
the nearby M eskani mine has similar mineralization
(Bariand et al . 1993:464; see also Heskel and Lamberg-
Karlovsky 1980 ; Pigot t 199 9a, 199 9b).
Studies of early metallurgy have attempted to out-
line which kinds of ores were th e mos t likely to have
been exploited t o produc e copper w ith significant quan-
tities of As, Sb, Ni o r othe r elements. For o bjects from
the Chalcolithic Na hal M ishmar h oard, for example,
high As and Sb concentrations, correlations between As,
Sb, Ag and Bi conc entration s, and the presence of Cu-
Sb-As-sulfide inclusions in the objects ar e clear evidence
for the use of sulfidic ores of the fahlerz type in their
produ ction ( Tadm or et al. 1995:131-132 ; Shalev et al.
199 2:69). Oth er scholars have stressed the technological
complexity of extracting copper from sulfidic ores, and
proposed that arsenates from the oxidized zone of or edeposits are m ore likely to have been the basis of early
arsenical coppers. Rapp (1988:25) l' sts numerous arsenates
which occur with copper in Europe, Russia, western Asia
a nd e lsew he re , in clu din g e ry th rite ( C O ~ ( A S O ~ ) ~ . ~ H ~ O )
and annabergi te (N i3(As 04)2 .8H2 0). ccording to
Rapp, these last two m inerals could account for the o
sional high N i or C O conc entrations of arsenical copp
Moreover, Budd et al. (1992 :680; also Budd 19 93:36
note the visual similarity of cop per arse nates (includ
nickel-bearing species) and more comm on co pper mi
als such as malachite, and suggest that such m inerals
likely to have been inadvertently incorp orated into th
smelting charge (see also Charles 1 980 :168-1 69) .
Thus, an understanding of the mineralogy of thcopper deposits of southeastern Arabia is of crucial
importance in determining the metal products that m
be extracted from them. Predictably, most modern g
logical research has focused upon the geochemistry
mineralogy of the massive sulfide copp er deposits in
Sultanate of Om an. In contra st , archaeometallurgica
research has highlighted the importance of copper
deposits from lower in the oph ioli tic sequence and t
mineralogical differences between these ores and th e
massive sulfide dep osits.Although there is significant mineralogical vari
between each of the major massive sulfide copper
deposits in sou theastern A rabia (i.e. Lasail, Bayda,
an d Ra ki), the levels of As, Sb and Ni in these depo
are generally very low. Th e 'Arja depo sit has higher
tive As concentrations than either Lasail or Bayda (
et al . 1984 :B122), and contains minor concentratio
tennantite with compositions very close to the tenna
end-mem ber of the tenna ntite-tetrahed rite series (Ix
al. 198 6:42). While Ni an d As levels are lowe r a t L
and Bayda ( c2 50 ppm ), these deposits have higher C
concentrations of up to approximately 55 0 ppm (Ix
al. 1984:B118; cf. Goettler et al. 1976:49 for simila
terns; Batchelor 1992 :B11 6). At Lasail, CO , Ni an d
occur within the minor qu anti t ies of carroli te that a
found in the chalcopyrite and within zoned pyrite (
et al. l9 8 4: B ll 8) . Arsenopyrite and enargite (Cu3A
are present in trace qu anti t ies at Raki, b ut n ot at La
Bayda and 'Arja (Lescuyer et al. 1988:499 and Tabl
The use of rich fahlerz ores for copper production i
southeastern Arabia is extremely unlikely, as zones secondary enrichment are not reported fro m any of
major massive sulfide deposits (H aup tma nn 1985:2
Nickel is present in minor amounts in all iron- and
per-bearing phases in all the massive sulfide deposit
(Ixer et al. 198 6:43).
110 Early Metallurgyof the Persian Gulf
8/14/2019 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf Technology, Trade, And the Bronze Age World ThePoet006102
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/early-metallurgy-of-the-persian-gulf-technology-trade-and-the-bronze-age 131/269
In contrast, the oxidized copper deposits of the
lower crustal and mantle sequences of the Semail ophio-
l ite, which a re exceptionally ab unda nt in com parison to
other ophiol ites (Lorand l9 88:68), sho w much higher
concentrations of Ni, As and Co. As noted by
H aup t m ann et al. ( l 9 88:3 5), nickel is clearly conc en-
trated with cobalt and arsenic in veins situated in peri-
doti t ic rocks (N i up t o 0.6 percent, CO up t o 0.12 per-
cent, As up t o 0.2 percen t) . The m uch higher nickelconcentration of copper deposits in mantle-level rocks is
indicated by the studies of Goettler et al . (1 9 7 65 0 ) and
Hau ptma nn (1985:32 and Table 2), who notes that in
mantle-hosted deposits, chalcopyrite is intergrown with
small amounts of cobaltite (CoAsS), oellingite (FeAs2),
an d oth er Fe-CO-Ni-As minerals a nd nickel silicates
(Hau ptma nn et al . 1988:35; Hau ptma nn 1985:32;
Prange et al. 1 999:1 88).
Ha uptm ann (1995:246-248) further notes that nick-
eline ( or kupfernickel NiAs) is one of the mo st freque ntnickel ores associated with copper ores in basic and
ultrabasic plutonic rocks such as those found in south-
eastern Arabia, a nd suggests that m etal produced from
such deposits is likely to contain As and Ni as natural
impurit ies (Hau ptm an n 1995:246-248). Furthermore,
Hauptmann and Weisgerber (1980:135-1 37 ) note the
presence of one piece of arsenic speiss at the Bronze Age
site of M aysar, the com position of which suggested the
exploitation of arsenic minerals such as domeykite
(Cu3 As), as yet u ndiscovered, w hich are nevertheless
likely to have occurred in the region. This position is
supported by the CO-smeltingstudies of Rostoker an d
Dvorak (19 91 ), which indicate th at the direct dissolution
in molten c oppe r of soluble minerals such as nickeline
a n d d o m e ~ k i t es a feasible process for the pro duction of
nickel and arsenic alloys (cf. Heskel and Lamberg-
Karlovsky 198 0).
This archaeometallurgical research is supported by
general geological studies, and by specific
geological/mineralogical studies of ophiolite-hosted ores
in southeastern Arabia and Cyprus. General studies indi-cate the occurrence of Ni-C O-C u sulfides in ophiolitic
serpentinites (Jank ovic 1986:26) and, as noted by R. G.
Tho mas (personal comm unication 19 99 ) associations
of As, CO, Cu a nd N i are exactly wh at one w ould expect
from ultramafic deposits. . .There are numerou s Co-As-
sulfides and Ni-As-sulfides t ha t oxidize to a solid so
tion series from erythrite to annabergite . Geologic
research in the Sultanate of Oman has recorded the
ence of Fe-Ni-Cu sulfides in upper man tle tectonite
dotites in the Semail Ophiolite, while both primary
secondary Cu-Fe-Ni-S mineral assemblages have bee
found in Semail upper mantle rocks affected by serp
t inization (Lorand l9 8 8:62). These secondary Cu-F
minerals occur only within intergranular sulfides intact with serpentine veinlets, and include awaruite
(Ni3Fe),native copper, native iron and traces of mil
(NiS) and heazlewoodite (Ni3S) (Lorand l988:62 ).
Ni a nd As-rich peridotite-hosted deposits of the Sem
Ophiolite are very similar to those recorded in the
Limassol Forest Plutonic Complex of the Troodos
Ophioli te on Cyprus, which were probably exploite
early as the Classical or R oma n periods. T he C u-Ni
Fe sulfide mineralization of the Limassol Forest is in
form of lenses, veins and disseminations of sulfides mino r (n ickel) arsenides in highly deform ed a nd ser
t inized peridotites or dunites (Panayiotou 19 80: 10 2
Overall, it is clear tha t the significant quan titie
As, Ni, and CO in the objects from Umm al-Na r Pe
tomb assemblages, and in particular the correlation
between these elements, are com patible with the ge
cal milieu of copper deposits in southeastern Arabia
However, as noted above, the potential of the PIXE
analyses to confidently suggest a local provenance f
the objects is limited by both archaeological an d ge
cal factors. Processes of refining, alloying, recycling
corrosion have no dou bt affected the composit ion o
copper-base objects since the initial extraction of th
metal. Moreover, copper ores with significant As, N
CO concentrations a re also to be found in geologica
contexts outside southeastern Arabia, most significa
in some of the copper deposits of the Iranian Platea
The discussion of provenance will be resumed in C
Seven, where the evidence from lead isotope analyse
will be introduced alongside the compositional data
Metallurgy: Properties of Copper A lloys
with Arsenic and Nickel
The discussion above serves to indicate that copper
relatively high levels of As, Ni a nd CO could have b
produced (inadvertently or o therwise) from copper
Discussion of Compositional Results
8/14/2019 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf Technology, Trade, And the Bronze Age World ThePoet006102
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/early-metallurgy-of-the-persian-gulf-technology-trade-and-the-bronze-age 132/269
available locally in southeastern Arabia, or f rom more
distant sources. In discussing the alloying practices of
the region, it is important to understand the properties
that such copper alloys would have possessed. A signifi-
cant amount of information on the properties of arseni-
cal copper has appeared in archaeometallurgical litera-
ture over the last twenty years, and the understanding of
the mechanical properties of this alloy is well advanced.
The effects of other alloying elements occasionally pres-
ent in quantities of approximately one to 10 percent,
such as antimony and nickel, have been less thoroughly
investigated. As has been noted by Lechtman (1998:84),
the lack of modern industrial uses for the copper-
arsenic-nickel alloy has meant that metallurgists have
not characterized the physical properties of this ternary
alloy. The discussion of the properties of AsINi-copper
is, as a result of this lacuna in research, somewhat spec-
ulative in nature.
The addition of arsenic to copper in quantities of up
to seven or eight weight percent allows for large
improvements in ductility, and produces and alloy which
can be both hot and cold worked to a significant degree
without breakage (Charles 1967:24, 1985; Coghlan
1972; Northover 1989:112 ). Furthermore, Charles
(1967:24) notes that the improvements in workability
offered by arsenical copper are most apparent in sam-
ples with high oxygen levels, similar to those which
might be produced by primitive casting processes.
Arsenic in concentrations of greater than one percent is
also likely to improve the casting properties of the
metal, by lowering the melting point of the alloy and
acting as a deoxidant (Craddock 1995:291).
The majority of studies examining the mechanical
properties of arsenical copper have been interested in
assessing the performance of the alloy against that of
tin-bronze. Charles (1967:24) has stated that alloys with
up to 8 percent As "can give strength and hardness
equivalent to tin bronze", a conclusion supported by a
number of subsequent studies (Ravich and Ryndina
1995:6; Lechtman 19 9650 6) . Within this range,Northover (1989:113) argues that arsenic concentrations
of approximately two percent or less offer very little
improvement over pure copper, and only alloys contain-
ing approximately four percent As or more have the sig-
nificantly improved strength, toughness and casting
properties typical of medium tin-bronzes. It is gener
acknowledged that while tin-bronze can be work ha
ened to a greater extent that arsenical copper (Lech
1996:506), arsenical copper has greater ductility an
be worked hot or cold, whereas tin-bronze is hot-sh
However, determining the exact properties of a
arsenical copper alloy based upon compositional an
is potentially complicated by a number of factors. B
chemical analysis cannot always be directly related
mechanical properties because the amount of arseni
solid solution (and thus able to affect the properties
the metal) is indeterminate: up to 25 percent of the
an object might be isolated as arsenious oxide (As2
(Northover 1989:111-1 12). Additionally, mechanic
and other properties of the metal, such as its physic
appearance, can also be difficult determine due to th
process of inverse segregation which is seen in many
copper-arsenic alloys. As described by Eaton 1 77:
"A high arsenic content imports to copper a bri
silver colour, a 'silver' which indeed tarnished less r
ly than silver per se. On casting even a relatively low
arsenic content in the copper exhibits the phenomen
of inverse segregation. In this phenomenon, a small
quantity of high arsenic content copper (approxima
15-20 percent As) is forced to the surface to form a
plete outer 'skin' of silvery metal".
For example, analyses of surface and core samp
arsenical copper objects from the Bronze Age Levan
revealed arsenic concentrations of approximately 28
cent at the surface of objects with core levels of onl
6 percent As (Shalev 1988:Table 2). Due to the non
librium conditions in which most pre-Industrial me
working operations were undertaken, segregation
begins to be a feature of cast alloys with as little
two percent As, with the resulting silver surface ta
nishing to a golden colour (Northover l989:llS).
Numerous Old World examples of silvered surface
produced by manipulating the arsenic content of
objects and its tendency to segregate have been lis
by Eaton and McKerrell (1976:175-177; see also S1973; Craddock 1995:290-292), and comparable
ples from the New World are not difficult to come
(e.g. Hosler 1995:lOO-101). In a number of cases,
archaeometallurgists regard the use of silver-colore
arsenical coppers as evidence for traditions in whi
11 2 Early Metallurgyof the Persian Gulf
8/14/2019 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf Technology, Trade, And the Bronze Age World ThePoet006102
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/early-metallurgy-of-the-persian-gulf-technology-trade-and-the-bronze-age 133/269
maximum mechanical efficiency is not the only aim of
alloy production (e.g. Philip 1991:lOl) . The primary
archaeological examples of the effects of arsenic (and
antimony) on the appearance of copper alloys are the
objects from the Chalcolithic Nahal Mishmar hoard
(Tadmor et al. 1995) and a number of figurines from
Bronze Age Anatolian sites such as Horoztepe (Smith
1973). The effect of significant arsenic concentrations
on the colour of copper is also demonstrated by a
piece of metallurgical debris, perhaps a casting spill,
from the Saar settlement on Bahrain, which contained
approximately 20 percent As and had a very bright sil-
ver-white appearance (Weeks, forthcoming a).
Nickel is likely to produce some effects in copper
alloys similar to those produced by quantities of As in
the one to five percent range (cf. Lechtman 1998:84),
and the common association of elevated nickel levels
with elevated As concentrations is highlighted by
Riederer (1994:89). Cheng and Schwitter (1957:351)state that the effect of nickel as an alloying element
becomes noticeable at concentrations in excess of one
percent, and suggest that a copper-nickel alloy would
have "proved more effective for implements and
weapons than ordinary copper or bronze". From such
a statement, it can be concluded that Ni could improve
the strength and hardness of copper. Additionally, the
common designat ion of Chinese and western nickel-
copper alloys with approximately five to 1 5 percent Ni
as "white copper" or "white metal" (Cheng and
Schwitter 1957:354-358) suggests that nickel could
change the appearance of copper metal, to the light or
silvery colour described above for some arsenical cop-
per samples. Modern metallographic studies of copper
nickel alloys containing from two to 30 percent Ni
report segregation between the alloying elements, and
complete homogenization is not achievable even
through repeated mechanical and thermal treatments
(Copper Development Association 200 3). One Umm al-
Nar Period object from southeastern Arabia analyzed
by Prange et al. (1999:189) contained 1 2 percent nick-el, and was said to possess a distinctive "pale golden
colour", and Lechtman (1998:84) reports that
"depending upon the relative amounts of arsenic and
nickel present, the alloy colour can range from pale yel-
low to silver".
Thus, copper-base objects from the U.A.E and t
Sultanate of Oman which contain in excess of appro
mately one to two percent of arsenic andlor nickel a
likely to have had physical properties distinctly diff
to those of pure copper. These properties are hard t
quantify, but it is clear that As-Ni-copper would hav
provided a significantly better material for casting t
pure copper, particularly as concentrations reached
percent AsNi or higher. Numerous studies have atte
to the great ductility and workability of arsenical co
and increases in alloy hardness are likely to be signi
cant in the three to seven percent AsNi range. A fin
factor that must be considered is the appearance of
alloys. In a number of ancient production centers, a
of copper with arsenic and nickel are known to hav
been used because of the changes in surface appeara
that they display. The property of inverse segregatio
possessed by arsenical copper alloys means that obje
with bulk compositions of as low as two to three peAs can have arsenic-enriched surfaces with a bright,
very appearance. The similar manipulation of alloy
colour through the addition of nickel has also been
umented, although concentrations are generally in t
five to 15 percent Ni range. I t is likely that copper-b
objects from southeastern Arabia with arsenic and n
concentrations in excess of three to four percent we
significantly different appearance to other copper
objects. Fifteen of the 50 copper objects from Umm
Nar tomb contexts analyzed in this study contain m
than 3 percent of combined As and Ni, with nine of
these from A1 Sufouh. The special and advantageou
physical properties of these objects are likely to hav
tinguished them from contemporary copper-base ob
Technology: Production of As-Ni-copper Alloys
Two basic mechanisms for producing arsenical copp
can be envisaged: the addition of arsenic or arsenic-
ing minerals to molten copper at a relatively late sta
the production process, or the smelting of a mixed f
nace charge bearing both copper and arsenic minera(o r combined copper-arsenic ores such as enargite a
tennantite). The first practice would suggest the inte
tional production of a copper-arsenic alloy, whereas
smelting of mixed copper and arsenic minerals could
sibly have resulted from either the accidental or inte
Discussion of Compositional Results
8/14/2019 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf Technology, Trade, And the Bronze Age World ThePoet006102
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/early-metallurgy-of-the-persian-gulf-technology-trade-and-the-bronze-age 134/269
t ional mixture of such ores (see Rostoker a nd D vorak
1 9 91 S, for a discussion of potential processes).
Lechtman (1996 :481) has stated tha t the production
of arsenical copp er in Sou th America was inescapable,
once arsenic-bearing ores were included in the furnace
or crucible charge, as they often were . However, the
types of ores exploited t o produce such alloys in many
prehistoric metallurgical systems remain a m atter of
deba te (Budd et al. 1992:679-680). As noted above ,
arsenic ores are associated with cop per in both the oxi-
dized and primary unweathered zones of many base
metal deposits, and secondary enriched ores of the
fahlerz type include mineral species such as enargite an d
tennanti te which con tain both copper and arsenic.
Th e most basic recon struction is given by Budd et
al. (19 92 ), wh o propo se the utilization of oxidized
arsenic-bearing copper ores (cop per arsenates) as the
basis of the prod uction of arsenical copp er in Early
Bronze Age Britain, in which objects never conta inedmore th an approximately five percent As. They argu e
that smelt ing operations must have been conducted a t
relatively low temperatures (approximately 900 degrees
C ) in order to avoid the occasional prod uction of high-
As alloys. At low temperatures, As u ptake is controlled
by kinetic considerations rather than Cu:As ratios in the
furnace charge, meaning that alloys with approximately
one to five percent As will be produc ed (Budd et al.
1992:680). They state that suites of arsenic and anti-
mony-bea ring oxide zon e copp er (11) minerals ca n be
simply smelted, with or w ithout com mon secondary
copper ores such as azurite and malachite a nd at tem-
peratures obtainable in the m ost basic furnace structures
(o r with no structures at al l), to f orm co pper al loys of
the compositions reported for Cop per and early Bronze
Age metalw ork from the British Isles (Budd et al.
199 2:683 ). A similar process is thought to explain the
incorporation of N i into copper, al though the tempera-
tures required are slightly higher (approximately 1000
degrees C ) (Budd 1993:36-37). The studies by Budd et
al. (1992, 1993b; see also Budd 1993:34) challenge evo-lutionary models of the development of metal technolo-
gy and alloying practices (e.g. Wertime 19 73 ), by explic-
itly claiming that early coppe r alloys such as arsenical
copper and nickel-copper were the prod uct of smelt ing
methods to o primitive to produc e pur e copper.
Of course, scholars working on the Early Bronz
Age metallurgy of the British Isles have a pa rticular
archaeological problem t o add ress in their reconstru
tions: until recently archaeological research had fail
recover any copper sm elting furnaces o r slag dating
this period (Crad dock and Meek s 198 7; Budd et al.
l993b:l .S5; Crad dock 1995:141-142; North over
1999:211; O'Brien 199 9a) . This si tuation necessitat
reconstructions of early metal production based on
use of very pure oxide ores of copper, which would
produced l it tle waste material during cop per extract
(Craddock and Meeks 1987: 193; Craddock l989:20
However, the recent discovery of third m illennium B
mining and ex traction o perations at Ross Island, so
western Ireland, suggest that the earliest arsenical c
in Britain may have resulted from the use of exclusi
sulfidic ores, although the technology of ore extract
and the possible production of slag and m atte has n
been investigated (O'Brien 1999a, 1999b).In co ntrast to Bronze Age Britain, even the earl
copper produ ction in the th ird millennium BCE in s
eastern Arabia produced slag (Hau ptma nn 1985: 11
The well documented slagging technology used at th
time, and the mixtures of oxide, sulfur-containing a
part ly sulfidic ores that a re know n t o have been exp
ed (Ha uptm ann 1985 : l l3-114; Hauptman n et a1
198 8:36), allow alternative explanations for the gen
tion of arsenical-nickel copp er alloys to be proposed
The exploitation of copper and arsenic-bearing
fide ores (copper sulfarsenides) is generally thought
have required either:
1. The roasting of the ores, in order to con ver
majo rity of sulfides to oxides, followed by
reduction sm elting, or
2. Th e direct smelting of the sulfide ores to m
followed by further roasting, before a final
reduc tion sm elting.
Both of these approaches would have led to a signi
reduction in the a mo unt of volatile elements (such
arsenic) which rem ained in the final metal product(Tylecote 19 775 -7; Tylecote et al. l977:33O). Th u
many scholars argue tha t arsenical copper is unlike
have been produced by any smelting oper ation base
upon sulfidic ores, as the processes of m atte prod uc
and roasting wo uld have removed mo st of the arse
114 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf
8/14/2019 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf Technology, Trade, And the Bronze Age World ThePoet006102
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/early-metallurgy-of-the-persian-gulf-technology-trade-and-the-bronze-age 135/269
the ore p rior t o smelt ing (Tylecote et al . 19 77; Budd et
a1 1993b:1 55). Oth er archaeom etallurgists have pointed
out th at slow, careful roasting of copp er sulfide ores
can leave up to half of the original arsenic con tent
(Eaton 1977 :164), and Lechtman and Klein
(1999:498-499) report the production of an arsenical
copper al loy with seven percent As throug h the smelting
of a rich ena rgite ore which had been dead roasted. A
further consideration w ith the direct smelting of sulfidicores to m atte is that alm ost al l nickel present is lost to
components which are slagged, producing a raw metal
prod uct w ith very low nickel concentrations (Tylecote et
al . 1977).
However, a num ber of archaeom etallurgists (e.g.
Lechtman and Klein 1999:499) regard the roastinglmat-
t ing process as a relatively mo dern technique for copp er
extraction th at is unlikely to have been used in prehis-
toric contexts (cf. Tylecote 197 75- 7; Craddock a nd
Gale 1988:181). They state tha t there is no archaeo-
logical evidence to sup port the suggestion that early
metalworkers prod uced arsenic bronze by roasting sul-
pharsenide ores, then direct smelt ing the oxide pr oduc ts
of the roast (199 9:499 ). Certainly, there was no roast-
ing of the mixed oxide and sulfur-bearing ores utilized
for Bronze Age copper e xtraction in southeastern
Arabia (see Chapter 2 ) .
As an alternative, Lechtman an d Klein (1 99 9) have
investigated the possibility of producing copper-arsenic
alloys by CO-smelting, .e. smelting mixtures of copp er
oxide ores (including also the carbo nate, sulfate and
chloride ores of c oppe r) and arsenic-bearing sulfide ores
(sulfarsenides) of iron (e.g. arsenopyrite) an d co pper
(e.g. enargite) (cf. Rostoker an d Dvorak 1991 ; Rostoker
et al . 19 89 ). A mixture of oxide and sulfide ores al lows
sulfur, rather than carbon monoxide, to act as the
reducing agent. Additionally, eliminating the roasting
step dramatically reduces the oppo rtunity fo r the loss of
arsenic as As2O3 (Lechtman an d Klein 199 9:499 ). Their
experiments produced metallic arsenical-copper ingots
over a wide range of oxide-sulfarsenide ratios withoutthe use of add ed fluxes or the prior roasting of the sul-
fide ores. Lechtman an d Klein (1 999 :497) conclude that
the copper-arsenic alloys found in ancient artifacts
could have been made easily, deliberately or accidental-
ly, by CO-smelting rocedures .
Lechtman a nd Klein stress that the required mi
of oxide an d sulfide ores need no t have been delibe
As miners appr oac h the primary ore body, they fre
quently enco unter ore tha t is part ly weathered, cont
ing mixtures of primary sulfides and oxide alteratio
products. Such ore consti tutes a natura l CO-smeltin
charge and would yield metall ic copper or a copper
arsenic alloy upon sm elting (Lech tman an d Klein
1999:499-500 ). Indeed, unless miners deliberately dcarded the darker-colored sulfides, such a mixture w
have been n atural (Lechtman and Klein 19 99 52 2; s
also Charles 1 98 0; Taylor 19 99:25 ). This factor is a
emphasized by Rostoker et al . (1 989:8 5), wh o rega
smelting as a critical step in the transition from the
exploitation of oxide ores to sulfide ores.
However, Lechtman an d Klein d o not only stat
tha t CO -smelting s possible; they a lso suggest tha t t
length of time over which arsenical copper was pro
duced in the Old W orld indicates that CO-smelting
rally mixed charges must have accounted for a sign
cant amount of total product ion (1999522).
Furthermore, they regard their reconstruction of m
lurgical practice as more feasible, archaeologically,
the use of the roasting and lor matt ing appro ach. T
study is said to demonstrate tha t CO-smelting s a
straightfo rward a nd simple technology, relying on
of procedures that departs only slightly, if at all, fr
those metalworkers had developed for the direct re
t ion smelt ing of oxide ores (1 99 95 22 ). As these c
clusions deal almost exclusively with the productio
arsenical copper (a nd to a lesser extent antimony-c
per ), the observations of Cheng and Schwitter
(195 7:361 ) regarding high-nickel copper must be a
in the second millennium CE, Chinese metalworker
appa rently experienced no great difficulty in smel
nickel-copper sulfide ore to obtain a reasona bly ref
malleable, natu ral alloy of nickel an d copper. Th e
process was envisioned as one of roasting followed
reduction-smelting, but there is no specific evidence
support such an assumpt ion. Rostoker and Dvorak(199 1:6) note a historical example of the successfu
smelting of mixed copp er an d nickel oxides and the
suggest, based o n theoretical considerations, that c
smelting of nickel-bearing oxide and sulfide ores to
duce a natural Cu-Ni alloy is also feasible.
Discussion of Compositional Results
8/14/2019 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf Technology, Trade, And the Bronze Age World ThePoet006102
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/early-metallurgy-of-the-persian-gulf-technology-trade-and-the-bronze-age 136/269
However, the possibility mus t also be considered used thro ugh ou t the occu pation sequence at Tepe
tha t arsenic, nickel or A sINi-bearing minerals or alloys
were added t o copper a t a late stage of the production
process intentionally to produce As-Ni-copper alloys.
Native arsenic and nickel are very rare, and objects of
metallic nickel or arsenic are not k nown from any pre-
historic archaeological context (Mu hly 1993a:119-120).
Furthermore, there a re no w ords for arsenic or nickel in
Bronze Age written sources from western Asia, suggest-ing that i t was unknow n to the metalworkers of this
period (Mu hly 1993:119-120; cf. Mo ntero Fenoll6s
1997:14 wh o suggests that the Sum erian term SU.GAN
might refer to ars enic). Thu s, the addition of metallic
arsenic or nickel to molten copper, in the manner of the
production of tin-bronze from metallic copper and tin, is
extremely unlikely (Rapp l988: X ) . Char les 1 85:25)
states that arsenical copper could have been produced
by the addition of arsenic minerals to molten copper
under charcoal, in a manner similar to the production oftin-bronze by the addition of cassiterite or stannite to
molten copper (see also Charles 1 97 8) , and a similar
app roa ch using nickel minerals is feasible. Arsenic- an d
antimony-bearing minerals have occasionally been found
on archaeological sites in the Old World, for example
loellingite (FeAs2)has been recorded at an Indus Valley
site (Ullah 1931 ; this mineral often con tains significant
amo unts of nickel an d co balt) and As/Sb-rich copper
ores have been recorded at Norsun Tepe in eastern
Anatolia (Zwicker 19 77) . Intentional production of
arsenical copper from metallic copper and arsenic-rich
minerals is hypothesized for the third millennium BCE
sites of Ikiztepe on the A natolian Black Sea coas t (Ged ik
et al. 2002 ) and Poros on Crete (D oona n et al. 2002 ),
amongst others.
In Iran, the earliest arsenical copp er objects have
been linked with the use of two copper arsenides,
alg ono dite ( C U ~ - ~ A S )nd domeykite (Cu3As), which
occur in copper-bearing gossans in the Talmessi and
Meskani mines in the Anarak district (Pigott
l99 9a : l l2 ) . Heskel and Lamberg-Karlovsky(1980:258-259) have argued that simple melting togeth-
er of native copper and these copper arsenides in a cru-
cible would have led to the production of arsenical
copper, and they suggest that this is indeed the process
that was used to produce the arsenical copper objects
Yahya, and perhaps at Neolithic and Chalcolithic s
across the Iranian Plateau generally (see also Pigott
l9 99 a: 112-1 13 ). Alternatively, it has been suggeste
that a form of CO-smelting, s described above, ma
have been important for the production of arsenica
copper at Bronze Age Iranian sites such as Shahda
Shahr-i Sokhta and Tepe Hissar, where significant
amo unts of slag are recorded (Pigott 199 9a:1 1 4 - 11199913384-86; Ha uptm ann et al. 198 8:4 6).
A different mechanism is proposed by Eaton a
McKerrell (1976:178; cf. Eaton 1977 :164), wh o su
that i t would have been t iresome and unnecessary
produce a batch of arsenical copper whenever requ
Rather, they posit the a lloying (melting togethe r) o
copper a nd high-arsenic metal (u p to 1 5 percent A
under charcoal. In supp ort of this theory, they note
appearance high As/Sb beads an d ingots from the
Caucasus and Europe which could have been used this purpose, and enter a debate o n the translation
three terms fro m ancient texts: the Sum erian AN.N
(Akkadian: anna kum , generally translated as t in
metal ); the Egyptian d( m m though t to denote a
cious metal , perhaps e lectrum); and the Greek term
ichalkos (w hich undoubtedly m eans brass in Roma
contexts) (Ea ton and M cKerrell 19 76: 17 9-18 8) . In
of these cases, Eaton and McKerrell regard the ter
signifying, instead, a high-arsenic copper alloy of s
appearance.
These interpretations have been criticized on a
number of points (e.g. Craddock 1978 ; Muhly 197
1985:279-280; Waetzoldt l9 8 :378; Van Lerbergh
Maes 19 84 ). Chiefly, however, the theory fails due
the lack of archaeological evidence for the postulat
high-As master alloys suggested by Eaton and
McKerrell. They are able to list fewer examples of
As/Sb objects than even the known Bronze Age oc
rences of metallic tin, and the example of the mate
from the Nahal Mishmar hoard which can no w be
added fails to support their case. The high As/Sb mrial found at this site was clearly worked and used
arately from objects of pure local copper (Tadmo r
19 95 ). Furthermore, different cuneiform terms hav
been suggested t o refer to non-tin-bronze c opper a
(Zaccagnini 198 8) .
1 16 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf
8/14/2019 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf Technology, Trade, And the Bronze Age World ThePoet006102
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/early-metallurgy-of-the-persian-gulf-technology-trade-and-the-bronze-age 137/269
Clearly, copper rich in arsenic andlor nickel could
have been produced using a wide variety of As- and
Ni-bearing ores under a range of smelting conditions.
Once arsenic or nickel were included in a furnace
charge, it seems likely that AsINi-copper would have
been produced at some stage. One point which must
be remembered is that the technology involved in
producing such alloys was often unknown to the very
metalworkers who were utilizing the material in con-
temporary metalworking centers away from areas of
primary production (e.g. Healy 1978 ). Furthermore,
the production process at the primary smelting site
may also have been poorly understood (a t least from
a modern mineralogical perspective) and regulated by
its practitioners.
Intentionality? As-Ni-Copper in Southeastern Arabia
Earlier in this chapter, it was shown that ores of cop-
per, arsenic, nickel (and cobalt) are associated in min-eral deposits from many parts of the world. In south-
eastern Arabia, ores containing arsenic and nickel
seem to be particularly concentrated in the high-grade
copper deposits associated with ultrabasic rocks in the
mantle sequence of the Semail Ophiolite, whereas the
larger massive sulfide copper deposits situated in the
upper extrusive sequence of the ophiolite contain
much lower concentrations of these elements.
Furthermore, it was established that arsenic and nickel
in concentrations of greater than approximately two
percent in copper alloys would have caused significant
improvements in the casting and working characteris-
tics of copper, and that the colour of the metal would
have changed from the reddish appearance of copper
to a paler, silvery or golden colour as combined As
and Ni concentrations reached three to four percent
or higher. Various studies of early copper extraction
procedures from both the Old and New Worlds have
also demonstrated that arsenical copper, and very
probably nickel and antimony-rich copper, could have
been produced by smelting oxide ores, by smeltingcarefully roasted sulfidic ores, or by CO-smeltingmix-
tures of oxide and sulfide ores. It remains now to
determine the importance of each of these factors for
the development of metallurgy and alloying practices
in southeastern Arabia.
From the beginning of archaeological investiga
of early copper metallurgy, the question has been ra
as to whether the alloys uncovered, such as arsenica
copper or tin-bronze, were intentionally produced. A
phrased by Northover (1989:111):
There are several routes by which such compo
sitions might have been reached, some deliber-
ate, some more or less accidental and a conse-
quence of the ores being used. The questions
we should be asking are: were the producers
and users of these coppers sufficiently aware
of the properties of their metals to select par-
ticular compositions for particular tasks?
Furthermore, did their metallurgical capabili-
ties extend to the deliberate manufacture or
control of those compositions?
Archaeologists and scholars of ancient metallur
have gradually discovered that alloy composition c
have been determined at a number of stages in the duction of an object, as outlined above. Determinin
intentional production of an alloy has become a co
cated issue in which the definition of "intentional"
crucial to the answer as any properties of the objec
being studied. The mixing of two metallic compone
to form an alloy is an example of an unambiguous
intentional alloying process analogous to modern p
tice, providing a technique against which other pro
posed procedures can be assessed. Mixing molten m
with other ores under charcoal also seems a clear e
ple of intentional alloying, but how should the mix
of ores in a smelting furnace (e.g. Lechtman 1996:
be regarded? What about the mining and collection
specific ores (e.g. Rapp 1988) , or the manipulation
smelting conditions (e.g. Budd et al. 1992:680)?
Additionally, metal of particular composition could
have been selected after its production by examinin
appearance or comparing its working properties w
other alloys (Northover 1989:115) . Approaches wh
seek to understand prehistoric alloying processes m
therefore, account for the geological milieu from wthe metals were formed, the mechanical treatment
was given to objects of particular composition, and
functional uses to which metal of that composition
put (Craddock 1995:287) in order t o arrive at a se
conclusion on the "intentionality" issue.
Discussion of Compositional Resultshttp://www.nd-warez.info/
8/14/2019 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf Technology, Trade, And the Bronze Age World ThePoet006102
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/early-metallurgy-of-the-persian-gulf-technology-trade-and-the-bronze-age 138/269
As an example, the occasional appearance of high-
nickel and h igh-arsenic objects in the Bronze Age
Aegean has been convincingly linked by G ale et al.
(1985:89-92) to the ores that were being exploited at
the time. Evidence from the analysis of co pper inclusions
in slag samples pointed to th e accidental sm elting of
objects with up t o five percent of Ni a nd As. Although
probably an unintentional result of ore selection
processes, Gale et al . (198 5:90) al lowed that the proper-ties of this accidentally-produced metal no dou bt
resulted in their being selected as an especially good sor t
of copper for casting an d cold-working to produce a
tougher metal . Analyses of Bronze Age daggers from
Palestine indicate the intentional manipulation of the
prop erties of inverse segregation exhibited by arsen ical
copper alloys, in order to produce objects with distinc-
t ive appearan ces (Phil ip 19 91).Similarly, the Na hal
Mishma r hoar d show ed the use of unusu al high-
arseniclantimony alloys for the production of particularobject categories alongside the use of more com mo n
pure copper for othe r object types (Tadmo r et al. 1 99 5) .
In these cases, however, it remains u nclear as to whe ther
alloy selection was based up on in tentional con trol of
ores and smelting techniques, or upon the appearan ce
and w orking characteristics of the metal once it had
been produced.
The summary of the mineralogy of southeastern
Arabian copper deposits presented above suggests the
possibility of arsenical-nickel copper objects being a nat-
ural pr odu ct of the smelting of local ores. Th e PIXE
analyses of objects from the U.A.E, w hen co mpa red to
the geological data on southeastern Arabia, suggest an
extraction of the AslNi-copper from Bronze Age con-
texts fro m copp er deposits in mantle-level or lower-
crustal rocks of the Semail Ophiolite rather than from
the large copper deposits located at the top of the ophi-
olitic sequence. Furthermore, the common association of
As, N i an d C O ores in mantle-hosted copp er deposits is
mirrored in the correlations between these elements seen
in the analyzed finished ob jects described in Cha pterFour.
This conclusion is completely in accord with th e
suggestions of H aup tma nn et al . (1988:35 ), al thoug h i t
must be noted that some of the early data from Oman
showed significantly higher As and Ni concentrations in
finished objects than in cop per ingots, suggesting s
form of intentional al loying (e.g. Hauptmann 1995
Abb. 1).These differences have been largely expla
as result ing from either a n enrichment of arsenic d
later stages of object production, the lack of a dat
of ore a nd object analyses large enou gh t o reflect
true variability of the ancient metal products of th
region (H aup tma nn et al . 1988: 42-46), or prefere
separation of high-AsINi copper from the slag durismelting (Prange et al . 19 99:19 0). Other possible
explan ations for the appearance of high As levels
southeastern Arabian copper objects, such as the u
fahlerz ores of the tennantite-tetrahedrite series, ca
ruled out by the lack of such ores in southeastern
Arabia, and by the very low Sb, Ag and Bi levels i
majo rity of samples (eve n those w ith high As level
Of course, there are a large number of objects
from the Bronze Age, in addit ion to the great majo
of Iron Age objects (Weeks 2000a; Prange andHau ptma nn 2 001) , which contain less than one pe
of both As and Ni. The question must be asked as
whether these were produced from copper ores loc
in massive sulfide deposits (either primary sulfidic
or oxidized ores from the gossan) or from copper
deposits of the lower-crustal or mantle sequence w
did not have high concentrations of nickel and ars
It seems likely that, in Bronze Age smelting operat
the use of ores with variable quantities of arsenic,
el and cobalt could explain the appearance of cop
objects containing any concentration between appr
mately 0.1-5.0 perce nt As or Ni. Th e As and N i c
centrations in the Umm al-Nar Period objects anal
in this study seem to show a relat ively consistent d
bution across the one percent boundary (see Chap
Figures 4.8 and 4.10). In contrast , i t is tempting t
relate the low Fe, S, As, Ni a nd CO concentrations
in the Iron Age with the first exploitat ion of the p
mary ores fro m the massive sulfide deposits.
This chronology for the ex ploitat ion of the cop
deposits of the region has already been suggested bwor k of the Germ an Mining M useum in the Sultan
Om an (Weisgerber 1987:145; Weisgerber 1988 :286
and is strongly supp orted by the surviving evidence
Iron Age extraction si tes which a re frequently foun
the vicinity of massive sulfide depo sits (see also
118 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf
8/14/2019 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf Technology, Trade, And the Bronze Age World ThePoet006102
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/early-metallurgy-of-the-persian-gulf-technology-trade-and-the-bronze-age 139/269
Hauptmann 1985:116-1 17 ). However, new techniques Taking these factors into consideration, an exam
of metal extraction which included one o r more roasting
stages could also have led to significant reduction in the
arsenic con tent of finished objects (Tylecote et al. 197 7;
Budd et al. 1 99 3b ) withou t the uti l ization of new o re
sources. This picture of prehistoric mining in southeast-
ern Arabia has also been challenged by new analyses of
finished objects from the region un dertak en by Prange
et al . (19 99 ). These analyses indicate that arsenic and
nickel concentrations were actually higher in Wadi Suq
Period objects than in Umm al-N ar Period objects, and
it is suggested that mining may have con centrated o n
massive sulfide ores in the third millennium BCE a nd
then moved t o smaller stock-work mineralizations lower
in the O phiolitic series in the first half of the secon d
millennium BCE (Prange et al. 1 999 :190). However, the
significant number of third millennium As/Ni-copper
objects recorded in previous analytical studies from
southeastern A rabia (see Cha pter 4 ) indicate that suc h areconstruction is not accurate.
In considering this issue, it may be useful to exam-
ine the C O N at ios of the copper-base objects as
determined by PIXE. Ha uptm ann (1985:30) has noted
that CoINi rat ios vary widely between the different
types of copper deposits in southeastern Arabia while
remaining relat ively constant in both the primary and
secondary minerals of a single deposit (see also Wagner
e t al . 1989:303) . I t is c lear tha t C O N a t ios a re much
higher in massive sulfide deposits such as Lasail and
'Arja (generally greater than 10 0) than in mineralized
fracture zones in banded gabbros and peridoti tes (gen-
erally less than 1) (Hauptmann 1985:Table2) .
Exam ination of the CoINi rat ios of finished copper
objects can, theoretically, allow us to determine the
types of local ore-bodies from which they may have
been produced. The Co/N i rat io has been used by a
num ber of investigators to exam ine composit ional
groups, as CO and Ni are siderophile elements that are
similarly partitioned in copper extraction (Seeliger et al.
1986; Hauptm ann et al. 198 8; Wagner et al . 1989;Pernicka 19 99 ). However, direct comparison between
ar ti fac t and ore may not be possibl e, as C O N a t ios
appe ar to chan ge during the processes of al loying an d
corrosion (H aup tma nn et al . 19 88; Tylecote et al .
19 77) , al thoug h no t necessarily during smelting.
t ion of the C O I N atios of the analyzed copper obje
still produces some interesting patterns. The data ar
presented graphically in Weeks (2003:Figure 6) , and
indicate tha t Bronze Age coppe r objects exhibit a fa
curve, with very few objects show ing Co/N i ratios o
greater than one. In con trast , most copper objects f
the Iron Age show much higher C o/Ni rat ios, with
modes in the three to five percent range and very fe
samples with rat ios of less than two. T he PIXE data
tainly suggest com positiona l differences between co
objects from Bronze Age and Iron Age contexts, wh
might reflect a change in the ore bodies which were
exploited in the region in th e Iro n Age. Previous ana
of Umm al-Nar Period m aterial (Berthoud 1979 ;
Hau ptma nn et al . 1988; Hauptma nn 199 5) indicate
simi lar concentrat ion of copper objects wi th C O N
ratios of less than one, which supports the hypothes
However, i t must also be n oted th at copper objects Iron Age contexts, such as those from the T-shaped
at Bithnah (Cor boud et al . 1 99 6), have Co/N i rat ios
less than one.
Thus, the conclusions to be dra wn from a study
Co/Ni ratios in finished objects from southeastern
Arabia are so mewh at equivocal with regard to the t
of ore sources tha t were being exploited in the Bron
and Iron Ages. It is also clear from the detailed anal
of metal extraction at M aysar 1 that copper from d
ent types of deposits could have been collected a nd
smelted together. For exam ple, oxide ores, sulfur-be
ores an d sulfidic ores w ere available from mantle-le
deposits near M aysar, in addit ion to co pper from st
work zones in rocks of the upper gabbroic sequence
the ophiolite which would have been mineralogicall
quite dist inct (H aup tma nn 1985:Abb. 6 ). In other a
with evidence for Bronze Age copper extraction, suc
a t R ak i (H aup t m ann 1985: 1 6) , oxidized copper or
were available fro m the gossans of m assive sulfide
deposits. Hauptm ann and o ther scholars have stated
their belief that, during the Bronze Age, most of thecopper deposits in southeastern Arabia were being
exploited ( Ha uptm ann 1985:95; Weisgerber 198 4: 1
This means th at cop per with widely varying compo
t ions (an d C O N at ios) should have been produced
such is the case, the few Bronze Age coppe r objects
Discussion of Com positional Results
8/14/2019 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf Technology, Trade, And the Bronze Age World ThePoet006102
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/early-metallurgy-of-the-persian-gulf-technology-trade-and-the-bronze-age 140/269
8/14/2019 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf Technology, Trade, And the Bronze Age World ThePoet006102
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/early-metallurgy-of-the-persian-gulf-technology-trade-and-the-bronze-age 141/269
the metal. Alternatively, all tin-bronze used in the region
may have been obtained in its alloyed form. The trace
and minor element patterns in the analyzed tin-bronzes
are crucial in the investigation of this question, and they
are discussed in the following section.
Tin-bronze
For the purposes of this volume, a tin-bronze has been
defined as a copper alloy containing more than two per-
cent tin. Following this definition, 40 percent of objects
from Umm al -Nar Period contexts analyzed in this vol-
ume are tin-bronze. Tin deposits are not known and are
unlikely to occur in the basic and ultrabasic rocks which
comprise the majority of the northern Oman mountains,
where geological studies report tin concentrations in
local rocks of the order of approximately 10 ppm or less
(Hauptmann et al. l 9 88:3S; Cleuziou and Berthoud
1982:18). Thus, objects from southeastern Arabia with
more than approximately 0.5 percent tin almost certain-
ly include foreign metal, and the high frequency of tin-
bronze in the Bronze Age metal assemblages from this
region represents a considerable usage of a non-local
resource. In the Umm al-Nar Period material, a further
18 percent of objects contain between 0.5-2.0 percent
Sn, and must therefore have included some foreign mate-
rial, perhaps as part of recycling processes. Overall, per-
haps 60 percent of the third millennium BCE objects
analyzed in this study are likely, based on their tin con-
centrations, to include some foreign metal. However, the
changes in object composition introduced by corrosion
(see Chapter Four) make any statements regarding origi-
nal tin levels in the objects uncertain. While the presence
of tin-bronzes can be clearly established, and alloying
practices can be tentatively reconstructed, determining
the incorporation of foreign metal into locally made
objects based upon the measurement of very low tin
concentrations in corroded samples is not possible in
this study.
Archaeometallurgists and archaeologists are interest-
ed in answering a number of questions regarding the useof tin-bronze in southeastern Arabia. From a metallurgi-
cal point of view, it would be useful to know how this
tin-bronze was being manufactured: whether it was a
product of an alloying process using metallic copper and
tin, or whether it was the product of smelting a mixed
furnace charge of copper and tin ores, or whether tin ore
was added t o molten copper to produce the alloy. F
the perspective of archaeological trade studies, it wo
be interesting to know how tin was reaching southe
ern Arabia: as metallic tin (t o be alloyed with local
per), or as pre-alloyed bronze objects or ingots, and
what the original source of the tin may have been.
Furthermore, the reasons for the adoption of tin-bro
in the region and the factors, which governed its sel
tion, and use for particular object categories are im
tant to comprehend. These issues are discussed belo
light of evidence from the compositional analyses pr
sented in Chapter Four.
Evidence for Alloy Production Techniques:
Tin Concentrations in Copper and Tin-bronze
The tin concentrations of copper objects and tin-bro
show very different patterns in Bronze Age and Iron
objects from southeastern Arabia. As illustrated in
Figure 5.3, the Umm al-Nar Period objects analyzedPIXE show a broad range of t in concentrations, wit
modes at approximately one percent Sn and approx
mately 20 percent Sn (see also Chapter 4, Figure 4.1
Umm al-Nar PeriodObects (PIXE)
lronAge Objects
Figure 5.3 Tin concentrations n Umm al-NarPeriod objects analyzed by PIXE (top), and previ-ously-analyzed ron Age objects from southeast-
ern Arabia (bottom). Only objects containing
more than 0.1 percent tin are shown.
Discussion of Compositional Results
8/14/2019 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf Technology, Trade, And the Bronze Age World ThePoet006102
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/early-metallurgy-of-the-persian-gulf-technology-trade-and-the-bronze-age 142/269
In contrast, the Iron Age analyses reveal a very distinct
mode at around 10 percent Sn, and a strong distinction
between tin levels in copper objects and tin-bronzes (only
six Iron Age objects contain tin in the 0.5-2.0 percent
range). The technological significance of this clear differ-
ence is uncertain, but it likely reflects processes of alloy
production.
The control of alloy composition suggested by the
Iron Age data may have been intended to impart specific
physical properties to the metal, or following certain tech-
nological or cultural traditions (e.g. Lechtman 1988:346).
The Iron Age compositional data further suggest that con-
centrations of alloying elements could be controlled, and
that tin or tin ore was probably added separately to cop-
per objects in these periods in a process of deliberate
alloying. When linked with the data on the discontinuity
of tin concentrations between copper and tin-bronze
objects illustrated in Figure 5.3, it would seem clear that
the great majority of tin-bronzes found in the northernOman Peninsula in Iron Age contexts were intentional
alloys. Furthermore, the low tin content of the Iron Age
copper objects and the high tin content of contemporary
tin-bronzes suggest that tin-bronze could be clearly distin-
guished from unalloyed copper or As/Ni-copper, and that
the different types of metal were rarely mixed. Tin-bronze
could have been distinguished from unalloyed copper by its
working characteristics or by its appearance, which would
have been more golden than raw copper, which is reddish
(Swiny 1982:75; Moorey 1994:252-253; Hosler 1995). It is
also likely that tin-bronze could have been distinguished
from As/Ni-copper by appearance, as As/Ni-copper is likely
to have been a silvery color.
In contrast, the wide range of tin concentrations
found in Umm al-Nar Period objects suggests less control
over object composition. The common presence of tin at
trace levels, at low alloying concentrations, and a t very
high concentrations, can be explained in a number of
ways: through the smelting of mixed furnace charges with
varying amounts of copper and tin minerals, through
indiscriminate mixing and recycling of copper objects andtin-bronzes (attested in contemporary Mesopotamia: see
Zettler 1990:Table l ) , r as the result of a period of exper-
iment with the properties of tin-bronzes of varying tin con-
centration. Discrimination between these possibilities is
not possible based purely on the evidence presented thus far.
The pattern of increasing differentiation in alloy
compositions through time is visible on a smaller sc
within the Umm al-Nar Period objects themselves (s
Chapter Four, Figure 4.16). Only one object from A1
Sufouh can be classed as tin-bronze, however rough
one third of the objects contain 0.5-2.0 percent Sn,
cating the admixture or use of foreign tin or tin-bea
metal at some point. The A1 Sufouh data suggest the
availability in the region of tin-bronzes, a theory tha
supported by analyses of material from the partly co
temporary site of Unar l. At this site, seven objects
analyzed are classified as tin-bronzes, however tin c
centrations in tin-bronzes are relatively low (five of
seven bronzes contain less than 10 percent Sn), and
further five "copper" samples contain 0.5-2.0 perce
Sn. At the latest Umm al-Nar Period sites of Unar2
Tell Abraq, tin-bronze is more common than at A1
Sufouh or Unarl, tin concentrations in samples are
higher, and there is a greater distinction between the
content of copper and tin-bronze objects (although
distinction is not as great as in the Iron Age). Such
tern might indicate that changes occurred in the wa
and tin-bronze was reaching southeastern Arabia w
the Umm al-Nar Period, an issue that is addressed m
fully in Chapter Seven.
Minor and Trace Element Patterns:
Guides to Alloy Production Techniques
For the Iron Age, Weisgerber (1988:292) has claime
that minorltrace element patterns, specifically of nic
and arsenic, indicate that tin-bronze was being prod
in southeastern Arabia by the alloying of local copp
with imported tin. This is because compositional di
ences between Iron Age copper objects and tin-bron
are minimal, suggesting that local copper was alloy
with relatively pure imported tin (Prange and
Hauptmann 2001; Corboud et al. 1996; Weeks 200
As further evidence for the local production of t
bronzes in southeastern Arabia, a close link between
composition of tin-bronze and copper objects can bestablished by examining the chronological changes
composition in the two groups. A distinct decrease i
arsenic and nickel concentrations through time is se
copper-base objects (see Chapter Four, Tables 4.12
4.16), which has been explained above as probably
122 Early Metallu rgy of the Persian Gulf
8/14/2019 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf Technology, Trade, And the Bronze Age World ThePoet006102
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/early-metallurgy-of-the-persian-gulf-technology-trade-and-the-bronze-age 143/269
8/14/2019 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf Technology, Trade, And the Bronze Age World ThePoet006102
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/early-metallurgy-of-the-persian-gulf-technology-trade-and-the-bronze-age 144/269
compositional differences could also have resulted from
the use of t in-bronze imported into southeastern Arabia
in pre-alloyed form. Such pre-alloyed b ronze c ould
have arrived a s finished objects or t in-bronze ingots.
One example of such an ingot comes from a mid-third
mil lennium context in Meso potamia, probably from
Tell al-Ubaid, and contains approximately nine percent
Sn (M oorey 19 94:25 2), whi le another t in-bronze ingot
is said to come from Chanhu-Daro in the Indus Valley,although this composit ional at tribution is based upon
surface appearance rather than laboratory analysis
(Mackay 1943:187).
If tin-bronze reached southeastern Arabia in the
form of finished objects, it may be possible to trace the
use of imported tin-bronze objects using typological
studies. However, many of the tin-bronze objects ana-
lyzed in this volume a re ei ther small fragments co n-
taining no typological information or fragm ents of
typologically non-diagnostic objects such as simple
rings (see Cha pter Th ree). Furthermore, foreign t in-
bronzes can be easily melted down to produce t in-
bronzes of distinctively local form, making typological
studies redundant.
In fact, it is likely that trade in both pre-alloyed
bronze (objects or ingots) and in metal lic t in w as
occurring. There is archaeological evidence from the
very end of the third millennium BCE that metallic tin
was reaching southeastern Arabia, as the t in r ing from
Tell Abraq testifies. However, the quantity of this
material available to local metalworkers is unknown.The scarcity of metall ic t in finds from the region is no
indicator, as t in finds are scarce in al l areas of west-
ern Asia in the Bronze a nd Iro n Ages (M add in et al .
1977:44-45; Charles 1978:25-26; Muhly 1985a ;
Moorey 1994:301; Lerberghe 1988:254-255), even in
regions with documented imports of many tonnes of
the material . A number of Mesopotamian textual
sources from the third and early second millennia BCE
indicate the movement of t in through the Gulf, and
ment ion t in from Meluhha, Magan, and Di lmun (seeCha pter Eigh t). Furthermore, there are textu al refer-
ences to the tra de of finished t in-bronze i tems from
Magan (Limet l972:14-17). These references suggest
tha t the t in trade involved the trade of both metallic
tin itself and finished tin-bronze objects.
Alloy Use in Different O bjec t CategoriesA number of studies have demonstrated th at , in pa
lar metalworking traditions, certain types of alloys
used for specific object categories. For example, stu
of alloy use in ancient west Mexico have determine
tha t uti l itarian objects such a s axes, needles a nd aw
were made of copper containing t in and arsenic in
centrations of between two and five percent, which
would have significantly increased the strength andcastability of the resulting alloy (Hosler 1995:101)
the same time, high-arsenic and high-tin copper all
(containing five to 2 3 percent Sn or As) were used
the production of bells (Hosler 19 88, 19 95 ). The a
ses indicated that the pro perties of colour and soun
were more important in alloy selection for bells th
mechanical properties such as hardness, as the con
trations of alloying elements were much higher tha
required purely to optimise mechanical properties
(Hosler 1995:lOl). Similar findings with regard to
use of arsenical copper objects with silver surfaces
to inverse segregation are discussed above, and em
size the many factors which can be involved in allo
production and selection (see also Wheeler and Ma
1980:99-100; Swiny 1982:75).
In a number of work s discussing the developm
of metallurgy, the change from the use of arsenical
per to tin-bronze has usually been seen as resulting
from either:
The superior mechanical properties of tin-
bronzes in comparison to arsenical coppe(Lechtman 1996).
Attempts to recreate the advantageous me
ical properties of arsenical copper once th
bodies which had led to the inadvertent p
duction of such alloys had been worked o
(Muhly 1988; Charles 1980:176).
The ability to closely control alloying pro
tions in t in-bronzes as opposed to the rat
haphazard control envisaged for the manu
ture of arsenical copper (Charles 1980:176-177; Lechtman 1996:478).
The poisonous nature of arsenic fumes that
be generated by the production and use of
arsenical copper alloys (Charles 1967, 198 0
1985 ) .
124 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf
8/14/2019 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf Technology, Trade, And the Bronze Age World ThePoet006102
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/early-metallurgy-of-the-persian-gulf-technology-trade-and-the-bronze-age 145/269
Most of these explanations focus upon the mechanical As can be seen in Figure 5.4, patterns of alloy
properties of arsenical copper as opposed to tin-bronze, vary greatly in the different object categories analy
such as strength and toughness. However the preceding
examples from west Mexico should indicate that other
physical properties of metals can be important in deter-
mining the introduction and use of specific alloys.
Furthermore, the use of particular types of metal can be
related t o economic or ideological issues as closely as to
the physical properties of the metal. For example, metalproduction, trade, and use have been linked by a number
of scholars to the display of wealth in societies with nas-
cent stratification (e.g. Stech and Pigott 1986:41) , and
the widespread use of tin-bronze in the Late Horizon
Inka settlements of the Andes has been associated with
political processes which saw tin-bronze adopted as "the
imperial alloy par excellence" (Lechtman 1996:478).
The uses to which most early tin-bronze alloys were
put have suggested tha t improved mechanical proper-
ties or ease of alloying and casting were not necessarily
the most important factors in the introduction and
early use of tin-bronze in western Asia (Moorey
1994:252-253; Mont ero Fenoll6s 1997:17). The exam-
ination of alloy use in different object categories, and
metallographic evidence regarding the mechanical
treatment of different kinds of alloys, are important in
arriving at such conclusions regarding early alloy selec-
tion and use. In order t o address similar questions in a
southeastern Arabian context, where relatively pure
copper, AsINi-copper and tin-bronze a re used simulta-
neously, the data on the copper alloys used for different
object categories are presented below.
For the Umm al-Nar objects, alloy use in the object
categories of "blades" (2 1 objects), "pinslawls" (nine
objects), "flat fragments" (24 objects), "rings" (20
objects), and "other objects" (nine objects) are given.
The category of blades includes fragments of knives, dag-
gers and spearheads such as those found at A1 Sufouh
(Benton 1996:Figures 173-186) and Tell Abraq (Chapter
Three) . Flat fragments could belong to knife or dagger
blades, as well as to vessels or other object types. Thecategory of "other objects" includes a number of uniden-
tified fragments or amorphous copper-base lumps, in
addition to one possible chisel from Unar2, a rivet from
A1 Sufouh, and three fragments from Unarl designated
as "tubes" or the like.
For the categories of blades and pinslawls, approxi
mately 30 percent of objects are made of relatively
copper, with a further 50-60 percent of AsINi-copp
Between 10 and 2 0 percent of blades and pinslawls
tain significant amounts (more than two percent) o
Previous analyses of contemporary blades and blad
fragments from Umm an-Nar Island, Hili, Jebel Ha
and Qarn Bint Saud show a similar prominence of
AsINi-copper, and only one blade with more than t
percent tin (Berthoud 1979; Frifelt 1975a, 1991;
Hauptmann 1995) . The presence of significant con
trations of zinc and lead must also be noted in som
the Umm an-Nar Island blades (Frifelt 1991 100). T
three previously analyzed "needles" from Maysar a
Ras al-Harnra (Hauptmann et al. 1988) are of relat
pure copper, showing a lack of tin use similar to th
analyses of pinslawls undertaken in this study.
In contrast, much more consistent use of tin-br
is seen in the object categories of rings and flat fra
ments. Rings, in particular, are most frequently of
bronze, sometimes containing significant levels of
arsenic, lead or silver. Furthermore, four of the six
categorized as "copper" in fact contain one to two
cent tin, and may perhaps be regarded as low-tin
bronzes. Tin levels in excess of one percent are thu
recorded in 90 percent of analyzed rings. Interestin
no rings are made of AslNi-copper, while about ha
the tin-bronze rings contain arsenic. Previous semi-
titative analyses of rings from third millennium BC
contexts at Tell Abraq (Weeks 1997) indicated that
of the 14 objects contained significant amounts of
(two containing As andlor Ni), while six were of r
tively pure copper (none containing in excess of on
percent As or Ni).
Some of these apparent alloy choices are seen t
continue into later periods. For example, tin-bronze
tinues to be consistently utilized to produce rings a
flat fragments in the second millennium; 10 of the 1analyzed Wadi Suq PeriodILate Bronze Age rings fr
Tell Abraq, Shimal settlement area SX, and Shimal
SH102 are composed of tin-bronze, as are 12 of 15
lyzed flat fragments from contemporary contexts at
Abraq and SH102 (Weeks 1997; Weeks 2000a) .
Discussion of Compositional Results
8/14/2019 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf Technology, Trade, And the Bronze Age World ThePoet006102
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/early-metallurgy-of-the-persian-gulf-technology-trade-and-the-bronze-age 146/269
Figure5.4. Alloy use in different object categories.
Furthermore, as t in-bronze was rarely uti lized to pr o-
duce pinslawls in the third millennium BCE, so the pat-
tern continues in the second millennium: of the 12
pinslawls from Wadi SuqILate Bronze Age contexts at
Tell Abraq, Shimal settlement area SX, and Masirah Site
38, only two contain significant amounts of tin (Weeks1997 ,2000 a; Hauptmann e t al. 198 8) .
In the Iron Age, with tin-bronze use increasing to
incorporate ap proximately three-quarters of analyzed
copper-base o bjects, these distinctions by artifact type
are consequently diminished. Blades, arrowheads and
heavy braceletslbangles from the IbriISelme hoard
(Prange and Hau ptma nn 200 1) and the Qidfa tom
Obersteg 1 987; Weeks 2000 a) are made almo st ex
sively of tin-b ronze . Differences at this time seem m
related to the individual site: IbriISelme and Qidfa
it the predominant use of tin-bronze in all object cgories, whereas settlements such as Mu weilah and
Abraq (Weeks forthcoming b; Weeks 19 97 ) and th
lective tomb assemblage from Bithnah (Corboud et
1996:Figure 5 9) show m uch lower frequencies of t
bronze use.
126 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf
8/14/2019 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf Technology, Trade, And the Bronze Age World ThePoet006102
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/early-metallurgy-of-the-persian-gulf-technology-trade-and-the-bronze-age 147/269
Thus, the analyses of objects from A1 Sufouh,
Unarl, Unar2, and Tell Abraq suggest that tin-bronze
may have been selectively used for particular object cat-
egories, reinforcing the results of previous studies of
material from Tell Abraq (Weeks 1997). Furthermore,
the objects most commonly of tin-bronze are rings,
which have a decorative rather than utilitarian function.
This may suggest that factors other than the mechanical
advantages of the tin-bronze alloy were important in its
selection. One such property is the surface appearance
of tin-bronze, which is more golden than pure copper
or As/Ni-copper. In general, the use of precious or dec-
orative metals such as silver and tin in the manufacture
of rings and bracelets in Bronze Age southeastern
Arabia (Weeks 1997; Weeks 2000a), is further evidence
of the association of these object categories with metals
of attractive or unusual physical appearance. Additional
evidence for the importance of the appearance of the tin-
bronze alloy is provided by the use of tin-bronze in theproduction of beads at the third millennium BCE site of
Ra's al-Hadd in Oman (J. E. Reade, personal communi-
cation). Copper beads are not known from southeastern
Arabia in the Urnm al-Nar Period, but beads of gold and
silver are. Alternatively, as jewelry can act as a means of
both displaying and storing wealth, the economic value
of tin-bronze in comparison to copper, resulting from
its scarcity and the distances over which it was
obtained, may have been important in its selection for
use in rings and bracelets rather than more utilitarian
objects (cf. Montero Fenoll6s 1997:17).
Summary
The discussion presented in this chapter focused on the
impurities of iron and sulfur found in the Urnm al-Nar
Period objects, and the concentrations of the potential
alloying elements arsenic, nickel, and tin. The presence
of sulfur and iron in the Urnm al-Nar Period objects
reflects the ores that were used to produce them, the
smelting technology employed, and the degree of sec-
ondary refining that the raw copper received prior toobject fabrication. High sulfur concentrations in the
finished objects (see Table 4.5) reflect the presence of
copper sulfide (matte) inclusions in the objects. These
matte inclusions resulted from the CO-smelting of oxide
and sulfur-bearing ores, and the incomplete separation
of metallic copper from the matte that was produ
during the typical smelting process employed in B
Age southeastern Arabia. The high Fe concentratio
of the Urnm al-Nar Period objects (see Table 4.7)
be related in part to the sporadic inclusion of iron
bearing sulfide ores in smelting charges, which wo
have led to the presence of Cu-Fe-S matte inclusio
the finished objects. Additionally, iron-bearing flux
could have contributed a significant amount of m
iron to the raw copper produced during a smelt.
Such high iron and sulfur concentrations wou
have had a deleterious effect on the working prop
of the raw copper, and a refining stage prior to fa
cation (i.e. secondary refining) would have been n
sary to produce satisfactory objects. A comparison
the elemental compositions of finished objects and
ondary refining waste from archaeological context
the Gulf suggests that raw copper produced in so
eastern Arabia was indeed refined prior to object cation principally to remove impurities of Fe and
Arsenic and nickel are frequently found in the
Urnm al-Nar Period copper-base objects analyzed
this volume at concentrations of one to five perce
and occasionally higher. A review of the mineralo
metallurgical, and technological aspects of As/Ni-c
per objects in southeastern Arabia suggests that th
are most likely to have been natural alloys inadve
ly produced as a result of the types of ores explo
and the smelting technology employed. Although A
and Ni concentrations in the largest copper depos
Oman, the massive sulfide deposits, are generally
low, the oxidized copper deposits of the lower cru
and mantle sequences of the Semail ophiolite show
much higher concentrations of Ni and As. Coppe
smelted from such deposits would have contained
and Ni as natural impurities. Thus, the significan
quantities of As and Ni in the Urnm al-Nar objec
compatible with a southeastern Arabian origin.
However, copper ores with significant As and Ni
centrations are also found in geological contexts oside southeastern Arabia, most significantly in som
the copper deposits of the Iranian Plateau. It is th
fore clear that reliable conclusions regarding abso
provenance cannot be drawn from the compositio
data alone.
Discussion of Compo sitional Results
8/14/2019 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf Technology, Trade, And the Bronze Age World ThePoet006102
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/early-metallurgy-of-the-persian-gulf-technology-trade-and-the-bronze-age 148/269
These "accidental" alloys may have had some physi-
cal properties (such as hardness, colour, and ease of cast-
ing) which allowed them to be distinguished from unal-
loyed copper after they were produced in the primary
smelt. In particular, the inverse segregation exhibited by
arsenical (and perhaps nickel) copper alloys suggests that
objects from A1 Sufouh with more than approximately
three to four percent of combined As and Ni are likely to
have had a different surface appearance than most unal-
loyed copper objects. The evidence for alloy use in differ-
ent object categories indicates that AsNi-copper was
rarely used for decorative objects such as rings, but was
commonly found in more utilitarian objects such as
pinslawls and blades. Such a differentiation may be
indicative of the use of AsINi-copper for its mechanical
advantage of hardness, but could also reflect factors such
as the relative worth of other alloys like tin-bronze.
The examination of the evidence for tin-bronze use
in Umm al-Nar Period southeastern Arabia suggests dif-ferent patterns of alloy production, exchange, and use.
Previous analyses are suggestive of the trade in metallic
tin to southeastern Arabia by the Iron Age. This is
because there are few minorltrace element differences
between copper objects and tin-bronzes at this time;
there are clear distinctions between the tin content of
copper objects and tin-bronzes; and tin concentrations
show a normal distribution suggestive of controlled and
intentional alloying.
The situation for tin-bronzes from the Umm al-Nar
Period is not so clear. There are significant minor and
trace element differences between copper objects and tin-
bronzes of this period which could reflect either the
alloying of local copper with imported tin or the impor-
tation of pre-alloyed bronze objects or ingots.
Furthermore, there is no strong distinction between the
tin content of copper and tin-bronze objects from the
Umm al-Nar Period, particularly in the earlier objects
from A1 Sufouh and Un ar l. This may suggest that con-
trol over alloy composition was minimal, that recycling
did not discriminate between alloy types, or that a widerange of tin-bronze alloys were produced for varying rea-
sons. The latter possibility is certainly supported by
"recipes" for the production of tin-bronze found in sur-
viving cuneiform documents, which suggest great compo-
sitional variability (see Chapter Eight). Archaeological
and textual evidence indicates that, in this period, bo
metallic tin and pre-alloyed tin-bronze were being tr
through the Gulf.
The delineation of alloying practices is complica
by the finding that there are no strict correlations
between tin content and the concentrations of other
minor and trace elements. For example, tin-bronzes
to have higher silver and lead levels, but the relation
is not constant, and tin-bronzes can have very low si
and lead concentrations. Indeed, it is unlikely that c
positional analyses alone will allow for questions of
alloying practice to be solved, as tin and copper of v
ing composition from multiple sources might be invo
and there was simultaneous trade in both metallic ti
pre-alloyed tin-bronze objects.
Regardless of how tin-bronze was actually prod
examination of alloy use in different object categorie
indicates that tin-bronze was selectively used for obj
which had a decorative rather than utilitarian functiIn particular, copper-base rings were almost exclusiv
made of tin-bronze. This suggests tha t factors such a
surface appearance of tin-bronze, or its greater econ
value, dictated how this alloy was used in Bronze Ag
southeastern Arabia.
128 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf
8/14/2019 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf Technology, Trade, And the Bronze Age World ThePoet006102
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/early-metallurgy-of-the-persian-gulf-technology-trade-and-the-bronze-age 149/269
8/14/2019 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf Technology, Trade, And the Bronze Age World ThePoet006102
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/early-metallurgy-of-the-persian-gulf-technology-trade-and-the-bronze-age 150/269
The lead generated by such decay schemes is known
generally as radiogenic, to distinguish it fro m the 204Pb,
206Pb, 207Pb and 208Pb which was already present at the
time of the formation of the earth, know n as primeval
or primordial lead. All lead on earth is thus a mixture of
lead originally present when the earth was formed
approximately 4.5 million years ago (primeval lead) and
lead subsequently generated by radioactive decay (radi-
ogenic lead) (Gulson 1 986:1 3). In ad dit ion, the stable
lead isotopes generated from the decay of uranium
(206Pb and 207Pb) are often referred to as u ranium -
derived or uranogenic and the lead produced by the
decay of thoriu m (208Pb) is called thorium-d erived o r
thorogenic (Gulson 1986:25).
Th e usefulness of lead iso tope analysis for geologi-
cal dating is a result of the half-lives of the three
radioactive decay schemes, show n below (fro m Pollard
and Herron 1996:312).
238U decays to 206Pb, half life = 4.468 X 109 years235U decays to 207Pb, half life = 0.7038 X 109 years
232Th decays to 208l?b, half life = 14.01 X 109 years
The half lives of the uranogenic and thorogenic lead
systems are of the o rder of billions of years, a nd a re
thus ideal for study of rock and ore formation on a geo-
logical timescale.
The lead isotope composit ion of rocks a nd ores
varies o n a world-wide scale, as the result of a numbe r
of processes. Differences in the co ncen trations of uran i-
um, thorium and lead across the surface of the Earth
occurred during i ts formation and cooling (P ollard and
Herro n 1996 :313) and during the differentiation of the
Earth into core, mantle and crustal components
(G ariip y and D up ri 199 1). Differing ratios of U/Pb and
Th/Pb in different parts of the world led to differences in
the production of the radiogenic isotopes of lead and
hence furthe r differentiation in lead isotop e values
across the planet (Gulson 1986:Ch. 2). Further differen-
tiation has been caused by processes of ore formation, in
which com mon lead minerals (galena) are separated
from uranium and thorium, after which point the iso-topic composit ion of the ore does not change (P ollard
and Herron 1 96:3 13 ). Lead isotope compositions of
ore deposits are therefore primarily determined by the
age of the deposit and the sources of the lead that they
incorporate.
This geological an d geograph ical differentiation
lead isotope compositions forms the basis of the lea
tope technique as applied to archaeological provena
studies. Theoretically, different ore depo sits shou ld
characterized by distinct lead isotope ratios , as a re
of their different ages and histories of formation .
Significantly, these isotopic cha racteristics shou ld be
ried through to any archaeological art ifacts that we
produced from the ores. This means that o re deposi
can be isotopically fingerprinted , a nd archaeolog
objects with matching isotopic characteristics can b
related t o these specific ore bodies. T he simp lest cas
for objects made of lead, whose isotopic signatures
should be very similar to the lead ores fr om which
were made. However, metals such as copper also co
monly contain small amounts of lead (usually less t
ca. one perc ent), as a result of its inclusion in the co
ores from which they were made. Th e isotopic com
tion of the lead in the copper objects should also mthat of the deposit from which the copper ore was
mined, meaning th at copper-base objects can also th
retically be provenanced using LIA. Of course, ther
many examples of ore deposits that cannot be diffe
ated isotopically, a nd m any fa ctors like alloying and
recycling tha t mak e the use of LIA for the pu rpose s
archaeological provenance studies problematic.
Nevertheless, the theoretical bases an d assu mption s
the method have proven robust, and the specifics of
application in archaeology are discussed in the rema
der of the chapter.
Lead isotope data are usually measured an d rep
as rat ios rath er than abundance levels, due to the n
of the measurement technique. Modern samples, (in
ing the Tell Abraq samples analyzed in this volume
generally measured using a technique known as the
ionization mass sp ectrom etry (TIM S). A description
the technique is given in Stos-Gale an d G ale
(1994:99-100). In the measurement of lead isotope
position using TIMS, the greatest experimental prec
is achieved by measuring all the individual abundansimultaneously as rat ios (Gulson 19 86:15 ; Stos-Gal
Gale 1994:99-lOO). Abundances of individual isoto
can be calculated from the ratios, but the associated
error will be greater (Pernicka 199 2; Budd et al . 19
The samples from A1 Sufouh, Una rl and U nar2 in t
130 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf
8/14/2019 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf Technology, Trade, And the Bronze Age World ThePoet006102
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/early-metallurgy-of-the-persian-gulf-technology-trade-and-the-bronze-age 151/269
LIA study were analyzed by multi-collector inductively the technique was to be used on objects created by
coupled plasma m ass spectrometry (MC -ICPM S), for humans rather than n aturally produced ores. The pri
which details are found in Collerson et al . (20 02 ).
In geological situations, ratios are most com monly
measured in regard t o the non-radiogen ic iso tope 204Pb
(e.g. Chen an d Pallister 1981 ; Spooner and Gale 19 81;
Briqueu et al. 1991; Calvez and Lescuyer 1 991 ). In such a
situ atio n, v alue s will be r ep or ted fo r the ra tio s 206Pb/z@Pb,
207PbI204Pb an d 208PbI204Pb. These ra tio s ar e used bygeologists because they relate to theoretical lead evolu-
tion curves used in the calculation of m odel lead isotope
ages for analyzed samples (e.g. Stacey an d Kramers 19 75;
Faur e 1977:C hapters 13-14; K oppel and Griinenfelder
1979). In most laboratories aro und the w orld, however,
the ac tua l ra tio s m eas ured ar e 208Pb/206Pb, 207Pb1206Pb
an d 206Pb1204Pb (G ulso n 1986:15 an d A ppen dix On e). For
archaeological examples, where the geochrono logical
implications of lead iso tope d ata are generally of less sig-
nificance, the latter ra tios a re comm only used (e.g. Stos-
Gale et al . 19 97; Stos-Gale and Gale 199 4; Begemann et
al. 1 98 9) . For ex amples, see Ch apter Seven, Table 7.1.
For a visual represe ntation of the dat a, isotope ratios
are commonly plotted o n bivariate graphs. The three-
dimensional natu re of the d ata requires that tw o bivariate
plots are produced to a dequately assess the true d istribu-
tion of a g rou p of samples (e.g. Gale 1999:Figure 2; Budd
et al. 1996:169-170). An example can be seen in Chapter 7,
Figure 7.1.
LIA in ArchaeologyTh e use of LIA in archaeological research has its origins
primarily in the con text of provenanc e analysis (Brill and
Wampler 196 7; Grogler et al . 19 66) , al though the possi-
bility of a uthentica tion studies using LIA has also been
raised (Gale 19 78 53 0) . Geological studies of the tech-
nique had demon strated that a large range of potential
lead isotope fingerprints could be expected fro m differ-
ent types of mineralization formed at different periods in
the Earth's history (G ulson 1986:Figure 1.2) . Th e exis-
tence of isotopically discrete ore fields from particula rregions lead t o the spe culation tha t isotope ratios of
archaeological objects could be related to these discrete
fields, thu s providing a provenance for the analyzed
object. Th e transfer of the technique fr om geology to
archaeology required a number of extra assumptions, as
assumptions were:
1. Isotope ratios remain unaffected by anthro-
pogenic processes.
2. The re was no m ixing or recycling of metal f
different sources.
Th e first assum ption has held u p well under scie
scrutiny. While frac tionation is theoretically possible(Budd et al. 19 95c ),experimental work indicates tha
practical si tuations fractionation does no t introduce
errors of greater magnitude th an the analytical preci
comm only attainab le in most lab oratories (Barnes et
1978:274; Gale and Stos-Gale 19 82; Pollard and He ro
1996:324-326; Ox fo rd Universi ty Com mit te e fo r
Archaeology 1997). Hence, fractiona tion seems unlik
be a significant confo und ing factor in archaeo logical
Th e second assum ption listed a bove is essentiall
unprovable in archaeological contexts, although a va
of circum stantial evidence has been used to justify m
hypothesizing limited metal m ixing and recycling in
t icular archaeological con texts (co ntrast Muhly
1985b:80-81 with Gale and Stos-Gale 1985:88-90).
issue is discussed in detail be low, and its significance
isotopic studies of Bronze Age metallurgy in south ea
Arabia is specifically addressed.
Archaeological LIA incorp orating these two assu
tions developed in a n um ber of discrete stages. The i
research was un dertak en by R. Brill and J. Wampler
early 1 960 s (Wampler and Bril l 1964; Brill and W am
19 67 ). The ir wor k w as inspired by geological LIA, a
tha t had by tha t time a history of roughly 30 years. E
archaeological app lications were limited t o the stu dy
objects tha t were mad e of lead or included large amo
of lead (s uch as lead glazes and glass). Th e results of
research were encouraging, in tha t lead ores from
England, Greece and Spain could be isotopically diff
t iated, an d archaeological objects know n t o have bee
produced fro m a part icular ore body had isotopic ch
teristics closely matching those of their parent ores. Asimilar appro ach to the isotopic analysis of Rom an l
pipes and ingots was u ndertaken co ntemporaneou sly
num ber of Swiss scholars, who stressed the potential
the technique when combined with trace-element an
ses (Grogler et al. 1966:1168).
Lead Isotope Analysis in Archaeology
8/14/2019 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf Technology, Trade, And the Bronze Age World ThePoet006102
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/early-metallurgy-of-the-persian-gulf-technology-trade-and-the-bronze-age 152/269
Following the first application of LIA to the analysis 1978:Table 2) . This possibility arose from the fact t
of lead objects and lead-containing glasses an d glazes, small amo unts of lead remained in copp er and tin-
archaeological LIA program s were soon broadened t o
include silver ores and objects. Silver objects in th e
ancient world were commonly produced by cupellation
from argen tiferous galena (P bS), and thus retained a sig-
nificant percentage of lead (C raddo ck 19 95 ). This small
amount of lead, a result of the composition of the ore
body and simple refining procedures, would have thesame isotopic characteristics as the galena ore from
which the silver was extracted.
A large project on Athenian silver sources was
organized by scholars from the Max Planck Institut fiir
Kernphysik at Heidelberg University and the
Department of Geology and Mineralogy a t Oxford
University, and a significant numbe r of publications on
this topic appeared from the late 19 70s onwards (e.g.
Gale 197 8, 1980 ; Gale et al. 1 980; Gentner et al. 1 978 ,
1979180). The analyses were able to demon strate the
importance of Laurion as a silver source for Athens, in
addition to th e use of a wide variety of silver sources for
coinage from Aegina (Gentner et al . 19 78:28 4). It was
clear that LIA, when used as one component of a
detailed research program incorporating all relevant
archaeological, geological a nd historical evidence, could
be an extremely useful technique in provenance studies.
LIA of silver sources soon expanded to include material
from the Bronze Age (e.g. Stos-Gale and Gale 1982),
and from regions other than A ttica and Siphnos (Gale
and Stos-Gale 1981).The third and most im portan t stage in the develop-
ment of archaeological LIA was the realization that iso-
topic analyses could be used to determine the source of
the copper used in copper-base objects. Attempts to ana-
lyze the variation in isotopes of copp er an d tin, which
seem a priori more ap prop riate to the study of the
provenance of archaeological bronzes, are either in their
infancy (W oodhead et al . 19 99 ) or have foundered on
the lack of natural heterogeneity within mineral assem-
blages and the difficulty of d ifferentiating natu ral an danthropogenic fractionation (M cGill et al . 199 9;
Begemann et al. 19 99 ; Yi et al. 19 99 ). In contras t, the
possibility of using LIA to study the provenance of cop-
per and tin-bronze objects was noted from the earliest
applications of the technique in archaeology (e.g. Gale
bronze objects as a result of the primitive smelting
refining processes th at w ere used to create them (G
1978 :34; Barnes et al. 19 78:2 74) . As this remaining
was f rom the c opp er ore itself, LIA of coppe r-base
objects that had not been intentionally leaded could
oretically indicate the source of the cop per in the ob
The first paper to present data explici tly on the apption of LIA to the provenance of archaeological cop
base objects appeared in 1 98 2 (Gale and Stos-Gale
19 82) , and m arked the beginning of a rapid e xpans
of the use of LIA in Old W orld archaeology, particu
in the eastern Med iterranean region.
The importance of LIA of ancient copper-base
objects arose from the fact that lead a nd si lver occu
infrequently in most archaeological assemblages, an
archaeological thought allocated less socio-economi
nificance to the extraction, exchange and use of the
materials. In contrast, the copper trade w as thoug h
have been a vital factor in the socio-politico-econo
orga nization of every Bronze Age polity (M uhly
1995a:56; see also Renfrew 196 7; Gale 197 8; Sherr
199 3, 1994 ; Tadmor et al . 1995:145), and was rega
as wor thy of intensive archaeological research. It is
unsurprising that LIA of copper-base material from
region eventually came to focus upon the archaeolo
leit motif of this trade, the copper ox-hide ingots of
Late Bronze Age (see Stos-Gale 1989:290-292; Stos
et al. 19 97; Gale 1 991 ; Budd et al. 19 95a, 1 99 5b) .complicated and sometimes heated discussion which
rounded the LIA of this category of object within th
decade (see Budd e t al. 199 5a, 199513; Gale a nd Sto
Gale 1995 ; Hall 19 95; Sayre et al. 19 95; Muhly 1 9
Pernicka 1995 a; Stos-Gale et al . 1 99 7) reflected a g
ing concern with various aspects of the interpretatio
lead isotope data within archaeology.
This concern regarding the application of LIA i
provenance studies of copper-base objects was refle
in at least two periods of intense academic debate.first period is represented by articles from Gale an
Stos-Gale (1982, 198 5) and Muhly (1983, 19 85b)
which can be added the w ork of German resear
team s presented by Pernicka et al. (19 84 ), Seelige
al. (1 98 5) , and W agner et al. (1 98 6) . The discussi
132 Early Metallurgyof the Persian Gulf
8/14/2019 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf Technology, Trade, And the Bronze Age World ThePoet006102
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/early-metallurgy-of-the-persian-gulf-technology-trade-and-the-bronze-age 153/269
these articles investigated such basic issues as mixing
and remelting of copper supplies, the production of
intentionally leaded bronzes, the possible contribution
of lead to a bronze by the addition of tin or cassiterite,
and the possible role of polymetallic ore bodies as sup-
pliers of different types of metal.
The second major debate is represented by a series
of articles and comments in the journal Archaeometry
(Sayre et al. 1992; Gale and Stos-Gale 1992; Leese
1992; Pernicka 1992, 1993; Reedy and Reedy 1992;
Budd et al. 1993a; Sayre et al. 1993; Gale and Stos-
Gale 1993). Issues discussed in this debate reflected the
greater maturity of the field, particularly the develop-
ment of large databases of isotopic analyses. The
debate thus covered the nature of samples used to
define ore fields, the statistical treatment of lead iso-
topic data in the removal of outliers and the delin-
eation of ore fields, and the reliability of laboratory
measurements of lead isotope ratios.Over the course of the development of LIA in
archaeology, a more general discussion has also arisen
regarding the legitimate aims and theoretical limitations
of such research, particularly an aspect dubbed the
"provenance paradigm" (Budd et al. 1996). Although
the earliest lead isotope research in archaeology was
conducted with the aim of determining absolute prove-
nance for the analyzed objects, it was also realized that
outlining isotopic similarities and divergences within an
archaeological assemblage, without any assignation of
absolute provenance, could be important in the forma-
tion of archaeological theories (Brill and Wampler
1967:72). As LIA in archaeology developed, the deter-
mination of absolute provenance for archaeological
objects was embraced as the logical function of the tech-
nique, as examination of any of the analytical reports of
the 1970s and 1980s will attest. This was partly a result
of the optimism that surrounded the technique in the
early stages of its application to archaeological prob-
lems, when the possibility of frequent and significant
overlaps in ore-fields seemed minimal.However, as the body of available lead isotope
data grew, the number of overlaps between ore-fields
increased significantly (Pernicka et al. 1990:278), and
the potential of the technique to delineate exclusively
the sources of the copper used in archaeological
objects seemed to dwindle. Pernicka et al. (1990:
went so far as to state that "we are in the very
ungratifying situation that more measurements lea
more ambiguity " The emerging difficulties and d
surrounding LIA in archaeology are a result of th
growing body of data and the resultant ore-field o
laps: the search for absolute provenance has led s
ars to utilize analytical techniques which contain
propriate geological and statistical assumptions, in
effort to limit the lead isotope fields characterizin
compositional variability within ore bodies.
Furthermore, the basic notion that lead isotope d
allow strong negative conclusions but only weak p
tive assignations of source has often been overloo
Budd et al. (1996:169) suggest that "the interpret
of lead isotope data has not taken place within a
framework which reflects the true complexity eith
ore deposits, or-perhaps more importantly-of m
supply and circulation in the ancient world".In proposing to move "beyond the tired old i
of provenance", Budd et al. (1996:172-173) note
instances in which "detecting change in the patter
metal procurement and use is more useful than as
ing provenance". For example, studies of material
from the Bronze Age Aegean sites of Poliochni an
Thermi have demonstrated the potential of lead is
tope studies to provide information on trade and
exchange based on the diversity of lead isotope c
positions found at a site (Pernicka et al. 1990:263
posit changes in trade patterns rather than techno
as explanation for changes in overall metal compo
tion a t a site (Begemann et al. 1995:123), and t o
gest chronological inter-relationships between sites
based upon isotopic evidence (Begemann et al.
1992:219). The power of lead isotope studies to
clusively exclude possible ore sources has been us
great (and surprising) effect in studies of early me
use in the Balkans (Pernicka et al. 1993) and sou
eastern Anatolia (Schmitt-Strecker et al. 1992), wh
presumed early use of metal from the famous minsites of Rudna Glava and Ergani Maden respectiv
has been proven at least partially incorrect. The p
bility for isotopic analyses to suggest similarly nov
hypotheses in the context of Gulf archaeology wo
seem to be correspondingly high.
Lead Isotope Analysis in Archaeology
8/14/2019 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf Technology, Trade, And the Bronze Age World ThePoet006102
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/early-metallurgy-of-the-persian-gulf-technology-trade-and-the-bronze-age 154/269
Issues for Archaeological LIA in the Gulf Region
In the following section, the results of geological lead iso-
tope studies in southeastern A rabia a re discussed, as they
are an impo rtant resource for archaeological LIA in the
region. Subseque ntly, general issues imp orta nt in the inter-
pre tatio n of LIA in archaeological co ntexts ar e discussed.
These include the isotop ic variability of individu al ore
bodies an d the samples used t o define them, p roblems of
mixing and recycling, the intentional addition of lead tocopper-base objects, the possible c ontribu tion of lead
by the t in or cassiteri te used to manufacture a t in-
bronze, and the various approaches to displaying and
summ arizing isotopic da ta. In al l cases, the specific
implications of these issues for our understanding of
archaeological LIA in southeastern Arabia and the
Gulf are discussed.
Geological Lead Isotop ic Studies of the Semail Oph iolite
The lead isotope characterist ics of an o re deposit dependentirely upon the geological context in which tha t ore wa s
formed. For this reason, a great deal of lead isotope analy-
sis has been ca rried ou t by geologists interested in estab-
lishing the processes involved in the fo rm atio n of specific
ore bodies an d in particular classes of or e bodies (e.g.
Gulson 1 986; Garikpy and Dupr6 1991 .Geological
research has determined many of the parameters th at
affect the lead isotope values for sp ecimens from specific
geological contexts. These parameters are often the basis
for archaeological discussions of lead isotope data, a nd so
the geological use and inter pretation of such data is an
impo rtant issue.
Lead isotopic studies in the O ma n M ountains have
been carried ou t since the early 19 80s and a re presented
and discussed in numerous pap ers (Til ton et al. l 9 8 1 ; Chen
and Pall is ter l9 8 1;Gale et al. l 9 8 1;Thorpe 1982; Doe
1982; Gale and Spooner 1982; Hamel in et al . 1984 ; 1988;
Lippard et al. 19 86: 134-135; Calvez an d Lescuyer 19 91;
Briqueau et al . 1 991; Stos-Gale et al . 1997 ; 103-105). In
Om an, analyses have included rock and m ineral samples
fro m all the majo r stra ta of the Semail Oph iolite, as well asfrom copper-bearing massive sulfides in the upper volcanic
sequence at such impo rtant ancient mining si tes as Lasail ,
Bayda a nd 'Arja.
The conclusions draw n fro m this collected data
relate to the mechanisms by which the Semail Ophioli te
was fo rmed, an d the geological time an d co ntext o
formation. T he early uranium-lead isotopic study b
Tilton et al . (1 98 1) established an age fo r the op hio
of approximately 9 5 million years, while Ch en and
Pallister (19 81:26 99) concluded, based on co mpari
with LIA of samples from mid-ocean ridge basalts
(MO RB ), that the ophiol ite was formed from ocean
mantle ma gma at a n oceanic spreading center.
Furthermore, lead isotope data for Fe-Cu sulfides fLasail, Bayda and 'Arja suggested that sulfide ore f
mation in the upper levels of the o phioli te occurred
the paleo-spreading axis, and involved h ydrotherm
activity only within the o ceanic crust (C hen and
Pal l i s ter l981 27O7). That is, there was no incorpo
tion of radiogenic lead fr om continental cru st sedim
during ore genesis. In contrast, the lead isotope ana
of serpentinized peridotite from the mantle sequenc
the ophioli te and a galena samp le from below the o
oli te nappe suggested that radiogenic lead (from eicontinental are a or oceanic sedimen ts) could have b
incorp orated into samples as par t of serpentinizati
galena-forming processes (Chen and Pall ister 1981
'These early lead isotope studies consistently in
cated a difference between the isotopic characterist
the Semail Ophioli te and the Tro odos O phioli te of
Cyprus (H amel in et al. 1984, 198 8). In the Semai l
Ophiolite, there was significant homogeneity in the
isotope characteristics of sulfides, rocks and sedim
whereas Tro odos isotopic compo sit ions were heter
nous a nd included more radiogenic lead (Ha melin
l 9 88:229 ). Differing geody namic processes were su
gested to explain this discrepancy (Ham elin et al .
1988:229).
However, more recent lead isotope program s i
Om an Peninsula have changed this picture (Figure
Analysis of ore samples from sulfide deposits and p
ic sediments associated w ith tw o dist inct volcanic
episodes (V 1 and V2 ) has suggested that the over
interpre tation of the isotopic composit ions of the s
phides of the Samail nappe mineralization as beingrestricted to typical MO RB values ...needs to be rev
as does the accepted isotopic dist inction between th
Samail and Troodos ophioli tes and the geodynami
inferences tha t this implied (Calvez and Lescuyer
1991:396).
134 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf
8/14/2019 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf Technology, Trade, And the Bronze Age World ThePoet006102
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/early-metallurgy-of-the-persian-gulf-technology-trade-and-the-bronze-age 155/269
The isotopic data have obvious significance for
archaeological studies, even though most of the geologi-
cal samples analyzed were no t copper ores, and some
came from different parts of the de posit than those
which host the copper. Research has dem onstra ted that
there is no systematic difference between the lead iso-
tope comp osit ion of various parts of an ore body (e.g.
the gossan, oxidized zone, secondary-enrichmen t zone
or unw eathered zo ne) or between part icular m inerals ina deposit (Begemann et al. 1989:273-274; Gale and
Stos-Gale 1993:256; Pernicka 1993 :260; al though see
Ixer 19 99 for a rare, b ut archaeologically-relevant
example of mineral paragenesis at the G reat Orm e mine
in Wales). It follows that the isotopic analyses of pyrite
or galena samples from Oman are quite acceptable in
the definition of a lead isotope ore-field to examine
copper production, as long as they are from the same
ore depo sit .
Based on the geological studies, the range of leadisotopic compo sit ions tha t might have been expected to
characterize copper produced from the massive-sulfide
deposits of the A1 Hajjar Mountains has been increased
to include m ore radiogen ic values. Secondly, the new
data from Oman significantly overlap isotopic data for
the copper ore deposits of C yprus (c ontra Stos-Gale et
al . 19 97 ) and the Taurus M ountains (Yener et al . 199 1).
While this ove rlap is of limited significance for ar chaeo -
logical LIA in the Gulf, the discrimination of the use of
Oman i , Cypriot and A natolian copper in areas such as
Mesopotamia may be compromised. The archaeological
significance of the geological LIA from Oman is dis-
cussed further in the following sections.
Isotopic Variability in Omani Ore Deposits
Early archaeological studies incorp orating LIA suggest-
ed that individual ore deposits should have either a
small linearly-related isotopic distribution, representing
a secondary i sochron on an i sotopic plot (Gale
197 8:537 ), or a very l imited isotopic range (Barnes et
al. 1974:6; Gale 1 97 85 40 ). The lat ter ore bodies arethe so-called conformable deposits (Fau re
1977:235-237; Gulson 19 86:30 ), i.e. ore deposits
al . 1993:29; Stos-Gale and Gale 1994: 100 ). Linear
arrays in lead isotope data for ore depo sits represen
anomalous or multi-stage leads, which have m
complicated forma tion histories (F aure 1977:Chapt
14).
A belief in the general conformity of Cypriot c
ore dep osits underlies recent efforts to determine th
isotopic fingerprint of individual Cypriot mines as
opposed to a general Cypriot field (Gale 19 99; SGale et al. 1997 ; Gale and Stos-Gale 1992 :314). As
ed by Gale ( l9 9 9 : l l l ) , the concept of a lead i soto
field for a single deposit is useful for the majority o
uranium-poor deposits in the Mediterranean
region ... he extension of the concept to an island, o
geographical region, is fraught with difficulties . T
isotopic spread of the combined Cypriot lead isoto
data (approximately two percent) i s too large to re
sent a single conformable deposit , an d conceals a m
detailed isotopic structure defined by individual miwith very restricted isotopic composit ions probably
reflecting their conformable nature (Stos-Gale et al.
199 7:86). This realization is significant for archaeo
cal LIA in Oman, where copper deposits occur in a v
ally identical geological con text to thos e of Cyp rus.
Figure6.1 Lead isotope data for massive sulfide deposits from
Oman, in comparison to mid-ocean ridge basalts (MORB).Coa
sites: Lasail, Bayda,'Arja, Daris 1 and Zuha. Inland V1 sites: Raki
Hayl as-SafiLV2 sites: Daris 2 and Maqa'il. MORB boundaries af
Hamelin et al. (1988).
which were formed at the same t ime as their host rocks,
and which have an isotopic variation of only 0.3-0.5
percent (e.g. Begemann et a1 1989:273-275; Pernicka et
Lead Isotope Analysis in Archaeology
8/14/2019 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf Technology, Trade, And the Bronze Age World ThePoet006102
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/early-metallurgy-of-the-persian-gulf-technology-trade-and-the-bronze-age 156/269
As illustrated in Figure 6.1, the accumulated body
of geological lead isotope data from southeastern Arabia
indicates a relatively broad range of lead isotope compo-
sitions for the copper-bearing massive sulfide deposits of
the Semail Ophiolite, with at least two distinct fields
(Calvez and Lescuyer 1991). Clearly, the isotopic varia-
tion in the Omani ores is the result of numerous con-
formable deposits, andlor the existence of deposits with
anomalous lead isotope characteristics. An examination
of the isotopic variability of individual ore deposits from
Oman (see Figure 6.2) indicates that ores from the 'Arja
mine show a very limited isotopic variation, compatible
with a conformable deposit, while the Raki mine has a
slightly larger variation which might indicate anomalous
leads, and the A1 Ajal deposit has a clearly anomalous
linear isotopic signature. Although only a few analyses
of material from Daris 1 and Daris 2 have been under-
taken (two samples each), they show limited isotopic
variability compatible with conformable deposits,whereas ores from Bayda, Lasail and Hay1 as-Safil (two
samples each) show anomalous lead isotope characteris-
tics (Calvez and Lescuyer 1991; Stos-Gale et al. 1997).
The geological lead isotope studies of ores from the
Semail Ophiolite discussed above have recently been
supplemented by LIA of ores, processing debris, and
artifacts from the Sultanate of Oman undertaken
Figure 6 2 The isotopic variability of copper ores from individual oredeposits in Oman. An ellipse showing isotopic variation of approxi-
mately 0.5 percent, the theoretical l imit of a conformable deposit, s
illustrated in the top lef t corner.
ex p ic it l y for the purposes of archaeological rese
The analyses conducted by Prange et al. (1999:191
Figure 7) are not fully published, but present data i
graphical form on the isotopic characteristics of 16
samples from copper deposits in the Semail Ophiol
The data are reproduced in Figure 6.3, along with
geological isotope data for massive sulfide deposits
the Semail Ophiolite and the A1 Ajal copper-gold
deposit. The latter ore deposit is geologically distin
from the Semail Ophiolite, being hosted by signific
older Late Permian rocks of the Hawasina series. T
new ore analyses are significant in tha t they provid
second demonstration (after Calvez and Lescuyer 1
of "a more complicated formation of ore deposits i
Oman mountain range than previously estimated"
(Prange et al. 1999:191). The range of isotopic com
tions which characterize copper ores from Oman, a
which could potentially characterize Bronze Age co
produced in the region, has been expanded significby this research.
However, the lead isotope database for Omani
per ores is, as it stands, far from complete. Small
deposits from mantle and lower crustal formations
Semail Ophiolite (see Chapter Two) are poorly cha
terized, even allowing for the fact that some of the
analyses presented by Prange et al. 1999 may be fr
such contexts. Although non-economic in modern
such ores were vital to early copper production in
eastern Arabia (see Chapters Two and Five).
Additionally, there are no lead isotope analyses of
per ores from Masirah Island, off the southeastern
of Oman, which are known to have been exploited
at least the early second millennium BCE (Weisger
1988, 1991a; Hauptmann 1985:Abb 3 ) . These ore
ophiolite-hosted, and were originally thought to re
sent a part of the Semail Ophiolite. However, recen
logical research has determined that the Masirah
Ophiolite is genetically unrelated to the mainland
lite (see Chapter Two), and copper from the Masir
Ophiolite is likely to have a different range of leadtope ratios than that seen for the Semail Ophiolite
(Nagler and Frei 1994) . Finally, very small copper
deposits located within a number of geological uni
underlie the Semail Ophiolite (see Chapter Two) re
largely unanalyzed.
136 Early Metallurgyof the Persian Gulf
8/14/2019 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf Technology, Trade, And the Bronze Age World ThePoet006102
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/early-metallurgy-of-the-persian-gulf-technology-trade-and-the-bronze-age 157/269
The potential importance of these smaller southeast
Arabian copper deposits is clear from previous LIA of
Bronze Age copper objects from Oman (Prange et al.
1999:Figure 7), the U.A.E (Weeks 1999) and Bahrain
(Weeks, forthcoming a), as illustrated in Figure 6.4.
While copper objects from late third and early second
millennium BCE contexts display a relatively limited
range of isotopic compositions (represented by the
ellipse drawn on Figure 6 .4) , contemporary copper
ingots from Tell Abraq, Saar and Oman show a much
greater isotopic variation and a different distribution.
Furthermore, the isotopic composition of at least half of
the ingots is incompatible with any of the ores currently
analyzed (Prange et al. 1999; Calvez and Lescuyer 1991;
Stos-Gale et al. 1997 ). Comparisons can be drawn with
a group of metal samples from Sardinia analyzed by
Begemann et al. (2001:Figures 11-13). Like a number of
the Gulf ingots, Sardinian objects from the Nuraghe
Albuccio hoard show depleted levels of thorogenic
20*Pb, inconsistent with known local or nearby ore
sources. Begemann et al. (2001:73) have suggested that
such isotopic characteristics are a feature of lead "from
a magma source with the lower-than-average
thorium/uranium ratio typical of deep-seated magmas".
As noted by Prange et al. (1999:191), at the moment it
is impossible to determine whether the discrepancies in
the isotopic characteristics of ores, ingots and objects
reflect the incomplete sampling of Omani ore deposits,
or the importation into the Gulf of copper from foreign
sources such as Iran or the sub-continent. Needless to
say, the presence of foreign copper ingots in southeastern
Arabia, the putative "copper mountain of Magan",
would be a very surprising discovery with significant
archaeological implications.
Figure 6.3 LIA data for copper ores from Oman. An ellipse sho
isotopic variation of approximately0.5 percent, the theoretica
of a conformable deposit, is illustrated n the top left corner.
]copper
2.11o n
a
Q
g 2.07
UOres
Figure 6.4 Isotopic composition of Omani ores, in comparison
copper ingots and finished objects from southeastern Arabia
Bahrain.
Sources of Lead in Copper-base Objects
from Southeastern Arabia
In the initial stages of LIA of copper-base objects, ques-
tions were raised as to the possible intentional addition
of lead to copper alloys in the Bronze Age. Lead wasargued to be a ubiquitous occurrence in early copper
objects, frequently occurring at levels of up to two per-
cent and possibly as high as five to six percent purely as
a result of the type of ore smelted and the refining tech-
nology used (Gale and Stos-Gale 1985:97). However, an
Lead Isotope Analysis in Archaeology
8/14/2019 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf Technology, Trade, And the Bronze Age World ThePoet006102
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/early-metallurgy-of-the-persian-gulf-technology-trade-and-the-bronze-age 158/269
intentional addition of lead would undermine one of the study are extremely unlikely to have been intentiona
basic assum ptions of the LIA app roach to copper prove- leaded, an d those produced of un-alloyed copper sh
nance, as the lead in the objects would be sourced rather
than the copper.
The vast m ajority of Bronze Age copper-base arti-
facts from the eastern Mediterranean analyzed isotopi-
cally by Gale and Stos-Gale conta ined less than one per-
cent lead, and were considered extremely unlikely to
have been intentionally leaded (Gale and Stos-Gale1982:12-3; 1985:85-87). Likewise, leaded copp er and
bronze objects are infrequent in most areas of western
Asia in the Bronze Age: very few are fo und in Egypt
until the first millennium BCE (e.g. Cowell 1987;
Momm sen et al . 197 9) , al though they ap pear sporadi-
cally in the Levant, Mesopotamia and Iran as early as
the fourth millennium BCE (Philip 1991:98-101; Malfoy
and M enu 198 7; Tallon et al . 1989:142-144; Miil ler-
Karpe 1989:18 2) . The determination of intentionali ty
for leaded bronzes is a complicated question, with many
parallels to the prob lem of defining an intentiona l tin-
bronze or arsenical copper alloy (see Chapter Five).
Significant lead contents may be a result of ore selection
and refining technology, but the possibility of deliberate
addition and c ontr ol of very low lead levels (e.g. Hug hes
et al. 1988 :312-313 an d Figure 1 74 ) or the effects of
scrap recycling cannot be ruled out in many cases. It is
generally accepted, however, that in contrast to areas
such as Atlantic Europe or China, the use of leaded
bronze in the ancient Near E ast and eastern
Mediterranean was n ot im portan t until the first millen-nium BCE (e.g. Northover 1997 :328).
None of the objects from A1 Sufouh, Unarl or
Unar2 analyzed isotopically in this study contain in
excess of one percent Pb, and median lead concentra-
t ions are less than 0.1 percent. Lead levels in the 1 7
objects from Tell Abraq analyzed by LIA a re also low,
even though inaccurately high Pb concentrations for
some samples were reported by EDS analysis (Weeks
1997:App endix A). Corroborative evidence comes from
previous analyses of prehistoric copper-base ob jectsfrom O ma n and the U.A.E., which indicate only a hand -
ful of objects with mor e than 1 % lead before the end of
the Iron Age (Cradd ock 198 5; Corb oud et al .
1996:Figure 59; Weeks 2000 a, 2000b; Prange and
Hau ptma nn 20 01) . Thus, the objects analyzed in this
have lead isotopic signatures closely matching those
the copper ores from which they were produ ced. An
exception to this general picture is a group of three
per-base objects from collective graves on Umm an-
Island (Frifel t 1975 a; Frifel t 1 99 1), which con tain b
elevated lead and zinc levels.
The low lead concentrations seen in the PIXE-alyzed Umm al-Nar Period objects, nearly 80 percent
which contain less than 1,000 ppm Pb, are significa
for this study for a nothe r reason. These objects are
tively lead-p oor (as classified by Gale and Stos-G
19 85) , and are highly susceptible to contamination
lead of different isotopic composition coming from
alloying components such as t in. The potential con t
tion of lead from the tin or cassiterite used in produ
a tin-bron ze object was first discussed by G ale and
Gale (1 982 :13), who suggested that t in deposits rar
contained an y lead. This conclusion was subsequen
questioned by M uhly ( 1983 :216), al though he was
prepared to concede that lead is not normally to b
found in cassiteri te (Mu hly 1985b:80 ). In general ,
isotope studies in archaeology have sought to demo
strate tha t there is no significant contribution of lea
from the tin in a tin-bronze object (e.g. Pernicka et
199 0; Stos-Gale 19 89 ). In sup por t of this premise, l
concentrations in t in ores of generally less than 10 0
are reported, as a re analyses of ancient tin ingots an
objects which s how n o sign of lead (see Cha pter FivThe analyzed tin objects from early second millenni
BCE contexts at Tell ed-Der show no detectable lea
although the analytical technique employed had rel
ly low sensitivity and results are only q ualitative (V
Lerberghe and Maes 19 84).
However, very little analytical work has been c
out on tin objects from Bronze Age contexts in wes
Asia (partially because so few are k now n), so the fu
range of expe cted lead values for tin ingots or objec
remains uncertain. Some analyses of tin objects froBronze and Iron Age archaeological contexts have
revealed the occasional presence of significant amo
of lead in tin objects (see Chapter Five). In the case
early t in object from Egypt (Eighteenth Dynasty), th
lead concentration (ca. six percent) is high enoug h
138 Early Metallurgy of th e Persian Gulf
8/14/2019 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf Technology, Trade, And the Bronze Age World ThePoet006102
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/early-metallurgy-of-the-persian-gulf-technology-trade-and-the-bronze-age 159/269
raise the possibility of a tin-lead alloy (Van Lerberghe
and Maes 1984 :103), while a bangle from Tepe Yahya
Period IVA (ca. 2000-1400 BCE) is of proto-p ewter
comprising 7 5 percent Pb and 2 5 percent Sn (Thor nton
et al . 2002a). Furthermore, small amo unts of lead are
associated with tin ores in a number of geological situa-
tions an d potentially significant trace am ou nts of lead
might therefore be expected in some tin objects.
Attempts to demonstrate that t in does not con-tribute to the lead isotope signature of tin-bronzes (e.g.
Begemann et al. 19 89; Pernicka et al. 19 90 ) have failed
to account for th e great variabili ty of lead concentra-
tions in copper and tin objects (see Stos-Gale and Gale
1994 :104). W ith highly variable lead levels in copper,
and almost certainly in tin also, no strict relationship
wou ld necessarily ex ist between tin levels and isotopic
composit ion. Thus, the demo nstrated lack of a relat ion-
ship does not mean tha t lead was only coming from the
copper a nd not the t in. In a t least one instance, exami-nation of tin and lead levels versus isotopic composition
has suggested a contribution of lead from the tin, partic-
ularly in bronzes with less than 0.1 percent (1 ,000 ppm)
lead (Gale and Stos-Gale 1985:88). More recent LIA of
material from Nuragic Sardinia has also suggested the
possibility of lead fro m tin o r cassiterite affecting the
isotopic composition of a tin-bronze alloy, although the
lack of kno wn tin ingots with lead concentrations high
enough to cause such changes is noted (Begemann et al .
2001:66-68). This issue will be addressed in more detail
in the following chapter, where the lead isotope data for
material from A1 Sufouh, Un ar l , Unar2, and Tell Abraq
is presented and discussed.
Mixing of Metal from Different Sources
As noted above, one of the primary assumptions of LIA
in archaeology is that metals from different sources have
not been mixed together to produce an object . One
exception to this rule is the alloying of tin and copper to
prod uce bronz e, where it is generally (a ltho ugh no t
always) thoug ht tha t insignificant amou nts of lead arecontributed by the tin and LIA of such objects still indi-
cates the source of the copper in the object (see above).
The possibility of intentional production of arsenical
copper throug h adm ixture of cop per with arsenic-bear-
ing ores has also been raised as a problem for LIA (Gale
and Stos-Gale 1982:13; McGeehan-Liritzis l9 96:1 6
Although the production of arsenical copper is
debated issue, there is growing evidence to suggest
most early arsenical copper was prod uced (intentio
or otherwise) as a result of the admixture of cop per
arsenic-bearing ores which occurred together in an
body, andlor the primitive technology employed in
extraction operations (Budd 199 3). Arsenic is a com
component of metal objects from Bronze Age south
ern Arabia and is found in objects from A1 Sufouh,
Unarl , Unar2 and Tell Abraq in concentrations fro
trace levels to as high as 6 percent (see Chapter Fou
Arsenic-bearing ores occur frequently in the copper
deposits of the Oman Peninsula and it seems likely
whether locally made arsenical copper was intention
produced or no t (see Chapter Five), i t is unlikely to
differed in its lead isotope composition from locally
duced pure copper.
It has also been questioned whether ores or mefrom geologically distinct sources might have been c
bined to produce copper ingots. This has been a sig
can t issue for archaeological LIA in the eastern
Me diterrane an, as the size of the Late Bronze Age o
hide ingots (which weigh ca. 25-28 kg each), has su
gested to some a uthors tha t they are too large to ha
been the product of one smelting operation (Budd e
199Sa:21).
As described in Chapter Two, copper deposits e
in a number of different geological contexts within
Oman Peninsula, and a range of different ores see
have been exploited from the third millennium BC
onwards. This can be clearly seen in the vicinity of
Umm al-Nar Period sett lement at Maysar 1, where
per ores hosted in both m antle and crustal rocks c
found within walking distance of the si te (Hauptm
1985:Abb. 6) . Copper from each of these deposits
have distinct lead isotope compositions. Furthermo
we kno w th at the copp er ingots produced in the se
ment at Maysar are secondary products, involving
agglomeration of smaller pieces raw copper from nby smelters (H aup tma nn 1985 :93). It is possible, a
indeed likely, that copper mined in the neighborho
Maysar from geologically-dist inct copper ores was
brought together at the sett lement, smelted to prod
raw copper, and subsequently remelted an d refined
Lead Isotope Analysis in Archaeology
8/14/2019 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf Technology, Trade, And the Bronze Age World ThePoet006102
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/early-metallurgy-of-the-persian-gulf-technology-trade-and-the-bronze-age 160/269
produce ingots and objects. In such a case, the lead iso- isotope studies discussed above indicate that the cop
tope signature of the resulting ingot will be intermedi- produced at these sites could have been isotopically
ate between those of its various components, and it
could be difficult to relate the copper in an ingot to the
ore bodies from which it was produced using LIA. This
potential complication will not necessarily occur at all
or even many smelting sites in southeastern Arabia, but
will be difficult to isolate without further isotopic stud-
ies of mantle-level copper deposits in the region.
Mixing also presents itself as a problem if a region
or settlement was obtaining its metal from more than
one source. For example, LIA of Greek silver coins in
the eastern Mediterranean indicated that two sources
(Laurion and Siphnos) were prominent, although it has
been suggested that mixing of silver to produce the
coinage was minimal. This position was also taken in
regard to copper use in the region prior to the Iron
Age. Gale and Stos-Gale (1982:17) stated:
Even in the Late Bronze Age there is likely to
have been a tendency to exploit to the limit
the few known extensive and accessible
sources of rich ores, and while they still yield-
ed rich ore there would have been little incen-
tive to invest time and labour in searching out
other sources. The mixing problem may have
been overemphasised. In reality it may reduce
to the possibility of mixing of metal from
only a few sources.
Stos-Gale and Gale (1994:lOS) admit that "the
possibility of mixing metal used in the production of
ancient artifacts is a real one, and should always be
taken into account when interpreting lead isotope
data", but claim "strong economic and social argu-
ments" in favor of their minimalist position (Gale and
Stos-Gale 1985:90; cf. Pernicka l995a:63). Techniques
for outlining mixing in lead isotope data have been
applied to provenance studies in the eastern
Mediterranean and Anatolia (Pernicka et al. 1984;
592-596), although their ability to actually detect
instances of mixing has been questioned (Budd et al.1995a:22).
It is clear that a significant number of copper
sources were simultaneously exploited in the Oman
Mountains from the mid-third millennium BCE onwards
(Hauptmann 1985). The geological and archaeological
tinct. The trade routes that allowed the distribution
this material within the Oman Peninsula are poorly
known, and it is difficult t o reconstruct how many
ferent local copper sources may have been supplying
northern coastal sites such as Tell Abraq, A1 Sufouh
Shimal. Tell Abraq, for example, was very likely act
as a collection point for copper to be traded further
north up the Gulf, as suggested by the large pyramid
ingot found in an early Wadi Suq context at the site
by the role that Umm an-Nar Island filled in this ca
ty before the foundation of the settlement at Tell Ab
(Frifelt 1995). When the location of Tell Abraq on a
important long-distance Bronze Age maritime trade-
route is also taken into consideration, the possibilit
metal reaching such a site from a plurality of indige
and foreign sources, each with unknown and potent
distinct isotopic characteristics, would seem to be h
Metal Recycling
Many mixing situations are likely to have arisen not
from the combining of raw copper from two or mor
sources, but from the recycling of scrap metal at set
ments distant from primary smelting centers. This is
was discussed in the series of papers by Gale and Sto
Gale (1985 ) and Muhly (1983, 1985b) , and continu
be relevant to archaeological LIA (Budd et al. 1995d
Gale 1995; McGill e t al. 1999; Begemann et al. 199
et al. 1999).
Muhly (1983:216) discussed the existence of la
"founder's hoards" of scrap metal from Late Bronze
contexts throughout the eastern Mediterranean, and
noted that the potential for significant recycling and
mixing of disparate metal sources represented by th
hoards required investigation. In response, a numbe
lines of archaeological reasoning have been used to
gest that metal recycling before the Late Bronze Age
either minimal, or would not have unduly affected t
isotopic characteristics of the objects involved. It wsuggested that, in Mediterranean contexts:
1. There was little recycling of metal prior
Late Bronze Age as there are no founder'
hoards known from this period (Gale and
Stos-Gale 1985:90).
140 Early Meta llurgy of th e Persian Gulf
8/14/2019 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf Technology, Trade, And the Bronze Age World ThePoet006102
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/early-metallurgy-of-the-persian-gulf-technology-trade-and-the-bronze-age 161/269
A number of the so-called founder's hoards
were sets of possessions "overtaken by catas-
trophe and never subsequently salvaged"
which were never intended for recycling (Gale
and Stos-Gale 1985:90).
Metal was removed from circulation by inter-
ment in burials rather than being recycled
(Gale and Stos-Gale 1989:171).
Metalwork was preferentially repaired rather
than recast as this was a simpler procedure
(Gale and Stos-Gale 1989:171).
Even if remelting was commonplace, it was
argued that it may not have introduced metal
from different sources (Gale and Stos-Gale
1985:90) or else it involved the complete
recycling of an individual object to produce
one object of a similar size (in which case the
isotopic integrity of the object would be
maintained) (Stos-Gale and Gale 1994:105).
While such hypotheses may have validity in certain
contexts, it is difficult to overcome the simple argu-
ments posited by Muhly (1985b:80) in support of
recycling. Metal was expensive, largely because compli-
cated technology was required to extract it from its
ores and because it was commonly traded over long
distances. Hence, metal was not readily discarded.
When objects broke or were no longer functional, they
were collected as scrap for later re-use, as relatively
simple pyrotechnological processes (Tylecote 1980)
allowed them to be remelted and re-cast.
The recycling of metals in ancient western Asia is
regarded as commonplace and unquestionable by most
scholars studying the region (e.g. Moorey 1994:254 for
Mesopotamia), and significant archaeological and textu-
al evidence exists to support such beliefs (Knapp 2000:
43-45; Reiter 1999:169; Muhly 1985b:81; Zettler 1990,
1992:227-230; Chakrabarti and Lahiri 1996:157-159).
The great advantage of metal over stone was that, once
extracted, it could be formed and re-formed any num-
ber of times without a great loss of mass. This funda-mental property existed independently of factors such
as the ready availability of metal in particular archaeo-
logical contexts (cf. Gale and Stos-Gale 1985:89-90),
and is likely to have transcended such economic consid-
erations in most cases. Significantly, the reasons used
by Gale and Stos-Gale (1982:l.S-17) to suggest th
copper from only a few major sources would have
been used at any one site at one time (i.e. the tec
logical complexity of smelting copper ores and the
large fuel requirements) also suggest that metal rec
cling (with its relatively simple technology and sm
fuel requirements) would have been an economical
favorable practice.
Recycling is not as significant an issue in regio
where metal from only one source is used over a lo
period of time: in such a situation, the isotopic com
sition of the copper-base objects will not be change
recycling. However, as has been clearly documented
the preceding paragraphs, multiple, isotopically-het
geneous copper sources may have supplied the Bro
Age settlements of southeastern Arabia. In such a s
tion, recycling can significantly complicate the inte
tation of lead isotope data for archaeological objec
Quantifying the extent of recycling in the earl
metal industries of southeastern Arabia is as diffic
as for the eastern Mediterranean example given ab
The Oman Peninsula witnessed the widespread dep
tion of large amounts of metalwork in collective gr
of Bronze Age, Iron Age and late Pre-Islamic date
1990a ). The consumption of metals in this way, th
removal from circulation, is in itself an argument f
limited recycling, and the necessity for continued a
sition of newly-won metal. However, the need for
metal may have been ameliorated by grave robbing
clear that prehistoric graves in the region were freq
ly robbed in antiquity for the metal objects they co
tained, as can be seen on the rare occasions when
unrobbed tombs are discovered (e.g. Potts 1990a:
383-386; Potts 2000). The so-called IbriISelme hoa
containing more than 500 copper-base and soft-sto
artifacts, is interpreted as the collected plunder of
Iron Age tomb robber, and was almost certainly de
tined for re-melting (Weisgerber l9 81 232; Hauptm
1987:214; Yule and Weisgerber 2001). It is difficu
determine at what period after their construction thplundering of these graves may have begun.
Furthermore, many excavated tombs in the reg
appear to have been re-used in periods much more
recent than their initial construction, at which time
remaining metal artifacts were removed and presum
Lead Isotope Analysis in Archaeology
8/14/2019 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf Technology, Trade, And the Bronze Age World ThePoet006102
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/early-metallurgy-of-the-persian-gulf-technology-trade-and-the-bronze-age 162/269
re-melted. Thus, metal recycling may have resulted from
both tomb robbing and tomb re-use. Most tomb re-use in
southeastern Arabia seems to have occurred in the Iron
Age or more recently. There is very little evidence for re-
use of Hafit or Umm al-Nar tombs in the second millenni-
um BCE (J.Benton, personal communication), but good
evidence for Iron Age re-use of collective burial cairns
from all preceding periods (e.g. Bibby 1970; Barker 2002;
Benton and Potts n.d.). Of course, re-use and robbing can
be entirely unrelated events, and assessing periods of
tomb plundering based upon re-use is by no means
straightforward. Yule and Weisgerber (2001:39), for
example, envisage long-term and continuous tomb-rob-
bing activities in the region, noting that "the graves of
each successive Pre-Islamic period are better preserved
than those of the preceding one [which] may be taken as
evidence for the cumulative effects of grave robbing from
early times onward".
If one was to posit a general theory for the frequencyof tomb-robbing for metals in the region then, for a num-
ber of reasons, the Umm al-Nar Period is likely to have
witnessed considerably less than subsequent millennia.
Firstly, there was very little metal to rob in tombs of the
preceding Hafit Period. This does not, of course, mean
that earlier or contemporary Umm al-Nar Period tombs,
richer in metal grave goods, were not robbed. Secondly, a
large quantity of newly-won local metal was in circula-
tion in the later third millennium BCE, perhaps as much
as a few thousand tonnes (Hauptmann 1985), which may
have reduced the need for recycling. Finally, as noted
above, there is very little evidence from the Umm al-Nar
Period for the re-use (with associated metal acquisition) of
tombs from earlier periods.
In contrast, if we look at the second millennium BCE,
there is very limited evidence for primary metal production
in the region (see Chapter Two), even though the deposi-
tion of copper-base objects in graves continues in signifi-
cant quantities. It is at least as probable that the continued
use of metal for grave goods reflects a rise in tomb-robbing
activities, rather than evidence of continued primary cop-per smelting, as is sometimes suggested (e.g. Weisgerber
1988:285). When the evidence from the Iron Age is exam-
ined, although high levels of primary copper smelting are
once again documented, recycling seems very likely
because of the practice of tomb re-use discussed above.
Thus, a number of archaeological indices sugges
the amount of recycling undertaken in southeastern
Arabia was relatively limited prior to the second mil
um BCE. Nevertheless, all isotopic data must be eva
within a framework that recognizes the basic techno
cal and economic advantages of metal recycling over
winning of new metal.
Statistical Treatment and Presentation
of Lead Isotope Data
Discussion has arisen on a number of issues relating
the statistical treatment of lead isotope data. In parti
concern has been expressed over the statistical deter
tion of the extent of ore-fields, the treatment of outli
a main isotopic distribution, and the use of multivar
statistics to further delineate ore sources with slightl
overlapping isotopic composition. Essentially, the de
was divided into those research groups who favored
use of statistical analyses in the interpretation of isodata (e.g. Sayre et al. 1992, 1993; Stos-Gale 1989:27
Stos-Gale and Gale 1994:101), and those who argue
that multivariate analyses were either unnecessary (e
Pernicka 1993:259) or statistically unjustified (Baxt
1999; Leese 1992:319; Cherry and Knapp 1991:lOO
The debate surrounding the statistical treatment
lead isotope data has clearly changed attitudes to the
of multivariate techniques within the field. For exam
recent archaeological publications on the lead isotop
characteristics of the Cypriot copper ore deposits ha
relied on relatively simple interpretation of bivariate
terplots, noting that statistical approaches "may wel
obscure rather than help the discussion" (Stos-Gale
1997:91).A similar reliance on bivariate scatterplots
suggested by Scaife et al. (1999:127), as their propos
kernel density estimations make comparisons betwee
data groups difficult, and are best regarded as a supp
ment to the simple scatterplot approach, rather than
alternative to it. In general, Scaife et a1 (1999:132) a
that complex statistical approaches in the interpretat
of LIA do a disservice to both the data and the perceof LIA within the wider archaeological community:
have failed to clarify archaeological reconstructions
ancient exchange systems and have led to a gene
"mystification" of the LIA techni que for the ge
archaeological audience.
1 4 2 Early Metallurg y of the Persian Gulf
8/14/2019 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf Technology, Trade, And the Bronze Age World ThePoet006102
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/early-metallurgy-of-the-persian-gulf-technology-trade-and-the-bronze-age 163/269
In summary, it seems clear that a basic approach
in which artifacts can be assigned to ore fields visually
using "nearest neighbor" procedures (Cherry and
Knapp 1991:100), is the most appropriate for archaeo-
logical LIA. Such a minimal approach, whereby ore-
field boundaries are delineated by enveloping lines
around the outer error bars for the data, will be used
in this volume for its simplicity and in order to avoid
the over-interpretation predicted by some researchers
(Pernicka 1993; see also Gale 2001:118). A recent iso-
topic study of copper and lead ores from the British
Isles has used just such an approach, by delineating an
"England and Wales Lead Isotope Outline (EWLIO)",
which proved useful for the description of patterns in
isotopic data (Rohl and Needham 1998 ). It should
also be noted that multivariate analysis is not used in
geological applications of LIA, where simple bivariate
plots are considered adequate for data representation
and interpretation.
Summary
The preceding discussion of LIA and its use in archae-
ology has served to highlight a number of points
important to the interpretation of lead isotope data in
southeastern Arabian and Gulf contexts. Firstly, conclu-
sions from LIA of Bronze Age material from the Gulf
will be limited by the incomplete isotopic characteriza-
tion of all the important classes of copper deposit in
the Oman Peninsula. Although the lead isotope charac-
teristics of the massive sulfide deposits at such sites as
Lasail, Bayda and 'Arja are well known, important
deposits in lower levels of the Semail Ophiolite and in
the Masirah Ophiolite which are known to have been
worked in antiquity remain poorly characterized.
Secondly, while previous compositional analyses
suggest that the intentional addition of lead to copper
and tin-bronze objects did not occur with any great fre-
quency in the Gulf region until the final centuries of the
first millennium BCE or later, the possible effect of lead
from tin or cassiterite used to produce a tin-bronze mustbe considered. The lead content of copper produced in
southeastern Arabia is often exceedingly low, suggesting
that even small amounts of lead in tin or cassiterite
could significantly perturb the lead isotope composition
Thirdly, as with archaeological LIA in all prehis
contexts, the extent of mixing and recycling within
metallurgical tradition is almost impossible to quant
Some circumstantial evidence indicates that recyclin
scrap metal may not have occurred on a significant
in southeastern Arabia until the Wadi Suq Period or
Iron Age. However, given the broad range of geolog
contexts which were exploited for copper in the anc
Oman Peninsula, the collection and mixing of ores
andlor r aw copper from isotopically distinct local
sources is a definite possibility. When the location o
archaeological sites such as Tell Abraq on prominen
long-distance marit ime trading routes is considered,
utilization at these sites of metal from many sources
becomes highly probable.
Although the potential of LIA to provide inform
tion on the absolute provenance of the copper and
bronze used at these sites is limited by the above co
erations, its ability to generate useful and interestingarchaeological hypotheses is not. A number of studi
have demonstrated the potential of LIA to provide
important information for reconstructing trade patt
technological changes and even chronological relati
ships between neighboring sites, and it is clear that
Bronze Age Gulf data could support similar inferenc
is to these data that we will now turn.
of a tin-bronze produced from local copper.
Lead Isotope Analysis in Archaeology
8/14/2019 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf Technology, Trade, And the Bronze Age World ThePoet006102
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/early-metallurgy-of-the-persian-gulf-technology-trade-and-the-bronze-age 164/269
This page intentionally left blank
8/14/2019 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf Technology, Trade, And the Bronze Age World ThePoet006102
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/early-metallurgy-of-the-persian-gulf-technology-trade-and-the-bronze-age 165/269
7 Lead Isotope Data from
the Gulf
L. R.Weeks
K. D.Collerson
Introduction
The objects from A1 Sufouh, U na rl and U nar2 in this
LIA study were ana lyzed by mu lti-collector inductively
coupled plasma mass sp ectrometry (MC -ICP-M S) at the
Advanced Centre for Queensland University Isotope
Research Excellence (AC QU IRE ), Dep artme nt of Earth
Sciences, Que enslan d University, Australia. O bjects from
Tell Abraq were analyzed in the same laboratory, but by
therm al ioniz ation mass spe ctrom etry (TIM S). Details of
analytical techniques for MC-ICP-MS, which involve the
use of thallium to correct for mass fractionation, can be
foun d in Co llerson et al. (2 00 2) , while analytical tech-
niques for the earlier TIMS analyses can be found in
Appendix O ne (Section 1.1.5).
In the following sections, the isotopic characteristics
of the objects listed in Table 7.1 are discussed according
to their archaeological and chronological contexts, in
addition to being divided into three broad compositional
grou ps. T he LIA discussion utilizes different alloy cate-
gories than were used for the discussion of composition-
a1 results in Ch apters F our and Five, where considera-tions were based on the likely physical properties of the
alloys. Geological studies have demonstrated that tin
deposits do no t occur in the Om an M ountains, where
tin c oncentrations in ore and rock samples are generally
less than 1 0 ppm (see Chapter Five). These considera-
tions suggest that all the tin used in southeastern Arabia
mus t have been imported-either as metallic tin or
alloyed with coppe r as t in-bronze, and th at any object
with mo re than a small amount of t in therefore con
a significant propo rtion of im ported metal . The bro
com positiona l grou ps used in the discussion of the L
data are therefore determined by the concentration o
foun d in the objects. Objects are divided into copp
(less than 0.5 percent Sn), copper-low tin (0.5-5.0cent Sn), and t in-bronze (mo re than 5.0 percent S
These divisions correspond to the three peaks in the
concentrations of the analyzed Umm al-Nar Period
objects illustrated in Figure 4.17. Th e group s repres
metal categories which, in a southeastern Arabian c
text, have different a priori possibilities of represent
the isotopic characteristics of local deposits.
Radiogenic Outliers in the Analyzed
Umm al-Nar Period Objects
The isotopic data from Table 7.1 is illustrated in Fig
7.1. It includes all Umm al-Nar Period objects from
tombs of A1 Sufouh, Un ar l , Unar2, a nd from settle
and funerary contexts at Tell Abraq. The figure sho
relatively lim ited linear arra y of objects w ith 207PbI
206Pb ratio s of 0.800-0.900, with tw o highly diverg
outliers. These outliers, TA699 and TA1614, are tin
bronzes from the Tell Abraq to mb , and possess very
207Pb1206Pb ra tio s of 0.6 00 -0 .70 0, low 208Pb1206Pb
of 1.750- 1.85 0, an d very high 206Pb1204Pb ra tio s of
24.00-26.00. Objects with such lead isotope ratios
generally described as radiogenic , referring to the
that their lead isotope compositions have been affec
by high levels of uranium andlor thorium in the ore
from wh ich they were smelted. Examples of the isot
systematics of radiogenic deposits are provided by t
sediment-hosted lead-zinc ores of the Mississippi Va
(Gulson 1 98 6) , while radiogenic copper deposits a r
found in modern Serbia (Pernicka et al . 1993:Figure
and n orth Wales (Rohl and N eedham 1998:176, Pls
14B, 15B ) amo ng o ther places.Two other objects illustrated in Figure 7.1 can
regarded as outl iers to the m ain distribution. Objec
M10-17 (a copper-low t in r ing f rom U na r l ) and T
(a t in-bronze ring from Tell Abra q) also have relat i
radiogenic isotopic compositions, with 207Pb1206Pb
ratios of 0.810-0.820. The fact that al l of the four
hers are t in-bronze o r copper-low tin is significant,
we kno w f rom geological studies tha t they must ha
8/14/2019 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf Technology, Trade, And the Bronze Age World ThePoet006102
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/early-metallurgy-of-the-persian-gulf-technology-trade-and-the-bronze-age 166/269
Table 7.1
Lead isotope data for objects from AI Sufouh, Un arl, U nar2, and Tell Abraq
Major 20 7 ~b l 2o abs. 20 8~ b/ 2o abs. 2 0 6~ b l 2o
Sample Site Object Elements 2 0 6 ~ b error 2 0 6 ~ b error 2 0 4 ~ b e
ASI-2
ASI-3
ASI-5
M10-41
ASTombl d
M10-7
M10-12
M10-13~
M10-17 Avg.
M10-19
M10-22r
M 10-38
M 10-39
L14N-PIN
1014.76
1014.1 58
1018-3.93
1018-3.99
1019-3.59
1019-5.71
1023-4.10
1019-3.1 05
1019-4.1 08
1023-2.1 10
TA1 07 Avg.
TA699 Avg.
TA1 21 7
TA1 227
TA1 231
TA1 286
TA1306
TA1 310
TA1 389
TA1 426
TA1428
TA1459
TA1461
TA1467
TA1 61 2
TA1614 Avg.
TA1 648
TA291 8
AI Sufouh
AI Sufouh
AI Sufouh
AI Sufouh
AI Sufouh
Unarl
Unarl
Unarl
Unarl
Unarl
Unarl
Unarl
Unarl
Unarl
Unar2
Unar2
Unar2
Unar2
Unar2
Unar2
Unar2
Unar2
Unar2
Unar2
Tell Abraq
Tell Abraq
Tell Abraq
Tell Abraq
Tell Abraq
Tell Abraq
Tell Abraq
Tell Abraq
Tell Abraq
Tell Abraq
Tell Abraq
Tell Abraq
Tell Abraq
Tell Abraq
Tell Abraq
Tell Abraq
Tell Abraq
Tell Abraq
flat fragment
flat fragment
blade edge
dagger-tanged
flat fragment
flat fragment
flat fragment
flat fragment
ring
ring
ring
tubelspout
flat fragment
pinlawl
ring
ring
pinlawl
flat fragment
flat fragment
ring
ring
flat fragment
pinlawl
lump
ring
flat fragment
flat fragment
flat fragment
spearhead
flat fragment
flat fragment
ring
pinlawl
flat fragment
pinlawl
pinlawl
ring
ring
pinlawl
ring
spearhead
ring
Cu-As-%(low)
Cu-As-Ni-CO-%(low)
CU-AS
Cu
Cu-%(low)-As-Ni
Cu-Sn(low)
Cu-As-Ni-Fe
Cu-Sn
Cu-%(low)
Cu-%(low)
Cu-Sn-Fe
Cu
Cu-Sn-Fe
Cu-As-Ni-Fe
Cu-Sn-As
Cu-Sn-As
Cu-As-Fe
Cu-Sn-As-(Ni)
Cu
Cu-Sn-As
Cu-%-(Fe)
Cu-Sn-As-Fe
Cu-As-Ni
Cu-Sn(low)-Fe
Cu-Sn-As-Ni
Cu-Sn
Cu-Sn
Cu
Cu-Sn(low)
Cu-Sn
Cu-Sn
Cu
Cu-Ni-S
Cu-S
Cu-Sn(low)-Fe
Cu-Sn
Cu
Cu-S-Fe
Cu-As-Ni-SCu-Sn-Fe
Cu-Sn
Sn-As ring
Major El ementfare those present in concentrations of greater than one percent, wi th the exception of tin, which is denoted byUSn
percent tin) and Sn (low) (0.5-5.0 percent tin).
146 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf
8/14/2019 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf Technology, Trade, And the Bronze Age World ThePoet006102
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/early-metallurgy-of-the-persian-gulf-technology-trade-and-the-bronze-age 167/269
incorporated at least some foreign metal . The isotopic
characterist ics of th e objects TA107, TA699, TA1 614
and M10-17 make the use of this foreign metal abun-
dantly clear, as ores w ith such lead isotope characteris-
t ics are not known from southeastern Arabia (see
Cha pter Six, Figure 6.3). Although the original prove-
nance of these outlying objects rem ains uncertain,
based upon the isotopic evidence it seems clear that at
least some of the tin-bronze reaching Arabia in thethird m illennium BCE was imp orted as finished
objects, or locally made from imported metal arriving
pre-alloyed as tin-bronze.
It is interesting to note th at three of the outlying
objects are rings, given the preponderance of tin-
bronze usage in this object category in the Bronze Age
(see Cha pter Five, Figure 5.3) . This d ata may indicate
that small , decorative objects such as rings may have
been important in the distribution of t in-bronze in the
Gulf in the third millennium BCE. Unfortunately, therelative simplicity of these pieces precludes a typologi-
cal investigation into their point of origin. Of course,
such objects may also have been locally manufactured
from imported metal . The remainder of the discussion
addresses only the objects with 207Pb1206Pb ratios of
greater than 0.800, 208Pb1206Pb ratios of greater than
1.990, and 206Pb1204Pb ratios of less than 20.00.
Isotopic Differences by Site
The isotopic data for Umm al-N ar Period samples from
the U.A.E. are illustrated on a site-by-site basis in Figure
7.2. M os t objects fall o n a linear ar ray with 207PbI206Pb
ratio s of app rox ima tely 0.835-0 .895, 208Pb1206Pb ratio s
of app rox ima tely 2.070-2.150, an d 206Pb1204Pb ratio s
of approximately 17.50-1 8.80. Possible exceptions can
be seen in the copper ring TA1310 from Tell Abraq
(located in cluster 1 on Figure 7.2), and flat frag-
ments 1019-3.59 and 1019-3.105 from Unar2, that
are made of copper and tin-bronze, respectively. All
of these objects fall below the main trend line on the
207Pb1206Pb versus 208Pb1206Pb plot, indicating that theyare slightly depleted in thorogenic lead in comparison to
the remaining objects. The outlying sample M 10-1 7
from U na rl shows more significant depletion of the
thorogenic lead compone nt in comparison to the o ther
analyzed Urnm al-Nar Period objects.
0.60 0.65 0.70 0.75 0.80 0.85 0.90
207Pbl206P b
Figure 7.1 LIA data for all Umm al-Nar Period objects from the
analyzed in this study.
The earl iest objects analyzed in this study com
from AI Sufouh, and fall into roughly the third q
ter of the third millennium BCE. The five objects
from this si te include dagger and blade fragments
unidentified flat fragments. They are made of cop
and As/Ni-copper, and three of the five objects co
tain from approx imately 0.66-2.0 perce nt Sn, qua
ing them as copper-low tin objects. The LIA of th
objects reveals a linear distribution with 207Pb1206
ratios of appr oxim ately 0.846-0.885, a sprea d of
more than four percent. This is clearly far too lar
represent metal from one conformable deposit , an
indicates the use of metal from multiple sources,
possibly the exploitat ion of one source with a het
geneous isotopic signature. There are no consisten
differences between the categories of copper objecand copper-low tin objects, although the least rad
ogenic value is for the copper-low tin flat fragme
ASI-2 (207Pb1206Pb = 0.88469), and the most radi
ogenic is for the tanged copper dagger M10-41
(207Pb1206Pb = 0.84658).
Lead Isotope Data from the Gulf
8/14/2019 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf Technology, Trade, And the Bronze Age World ThePoet006102
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/early-metallurgy-of-the-persian-gulf-technology-trade-and-the-bronze-age 168/269
Nine objects have been analyzed from the roughly
contemporary tomb assemblage at Un ar l . These inclu
predominantly flat fragments and rings, in addition to
fragm ents of a pinlawl and a spo ut. Com positionally, t
grou p includes three c opper samples, some with signifi
concentrations of arsenic and nickel, in addition to thre
copper-low tin objects and thr ee others of tin-bronze. I
con tras t to A1 Sufouh, a significant clustering of the iso
data from U na rl is seen, although there are a number ooutlying objects. T he m ajor cluster occu rs a t 207Pb1206
appro xima tely 0.85O7208J?b/206Pb pp roxim ately 2.10
206Pb1204Pb app rox ima tely 18.4 , and com prises thr ee t
bronzes (M10-13V, M1 0-22 R, M1 0-3 9), one copper-l
tin object (M10-7),and two copper objects (M 10-12, M
38 ). Of the three remaining samples, the copper-low tin
M 10-19 has a slightly less radiogenic isotopic sig natu
tha n the rem aining U n ar l o bjects (207Pb1206Pb= 0.85
while the AsINi-copper pin (L14N-PIN)has a more ra
ogen ic sig na tur e (207Pb1206Pb= 0.83885), and the mo
radiogenic characteristics were seen in the copper-low
ring M10-1 7 mentioned above. The isotopic spread o
clustered objects at U na rl is just under 0.5 percent, th
theoretical limit of a conf orm able ore deposit, and ma
represent the concentra tion in the tomb of metal pred
nantly from one source. Nevertheless, the isotopic ana
ses of the remaining objects ( M 1 -17, L14N-PIN, M 1
1 9 )suggest the use of m ultiple metal sou rces in the cre
ation of the tom b assemblage.
A total of ten objects have been analyzed from the
Unar2 to mb assemblage, which is dated to the last two
turies of the third millennium BCE. These include fo ur
rings, three flat fragments, two pinlawl fragm ents, and
unidentified lum p. Alloy compos itions vary from relat
pure copper, to As/Ni-copper, copper-low tin, and tin-
bronze (often with significant concentration s of arsen i
contrast to the Un ar l assemblage, the Unar2 m etal obj
show very little evidence of clustering in their isotop ic
acteristics, displaying rather a linear array. The mo st ra
ogenic isotopic values are seen in the tw o analyzed A s/
copper pinlawl fragments (10 18-3.93,1019-4.108), wshow very s imilar is otopic cha racteristics (207Pb1206Pb
approximately 0.839 ). These samples are also very simFigure 7 2 LIA data (207Pb/206Pb nd 208~ b/ 206 ~batios only) for all compos~t~ona~~y ,ontaining significant concentrationsUmm al-Nar Period objects, arranged by site (outliers TA699,TA1614not shown).white squares show isotopic data for the site of inter- arsenic and The remaining t
est, gray circles show data for the other three sites. site (flat fragment 1 01 -3 3 9 ) s of extremely pure cop
148 Early Metallu rgy of t he Persian Gulf
8/14/2019 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf Technology, Trade, And the Bronze Age World ThePoet006102
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/early-metallurgy-of-the-persian-gulf-technology-trade-and-the-bronze-age 169/269
and has a m uch less radiogenic signatu re (207Pb1206Pb=
0.87 28 5). This sample has a n almost identical isotopic
composition t o a flat arsenical tin-bronze fragm ent from
the site (1019-3 .105),showing th at isotopic homogeneity
can oc cur in compositionally diverse samples. These two
flat fragments stand o ut isotopically from the remainder of
the U nar2 assemblage in being relatively deficient in thoro -
genic lead (208Pb1206Pb appro xima tely 2.1 1 0).
Th e remaining objects from U nar2 are all tin-bearing,and form a linear arra y from the most radiogenic values of
207Pb1206Pb app rox ima tely 0 .84 3 (arsen ical tin- bronze ring
l9 5 7 l) , to the least radiogenic value of any object analyzed
in this study, the copp er-low tin lump 1 23-2.11 0) wi th a
207Pb1206Pb ra tio of 0.89 320 . N o clear evidence f or iso-
topic clustering can be seen in this gr ou p of objects,
althoug h the tin- bronze ring 1 019-5 .71 and the tin-bronze
flat fragment 1018 -3.99 have similar isotopic characteris-
tics. As for the objects from A1 Sufouh and U na rl, the large
spread of isotopic ratios of the assemblage from U nar2(appr oxim ately six percent) suggests that multiple sources
of metal were used to create the objects foun d in the tomb.
A total of 10 objects from the Umm al-N ar Period
tom b at Tell Abraq, and eight from near-contemp orary set-
tlement contex ts at the site, underw ent LIA and this da ta
has been published (Weeks 19 99 ).The objects analyzed
include predom inantly rings and flat fragments (six of
each), in addit ion to four pinlawl fragments and tw o spear-
heads. Alloy comp ositions include pure copper, AsINi-cop-
per, copper-low tin, tin-bronze, an d one tin object. Th e
objects ar e not those for which compo sitional da ta are pre-
sented above in Cha pter Four, as they come from settlement
contexts and the western cham ber of the tomb , rather than
the eastern tom b chamber. The objects were analyzed com-
positionally by SEM rather t ha n PIXE, and the results ar e
reported elsewhere (Weeks 1997:Table 14 ).
Th e Tell Ab raq isotopic da ta sh ow the largest spread of
any Um m al- Na r Period site analyzed in this study. As dis-
cussed above, this is primarily due to the tw o highly-radi-
ogenic tin-bronzes from settlement and b urial contexts at
the site (TA699,TA1614), and anoth er tin-bronze (TA107)that h as a significantly more ra diogen ic signatur e tha n the
majo rity of Tell Ab raq objects. However, theremaining
objects from the site still showsign ificant isotop ic diversity,
with 207Pb1206Pb ra tio s of appro xim ately 0 .834-0 .874, a
spread of more tha n four percent.
Within this range, the re app ear to be three clust
objects. Th e first is comprised of four ob jects with
207Pb1206Pb ratio s of app rox ima tely O.835,208Pb/20
ratio s of ap pro xim ately 2.0 75 , an d 206Pb1204Pb ratio
approximately 18.80. Three of the objects (TA 1217
TA12 86, TA1306) sho w very similar isotopic compo
tions, and all are flat tin-bronze fragm ents from the
tomb. The fourth possible member of the cluster
(TA131 0) s a r ing of pure copper (> 99percent C u) the settlem ent, howeve r it is lower in thorogen ic lea
than the t in-bronzes and thus sl ightly isotopically di
tinct. The second cluster is com posed of fo ur object
(TA1227, TA1426, TA1461, TA1612) from tomb an
settleme nt contexts a t the site. All are of copper, alth
TA161 2 contains some arsenic and significant amo u
of nickel. The cluster is centered on 207Pb1206Pb rati
appro xima tely 0.840,208Pb/206Pb ratios of 2.080-2.
and 206Pb1204Pb ratios of 18 .60-1 8 .80, a nd h as a sp
of approx imately 0.2 percent. Th e third cluster is foby a gro up of five objects from tom b an d settlement
texts, and various al loys including copper (T A14 67
copper (TA1389 ), copper-low t in (TA142 8), in-bro
(TA145 9), and a t in r ing (TA2918 ).Th e cluster is ce
tered on a 207Pb1206Pb ratio of approximately 0.847
as for the previous grou p show s a very l imited isoto
spread (approximately 0.4 percent ) . The remaining
objects from Tell Abr aq are a copper-low tin spearh
(TA 1231 ) from the sett lement a nd a t in-bronze spea
head ( TA 1648 ) from the tom b (for an i l lustrat ion, s
Weeks 1997:Figure 8) , both of which have the least
ogenic isotopic characteristics of the analyzed Tell A
ma teria l (207Pb1206Pb >0.870,208Pb/206P b >2 .120 ,
206Pb1204Pb ~ 1 8 . 1 0 ) .
Th e large isotopic spread of the Tell Abra q obje
suggests tha t multiple sources were used in the prod
tion of the copper-base objects used at the site, and
clustering of the objects into a few isotopically hom
neou s group s may reflect the use of metal from a nu
of conformable deposits. Two of the isotopic group
show a significant degree of compositional homogenity-one consisting predo mina ntly of copp er object
the other of t in-bronzes (a group tha t also shows ty
logical homogeneity). The third cluster shows great
positiona l diversity, w ith the five objects represe ntin
different alloy types.
Lead Isotope Data from the Gulf
8/14/2019 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf Technology, Trade, And the Bronze Age World ThePoet006102
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/early-metallurgy-of-the-persian-gulf-technology-trade-and-the-bronze-age 170/269
The m ajor isotopic characteristics of copper-base
objects fr om the four sites can be summ arized as follows:
Linear arrays du e to the mixing of lead from dif-
ferent sources are com mon in each site's isotopic
da ta, in the 207PbI206Pb range of 0.800 -0.900 . In
general, the isotopic data suggest the use a t each
site of metal from multiple sources, rather th an
solely one isotopically homogeneous source. An
exception might be Una rl , w here most objects
fall into a relatively limited isoto pic rang e.
Highly radiogenic samples are fou nd on ly at Tell
Abraq (TA699 , TA 161 4), al though radiogenic
outliers are reported from both Tell Abraq
(TA107) and Una r l (M10-17 ) .
A1 Sufouh and U na rl samples mostly show
207PbI206Pb ratio s of grea ter th an 0.845. Wh ile
Tell Abraq and Unar2 have also produced sam-
ples in this range, these sites have also pro duce d
num erou s objects with m ore radiogen ic 207PbI206Pb ratio s of 0.834-0.845. Th is ma y reflect
chronological differences in metal supply.
Figure 7.3 LIA data for all Umm aCNar Period objects by alloy cate-
gory (outliersTA699,TA1614 not shown).
Differences by Composition (Alloy Group)Although th e coastal location of U.A.E. tombs an d th
strong trade connections found in the excavated m at
suggest tha t foreign copp er could have been exploite
A1 Sufouh, Un ar l, U nar2 and Tell Abra q, the possibl
of foreig n metal is mos t clearly an issue in the discus
of the tin-bronzes. In such a situa tion, it is possible f
isotopic differences between cop per objects and tin-b
ing objects to provide a useful indicator of the me cha
nisms by which tin and tin-bearing alloys were traded
the early periods of their use. The LIA data for Um m
N ar Period objects analyzed in this thesis is illustrate
Figure 7.3, based upon the compositional groups (co
copper-low tin, tin-bron ze). Some clear differences c
seen, and become more ap paren t when histograms o
isotopic data are examined (Figures 7.4 and 7.5).
Objects of copper, copper-low tin, an d tin-bronz e
seem to fall upo n the sa me isotop ic trend line in Figur
Th e majority of objects, including examp les from all agro ups , have 207Pb/206Pb ratio s in the 0.834 -0.856 ran
How ever, within this range the ov erlap of objects fro m
ferent alloy groups is not co nsistent. As can be seen in
Figure 7.4, copper objects (including As N -co pp er) sh
tw o is otop ic cluster s: on e a t 207Pb1206Pb ra tio s of
0.836 -0.842 , the oth er a t 207Pb/206Pb ra tio s of 0.846-
0.850. Of these two ranges, tin-bronzes an d copper-lo
objects are found only in the second, tha t with less rad
ogenic characteristics (see Figure 7.5). Only three of 1
analyzed copper objects have 207PbI206Pb ratios highe
than 0.850, tw o of which a re AsJNi-copper (ASI-5, M
12) ,and on e of which is of very pure copper (1 019- 3.
N o co pper ob jects have been analyze d wit h 207Pb1206P
ratios of less than 0.836. In co ntrast, many tin-bearin
objects have isotopic compositions outside the 207PbI2
range of 0.836-0.850. Mo re than one-quarter of the a
lyzed tin-b ear ing ob jects have 207Pb/206Pb ratios of les
tha n 0.836, including the radiogenic tin-bron zes from
Abraq (TA107, TA699, TA161 4) and the copper-low
ring from Una rl (M1 0-17 ). Furthermore, half of the
bearing copper-base objects have 207Pb1206Pb ratios ogreater than 0.850 , including copper-low tin objects
all sites (ASI-2, ASI-3, AS Tom bld, M10 -7, M 10-1 9,
2.110, TA123 l ) , nd t in-bronzes from Una rl (M10-
Unar2 (1014.76, 1014.158, 1023-4.10, 1019-3.105)
Tell Abraq (TA1648).
15 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf
8/14/2019 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf Technology, Trade, And the Bronze Age World ThePoet006102
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/early-metallurgy-of-the-persian-gulf-technology-trade-and-the-bronze-age 171/269
Thus, although there is isotopic similarity between a
small proportion of copper objects, tin-bronzes, and cop-
per-low tin objects, the significant isotopic variation
between the alloy groups suggests that different sources
of metal were used to produce them. Of course, the inclu-
sion of foreign metal in tin-bearing objects in the U.A.E.
is indicated by the presence of the tin itself. The LIA indi-
cates that some of this imported metal, whether tin or
pre-alloyed tin-bronze, was isotopically distinct from the
majority of the copper used in the region. There is clear
archaeological evidence, in the form of the tin ring from
the Tell Abraq tomb (TA2918), that metallic tin was
available in the southern Gulf in the late third millennium
BCE. Interestingly, the isotopic composition of this entire-
ly foreign metal is very similar to a number of the copper
objects analyzed in this study. If we assume that this cop-
per was locally produced in southeastern Arabia, the pos-
sibility arises that even entirely foreign tin-bronzes, arriv-
ing pre-alloyed as ingots or objects, may be difficult todiscern isotopically from local copper. These issues will be
addressed in the following sections.
Materials that potentially contributed lead to the tin-
bearing and copper objects are important to assess. Lead
levels in the analyzed Umm al-Nar Period objects are gen-
erally low, commonly less than 2,000 ppm and frequently
much lower (see Chapter Four; EDS analyses of the Tell
Abraq material report higher Pb values, but are unreliable,
see Weeks 1997:Appendix A). Such low lead levels are
unlikely to represent the intentional alloying of lead with
copper or tin-bronze, so the lead in the objects is likely
derived from the lead in their parent ores (cf. Gale and Stos-
Gale 1982:12-13), Thus, objects of unalloyed copper
(includingAsINi-copper) analyzed in this study should have
lead isotopic signatures closely matching those of the copper
ores from which they were produced. In contrast, as tin-
bronze is an alloy of copper and tin, there is obvious potential
for the mixture of metal (orores) from entirely different
sources. In such a case, the lead isotope signature of the result-
ing tin-bronze may differ from the copper from which it was
produced. It is therefore important to assess the amount of
lead that might have come from the tin or the copper. As dis-
cussed in Chapter Six, the very low lead concentrations of
the majority of copper ores and archaeological objects from
southeastern Arabia make them extremely liable to con-
tamination by lead-bearing cassiterite, tin or tin-bronze.
Figure 7.4 207Pb/206Pbsotopic composition of Umm al-Nar P
copper objects (including AsINi-copper) from the U.A.E.analy
this study (outliers ASI-5,1019-3.59 not shown).
Figure 7.5 207Pb/206~bsotopic ranges for Umm al-Nar Period
objects analyzed in this study, showing copper objects (lower
copper-low tin objects, and tin-bronzes (upper chart).
Two major explanations exist for the isotopic di
crepancy between tin-bearing objects and copper sam
from the Umm al-Nar Period in southeastern Arabia
1. The isotopic distribution of the tin-bronzes
affected by lead from the tin, or alternativel2. The imported tin contributed little or no lea
the tin-bronzes, and the isotopic disparities
between the tin-bearing and copper objects
cate that different copper sources were used
their production.
Lead Isotope Data from the Gulf
8/14/2019 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf Technology, Trade, And the Bronze Age World ThePoet006102
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/early-metallurgy-of-the-persian-gulf-technology-trade-and-the-bronze-age 172/269
If the first alternative was the case, we would expect to
see the distribution of tin-bearing objects spread away
from the field for local copper in the direction of the iso-
topic signature of the lead in the tin, although there
would be some degree of overlap (reflecting instances in
which lead levels in the copper have overwhelmed the
lead contribution of the tin) . There is certainly no direct
relationship between tin concentrations and lead isotope
characteristics, as some of the most outlying samples con-
tain only low tin levels. However, as outlined in Chapter
Six, there is no reason to expect a predictable relationship
between tin concentrat ions and isotopic characteristics,
due to the likelihood of highly variable lead levels in tin
and copper. The second alternative listed above would
suggest tha t at least some of the tin-bronze was being
traded t o southeastern Arabia in its alloyed form, either
as ingots or as finished objects. In this case, the clear iso-
topic overlap between the copper and tin-bronze objects
could result from the use of foreign metal with a similarisotopic signature to local copper (we have seen already
that this is possible, as in the case of the Tell Abraq tin
ring TA2918). Alternatively, the overlap might indicate
instances where lead-free metallic tin was alloyed with
local copper.
Unfortunately, the EDS analyses of the tin ring from
Tell Abraq are not of sufficient sensitivity to allow for the
accurate determination of the lead concentration of the
object. This important information is a priority of future
research. The isotopic composition of the Tell Abraq tin
ring is similar to that of many objects from the site, sug-
gesting that the effect of the addition of lead from the tin
might be minimal in isotopic terms, and also that entirely
foreign metal may be indistinguishable from local copper.
The tin ring has isotopic characteristics common to a
group of Bronze Age samples from A1 Sufouh, Unarl ,
Tell Abraq and Saar (see Figure 7.3 and below), suggest-
ing a similar origin. As the tin was certainly imported
into the region, it may suggest that the isotopically-simi-
lar tin-bronzes were also.
It must be emphasized that the hypothesized trademechanisms are not mutually exclusive. It is highly likely
that tin was reaching Tell Abraq in a number of forms-
as the pure metal and as alloyed tin-bronze ingots or
objects. Just such a situation seems to have existed in the
Bronze Age Aegean and northwestern Anatolia, (see
below), where items of both exotic alloys and metall
were traded. In such a case, it is possible for the typo
cal affinities of the tin-bearing objects from the U.A.
be of importance in delineating traded objects. Howe
the majority of analyzed bronzes are typologically si
(e.g. rings) and provide limited evidence for such pur
Isotopic Comparisons with Bronze Age
Objects from the GulfThe isotopic investigation for this study can be com
with the results of a number of other studies of Bron
Age copper-base objects from the Persian Gulf region
These isotopic studies include material from third mi
nium BCE Oman, the City I1 Period on Bahrain, and t
Wadi Suq Period and Late Bronze Age levels at Tell A
The first possible comparison is with the isotopic
acteristics of copper ingots from the Gulf region. Eigh
planoconvex ingots from third millennium BCE conte
in Oman were analyzed by Prange et al. (1999: Figurewhile three slightly later but typologically similar ingo
from Saar on Bahrain have been analyzed by Weeks an
Collerson (forthcoming). n addition, an early second
lennium BCE pyramidal ingot from Tell Abraq was an
lyzed by Weeks (1999; see Weeks 1997:Figures 5-6). I
generally been assumed that bun-shaped ingots found
Gulf region are the product of copper smelting operati
in southeastern Arabia, as represented by finds at May
and Wadi Bahla, for example (see Chapter Two).
The isotopic data for the Umm al-Nar Period obje
analyzed in this study are presented in Figure 7.6, alon
with data for the 12 ate-thirdlearly-second millennium
BCE copper ingots from the Gulf region. As is immedi
apparent, there is very limited isotopic overlap betwee
two groups. Seven of the 12 copper ingots show major
topic differences with Umm al-Nar Period objects from
U.A.E. In particular, many of the copper ingots are dep
in thorogenic lead in comparison to the analyzed copp
base objects. As discussed more fully in the following s
tion, these ingots are currently without any isotopic m
es among the analyzed ore deposits from southeasternArabia (Prange et al. 1999: 191; Weeks and Collerson,
forthcoming). It must be stressed, however, that archa
logical LIA in southeastern Arabia is in its infancy, and
ther analyses may indeed recover matching ore bodies
these ingots.
1 5 2 Early Metallurgy of th e Persian Gulf
8/14/2019 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf Technology, Trade, And the Bronze Age World ThePoet006102
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/early-metallurgy-of-the-persian-gulf-technology-trade-and-the-bronze-age 173/269
Of the five ingots which m ore closely match the ana-
lyzed copper-base objects, three a re from early second mil-
lennium BCE contexts at Saar and Tell Abraq, and tw o are
from O ma n. Unfortunately, the isotopic data for the
Om ani ingots are n ot fully published, so the isotopic simi-
larity of Umm al-N ar Period ingots and objects cannot be
confidently assessed. Nevertheless, the tw o ingots fr om
Om an show their closest isotopic parallels w ith a cluster
of copper objects with 207Pb1206Pb ratios of approximately0.840, and with one t in-bronze object from Unar2 (101 9-
5.7 1). Of the four second millennium BCE ingots for
which full data is available (Figure 7.6) there is one clear
isotopic match-between an ingot from Saar and the flat
copper fragm ent TA142 6 from Tell Abraq.
Such results are extremely surprising, given the wide-
spread assum ption of the O ma ni origin of such ingots. Of
course, both ingots and objects can be traded over large
distances: there is no reason to assume th at coppe r-base
objects from Um m al- Na r Period sites in the U.A.E. were
made of southe astern Arabian copper, nor indeed to
assume that planoconv ex copper ingo ts foun d in Bronze
Age Om an are prod ucts of local extractive metallurgy.
Such reconstructions have, until now, provided the best
explan ations of the arch aeological evidence. However, the
isotopic evidence discussed above casts do ubt upon these
widely held beliefs.
A better match is seen between the Umm al-N ar
Period copper-base objects from the U.A.E. and contem -
porar y finished objects and processing residue fro m
southe astern Ar abia, analyzed by Prange et al.
(1999:Figure 7 ). These an alyses are illustrated in Figure
7.7 (copper objects) and Figure 7.8 (t in-bronzes and
copper-low tin o bjects). Again, the da ta a re not fully
published by Prange et al. ( 19 99 ), so Figures 7.7-7.8
display only the 207Pb1206Pb and 208Pb1206Pb ratios. A
num ber of the analyzed objects and prills analyzed by
Prange et al. (19 99 ), none of which conta in significant
am ou nts of tin , fo rm a cluste r in the 207Pb1206Pb range
appro xima tely 0.8 3 7-0.842, coinciding relatively closely
with on e grou p of cop per objects analyzed in the presentstudy, centered up on a 207Pb1206Pb ra tio of a ppr oxim ately
0.840. O ne other copper pri ll w ith less radiogenic iso-
top ic ratio s (207PbI206Pb app rox ima tely 0.85 3, 208Pbl
206Pb approximately 2.098) also matches a flat AsINi-
copper fragment from Unar l (M 1 -12) . Other copper
Figure 7.6 LIA data for Umm al-Nar Period objects analyzed in
study, and Gulf copper ingots analyzed previously (Prange et a1999;Weeks and Collerson, forthcoming). A restricted sotopic
is shown, corresponding o the isotopic spread of the copper
objects and prills analyzed by Prange e t al. (19 99 )
isotopic characterist ics different f rom the objects a
lyzed in this study. The LIA data therefore indicate
although multiple metal sources were exploited, set
ments across third millennium southeastern Arabia
access to copper with specific isotopic characterist
(207PbI206Pb ap prox im ate ly 0.837 -0.8 42; 208Pb1206
app rox ima tely 2.075 -2.085 ; 206Pb1204Pb app rox im
18.7 0). This may represent metal from one o r a sm
number of sources, the possible locations of which
discussed below.
In con trast , there a re no exact isotopic matches
between the tin-bearing objects presented in this stuand the copper objects and prills analyzed by Prang
al. (19 99 ), as illustrated in Figure 7.8. O ne tin-bron
ring from Unar2 (101 9-5.71 ) is isotopically similar
cluster of ob jects an d prills at 207Pb1206Pb app rox im
0.837-0.842, and one t in-bronze ring from U na rl (
Lead Isotope Data from the Gulf
8/14/2019 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf Technology, Trade, And the Bronze Age World ThePoet006102
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/early-metallurgy-of-the-persian-gulf-technology-trade-and-the-bronze-age 174/269
characteristics to a cluster of Urnm al-Nar Period ob
from the U.A.E. (207Pb1206Pb ratio s a ppr oxim ately
Figure 7.7 LIA data for Urnm al-Nar Period copper objects analyzedin this study,and copper-base artifacts and prills analyzed by
Prange et al. (1999: Figure 7). A restricted isotopic range is shown.
Figure 7.8 LIA data for Urnm al-Nar Period copper-low tin and tin-bronze objects analyzed in this study,and copper-base artifacts and
prills analyzed by Prange et al. (1999: Figure 7 .A restricted isotopicrange is shown.
22 R ) has similar isotopic characteristics to a prill from
Oman (207PbI206Pb approximately 0.853; 208PbI206Pb
approximately 2.09 8). This overall discrepancy may
reflect the fact that th e analyses of Prange et al . (19 99 )
do not seem to have included objects with significant tin
conc entration s, highlighting the varying sources of metal
used to produce these different alloy categories in south-
eastern Arabia.
A comparison of the Urnm al-Nar Period objects
analyzed in this study with objects from Saar on Bahrain
is given in Figure 7.9. Tw o of the co pper ob jects fromSaar have isotopic com posit ions matching copper
objects from the U.A.E. tom bs, again focused up on
207Pb1206Pb ratios of approximately 0.840. Tin-bronzes
from Saar, which are quite distinct isotopically from the
copper objects used at the site, show similar isotopic
0.850). These include two copper-low tin objects
(A S T om bld , M 1 0-7), two copper objects ( M 1 -12,
M1 0-38 ), two t in-bronzes from (M10-13V, M1 0-39
and the Tell Abraq t in ring (TA291 8), and indicate
particular isotopic similarity of Saar tin-bronzes and
metal from the Un ar l tom b. The Saa r analyses are
significant for demonstrating the presence in the cen
Gulf of metal objects and ingots with depleted thoro
genic lead isotope compositions (i.e. low 208PbI206P
ratios), which also characterize cop per ingots from
southeastern Arabia (see above).
Finally, a comparison can be draw n between th
analyzed Urnm al-N ar Period o bjects from the U.A.E
and the later material from Wadi Suq an d Late Bron
Age (LBA) contex ts a t Tell Abraq (Weeks 1999:Tab
As illustrated in Figure 7.10, the third millennium B
copp er objects from the U.A.E. and the Wadi SuqPeriodILBA copper objects fro m Tell Ab raq show m
isotopic similarities. Although a num ber of the Wad
SuqILBA copper objects from Tell Abraq have no ex
matches with the earlier copper, most copper object
from both groups fall into the 207PbI206Pb range of
0.836-0.853. Th e Wadi Suq Period objects form a n
ber of clusters, including three objects from th e Wad
Suq I11 Period (TA 468, TA10 41, T A40 2) with
207Pb1206Pb ratios of approximately 0.837, three ob
from the Wadi Su q I1 Per iod (TA 1038 , TA 1637 ,
TA 13 59 ) w i th 207Pb1206Pb ra t ios of a ppr oxim at
0 .844 , and seven objec t s f r om Wadi Suq 11-IV
Periods wi th 207Pb1206Pb rat ios of approximatel
0 .847-0 .852 . A smal l num ber of copp er ob jec t s
wi th 207PbI206Pb ra t ios of grea t er t h an 0 .85 3 a
seen in bo th Urnm a l -Nar Per iod and Wadi SuqI
con texts , ho wev er thei r i sotopic properties are ve
different: W adi SuqILBA objects from Ab raq (TA73
TA 89 2) have significan tly depleted 206Pb1204Pb ratio
comparison to the non-radiogenic copper objects fr
A1 Sufouh (AS I-5) and U na r2 ( 101 9-3 .59 ) analyzed this study. The depleted 206PbI204Pb ratios of the W
SuqILBA copp er objects fro m Tell Ab raq are m uch
to those seen in massive sulfide copper ores from so
eastern Arabia, as will be discussed further in the fo
ing section on absolute provenance.
1 5 4 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf
8/14/2019 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf Technology, Trade, And the Bronze Age World ThePoet006102
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/early-metallurgy-of-the-persian-gulf-technology-trade-and-the-bronze-age 175/269
The t in-bearing objects from the Urnm al-N ar Period
and fro m Wadi SuqILBA contexts a t Tell Abraq are illus-
trated in Figure 7.1 1. Again, the second m illennium BCE
objects show some evidence for clustering, notably at
207Pb1206Pb ratios of approximately 0.840 (TA340,
TA378, TA994), and at 207Pb1206Pb approximately
0.847-0.850 (TA119 4, TA16 33, TA89 6, TA11 27,
TA1 18 4, TA1 18 5) . Th e secon d isotopic cluster is very
similar to tha t for a n umber of t in-bronzes and copper-low tin objects from Urnm al-Nar Period Tell Abraq,
Unarl, and A1 Sufouh, including the Tell Abraq tin ring
(TA2918) . As for the co pper objects discussed in the pre-
ceding paragraph, two W adi SuqILBA tin-bronzes from
Tell Abra q hav e high 207Pb1206Pb ratios of ap pro xim ate-
ly 0.860 or higher. However, these objects (TA715,
TA1043) are very similar isotopically to tin-bearing
objects from the Urnm al-Nar Period, and n ot depleted
in 206Pb1204Pb as seen fo r the non-r adiog enic Wa di
SuqILBA copper objects.
Absolute Provenance
Comparisons t o Omani Copper Ores
In Figures 7.12-7.15, the isotopic data fo r objects from
Urnm al-Nar Period tombs in the U.A.E. are compared
the previously existing isotopic da ta for co pper ore dep
in southea stern Arabia (C hen and Pallister 1981; Gale
1981 ; Calvez and Lescuyer 1 99 1; Stos-Gale et al.
1997:1O3-105), and partially published data on Oma
copp er ores presented by Prange et al. (1999:Fig ure 7 )show n in Figure 7.12, the re is very limited overlap be
the analyzed Urnm al-N ar Period copper objects from
U.A.E. and copper ores from massive sulfide deposits
Om an particularly for the copper mines of Lasail, Ba
and 'Arja in the hinterland of Sohar, which were so im
tan t for early Islamic copper ex traction (see Chapter
Figure 6.1, for the isotopic differences between massi
sulfide copper deposits in Om an ). Some of the object
sho w greater isotopic similarity w ith analyzed ores fr
the so-called inland-V1 massive sulfide deposits (C
Figure 7.9 LIA data for Urnm al-Nar Period objects analyzed in this Figure 7.10 LIA data for Um m al-Nar Period copper ob jects anstudy, and copper-bas e artifacts and prills from Saar, Bahrain (Weeks in this studyland copper artifacts and prills from Wadi SuqILaand Collerson, forthcoming ). A restricted isotopic range is shown. Bronze Age c ontexts at Tell Abraq (Weeks 1999).
Lead Isotope Data from the Gulf
8/14/2019 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf Technology, Trade, And the Bronze Age World ThePoet006102
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/early-metallurgy-of-the-persian-gulf-technology-trade-and-the-bronze-age 176/269
and Lescuyer 1991), such as those at Raki, although exact
matches are absent. This finding is surprising, given the
significance that was attached to this type of deposit as
the largest in the region, and the evidence for Bronze Age
smelting activities found at 'Arja (Hauptmann 1985:116).
However, research suggests that smaller deposits from
lower levels in the Semail ophiolite rather than the massive
sulfide deposits were probably more important for early
metallurgy in the region (see Chapter Two). It is likely that
such deposits have isotopic characteristics different from
the massive sulfide deposits, and the analyses of Prange et
al. (1999:Figure 7) have indeed demonstrated the pres-
ence of copper ores in Oman with 207Pb1206Pb ratios of
approximately 0.840, similar to some of the copper
objects analyzed in this study. Unfortunately, the geology
of these ores is lacking, so it is difficult to assess the
importance of particular ore types or specific ore bodies
for Umm al-Nar Period copper extraction in the region.
Copper objects with 207Pb1206Pb ratios of greater thanapproximately 0.850 do not match any currently ana-
lyzed ores from the Semail Ophiolite, and are also dis-
tinct from ores of the A1 Ajal copper deposit, in roc
the Hawasina formation. However, some of the less
radiogenic ores summarized by Prange et al.
(1999:Figure 7) are likely to be of significance for
archaeological LIA. In general, very few lead isotopi
analyses of Omani ores have been undertaken, and
analyses may broaden the potential isotopic range o
copper produced in Oman.
In Figure 7.13, copper-low tin objects from Um
Nar Period tombs in the U.A.E. are illustrated in co
parison to copper ores from the Sultanate of Oman
objects show similarities to massive sulfide ores whe
three isotopic ratios are considered: a pinlawl from
Abraq (TA1428) matches closely with a number of
from Raki and Hay1 as-Safil, and a flat fragment fro
Sufouh (ASI-3) is isotopically-similar to an ore sam
from Zuha, and one from Maqa'il. Other than thes
objects, isotopic parallels for the remaining copper-
Figure 7.1 2 LIA data for copper objects from the U.A.E. analyz
this study; Omani copper ores from massive sulfide deposits (
and Pallister 1981; Calvez and Lescuyer 1991; Stos-Gale et al. 1
Figure 7.1 1 LIA data for Umm al-Nar Period tin-bearing objects ana- from the Hawasina-hosted AI Ajal copper deposit (Calvez and
lyzed in this study, and tin-bronze artifacts and prills from Wadi Lescuyer 1991), and; from unspecified deposits (Prange et al.
SuqILate Bronze Age contexts at Tell Abraq (Weeks 1999). 1999:Figure 7).
156 Early Metallurg y of th e Persian Gulf
8/14/2019 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf Technology, Trade, And the Bronze Age World ThePoet006102
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/early-metallurgy-of-the-persian-gulf-technology-trade-and-the-bronze-age 177/269
t in objects cann ot be found amo ng the currently analyzed
gro up of massive sulfide ores. A num ber of the unspeci-
fied ores published by Prange et al. (1999:Figure 7)
show isotopic similarities to some of the copper-low tin
objects, although full data will be required before a
provenance can be suggested with even limited confi-
dence. Three of the coppe r-low tin objects from Umm al-
Nar Period tombs in the U.A.E. have 207Pb1206Pb iso-
topic composit ions outside the range of any kno wn oresfrom southeastern Arabia, including a ring from Unarl
(M 10- 17) , a flat fragment from A1 Sufouh (ASI-2), and a
copper-low tin lump from Unar2 1 23-2.11 0). Even
when their 207Pb1206Pb ratios are similar to ores from
southeastern Arabia, copper-low tin objects from the
U.A.E. ap pe ar t o have higher relative 206Pb1204Pb ratio s,
and thus identification of local sources is equivocal.
As illustrated in Figure 7.14, a similar pattern is
observed for t in-bronzes. Wh en not entirely outside the
207Pb1206Pb range of known ores from Oman (e.g.
TA107, TA699, TA1217, TA1286, TA1306, TA161
they seem t o be en riched in 206Pb1204Pb relative t o t
ore samples (e.g. all Unar2 tin-bronzes). A close ma
with a massive sulfide ore can be seen for only one
bronze, a pinlawl from Tell Abraq (TA 145 9), which
isotopically similar to an ore sam ple from Raki. On
bronze from U nar2 (10 14.1 58) also has similar iso
properties to one of the unspecified Om ani ores anlyzed by Prange et al . (1 99 9) , al though all ratios a
not available for comparison.
It is helpful to examine more closely the isotop
distribution of objects of AsINi-copper, as illustrat
Figure 7.15. As discussed in C hap ter Five, As-Ni-co
is an uninten tional or natu ral alloy tha t is highly
ly to have been locally produced in southeastern Ar
That is, under the kinds of smelting conditions kn
to have characterized the Bronze Age, the geology
Figure 7.13 LIA data for copper-low t in objects f rom the U.A.E. ana- Figure 7.14 LIA data for tin-bronze objects from the U.A.E. anlyzed in this study, and Omani copper ores from massive sulfide in this study, and Omani copper ores from massive sulfide depdeposits (Chen and Pallister 1981; Calvez and Lescuyer 1991; Stos- (Chen and Pallister 1981; Calvez and Lescuyer 1991; Stos-GaleGale et al. 1997),from the Hawasina-hosted AI Ajal copper deposit 1997),from the Hawasina-hosted AI Ajal copper deposit (Calv(Calvez and Lescuyer 1Wl ), and from unspecified deposits (Prange Lescuyer 1ggl), and from unspecified copper deposits (Pranget al. 1999: Figure 7). Outlier M10-1 7 not shown. 1999: Figure 7). Outliers TA1 07,TA699 and TA1 614 not shown.
Lead Isotope Data from the Gulf
8/14/2019 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf Technology, Trade, And the Bronze Age World ThePoet006102
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/early-metallurgy-of-the-persian-gulf-technology-trade-and-the-bronze-age 178/269
Figure 7.15 LIA data for copper-base objects with As and Ni con-
centrations greater than 1 percent analyzed in this study, and
Omani copper ores from massive sulfide deposits (Chen and
Pallister 1981; Calvez and Lescuyer 1991; Stos-Gale et al. 1997),from
the Hawasina-hosted AI Ajal copper deposit (Calvez and Lescuyer
1Wl ), and from unspecified copper deposits (Prange et al. 1999:
Figure 7). Outlier TA107 not shown.
mineralogy of many copper deposits in southeastern
Arabia indicate that objects high in impurities of As
and Ni could have been naturally produced from
them. As can be seen in Figure 7.15, objects with
mo re than one percent of As and N i have a relatively
restricted range, with 207Pb1206Pb ratios in the
0.83 8-0.855 range. O ne exception is the tin-bron ze
ring TA107 from Tell Abraq, which has a radiogenic
207Pb1206Pb rat io of 0.8 18 00 . Given th at As-N i-copp er
is unlikely for mineralogical reasons to have been pro-
duced from the massive sulfide ores of Oman, it is not
surprising that there are very few isotopic matches
between these groups. Only the flat fragment ASI-3from A1 Sufouh has isotopic characteristics similar to
a massive sulfide ore, in particular a sample from the
deposit at Zuha. Object ASI-3 is unusual in possessing
very high cob alt levels (1.2 percent CO ) in add ition t o
approximately 2.8 percent Ni and 6.2 percent As.
In contrast, a number of As-Ni-copper objects
show isotopic similari t ies to Omani copper ores a
lyzed by Pran ge et al. ( 19 99 ), especially those w it
207Pb1206Pb ratios of approximately 0.840. This g
is composed entirely of pinlawl fragments, and inc
Cu-As-Ni alloys from Un arl (L14N-P IN), Unar2
(1019-4.108) an d Tell Abraq (TA1612 ), and a Cu
alloy ( 1018 -3.93) from Una r2 (this pinlawl h as ju
under one percent Ni). Two arsenic-bearing t in-brorings from Unar2 (1014.158, 1 019- 5.71) also hav
topic characteristics similar to the ores analyzed b
Prange et al . (1999).
The full publication of the ore data from Om
required before the isotopic similarity of these Om
ores and AsINi-copper objects can be properly
assessed. In particular, the types of copper deposit
that the German team analyzed must be considere
Although close isotopic matches with local Omani
cannot be found for all AslNi-copper objects, theanalyses provide tentative support for the hypothe
that AslNi-copper found in southeastern Arabian
texts is a local product, as proposed based on the
eralogical and technological considerations outl ine
Chapter Five
Overall, close isotopic matches between analy
objects and Omani ores can only be seen in a han
of cases. In some instances, such as the highly rad
ogenic objects discussed earlier in this chapter, the
attribution of the metal to non-Omani sources see
very likely. In other cases, it is difficult to disting
between the possible use of foreign metal and the
effects of the non-representative nature of the loca
database. The database is l imited in both the num
of analyses undertaken, and in the variety of geolo
contexts from which copper ores have been collec
and analyzed.
Comparisons to Non Omani Ores
Isotopic evidence from other a reas of western Asia an
adjace nt regions is relatively limited, but ca n neverthebe used to suggest possible source are as for the Umm a
Period ob jects from the U.A.E., if a foreign o rigin is ar
Iran an d India a re the two most obvious candidates gi
the strong trad e connections between these regions and
southeastern Arabia documen ted in the Bronze Age arc
15 8 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf
8/14/2019 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf Technology, Trade, And the Bronze Age World ThePoet006102
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/early-metallurgy-of-the-persian-gulf-technology-trade-and-the-bronze-age 179/269
8/14/2019 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf Technology, Trade, And the Bronze Age World ThePoet006102
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/early-metallurgy-of-the-persian-gulf-technology-trade-and-the-bronze-age 180/269
dence for contact between the Gulf and western Arab
the third millennium BCE, and currently no evidence
Figure 7.18 LIA data for Umm al-Nar Period objects analyzed in this
study, and Saudi Arabian copper ores (Stacey et al. 1980) and tin-
bearing granites (Du Bray et al. 1988).
may be more radiogenic than most of the copper objects
from the U.A.E. analyzed in this study. The slag analyses
do indicate that, when more LIA of Iranian copper ores
and slags have been undertaken, distinguishing isotopi-
cally between metal from Oman and Iran may be prob-
lematic. This possibility is further indicated by the iso-
topic composition of various lead ores and slags from
across Iran (Stos-Gale 2001) illustrated in Figure 7.17.
Although not strictly useful for provenancing copper-
base archaeological objects, these analyses demonstrate
that ore bodies with a wide variety of isotopic charac-
teristics can be expected in Iran, many of which may
isotopically match ores from southeastern Arabia.
Looking further afield, there are numerous copperand tin deposits in the Arabian shield. However, the iso-
topic characteristics of these ores (Stacey et al. 1980; Du
Bray et al. 1988) are incompatible with the LIA of the
Umm al-Nar Period objects from the U.A.E. (see Figure
7.1 8).Furthermore, there is little or no archaeological evi-
the exploitation of Saudi Arabian copper deposits at t
time. Better isotopic parallels for the U.A.E. objects c
found in more northerly and westerly regions of west
Asia, including Anatolia and the southern Levant (see
Figure 7.19), for which copper production is docume
by at least the third millennium BCE (e.g. Haupt mann
2000:Abb. 33). However, the evidence for contact
between these areas and the Gulf region in the Bronze
is absent, making the use of Anatolian or Levantine c
in southeastern Arabia highly unlikely. Likewise, the
larity of the isotopic composition of copper from sou
eastern Arabia and Cyprus has been addressed by Pra
et al. (1999:191) , and reflects the similar age and geo
cal context of the copper ores from the two regions. T
metal is very unlikely to have been used in the souther
Gulf, at least in the Umm al-Nar or Wadi Suq Periods
However, distinguishing the use of isotopically and copositionally similar Cypriot and Omani copper in sec
millennium BCE Mesopotamia may be very difficult
Chapter Six).
Tin-Bronze in Wider Western Asia:
Important Lead Isotope Studies
Sizeable programs of isotope analysis have been con
ducted on material from the Aegean and northweste
Anatolia. These data proved unexpectedly importan
assessing the significance of the Gulf LIA data for w
studies of western Asian trade in the Bronze Age. Th
analyzed material comes from the Early Bronze Age
(EBA) sites of Poliochni, Thermi and Kastri in the
Aegean, and from Troy and the Troad in Anatolia. T
sites show use of tin-bronze by the mid-third millen
BCE, and have been exceptionally important in disc
sions of the development of tin-bronze technology a
the tin trade in the eastern Mediterranean and weste
Asia (see Chapter Eight) . The results of these isotop
studies are summarized below, and their relationshi
Bronze Age material from the Gulf is investigated.Lead isotope analyses of EBA metal artifacts fr
Kastri and Troy have revealed that these objects sh
great isotopic diversity, with 207Pb/206Pb ratios from
approximately 0.830-0.900, a spread of more than
eight percent. It has been suggested by Stos-Gale et
160 Early Metallurgyof the Persian Gulf
8/14/2019 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf Technology, Trade, And the Bronze Age World ThePoet006102
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/early-metallurgy-of-the-persian-gulf-technology-trade-and-the-bronze-age 181/269
(1984:28) that five separate ore sources, ranging in age
from Pliocene (2-33 Ma) to Precambrian (700-900
Ma), provided the copper and tin-bronze that was used
at these sites. Tin-bronzes fall into all five "source"
groups, but dominate those with lead isotopic model
ages beyond known ores from the Aegean, eastern
Mediterranean or Anatolia. Very similar patterns are
visible in LIA of other EBA material from Troy and the
Troad (Pernicka et al. 1984; Seeliger et al. 19851,
Poliochni (Pernicka et al. 199 0) and Thermi (Begemann
et al. 1992; 1995; Stos-Gale 1992).
The isotopic analyses are regarded as evidence
that, during the third millennium BCE, tin-bronze was
traded into northwestern Anatolia and the Aegean
from as yet unknown external sources. Furthermore,
trace element data for objects from Thermi indicate
that tin-bronze was imported pre-alloyed as ingots or
objects, and "was not produced by adding imported
tin to locally produced copper" (Begemann et al.1992:220). Isotopic data also show that, in addition to
tin-bronze, "exotic" copper and brass was reaching
sites such as Kastri and Troy in the third millennium
BCE, from areas outside the Aegean or Anatolia (Stos-
Gale et al. 1984 ). It is clear that some metallic tin was
also reaching the region, as indicated by the tin bangle
from Thermi, and as might be expected given the men-
tion of metallic tin in a number of mid-third millenni-
um BCE written sources from western Asia (see
Chapter Eight).
The ultimate source of this "exotic" metal remains
uncertain. Given that a number of the Aegean tin-
bronzes are isotopically incompatible with any
Anatolian source, various authors have suggested tha t
Precambrian copper and tin deposits in the Arabian
Peninsula and Egypt (Stos-Gale et al. 1984:29) or
Afghanistan (Pernicka et al. 1990:290; Pernicka
1995b:107-108) may have been used. There is neither
archaeological evidence for contact between the Saudi
Arabian region and the Aegean at this time, nor evidence
for the exploitation of Saudi Arabian copper andEgyptian tin ores in the third millennium BC (see
Chapter Eight). Significantly, the available isotopic evi-
dence from Saudi Arabian copper deposits (Stacey et al.
1980) indicates that they did not supply the metal used
at EBA sites such as Troy, Poliochni and Thermi.
2m02i O
A n a t o l i a n l ~ e ~ e a nres
Figure 7.19 LIA data for Umm al-Nar Period objects analyzed
study, in comparison to ellipses representing the isotopic char
istics of ores from Anatolia, the Aegean, Feinan and Timna. Elliboundaries drawn after Hauptmann (2000:Abb. 33).
Furthermore, if the Thermi bangle is regarded a
resentative (Pernicka 1995b:108; Sayre et al. 1992),
isotopic ratios suggest that proposed tin sources in thTaurus Mountains, in particular Kestel and Goltepe
(Yener et al. 1989; Yener and Vandiver 1993a), did n
supply the tin that was used in EBA contexts in the
region. The question is slightly more complicated fo
tinltungsten-bearing granites of Saudi Arabia and Ye
(see Chapter Eight). An actual tin ore deposit (a t Sil
is only associated with one of these granites, but cas
terite occurs in small quantities as an associated mine
three other deposits (Du Bray et al. 1988:Table 1).No
isotope data are available for the cassiterite ores the
selves, only for their host granites. If the data from
granites are an accurate reflection of the isotopic co
position of the cassiterite ores they host, then it see
clear that tin from western and central Saudi Arab
was not supplying the EBA Aegean o r Anatolia.
However, cassiterite ores are frequently lead-poor
uranium-rich (Gulson and Jones 1992 ), meaning th
the isotopic signature of the cassiterite may not ma
that of the host granite. In this discussion, the scan
dence for the early exploitation of these ores is sig
cant, and suggests tha t western Arabia was an unlitin source for EBA Anatolia and the Aegean.
Unfortunately, the possible production of early Aeg
and Anatolian tin-bronze from Afghani sources ca
be investigated using LIA data, as none is availabl
from geological or archaeological studies.
Lead Isotope Data from the Gulf
8/14/2019 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf Technology, Trade, And the Bronze Age World ThePoet006102
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/early-metallurgy-of-the-persian-gulf-technology-trade-and-the-bronze-age 182/269
The LIA of objects from Poliochni, Thermi, Kastri
and the Anatolian mainland has served to complicate
discussions of the EBA tin trade in the Aegean, and
has broadened immensely the areas in which potential
tin and tin-bronze sources must be sought. In this con-
text, it is interesting to note that the third millennium
tin-bronzes from the U.A.E. show a very similar iso-
topic composition to EBA tin-bronzes from the Aegean
region, as illustrated in Figure 7.20. The Gulf tin-bear-
ing objects follow very closely the linear pattern of the
tin-bronzes from northwestern Anatolia and the
Aegean, and show a similarly broad a range of values.
Highly radiogenic tin-bronzes similar to those from
Umm al-Nar Period contexts at Tell Abraq are occ
sionally reported from northwestern Anatolia and
Aegean (e.g. Seeliger et al. 1985:Abb. 31). It shou
also be noted that a similar isotopic pattern seems
occur in a number of EBA objects from the centra
Anatolian site of Kaman-Kalehoyiik (Hirao et al.
1995:Figure l l ) , in mid-third millennium BCE tin-
bronzes from Velikent in Daghestan (Kohl et al.
2002:127) and in some Luristan tin-bronzes (Bege
et al. 1989:Figure 30.5), although the Luristan dat
not fully published.
Figure 7.20 LIA data for tin(and zinc)-bearing objects from the Aegean and northwestern
Anatolia, in comparison o tin-bronzes and copper-low tin objects from the U.A.E.analyzed in
this volume.
162 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf
8/14/2019 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf Technology, Trade, And the Bronze Age World ThePoet006102
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/early-metallurgy-of-the-persian-gulf-technology-trade-and-the-bronze-age 183/269
The isotopic similarity between the Tell Abraq and
Aegean tin-bronzes may indicate that the tin-bearing
metal being used at Kastri, Poliochni, Thermi, Troy, and
Umm al-N ar Period sites in the U.A.E. wa s obtained
from the same source(s). There are a num ber of othe r
reasons for believing such an hypothesis, which are dis-
cussed in detail in the following chapter.
LIA: Summary of the Main FindingsIsotopically heterogeneous metal wa s used in each of the
four metal assemblages investigated, with the possible
exception of the objects from Un ar l . This probably indi-
cates the sim ultaneous exploitat ion, a t each individual
site, of m etal from multiple sources. Furthe r differences
are seen in the isotopic ranges of metal objects from each
tom b assemblage, which probab ly reflect variation in
sources resulting fro m the chro nolog ical differences
between the sites.
In addition t o this chronological va riation, isotopicvariability can be linked with comp osition, in particular
the tin-conten t of the objects. This is perh aps n ot surp ris-
ing, as tin is clearly a metal foreign to the geological
milieu of southeastern Arabia. Overall, about one-quarter
of the analyzed Umm al-N ar Period objects lay outside
the isotopic range of any Om ani copper ores as currently
know n, an d all have tin concentration s over 0.5 p ercent.
Th e presence of a num ber of highly radiogenic tin-
bronzes and copper low-tin objects demonstrates the
impo rt of pre-alloyed t in-bronze (p robab ly in the form of
finished objects) into sou theaster n Arabia.
In co ntra st, a gr ou p of ob jects (207Pb/206Pb ratio s of
0.836-0.842,208Pb/206Pb ratios of 2.070-2.0907206Pb/
204Pb ratios 18.50-1 8 .80 ) which includes material from
all four assemblages and from other si tes in southeastern
Arabia and the cen tral gulf show s a significant degree of
isotopic homogeneity. Although these objects show no
isotopic matches with Om ani massive sulfide ores, they
are isotopically similar to a few Bronze Age copper ingots
from the Gulf a nd one O man i ore sample. This group
may represent one kind (isotopically spea king) ofOm ani copper available in the Gulf.
Furthermore, the broad isotopic range of the ana -
lyzed O ma ni ores (207Pb/206Pb appro xima tely
0.838-0.872) coincides with isotop ic characteristics of
most of the Umm al-N ar Period objects, which suggests
that m any of them may have been made of O ma ni co
Although ther e are very few exact matches between t
objects analyzed in this study and O ma ni ores, this m
reflect the limited datab ase of Om ani or e analyses. T
similarity of the Bronze Age analyses from the four
to later material from Tell Abraq might also sup por
local origin, i.e. it could reflect the continued use of
sources exploited in the Um m al-N ar Period into the
ond millennium. Alternatively, isotopic similarities
simply reflect the recycling of third millennium me
or continuity in foreign sources.
However, one object of undoubtedly foreign ori
the t in ring f rom Tell Abraq, has isotopic characteri
compatible with O man . This tel ls us tha t some forei
metal is likely to be isotopically indistinguishable f r
Om ani ores. Furthermore, as a group, the isotopic c
acteristics of the tin-bron zes sho w many similarities
those fou nd in oth er areas of Bronze Age western A
particularly the Aegean region and northwesternAna tolia. If tin sou rces are very scarce, one or a very
ited numb er of sources could have sup plied a very la
area, an d such isotopic matches cou ld be a reflection
shared provenance.
In general , conclusions ab ou t absolute provenan
are very much ope n to debate. This is primarily due
the incomplete and possibly unrepresentative nature
the O man i ore database. However, the fact that isot
similarity does no t necessarily equa l shared prove-
nance-a basic tenet of isotopic analysis-must also
borne in mind. The archaeological implications of t
various exchange transactions suggested by the lead
tope data are addressed in the following chapter.
Lead Isotope Data from the Gulf
8/14/2019 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf Technology, Trade, And the Bronze Age World ThePoet006102
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/early-metallurgy-of-the-persian-gulf-technology-trade-and-the-bronze-age 184/269
This page intentionally left blank
8/14/2019 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf Technology, Trade, And the Bronze Age World ThePoet006102
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/early-metallurgy-of-the-persian-gulf-technology-trade-and-the-bronze-age 185/269
8 Tin an d Tin-Bronzein Early Western Asia
IntroductionAs tin is a non-local resource in most regions of western
Asia, questions regarding the ultimate source of this raw
material have long been asked by archaeologists,
archaeometallurgists and ancient historians. The mecha-
nisms and routes by which tin and tin-bronze were
exchanged throughout Bronze Age western Asia and
beyond have also received significant attention (e.g.
Muhly 1973a; Larsen 1976). After all, what is a Bronze
Age without bronze?
Nevertheless, a review of the archaeological evidence
for early tin-bronze use forced P.R.S. Moorey (1982:87) to
conclude that "the significance of tin in the third millenni-
um B.C. in the economy of the Near East is very easily
overrated.. .a dearth of analyses, and the consequent danger
of over-emphasizing isolated ones, makes any conclusions
hazardous". Such a statement was justified at the time of its
writing, more than two decades ago, when the early tin-
bronzes from northwestern Anatolia, Mesopotamia and
Iran seemed, like the proverbial good men, both few and
far. However, recent programs of archaeometric analysis
and the isotopic analyses presented in the previous chapterindicate a more widespread use of the alloy than previously
known, as well as the possibility of a far-flung trade in tin
and tin-bronze from a very limited number of sources. At
the same time as such findings demand explanation in
terms of trade routes, technology, and ideology, they also
have the potential to add to our understanding of the inter-
connectedness of regional economies that seems to charac-
terize Bronze Age western Asia.
The determination of the ultimate sources of tin
used in the Bronze Age is a provenience problem of
slightly different nature to many dealing with the m
trade, due to the extremely limited occurrence of w
able tin deposits within or adjacent to western Asia.
geological evidence on the occurrence of tin in the O
World has improved, and the plethora of western A
tin-deposits discussed in early archaeological report
Muhly 1973a; 1985a) have vanished under the scru
of modern research, the problem of tin sources is
increasingly visible as a primarily geological concern
(although see Moorey 1994:299 for the limitations
the geological data). Such an approach is not possib
for many other metals in use in Bronze Age western
Asia, such as copper or iron, deposits of which occu
much more frequently within the region (e.g. Pigott
1999b:Figures 4.6, 4.12).
Hence, evidence from modern geological survey
provides the framework within which theories regar
the provenance of tin in early western Asia are eval
ed. Information from early written sources dealing
the tin trade can also be incorporated into provenan
studies, in addition to evidence for the occurrence o
and tin-bronze in the archaeological record provided
archaeometallurgical studies. Interestingly, it is the
bination of these different strands of evidence that h
largely led to the search for tin sources in western A
being regarded as problematic. Archaeological, met
gical and textual sources have suggested explanatio
the provenance of tin which are, superficially, confl
ing. However, a close examination of the evidence
reveals long-standing but questionable archaeologic
assumptions, the modification of which allows for t
formulation of a consistent explanation for the early
of and trade in tin and tin-bronze. In the following
ter, the evidence from geology, historical sources, an
archaeometallurgical analyses is collated and discusin order to arrive at an understanding of the source
may have supplied tin and tin-bronze to the Gulf re
in the Bronze Age. The chapter concludes with a re
sideration of the tin problem in the light of broader
developments in metallurgy, exchange systems, and
socio-political complexity in western Asia. The loca
of the archaeological and metallurgical sites referre
in the following discussion are given in Figure 8.1.
8/14/2019 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf Technology, Trade, And the Bronze Age World ThePoet006102
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/early-metallurgy-of-the-persian-gulf-technology-trade-and-the-bronze-age 186/269
Tin Deposits in Western Asia
and Surrounding Regions
At one time or another, workable tin deposits have been
claimed to exist in various regions of A natolia,
Mesopotamia, Iran, Syria and the Levant, Egypt, and
the Arabian Peninsula, among other places (M uhly
1973a, 1 985a; de Jesus 1 9 8 0 5 1 ff .) . Many of these
claims, for example the alluvial tin of the Kesserwan
District of Leb anon (Wa inwrigh t 19 34; Lucas19 34:2 13 ), have failed to withs tand the scrutiny of
detailed geological research ( de Jesus 1 980:5 3).
Likewise, an hypothesized tin source in northern
Mesopotamia, based upon price equivalencies for tin in
Bronze Age cuneiform sources (Heltzer 1978:108-1 l ) ,
clearly does not take account of the geological informa-
tion which would preclude such a deposit (M uhly
1985a:249-250 ). Furthe rmo re, a number of areas of
western Asia which do have tin deposits can be excluded
as poten tial sources for the tin used in the Bronze A
based up on the lack of evidence for early exploitati
the deposits, or lack of evidence for contemporary
use of tin and tin-bronze. It is clear that tin deposit
not exist in Syria, Lebanon, the Levant or M esopot
but o ther regions of western Asia have possible tin
deposits that require more detailed discussion, as pr
sented below.
Egypt and the Arabian Peninsula
Significant granite-hosted and alluvial cassiterite de
have been recorded at a number of places in the Ea
Desert of Egypt (R ap p et al. 1999:153-154; Wertim
1978 ; Muhly 19 78; 1993b:244-248 and Figure l ) ,
more recently in the western Arabian Peninsula in b
Saudi Arabia and Yemen ( Du Bray 19 85; Du Bray
1988 ; Kamill i and Criss 199 6; Overstreet et al .
l 9 8 8:411-413). The Egyptian deposits were survey
Figure 8.1 Map of Asia, showing archaeological sites, metallurgical sites, and ore deposits discussed in Chapter 8.
166 Early Metallurgyof the Persian Gulf
8/14/2019 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf Technology, Trade, And the Bronze Age World ThePoet006102
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/early-metallurgy-of-the-persian-gulf-technology-trade-and-the-bronze-age 187/269
J. D. Muhly, T. A. Wertime a nd G . Rapp in 19 76, who
noted the presence of tin-tungsten mineralization in the
form of high-temperature hydrothermal vein deposits
forming mineralized zones that ar e 1,200-2,500 m long,
450-650 m wide, and up to 1.5 m thick (Mu hly
1993133244). Alluvial cassiterite is present an d rep len-
ished regularly by rainstorms in the wadis of Abu
Dab bab, Nuweibi, Igla, El Mueilha and H om r Akarem
(Ra pp et al. 1999:Figure 3; Muhly 199 3b:24 6). All ofthese locations have been wor ked for t in within the last
century (R app et al. 19 99:15 4). Another t in deposit
exists further to the south , in the K hartou m province of
Sudan (Garenne-Marot 1984:107) .
In the Arabian peninsula, a tin deposit is associated
with on ly one of the so-called Sn-W granites of the
region, the Silsilah deposit in the Fawarrah pluton,
although cassiterite occurs in small quantities as an asso-
ciated m ineral in three o ther deposits ( Du Bray et al .
1988:Table 1).At Jebel Silsilah, cassiterite is found as
disseminated gra ins in partly an d com pletely greisenised
rock, and as elliptical pods of cassiterite-rich greisen.
Th e latter consist of 60-90 percent cassiterite in a
quartz- topaz matrix, while samples from the tw o most
intensely mineralized greisens conta in fro m 0 .1 to sever-
al percent t in (D u Bray et al. 1 988:1 53 and Table 7;
Kamilli and C riss 1 99 6:1 423 ). Overall, the deposit has
been described as generally low-grade (D u Bray et al.
198 8:153 ), and the potential for modern extraction is
regarded as economically marginal (Kamilli and Criss
1996 :1432 ). Penhallurick (1986 :l .S) reports that the
source grade and volume, geom orphology and climate,
are not conducive to tin placer possibilities at Jebel
Silsilah.
For a number of reasons, it is unlikely that Egyptian
and A rabian t in deposits provided the t in tha t was used
in Bronze Age western Asia or the A egean. On e of the
most powerful arguments aga inst their use is that
Egyptian craftsmen seem to have m ade little use of tin-
bronze before the second millennium BCE (see below ).
Furthermore, in the Middle and N ew K ingdoms, tinseems to have been traded into Egypt by way of Eastern
Mediterranean a nd Levantine polit ies ( Gare nne- Ma rot
1984:107-108; Muhly 19 73a ). The si tuation is similar
for the Arabian tin ores, which are associated with
deposits of copper and gold, but which show no signs of
exploitation prior to the first millennium BCE
(Glanzman l987: 146 ; Fleming and Pigott 1987; W e
1978 :6). An analysis of slags from the first millenni
BCE site of H ajar A r-Rayhani in the Yemen Arab
Republic demonstrated the association of copper an
ores in smelting installations, although tin-bronze d
not always appear to have been successfully produc
the local metalwo rkers even in this period (F leming
Pigott l 9 8 7: 17 4) . Furthe r evidence against the use oArabian o r Yemeni t in wa s discussed abov e (C hapte
Seven), based upon lead isotope studies. Other tin
deposits claimed to e xist in Arabia, such as thos e of
Oman listed by Lamberg-Karlovsky (1 67: l4 9) , hav
no t been recorded in extensive geological surveys of
region.
Anatolia
Copper, iron , silver and lead are plentiful in Anatol
and the geological preconditions necessary for the o
rence of tin ores are met in a number of regions of
country, such as the Troad and the Taurus M ountai
(Mu hly 1985 a:277) . Correspondingly, claims for th
occurrence of tin deposits within Anatolia have been
atively com mon. For exam ple Muhly 1 95b: 1 507 )
states that a source of tin in the Troad remains a v
attractive possibility, especially because of the very
use of t in in the area , and Renfrew (196 7:13) and
Jesus (1978:37-8) have expressed similar views.
Cassiterite has been recorded in southeastern
Anatolia in the KestelICelaller region (Yener et al. 1
Kaptan 1995:200) and stannite is known from
Sulucadere/Bolkardag and Sogukpinar near Bursa (Y
an d Ozbal 1987:222-223; Kap tan 1995:20 1 and Fi
1).Numerous minor occurrences of tin minerals ha
been recorded in Anatolia (Kaptan 1995:Figure 1;Y
2000:71-72), but the three sites mentioned ab ove a
largest know n fro m more th an 13 0 years of geologi
research into tin sources in the region. None of thes
sources is of modern economic value (Kap tan 1995
and th e exp loitation of these sources in ancient timealso deb ated, as discussed below.
The occurrences of stannite at Sulucadere and
Sogukpinar are regarded by a number of scholars a
unlikely to have ever provided tin, principally due t
relatively high silver and gold values in the deposits
Tin a nd Tin-Bronze in Early Western Asia
8/14/2019 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf Technology, Trade, And the Bronze Age World ThePoet006102
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/early-metallurgy-of-the-persian-gulf-technology-trade-and-the-bronze-age 188/269
8/14/2019 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf Technology, Trade, And the Bronze Age World ThePoet006102
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/early-metallurgy-of-the-persian-gulf-technology-trade-and-the-bronze-age 189/269
result. Pernicka et al. (1992:95) regard Willies' estimates from Goltepe. Of course, it could be argued tha t the
as "unrealistic" given the type of mineralization and the
ore grades reported from the Celaller region. Willies
(1992 :lOl ) has defended the proposed production levels,
citing evidence for the total volume of ore that could
have been extracted from the known galleries a t Kestel
and stating that "even at sub-one-percent-levels of tin,
there seems no reason to reduce the estimate".
The tin extraction process postulated for Kestel and
Goltepe has been criticized as unrealistically complicated
for a Bronze Age operation (Muhly 1993b:251; Hall and
Steadman 1991:222) . The complexity of reconstructed
mining techniques at Kestel employing fire-setting is
regarded by some scholars as unparalleled in the early
production of tin, and more likely to have been the
result of later mining activities (Muhly 1993b:25 1).The
reconstruction of ore processing at Goltepe by Yener and
colleagues (Yener and Vandiver l993a:23 5-23 6; Earl
and Ozbal 1996), involving tin concentrations which areso low as to be unobservable until the later stages of
production, is also criticized as it is difficult to imagine
how such an extraction process may have originated
(Muhly 1993b:251).
However, the scientific analyses of the crucible frag-
ments from Goltepe provide strong support for the pro-
duction of tin at the site (Yener and Vandiver
1993b:257-258). Yener and Vandiver (1993a:Table 4;
1993b:257) report compositional analyses of 24 crucible
accretions showing average tin-oxide concentrations of
30 percent (although analyses of 28 crucible accretions
by Earl and Ozbal (1996:298) reveal only four samples
with more than one percent tin, and a maximum concen-
tration of 3.65 percent Sn). In addition, the vanning,
concentration and refining reconstructions undertaken by
Earl and Ozbal (1996) seem plausible, even if somewhat
"tortuous" (as noted by Muhly 1993b3246). The experi-
mental smelts produced very small amounts of metallic
tin with high iron concentrations (up to ca. 42 percent
Fe; Earl and Ozbal 1996:300), which could be collected
and amalgamated by slag crushing and remelting of thetin metal prills. The reconstructions can, however, be
criticized on the basis of the tin concentrates used for
smelting: these contained 10-15 percent tin (Earl and
Ozbal 1996:300-301), much higher concentrations than
were found in any of the archaeological powder samples
crushed ore samples found at Goltepe represent was
products from the refining process, rather than conc
trated crucible charge for smelting.
Additional circumstantial evidence for the prod
tion of tin at Goltepe is provided by the appearance
tin-bronze objects at the site in Early Bronze Age co
texts. Six of eight copper-base objects from the settl
ment contain more than five percent Sn, which Earl
Ozbal (1996:Table 6 and 302) consider as surprisin
given the largely "industrial" nature of the site. In c
parison, other examples of early tin-bronze from ce
Anatolia (see below) occur in contexts more reflecti
high status, such as the rombs of Alaqa Hiiyiik and
Horoztepe (see below). Such evidence is, of course,
to many different interpretations. For example, a si
that was producing gold, as has been claimed for Ke
would seemingly have had enough wealth to obtain
bronze. The potential significance for western Asia tin extraction processes proposed for Kestel and Go
is discussed further below.
Iran and the Caucasus
Suitable geological conditions for the occurrence of
exist in various parts of Iran, and this fact has led a
number of scholars t o suggest that tin deposits migh
found within the country. For example, J. D. Muhly
(1973b:409) suggested in 1973 that "a mineral zon
ning roughly from Hamadan to Tabriz seems to fit
the evidence for the Near Eastern tin trade as it exis
today", although the supporting evidence for the oc
rence of tin in this mineralized zone was unpublishe
(Muhly 1973a:261 and Chapter IV note 158) . Furth
references were made to possible tin deposits in nor
eastern Iran near Meshed and in the Elburz region
(Muhly 1973a:260).
However, as Moorey (1994:299) has noted, tin
not mined in Iran today, nor is there any evidence f
medieval extraction of this material. Detailed survey
northwestern Iran by Iranian, American and Frenchlogical teams have revealed no significant traces of t
mineralization (Wertime 1978:3). Only two tin-bear
deposits in Iran are currently cited with any convict
the minor occurrences of primary and placer cassite
in the far east of the country in the Dasht-i Lut (Sto
Tin an d Tin-Bronze n Early Western Asia
8/14/2019 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf Technology, Trade, And the Bronze Age World ThePoet006102
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/early-metallurgy-of-the-persian-gulf-technology-trade-and-the-bronze-age 190/269
et al . 1972 :58; Rothe nberg 1982:267-2 68; Pigott ponent in deposits largely consist ing of other bas
199913381; Vatan dou st 1999:Figure 2 ) , an d the cop- metal ores (such as in the copper-t in depo sit at D
per-t in-gold prospect near Deh Hosein in central
wes tern I ran (Momenzadeh e t a l . 2002 ) . The Dasht -i
Lut deposi t s may relate to the t in of Drangiana (mod-
ern S eistan) ment ioned by St rabo (15.2.10 ). However,
Wert ime (197 8:4) has reported that his survey of the
region in 1 97 6 revealed n o traces of worka ble cassi-
teri te or s tanni te, and his doubts as to the occurrenceof significant t in deposits in Iran are shared by
Penhal lurick (1986:19-20). In contrast , the ore
deposit at Deh Hosein shows evidence for large-scale
extraction. However, this extraction is l imited to the
early first millennium BCE and the deposit is primari-
ly of copp er ( chalco pyrite, malachite, az urite,
teno rite) with m axim um tin levels of only ca. one
percent (M omenza deh et al. 200 2). Al though the si te
has been suggested as possibly important for the pro-
duction of Iron Age Luristan bronzes, i t is unlikely tohave been significant for the Bronze Age t in trade:
the exclusive extraction of minor cassiteri te from the
deposi t does not seem possible, and the product ion of
a consistent natural t in-bronze by the smelting of
mixed copper and t in ores has not yet been demon-
strated archaeologically.
A number of references can be found to t in
deposits in the Caucasus, and cassiteri te was suppos-
edly worked at the archaeological si te of Metsamor in
Armenia in the thi r teeth century BCE and perhaps
earl ier (e.g. Craw ford 1974 :242-243; Burney an d
Lang 1971 :68). However, more recent assessments of
the evidence from Metsamor and other areas of the
Caucasus have tended to indicate that claims for t in
sources are not supp orted by geological evidence, an d
should be considered unproven (Penhallurick
l986:18-19; Moo rey 199 4:300 ). Al though I . R.
Se limkhanov (1 97 85 7) is adaman t t ha t t i n depos it s
are not to be found in the area, Kavtaradze (1999:86)
reports that geologists have recorded twenty deposits
with t in conten t in western Georgia. No ne of thesedeposits, however, contained any evidence for ancient
exploi tat ion, and the meaning of the phrase t in con-
tent is unclear. We do not kn ow the grade of the
deposits if they are in fact of cassiterite, and it is pos-
sible that the t in ores are only a minor mineral com-
Hos ein). As such informat ion i s not current ly ava
able for the Georgian deposi t s, thei r potent ial
significance for Bronze Age t in extraction remain
uncertain.
Afghanistan and Central Asia
The sources of the t in used in third millennium wern Asia have often been sought in regions with w
documented sources of t in that l ie outside western
Asia i tself. For the m etal industries of M esop otam
and Iran, t in is often posited to have come from fu
to th e east . It is therefore significant tha t extensive
deposits, both granite-hosted and alluvial , are kno
from many a reas of Afghanistan (Be rthoud et al . 1
Rossovsky et al . 198 7; Pigott 19 96 , 1999a:Figure
Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the
Pacific [ESCAP] 1996:32-37). All the prim ary t in meralization in Afgha nistan is associated with s karn
fault zones or pegmatites, and a num ber of low-gr
placer deposi t s are kn own (ESCAP 199 6:32). In ad
t ion to the major t in occurrences in Afghanistan, 4
mineral occurrences and num erous t in mineral sho
ings are widely dist r ibuted throu ghou t the country
(ESCAP 1996:37 ). Research by a French tcam has
lated t in deposits near ancient copper mines south
of H erat (cf . ESCAP l99 6:3 2) , whi le tin-bearing sa
regarded as easily beneficiated by pann ing were re
ed in the Sa rkar Valley (Cleuziou and Berthoud 1982
and Figure 2; Berthoud et al. 1 97 7). Details of the ma
of t in deposits recorded in Afghanistan by Russian g
gists are summarized by Rossovsky et al. (1 98 7) an d
Stech and Pigot t (1986:44-45), w ho note the comm
association of cassiterite with copper, lead an d gold
deposits with greater tha n five to six percent t in (se
ESCAP 1 996:3 2). Whi le the area i s emerging as one
mos t l ikely sources for the t in used in Bronze Age we
Asia (M oorey 199 4:301 ) and S outh Asia (Kenoyer a
Mil ler 1999 :118), it has been observed that , aside frthe overwhelming geological evidence, there is no
substantive evidence to suggest i t as a source for anc
Nea r Eastern bronze product ion Pigott (1999 a:11
Th e l i t tle evidence tha t exists for early use of t in-b ro
in the region is discussed below.
1 7 0 Early Metallurgy of rhe Persian Gulf
8/14/2019 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf Technology, Trade, And the Bronze Age World ThePoet006102
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/early-metallurgy-of-the-persian-gulf-technology-trade-and-the-bronze-age 191/269
Tin deposits in central Asia proper were brought to
the attention of archaeologists working in western Asia
by the publications of Ma sson an d Sarianidi (1972 :128)
and Crawford (1974:243, ci ting Kuzmina 196 6), who
noted the occurrence of tin deposits on the Zera vsha n
River about halfway between Bukhara and Samarkand .
The exp loitation of the mines was said to date back to
the Midd le Bronze Age (ca. 2000-1600 BCE), but the
possibility of earlier workings was not ruled out
(Craw ford 1974 :243; see also Cleuziou an d Berthoud
1982:16-1 7) . This occurrence, and the proposed Middle
Bronze date, has been confirmed by important recent
wor k undertaken in the region by scholars from
Germany, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan (Alimov et al. 1998;
Boroffka et al. 200 2). This wor k has isolated a numb er
of tin occurrences between Bukhara and D ushanbe, at
the sites of Karnab, Lapas, Cangali and Mushiston
(Alimov et al. 1998:Abb. 1).
The Karnab mineralization is regarded as a typicalexample of a granite-related tin dep osit, with tin present
as cassiterite in qu artz veins in a gra nite intrusive com -
plex. Other tin mineralization at Karnab, formed by
contact-metasomatic processes a t the con tact between
quar tz veins and marble, is considered less importan t for
ancient extraction processes (A limov et al. 199 8: 164 ).
Tin concen trations in samples from Karn ab a re relat ively
low (ca. 1.3 percent Sn or less), and relatively high sul-
fur levels are recorded due t o the presence of associated
arsen opyr ite, pyrite an d sphalerite (Alimov et al.
1998:164 a nd Table 1).Th ere is evidence for mining
operations at K arnab radiocarbon dated to the first mil-
lennium BCE (Alimov et al. 1998:170-179 ; see also
Penhallurick 1986:25-28), and mining as early as the
second millennium BC is indicated by the presence of
Andronovo sherds in the lower levels of the mine
(Boroffka et al. 2002:145, 147 ; Parzinger 2000 :249). It
has been suggested that ancient mining may have con-
centrated upon the richest areas of tin mineralization at
the site and that the remaining ore is of a lower grade
than that w hich was actually extracted (Alimov et al .199 8:166 ). Nearby the Karn ab mine si te is a seasonal
Andronovo settlement with evidence for some small-
scale metalworking activities, including the use of tin
ores and the possible production of tin-bronze (Boroffka
et al. 2002:149-153; Parzinger 2000 :250).
Mushiston is a hydrotherma l ore deposit with
numerous, relatively thin ore veins situated between
dolomitized limestones of the Upper Silurian-Lower
Devonian Kupruk-formation and the schists of the U
Devonian Akbasai-Formation (Alimov et al. l99 8:16
The deposit is unusual in that it contains significant
quanti t ies of both co pper an d t in, with the primary
eralization consisting of stannite (Cu2FeSnS4)with a
ciated cassiterite, arsenopyrite, pyrite, chalcopyrite
tetrahedrite (Alimov et al . l998:1 66). The deposit a
has a significant oxidation zone with rich secondary
mineralization including malachite with infrequent
ri te, alongside cassiteri te, varlamoffi te (S n0 2. nH 20
M ushistonite ( C ~ s n ( 0 H ) ~ )Alimov et al . 1 998:167
Boroffka et al. 2002:141-142 ). Tin and copper conc
trations in both the primary and secondary minerali
tion zones are very high, ranging up to 50 percent C
an d 34 percent Sn (Alimov et al. 1998:Table 2) .
However, there is great variation in the concentratiothese two elements in the 1 8 samples analyzed, with
composit ions varying between almost pure cop per o
and almo st pure t in ore, and m any ratios in betwee
(Alimov et al. 1998:167).
The M ushiston dep osit is considered to be of po
tially great importance for the early production of t
bronze in the region, as the sm elting of the mixed o
fro m the site is likely to have led to the produ ction
natura l t in-bronze (Alimov et al . 1998:166 , 1 84 ). M
copper-tin ores were available in one of the recently
examined Mushiston mining galleries, which were
worked by at least the middle of the second millenn
BCE according to radiocarbon determinations and f
of Andronovo pottery (Alimov et al. 1998:185 , 19 0
Parzinger (2 000 :250) has claimed radiocarbon deter
nations from Mushiston date as early as the second
of the third millennium BCE, but as yet the dates ar
unpublished. A limov et al . ( 1998 :170) note tha t , for
both m odern a nd ancient mining operations, consid
tions of logistics and inf rastructu re are just as cruci
the viability of a mining ope ration a s overall ore graThey therefore emphasize their belief that, although
analyses indicate that Mushiston is a much richer o
body, a number of factors including the elevation (c
3,000 m a sl) and inaccessibility of the M ushiston de
make K arnab a more viable m ining operation.
Tin a nd Tin-Bronze i n Early Western Asia
8/14/2019 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf Technology, Trade, And the Bronze Age World ThePoet006102
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/early-metallurgy-of-the-persian-gulf-technology-trade-and-the-bronze-age 192/269
A number of other imp ortant m etal deposits have been Europe
recorded in the region. Th e mine of Kaznok (abo ut one km For Anatolia, the Aegean and the Eastern Mediterra n
east of Mu shiston) also contains copper and tin mineraliza-
tion, but of a fo rm only accessible throug h m odern mining
techniq ues (A limov et al. 1998 :169). Th e lead-zinc-silver
occurrence of C hirgasang an d the lead-zinc deposit of
Kaninukra lie to the west of Mu shiston, wh ere there is evi-
dence for mining an d slag from lead smelting that probably
relates to medieval silver production (Alimov et al.1998:169). Ruzanov (19 79 ) reports t in deposits to the
southwest of S ama rkan d and alon g the Kok-Su River,
know n to have been worked in the early centuries CE and
per hap s mu ch earlier. Penhallurick (1986:25-26) describes
oth er tin dep osits in the Ferg hana Valley region.
India
Tin deposits occur in a number of Indian provinces,
including Mahara shtra, K arnatak a, Bihar, Rajastan, and
Gujarat (Chakrabarti and Lahiri 1996:25-26 and M ap 2;
Asthana 19 93:27 8). Hegde (1978:40-41, Figure 2) further
notes the possibility of alluvial cassiterite deposits in the
Kaptagod, Aravalli and Chota Nagpur Hills, and more
recent research in Haryana has identified a significant tin-
copper deposit at Tosham (also called Tusham ; see
Seetharam 1986; Kochhar et al. 1999; Chakrabarti 2002 ).
The H aza ri Bagh deposits of Bihar are the largest in India
(Penhallurick 19 86:2 1), while the smaller sources in
Rajastan a nd Gujarat (a nd now at Tosham) have been
regarded as more significant for early metallurgy due to
their prox imity to the Indus Valley (A sthana 199 3:278 ).
The re is very little archaeological evidence for the early
exploitation of these deposits, although Cha kraba rti and
Lahiri (1996:25-26) have d rawn attention to British colo-
nial descriptions of pre-industrial cassiterite extraction at
Bastar in Madhya Pradesh, and Paharsingh and Nurungo
in Bihar. Muhly (1985a:283), though allowing for the
occurrence of significant alluvial cassiterite de posits in
Ma dhya Pradesh, states his belief tha t Indian tin deposits
are likely t o have been a n imp ortant so urce only for local
metallurgy. Certainly, there is no stro ng archaeological evi-dence for the exploitation of Indian tin sources in the
Bronze Age, but the same can be said for copper mining in
the region, which was almost certainly taking place by the
third millennium BCE (C hakra barti and Lahiri
1996:192-196).
tin deposits in the western Med iterranea n (e.g. Sardi
and Iberia), or in western Europe (e.g. the Erzgebirg
Mo untains and B rit tany), have often been regarded
potential sources (Mu hly 1985a:285-287). Tin is al
know n to occur in the area of the former Yugoslavi
(McGeehan-Liri tzis and Taylor 19 87 ), and the well
know n tin deposits in Cornwa ll are also a possiblesource in later periods (Mu hly 1985 a).
Th e tin occurrences a t the sites of Cer, Bukulja
Srebrenica in the form er Yugoslavia (McG eehan-Lir
and Taylor 1987:289-290) are lode deposits, while
er deposits of stream tin a lso occur a t Cer. Th e plac
deposits are considered large enough to be of poten
commercial value, although no details are given on
grade of the alluvial deposit and no archaeological e
dence for ancient working has been recovered
(McGeehan-Liri tzis and T aylor 1 987:290).
Further to the west, the large tin deposits of the
Erzgebirge have been worked since at least the twel
century CE (Taylor 1983:295 ). Bronze Age t in prod
tion in the region has often been hypothesized (e.g.
Penhallurick 1986:71-79), however this possibility
rejected by Muhly based part ly on the fact that prim
tin ores in the Erzgebirge are hosted by hard granite
could not have been mined at such an early stage (M
1973 a:27). In response to Muhly's arguments, T ayl
(1 98 3) has given a detailed description of the geolo
the Erzgebirge, highlighting the presence of placer
deposits which would have been workable during th
Bronze Age (see also Roden 1985:74; Rap p et al . 1
Circumstantial evidence for Bronze Age tin product
the Erzgebirge region is provided by the local utiliza
of significant amo unts of tin-bron ze after ca. 200 0
(Tylecote 198 7:39), and the proximity to the t in de
of Late Bronze and I ron Age settlements situated in
tions non -ideal for agricu ltural subsistence (Bouzek
19 89 ). It has been suggested th at the lack of many
settlements in the tin-bearing regions of the Erzgebimight be explained by the transport of extracted tin
to mo re distant settlements for smelting (Rode n
19 85: 74) . Th e lack of convincing evidence for the E
Bronze Age exploitation of alluvial cassiterite in the
Erzgebirge is highlighted by Niederschlag et al. (20
172 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf
8/14/2019 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf Technology, Trade, And the Bronze Age World ThePoet006102
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/early-metallurgy-of-the-persian-gulf-technology-trade-and-the-bronze-age 193/269
and supported by recent LIA of ores and objects from
the region (Nied erschla g et al. 20 03 ). Additionally,
Muhly (1985a:289-290; 1987 :103-104) provides a sig-
nificant argument against the early exploitation of these
deposits by noting that Classical and later sources never
refer t o t in from Bohemia.
The significant tin deposits of northwestern Spain
and Portugal (M uhly 1985 a:286 ; Tylecote 19 87:38 ) were
worked at least as early as the Iron Age and perhaps ear-l ier (Roden 1985:72; Giardino l995:3 12-3 16 ), and cor-
respond t o the t in producing areas of G alaecia and
Lusitania described by Pliny the Elder and Strabo. The
extraction of alluvial cassiterite is indicated by Pliny's
note (N atur al History XXXIV.156-157) that t in is found
in the surface strata of the ground which is sandy and
of a black color. It is only detected by its weight, and
also tiny pebbles of it occasionally appear, especially in
dry beds of torrents . Likewise, Strabo (Geography
3.2.9) records that the tin-bearing soil of northwest
Lusitania is brou ght by the streams; and the wom en
scrape i t up with shovels and wash i t in sieves woven
basket-like . Tin is also said to oc cur in the provinces of
Murcia a nd Almeira in southeastern Spain (McG eehan-
Liritzis an d Taylor 1 987 :28 8). Th e tin deposits of
Brittany are kno wn to have been worked in the prehis-
toric period (Penha llurick 1986536-94; Ro den
1985:66-71), and may have been an important source
for the eastern Mediterranean world from the later sec-
ond millennium BCE (M uhly 1985 a:287 ). Evidence for
the ancient e xploitation of tin deposits in the Massif
Central of France is lacking (Penhallurick 1986:86).
The main cassiterite deposits in Italy are found in
Tuscany, with smaller occurrences known in Etruria
(Mu hly 1985a:285; Roden l985:72-73; McGeehan-
Liritzis and Taylor 1987:288-289). The grade of the
Tuscan dep osit (ca . 0.4 percent Sn) has seen it described
as wildly uneconomic for prod uction even in the mid-
dle of the twentieth century CE (Tylecote 1987:38),
al though m uch richer ores in the area are reported by
Roden (198 5:73). Extensive m ining during the SecondWorld War has destroyed any evidence that may have
existed for early tin extraction in the region (Roden
19 85: 72) . Analyses of copper-base objects from north ern
Italy have indeed revealed the presence of a small num-
ber tin-bronzes in third millennium BCE contexts (Eaton
19 77 ), and one cop per object with a possible coatin
metallic tin (A ngelini et al. 200 2) , howev er the Itali
deposits are likely to have been significant only for
use at most (Penhallurick 1986:80-82). Likewise, a
ber of minor t in deposits are know n in southern
Sardinia, particularly in the Iglesias region (Tylecote
al. 198 3; McG eehan-Liritzis and Taylor 1987 :289).
The re is no evidence for the early working of the
Sardinian deposits (Beagrie 1985: 16 6; Giardino1995 :309), and the find of a crucible containing oxi
fragm ents of a tin ingot fro m the Nura ghic site of
Forraxi Nioi ca nnot be dated earlier than the Late
Bronze Age (Tylecote et al. 198 3; Muhly 1985 a:286
The abundant tin deposits of Cornwall have bee
discussed in numerous papers dealing with early tin
tin-bronze use (see Penhallurick 1986:148 f f . for a
detailed discussion), and it is certain th at they were
exploited from at least the end of the third millenni
BCE. J. D. Muhly (1973b3409-412; 1980:40; 1985
287-288) envisages Cornish tin and Baltic amber re
ing the eastern Mediterranean in the later Bronze Ag
with definite evidence for such a trade from at least
sixth century BCE onwards. However, it is extremel
unlikely th at C ornish tin wa s being used in Bronze
western Asia, for reasons related to both the chron o
of tin-bronz e use in Britain and the distance of the
source from western Asia.
Archaeolog ical Evidence for Early Tin-Bronze
Tin-bronzes, defined variously as c opper alloys contai
over one, two or five per cent tin, first appe ar in a nu m
of areas of western Asia in the later fou rth o r early thi
millennium BCE. The arch aeological evidence for ear
bronze use has been summ arized and discussed in num
ous scholarly work s (e.g. Muh ly 1973a, 1985a, 1993b
Eaton a nd McKerrell 197 6; de Jesus 1980 ; Yakar 1 98
Montero-Feno llos 19 97 ) and only an outline is presen
here, alongside importa nt recently do cumented occur
rences and relevant re-interpretations of the evidence.
In Mesop otam ia, the earliest tin-bronzes are founthe Early Dynastic I (ED I) period at the Y cemetery at
Kish, and occu r in tomb s which probab ly represent th
burials of elite me mbe rs of the society. Eight of 23 ana
copper-base objects from Kish contain one percent t in
more (Stech 1999:63; Mo orey a nd Schweizer 197 2;
Tin a nd Tin-Bronze in Early Western Asia
8/14/2019 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf Technology, Trade, And the Bronze Age World ThePoet006102
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/early-metallurgy-of-the-persian-gulf-technology-trade-and-the-bronze-age 194/269
Miiller-Karpe 199 ) , ut t in-bronzes remain unco mm on
in the region until the ED I11 period (ca . 2600 -235 0 BCE ),
whe n they for m a significant percentage of the copper-
base objects found in the R oyal Cem etery at Ur (Stech
1999:Table 3.1; Miiller-Karpe 1991:Table 1). in-bronze
does not appear to have been so comm on at other
Mesop otamian sites:Moorey (199 4:253 ) notes that analy-
ses of ma terial from Tepe Gaw ra revealed no tin-bronz e
before Level V1 (Akkadian to post-Akkadian), and tha tthe alloy was scarce even at this time (see also Muh ly
1987 a:285 for differences between Ur and Tepe Ga wra).
As Stech (1999:6 4) has observed, the intro duction of tin-
bronze at certain Mesopo tamian si tes did not occasion
its entry into general circulation within the alluvium.
Early third millennium BCE tin-bronzes ar e also
foun d at si tes further to the west and n orth. A cache of six
hum an figurines from Level G a t Tell Judaid ah in the
Amuq which dates to the early third millennium BCE con-
tains some of the earliest know n exam ples of tin-bron ze(Braidwood and Braidwood 1960:296-3 15 ,516-5 19;
Stech and P igott 1 98 65 2) .Although the da te of the
Juda idah figurines has been qu estioned (see Seeden
1980 :8; Yakar l984:7O; Hall and Steadm an 199 1:227 ), a
few tin-bronzes are found in other Level G deposits from
Tell Jud aida h, reinforcing the evidence for early tin-use at
the site (Yener and Vandiver 199 3:9 7). Until recently,
very few tin-bronzes of similar date were kn own from
othe r Syrian sites, despite extensive references to tin and
bronze in the m id-third millennium BCE texts from Ebla
(see below), and Stech and Pigott ( 1 9 8 65 2 ) egarded the
earliest reliable occurrence of tin-bron ze as the late
third millennium example fro m Tell Sweihat (see also
Madd in et al . l98 O :l l3 ). However, 1 6 in-bronzes (most -
ly decorative pins with u p to 19 percent Sn) dating to th e
EDI period have recently been recovered from a to mb at
the site of Tell Qara Quz aq on the no rthern Euphrates in
Syria (Mo ntero 19 95; Mo ntero Fenol l6s 1997:1 6 a n d
Figure 1; Montero Fenoll6s and Mo ntero Ruiz
2000:Lam . 5.1 ). Early or mid-third millennium tin-
bronzes are also reported from southeastern A natolia atTarsus (Esin 1969; Yener and Vandiver 1993 ; Mu hly
1993 b:240 ), where six of 2 5 analyzed EBII objects con-
tain more th an on e percent t in, with an average of 4.4
percent Sn (D eJesus 1980:G raph 8; Muhly 1993b1240;
cf. Yener and Vandiver 19 93b3 256) .
Further evidence for early tin-bronze use comes
Early Bron ze Age (EB ) I1 an d I11 con tex ts in the cen
Anatolian sites of Ahlatlibel, Mahmatlar, Alaqa Huy
and Horoztepe (Esin 1969 ; Muhly 199 3b:240-242).
While the absolute chronology of the Bronze Age in
Anatolia is much debated, the EBII period in central
Anatolia probably begins in the second quarter of th
third millennium, and ex tends to ca. 2300 BCE (Ya
1984:73; cf. Miil ler-Karpe l9 9 l : l l l ) . From the EBIperiod at Ahlatlibel eight tin-bronzes are recorded o
20 analyses (d e Jesus 1980:Graph 2) , while EBII
Mahmatlar had seven t in-bronze objects (Muhly
199 3b:24 0). Nineteen of 40 analyzed objects fro m E
Alaqa Hiiyiik were tin-bro nze (d e Jesus 1 980:G raph
while 32 of 5 6 analyzed samples from EBIII Horo zt
proved to be of t in-bronze (de Jesus 1980:Graph 5
these figures are based upon a definition of tin-bron
containing more than one percent Sn. Additionally,
Yakar (19 84:73 ) makes m ention of the production otin-lead pewters in Anatolia at this time, although h
cites no references. Th e distinctly regional ch aracter
Anatolian tin use in the EBA is indicated by analyse
objects from sites such as Ikiztepe o n the Black Sea
coast, which h ave revealed a mo re limited use of tin
bronze in the later third m illennium (Bilgi 19 84 ; Ge
et al . 200 2). However, even at Ikiztepe, where the a
ses (Bilgi 198 4:73) are said to indicate that copper
alloyed only with arsenic , 1 4 of 1 01 analyzed copp
base objects contain m ore than two percent t in, wit
further fou r objects having 0.5-2.0 percent tin. The
tin-bronzes come fro m Late Chalcolithic, EBII, EBII
late third millennium BCE contexts at the site, and
over are characterized by higher levels (often more
one pe rcent) of zinc and lead, and lower levels of
arsenic, than the remaining objects at the si te ( an in
esting impurity pattern matched by some con tempor
Transcaucasian t in-bronzes; see Edens l99 5:5 6).
Evidence of significant tin-bronze use is also fou
in third millennium contexts in northwestern Anato
at the sites of Troy and Beshiktepe (Pernicka et al. de Jesus 1980:134-135), and a t a numbe r of nearby
Aegean settlements which show strong An atolian co
nections in their material culture, such as Poliochni
Lemnos (Pernicka et al . 19 90) , Thermi on Lesbos
(Begemann et al. 1992 ; 199 5; Stos-Gale 1 99 2) and
174 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf
8/14/2019 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf Technology, Trade, And the Bronze Age World ThePoet006102
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/early-metallurgy-of-the-persian-gulf-technology-trade-and-the-bronze-age 195/269
Kastri on Syros (Stos-Gale et al. 1 98 4) . These tin-
bronzes were though t to have been am ong the earl iest in
the western Asia, dating to the first half of the third mil-
lennium BCE, but more recent debate has tended to da te
them tow ards the third q uarter of the third millennium
(Ma nning 1995:Figure 2; J. E. Coleman 1992:276;
Mellink 1992:219; M uhly et al . 1991:215 ff.). The flo-
rescence of tin-bro nze use a t Troy occurs in the Troy I1
period (where 61 percent of objects contain more than
one percent S n), al though o ne example of t in-bronze is
claimed to occur in a Troy I context (de Jesus
1980:134-135; but see Muhly 1985a:283-284 for prob -
lems with the chronological attribution of this piece).
The material from Thermi is particularly interesting,
as Therm i Towns I-V are usually considered to be con-
temp orary with T roy I and early Troy 11, and the limited
tin-bronze use at Therm i (three objects from 3 3 analy-
ses) is thus clearly datable to the second quar ter of the
third millennium BCE (M anning 1995:Figure 2; Yakar1984:83; Muhly 1985a:284; Begemann et al .
1992:220-221). A further five t in-bronzes at Thermi a re
recorded fro m the so-called Potter's Pool deposit,
which may date t o the Troy I1 period rather th an Troy I
(Begemann et al . 1 992:2 21). Therm i has also provided
the earliest example of metallic tin in the region, a ba n-
gle fro m Level IV (Begemann et al . 19 92 ). The chrono-
logical attrib utio n of other claimed early exam ples of
t in-bronze in Anatolia, such as those from M ersin, have
been clearly refuted (Yakar 1984:60; Muhly 1985 a:284 ),
while two examples of tin-bronze from the Greek site of
Sitagroi (Level IV) are likely to be con temp orary with
the Thermi examples (Begemann et al. 1 992:2 23).
Tin and t in-bronze are found m ore sporadically in
other areas of western Asia before the end of the third
millennium BCE, with the ma jority of metal assemblages
reflecting instead the use of pure or arsenical copper
(Eaton and M cKerrell 1976:Table 9; Mo orey
1982:97-98). Tin is used for only a handf ul of objects in
third m illennium Egypt and the Levant (Lucas
1934:177-1 78; Eaton and McKerrel l 1976; Maddin etal. 1980 :117; Cowell 1987; Muhly 1993 b:243 ), and the
late date for the introduction of tin-bronze into Egypt is
supported by analyses of the blue and green pigments
used for wall paintings. Such pigments were manufac-
tured from copper-base scrap metal , and their composi-
tion indicates an abse nce of tin-bronze before the ru
Thu tmos is I11 in the fifteenth ce ntury BCE (El Gores
al. 19 95 ; Schiegl 199 4:9 5). Such evidence is open t o
other interpretations (for example technological, eco
nomic, or ideological preferences for copper scrap o
tin-bronze scrap in the manufacture of pigments) bu
seems to match quite well with the chronological
changes in alloying suggested by the analyzed objec
from the region.
In Iran, ea rly tin-bronzes occur w ith significant
quency on ly at the site of Susa. Th e analyses of Mal
and Menu (1987:Table D) indicate that tin-bronze f
appe ars consistently a t Susa in the Susa IVA2 period
(equivalent to the EDIIIB period in Southern
Me sopo tamia) and the frequency of t in-bronze use
remains below 1 0 percent of objects until the late th
millennium BCE, when 1 5 percent of Susa VA objec
(thr ee of 20 ) are of tin-bronze. Th e real beginnings
tin-bronze use date to the Susa VB phase, in the earsecond millennium BCE, when more than 60 percen
objects are of tin-bronze (6 4 of 98 an alyses). Isolate
examples are kno wn from later fourth-early third m
nium BCE contexts at Susa (Moo rey 1982; Stech an
Pigott 19 86:42-43), al though the chronological at tr
tion of som e of these pieces has been questioned (M
Karpe 1991:111).Elsewhere in Iran, one arsenical t
bronze is recorded from Giyan Period IV, which dat
broadly to the m id-third millennium BCE (B erthoud
19 79 ). Besides these early examples, a mo re consiste
of tin-bron ze is recorded for the late third a nd early
on d m illennia BCE at Tepe Go din (period 111) and Ta
Malyan in the Kaftari phase (Pigott 1996:461; Pigot
1980:107; Pigott et al . 2003 ). Other Iranian sites suc
Tepe Sialk, Tepe Hissar, Shahr-i Sokhta, S hahd ad an d
Tepe Yahya show pred omin ant use of arsenical copp
the thir d millennium (Pigo tt 199 9a, 199910; Vatan do
1999:Table 2; Tho rnton et al . 200 2a) . As Pigott
(1996 :460) has noted, t in-bronze does not become th
dom inant copp er alloy in Iran u ntil the Iron Age (see
Pigott 1980:105; Moorey 1982:87).Th e evidence for the early occurrence of tin-bron
the Caucasus region is similar to that fro m Iran. The
ma ry of alloy types used in the early metal industries
Asia a nd Eastern Eu rope provided by E. N. Chernyk
(1992:Figure 6) indicates that t in-bronze appe ars in
Tin and Tin-Bronze in Early Western Asia
8/14/2019 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf Technology, Trade, And the Bronze Age World ThePoet006102
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/early-metallurgy-of-the-persian-gulf-technology-trade-and-the-bronze-age 196/269
8/14/2019 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf Technology, Trade, And the Bronze Age World ThePoet006102
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/early-metallurgy-of-the-persian-gulf-technology-trade-and-the-bronze-age 197/269
(also known as Nundara) seems clearly t o belong to the
first half of the third millennium BCE (Possehl
19 99 59 5; Besenval 19 97) and Asthana (1993:277-278)
allocates all of these finds to the pre-Harappan period.
Tin-bronze use is also attested at Indus civiliza-
tion sites. Of the 1 77 objects analyzed from Mohenjo-
Daro and Harappa, 30 percent show tin concentra-
tions of greater than one percent (Agrawal 1984:164).
A chronological change in alloy use is also seen, as
tin-bronze is much more abundant in the later levels
of Mohenjo-Daro ( 23 percent of objects) than in the
earliest phases a t the site (s ix percent of objects)
(Agrawal 1984:164; see also Ullah 193 a:4 84) . Seven
of 13 tools analyzed from Rangpur contain more than
two percent Sn (Agrawal 1984:164), while a tabulation
of metal alloys used in prehistoric India (Lahiri
1995:Table 2 ) indicates that tin-bronze was also used
at the Indus sites of Kalibangan, Lothal, Rojdi,
Chanhu-Daro and Surkotada (see also Chakrabarti and
Lahiri 1996:36-65; Kenoyer and Miller 1999). Ingots
of tin-bronze are also said to have been found at
Mohenjo-Daro (Mackay 1943: 87 ) , although the attri-
bution is based only on the color of the metal rather
than compositional analyses.
Both Agrawal (1984:164) and Asthana (1993:278)
have speculated that the infrequent use of tin-bronze in
the Indus region reflects the scarcity of tin available to
local metalsmiths, and Asthana notes that tin and tin-
bronze are very rare for more than a millennium in
post Harappan contexts in the region (see also Yule
1989) . Such a patte rn of use suggests that the wide-
ranging trade contacts developed in the Harappan peri-
od were responsible for the arrival of tin-bronze at
Harappan sites, which would indicate the utilization of
tin sources from outside the Indus region (Asthana
1993:278). In contrast, Chakrabarti and Lahiri
(1996:207) argue strongly against such technologically
deterministic and evolutionary interpretations of early
alloying. They suggest that social traditions of "puri-
ty" and the conservation of raw materials, observedethnographically and through ancient texts, may better
explain the variable pattern of copper and copper-
alloy use in South Asia since the Bronze Age. These
issues will be further elaborated upon in the following
sections of this chapter.
Returning to the Gulf, it is unfortunate that virt
no analyses of third millennium BCE metal objects
the central Gulf region have been undertaken. Altho
copper-base objects and fragments have been report
from Tarut Island (Piesinger 1983:190) and copper-
objects, crucibles and copper-working residues are
known from City Ib levels at Qala'at al-Bahrain
(Hrzrjlund and Andersen l994:370-38 l ) , hey remai
largely unanalyzed. Only material from the subseque
City I1 period at the Qala'at, the Saar settlement (We
forthcoming a) and graveyard (Prange et al. 1999), a
the Barbar temple (McKerrell 1977; Heskel, undated
been chemically studied. The earliest analyses were o
metal objects from the Barbar Temple (wrongly attri
to the site of Qala'at al-Bahrain) undertaken by H.
McKerrell (1 77: 167). The absence of tin-bronzes am
these objects was taken used to suggest that there wa
significant tin trade through the Gulf in the very late
or early second millennium BCE (McKerrell 1977: 16Further analyses of material from the Barbar Temple
(Heskel, unpub.) tend to support such a view, with ti
concentrations of one percent or higher recorded in o
five of more than 100 analyzed samples (all five obje
were axes). The seeming infrequence of tin-bronze us
Barbar may, however, partly reflect the samples that
available for analysis. Most were sheet fragments or
used to decorate the temple and seem to have been p
entially made of pure copper, perhaps for ideological
sons similar in conception to those outlined in the pr
ing paragraph. Less than 40 of the Barbar Temple an
ses are of finished objects that are not sheet fragmen
nails, and the ratio of tin-bronze to unalloyed copper
among this group is consequently somewhat higher.
Nevertheless, a similarly low rate of tin-bronze use is
reported by Prange et al. (1999:191 and Figure 6),wh
only two objects from about 40 analyses of second mi
nium Bahraini material contained in excess of one per
tin, with a maximum concentration of six percent tin
object from the Saar grave field.
In contrast, analyses of five objects from Bahraitumuli presented by Peake (1928:454) revealed that
were all tin-bronzes with high tin concentrations. A
least one of these objects was a socketed spearhead
Mackay's excavations at the 'Ali cemetery (Reade an
Burleigh 1978:82) which has exact typological ~a ra
Tin and Tin-Bronze i n Early Western Asia
8/14/2019 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf Technology, Trade, And the Bronze Age World ThePoet006102
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/early-metallurgy-of-the-persian-gulf-technology-trade-and-the-bronze-age 198/269
in the late third to early second m illennium BCE in south-
eastern Arabia (Potts 1990a , 2000 ). It is likely that the
oth er items analyzed came from either Mackay's excava-
tions or those of Mr. and M rs. Bent at 'Ali in 18 89 (Read e
and Burleigh 197 8) ,and also date to the early second mil-
lennium rather than to ca. 1200 BCE as proposed in the
original art icle (Peake l928 :454 ). Peake's analyses are
therefore good evidence fo r t in-bronze use on B ahrain in
the City I1 period, and a re sup po rted by analyses ofobjects fro m the Saar sett lement, where a fu rther five t in
bronzes were recorded in a gro up of 1 9 analyzed finished
objects (Weeks, forthcoming a ). In summary, there is no
evidence a t all regard ing alloying practices in the th ird
millennium BCE in the cen tral Gulf, while analyses of
early second millennium BCE mate rial indica te a limited
use of tin-bron ze.
Finally, as summ arized in Chap ter Two, a n umber of
analytica l studies have revealed little evidence for the use
of t in-bronze in southeastern Arabia prior to the secondmil lennium BCE (Ha uptm ann et al . 1988 ; Prange et al .
1 9 9 9 ) ,whereas recent analytical programs and the data
presented in this volume p rovide am ple evidence of t in-
bronze use in the northern Om an Peninsula in the Umm
al-Nar Period (Weeks 1997:20-22). Two of three recently
analyzed objects from a b urial context a t Aztah near
Salalah, in the Dho far province of so uthern O man , are
also of t in-bronze (Yule 1999 ).Th e chronological at tri-
bution of these objects to the third millennium is uncer-
tain, an d i t is difficult to k now whe ther they sho uld be
grouped wi th material from the O ma n Peninsula or
South Arabia, as the typological parallels with material
from Asim ah in Ras al-K haim ah cited by P. Yule (19 99:
91 ) are no t part icularly convincing. Archaeological sur-
veys indicate that the southe rnm ost location of Umm al-
N ar cu ltural materials is Masirah Island, suggesting tha t
the Aztah finds ar e more l ikely to reflect a Sou th Arabian
metallurgical tradit ion. Very l it t le is know n of South
Arabian metallurgy in the third millennium BCE,
al though the Aztah data can be com pared wi th recent
analyses of a hoa rd of Bronze Age objects from the si te ofal -Midamm an near the Red Sea coast (Giumlia-Mair et
al. 20 02 ). Analyses of these objects, typologically da ted
to a broad Early-Middle Bronze Age range (third to sec-
ond millennium BC), revealed the presence of a nu mbe r
of low-tin bronzes (Gium lia-Ma ir et al . 2002:Table 1).
Texts Referring t o th e Bronze AgeUse an d Trade o f TinThe earliest textual sources from western Asia have
proven crit ical for the reconstruction of ancient trad
and exchange in metals. As a relevant illustration of
point, one might consider the metals trade between
Mesopo tamia and Dilmun, so clearly reconstructed
through textual sources by A. L O ppenheim (19 54)
F. Leemans ( 19 60 ) and others . As summarized by BFoster 1 9 7 5 9 ) :
Buying and selling metals in commerce can
now be documented continuously from the lat
ter half of the third millennium through the
Old Babylonian period. Sumerian and
Babylonian merchants went t o Dilmun to buy
copper an d t in, while traders from D ilmun
came to Mesopotamia, for example, to
Sargonic Umma, Lagash, and Agade, as well
as to Susa when i t was under Sargonic rule.Contacts between D ilmun and archaic Uruk
push the possibilities of such c ontact back half
a millennium, while contacts with north Syria
at various times extend the geographical hori-
zon of such trade far beyond Sumer...As the
evidence accumu lates, the continu ity of this
trade is impressive in its consistency.
The importance of textual sources is particularl
clear in the case of the early use and tr ade of tin in
ern Asia. As discussed above, a rchaeological eviden
objects of metall ic t in is extremely l imited prior to th e
second millennium BCE, whereas references to t in a n
bronze in textu al sources are frequent. T extual eviden
for the use an d trade of t in has been discussed in detai
D. Muhly (1973a , 197 3b)and o thers (e.g. Limet 196
Malamat 1971; Larsen 1 976,1 987; Waetzo ld t 1981;
Joannes 1991; Archi 199 3) ,and is summarized below
From Bronze Age writ ten sources, wor ds for t in
kno wn in Sumerian, Akkadian, Hitt i te, Egyptian and
Ugaritic (M uhly 1985a:279; see also Muhly 1973a:
240-247). For Me sop otam ia, the first distinction betwcopper (uru dd eri i ) and t in-bronze (zaba dsipar ru) ap
in cuneiform texts fr om the EDI period at Ur, while th
liest mention of metallic tin (A N.NA/anna kum) is fou
EDIVIII texts from Fara (Limet 1960 ). Contem porary
with the app earance of t in-bronze in the Royal Cem
17 8 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf
8/14/2019 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf Technology, Trade, And the Bronze Age World ThePoet006102
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/early-metallurgy-of-the-persian-gulf-technology-trade-and-the-bronze-age 199/269
at Ur there a re references in texts from Palace G at Ebla
to the mixing of various ratios of washed copp er (a -
gar5( -gar5) la6aru ) nd tin to produce bronze (W aetzoldt
and Bachmann 1984 ; Archi 19 93) , and similar recipes
are found in the late nineteenth century BCE texts from
Ma ri (Muhly 1985a:282). The most common copper-tin
ratios mentioned are from 6:l to 10:l (e.g. Muhly
1973a:243-4; Waetzoldt 1981 :371, 375-376; Limet
1993:104-5; Reiter 1 999:1 69), al though ratios produc-ing alloys with less than one percent Sn are also reported
as are rat ios producing alloys with 2 0 percent Sn (Limet
1985:204; Archi 1993:619-625; Muller-Karpe 19 91) .
Textual references to the M esopotamian t in t rade
are largely found in two collections of cuneiform texts,
from the central Anatolian si te of Kultepe (ancient
Kanesh) and from Ma ri on the Euphrates, which date
to the late nineteenth and early eighteenth centuries
BCE. These texts document a trade in which t in was
moving exclusively from east to west. Arriving inMesopotamia from the east , metall ic t in was tran-
shipped up the Euphrates to M ari , or overland to
Assur. From Assur the t in ( in addit ion t o Babylonian
texti les) was transported via donkey caravan to various
Assyrian trading colonies such as KaneshIKiiltepe in
Anatolia, where i t was traded for si lver and gold
(Larsen 1976 , 1987 ). From M ari , the t in was t raded
further west to si tes in Syria and Palestine (Dossin
1970; Ma lama t 1 971 ), and perhaps as far as Crete
(Ma lama t 1971:38; Muhly 198 5a:282).
The ab solute quanti t ies of t in do cumented in the
Kanesh sources (ca. 13.5 tonnes over approximately 50
years, see Larsen 198 7:5 1)are significantly higher than
those recorded in the M ari texts, which are often of the
order of only a few kilograms (alth oug h a single tablet
from M ari , A.1270, discusses the distribution o f 1 6 tal-
ents 1 0 minas [ca. 485 kg] of t in, see Dossin 1 970;
Ma lama t 1 971 ). The original sources of this t in are
unknown, as many of the place-names mentioned in the
texts can refer only to way -stat ions along the trade
routes, rather than the actual t in sources themselves. TheKanesh texts refer to tin coming overland through the
Zagros Mo untains to Mesopotamia from northwestern
Iran (Mu hly 1973a:306), while Mar i seems to have
obtained its tin in ingot form almost exclusively through
diplomatic gift exchange with Susa and Anshan (Limet
1985 ; Joannes 1991 ; Potts 1999a :169 and Table 6.2
althoug h the cuneiform evidence is limited (Reiter
1999 :171). As stated by Larsen (1987:50), Assur an
Susa... epresent the pipes through which tin was cha
neled into the Middle Eastern system in the early se
millennium BCE. The elite spheres in which tin seem
have circulated prob ably reflects the o bserv ation by
Reiter (199 9:17 1) tha t the imp ort of all kinds of me
even for kings depended heavily o n good political relt ions with the coun tries which produced these metal
which functioned as thoroughfares .
Claims for an easter n source of tin are sup ported
othe r textual evidence. For exam ple, the Sum erian po
Enmerkar and the Lord of Aratta , an epic myth of
third millennium known from later copies, mentions
period in which there was no trad e between Uruk an
semi-mythical land of Aratta w hich lay beyond the
Zagr os in Iran. The cessation of this trade mean t tha
Uru k d id no t have access to the gold, silver, copper, tlapis lazuli and mo untain stones of Aratta (Kram e
19 52, 19 77:61 ). This association of tin, lapis lazuli a
also carnelian found commonly in third millennium
Mesop otamian texts is taken to indicate that t in had
similar orig in to these go ods (e.g. Kra mer 197 7:61; T
Potts 1994:15 5) . Extensive geological an d archa eolo
studies indicate tha t the lapis lazuli used in western A
is mo st likely to have com e from Bad akhshan in
Afghanistan (He rrma nn 1 96 8), al though smaller dep
in Baluchistan (Delmas and Casanova 199 0) or those
Iran mentioned in medieval sources (Mo orey 1994:8
can no t be ruled o ut. C arnelian is likely to have been
obtained from a num ber of Indian sources in Gu jara
elsewhere, o r possibly in Iran (Tosi 1980:448-449;
Asthana 1993:275; Moo rey 1994 :97). Both lapis laz
and carnelian are referred to in Mesopotamian cunei
sources as coming from the land of M eluhha (Heimp
1993 :54), a trade w hich was co nducted via the Gulf
(Muhly 1973a:307). Furtherm ore, Stiegli tz (1987:45
Pinnock (19 85; 1988:108 -llO) suggest that the lapi
lazuli used a t Ebla in the third millennium BCE travevia the Gulf an d Dilmun. In add ition to its tin, Ma ri
obtaine d lapis lazuli fro m Susa in the early eighteent
centu ry BCE, which may reflect the significant overl
contac t between Susa and Bactria a t this time (P otts
1999a:169).
Tin and Tin-Bronze i n Early Western Asia
8/14/2019 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf Technology, Trade, And the Bronze Age World ThePoet006102
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/early-metallurgy-of-the-persian-gulf-technology-trade-and-the-bronze-age 200/269
One text from the reign of Gudea of Lagash men- Europe, and probably the Taurus Mountains, but no
tions that, in addition t o lapis lazuli and carnelian, tin
was also traded to M esopotamia from the land of
Me luhha . The relevant passage (Cy linder B, column
XIV, lines 10-13) states tha t Gu dea, the Governo r of
Lagash, bestowed as gifts copper, tin, blocks of lapis
lazuli, [a precious metal] and bright carnelian from
Meluhha (Wilson 1996 ; see also Muh ly
1973a:306-307). This is the only specific cuneiform ref-erence to the trade of tin from Meluhha (see Possehl
199 6:141 for dou bts over the association), however fur-
ther evidence for a tin trade through the Gulf is provid-
ed by late third a nd early second m illennium BCE texts
mentioning t in from Magan (Cohen 1975:28) and
Dilmun (Waetzoldt l9 8 1 366-367; M oorey 1994:298;
Foster 1 997; see Stieglitz 1987:44 and Muh ly
1995b:1506 for uncertainties regarding the use of the
term Dilmun in the Ebla texts ). A pre-Sargonic text
from Lagash published by B. Foster (1 99 7) anddescribed as a Sumerian merchant's acco unt of the
Dilmun trade mentions obtaining from Dilmun 27.5
minas (ca. 1 4 kg) of an-na zabar. This phrase c an be l it-
erally translated as tin bronze , an d Foster suggested
the possible reading tin (in lfo r? )bronze . As there are
additional textual references to the trade of finished tin-
bronze i tems from Mag an (Limet 197 2:14-1 7), there is
some degree of historical support for the hypothesized
trade in tin-bronz e suggested by the LIA of the Gulf
objects (Po tts 1999b; also Chapter Seven).
Summary of Archaeological, Geological
and Textual Evidence
Th e evidence presented above f or the early use of tin-
bronze has been used by a number of scholars as a guide
to the sources of tin used in Bronze Age western Asia.
Thu s, the archaeological evidence for significant Early
Bronze Age tin-bronze use in the Aegean and the Troad,
central Anatolia, no rthern Syria and Mesopotam ia was
seen as evidence for the contemporary exploitation of
t in deposits somewhere in (prob ably northwestern)Anatolia (e.g. Renfrew 196 7; Eaton an d McKe rrell
1976 ; Yener and Vandiver 199 3; Muhly 1995 b:150 7). A
Troadic tin source has been ruled out by geological
research, which h as established the existence of tin
deposits in Egypt, Arabia, Afgh anistan, centra l Asia,
northwestern Anatolia. A range of evidence indicate
that, of these verified tin sources, those in the Easte
Desert of Egypt and the western Arabian Peninsula
not utilized in the third millennium BCE. Furthermo
the use of Euro pean tin in the EBA Aegean, once co
ered l ikely (e.g. Muhly 1985 a:285) , now seems impr
ble due to relatively late adoption of tin-bronze in m
land Europe (Niederschlag et al. 2003:62-64).The extant archaeological, geological and histor
evidence indicates that the tin used in third millenni
western Asia most likely came from sources in sout
Anatolia, Afghanistan, and central Asia. Certainly, t
use of Taurus tin within EBA central Anatolia seem
likely, although this has not yet been conclusively
demonstrated. Claims of third millennium BCE tin-
smelting operations a t Goltepe seem stronger fo r we
ering a period of intense scrutiny an d debate. How e
the use of Taurus tin beyond central Anatolia, on ansignificant scale, is not recorded in the surviving tex
sources from Mesopotam ia, and the LIA of the third
lennium tin objects from Thermi and Tell Abraq ind
cates that tin from KestelJGoltepe was not used in t
ma nufac ture (see Cha pter Seven). Additionally, the
of contemporary tin-bronzes from the Aegean regio
indicated that they are probably n ot made of An ato
metal. Thus, al though a t in source in the Taurus
Mo untains fi ts the d istribution pattern of early t in-
bronzes quite well, the isotopic evidence indicates c
that m ore than one t in source supplied western Asi
the third millennium.
Afghanistan and the Indo-Iranian borderlands h
been tentatively suggested as the source regions for
tin-bron ze used in the EBA Aegean (Pernicka et al.
1990:290; Pernicka 1995b:107-108), based upon g
logical considerations and the geo-chronological im
tions of Aegean lead isotope data. The fact that the
topic characteristics of the Aegean tin-bronzes are s
similar to those from the Gulf analyzed in this stud
adds further weight to the hypothesis of a n easternsourc e for these early alloys. Although the gre at dis
tances involved in such a trade have been regarded
problematic by some au thors (Renfrew 1967:13; de
19 80:5 9), the isotopic evidence is consistent with th
from early second millennium BCE textual sources,
18 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf
8/14/2019 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf Technology, Trade, And the Bronze Age World ThePoet006102
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/early-metallurgy-of-the-persian-gulf-technology-trade-and-the-bronze-age 201/269
which testify to the large-scale overland trade of tin into
Mesopotamia from beyond the Zagros Mountains and
its subsequent export in large quantities into central
Anatolia. Significantly, a number of scholars regard the
surviving texts from Kanesh as reflecting only one short
period in a trade relationship with Assur that existed
already by the third millennium (Muhly 1993b32.52;
Larsen 1977:119-120). The possibility of tin coming
from these eastern sources is supported by the occur-
rence of many tin deposits in modern-day Afghanistan,
Uzbekistan and Tajikistan, although evidence for tin
extraction is currently limited to the central Asian sites
of Karnab and Mushiston, and goes only as far back as
the second millennium BCE.
Yener (2000:75) has argued cogently against a "one-
source-for-all" model of the third millennium tin trade,
and does not regard the proposed tin mining and pro-
cessing in the Taurus Mountains as inconsistent with
the importation of large amounts of tin into Anatolia
(cf. Belli 1991). Taurus tin production is thought t o
have CO-existedwith large-scale exchange of foreign
metal in the third millennium (Yener et al. 1989:203;
Yener and Vandiver 1993:212), before the eventual
"devastation" of Anatolian tin mining operations by the
availability of "purer, already packaged, readily-avail-
able tin" from the Old Assyrian trade (Yener 2000:7.5).
Yener's arguments regarding multiple tin sources are
well made, and it is clear that the evidence from
KestelIGoltepe provides only a part of the information
needed for a complete understanding of the Bronze Age
tin trade. Obviously, the question remains as to the
sources that were supplying the "large-scale metal
exchange" discussed by Yener and others. The eastern
sources noted above are clearly significant candidates,
especially when the tin sources used in a region such as
the Gulf are under consideration.
Having confirmed the likelihood of a long-distance
tin trade in third millennium western Asia, however, the
evidence for the use of the Afghan and central Asian
sources remains equivocal. In particular, the evidencefor early tin-bronze in these regions is sparse, due to the
limited number of analytical programs, and chronologi-
cal attributions of the analyzed objects are often doubt-
ful. As noted above, the evidence for extraction of tin in
the third millennium BCE is also absent. Such factors
have added weight to arguments hypothesizing the
importance of Anatolian tin sources. In particular,
evidence for EBA tin-bronze use in Anatolia is muc
stronger than in the east, there is some archaeologi
evidence for third millennium tin extraction in the
Taurus Mountains, and the textual references to the
of eastern tin in Greater Mesopotamia are concentr
in the early second millennium BCE. However, the
bined evidence from archaeology, geology, and hist
sources suggests the significance of eastern sources
the tin trade in both the third and second millennia
BCE. In particular, for regions such as Baluchistan,
Indus Valley, and the Gulf, which show significant
millennium tin-bronze use, the exclusive use of tin
tin-bronze from Afghanistan and central Asia seem
highly likely. Textual sources are scarce, but highlig
the trade through the Gulf linking Mesopotamia wi
Meluhha, Magan and Dilmun as the most common
source of tin in the later third millennium BCE, aft
earlier overland Iranian tin-lapis-carnelian trade hin
at by the epic tale of Enmerkar and the Lord of Ar
The trade routes which may have brought this east
tin (and perhaps also Taurus tin) to the Gulf region
the third millennium BCE are investigated in more
in the following section.
Tin-Bronze in the Gulf:
Patterns of Acquisition
The presence of tin-bronze objects at A1 Sufouh, U
Unar2 and Tell Abraq in the second half of the thi
millennium BCE raises interesting questions with re
to the means by which this material reached south
ern Arabia. As outlined above, the absolute source
the metal is likely to have been far to the north an
east in Afghanistan or central Asia. Tin or tin-bron
from such a source, like the other material of undo
ed central Asian origin has been found in southeas
Arabia and the central Gulf, could feasibly have
reached the Gulf along a number of routes.
The first possibility that must be considered istin and tin-bronze were obtained through direct co
with central Asia. The limited amount of archaeolo
material of central Asian origin found in southeast
Arabia includes footed vessels of Bactrian type from
grave in the Wadi Suq and the Umm al-Nar tomb
Tin a nd Tin-Bronze in Early Western Asia
8/14/2019 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf Technology, Trade, And the Bronze Age World ThePoet006102
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/early-metallurgy-of-the-persian-gulf-technology-trade-and-the-bronze-age 202/269
Tell Abraq (Frifelt 19 86:1 33 and Figure 33; Potts
2000:127), and a copper-base goblet from a late third
millennium BCE grave at Asimah in Ras al-Khaimah
(During Caspers 1992:s and PI. 4d; Vogt 1995:129 and
Figures 54:3 and SS). An interesting attestation to the
use of Indo-Iranian or central Asian materials in south-
eastern Arabia is provided by a third millennium
alabaster vessel with very strong Indo-Iranian parallels,
which bears the inscription Naram-S in, king of thefour world regions, a vessel from the boo ty of Ma gan
(Potts 1986:282 ff., Tav. XXIV). Other objects with
clear central Asian parallels include a small soft-stone
flask from Tom b A a t Hili No rth (Cleuziou and Vogt
1985:255-257 and Figure 4.5) and two decorated ivory
combs from the Umm al-Nar tomb at Tell Abraq (Potts
1993 d; Potts 2000:127; Potts 2003 b). The ivory combs
from Tell Abraq are part of a larger collection of ivory
objects from the tomb which show strong Indus paral-
lels in addition to Bactrian connections, a point whosesignificance is addressed further below.
Objects of possible central Asian origin have also
been found in the central Gulf, where one of the more
numerous categories of evidence is footed goblets,
known from graves at 'Ali , Sar al-Jisr and Dhahran
(During Caspers l992:Pls. 1, 4; Edens 1993:Figure
29.5:s-12). Com parab le sherds are reported from set-
t lement contexts on Failaka and at Qala'at al-Bahrain
(During Caspers 1994:37). A bronze goblet from a
grave at Hamala North on Bahrain, very similar to the
example from Asimah mentioned above, has also been
paralleled with BMAC m aterial (Du ring Caspers
1992:8 and P1. 4d ). From the foundation deposit of
the Barbar Temple I1 comes an anthropomorphic t in-
bronze mirror handle which bears comparison to
Bactrian examples, although some elements of its con-
ception differ (Heskel undated; During Caspers
1992:10 and Figure 7c-d; During Caspers 199 6:s 1).
Furthermore, the bronze bull 's head from the Barbar
Temple has been compared to a late third millennium
BCE example from Altyn-Depe in central Asia (DuringCaspers 197 6:32), although parallels could also be
dra wn with Mesopotam ian m aterial of Early Dynastic
date. Finally, three alabaster vessels from the same
deposit have strong Indo-Iranian parallels (Potts
1986:284, Tav. XXXI).
However, while pottery with central Asian para
is found in the G ulf, there is very little add itional ev
dence to suggest the presence of cen tral Asian peopl
the region. Exceptions to this situation include a sta
seal of Murghabo -Bactrian type that was recovered
a grave at Ha mad Town o n Bahrain (Crawford and
Sindi 199 5) and a cyl inder seal from H ama d town t
shows icono graphic parallels with the Dasht-i Lut r
of eastern Iran (D enton and al-Sindi 1 99 6). The latseal is particularly interesting, a s it seems to have b
manufactured on Bahrain an d incorporates element
both e astern Iranian an d Dilmun glyptic. Denton an
Sindi (1996:191-192) regard the seal as belonging t
eastern Iranian expatriate resident in Dilmun in the
second millennium BCE. Such evidence is, however,
too amb iguous to supp ort a general claim of Bactr
in the Gulf in the Bronze Age. Archaeo logical evide
from the Gulf is significantly different to tha t from
Indo-Iranian borderlands, where sizeable collectionsintrusive BMAC material indicate either periodic di
contac t with central Asian people o r their actual pr
ence (Hiebert and Lamberg-Karlovsky 19 92; Kohl a
Pottier 1 99 3) . Th e first significant use of tin-bronze
Tepe Yahya has in fact been quite exp licitly linked b
excavators of the site to the presence of an ethnic
Bactrian element in the early second millennium po
t ion (Tho rnton et al. 2002a, 200 2b).
In general, it seems much more likely that the c
tral Asian material in the Gulf, including tin or tin-
bronze, arrived by way of intermediaries. The centr
Asian materials from the Gulf cannot be understood
isolation, as they form only a small portion of the e
good s found in Bronze Age sites in the region th at t
to contacts with Mesopotam ia, Iran, Baluchistan an
Indus region, and the existence of a co mplex trade
work capable of transporting goods thousands of ki
meters. The potential complexity of the trade conta
the Gulf is demonstrated by the Ur version of the m
of Enki and Ninhursag , composed around 2000
which indicates that eight countries transported thewares to Dilmun:Tukrish, Meluhha, Marhashi, Mag
the Sealand , Zalamgar, Elam and Sumer (Kramer
1 9 7 75 9 ). The archaeological evidence for foreign m
rial in the Gulf has been presented in numerous pla
a basis for general discussions of the Bronze Age Gu
1 82 Early Metallurgy of th e Pers ian Gulf
8/14/2019 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf Technology, Trade, And the Bronze Age World ThePoet006102
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/early-metallurgy-of-the-persian-gulf-technology-trade-and-the-bronze-age 203/269
t rade (e.g. Edens 199 2; Potts 1 993b , 1993c; Cleuziou
19 82, 19 84 , 1992; Cleuziou and Tosi 1989 ; Franke-Vogt
1993 , 1995 ; Vogt 199 6; Possehl 19 96; Weisgerber 1 986;
Zarins 198 9). The data are summarized below, in tw o
sections related to the southern and central Gulf regions
respectively, with the aim of delineating the rou tes by
which tin and tin-bronze may have reached the region.
Tin for Southeastern Arabia
The first possible intermediary in the t in trad e t o be
considered is Mesopotamia, as evidence for
Mesopo tamian contac t with Mag an is extensive.
Mesopotamian pottery has been recovered in numerous
Umm al-Nar Period sett lement contexts (Frifel t 1991,
1995; a1 Tikriti 1985; M6ry and Schneider 1996:83;
Pot ts 1990b; Mkry 1996:170) and in tombs (Mkry
199 7:1 87 and Figure 12; Potts 2000:51-52; Phillips
1997:Figure 2.1). O n Umm an-N ar Island, vessels l ined
with Mesopotamian bitumen have been recovered, inaddit ion to num erous bitumen fragments (Frifel t
1995:226), and bi tumen fragments from Ra ysal-Jinz
RJ-2 are also sh own by atchaeometric studies to be of
Mesopotamian origin and transported in Mesopotamian
vessels (Cleuziou and Tosi 1994:756 -757 ; Mkry
1996:17 0) . Mesopo tamian influence in the Umm al -
Nar Period is also indicated by the cylinder seal recov-
ered from the A1 Sufouh tomb (Benton 1996:Figure
19 7) . While alm ost certainly of local manufa cture, this
A1 Sufouh seal and two other cylinder seals from Hili
Nor th tomb B and Ajman tomb B (Benton 1996:165)
suggest economic relat ions with the cylinder-seal using
cul tures of Mesopotamia or Iran. The number of
archaeologically-attested objects of southeastern
Arabian origin in Mesopotamia is very much smaller,
and includes around a dozen se rie re ce nte soft-stone
vessels from contexts spanning the late third and early
second millennia BCE (Reade and Searight 2001:Figures
1-10; Potts 1990a:108-109), while a handful of exam-
ples of skrie tardive have been found in early second
millennium BCE contexts at Ur and al-'Ubaid (Potts1990a:252; R eade a nd Searight 2001:Figures 11, 12) .
Cleuziou (1 86: 14 8) originally suggested, based on
archaeological evidence, that southeastern Arabia
experienced a change in external orientation in the
Bronze Age:strong ties with Mes opo tamia existed at the
beginning of the third millennium BCE, but its influ
lessened to be replaced by contacts with the Indus in
late third millennium (see also Cleuziou and Tosi
1989:37; Edens 199 3; Franke-Vogt 199 3; Vogt 199
Thus, at exactly the t ime wh en t in-use in southeast
Arab ia increased (i.e. from 2300-200 0 BCE), the
archaeological evidence of Mesopotamian contact i
nificantly more scarce than previously, and seconda
the evidence for contemporary exchange with south
ern Iran a nd the Indus. However, a m ore recent co
eration of the evidence by Cleuziou and Miry
(2002:286, 290 ) has led them to suggest that the d
sit ion of Mesopotamian pottery in Oman in funera
and settlement contexts at least partially reflects ar
trary social and ideological factors, and cann ot be
regarded as an accurate index of the exchange betw
the two regions. A much different picture of
Mesop otamian-Gulf interaction is seen whe n the su
ing cuneiform evidence is examined (Oppenheim 1Leemans 1 96 0; Pett inato 19 72; Heimpel 1 98 7) , as
tacts between Mesopotamia and Magan are recorde
only from the Sargonic Period onwards, with a pea
interaction at the very end of the third millennium
Such contacts could, in theory, have been responsib
for the introduction of t in-bronze in southeastern
Arabia, as tin and tin-bronze were used in
Mesopo tamia from the early third millennium BCE
onwards (see above).
Nevertheless, the texts do not s uppo rt such a
hypothesis. This is because the range of traded mat
als listed in the texts is consistently limited to the l
agricultural and m anufactured prod ucts of the
Mesopotamian al1uvium:perishable organic product
such as oils, cereals, wool and garments. There are
few references to metals reaching southeastern Ara
from Mesopotamia. Copper, t in and gold are trade
Mesopotamia through the Gulf, and only silver is o
sionally provided to Mesopotamian merchants for
exchange in the Gulf region. It is possible, however
that the surviving texts do not provide a completerecord of the materials exchanged between southea
Arabia and Mesopotamia. The occasional trade of
art ifacts from Mesopotamia to Oman in the Umm
Nar Period, for example as gifts between the indiv
undertaking the trade, therefore remains a possibili
Tin a nd Tin-Bronze in Early Western Asia
8/14/2019 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf Technology, Trade, And the Bronze Age World ThePoet006102
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/early-metallurgy-of-the-persian-gulf-technology-trade-and-the-bronze-age 204/269
8/14/2019 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf Technology, Trade, And the Bronze Age World ThePoet006102
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/early-metallurgy-of-the-persian-gulf-technology-trade-and-the-bronze-age 205/269
period . Based on this evidence, a relatively straigh tfor-
ward north-south movement of tin andlor tin-bronze
throug h the Indo-Iranian borderlands t o the Gulf could
be hypothesized. Ho wever, the evidence for th ird millen-
nium tin-b ronz e use in southe astern Ir an is very limited
(see abo ve) , with the Tepe Yahya sequence particula rly
illustrative of the late ado ptio n of tin-bronze in the
region. In con tras t, mu ch mo re evidence for tin use is
available from early t o mid- third millennium sites inneighboring a reas of Baluchistan, and the cen tral Asian
connections of both sou theaster n Iran and Baluchistan in
the late third millennium are clear (H iebert and Lamberg-
Karlovsky 1992 ; Kohl and Pott ier 1 99 3). Thus,
Baluchistan could theoretically have been a significant
source of tin an d tin-bron ze for the southern Gulf region,
althoug h there is no positive proof of this hypothesis.
The final intermediary in the Gulf tin trade which
must be considered here is the Indus Valley, as studies of
n metallurgy indicate significant tin-bronze use in theregion in the later phases of the mature n period (see
above). The n site of Shortughai (Francfo rt 1979 , 1984,
19 89 ) in Afghanistan is a prime a nd o ften cited exam ple
of the means by which central Asian materials such as
lapis lazuli were obtained by the ns, although no tin-
bronze is found there.
During Caspers (1994523-525) has noted tha t the
presence of central Asian materials in the Gulf coincides
with an increase in the am ount of Indus Valley material
in the region, and has suggested tha t the Indus Valley
presence in the Arabian Gulf towards the close of the
third m illennium B.C. could, at least partly, be responsi-
ble for the introduction of M urghabo-Bactrian ma terial
into the region . During Caspers' reasons for the
hypothesis are sound: there were direct connections
between the Indu s an d central Asia (Francfort 1984:174;
Hiebert 1994:13), and a strong Indus trade w ith the Gulf
in the third millennium. The chronology of Indus con-
tacts with the Gulf is also important in the evaluation of
this hypothesis, as a clear intensification in Indus-Oman
relations is seen towa rds the end of the thir d millenniumBCE (Cleu ziou 19 92 ; Frifelt 199 5: 238-239; Vogt
1996:127). Th us, th e Indu s presence in the Gulf is seen to
intensify a t the time wh en tin-bro nze first appea rs in sig-
nificant quan ti ties in sou theastern Arabia in the tombs at
Unar l ,Unar2 and Tell Abraq.
Southeastern Arabian archaeological finds in th
Indus Valley are extremely rare, and include one sof
stone vessel of se rie re cente style from Mohenjo-D ar
(Cleuziou and Tosi 1989:Figure 12 ; Cha kraba rti 19
30 6) and one from Lothal (M iry 1996:171). Of cou
the most impo rtant raw ma terial that may have bee
exchanged between the two regions is copper (see
Chapter Two), although the evidence for this trade i
unfortunately ambiguous. In contrast, the archaeoloevidence for Indus material in southeastern Arabia i
considerable. Fo r exam ple, black-slipped storage ve
of Indus origin ar e found in numerous settlement co
texts in southeastern Arabia in the second half of th
third millennium BCE (Blackman and M ir y 1999:F
2; Mkry and Blackman 1999:173; Vogt 1995 ,1996:
123-124; Frifelt 19 95: 165-168; Cleuziou 1 98 4; De C
1997 ; Potts 1 993 c, 199 4). Decorated Indus po ttery
more com mon in tomb assemblages, such as Tombs
and N at H ili (M6ry 1997:Figures 11, 12; A1 Tikriti Mi r y 2000:21 l ) , nd continues to be found in sout
eastern Arabia into the early second millennium BCE
(Potts 1994; Kennet and Velde 1995 :87, 92-93; De
1988:46 and Figure 11).
Additional Indus-related finds from so utheaster
Arabia include stam p seals (Weisgerber l9 8 1:218:Abb
1984 ; Cleuziou 199 2:97), cubical stone weights (P o
2000:128; De Cardi 1 98 8), and ivory combs and fig
urines (Cleuziou 1996:97; Potts 1993d, 1994:Figure
53.6, 2000:102, 13 1; cf. Possehl 1996:1 41). Of cou
the most numerous class of goods imported into sou
eastern Arabia fro m the Indus is beads. Examples in
etched carnelian (Vogt l9 96 :l l 3; Benton 1996:Figu
149-150; Cleuziou an d Vogt 19 85 : Figure 5; Vogt
1996:113; Potts 2000:131; Edens 1 993: 34 8), gold,
silver (Pot ts 1994:620; 2 0 00 5 4 ) are found in tomb
assemblages throughout the Oman Peninsula and h
very close parallels to Indus finds. Most significantl
this study, typological analyses suggest that Indus c
per-base objects, including spearheads and flat axes
were a l so impor t ed in southeas t e rn Arabia (M kryMarquis l998:217, Figure 7; Pot ts 1990b:Figure 3
Weisgerber 1980b:Abb. 78; Fri felt 1975 :Figure 46
Indus contact with southeastern Arabia is observ
not only by imported Ha rap pan goods, but also by lo
produced objects which show Ha rap pan influences. S
Tin and Tin-Bronze i n Early Western Asia
8/14/2019 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf Technology, Trade, And the Bronze Age World ThePoet006102
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/early-metallurgy-of-the-persian-gulf-technology-trade-and-the-bronze-age 206/269
i tems include the thumbnail-impressed pottery found at
Maysar 1 and H ili 8 (Cleuziou and Tosi 198 9:40; Potts
1990a:103; Vogt 19 96:12 0), and deeply concave handle
l ids such as found a t Umm an -Nar Island (Edens 1993:
341; al though Frifelt 19 95:17 8 and Figures 245-247
suggests an ac tual Indus origin for these pieces). Oth er
changes in ceramic technology which are seen to occu r
in southea stern Arabia a t the end of the third millenni-
um BCE, such as string-cut bases and the use of rope o r
cord to wr ap large vessels prior t o f i r ing, are thou ght to
indicate influence from the Ind us or Indo -Iranian
regions (C leuziou an d Vogt 1985:272-274; Vogt
1996: l l9 -120) .
T. F. Potts 1 94:28 1) as suggested tha t the distribu-
tion of tin in third m illennium western Asia w as con-
trolled by the Meluhha ns. This hypothesis is based u pon
the pattern of early tin-bron ze use in the region, and pa r-
ticularly its dear th in highland Iran, wh ich Potts sees as
reflecting differential access to m aritime trad e throug hthe Gulf. Certainly, the archaeological evidence for con-
tact between southeastern Arabia and th e Indus Valley
indicates that Me luhha n t in and t in-bronze might have
been accessible to the inhab itant s of southea stern
Arab ia. However, the review of the archaeo logical evi-
dence for foreign m aterial in M agan suggests tha t cen-
t ral Asian t in a nd t in-bronze could also have been t raded
to so utheastern Arabia via Iran o r Baluchistan. These
regions show the st rongest contacts wi th so utheastern
Arabia in the last third of the third millennium BCE in
addit ion to significant levels of interaction w ith the
putative source areas the Indo-Iranian borderlands a nd
central Asia. Admittedly, the evidence fo r t in-bro nze
use in the Indus in the third millennium BCE is much
st ronger than tha t for most areas of Iran, but the
recent analyses of material from Kaftari Period
Malyan indicate signi ficant t in-bronze use, an d Kaftari
vessels have been fo und in the to mb assemblages at
both Tel l Abraq and U nar2 w here t in-bronze i s fre-
quently used. However, as nowhere between Fars
Province a nd the Indo-Iranian b orderlands seems tohave been using t in-bronze at this t ime, the possibil i ty
of Malyan obtaining i ts t in via an overland trade with
the east seems small. In short , a n Indu s origin f or the
tin used in the Gulf region, an d perhaps also in south -
western Iran, seems the most likely situation.
Tin for the Central Gulf
At the moment, the only real evidence for the availa
of tin in the central Gulf in the third millennium BC
the reference from Ebla to the use of Dilmun t in, an
text from pre-Sargonic Lagash that refers to obtain
an-na zabar from Dilmun. The uncertainties associa
with these references have been discussed earlier. T
lack of analyses of copper-base objects from third m
lennium BCE contexts in the central Gulf is a ma jolacuna in ou r understanding of the Gulf metals trad
and prevents a reliable discussion of the tin and tin-
bronze trade thro ugh the region before the early sec
millennium BCE. Indus contacts seem particularly p
sive by this time (th e City I1 Period ) at the Qa la'at a
Bahrain, and include items such as seals with Indus
inscriptions and weights derived from the Indus sys
(Edens 199 3) which were used for the administrat io
aspects of the Gulf trade. (Harjlund and A ndersen
1994 :474). Carnelian beads and ivory form the Qalare l ikely also to have come f rom the Ind us (Bibby
Harjlund 198 9; H~zrjlund nd A ndersen 1994:470-47
and Indus m aterial has been recovered at contempo
sites on B ahrain, including the graves a t 'Ali (Frifel
1986:129-131 and Figure 3 2) and the Saar settleme
(Carter 2001). Further to the no rth, Edens (1993:34
has suggested that a number of seals from Failaka
demonstrate strong greater Indus connections tha
continued into the early second millennium BCE.
Contempo rary D ilmun-related material in the Indus
region is extremely limited, but includes a Dilmun s
found at Lothal (Rao 1963 ).
In the second millennium BCE, Dilmun's excha
ties with more northerly areas such as Mesopotamia
Elam were also close. The small number of Kaftari
(Za rins 19 89 :82) vessels in the ce ntral Gulf is suppl
mented by a limited array of other finds. Notably, f
Dilmun seals have been excavated a t Susa (Amiet 1
in addition to a number of locally-manufactured sea
with elements of Dilmun glyptic, and a cuneiform ta
bearing a Dilmun seal impression (P otts l999 a: 179Furthermore, analyses of the bitumen used at the Sa
settlement in the early second m illennium BCE indi
that i t was Iranian in origin ( Co nna n et al . 199 8 ci
possible sources in Luristan, Khuzistan and Fars). T
once-hypothesized presence at Susa of a temple to t
186 Early Metallurgy of th e Persian Gulf
8/14/2019 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf Technology, Trade, And the Bronze Age World ThePoet006102
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/early-metallurgy-of-the-persian-gulf-technology-trade-and-the-bronze-age 207/269
Dilmunite god Inzak has now been refuted (Potts
1999a:169), but the use of personal names associated
with Inzak by Elamite residents, and the offering of a
gift or tribute of silver to Susa by Dilmun in the late
18 th century BCE (Po t ts 1990a:226-228 ) remain as
indications of the contact between these two regions.
-Furth erm ore, in the no rthe rn Gulf there is significant
archaeological evidence for Elamite contact with
Failaka in the second millennium, in the form of
Elamite pottery and cylinder seals at tel ls F3 and F6
(Pot ts 1990a:274 no te 7 8) . Further south, red-ridged
Dilmun pot tery has been found on the coast of Iran a t
Bandar Bushire (Piza rd 1 9 4:Pl. VIII). Regardless of
the quanti ty of finds in Dilmun and Elam, their nature
suggests that contacts between the two regions were
based o n mercanti le activity. T he Elam ite connections
with Failaka in part icular suggest that this region must
be considered as a potential supplier of the tin and t in-
bronz e used in early second millennium Dilmun.Th e use of Elamite t in in Dilmun might also cor-
relate wi th changes in the t rade routes used to t rans-
port eastern t in to western Asia over the course of the
Bronze Age. As discussed above, the overland tr ade of
eastern luxury goods that characterized the early third
millennium seems to have been reduced in importance
with the incorporat ion of Meluhha into the Gulf t rade
by the later third millennium. T. F. Potts (1994:277-290)
has discussed the increasing role of th e Gulf in the sup -
ply of eastern raw materials an d luxury goods to so uth-
ern Me sopo tamia over the course of the third millenni-
um, and the possibil i ty that the overland trade route
through highland Iran and the Gulf sea-route were
essentially m utually exclusive exchange systems. W ith
the collapse of the Ind us civil ization some t ime aro un d
19 00 BCE, the trade in eastern luxuries may have
reverted to near-exclusive use of the ov erland routes.
Significantly, Susa is regar ded by Po tts as o ne of
very few si tes which m ay have part icipated in b oth
exchange ne twork s (T. F. Potts 1 994 :280 ), an d i t may
have been w ell placed to p rofi t fro m the loss ofMe luhha from the Gulf t rade in the early second mi l-
lennium BCE. Ma terials of central Asian origin once
t raded v ia M eluhha now had to be obta ined through
the overland t rade w i th Iran, and the st ro ng Bact rian
connect ions a t Susa in the early second mi l lennium
attest to the ro le of Susa in the westerly distributio
eas t ern goods (Pot t s 1999a:17 9) . Certainly, al l the
erences to the t in t rade throug h the Gulf ( the t in o
Di lmun, Mag an an d Me luhha ) belong to the thi rd
lennium BCE, wherea s the large-scale t in tra de of
second mi l lennium involving Assur a nd Ma ri seem
have involved t in which reached Susa and
Mesopotamia via overland routes. The significant
increase in t in-bronze use at Susa in the early seco
mil lennium BCE (Malfoy and M enu 1987:Table D
may be a f urth er reflection of this change in acqui
t ion pat terns, and the contemporary use of t in on
Bahrain may indicate contacts wi th Susa rather th
the more easterly regions which supplied t in to the
Gulf in the third millennium. In this co ntext, i t is
est ing to consider the material from the found at ion
depo sit of B arbar Temple 11: the a lab aste r vessels,
bronze bull's head and m irror ha ndle have parallel
the Indo-Iranian or central Asian regions (Potts1990a:204-205 ; Craw ford an d a1 Sindi 1995:3; cf.
Mortensen 1986:184), and may also have arrived
through northe rn exchanges wi th Elam.
Reconsidering the Tin Problem
Th e early t in trade has long been regarded a s probl
ic because of apparent discrepancies between the di
bution of early tin-bronzes, the textual evidence for
trade routes, and the limited geological evidence fo
location of tin dep osits suitable for Bronze Age expl
tion. As outlined above, the evidence from archaeom
lurgy and geological studies has improved dramatica
over the last twenty years, and archaeologists are no
longer forced to rely upon the distribution pa ttern o
earl iest t in-bronzes as a proxy indicator for the loca
of ancient t in sources (cf. Renfrew 196 7:13; Muhly
1973a:170; de Jesus 1978:37-38). Thus, t in sources
the Troa d need no longer be hypothesized, a s the EB
tin-bronzes of the Troa d and the Aegean, once thoug
represent the earl iest in the region, are in fact contem
rary o r later than t in-bronzes in Greater Mesop otamand elsewhere. M odern prog rams of composit ional
isotopic analyses have conclusively s upp orte d these
ings, by demonstrating the non-Anatolian origin of
metal in the earl iest t in-bronzes of the Troad and th
Aegean region (see Cha pter Seven).
Tin an d Tin-Bronze in Early Western Asia
8/14/2019 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf Technology, Trade, And the Bronze Age World ThePoet006102
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/early-metallurgy-of-the-persian-gulf-technology-trade-and-the-bronze-age 208/269
From the very first, the Mesopotamian evidence for
tin-bronze use has illustrated the limited influence that
the geographical distribution of tin ore deposits had on
the utilization of tin-bronze soon after this alloy was first
produced. Basic geological considerations indicate that
the early and mid-third millennium tin-bronzes in metal-
poor Mesopotamia were obtained through long-distance
trade (Stech and Pigott 1986:40-4 1).Moreover, surviving
cuneiform evidence from Mesopotamia indicates that its
tin sources lay to the east, and that in the early second
millennium BCE this tin was traded from Mesopotamia
into central Anatolia. It is increasingly clear that investi-
gating how, why, and by which elements of society the
tin-bronze alloy was adopted is as important to under-
standing its early trade as where it was used and in what
quantities (cf. Philip 1991; Stech and Pigott 1986). Only
by addressing such factors can the "problematic" distri-
bution patterns of early tin-bronzes and Bronze Age tin
sources be reconciled. In the following discussion, thepossible ideological and socio-political aspects of early
tin-bronze use in western Asia are investigated, beginning
with southeastern Arabian evidence.
Tin and Tin-Bronze as Prestige Goods in the Gulf
A large and growing body of data from both the Old
and New Worlds indicates that the earliest copper-base
alloys were often produced and selected based upon
such properties as physical appearance and scarcity
rather than purely on mechanical properties of strength,
hardness, or ease of working and casting (Levy and
Shalev 1989:358; Miiller-Karpe 1991:112; Moorey
1994:253; Hosler 1995; Tadmor et al. 1995 ; Hayden
1998:27). For example, the physical appearance of tin-
bronze has been regarded as important in the initial
adoption of this alloy in upper Mesopotamia. Speaking
of material from the early third millennium site of Qara
Quzaq in Syria, Montero Fenollos (1996:20) stated:
Su be110 aspect0 exterior, frente a1 mis vulgar
del cobre arsenicado, explica la presencia en
una misma tumba de alfileres de bronce, unossimples ornamentos personales, junto a armas
de cobre, donde hubiera sido mis 16gico el
empleo de la aleaci6n cobre-estaiio.
[Its beautiful outer aspect, as opposed to
arsenical copper, explains the presence in the
same tomb of tin-bronze pins, simple personal
ornaments, next to copper weapons, for which
the use of the copper-tin alloy would have been
more logical.]
A similar argument can be made for early tin-br
use in the Gulf. As discussed in Chapter Five, there w
considerable differences in the alloy types used to pr
duce different object categories in Umm al-Nar Perio
southeastern Arabia. In particular, 90 percent of ring
analyzed in this volume contained in excess of one p
cent Sn, whereas objects such as pins/awls and blade
showed a much lower frequency (less than ca. 20 pe
cent) of tin-bronze use. It seems clear that the advan
geous mechanical properties of tin-bronze were not
reason for its adoption. If this were the case, the use
tin-bronze in utilitarian object categories, such as bl
or pins/awls would have been expected. In Chapter F
it was suggested that this discrepancy reflected the p
erential use of tin-bronze for decorative rather than tarian objects in Bronze Age southeastern Arabia, ba
upon its golden color in comparison to reddish copp
andlor the greater value of the alloy, due to its inclu
of exotic tin. Both factors may have made tin-bronz
more appropriate for adornment and display than u
loyed local copper.
While still allowing for the importance of the sur
appearance of tin-bronze in its initial adoption in south
ern Arabia, a more elaborate argument is presented in
following paragraphs. Although surface appearance ma
indeed have marked this alloy as distinct and could hav
caused it to be valued differently than copper, it is sugg
below that its golden color was simply one among a su
properties, both materially and socially determined, th
distinguished tin-bronze from contemporary copper-ba
alloys. This argument recognizes the fact that in prehis
contexts, metals and metal objects possessed unique, so
ly-defined properties partly divorced from their materia
characteristics. These properties are, thus, not amenabl
identification and quantification by archaeometric ana
such as those employed in this volume.In particular, I wish to examine the possible role
tin-bronze as a prestige material in the Bronze Age G
The role of "luxury" or prestige goods in prehistoric
economic and political development has been empha
sized by a number of scholars (Kohl 1975:47; Schne
188 Early Metallurgyof the Persian Gulf
8/14/2019 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf Technology, Trade, And the Bronze Age World ThePoet006102
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/early-metallurgy-of-the-persian-gulf-technology-trade-and-the-bronze-age 209/269
1977; Renfrew 1986; Sherratt and Sherratt 1991;
Hayden 1998). Following theoretical models developed
primarily in anthropology (e.g. Mauss 1966; Sahlins
1972; Dalton 1975; Ekholm 1977) , the control of the
long-distance trade in prestige goods has been linked to
the construction and maintenance of political power in
societies with developed or nascent hierarchies (e.g.
Friedman and Rowlands 1977 ; Frankenstein and
Rowlands 1978; Hodder 1982:204; Kristiansen 1986;
Larsson 1986; Kipp and Schortman 1989; Earle 1997;
McGlade 1997). According to such theories, prestige
goods act not only as important markers of status, but
also have a role to play in generating and legitimizing
political, economic and other forms of hierarchy (e.g.
Renfrew 1986:144; Appadurai 1986:34) . The point is
succinctly expressed by Earle (1997:144): "power rests
on materialized ideologies".
The importance of luxury o r prestige materials, that
is their potential to generate and legitimize political
power, is linked to both their scarcity and their symbolic
or ideological content (Hodder 1982; Helms 1986,
1993). Scarcity arises from a number of factors, includ-
ing limited natural occurrence (for raw materials) andlor
restricted loci of production (for raw materials and fin-
ished artifacts), in addition to the great distances
involved in the acquisition of such goods. Their symbol-
ic and ideological content would have reflected bogh the
distances from which the goods were obtained, as well
as the ideologically-charged contexts in which they were
consumed at their destinations (Helms 1993; Lamberg-
Karlovsky 2001:280). Furthermore, implicit in the theo-
retical formulations outlined above is the notion that the
long-distance exchange of prestige goods took place
within restricted social and political spheres, i.e.
between the elites of the societies in contact (Earle
l997:198; Helms 1993:3-4; for a western Asian exam-
ple, see Pinnock 1988 regarding Ebla).
The significance of long-distance exchange in prehis-
tory has been down-played by a number of scholars (e.g.
Wallerstein 1993:294; Leemans 1977:s-6), due to thesmall scale of the trade and its limitation t o goods of a
"luxury" nature , which Wallerstein regarded as non-
systemic to early economies. However, if the genera-
tion, maintenance and legitimization of socio-political
relationships relied upon obtaining luxury goods, they
are better regarded as necessities, and the admitted
small scale of the trade in such goods is perhaps n
important as its role. Following Polanyi (1975:135
luxuries can be seen as simply necessities for the r
and powerful. This concept is emphasized by
Appadurai (1986:38), who states "I propose that w
regard luxury goods not so much in contrast to ne
sities (a contrast filled with problems), but as goo
whose principal use is rhetorical and social, goods
are simply incarnated signs. The necessity to which
they respond is fundamentally political." It is inter
ing to note Adams' comments on this trade
1 74: l49) , which he regarded as possessing "con
able socioeconomic force ... n spite of its being larg
confined to commodities of very high value in rela
to weight and bulk because of high transport costs
and in spite of its directly involving only a small p
of the population" (my italics). If this statement is
assessed from the theoretical perspective discussed
it would seem that the prestige goods trade was im
tant precisely because of these factors.
Thus, we can see that prestige goods have thre
important attributes:they are scarce, charged with
bolic content, and circulated with restricted sphere
exchange. It is these three factors that have led ar
ologists and anthropologists to attach such signific
to long-distance exchange in early economies. The
ticular role of metals as prestige goods in Bronze A
exchange systems has been discussed by a number
authors (e.g. Renfrew 1986; Sherratt 1976 , 1994;
Sherratt and Sherratt 1991:360-361; Hayden
1998:27-28). For example, Sherratt and Sherratt
(1991:354) state that items such as exotic metalw
may "embody concepts of value and purity which
a power which is more than just a consequence of
relative scarcity". Although many examples of the
of gold and silver could be cited in this context, it
important to note that other metals such as coppe
and copper alloys could also have been regarded i
such a manner in Bronze Age contexts.As has been noted numerous times in this volum
tin is a foreign object in Gulf archaeological context
analyses discussed in this volume, in addition to a ha
of cuneiform sources, indicate that both tin and pre-
alloyed tin-bronze (the latter probably traded as finish
Tin an d Tin-Bronze in Early Western Asia
8/14/2019 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf Technology, Trade, And the Bronze Age World ThePoet006102
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/early-metallurgy-of-the-persian-gulf-technology-trade-and-the-bronze-age 210/269
art ifacts) were available through the Gulf trade that con-
nected Mesopotamia with the societies of Dilmun,
Ma gan and M eluhha. Based upon objects recovered
from archaeological contexts in the Gulf and the evi-
dence of Mesopotamian texts, it is clear that this trade
dealt largely in materials tha t can be regarded as pres-
t ige goods (e.g. Edens 199 2:122; Craw ford 199 6). Such
goods included gold, silver, textiles, ivory, lapis lazuli,
carnelian, various types of wo od, and exotic vessels of
pot tery and stone (Heimpel 1987, 19 88; Pot ts 1990 a,
1993 b; Ratnagar 198 1). The association of t in and t in-
bronze w ith these materials in the Gulf trade is one fac-
tor that suggests it may have had a prestige status in
Bronze Age southeastern Arabia.
In addit ion to their rari ty an d intrinsic worth, Edens
(1992 :122) has noted that the raw materials of the Gulf
trad e carried heavy burdens of ideological significance
when they reached their Mesopotamian destinations,
where they were consumed as part of cultic or elitepractices. A similar regard for these materials almost
certainly prevailed in southeastern Arabia and Mkry
(199 7:171 ) has suggested th at the deposit ion of so much
foreign material in burial contexts in southeastern
Arabia suggests the retention of a strong symbolic
meaning for objects obtaine d throug h the Gulf trade.
Moreover, the participation of southeastern Arabia in
the Gulf trade almost certainly led to a spread in the
ideology of elite cons ump tion and notions of app rop ri-
ate prestige goods among the societies participa ting in
the trade . Th is reflects the fact th at, in all societies, the
value of raw materials an d finished pro ducts is chiefly a
matter of convention (e.g. Renfrew 1972:370). For
example, Sherratt (1994:337-338) regards the develop-
ment of Bronze Age exchange networks in Europe as
dependent in part upon the emergence of a co mm on ide-
ology of con sum ption reflected in the ex istence of
inter natio nally recognized 'role/status kits ' of prestige
materials. Sherratt 's ideas echo the claim by Stech and
Pigot t (19 86 56 ) that t in was part of a material com-
plex , incorporating also lapis lazuli and gold, that wasimportant in the display of power in third millennium
Mesopo tamia (see also Muhly 19 85a ). Thu s, the sym-
bolic value of tin-bronze in southeastern Arabia was
probably shaped by both local and broader regional
ideologies of consumption, in particular those possessed
by the el i te elements in M esop otam ian society that
ated the principal demand for the prestige goods tr
through the Gulf.
The simple fact that t in-bronze came t o the Gu
from a great distance not only added to its ideologi
wor th (e.g. Lamberg-Karlovsky 2001 :280), but also
ensured th at it circulated in limited spheres of excha
within southeastern Arabia. This is because the Gul
trade seems to have been organized in such a way t
was highly susceptible to monopolistic control (cf.
Peregrine 1991:2). Such control was possible becaus
there were only a few points of articulation between
internal southeastern Arabian exchange system and
trade of prestige goods throug h the Gulf, at coastal
ing sites such as Umm an-Nar Island, Tell Abraq, a
Ra's al-Jinz (e.g. Frifelt 199 1:128 ; Car ter 2001 :196)
almost certain that foreign connections at these site
and the goo ds they introduced into so utheastern Ar
were monitored and controlled by local elites (Cleuand Tosi 1989:33).
As a result of such exchange mechanisms, tin-
bronze may have been regarded as a highly differe
material to unalloyed or local copper. In addit ion t
golden color, and its rarity, access to the alloy was
ited ideologically and practically to the elites in so
eastern Arabian society. Using the theoretical const
outlined above, at the same time as the use of tin-
bronze demonstrated an elite person's access to the
fruits of the Gulf trade, this access and the promin
display that went with it helped to legitimize their
authority in the eyes of the wider community. The
spicuous consumption of t in-bronze thro ugh i ts pre
ential incorporation into items of jewelry, such as
and bracelets, supports such a notion for early t in
tin-bronze use in southeastern Arabia.
Such an explanation contrasts strongly with pr
ous hypotheses regarding alloy use in Bronze Age
southeastern Arabia, which have focused predomi
ly on the mechanical properties of early copper-ba
objects. Specifically, the apparent lack of tin-bronzBronze Age southeastern Arabia was explained by
prevalence of arsenic and nickel-bearing copper in
local metal industries. This natural alloy of As/Ni
per probably had similar working properties to t in
bronze, meaning that from a material perspective
190 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf
8/14/2019 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf Technology, Trade, And the Bronze Age World ThePoet006102
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/early-metallurgy-of-the-persian-gulf-technology-trade-and-the-bronze-age 211/269
bronze did not "need" to be adopted (Haup tmann
1987:217; Hauptmann et al. 1988). However, more
recent analyses of material from Oman have suggested
that AsINi-copper occurs more frequently in the Wadi
Suq Period than the third millennium BCE, and that
its appearance coincides with the first significant
(though limited) use of tin-bronze (Prange et al.
1999:Figures 5-6). However, the results of this study
and of analyses undertaken on Umm al-Nar Period
material by Berthoud (1979) , Hauptmann (1995) and
Hauptmann et al. (1988) indicate that the co-occur-
rence of As/Ni-copper and tin-bronze also character-
izes third millennium BCE metallurgy in southeastern
Arabia. This CO-occurrence of alloy types, and partic-
ularly the preferential use of tin-bronze in the produc-
tion of decorative items, argues against interpretations
of early alloying in southeastern Arabia focused pure-
ly upon mechanical properties.
In summary, the arguments presented above are
based upon two considerations: firstly, the actual use
that was made of the tin-bronze alloy in southeastern
Arabian metalworking industries and, secondly,
anthropologically-derived theories which stress the
socio-political importance of the long-distance
exchange of prestige goods. Thus, the possibility that
tin-bronze was adopted in southeastern Arabia due to
its improved mechanical properties seems to be ruled
out by the preferential use of tin-bronze in decorative
rather than utilitarian items. One possible explanation
for the use of tin-bronze in the later Umm al-Nar
Period is that the external appearance of the alloy, its
golden color, was important in its adoption. However,
theoretical considerations indicate that the importance
of the non-material, socially-defined characteristics of
tin-bronze in Bronze Age contexts in the Gulf should
not be underestimated. It seems highly likely that tin-
bronze, due to its scarcity and its source in the Gulf
prestige goods trade, had ideological/symbolic quali-
ties and a socio-political value that locally-produced
copper and AsINi-copper could never have possessed.The adoption of tin-bronze in southeastern Arabia
was no doubt conditioned by these ideological consid-
erations as much as by consideration of the mechani-
cal and casting improvements offered by the alloy, or
its physical appearance.
Tin and Tin-Br onze in Wider Western Asia:
Techno logy, Ideology, Trade Routes
In contrast to earlier technologically-based explana
for the development of alloying practices in western
Asia, scholars have recently suggested that the adop
of tin and tin-bronze in third millennium metal ind
tries was governed more by their prestige status tha
their mechanical properties. The strongest statemen
this effect was made by Stech and Pigott (1986; see
Stech 1999; Pigott 1999c) , but realization of the po
ble prestige status of tin-bronze in third millennium
Mesopotamia can be seen as early as the work of
Moorey and Schweizer (l972:185 ). Early tin use in
is also considered by Moorey (1982:98) to have be
conditioned by more than just technological consid
tions. He notes that "it may be doubted that, outsi
the great Elamite urban centers, tin-bronzes were c
mon in Iran much before the middle of the second
lenniumB.C.
and, even in Susa, social and econom
factors may have controlled their production and d
bution". The potential role of these factors in the e
use of tin-bronze across western Asia is considered
the following paragraphs.
In Mesopotamian contexts, the hypothesized "p
tige" status of tin and tin-bronze has been suggested
only by the distances which were involved in the tin
trade and the association of tin with clearly prestige
ury materials such as lapis lazuli and gold (e.g. Muh
1973a), but also by the kinds of objects that tin-bro
was used to manufacture and the archaeological co
in which it was concentrated. The enormous distanc
the tin sources have been clearly established by geol
cal research, with the even the nearest potential sou
the Taurus Mountains located more than 1,000 km
southern Mesopotamia, and the more likely sources
Afghanistan and central Asia well over 1,500 km d
In Mesopotamia, the preference observable in the m
al from the Royal Cemetery at Ur for using tin-bron
produce vessels (Muller-Karpe 1991, 1994:71) has
explained as reflecting the prestige status of the allobecause the mechanical advantages of employing tin
bronze to produce vessels are unclear (Stech 1999).
Likewise, Moorey and Schweizer (1972:185) have n
the preferential use of tin-bronze for vessels and clo
pins, and suggested that its display or "luxury" val
Tin and Tin-Bronze in Early Western Asia
8/14/2019 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf Technology, Trade, And the Bronze Age World ThePoet006102
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/early-metallurgy-of-the-persian-gulf-technology-trade-and-the-bronze-age 212/269
8/14/2019 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf Technology, Trade, And the Bronze Age World ThePoet006102
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/early-metallurgy-of-the-persian-gulf-technology-trade-and-the-bronze-age 213/269
lay at the very end of what was an extremely long-dis-
tance trade route, and there is little evidence for the con-
temporary use of tin-bronze in the neighboring Levant.
Nevertheless, a maritime tin t rade t o Egypt seems to
have been well established by the early second millenni-
um, when eastern tin (i.e. from sources to the east of
Mesopotamia) was regularly obtained through Middle
Kingdom contacts with the Syrian littoral at Byblos
(Muhly 1973a:332). Although similar trade connections
existed in the Old Kingdom, they do not seem to have
brought much tin or tin-bronze to Egypt, even though
Afghan was utilized in Egypt, somewhat sporadically,
from the early third millennium (Muhly 1973a:318).
However, ideological factors could also explain the
dearth of tin-bronze in third millennium Egypt. For
example, Lucas (1934:178) has noted that, while the
Middle Kingdom is the period when tin-bronze really
begins to be used frequently in Egypt, analyses of the
material from the tomb of Tutankhamun reveal more
copper objects than tin-bronzes. Significantly, particular
object categories, such as the implements of shawbti fig-
urines, seem to have been preferentially made only of
relatively pure copper. Such differentiation suggests that
notions of appropriate alloys for particular types of
objects, or of ritual purity, may have existed, and con-
strained the use of particular alloys in early Egypt.
Turning to the third millennium Iranian Plateau, the
very rare occurrence of tin-bronze in the region is more
difficult to explain, especially if tin was coming overland
from Afghanistan or central Asia. One explanation
could be that tin was, in fact, not coming from these
eastern sources at all. The textual evidence from
Mesopotamia has always led scholars to look for tin
deposits in northwestern and central western Iran (e.g.
Muhly 1973b:409), and a possible tin or tin-copper
source has been recently discovered in Luristan, at Deh
Hosein. The utilization in Mesopotamia of tin from such
a region would help to explain the lack of tin-bronze at
sites on the Iranian Plateau and further to the east, if the
tin was traded only to the southwest. However, as out-lined above, the significance of the Deh Hosein copper-
tin deposit is yet to be adequately assessed. Basic data
regarding the possible production of natural tin-bronzes
from the ores are as yet unpublished and, most impor-
tantly, production at Deh Hosein seems to have been
concentrated in much later periods than those under
consideration here. Nevertheless, the very recent dis
ery of the site indicates the possibility that small tin
bearing deposits remain undiscovered, even in regio
well surveyed as the Zagros. Although the Deh Hos
extraction seems unrelated to the issue of Bronze Ag
sources, and more easterly regions have emerged as
most likely third millennium tin producers, the site
lights the limitations of the geological knowledge up
which much of the present discussion is based.
If tin was in fact coming to Mesopotamia from
Indo-Iranian borderlands, we must imagine that it w
either not traded through central and eastern Iran,
that when it was, none was utilized in local metal i
tries. Alternative routes to an overland Iranian Plat
trade include a southern trade through the Gulf, or
northern route across the Caspian Sea. The possibil
of a southern tin and tin-bronze trade through the
is supported by the results of the present study,
although the absence of analyzed third millennium
objects from the central Gulf is still a significant la
in our knowledge. As discussed above, such a trade
route could explain the known distribution of tin-
bronze in southern Mesopotamia and at Susa, and
indeed this has been proposed by T. F. Potts (1994:
This southern maritime route was already long-esta
lished in the supply of copper and other goods to s
ern Mesopotamia and, by avoiding Iran altogether,
sessed a number of advantages in cost and speed.
Possehl (1996:189) has described the Mesopotamia
Meluhha trade as an "end-run" around southeaster
Iran which facilitated the procurement of larger qu
ties of material, more suitable for the scale of dema
generated by contemporary Mesopotamia, than cou
provided by the overland route.
Of course, once tin and tin-bronze reached
Mesopotamia, they could have been further disperse
the west (i.e. the Troad and the Aegean) via overlan
trade through Anatolia. The higher tin-bronze frequ
in the Troad than in central Anatolia is not a signifstumbling block to an overland trade hypothesis, if
regards the trade as directed more towards some co
sumers than others, rather than being simple down-
line exchange. Nevertheless, the possibility of an al
tive nor thern trade route across the Caspian Sea is
Tin and Tin-Bronze in Early Western Asia
8/14/2019 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf Technology, Trade, And the Bronze Age World ThePoet006102
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/early-metallurgy-of-the-persian-gulf-technology-trade-and-the-bronze-age 214/269
at by archaeological evidence from the Caucasus, the
Aegean, and the Troad. For example, the coastal/island
concentration of t in-bronze in the Aegean and the Troad
has suggested to some scholars tha t a m aritime trad e
across the Black Sea may have brought eastern tin into
the Aegean (M uh ly et al. 1 99 1; Mu hly 1999:18-19;
Apakidze 19 99) . The predom inant use of arsenical cop-
per a t the site of Ikiztepe o n the Black Sea coast (e.g.
Gedik et al. 200 2) has proven problematic for propo-
nents of such a tin trade route, but analyses indicate that
abo ut 1 5 percent of the analyzed copper-base objects
from Ikiztepe contain significant am ou nts of tin. As
noted above, the possibility of a Black Sea trade in tin is
further supported by the finds of tin-bronze and lapis
lazuli in third millennium Transcaucasia (e.g. Kohl et al.
2002; Kavtaradze 199 9; Apakidze 19 99; Edens
199 5:5 6), which raise the possibility th at tin from the
Indo-Iranian borderlands may have been shipped west
via a Caspian route, o r that i t may have traveled over-land through northernmost Iran, along the southern
shores of the C aspian Sea. The utilization of such a
route m ight explain the absence of t in-bronze in eastern
Iran, although its absence at a northeastern site such as
Hissar is still hard to explain if the tin was com ing from
Afghanistan. In contrast, central Asian tin from the
Uzbekistan-Tajikistan border region could well have
traveled to the west by a route that ran n orth of the
Kopet Dagh and Elburz Mountains.
In contrast, if tin and tin-bronze were traded across
the Iranian Plateau, then technological or ideological
explanations must be proposed for their absence in
Iranian metal assemblages. A technological explanation
might be supported by the evidence for a developed
arsenical copper metallurgy at most third millennium
BCE sites in eastern and central Iran, including Tepe
Hissar (Pigo tt 1982:Table 3) , Shahr-i Sok hta
(Hauptman n 1980; Pigott 1 99 9b) , Sialk (Berthoud
197 9), Shahdad (Vatandoust 19 99), and Tepe Yahya
(Heskel and Lamberg-Karlovsky 198 0; Thornton et al.
20 02 ). Using this reasoning, the arsenical copp er used atthese sites probably had similar material characteristics
to tin-bronze, and the new alloy was not utilized as it
offered no mechanical advantages over the alloys
already in use and wa s no doub t more difficult and
costly to obtain. However, analytical studies have
demon strated the CO-occurrenceof pure copper and
many varieties of binary and ternary copper alloys i
metal assemblages from sites across western Asia, a
the use of these alloys in ways tha t d o not e xploit th
mechanical potential. Such findings suggest that the
nological advantages of alloys over pure copper ma
always determine the nature of metal use at Bronze
sites. Moreover, e xplan ations wh ich suggest scarcity
alloying elements as an exp lanation for synchronic
diachronic alloy variability may also be underestima
the significance of ideological factors in early m etal
As noted by Ch akrab arti and Lahiri (1996 :207), the
assumption that wha t is considered to be technolo
ly superior mus t also be culturally preferred is ofte
justified by the available archaeological, metallurgic
and ethnographic data.
An alternative interpr etation for the dea rth of ti
bronze o n the Iranian Plateau is offered by Pigott
(1999b:83). He regards tin and tin-bronze as prestiggoods, and suggests tha t the rarity of tin may have
moted its status am ong the Sum erians while the peo
the Iranian Plateau may have rem ained un-influenced
such pressure . However, lapis lazuli from Afghanis
Baluchistan reached Iran in significant quantities, as
for example at Shahr-i Sokhta (Lamberg-Karlovsky a
Tosi 197 3:46) and Hissar (Bulgarelli 197 9) . Lapis la
was also a status material in M esopotamia, and one
ders why the distribution patterns of lapis and tin, b
prob ably fro m a similar source region, are so differe
Furthermore, althoug h the great majority of lapis laz
that reached Shahr-i Sokhta was traded further west
rather tha n used locally (La mberg-K arlovsky and To
19 73 :46 ), it is still highly visible in the a rchae ologica
record of the eastern Iranian sites. Tin-bronze is not
one may question w hether this material w as ever, in
traded overland through the Ind o-Iranian borderlan
the later third millennium BCE.
Other ideological and symbolic factors may hav
role in explaining the non-utilization of tin-bronze i
third millennium Iran. One factor suggesting this isPigott 's (19 99b:8 4) description of the remarkable t
nological conservatism of metallurgical production
Hissar. Such conservatism may not be a reflection o
technological retardation, b ut rathe r of stron g ideolo
o r ritualistic beliefs dictating the use of m etal from
194 Early Metallurg y of the Persian Gulf
8/14/2019 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf Technology, Trade, And the Bronze Age World ThePoet006102
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/early-metallurgy-of-the-persian-gulf-technology-trade-and-the-bronze-age 215/269
particular mine site, or metal produced in a specific way,
or of a specific alloy type (cf. Chakrabarti and Lahiri
1996:206-207; Hosler 1995; Budd and Taylor 1995).
Where complicated extraction technology was most like-
ly learnt and passed on within a ri tual context (Budd and
Taylor 1995:139) and by analogy with natural and social
processes (Childs and Killick 1993:325), practical barri-
ers to the adoption of new extraction or alloying tech-
nologies and non-local metal are likely to have existed.
Furthermore, elements of social reproduction and identi-
ty may have been tied to metal production, exchange,
and use (e.g. Childs and Killick 1993; Philip 1991;
Hosler 1995). Such factors may have led to the develop-
ment of a highly conservative but reliable extraction
technology, and strong sanctions against "experiment-
ing" with the practical aspects of extraction. Moreover,
once metal was extracted from its ore, it and the artifacts
produced with it no doubt functioned as material mark-
ers of ethnicity, status, religion, and wealth, in additionto their more "obvious" roles as tools, weapons, and raw
materials for trade (Childs and Killick l993:33 1).
As has been noted by a number of archaeologists
(e.g. Chakrabarti and Lahiri 1996:207; Budd and Taylor
1995), such ideological considerations are antithetical to
many evolutionary schemes of early metal production,
which focus upon technological advances dependent
upon the freedom or drive to innovate (e.g. Wertime
197 3). Although the ideological aspects of early metal-
lurgy are probably unknowable from an archaeological
perspective, this does not mean that their potential sig-
nificance can be disregarded or diminished. Among com-
munities that extracted their own copper-base raw
metal, such as those of the Iranian plateau, the adoption
of the new and foreign metal tin-bronze may have been
incompatible with local cultural traditions of metal man-
ufacture and use. Just as in the Gulf, where tin-bronze
appears to have had a socially-defined ideological worth
that local AsINi-copper could not possess, so on the
Iranian Plateau tin-bronze may not have been compati-
ble with the social and political contexts in which localarsenical copper was produced and used.
The discussion presented above points to a high
degree of regionalism in alloying practices across west-
ern Asia. Examples of the use of tin-bronze for ideologi-
cal purposes of status display or elite consumption seem
to characterize some metalworking traditions (e.g.
Gulf, Mesopotamia, and central Anatolia) , while te
nological conservatism or differing ideological sanc
may have prevented the adoption of tin-bronze in o
areas (e.g. Iran and Egypt). In other regions, such a
Aegean and the Indus Valley, the factors that influe
early alloying practices remain uncertain. Thus, the
archaeological evidence does not reflect a simple ev
tionary development of fabrication technology base
upon observation of and experiment with the mech
cal properties of copper and its alloys. Moreover, it
abundantly clear that such overarching "technologi
explanations for the development of early alloying
not simply be replaced by correspondingly broad th
retical conceptions incorporating ideologies of elite
sumption. Rather, early alloying practices reflect th
interaction of a multitude of both enduring and his
cally contingent forces; from mechanical and physi
properties, to the stability of trade routes for metalalloying components and variations in the socio-po
cal and ideological contexts of metal production,
exchange and use.
Tin a nd Tin-Bronze in Early Western Asia
8/14/2019 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf Technology, Trade, And the Bronze Age World ThePoet006102
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/early-metallurgy-of-the-persian-gulf-technology-trade-and-the-bronze-age 216/269
This page intentionally left blank
8/14/2019 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf Technology, Trade, And the Bronze Age World ThePoet006102
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/early-metallurgy-of-the-persian-gulf-technology-trade-and-the-bronze-age 217/269
Summary and Conclusion
Aims Reiterated
This study began with relatively restricted aims, specifi-
cally the investigation of whether the Bronze Age inhabi-
tants of Tell Abraq were unique in southeastern Arabia in
terms of their access to metallic resources. This possibility
was suggested by previous analyses of material from the
site, which demonstrated the routine use of tin-bronze in
the Umm al-Nar Period. This alloy had not previously
been found with any frequency in third millennium BCE
contexts in the Gulf, and given the geological setting of
southeastern Arabia, was clearly imported to Tell Abraq
from a considerable distance.
The hypothesis that Tell Abraq may have had greater
access to foreign metals than contemporary sites in south-
eastern Arabia was supported by additional circumstantial
evidence. This included the prominent position of the site
on the southern shores of the Gulf and its size in relation to
contemporary coastal sites, in addition to material evidence
from Tell Abraq attesting to widespread exchange relations
with regions to the nor th and east. Tell Abraq7sunusual
pattern of metal use seemed to reflect the role played by
long-distance exchange in shaping metal-working crafts insoutheastern Arabia, a region otherwise famous for its
large-scale, indigenous, Bronze Age copper production.
However, the ability to assess the uniqueness of the Tell
Abraq metal assemblages was impaired by the extremely
limited number of analyses of contemporary copper-base
objects that were available for comparison. That is, it was
possible that the Tell Abraq analyses appeared anomalous
simply due to the lack of relevant comparable data.
In order to investigate this issue, analyses of o
from three other tomb assemblages in the northern
U.A.E. were undertaken. The compositional analys
from A1 Sufouh, Unarl , and Unar2 utilized the tec
nique of Proton-Induced X-ray Emission analysis (
and were supplemented by the analysis of a newly
vated group of objects from the Tell Abraq tomb u
the same technique. These new analyses form the c
the present volume and they have facilitated an
improved understanding of alloying technology an
material exchange patterns over the second half of
third millennium BCE in the northern Oman Penin
Furthermore, as the ultimate origin of the tin and t
bronze used in Bronze Age western Asia remains u
tain, the study of the Umm al-Nar Period artifacts
provided important insights into an archaeological
of concern to Bronze Age western Asia as a whole.
The data from the four Umm al-Nar Period sit
have, however, allowed for the investigation of mo
than the Bronze Age tin trade, and the issues addre
in this volume have expanded well beyond the scop
the project as initially conceived. A discussion of c
production in Bronze Age southeastern Arabia repr
ed one primary addition, and provided information
fundamental importance for the interpretation of t
new compositional data. The review of technologic
and mineralogical aspects of Bronze Age copper m
and smelting in Oman indicated that specific alloys
recorded in Umm al-Nar Period tomb assemblages
reflect the geological milieu of the Oman Mountain
and the comparison of the two data sets has allow
assessment of the likelihood of their local manufac
More generally, and moving away from techn
cal issues, a discussion of the organization of cop
production in Bronze Age southeastern Arabia an
impact that this may have had on contemporary s
ty was also presented. Just as the evidence for tinbronze a t Tell Abraq and in other U.A.E. tombs r
ed patterns of trade in wider western Asia, so too
mary copper production in southeastern Arabia
responded t o both internal and external socio-eco
ic factors. In previous studies, the apparent period
of copper production in southeastern Arabia has b
strongly linked with changes in the external dema
the copper of Magan. However, the discussion pre
8/14/2019 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf Technology, Trade, And the Bronze Age World ThePoet006102
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/early-metallurgy-of-the-persian-gulf-technology-trade-and-the-bronze-age 218/269
in this volume indicates that internal demand for Omani
copper, as well as changing socio-economic configura-
tions in Bronze Age southeastern Arabia, also played a
significant role in the development of primary smelting
operations.
The compositional analyses of objects from the four
Urnm al-Nar Period sites were supplemented by lead iso-
tope analyses (LIA) of a sub-set of the objects. These data
provided important evidence regarding the relative and
absolute provenance of the metals used to produce the
copper-base objects, and raised many issues with regard to
the mechanisms and routes by which clearly foreign tin
and tin-bronze reached the Gulf. Comparisons of the LIA
of the four U.A.E. sites to isotopic data for artifacts from
other regions, such as Anatolia and the Aegean, also raised
interesting questions regarding the significance for wider
Western Asia of the early tin-bronze exchange in the Gulf.
Summary of Major Results
The analyses of the A1 Sufouh, Una rl , Unar2 and Tell
Abraq assemblages indicate a number of variations in
metallurgical technology and alloy use. Objects of unal-
loyed copper are used at all four sites, as are copper-base
alloys including As/Ni-copper (containing approximately
one to six percent arsenic andlor nickel) and tin-bronze
(>2percent Sn). However, while the types of alloys used
in southeastern Arabia are relatively limited, the fre-
quency of alloy use changes dramatically over the half a
millennium (ca. 2450-2000 BCE) covered by the tomb
assemblages. Thus, As/Ni-copper was particularly
prominent in the earlier Urnm al-Nar objects from A1
Sufouh, but was rare in the latest tomb assemblage from
Tell Abraq. In contrast, tin-bronze appears with greater
frequency in the later third millennium BCE:a few tin-
bronzes with low tin concentrations (0.5-5.0 percent Sn)
are recorded at A1 Sufouh and Una rl , whereas more
than half of the objects from the latest Urnm al-Nar
assemblages from Unar2 and Tell Abraq were manufac-
tured of tin-bronze, often with greater than 10 percent
Sn. A number of objects, particularly from the Unar2tomb, are ternary alloys with significant concentrations
of both tin and arsenic. Other complex alloys are rare,
but include one example each of the Cu-As-Pb and Cu-
Sn-Pb ternary alloys (with one to two percent Pb), and
one example of a Cu-As-Ag alloy (with 2.3 percent Ag).
Returning to the basic aim of this study, analyse
copper-base objects from the four Urnm al-Nar Peri
sites in the U.A.E. indicate that the alloying practice
recorded at Tell Abraq in previous studies by the au
(Weeks 1997) are not unique in the northern Oman
Peninsula. The patterns of metal-use a t Tell Abraq s
numerous parallels to contemporary Urnm al-Nar P
sites in the U.A.E. A strong contrast remains, howev
between the results of the present study and those u
taken on contemporary material from southeastern
Arabia (Prange et al. 1999) .
The strongest compositional differences in the
U.A.E. objects analyzed in this volume are between
A1 Sufouh and Tell Abraq assemblages. These tomb
assemblages sit at the opposite ends of our half mill
um span, and their observed compositional diversity
might reflect this chronological separation. Howeve
compositional variability of the assemblages is not c
plete, as statistical analyses have indicated that the cper objects from each of the tomb assemblages were
tively similar in terms of their minor and trace elem
compositions. In contrast, the tin-bronzes from Un
Unar2 and Tell Abraq were relatively distinct from
other in terms of their overall composition.
The discussion presented in Chapter Five focuse
the impurities of iron and sulfur found in the Urnm
Nar Period objects, and the concentrations of the p
tial alloying elements arsenic, nickel, and tin. The p
ence of sulfur and iron in the Urnm al-Nar Period o
reflects the ores that were used to produce them, th
smelting technology employed, and the degree of re
that the raw copper received prior to object fabrica
The high iron and sulfur concentrations would have
adversely affected the working properties of the raw
per, and a refining stage prior to fabrication (i.e. sec
ary refining) would have been necessary in order to
duce satisfactory objects. Evidence of such refining
tices has been found in abundance at Bronze Age se
ments in the Gulf region, including sites such as Bat
8, Tell Abraq, Saar, Qala'at al-Bahrain, and FailakaA review of the mineralogical, metallurgical, an
technological aspects of the production of As/Ni-co
objects in southeastern Arabia suggests that they ar
most likely to have been natural alloys inadvertently
duced as a result of the types of ores exploited and
198 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf
8/14/2019 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf Technology, Trade, And the Bronze Age World ThePoet006102
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/early-metallurgy-of-the-persian-gulf-technology-trade-and-the-bronze-age 219/269
8/14/2019 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf Technology, Trade, And the Bronze Age World ThePoet006102
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/early-metallurgy-of-the-persian-gulf-technology-trade-and-the-bronze-age 220/269
These outlying objects, exclusively tin-bronzes or
copper-low tin objects, make up about one quarter of the
42 copper-base objects that underwent LIA. The remain-
ing objects show a small number of clear isotopic matches
with Omani ores, but nevertheless fall into the (very
broad) isotopic range of southeastern Arabian copper
deposits (207Pb/206Pb ca. 0.838-0.872). Given the limited
nature of the ore database as it currently stands, it is
impossible to determine whether the lack of isotopic
matches between U.A.E. copper-base objects analyzed in
this study and Omani ores reflects a separate provenance,
or merely the limited number of analyses of appropriate
ore sources. Certainly, the isotopic signature of the metal-
lic tin ring from Tell Abraq and isotopic similarities
between U.A.E. objects and third millennium BCE tin-
bronzes from other areas of Western Asia suggest that the
tin-bronzes may be composed entirely of foreign metal,
and that this metal may be difficult to distinguish isotopi-
cally from Omani copper ores.The ultimate source of the tin in the U.A.E. tin-
bronzes almost certainly lay to the east or northeast of
Iran, in Afghanistan, Tajikistan or Uzbekistan. Geological
research and archaeometallurgical studies in Central Asia
have demonstrated the presence of many tin deposits, and
some evidence for their having been worked by the early
second millennium BCE. The situation in Afghanistan is
less clear, due to the inaccessibility of the region for
research over the past few decades. However, the combi-
nation of early tin-bronze use and abundant geological
evidence for cassiterite deposits in a number of areas of
the country make Afghanistan a prime candidate for a
source of tin used in the Gulf region and other areas of
Bronze Age Western Asia. This metal probably reached
the Gulf through a number of intermediaries, and the
archaeological evidence from southeastern Arabia points
particularly to trade with the Indus Valley, and possibly
Iran, as the immediate source of Gulf tin and probably
also tin-bronze. The above claims do not represent a rejec-
tion of the evidence for tin extraction that has been found
in the Taurus Mountains of Turkey, but merely a reflec-tion of the kinds of cultural contacts that seem to charac-
terize the polities of the southern Gulf region. Clearly, any
discussion of tin production and exchange in wider
Western Asia must deal not only with the potential eastern
sources, but also with those in Anatolia.
Generally, the evidence for the inconsistent ado
of tin-bronze across Western Asia suggests that, in
tion to considerations of technology and trade rout
"ideological" aspects of early metal use often condi
tioned the adoption of the new alloy. Indeed, it is c
that technological changes, such the adoption of a n
harder, more easily cast and worked alloy like tin-
bronze, were mediated at every stage by cultural va
To co-opt a phrase used by Hamilton (1991), tin-b
is best thought of as a "cultural alloy", whose ado
and use was conditioned by the social contexts in w
it was produced, exchanged, and utilized.
Prospects for Future Research
Much of the discussion presented in this volume ha
served to highlight the limitations in our understan
of early copper production in southeastern Arabia.
particular, the current understanding of primary co
extraction as having gone through distinct periods intensification and decline requires close scrutiny. A
complete understanding of Bronze Age copper prod
tion in southeastern Arabia will require investigatio
both the earliest metallurgy in southeastern Arabia
the Hafit and early Umm al-Nar Periods, as well a
metallurgical activities in the Wadi Suq Period and
Bronze Age.
The Hafit Period has produced significant evide
for the use of copper-base objects but virtually no e
dence for contemporary copper smelting. Determinin
whether these early copper-base objects are foreign o
local products (as usually assumed) is of critical inte
Analyses of objects from Hafit period sites may be c
in determining whether Hafit Period copper-base obj
were imported, or if they represent the development
copper extraction technology in southeastern Arabia
through direct adoption from neighbouring regions s
as Iran, or a process of stimulus diffusion. Finding a
studying evidence for Hafit Period copper smelting w
of the greatest significance. Smelting sites such as th
al-Batin recorded by Yule and Weisgerber (1996:141with TL dates around the middle of the third millen
BCE and a slag typology different to that seen at lat
Umm al-Nar Period sites, are a hopeful indication th
evidence for early smelting will be recovered in the
archaeological record of southeastern Arabia.
2 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf
8/14/2019 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf Technology, Trade, And the Bronze Age World ThePoet006102
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/early-metallurgy-of-the-persian-gulf-technology-trade-and-the-bronze-age 221/269
Obta ining secure evidence for primary c opper
extraction in the Wadi Suq Period will require intensive
investigation of the very few sites, such as Masirah
Island, that show some evidence of Wadi Suq Period
exploitation. The investigation of even one such site
could radically alter our understanding of this critical
period of copper production and trad e in the Gulf
region. However, efforts must also be ma de to determine
the exact chronological range of the numerou s O man ismelting sites designated Bronze Age because of their
slag typology. Although dating of such sites can be diffi-
cult, programs of TL dating (H austein et al. 200 3) may
aid in their interpretation. Comp osit ional and isotopic
analyses of contemporary Wadi Suq copper-base objects
from to mb assemblages (e.g. Qa ttara h) will also be
impo rtant in reaching conclusions ab ou t second millen-
nium co pper smelt ing in southeastern Arabia.
Determining the organization of Bronze Age (and
later) copper production in southeastern Arabia sh ould
also be a major focus of future research. Understanding
the impact of copper production on the Bronze Age pop-
ulation southeastern Arabia necessitates an understand-
ing of the w ay in which copper mining an d smelting
were integrated with o ther social and economic activi-
ties. In investigating this issue, detailed field reconnais-
sance at large extraction sites such as Wadi Salh 1 and
Tawi Ubaylah will be critical. Our current treatment of
these sites as homogeneous, indivisible, large-scale col-
lections of extraction residue, means that they are mute
regarding the ways in which Bronze Age com munities
organised production. In order t o understand prod uction
at such sites, factors such as the scale, context, concen-
tration and intensity of extractive processes (Costin
19 91 ) must be investigated. Attention m ust also be paid
to the variability of production regimes that character-
ized Bronze Age southeastern Arabia. Thus, relatively
small sites like Wadi Fizh 1, where coppe r extraction is
integrated within the context of village subsistence farm-
ing, require investigation of their productive processes as
much as the larger si tes mentioned above.Such approaches will allow archaeologists to move
from a primarily technological understanding of early
metallurgy in southeastern Arabia tow ards a m ore
behavioral interpr etation of the archaeo meta llurgical evi-
dence. The large outp ut of copper from Bronze Age
Om an, for 4,000 tonnes of copper is indeed a very
amount, must be contextualised in terms of individu
and group hum an behaviors. H ow m uch copper wa
smelted an d h ow this w as accomplished technologic
are im portan t archaeo metallurgical questions. How
more complex an d intractable archaeological proble
remain to be addressed. These include an u nderstan
of wh o controlled copper production in Bronze Age
Om an, both in organizational (poli t ical) terms and terms of access to the technical (i.e. ritua l) knowled
tha t lay at the h eart of copp er extraction. Such que
raise others, for example the status of those involve
the mining and smelting of copper in Magan. Such
will no do ub t prove difficult to unrave l, but neverth
they lay at the heart of a ny understanding of the w
which mining and smelting were integrated with po
cal, economic, and subsistence activities in Bronze A
southeastern Arabia.
With regard t o othe r problems, the question of
metal sources and exchange will only be satisfactori
investigated through greatly expanded programs of
of O man i sources, and sources in the neighbouring
regions of Iran, Pakistan, India and Central Asia. V
important preliminary research along these lines is
undertaken by. the German mining Museum in O ma
(Prange et al . 1 99 9) and in Iran (Chegini et al . 2000
well as by other groups (e.g. Stos-Gale 2001; Sriniv
19 99 ). Of course, such iso topic analyses will only b
compo nent of archaeom etallurgical research a t imp
tant Bronze Age primary produc tion si tes across the
Indo-Iranian borderlands.
Finally, despite the significant advances th at ha
been made over the last decade in the knowledge of
tin sources used in Bronze Age western and central
a definitive understanding of early production cente
and exchange mechanisms has not been achieved. T
basic found ations for the d iscussion of this issue wi
continue to be provided by field research at putativ
sources in Anatolia, Uzbekistan, and Tajikistan. It i
be hoped that related research will soon be possibleAfghanistan, given the enormous significance of thi
region for the resolution of the tin problem . In th
Gulf region, our understanding of early alloying pr
tices would be considerably improved by the analys
copper-base objects from third m illennium contexts
Summary and Conclusion
8/14/2019 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf Technology, Trade, And the Bronze Age World ThePoet006102
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/early-metallurgy-of-the-persian-gulf-technology-trade-and-the-bronze-age 222/269
the Central Gulf. Few assemblages of such date are
known, but material from Tarut Island and from City I
contexts at Qala'at al-Bahrain can be cited, whose study
would be extremely enlightening for the discussion of
early tin and tin-bronze exploitation.
As noted above, all of this metallurgical research
must be interpreted with an understanding of the social
relationships that determined the ways in which tin and
tin-bronze were produced, exchanged, and utilized.
Although we may never be able to satisfactorily address
some of these questions in an archaeological context,
their influence in the shaping of the archaeometallurgi-
cal record is clear. Indeed, the realization of the social
embeddedness of technological systems has been one of
the most significant theoretical developments in archaeo-
metric research in the last few decades. Although the
explanations that can be offered by studies synthesising
metallurgical, archaeological, historical and ethnograph-
ic data are often tentative, limiting our conclusions toissues of materials science can only marginalise archaeo-
metric studies within the wider discipline of archaeology.
Striving to explain human behavior, and to embed our
explanations of technological systems in social processes,
must remain the goal of the archaeometallurgist.
202 Early Metallurgyof the Persian Gulf
8/14/2019 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf Technology, Trade, And the Bronze Age World ThePoet006102
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/early-metallurgy-of-the-persian-gulf-technology-trade-and-the-bronze-age 223/269
Appendix 1 A.l Analytical Techniques
Analytical
Techniques and
Data Treatment
A . l l . PIXE Sample Preparation
Samples taken for analysis were usually sm all, pre-e
ing fragments. If a sam ple had to be removed from
larger object, a fine-bladed handsaw was used. For
analyses, samples with dimensions of greater than
approximately five mm were taken. Samples were a
inevitably heavily corroded. For analysis, material f
the center of the sample was exposed by abrasion, a
polished using wet-and-dry sandpaper grades 320, 6
800, and 1,200. The samples were cleaned in distille
water and mounted on Cr-coated iron brackets on t
long target stick just prior to analysis.
A.1.2. PIXE Instrumental and Analytical Detailscourtesy of Dr. Grahame Bailey)
1. Samples, mounted on a long target stick, w
positioned a t the center of an evacuated tar
chamber and bombarded w i th 2.5 MeV pro
from ANSTO's 3MV accelerator. A schema
the SR 2 target ch amb er is illustrated in Fig
A.1.
2. Gamma rays and X-rays, produced from pr
interactions within the target material, were
counted simultaneously by two detectors po
tioned at angles of 1 35 and 22 5 degrees fro
the incident proton beam direction.
3. The gamma rays were counted by a large, 6
mm diameter intrinsic Ge detector situated
side the chamber. This detector was su rroun
with 20 mm of lead shielding to reduce con
butions from the natural background.
4. The X-rays were counted by a small 4 m m
diameter Si(Li) X-ray detector, placed close
the target, and situated inside the target ch
ber vacuum to minimise attenuation of lowenergy X-rays. The X -ray detector, w hich is
structed with a fixed 25pm Be entrance win
was fitted with an additional pinhole filter.
pinhole filter consisted of a combination of
47pm Mylar disc, at tached to a 1.68 mm th
perspex disc, which had a small pinhole dri
in the center. Th e M ylar filter, in com binati
with the inh erent Be filter, is required t o pr
8/14/2019 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf Technology, Trade, And the Bronze Age World ThePoet006102
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/early-metallurgy-of-the-persian-gulf-technology-trade-and-the-bronze-age 224/269
Figure A.l SR2 target chamber schematic.
scattered protons from the target surface reach-
ing the sensitive volume of the X-ray detector.
The pinhole filter is used to reduce the count-
ing rate in the X-ray detector to manageable
levels (set at a figure of about five percent dead
time) by preferentially attenuating low energy
X-rays from the light elements such as A1 and
Si, which are often present in samples in high
concentrations.
5. Samples were exposed to a fixed proton charge,
together with a number of standards and car-
bon blanks, which allows for calibration of the
two detectors.6. The calculation of element concentrations from
the X-ray spectra was done using the ANSTO
PIXAN X-ray analysis software package, which
has be adapted for use on a fast unix-based
computer (Clayton et al. 1987).
A.1.3. Sensitivity, Precision, and Accuracy
of the PIXE data
The sensitivity of the PIXE technique is represented
quanti ty known as the Minimum Detectable Level
(MDL), which is calculated for each quantified elem
in each analyzed sample. The MDL is the theoretica
minimum amount of an element that can be discerne
the PIXE analytical technique, and is dependent upo
the atomic weight of the individual element, the com
sitional matrix of the analyzed sample, and the parti
lar instrumental set-up employed in individual labor
ries (Fleming and Swann 1986).
The effect of atomic weight on the MDL for a pticular element is illustrated in Figure A.2, which sh
the average MDLs for every element for the Umm a
samples analyzed in this volume. However, matrix e
can also be observed in these data . The MDLs for th
three elements closest to copper (CO, Ni and Zn) ar
204 Early Metallurg y of th e Persian Gulf
8/14/2019 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf Technology, Trade, And the Bronze Age World ThePoet006102
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/early-metallurgy-of-the-persian-gulf-technology-trade-and-the-bronze-age 225/269
Atomic Number and MDL
100000
Pm
S. SnL
10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55
Atomic Number
Figure A.2 The relationship be tween PIXE sensitivity and atomic n umb er.
higher than elements of similar atomic weight, which
reflects the difficulty in measuring low concentrations ofthese elements in high-copper samples.
MDLs can vary greatly between laboratories as a
result of instrumental set-up. For example, the MDL for
silicon in this analytical program is commonly between
one and two percent, whereas the MDL for arsenic is
generally less than 100 ppm. Detection limits for these
elements at the MASCA laboratory, University of
Pennsylvania, are 1 7 ppm and 160 ppm respectively
(Fleming and Swann 1986 : 146). The large difference in
Si detection levels between the laboratories results from
the use of a pinhole filter for the ANSTO analyses (see
section A. 1.2, point 4 ) which severely attenuates the
low-energy electron signal from light elements such as
A1 and Si.
The MDL values presented in Chapter Four for each
element are a statistical simplification of the large
amount of raw MDL data collected during PIXE analy-
ses, and represent an average MDL value calculated
from the MDL data for all the analyzed samples.
However, significant variations can be seen between
samples from different sites, which reflect the differingperformance of the ANSTO PIXE system on a day-to-
day basis.
The higher the concentration of a particular element
above the MDL, the better the precision that can be
associated with the measurement. The relationship
between MDL and precision for samples from Tell
Abraq analyzed on the ANSTO PIXE system is illused in Figure A.3. As can be seen, values below the M
although frequently produced by the quantification
ware, are highly unreliable. Percentage standard dev
tions are commonly in the range of 40-10,000 perce
concentrations below the MDL. At levels of one to
times the MDL, percentage standard deviations are
erally in the 15-40 percent range. At concentrations
more than about five times the MDL, precision is be
than ca. 210 percent for most elements.
As noted in section A.1.2 (point S , each analyt
run involved the calibration of the PIXE detectors u
standards of known composition, which are used to
rect for possible systematic errors such as offset in t
target current measurement. The standards used for
0.01 0.1 1 10 100 1000 10000
St. Dev. (%)
Figure A.3 The relationship b etwee n PIXE precision and eleme
concentration.
Appendix 1
8/14/2019 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf Technology, Trade, And the Bronze Age World ThePoet006102
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/early-metallurgy-of-the-persian-gulf-technology-trade-and-the-bronze-age 226/269
analyzeds of archaeological samples were tw o AN STO
in-house geological standa rds GSR3-A and GSR3-B.
The overall experimental error of the A NSTO PIXE sys-
tem is ca. 210 percent (Dr. R. Siegele, ANSTO, personal
communication).
A.1.4. Problems Measuring Chromium Concentrations
As noted in Section A.l . l , rchaeological samples were
mounted on chromium-coated i ron brackets for PIXE
analysis at ANSTO. F ollowing the analysis of the majo r-
i ty of samples presented in Weeks (2 00 0a ), an interest-
ing pat tern w as found in the C r concentrat ions. The Cr
data for al l objects analyzed in Weeks (2 00 0a ) are i l lus-
trate d in Figure A.4. They sh ow a strongly bimo dal dis-
t r ibut ion wi th modes at 0-500 pprn Cr and 4,500-5,000
pprn Cr.
Exa mina tion of the pu blished analyses of Bronze
Age and Iron Age copper-based objects from Western
Asia indicated that C r concen trations of greater than c a.2,000 pprn were extremely rare, an d close scrutiny was
subsequently given to the Cr data provided by the
ANS TO PIXE system. To test the validity of the A NSTO
results, 8 samples with high concentra tions of mo re than
5,000 pprn Cr were re-analyzed using mou nting brackets
coated wi th nickel rather tha n chromium. One sample
wi th relat ively low Cr concentrat ion (ca. 16 0 ppm) was
also re-analyzed on the different brackets.
The results proved conclusively tha t the high Cr con-
centration s recorded in the init ial analyses were spuri-
ous. All samples with high Cr con centra tions reported
Cr levels of less than 2 00 pprn u po n re-analysis. Th e
sample wi th low C r concentrat ion of ca. 1 60 pprn was
foun d to contain ca. 70 pprn Cr up on re-analysis. Upon
cons ultat ion with ANS TO technical staff, i t seems l i
that the sp urious Cr concentrat ions resul ted from p r
lems in proton -beam alignment, whereby a part of th
beam wa s hitt ing the bracket holding the archaeolog
sample rath er th an just the sample i tself.
The possibil ity th at some of the iron recorded in
lyzed samples was a by-produ ct of po or beam alignm
was also considered. PIXE compos it ional analysis of
Cr-coated iron bracket suggested tha t the possible ir
contaminat ion was appro ximately 1 0 percent of the
contam ination. This finding allowed fo r the correcti
iron con centration s given by the PIXE analyses usin
formula: Femodified Feoriginal 0.1 Cr
All Fe concentra tions presented in this volume h
been corrected in the above manner prior to norma l i
t ion. Such findings a re obviously of impor tance for p
ous PIXE analyses undertaken at ANSTO. As an exa
ple, the high C r concen trations repor ted in the analy
pre-Islamic copper-based co ins from A rabia (Gra ve 19 96 b) are alm ost certainly false. The findings sugg
that the nickel -coated brackets employed a t ANSTO
shou ld be used in preference to Cr-coated brackets, a
aperture through which the beam ca n pass is larger o
Ni-coated brackets (1 0 mm as opposed to f ive mm ).
larger aperture of the Ni-coated brackets reduces the
sibil ity of contam ination throug h po or beam alignm
A.1.5. LIA Sample Prep aration and A nalytical Details
(courtesy Prof. Ken Collerson)
TIMS: All archaeological objects from Tell Abr aq w e
analyzed a t the facilities the Advanced Cen ter for
Que enslan d University Iso tope Research E xcellence
(ACQ UIRE ) of the D epartm ent of Ea rth Sciences,
University of Q ueen sland, using TIMS. Small shavin
from each a rtefact were retrieved and stored in clean
teflon SavillexB beakers. Each samp le was cleaned u
deionised water a nd acetone in ultra sonic bath prior
dissolution with hot HC1-doped 7 N H N 03 . Followi
evaporat ion to dryness on a hot plate at -75 C shav
were conv erted to chloride using 7pl of 6 N HC1.Samples were taken u p with 3pl HBr for loading o
0-500 1000- 2000- 3000- 4000- 5000- 6000- 7000- ion-exchange columns. Lead separa tions were carried1500 2500 3500 4500 5500 6500 7500
using stan dard HBr-HCl chemistry o n columns fi lled wCr ( P P ~ )
1 0 0 m1 A G -1~ 8 , 200 -4 00mesh an ion exchange resin Figure A.4 Chromium concentrations in all analyzed PIXE samples.
procedures of Til ton (1 73) .
2 6 Early Metal lurgy o f the Persian Gu lf
8/14/2019 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf Technology, Trade, And the Bronze Age World ThePoet006102
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/early-metallurgy-of-the-persian-gulf-technology-trade-and-the-bronze-age 227/269
8/14/2019 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf Technology, Trade, And the Bronze Age World ThePoet006102
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/early-metallurgy-of-the-persian-gulf-technology-trade-and-the-bronze-age 228/269
the median rather than the average as a measure of cen-
trality, as it is less affected by outlying data. Percentiles
are preferred to standard deviations as a measure of dis-
persion for a similar reason; standa rd deviations contain
little descriptive power in situations where the data are
strongly asymmetrical. The particular use of the tenth to
ninetieth percentile range to describe the dispersion of
the data is arbitrary, but offers a reasonable middle
choice between the absolute range of the data (whichcan be strongly affected by outliers) and more common-
ly cited percentile-based me asures of dispersion such a s
the interquartile range, which represents only the middle
50 percent of the data dispersion.
A.2 .3. Previous Analyses Summarized
The summarized previous analyses of Umm an-N ar
objects (2700-2000 BCE) incorporate material from
Umm an -Nar Island (Berthoud 1979 ; Frifelt 1 975a ,
1991; Hauptm ann 19 95) , Hi li , Jebel Hafi t and Qarn
Bint Saud (Berthoud 197 9), Maysar 1, Maysar 4 and
Maysar 2 5 (H auptm ann et al . 19 88), and Tell Abraq
(Pedersen and Buchwald 19 91 ). Analyzed ingot an d
raw copper fragments (2700-2000 BCE) come from
Maysar 1, Wadi Bahla (Al-Aqir), Umm an-N ar Island
and Ra's al -Hamra (H auptm ann 1987, 1995;
Hauptman n et al . 1988 ; Craddock 1981 ). The previous
analyses of Wadi Suq and Late Bronze Age material
(2000-1300 BCE) incorporate objects from Masirah
Island, Maysar 9, and Suweiq (H aup tma nn et al.
19 88 ), Shimal settlement area SX and Shimal tomb
SH1 02 (Weeks 2000 a). A significant amoun t of previ-
ously-analyzed metal comes from tomb assemblages of
mixed Wadi Suq to Iron Age date (2000-30 0 BCE).
Summarized analyses include those from Shimal tomb s
1 and 2 (Craddock 1 985) , Sharm (Weeks 2000b), Jebel
Buheis and Al-Qusais (Weeks 2000a) and Qattarah
(Ab u Dha bi Na tional Oil Company: n.d.). Previously
a n a l ~ z e d ron Age mater ial (1300-300 BCE) comes pri-
marily from the IbriISelme hoard (Prange and
Hauptman n 2001; Hauptmann 1987) , t he Qidfa tomb(Im-Obersteg 1987 ; Weeks 200 0a) , the collective tomb
at Bithnah (Co rbou d et al . 19 96 ), the settlement of
Muw eilah (Weeks: forthcoming b), Tell Abraq
(Pedersen and Buchwald 1 99 1) , and the si te of Maysar
9 (H auptm ann et al. 198 8).
A.2 .4. Frequency Histograms
Data are summarized graphically in C hapter Four in
form of frequency histograms (e.g. Figure 4.1). The
tograms are presented in ei ther percentage terms o r
on a logari thmic (base 10 ) scale, with each order of
nitude divided into four geometric intervals correspo
ding to the squares of the fourth roo t of 1 0 (=1.78 )
an example, the divisions from 0.1 thro ugh to 10 pe
on Figure 4.1 are divided into the ranges 0.101-0.170.179-0.316, 0.317-0.562, 0.563-1.0, 1.01-1.78,
1.79-3.16, 3.17-5.62, and 5.63-10.0. O n the his-
tograms, the bar delineated by gray stippling ing rep
sents all samples for which the elemental concentrat
was below the MD L. This MDL column is placed o
histogram at the position it would occupy in the fre
quency distribution. Thus, fo r sulfur with a MD L of
0.1 percent, the MD L column is in the 0.056-0.1 pe
range (see Figure 4.1).
208 Early Meta llurgy of the Persian Gulf
8/14/2019 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf Technology, Trade, And the Bronze Age World ThePoet006102
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/early-metallurgy-of-the-persian-gulf-technology-trade-and-the-bronze-age 229/269
References Abbotts, I. L.
1981 Masirah (Om an) ophiolite sheeted dykes and pil
lavas: geochemical evidence of the former ocean ridenvironment. Lithos 14:283-294.
Abu Dhabi National Oil Company
Not Dated The Copper Industry of Al-Ain. Abu Dha
National Oil Company, Abu Dhabi.
Adams, R. M.
1974 Anthropological perspectives on ancient trade. C
Anthropology 15:141-160.
Adriaens, A., P. Veny, F. Adams, R. Sporken, P. Louette, B. Ea
Ozbal, and K. A. Yener
1999 Analytical investigation of archaeological powde
from Goltepe, Turkey. Archaeometry 41:81-89.
Afanas'ev, G., S. Cleuziou, J. R. Lukacs, and M. Tosi (editors
1996 The Prehistory of Asia and Oceania, Colloquium
XXXII: Trade as a Subsistence Strategy. Post-Pleisto
Adaptations in Arabia and Early Maritime Trade in
Indian Ocean. A.B.A.C.O., Forli.
Agrawal, D. P.
1984 Metal technology of the Harappans. In Frontiers
the Indus Civilization,edited by
B. B. Lal, and S. P. Gupta, pp. 163-167. Indian
Archaeological Society and the Indian History and
Culture Society, New Delhi.
A1 Azry, H., S. S. Webster, D. Isles, H. A. Zubaidy, and W. W
1993 Exploration for Cyprus style copper deposits,
Sultanate of Oman: a case history. Exploration
Geophysics 24:3 15-322.
Al-Shanfari, A. A. B., and G. Weisgerber
1989 A Late Bronze Age warrior burial from Nizwa
(Oman). In Oman Studies, edited by
P. M. Costa, and M. Tosi, pp. 17-30. LXIII ed. Ser
Orientale Roma. Istituto Italiano per il Medio ed E
Oriente, Rome.
8/14/2019 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf Technology, Trade, And the Bronze Age World ThePoet006102
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/early-metallurgy-of-the-persian-gulf-technology-trade-and-the-bronze-age 230/269
AI Tikriti, W. Y.
1985 The archaeological investigations on Ghanadha Island
1982-1984: further evidence for the coastal Umm an-
Nar culture. Archaeology in the United Arab Emirates
4:9-19.
1989a Umm an-Nar culture in the northern Emirates: third
millennium BC tombs at Ajman. Archaeology in the
United Arab Emirates 5:89-100.
1989b The excavations at Bidya, Fujairah: the 3rd and 2nd
millennia BC culture. Archaeology in the United Arab
Emirates 5:lOl-l14.
A1 Tikriti, W. Y., and S. Mtry
2000 Tomb N at Hili and the question of the
subterranean graves during the Umm an-Nar Period.
Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies
30:205-219.
Alimov, K., N. Boroffka, M. Bubnova, J. Burjakov,J. Cierny, J. Jakubov, J. Lutz, H. Parzinger, E. Pernicka, V.
Radililovksiy, V Ruzanov, T. Sirinov, and G. Wesigerber
1998 Prahistorischer Zinnbergbau in Mittelasian.
Vorbericht der ersten Kampagne 1997. Eurasia Antigua
4:137-199.
Amiet, P.
1986 Susa and the Dilmun culture. In Bahrain Through the
Ages. The Archaeology, edited by H. A. A1 Khalifa, and
M. Rice, pp. 262-268. Kegan Paul, London.
Angelini, I., G. Artioli, A. Pedrotti, and L. Salzani
2002 Evidence of metal coatings on early copper objects
from Northern Italy. Paper presented at the 33rd
International Symposium on Archaeometry, Amsterdam.
Web site http://www.geo.vu.nl/
archaeometry/abstracts/metalgeneral.pdf.
Apakidze, J.
1999 Lapislazuli-Funde des 3. und 2. Jahrtausends v.Chr. in
der Kaukasusregion-ein Beitrag zur Herkunft desLapislazuli in Troia. Studia Troica 95 11-525.
Archi, A.
1993 Bronze Alloys in Ebla. In Between the Rivers an
Over the Mountains. Archaeologica Anatolica et
Mesopotamica alba Palmieri Dedicata, edited by M
Frangipane,
H. Hauptmann, M. Liverani, P. Matthiae, and M.
Mellink, pp. 615-625. Dipartimento di Scienze Sto
Archeologiche e Anthropologiche del17Antichith
Universitg di Roma La Sapienza , Rome.
Asthana, S.
1993 Harappan trade in metals and minerals: a region
approach. In Harappan Civilisation: A Recent
Perspective, edited by G. L. Possehl, pp. 271-285.
American Institute of Indian Studies, New Delhi.
Balthazar, J. W.
1986 New compositional and metallographic analyses
copper-base objects from Lapithos, Vrysi Tou BarbMASCA Journal 4:60-69.
Bariand, P., B. Bachet, C. Brassy, 0 Mendenbach, M. Delien
P. Piret
199 3 Seelite. A new uranium mineral from the Talme
mine, Iran, and Rabejac, France. The Mineralogica
Record 24:463-467.
Barker, D.
2002 Wadi Suq and Iron Age period ceramics from S
Fujairah, (U.A.E.). Arabian Archaeology and Epigra
13:l-94.
Barnes, I. L., J. W. Gramlich, M. G. Diaz, and R. H. Brill
1978 The possible change in lead isotope ratios in the
ufacture of pigments: a f ractionation experiment. I
Archaeological Chemistry 11, edited by G. F. Carter
273-277. American Chemical Society, Washington
Barnes, I. L., W. R. Shields, T. J. Murphy, and R. H. Brill
1974 Isotopic analysis of Laurion lead ores. InArchaeological Chemistry, edited by C. W. Beck, pp
1-10. American Chemical Society, Washington D.C
Appadurai, A.
1986 The Social Life of Things. Commodities in Cultural
Perspective. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
2 10 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf
8/14/2019 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf Technology, Trade, And the Bronze Age World ThePoet006102
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/early-metallurgy-of-the-persian-gulf-technology-trade-and-the-bronze-age 231/269
Batchelor, D. A. F
1992 Styles of metallic mineralization and their tectonic set-
ting in the Sultanate of Oman. Transactions of the
Institute of Mining and Metallurgy, Section B -Applied
Earth Sciences 101:B108-120.
Baxter, M. J.
1999 On the multivariate normality of data arising from
lead isotope fields. Journal o f Archaeological Science
26:117-124.
Begemann, F., E. Pernicka, and S. Schmitt-Strecker
1995 Thermi on Lesbos: A case study of changing trade
patterns. Ox fo rd Journal o f Archaeology 14:123-135.
Begemann, F., K. Kallas, S. Schmitt-Strecker, and
E. Pernicka
1999 Tracing ancient tin via isotope analyses. In T h e
Beginnings o f Metallurgy, edited byA. Hauptmann, E. Pernicka, T. Rehren, and
U. Yalcin, pp. 277-284. Der Anschnitt Beiheft 9.
Deutsches Bergbau Museum, Bochum.
Begemann, F., S. Schmitt-Strecker, E. Pernicka, and
F Lo Schiavo
2001 Chemical composition and lead isotopy of copper and
bronze from Nuragic Sardinia. European Journal o f
Archaeology 4:43-85.
Begemann, F., S. Schmitt-Strecker, and E. Pernicka
1989 Isotopic composition of Pb in early metal artefacts:
results, possibilities, limitations. In O l d W o r ld
Archaeometallurgy, edited by A. Hauptmann, E.
Pernicka, and G. A. Wagner, pp. 269-278. Der Anschnitt
Beiheft 7. Deutsches Bergbau Museum, Bochum.
1992 The metal finds from Thermi 111-V: a chemical and
lead-isotope study. Studia Troica 2:219-239.
Belli, 0.
1991 The problem of tin deposits in Anatolia and its need
for tin, according to the written sources. In Anatolian
Iron Ages. T he Proceedings o f the Second Anatolian Iron
Ages Col loquium Held a t Izmir, 4-8 May 1987, edited
by A. Cilingiroglu, and D. H. French. Oxbow
Monograph 13. British Institute of Archaeology at
Ankara, Izmir, Turkey.
Benton, J. N.
1996 Excavations a t A1 Sufou h: a Third Millennium S
the Emirate of Dubai. Abiel. Brepols, Denmark.
Benton, J. N., and D. T. Potts
1994 Excavations at Jabal al-Emalah 1993/4, Prelimin
Report . Sharjah Archaeological Museum.
Berthoud, T.
1979 Etu de par / Analyse d e Traces et la Mode lisation
Filiation Entre Minerais de Cuivre et O bjets
Arche ologiques d u Moye n Or ient. Ph.D., University
Paris VI.
Berthoud, T., R. Besenval, J. P. Carbonnel, F. Cesbron, and J.
Liszak-Hours
1977 Les Anciennes Mines D Afghanistan . R apport
Preliminaire. Recherche Cooperative sur Programm
Berthoud, T., S. Bonnefous, M. Dechoux, and J. Franqaix
1980 Data analysis: toward a model of chemical modi
tion of copper from ores to metal. In Proceedings o
XI Xt h Sy m pos ium o n Arc hae om et ry , edited by P. T
Craddock, pp. 87-102. British Museum Occasional
18. British Museum, London.
Berthoud, T., and S. Cleuziou
1983 Farming communities of the Oman Peninsula an
copper of Makkan. J ourna l o f O m an S tud ie s 6:239
Berthoud, T., S. Cleuziou, L. P. Hurtel, M. Menu, and
C. Volfovsky
1982 Cuivres et Alliages en Iran, Afghanistan, Oman
Cours des IVe et IIIe MillCnaires. Pale orient 8:39-54
Besenval, R.
1997 The chronology of ancient occupation in Makra
results of the 1994 season at Miri Qalat, Pakistan
Makran. In South Asian Archaeology 1995, edited
Allchin, andB. Allchin, pp. 199-216. Oxford and IBH Publishin
New Delhi.
References
8/14/2019 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf Technology, Trade, And the Bronze Age World ThePoet006102
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/early-metallurgy-of-the-persian-gulf-technology-trade-and-the-bronze-age 232/269
Bibby, T. G.
1970 Looking for Di lmu n. Knopf, New York.
198 6 The origins of the Dilmun civilization. In Bahrain
Through the Ages. Th e Archaeology, edited by H. A. A1
Khalifa, and M. Rice, pp. 108-1 15. Kegan Paul, London.
Bilgi, 0
1984 Metal objects from Ikiztepe-Turkey. Beitrage zur
Allgemeine un d Vergleichenden Archaologie 6:31-96.
Blackman, M. J., and S. Miry
1999 Les importations de ciramiques harappiennes en
Arabia orientale: itat de la question. Proceedings of the
Seminar for Arabian Studies 29:7-28.
Blackman, M. J., S. MCry, and R. P. Wright
1989 Production and exchange of ceramics on the Oman
Peninsula from the perspective of Hili. Journal of Field
Archaeology 16:61-77.
Blau, S.
1996 Attempting to identify activities in the past: prelimi-
nary investigations of the third millennium BC popula-
tion at Tell Abraq. Arabian Archaeology and Epigraphy
7: 143-1 76.
1999 T he hum an e lements: ske le tal remains from Unar z,
Ras a l -Khaimah. National Museum of Ras al-Khaimah
web site http://www.rakmuseum.gov.ae.
2001 Fragmentary endings: a discussion of 3rd millennium
burial practices in the Oman Peninsula. Antiqui ty
75(289):557-570.
Blau, S., and M. Beech
1999 One woman and her dog: an Umm an-Nar example
from the United Arab Emirates. Arabian Archaeology
and Epigraphy 10:34-42.
Boroffka, N., J. Cierny, J. Lutz, H. Parzinger, E. Pernicka, and G.
Weisgerber
2002 Bronze Age tin from Central Asia. In Ancient
Interactions: East and We st in Eurasia, edited by K.
Boyle, C. Renfrew, and M. Levine, pp. 135-159.
McDonald Institute Monographs. McDonald Institute
for Archaeological Research, Cambridge.
Boudier, F., and A. Nicolas
1988 The Ophiolites of Oman. Tectonophysics l 51:7-
Bouzek, J., D. Koutecky, and K. Simon
1989 Tin and prehistoric mining in the Erzgebirge (O
Mountains): some new evidence. Oxf ord Journal o
Archaeology 8:203-212.
Braidwood, R. J., and L. S. Braidwood
1960 Excavat ions i n the Pla in o f Ant ioch I . Th e Earli
Assemblages Phases A-J. Oriental Institute Publicat
Volume LXI. University of Chicago Press, Chicago.
Branigan, K.
1974 Aegean Metalwork o f the Early and Middle Bro
Age. Clarendon Press, Oxford.
Bridgford, S.
2000 Review of The Circulation of Metal in the BritBronze Age: the Application of Lead Isotope Analy
by B. Rohl, and S. Needham. Antiqui ty 74:243-244
Brill, R., and J. M. Wampler
196 7 Isotope studies of ancient lead. American Journa
Archaeology 71:63-77.
Briqueu, L., C. Mevel, and F. Boudier
1991 Sr, Nd and Pb isotopic constraints in the genesis
calc-alkaline plutonic suite in the Oman ophiolite r
to obduction processes. In Ophiol i te Genesis and t
Evolut ion o f the Oceanic Li thosphere , edited by T.
Peters, A. Nicolas, and R. G. Coleman, pp. 517-54
Ministry of Petroleum and Minerals, Sultanate of O
Brumfiel, E. M., and T. K. Earle
1987 Specialization, Exchange, and Co mpl ex Societie
Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
Brunswig, R. H.
198 9 Cultural history, environment and economy as sfrom an Umm an-Nar settlement: evidence from te
excavations at Bat, Oman 1977178. J ourna l o f O m
Studies 10:9-50.
2 12 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf
8/14/2019 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf Technology, Trade, And the Bronze Age World ThePoet006102
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/early-metallurgy-of-the-persian-gulf-technology-trade-and-the-bronze-age 233/269
Budd, P.
199 3 Recasting the Bronze Age. New Scientist 140
(1896):33-37.
Budd, P., and T. Taylor
199 5 The faerie smith meets the bronze industry: magic ver-
sus science in the interpretation of prehistoric metal-
making. World Archaeology 27: 133-143.
Budd, P., A. M. Pollard, B. Scaife, and R. G. Thomas
1995a Oxhide ingots, recycling and the Mediterranean met-
als trade. Journal of Mediterranean Archaeology 8:l-32.
1995b Lead isotope analysis and oxhide ingots: a final com-
ment. Journal of Mediterranean Archaeology 8:70-75.
1995c The possible fractionation of lead isotopes in ancient
metallurgical processes.
37:143-150.
Budd, P., D. Gale, A. M. Pollard, R. G. Thomas, andP. A. Williams
1992 The early development of metallurgy in the British
Isles. Antiquity 66:677-686.
1993a Evaluating lead isotope data: further observations.
Archaeometry 35:241-263.
1993b New views on the origins of copper metallurgy. In
Archaeometry: Current Australasian Research, edited by
B. L. Fankhauser, and J. R. Bird, pp. 153-159.
Occasional Papers in Prehistory, No. 22. Dept. Of
Prehistory, The Australian National University,
Canberra.
Budd, P., R. Haggerty, A. M. Pollard, B. Scaife, and
R. G. Thomas
1995d New heavy isotope studies in archaeology. Israel
Journal of Chemsitry 35:125-130.
1996 Rethinking the quest for provenance. Antiquity
70:168-174.
Bulgarelli, G. M.
1979 The lithic industry of Tepe Hissar at the light ofrecent excavation. In South Asian Archaeology 1977,
edited by M. Taddei, pp. 39-54. Seminar di Studi
Asiatici VI. vol. 1. Istituto Universitario Orientale,
Naples.
Burton, J.
198 4 Quarrying in a tribal society. World Archaeology
16:234-247.
Caley, E. R.
1971 Analyses of some metal artifacts from ancient
Afghanistan. In Science and Archaeology, edited by
Brill, pp. 106-112. MIT Press, Cambridge,
Massachusetts.
1972a Results of an examination of fragments of corro
metal from the 1962 excavations at Snake Cave,
Afghanistan. In Prehistoric Research in Afghanistan
(1959-1966), edited by L. Dupree, pp. 43. Transac
of the American Philosophical Society 62(4).Ameri
Philosophical Society, Philadelphia.
1972b Chemical examination of metal artifacts from
Afghanistan. In Prehistoric Research in Afgha nistan
(1959-1966), edited by L. Dupree, pp. 44-50.
Transactions of the American Philosophical SocietyAmerican Philosophical Society, Philadelphia.
Calvez, J. Y., and J. L. Lescuyer
1991 Lead isotope geochemistry of various sulphide
deposits from the Oman mountains. In Ophiolite G
and the Evolution of the Oceanic Lithosphere, edit
T. Peters,
A. Nicolas, and R. G. Coleman, pp. 385-397. Mini
of Petroleum and Minerals, Sultanate of Oman.
Carter, H. J.
1848 Reports accompanying copper ore from the Isla
Maseera, and on lithographic limestone from the s
ern coast of Arabia. Journal of the Bombay Branch
Royal Asiatic Society 2:401.
Carter, R. A.
1997 The Wadi Suq Period in south-east Arabia: a rea
praisal in the light of excavations at Kalba, UAE.
Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies 27:
2001 Saar and its external relations: new evidence foraction between Bahrain and Gujarat during the ear
ond millennium BC. Arabian Archaeology and Epig
12:183-201.
2002 Unar2 and its ceramics: a unique Umm an-Nar p
collective grave from Raysal-Khaimah. Bulletin of
Society for Arabian Studies 75-14.
References
8/14/2019 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf Technology, Trade, And the Bronze Age World ThePoet006102
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/early-metallurgy-of-the-persian-gulf-technology-trade-and-the-bronze-age 234/269
Chakrabarti, D. K.
1998 The Indus civilization and the Arabian Gulf: an
Indian perspective. In Arabia and its Neighbours: Essays
on Prehistorical and H istorical Developments Presented
in Honour of Beatrice de Cardi, edited by C. Phillips, D.
T. Potts, and A. Searight, pp. 303-314. Brepols,
Turnhout.
2002 Review of The End of the Great Harappan Tradition,
by S. Ratnagar. Antiquity 76591-592.
Chakrabarti, D. K., and N. Lahiri
1996 Copper and its Alloys in Ancient India. Munshiram
Manoharlal Publishers, New Delhi.
Charles, J. A.
1967 Early arsenical bronzes-a metallurgical view.
American Journal of Archaeology 71:21-26.
1978 The development of the usage of tin and tin-bronze:
some problems. In Th e Search for An cient T in, edited byA. D. Franklin, J. S. Olin, and T. A. Wertime, pp. 25-32.
U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C.
1980 The coming of copper and copper-base alloys and
iron: a metallurgical sequence. In The Coming of the Age
of Iron, edited by
T. A. Wertime, and J. D. Muhly, pp. 151-182. Yale
University Press, New Haven.
1985 Determinative mineralogy and the origins of metallur-
gy. In Furnaces and Smelting Technology in Antiq uity,
edited by P. T. Craddock, and M. J. Hughes, pp. 21-28.
British Museum Occasional Paper No. 48. British
Museum, London.
Charpentier, V.
1994 A specialized production at regional scale in Bronze
Age Arabia: shell rings from Raysal-Junayz area
(Sultanate of Oman). In South Asian Archaeology 1993,
edited by A. Parpola, and P. Koskikallio, pp. 157-170.
Suomalainen Tiedeakatemia, Helsinki.
1996 Archaeology of the Erythraean Sea: craft specializa-
tion and resources optimization as part of the coastaleconomy on eastern coastlands of Oman during the 4th
and 3rd millennia BC. In The Prehistory of Asia and
Oceania, Colloquium XXXII: Trade as a Subsistence
Strategy. Post-Pleistocene Adap tations in Arabia and
Early M aritime Trade in the Indian Ocean , edited by
G. Afanas'ev, S. Cleuziou, J. R. Lukacs, and M. Tos
181-192. XI11 International Congress of Prehistoric
Protohistoric Sciences. A.B.A.C.O., Forli.
Chegini, N. N., M. Momenzadeh, H. Parzinger, E. Pernicka, T
Stollner, R. Vatandoust, and G. Weisgerber
2000 Preliminary report on archaeometallurgical inves
tions around the prehistoric site of Arisman near K
western Central Iran. Archaologische Mitteilungen
Iran und Turan 32:281-318.
Chen, J. H., and J. S. Pallister
198 1 Lead isotopic studies of the Samail Ophiolite, O
Journal of Geophysical Research 86(B4):2699-2708
Cheng, C. F., and C. M. Schwitter
195 7 Nickel in ancient bronzes. American Journal of
Archaeology 61:351-365.
Chernykh, E. N.
1992 Ancient M etallurgy in the USSR. The Early M eta
Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
2002 Ancient mining and metallurgic production on th
border between Europe and Asia: the Kargaly cente
Archaeology, Ethnolog y and Anthropo logy of Eura
3(2):89-106.
Cherry, J. F., and A. B. Knapp
19 91 Quantitative provenance studies and Bronze Age
in the Mediterranean: some preliminary reflections.
Bronze Age Trade in the Mediterranean, edited by N
Gale, pp. 92-1 11. Studies in Mediterranean Archae
Volume XC. Paul Astroms Fbrlag, Jonsered.
Childe, V. G.
1928 Light on the Most Ancient Near East. Frederick
Praeger, New York.
1930 The Bronze Age. Macmillan, New York.
193 7 Man Makes Himself. Watts and Co., London.
1944 Archaeological Ages as Technological Stages: Humemorial Lecture 1944.Journal of the Royal
Anthropological Institute 74:7-24.
1945 Progress and Archaeology. Th e Thinker s Library
r o z . Watts and Co., London.
2 14 Early Metallurgy of th e Persian Gulf
8/14/2019 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf Technology, Trade, And the Bronze Age World ThePoet006102
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/early-metallurgy-of-the-persian-gulf-technology-trade-and-the-bronze-age 235/269
Childs, S. T., and D. Killick
1993 Indigenous African metallurgy: nature and culture.
Annual Review of Anthropology 22:317-337.
Chippindale, C.
1994 Editorial. Antiquity 68:l-9.
Clark, J. E.
199 5 Craft specialization as an archaeological category.
Research in Economic A nthropology 16:267-294.
Clark, J. E., and W. Parry
1990 Craft specialization and cultural complexity. Research
in Economic Anthropology 12:289-346.
Clayton, E., P. Duerden, and D. Cohen
1987 A discussion of PIXAN and PIXANPC: The AAEC
PIXE analysis computer packages. Nuclear Instruments
and M ethods in Physics Research B22:64-67.
Cleuziou, S.
198 0 The second and third seasons of excavation at Hili 8.
Archaeology in the United Arab Em irates 2-3.
1981 Oman peninsula in the early second millennium B.C.
In South Asian Archaeology 1979,
edited by H. Hartel, pp. 279-294. Dietrich Reimer
Verlag, Berlin.
1982 Oman Peninsula and western Pakistan during the 3rd
millennium BC. Paper presented at the 1st International
Conference on Pakistan Archaeology, Peshawar.
1984 Oman Peninsula and its relations eastwards during
the third millennium B.C. In Frontiers of the Indus
Civilization, edited by B. B. Lal, and S. P. Gupta, pp.
371-394. Indian Archaeological Association, New Delhi.
1986 Dilmun and Makkan during the third and early sec-
ond millennia B.C. In Bahrain Through the Ages. The
Archaeology, edited by H. A. A1 Khalifa, and M. Rice,
pp. 143-156. Kegan Paul, London.
1989 Excavations at Hili 8: a preliminary report on the
4th-7th campaigns. Archaeology in the United Arab
Emirates 5:61-87.
1992 The Oman Peninsula and the Indus Civilization: a
reassessment. Man and Environment 17:93-103.
1996 The emergence of oases and town in eastern and
southern Arabia. In The Prehistory of Asia and Oce
Colloqu ium X X X II : Trade as a Subsistence Strategy
Pleistocene Adapta tions in Arabia and Early M ariti
Trade in the Indian O cean, edited by
G. Afanas'ev, S. Cleuziou, J. R. Lukacs, and
M. Tosi, pp. 159-166. XI11 International Congress
Prehistoric and Protohistoric Sciences. A.B.A.C.O.,
2002 The Early Bronze Age of the Oman Peninsula: fr
chronology to the dialectics of tribe and state form
In Essays o n the late prehistory of the Arabian Pen
edited by S. Cleuziou, M. Tosi, and J. Zarins. Serie
Orientale Roma XCIII. Istituto Italiano per L'Africa
L'Oriente, Rome.
2003 Early Bronze Age trade in the G ulf and the Arab
Sea: the society behind the boa ts, edited by D. T. P
Cleuziou, S., and T. Berthoud
1982 Early tin in the Near East: a reassessment in the of new evidence from western Afghanistan. Expedi
25:14-19.
Cleuziou, S., and S. MCry
2002 In-between the great powers: the Bronze Age Om
Peninsula. In Essays o n the late prehis tory of th
Arabian Peninsula, edited by
S. Cleuziou, M. Tosi, and J. Zarins. Serie Orientale
XCIII. Istituto Italiano per L'Africa e L'Oriente, Ro
Cleuziou, S., and M. Tosi
1989 The southeastern frontier of the ancient Near Ea
South Asian Archaeology 1985, edited by K. Frifelt
P. Smensen, pp. 15-48. Scandinavian Institute of A
Studies Occasional Papers 4. Curzon Press, London
1994 Black boats of Magan: some thoughts on Bronze
water transport in Oman and beyond from the imp
bitumen slabs of Ra's al-Junayz. In South Asian
Archaeology 1993, edited by A. Parpola, and P.
Koskikallio, pp. 745-762. Suomalainen Tiedeakate
Helsinki.2000 Ra's al-Jinz and the prehistoric coastal cultures o
Ja'alan. Journal of Oman Studies 10:19-73.
References
8/14/2019 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf Technology, Trade, And the Bronze Age World ThePoet006102
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/early-metallurgy-of-the-persian-gulf-technology-trade-and-the-bronze-age 236/269
Cleuziou, S., and B. Vogt
1985 Tomb A at Hili North (United Arab Emirates) and its
material connections to southeast Iran and the greater
Indus Valley. In South Asian Archaeology 1 9 8 3 , edited by
J. Schotsmans, and M. Taddei, pp. 249-277. Istituto
Universitario Orientale Series Minor XXIII. Istituto
Universitario Orientale, Naples.
Coghlan, H. H.
1972 Some reflections on the prehistoric working of copper
and bronze. Archi v fur ur- und fruhgeschichtliche
Bergbauforschung M itteilung 39:93-104.
Cohen, M . E.
1975 UR.SAG.ME.SHAR.UR4. A Sirnam-Shub ba of
Ninurta. Die W el t des Orients 8:22-36.
Coleman, J. E.
1992 Greece, the Aegean and Cyprus. In Chronologies inOld World Archaeology , edited by R. W. Ehrich, pp.
247-288. vol. I. University of Chicago Press, Chicago.
Coleman, R. G.
1977 Ophiolites: Ancient Ocean ic Lithosphere? Springer-
Verlag, New York.
Coleman, R. G., C. Huston, I. M. El-Boushi, K. M. Al-Hinai, and
E. H. Bailey
1978 Occurrence of copper-bearing massive sulphides in the
Semail Ophiolite, Sultanate of Oman. Precambrian
Research 6:All-12.
Coles, J. M.
1981 Metallurgy and Bronze Age society. In Studien zur
Bronzezeit . Festschrift fur Wi lhe lm Albert v . Brun n, edit-
ed by H. Lorenz, pp. 95-107. Philipp von Zabern,
Mainz.
Collerson, K. D., B. S. Kamber, and R. Schoenberg
2002 Applications of accurate, high-precision Pb isotoperatio measurement by multi-collector ICP-MS. Chemical
Geology 188(1-2):65-83.
Connan, J., P. Lombard, R. Killick, F. Hlajlund, J.-F. Salles, an
Khalaf
1998 The archaeological bitumens of Bahrain from the
Early Dilmun period (c. 2200 BC) to the sixteenth c
ry AD: a problem of sources and trade. Arabian
Archaeology and Epigraphy 9: 141-1 81.
Copper Development Association
2003 Copper Nickel. Copper Development Associatio
site, http://microstructure.
copper.org/overview/cu~nickel.htm.
Corboud, P., R. Hapka, and P. Im-Obersteg
1988 Archaeological Survey of Fujairah, I (19 87) .
Preliminary report first campaign of the archaeolog
survey of Fujairah (United Arab Emirates). Swiss-
Liechtenstein Foundation for Archaeological Resear
Abroad.
Corboud, P., A.-C. Castella, R. Hapka, and P. Im-Obersteg
1996 Les T omb es Protohistoriques de Bithnah, Fujaira
Emirats Arabes Unis. Phillip von Zabern, Mainz.
Costa, P. M.
1978 The copper mining settlement of 'Arja: a prelim
survey. Journal o f O m an Studies 4:9-14.
Costa, P. M,, and T. J. Wilkinson
1987 The hinterland of Sohar. Archaeological
surveys and excavations within the region of an Om
seafaring city. Journal o f O ma n Studies 9: 10-23 8.
Costin, C. L.
1991 Craft specialization: issues in defining,
documenting, and explaining the organization of pr
tion. In Archaeological Method and Theory, edited
B. Schiffer, pp. 1-56. vol. 3. University of Arizona
Tucson.
2001 Craft production systems. In Archaeology a t the
Mil lennium. A Sou rcebook , edited by G. M. Feinmand T. D. Price, pp. 273-328. Kluwer Academic/Pl
Publishers, New York.
2 16 Early Me tallurgy o f the Persian Gulf
8/14/2019 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf Technology, Trade, And the Bronze Age World ThePoet006102
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/early-metallurgy-of-the-persian-gulf-technology-trade-and-the-bronze-age 237/269
Cowell, R. M.
1987 Scientific appendix I. Chemical analysis. In Catalogue
o f Egyptian Antiqui t ies in the Brit ish Muse um VI I , Tools
and Weapons I, Axes, by
W. V. Davies, pp. 96-118. British Museum, London.
Craddock, P. T.
1976 The composition of the copper alloys used by the
Greek, Etruscan and Roman civilizations 1.The Greeks
before the Archaic period. Journal of Archaeological
Science 3:93-113.
1977 The composition of the copper alloys used by the
Greek, Etruscan and Roman civilizations 2. The Archaic,
Classical and Hellenistic Greeks. Journal of
Archaeological Science 4: 103-123.
1978 The composition of the copper alloys used by the
Greek, Etruscan and Roman civilizations 3. The origins
and early use of brass. Journal of Archaeological Science
5:l-16.1981 Appendix V. Report on the scientific investigation of
metallurgical samples from the prehistoric site at Umm
an-Nar, Abu Dhabi (submitted by Mr. Al-Tikriti via the
Department of Western Asian Antiquities). In
Reconsiderat ion o f the Late Fourth and Third
Mil lennium B.C. in the Arabian Gul f w i th Special
Reference t o the United Arab Emirates, by W. Y al-
Tikriti, pp. 242-243. Unpublished Ph.D. dissertation,
Cambridge University.
1985 Technical appendix 1.The composition of the metal
artefacts. Oriens Ant iquus 24:97-101.
1989 The scientific investigation of early mining and metal-
lurgy. In Scientific Analysis in Archaeology, edited by J .
Hendersen, pp. 178-212. Oxford University Committee
for Archaeology Monograph No. 19. Oxford University
Committee for Archaeology, Oxford.
1995 Early Metal Mining and Production. Smithsonian
Institution Press, Washington D.C.
Craddock, P. T., and D. Gale
1988 Evidence for early mining and extractive metallurgy inthe British Isles: problems and potentials. In Science and
Archaeology, Glasgow 1 9 8 7 , edited by E. A. Slater, and
J. 0. Tate, pp. 167-185. British Archaeological Reports
No. 196. British Archaeological Reports, Oxford.
Craddock, P. T., and A. R. Giumlia-Mair
1988 Problems and possibilities for provenancing bron
by chemical composition with special reference to
Western Asia and the Mediterranean in the Early Ir
Age. In Bronzework ing Centres o f W estern Asia c.
1000-539 B.C., edited by J. Curtis, pp. 317-328. K
Paul International, London.
Craddock, P. T., and N. D. Meeks
1987 Iron in ancient copper. Archaeometry 29:187-20
Craig, J. R., and D. J. Vaughan
1994 Or e Microscopy, and Or e Petrography. John Wil
and Sons, New York.
Crawford, H. E. W.
1973 Mesopotamia's invisible exports in the third mil
um B.C. World Archaeology 5:232-241.
1974 The problem of tin in Mesopotamian bronzes. WArchaeology 6:242-246.
1993 London-Bahrain Archaeological Expedition: exc
tions at Saar 1991. Arabian Archaeology an d Epigr
4:l-19.
1996 Dilmun, victim of world recession. Proceedings
Seminar for Ar abian Studies 26:13-22.
1998 Dilmu n and i t s Gul f Ne ighbours. Cambridge
University Press, Cambridge, UK.
Crawford, H. E. W., and K. a1 Sindi
1995 A seal in the collections of the National Museum
Bahrain. Arabian Archaeology and Epigraphy 6:l-4
Cross, J. R.
1993 Craft specialization in nonstratified societies. Re
in Ec onom ic An th ropo logy 14:61-84.
Dales, G. F
1992 A line in the sand: explorations in Afghan Seista
Archaeological Studies: Walte r A. Fairservis, Jr.
Festschrift, edited by G. L. Possehl, pp. 227-240. Oand IBH Publishing, New Delhi.
References
8/14/2019 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf Technology, Trade, And the Bronze Age World ThePoet006102
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/early-metallurgy-of-the-persian-gulf-technology-trade-and-the-bronze-age 238/269
Dalton, G.
1975 Karl Polanyi's analysis of long-distance trade and his
wider paradigm. In Ancient Civilization and Trade, edit-
ed by J. A. Sabloff, and C. C. Lamberg-Karlovsky, pp.
63-132. University of New Mexico Press, Albuquerque.
Dana, E. S.
1958 A Textbook of Mineralogy. Chapman and Hall,
London.
David, H.
1996 Styles and evolution: soft stone vessels during the
Bronze Age in the Oman Peninsula. Proceedings of the
Seminar for Arabian Studies 26:31-46.
Davis, K. M.
199 8 A preliminary study of the ground stone tools from
Muweilah, Sharjah Emirate, United Arab Emirates.
Arabian Archaeology and Epigraphy 9:209-235.
De Cardi, B.
1988 The grave-goods from Shimal tomb 6 in Ras al-
Khaimah, U.A.E. In Araby the Blest. Studies in Arabian
Archaeology, edited by D. T. Potts, pp. 45-72. Carsten
Niebuhr Institute Publications 7. Museum Tusculanum
Press, Copenhagen.
1997 Third-millennium and later pottery from Abu Dhabi
airport. Arabian Archaeology and Epigraphy 8:161-173.
De Cardi, B., S. Collier, and D. B. Doe
1976 Excavations and Survey in Oman, 1974-75. Journal
of O ma n Studies 359-70.
de Jesus, P. S.
197 8 Considerations on the occurrence and exploitation of
tin sources in the ancient Near East. In Th e Search for
Ancient Tin, edited by
A. D. Franklin, J. S. Olin, and T. A. Wertime, pp. 33-38.
U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C.
1980 The Development of Prehistoric Mining andMetallurgy in Anatolia, Parts i and ii. BAR International
Series 74. British Archaeological Reports, Oxford.
Delmas, A. B., and M. Casanova
1990 The lapis lazuli sources in the ancient east. In So
Asian Archaeology 1987, edited by M. Taddei, and
Callieri, pp. 493-506. Istituto Italiano per il Medio
Estremo Oriente, Rome.
Denton, B. E., and K. a1 Sindi
1996 An unusual cylinder seal from the cemetery of H
Town on Bahrain. Arabian Archaeology and Epigra
7:188-194.
Doe, B. R.
1970 Lead Isotopes. Springer-Verlag, New York.
1982 The lead and strontium isotope geochemistry of
liferous sediments associated with Upper Cretaceou
ophiolitic rocks in Cyprus, Syria, and the Sultanate
Oman: Discussion. Cana dian Journa l of Earth Scien
19:1720-1724.
Donaldson, P.
1985 Prehistoric tombs of Ras al-Khaimah. Oriens An
24:85-142.
Doonan, R. C. P., P. M. Day, D. E. Wilson, and N. Dimopoul
2002 Tracing the footprints of Hephaestus: evidence f
intentional arsenic alloying in third millennium BC
Paper presented at the 33rd International Archaeom
Symposium, Amsterdam. Web site http://www.geo.v
archaeometry/abstracts/metalgeneral.pdf.
Dossin, G.
1970 La route de 1'Ctain en MCsopotamie au temps de
Zimri-Lim. Revue D Assyriologie 64:97-106.
Du Bray, E. A.
1985 Geology of the Silsilah ring complex, and associ
tin mineralization, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia-a sy
American Mineralogist 70: 1075-1 086.
Du Bray, E. A., J. E. Elliot, and J. S. Stuckless1988 Proterozoic peraluminous granites and associate
W deposits, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. In Recent
Advances in the Geology of Granite-Related Minera
Deposits, edited by R. P. Taylor, and D. F Strong,
2 18 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf
8/14/2019 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf Technology, Trade, And the Bronze Age World ThePoet006102
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/early-metallurgy-of-the-persian-gulf-technology-trade-and-the-bronze-age 239/269
8/14/2019 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf Technology, Trade, And the Bronze Age World ThePoet006102
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/early-metallurgy-of-the-persian-gulf-technology-trade-and-the-bronze-age 240/269
Englund, R. K.
1983 Dilmun in the Archaic Uruk corpus. In D i l mu n . N e w
Studies in the Archaeology and Early Histor y o f Bahrain,
edited by D. T. Potts, pp. 35-38. Berliner Beitrage zum
Vorderen Orient 2. Dietrich Reimer, Berlin.
Ericson, J. E., L. Pandolfi, and C. Patterson
198 2 Pyrotechnology of copper extraction: methods of
detection and implications. In Early Pyrotechnology. The
Evolu tion o f the First Fire-Using Industries, edited by T.
A. Wertime, and S. F Wertime, pp. 193-203.
Smithsonian Institution Publications, Washington D.C.
Esin, U.
1969 Kuantitif Spektral Analiz Yardimiyla Anadolu'da
Baslangicindan Asur Kolonileri Cagina Kadar Bakir ve
Tunc Madenciligi. Tas Matbaasi, Istanbul.
Evans, R. K.1978 Early craft specialization: an example from the Balkan
Chalcolithic. In Social Archaeology: Be yond Subs istence
and Dat ing , edited by C. L. Redman, M. J. Berman, E. V.
Curtin, W. T. Langhorne, N. M. Versaggi, and J. C.
Wanser, pp. 113-129. Academic Press, New York.
Faure, G.
1977 Principles of Iso tope Geology. John Wiley and Sons,
New York.
Fleming, S. J., and V. C. Pigott
198 7 Archaeometallurgy. In Site Reconnaissance in the
Yemen Arab Republ ic, 1984: Th e Stratigraphic Probe at
Hajar Ar-Rayhami, edited by W. D. Glanzman, and A.
0. Ghaleb, pp. 171-181. The Wadi Al-Jubah
Archaeological Project Volume 3. American Foundation
for the Study of Man, Washington, D.C.
Fleming, S. J., and C. P. Swann
1985 The Application of PIXE Spectrometry to Bronze
Analysis: Practical Considerations. MA SC A J ourna l3(5):142-149.
Foster, B.
199 7 A Sumerian merchant's account of the Dilmun trade.
Acta Sumerologica Japonica 1953-62.
Francfort, H.-P.
1979 About the Shortughai sequence from Mature
Harappan to Late Bactrian: Bronze Age in eastern
Bactria. Puratattva 10:91-94.
1984 The early periods of Shortughai (Harappan) and
western Bactrian culture of Dashly. In South Asian
Archaeology 1981, edited by B. Allchin, pp. 170-17
Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
1989 Fouilles de Shortughai. Recherches sur 1'Asie Ce
Protohistorique. Diffusion de Boccard, Paris.
Frankenstein, S., and M. J. Rowlands
1978 The internal structure and regional context of E
Iron Age society in south-western Germany. Bulle t i
the Inst i tu te o f Archaeology l5:73-112.
Franke-Vogt, U.
1993 The Harappans and the west: some reflections o
Meluhha's relations to Magan, Dilmun andMesopotamia. University o f Kanazawa Bul le t in o f
Archaeology 20:72-101.
1995 Der Golfhandel im spaten 3. und friihen 2.
Jt. V. Chr. In Zwischen Euphrat und Indus, edited b
Bartl, R. Bernbeck, and M. Heinz, pp. 114-133. Ge
Olms Verlag, Hildesheim.
Franklin, U. M., J.-C. Grosjean, and M. J. Tinkler
197 6 A study of ancient slags from Oman. Canadian
Metallurgical Qua rterly l 5 D - 3 6 .
Freedman, D., R. Pisani, R. Purves, and A. Adhikai
1991 Statistics. Second edition. W.W. Norton and Co.,
Freund, J. E.
1988 Modern Elementary Statistics. Seventh edition.
Prentice-Hall International, London.
Friedman, A. M., M. Conway, M. Kastner, J. Milsted, D. Met
R. Fields, and E. Olsen
1966 Copper artifacts: correlation with source types oper ores. Science 152:1504-1506.
Friedman, J., and M. J. Rowlands
197 7 Notes towards an epigenetic model of the evolu
civilization. In Th e Evolut ion o f Soc ial Systems, edi
J. Friedman, and M. J. Rowlands, pp. 201-276.
Duckworth, London.
22 Early Metallurgyof the Persian Gulf
8/14/2019 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf Technology, Trade, And the Bronze Age World ThePoet006102
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/early-metallurgy-of-the-persian-gulf-technology-trade-and-the-bronze-age 241/269
Frifelt, K.
1971 Jamdat Nasr fund fra Oman. K u m l 1970:355-84.
1975a On prehistoric settlement and chronology of the
Oman Peninsula. East and West 25:359-441.
1975b A possible link between the Jemdet Nasr and the
Umm an-Nar graves of Oman. Journal o f O ma n Studies
1 57-8 1.
1979 Oman during the third millennium BC: urban devel-
opment of fishinglfarming communities? In South Asian
Archaeology 1977, edited by
M. Taddei, pp. 567-588. Seminario di Studi Asiatici,
Series Minor VI. vol. 1. Istituto Universitario Orientale,
Naples.
198 0 Jemdet Nasr graves on the Oman Peninsula. In
Death i n Mesopotamia . X XV Ie Rencontre Assyrio logique
Internationale, edited by B. Alster, pp. 273-279.
Mesopotamia 8. Akademisk Forlag, Copenhagen.
198 6 Burial mounds near Ali excavated by the Danish
Expedition. In Bahrain Thro ugh the Ages. T heArchaeology, edited by H. A. A. Khalifa, and M. Rice,
pp. 125-134. Kegan Paul, London.
1991 The Th i rd Mi l l e nn ium G rave s, t he I s land o f U m m an -
N a r . Jutland Archaeological Society Publications No.
2611. Jutland Archaeological Society, Aarhus.
1995 Th e Third Mil lennium Se t t lement , Th e Is land o f U m m
an-Nar . Jutland Archaeological Society Publications No.
2612. Jutland Archaeological Society, Aarhus.
Gadzhiev, M. G., and S. N. Korenevskii
1984 Metal1 Velikentskoi katakomby. Drevnie Promysly,
Remeslo i Torgovyla v Dagestane:7-27.
Gale, N. H.
1978 Lead isotopes and Aegean metallurgy. In Thera and
the Aegean Wor ld , edited by
C. Doumas, pp. 529-545. vol. I. Thera and the Aegean
World, London.
1980 Some aspects of lead and silver mining in the Aegean.
In Thera and th e Aegean Wor ld , edited by C. Doumas,
pp. 161 ff. vol. 11. Thera and the Aegean World, London.
1991 Copper oxhide ingots: their origin and their place in
the Bronze Age metals trade in the Mediterranean. In
Bronze A ge Trad e in the Mediterranean, edited by N. H.
Gale, pp. 197-239. Studies in Mediterranean
Archaeology Volume XC. Paul Astrbms Fbrlag, Jonsered.
1995 The isotopic composition of tin in some ancient
and the recycling problem in metal provenancing.
Archaeometry 39:71-82.
1999 Lead isotope characterization of the ore deposits
Cyprus and Sardinia and its application to the disco
of the sources of copper for Late Bronze Age oxhide
ingots. In Metals in Ant iqui ty , edited by S. M. M. Y
A. M. Pollard, P. Budd, and R. A. Ixer. BAR Interna
Series 792. Archaeopress, Oxford.
2001 Archaeology, science-based archaeology and the
Mediterranean Bronze Age metals trade: a contribu
to the debate. European Journal of Archaeology
4:113-130.
Gale, N. H., W. Gentner, and G. A. Wagner
1980 Minerological and geographical silver sources of
Archaic Greek coinage. In Metal lurgy in Numismat i
pp. 3-49. Royal Numismatics Society Special Public
No. 13. vol. I. Royal Numismatics Society.
Gale, N. H., A. Papastamaki, 2 A. Stos-Gale, and K. Leonis
1985 Copper sources and copper metallurgy in the Ae
Bronze Age. In Furnaces and Sm elting Technology i
Ant iqui ty , edited by P. T. Craddock, and M. J. Hugh
pp. 81-102. British Museum Occasional Paper No.
British Museum, London.
Gale, N. H., and E. T. C. Spooner
1982 The lead and strontium isotope geochemistry of
liferous sediments associated with Upper Cretaceou
ophiolitic rocks in Cyprus, Syria, and the Sultanate
Oman: Reply. Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences
19:1724-1726.
Gale, N. H., E. T. C. Spooner, and P. J. Potts
1981 The lead and strontium isotope geochemistry of
liferous sediments associated with Upper Cretaceou
ophiolitic rocks in Cyprus, Syria and the Sultanate
Oman. Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences
18:1290-1302.
Gale, N. H., and Z. A. Stos-Gale
1981 Cycladic lead and silver metallurgy. Annual o f th
British School at Athens 76:169-224.
References
8/14/2019 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf Technology, Trade, And the Bronze Age World ThePoet006102
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/early-metallurgy-of-the-persian-gulf-technology-trade-and-the-bronze-age 242/269
8/14/2019 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf Technology, Trade, And the Bronze Age World ThePoet006102
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/early-metallurgy-of-the-persian-gulf-technology-trade-and-the-bronze-age 243/269
Glennie, K. W., G. A. Boeuf, M. W. Hughes-Clarke, M. Moo dy-
Stuart, W. F. Pilaar, and B. M . Reinh ardt
1974 Geology of the Om an Moun tains I. Verhandelingen
van hat Koninklijk Nederlands geologisch mijn-
bouwk und ig G e noo t schap 31, Netherlands.
Gnos, E., A. Immenhauser, and T. Peters
19 97 Late Cretaceouslearly Tertiary convergence between
the Indian and Arabian plates recorded in ophiolites and
related sediments. Tectonophysics 271 :1-19.
Gnos, E., and M. Perrin
1 9 9 6 Formation and evolution of the Masirah Ophiolite
constrained by paleomagnetic study of volcanic rocks.
Tectonophysics 25353-64.
Goettler, A., N. H. Firth, and C. C. Huston
197 6 A preliminary discussion of ancient mining in the
Sultanate of Oman. Journal o f O m an Studies 2:43-56.
Grave, P., D. T. Potts, N. Yassi, W. Reade, and G. Bailey
199 6a Elemental characterisation of Barbar ceramics from
Tell Abraq. Arabian Archaeology a nd Epigraphy
7: 177-1 87.
Grave, P., R. Bird, and D. T. Potts
199 6b A trial PIXEIPIGME analysis of pre-Islamic Arabian
coinage. Arabian Archaeology and Epigraphy 7:7S-81.
Greenwood, J. E. G. W., and P. E. Loney
1968 Geology and Mineral Resources o f the Trucia l Om a n
Range. Institute of Geological Sciences, Overseas
Division, L ondon.
Grogler, N., J. Geiss, M. Griinenfelder, and F. G. Hou terma ns
19 66 Isotopenuntersuchungen zur Bestimmung der
Herk unft romischer Bleirohre und Bleibarren. Zeitschrift
fur Naturforschung 21a:1167-1172.
Gulson, B. L.
1986 Lead Isotopes i n Mineral Exploration. Elsevier,
Amsterdam.
Gulson, B. L., and M. T. Jones
19 92 Cassiterite: potential for direct dating of minera
deposits and a precise age for the Bushveld Comple
granites. Geology 20:355-358.
Haerinck, E.
199 1 The rectangular Umm an-Nar-period grave at
Mowaihat (Emirate of Ajman, United Arab Emirate
Gents e bidragen tot de kunstgeschiedenis en oudhei
k unde 29:l-30.
19 94 Excavations at Ed Dur (Um m al-Qaiwain, U.A.E
preliminary report on the sixth Belgian season (19
Arabian Archaeology and Epigraphy 5: 184-197.
Hakemi, A.
1 9 9 7 Shahdad. Archaeological Excavation s o f a Bronz
Center i n Iran. Translated by S. M. S. Sajjadi. IsME
Rome.
Hall, M. E.
1 9 9 5 Comm ents on Oxh ide ingots, recycling, and th
Mediterranean metals trade . Journal o f Mediterra
Archaeology 8:42-44.
Hall, M. E., and S. R. Steadman
1 9 9 1 Tin and Anatolia: another look. Journal o f
Mediterranean Archaeolo gy 4:217-234.
Hamelin, B., B. DuprC, and C. J. Allkgre
1 9 8 4 The lead isotope systematics of ophiolite comple
Earth and Planetary Science Letters 67:351-366.
Ha me lin, B., B. DuprC, 0 BrCvart, and C. J. Alkgre
1988 Metallogenesis at paleo-spreading centers: lead i
topes in sulfides, rocks and sediments from the Tro
Ophiolite (Cyprus). Chemical Geology 68:229-238.
Hamilton, E.
1 9 9 1 Metallurgical analysis and the Bronze Age of Bo
or, are cultural alloys real? Archaeomaterials 5:75-
References
8/14/2019 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf Technology, Trade, And the Bronze Age World ThePoet006102
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/early-metallurgy-of-the-persian-gulf-technology-trade-and-the-bronze-age 244/269
8/14/2019 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf Technology, Trade, And the Bronze Age World ThePoet006102
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/early-metallurgy-of-the-persian-gulf-technology-trade-and-the-bronze-age 245/269
1993 Craft an d the K ingly Ideal: Art, Trade, an d Power.
University of Texas Press, Austin.
Heltzer, M.
1978 Goods, Prices and the Organization of Trade in Ugarit
:Marketing and T ransportation in the E astern
Mediterranean in the Second Half of the II Millenium
B.C.E. R eichert, Wiesbaden.
Herrmann, G.
1968 Lapis lazuli: the early phases of its trade. Iraq
30:21-57.
Heskel, D.
Undated Corpus of Metal Objects of the Barbar Temple.
Unpublished manuscript, Dept. of Anthropology,
University of Utah.
Heskel, D., and C. C. Lamberg-Karlovsky1980 An alternative sequence for the development of metal-
lurgy: Tepe Yahya, Iran. In Th e Com ing of the Age of
Iron, edited by T. A. Wertime, and J. D. Muhly, pp.
229-266. Yale University Press, New Haven.
Hiebert, F. T.
1994 Origins of the Bronze Age Civilization in Central
Asia. American School of Prehistoric Research Bulletin
42 . Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology,
Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Hiebert , F. T., and D. Killick
1993 Metallurgy of Bronze Age Margiana. Information
Bulletin, Inter national A ssociation for th e Study of the
Cultures of C entral Asia l9:186-204.
Hiebert, F. T., and C. C. Lamberg-Karlovsky
1992 Central Asia and the Indo-Iranian borderlands. Iran
3O:l-15.
Hirao, Y., J. Enomoto, and H. Tachikawa1995 Lead isotope ratios of copper, zinc and lead minerals
in Turkey-in relation to the provenance study of arte-
facts. In Essays on Ancient Anatolia an d its Surroundin g
Civilizations, edited by H . I. H. P. T. Mikas a, pp.
89-1 14. Harrassowitz Verlag, Wiesbaden.
Hodder, I.
1982 Toward a contextual approach t o prehistoric
exchange. In Contexts for Prehistoric Exchange, ed
by J. E. Ericson, and T. K. Earle, pp. 199-212. Aca
Press, New Y ork.
Hsj lund, F.
1989 Some new evidence of Har app an influence in the
Arabian Gulf. In South Asian Archaeology 1985, ed
by K . Frifelt, and P. Ssrensen, pp. 49-54. Scandinav
Institute of Asian Studies Occasional Papers 4 . Cur
Press, London.
Hsjlun d, F., and H. A ndersen
1994 Qala'at al-Bahrain Vol I . The Northern City Wa
the Islamic Fortress. Jutland Archaeological Society
Publications 3011. Jutla nd A rchaeological Society,
Moesgaard.
1997 Qala'at al-Bahrain Vol.2
The Central MonumenBuildings. Jutland Archaeological Society Publicatio
3012. Jutland Archaeological Society, Moesgaard.
Hosler, D.
1988 The metallurgy of ancient West Mexico. In Th e
Beginning of the Use of Metals an d Alloys, edited b
Maddin, pp. 328-343. MIT Press, Cambridge,
Massachusetts.
1995 Sound, colour and meaning in the metallurgy of
ancient West Mexico. World Archaeology 27:100-1
Hughes, M. J., J . R. S. Lang, M . N. Leese, and J. E. Curtis
1988 The evidence of scientific analysis: a case study
Nimrud bowls. In Bronzeworking Centres of Weste
Asia c. 1000-539 B.C.,
edited by J. Curtis. Keegan Paul International, Lon
Hurtel, L., and F. Tallon
1990 Le Metal en provenance du Tell F6 description d
objets et analyses. In Failaka Fouilles Francaises
1986-1988, edited by Y. Calvet, an d J. Gachet, p p.149-154. Travaux de la Maison de lyO rientNo. 18
Maison de lyOrient,Paris.
References
8/14/2019 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf Technology, Trade, And the Bronze Age World ThePoet006102
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/early-metallurgy-of-the-persian-gulf-technology-trade-and-the-bronze-age 246/269
Ibrahim, M. M., and A. T. El Mahi
1998 Two seasons of SQU investigation at Wadi as-Safafir
1 96-1997). Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian
Studies 28:125-137.
Im-Obersteg, P.
1987 A bronz e dagger and a bron ze bracelet from a n Iron
Age to mb at Quidf a in the Emirat o f Fujairah, U.A.E.
Preliminary cons ervation report. Muste Cantonal
dYArchtologie, witzerland.
Isakov, A., P. L. Kohl, C. C. Lamberg-Karlovsky, and R. Maddin
1987 Metallurgical analysis from Sarazm, Tadjikistan SSR.
Archaeometry 29:90-102.
Ixer, R. A.
1999 The role of ore geology and ores in the archaeological
provenancing of metals. In Metals in Ant iqui ty , edited by
S. M. M. Young, A. M. Pollard, P. Budd, and R. A. Ixer,pp. 43-52. BAR International Series 792. Archaeopress,
Oxford.
Ixer, R. A., T. Alabaster, and J. A. Pearce
1984 Ore petrography and geochemistry of massive sul-
phide deposits within the Semail ophiolite, Oman.
Transactions of the Institute for Mini ng and Metallurgy
(Section B: Applied Earth Sciences) 93:B114-124.
Ixer, R. A., D. J. Vaughan, R. A. D. Pattrick, and T. Alabaster
1986 Mineralogical studies and their bearing on the genesis
of massive sulphide deposits in the Semail Ophiolite
complex, Oman. In Metallogeny o f Basic and Ultrabasic
Rocks, edited by M. J. Gallagher, R. A. Ixer, C. R.
Neary, and H. M. Prichard, pp. 33-48. Institute of
Mining and Metallurgy, London.
Jankovic, S.
1986 Genetic types of Alpine ore deposits and tectonic set-
tings in the northeastern Mediterranean and southwest
Asia. In Geotectonic Evolut ion and Metal logeny o f th eMediterranean Area and West ern Asia, Proceedings, edit-
ed by W. E. Petrascheck, and S. Jankovic, pp. 23-35.
Schriftenreihe der Erdwissenschaftlichen Kommissionen
8. Springer, New York.
Joanngs, F
1991 L'Etain, de 1'Elam a Mari. In M b o p o t a m i e e t E l
edited by L. D. Meyer, and H. Gasche, pp. 67-76.
Mesopotamian History and Environment Occasion
Publications 1. Mesopotamian History and Environ
Ghent.
Junghans, S., E. Sangmeister, and M. Schroder
1968 Kupfer u nd Br onze i n der Friihen Metallzeit Eur
Mann, Berlin.
Kamilli, R. J., and R. E. Criss
1996 Genesis of the Silsilah tin teposit, Kingdom of S
Arabia. Economic Geology 91:1414-1434.
Kaptan, E.
1995 Tin and ancient tin mining in Turkey. Anatolica
21:197-203.
Kassianidou, V.
1998 Small-scale mining and smelting in ancient Cypr
Social Approaches t o an Industrial Past. T he Archa
and Anthropology o f Mining, edited by A. B. Knap
C. Pigott, and E. W. Herbert , pp. 226-241. Routled
London.
Kastner, J.-M.
1991 Some preliminary remarks concerning two recen
excavated tombs in DhayahIRas al-Khaimah. In Go
Archaologie: Mesop otami en, Iran, Kuwait, Bahrain
Verein ig te Arabische Emirate un d Om an , edited by
Schippmann, A. Herling, and J.-F. Salles, pp. 233-2
Internationale Archaologie 6.
Kastner, J.-M., N. Sahm, and C. Velde
1988 Excavations o f the G erman Archaeological Miss
Ras a l -Khaimah. Report of the 4 th Season 1988. S
fiir Vorderasiatische Archaologie.
Kavtaradze, G. L.1999 The importance of metallurgical data for the fo
tion of Central Transcaucasian chronology. In T h e
Beginnings of Metallurgy, edited by A. Hauptmann
Pernicka, T. Rehren, and U. Yalcin, pp. 67-103. D
Anschnitt Beiheft 9. Deutsches Bergbau Museum,
Bochum.
226 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf
8/14/2019 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf Technology, Trade, And the Bronze Age World ThePoet006102
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/early-metallurgy-of-the-persian-gulf-technology-trade-and-the-bronze-age 247/269
Kennet, D.
1998 Review of Excavations at A1 Sufouh, a third millen-
nium site in the Emirate of Dubai , by J.N. Benton.
American Journal of Archaeology 102:190-191.
Kennet, D., and C. Velde
1995 Third and early second-millennium occupation at Nud
Ziba, Khatt (U.A.E.). Arabian Archaeology and
Epigraphy 6:81-99.
Kenoyer, J. M., and H. M.-L. Miller
1999 Metal technologies of the Indus Valley tradition in
Pakistan and western India. In The Archaeometallurgy of
the Asian Old W orld, edited by V. C. Pigott, pp.
107-152. University Museum Monograph 89. University
of Pennsylvania Museum, Philadelphia.
King, G. R. D.
1997 The history of UAE: the eve of Islam and the Islamicperiod. In Perspectives on the United Arab Emirates, edit-
ed by E. Ghareeb, and I. A1 Abed, pp. 74-94. Trident
Press, London.
Kipp, R. S., and E. M. Schortman
1989 The political impact of trade in chiefdoms. American
Anthropologist 91 370-385.
Knapp, A. B.
198 6 Copper production and eastern Mediterranean trade.
In Comparative Studies in the Development of C omple x
Societies, edited by J. Gledhill, and M. Larsen. World
Archaeological Congress 1986. vol. 2. University of
Southampton, Southampton.
2000 Archaeology, science-based archaeology and the
Mediterranean Bronze Age metals trade. European
Journal of Archaeology 3:31-56.
Kochhar, N., R. Kochhar, and D. K. Chakrabarti
1999 A new source of primary tin ore in the Indus civiliza-
tion. South Asian Studies 15:115-118.
Kohl, P L.
1975 The archaeology of trade. Dialectical Anthropology
1:43-50.
1998 Integrated interaction at the beginning of the Br
Age: new evidence from the Nor theastern Caucasus
the advent of tin-bronzes in the third millennium B
Paper presented at the American Anthropological
Association Meeting.
2001 Reflections on the production of chlorite at Tepe
Yahya: 25 years later. In Excvavations at Tepe Yahy
Iran 1967-1975: The Third Millennium, edited by
Potts, pp. 209-230. ASPR Bulletin 45, C. C. Lamb
Karlovsky, general editor. American School of Preh
Research, Cambridge.
Kohl, P L., M. G. Gadzhiev, and R. G. Magomedov
2002 Between the steppe and the sown: cultural deve
ments on the Caspian littoral plain of southern
Daghestan, Russia, c. 3600-1900 BC. In Ancient
Interactions: East and W es t in Eurasia, edited by K
Boyle, C. Renfrew, and M. Levine, pp. 113-128.
McDonald Institute Monographs. McDonald InstitArchaeological Research, Cambridge.
Kohl, P. L., and M.-H. Pottier
1993 Central Asian materials from Baluchistan and so
eastern Iran at the end of the third millennium B.C
preliminary observations. PERSICA 14:91-102.
Koppel, V,, and M. Griinenfelder
1979 Isotope geochem istry o f lead. In Lectures in Iso
Geology, edited by E . Jager, and J. C. Hunziker, pp
134-1 53. Springer-Verlag, Berlin.
Kramer, S. N.
1952 Enmerkar and the Lord of Aratta: A Sumerian E
Tale of Iraq and Iran. Museum Monographs. The
University Museum, University of Pennsylvania,
Philadelphia.
1977 Commerce and trade: gleanings from Sumerian
ture. Iraq 3959-66.
Kristiansen, K.1986 Value, ranking and consumption in the Bronze A
Comparative Studies in the Development of Compl
Societies, edited by T. Champion, and M. Rowland
World Archaeological Congress 1986. vol. 1. Univ
of Southampton, Southampton.
References
8/14/2019 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf Technology, Trade, And the Bronze Age World ThePoet006102
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/early-metallurgy-of-the-persian-gulf-technology-trade-and-the-bronze-age 248/269
1987 From stone to bronze-the evolution of social com-
plexity in Northern Europe, 2300-1200 BC. In
Specialization, Exchange, and Complex Societies, edited
by E. M. Brumfiel, and T. K. Earle, pp. 30-51. New
Directions in Archaeology. Cambridge University Press,
Cambridge.
Kuzmina, E. E.
1966 Metallicheskie izdelia eneolita i bronzogo veka v sred-
nei Asii, Moscow.
Lahiri, N. D.
1995 Indian metal and metal-related artefacts as cultural
signifiers: an ethnographic perspective. World
Archaeology 27:116-132.
Lamberg-Karlovsky, C. C.
1967 Archaeology and metallurgical technology in prehis-
toric Afghanistan, India and Pakistan. AmericanAnthropologist 69:145-1 62 .
2001 Excavations at Tepe Yahya: the biography of a proj-
ect. In Excavations at Tepe Yahya, Iran 1967-1975. T h e
Third Millennium, by D. T. Potts, pp. xix-xli. American
School of Prehistoric Research Bulletin 45. American
School of Prehistoric Research, Cambridge,
Massachusetts.
Lamberg-Karlovsky, C. C., and M. Tosi
1973 Shahr-i Sokhta and Tepe Yahya: Tracks o n the Earliest
History of the Iranian Plateau. IsMEO, Rome.
Larsen, M. T.
1976 The Old Assyrian City-state and its Colonies.
Akademisk Forlag, Copenhagen.
1987 Commercial networks in the ancient Near East. In
Centre and Periphery in the Ancient World, edited by M.
Rowlands, M. T. Larsen, and K. Kristiansen, pp. 47-56.
New Directions in Archaeology. Cambridge University
Press, Cambridge.
Larsson, T. B.
1986 Regional manifestations of power and supremacy in
Bronze Age Sweden-material culture and the reproduc-
tion of the social order. In Comparative Studies in the
Developme nt of C omple x Societies, edited by T.
Champion and M. Rowlands. World Archaeologica
Congress 1986. vol. 1. University of Southampton,
Southampton.
Lechtman, H.
1988 Traditions and styles in central Andean metalwo
In Th e Beginning of the Use of Metals and Alloys, e
by R. Maddin, pp. 344-378. MIT Press, Cambridge
Massachusetts.
1996 Arsenic bronze: dirty copper or chosen alloy? A
from the Americas. Journal of Field Archaeology
23:477-514.
1998 Architectural cramps at Tiwanaku: copper-arsen
nickel bronze. In Metallurgica Antiqu a, edited by T
Rehren, A. Hauptmann, and J. D. Muhly, pp. 77-92
Anschnitt Beiheft 8. Deutsches Bergbau Museum,
Bochum.
Lechtman, H., and S. Klein
1999 The production of copper-arsenic alloys (arsenic
bronze) by cosmelting: modern experiment, ancient
tice. Journal of Archaeological Science 26:497-526.
Leemans, W. F.
1960 Foreign Trade in the Old Babylonian P eriod. E.
Brill, Leiden.
1977 The importance of trade. Some introductory rem
Iraq 39:l-10.
Leese, M. N.
1992 Evaluating lead isotope data: comments on
E. V. Sayre, K. A. Yener, E. C. Joel, and I. L. Barne
'Statistical evaluation of the presently accumulated
isotope data from Anatolia and surrounding regions
Archaeometry 34:318-322.
Lescuyer, J. L., E. Oudin, and M. Beurrier
1988 Review of the different types of mineralization r
to the Oman Ophiolite volcanism. In Proceedings oSeventh Quadrennial IAGOD Symposium held in L
Sweden August I 8-22, 1986, the International
Association o n the Genesis of Ore De posits, edited
Zachrisson, pp. 489-500. E. Schweizerbart'sche
Verlagsbuchhandlung, Stuttgart.
2 2 8 Early Metallurgy o f the Persian Gulf
8/14/2019 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf Technology, Trade, And the Bronze Age World ThePoet006102
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/early-metallurgy-of-the-persian-gulf-technology-trade-and-the-bronze-age 249/269
Levy, T. E., and S. Shalev
1989 Prehistoric metalworking in the southern Levant:
archaeometallurgical and social perspectives. World
Archaeology 20:352-372.
Limet, H.
1960 Le travail du mCtal au pays de Sumer au temps de la
IIIe dynastie dyUr.Les Belles Lettres, Paris.
1972 Les MCtaux ~ ' ~ ~ o ~ u eyAgadC 2370-2250 av. J.-
C.). Journal o f the Economic and Soc ia l History o f the
Orient 15:3-34.
1985 La technique du bronze dans le archives de Mari. In
Miscellanea Babylonica. Me langes Offe rts a M aurice
Birot, edited by J.-M. Durand, and J.-R. Kupper, pp.
201-210. Editions Recherche sur les Civilisations, Paris.
1993 Metalle und metallurgie. A. I. In Mesopotamien.
Reall exikon der Assyriologie 8:96-112.
Lippard, S. J., A. W. Shelton, and I. G. Gass1986 The O ph io l i te o f Nor the rn O m a n . Geological Society
Memoir No. 11. Blackwell Scientific Publications,
London.
Liversage, D.
1993 Impurity patterns and cultural history-an enquiry
into compositional patterns in the Bronze Age.
Archaeology and Natural Science 1:73-90.
Lorand, J. P.
1988 Fe-Ni-Cu sulfides in tectonite peridotites from the
Maqsad district, Sumail Ophiolite, southern Oman:
implications for the origin of the sulfide component in
the oceanic upper mantle. In The O ph iol i te s o f O m an ,
edited by F Boudier, and A. Nicolas, pp. 57-74.
Tectonophysics (Special Issue) 151.
Lucas, A.
1934 Ancie nt Egyptian Materials and Industries. Second
edition. Edward Arnold, London.
Macfarlane, A.
1999 The lead isotope method for tracing the sources of
metal in archaeological artefacts: strengths, weaknesses
and applications in the Western hemisphere. In Metals in
Ant iqui ty , edited by S. M. M. Young, A. M. Pollard, P.
Budd, and R. A. Ixer, pp. 310-316. BAR International
Series 792. Archaeopress, Oxford.
Mackay, E. J. H.
1943 Chanhu-Daro Excavations 1935-3 6 . American
Oriental Series Volume 20. American Oriental Soci
New Haven.
Maddin, R.
1989 The copper ingots and tin ingots from the Ka%o
wreck. In Old World Archaeometal lurgy , edited by
Hauptmann, E. Pernicka, and G. A. Wagner, pp. 99
Der Anschnitt Beiheft 7. Deutsches Bergbau Museu
Bochum.
Maddin, R., J. D. Muhly, and T. Stech-Wheeler
198 0 Research at the center for ancient metallurgy.
Pale orient 6:111-119.
Maddin, R., T. S. Wheeler, and J. D. Muhly
1977 Tin in the ancient Near East: old questions and
finds. Expedi t ion 20:35-48.
Magee, P.
1998a The chronology and regional context of late pre
toric incised arrowheads in southeastern Arabia. Ar
Archaeology and Epigraphy 9:l-12.
1998b New evidence of the initial appearance of iron i
southeastern Arabia. Arabian Archaeology and Epi
9:112-117.
1999 Settlement patterns, polities and regional compl
in the southeast Arabian Iron Age. Pale orient 24:49
2002 The indigenous context of foreign exchange betw
South-eastern Arabia and Iran in the Iron Age. Jou
O m an S tud ie s 12:161-168.
Magee, P., and R. A. Carter
1999 Agglomeration and regionalism: southeastern A
between 1400 and 1100 BC. Arabian Archaeology
Epigraphy 10:161-179.
Magee, P., P. Grave, W. Y. Al-Tikriti, M. Barbetti, Z. Yu, and
Bailey1998 New evidence for specialised ceramic productio
exchange in the southeas t Arabian Iron Age. Arabi
Archaeology an d Epigraphy 9:236-245.
References
8/14/2019 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf Technology, Trade, And the Bronze Age World ThePoet006102
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/early-metallurgy-of-the-persian-gulf-technology-trade-and-the-bronze-age 250/269
Magee, P., E. Thompson, A. Mackay, P Kottaras, and L. Weeks
2002 Further evidence of desert settlement complexity:
report on the 2001 excavations at the Iron Age site of
Muweilah, Emirate of Sharjah, United Arab Emirates.
Arabian Archaeology and Epigraphy 13:133-156.
Malamat, A.
197 1 Syro-Palestinian destinations in a Mari tin inventory.
Israel Exploration Journal 21:31-3 8.
Malfoy, J.-M., and M. Menu
1987 La Metallurgie du cuivre Susa aux IVe et IIIe milk-
naires: analyses en laboratoire. In Me tallurgie Susienne,
edited by F Tallon, pp. 355-373. Notes et Documents
des MuseCs de France 15. Louvre Museum Dept. of
Oriental Antiquities, Paris.
Mangou, H., and P. V. Ioannou
199 7 On the chemical composition of prehistoric Greekcopper-based artefacts from the Aegean region. Annual
of the British School at Athens 1997:59-72.
Manning, S. W.
1995 Th e Absolute Chronology of the Aegean Early Bronze
Age. Archaeology, Radiocarbon and History.
Monographs in Mediterranean Archaeology 1. Sheffield
Academic Press, Sheffield.
Masson, V M., and V. I. Sarianidi
1972 Central Asia: Turkme nia before the Achaem enids.
Praeger, New York.
Mauss, M.
1966 The Gift: Forms and Functions o f Exchange in
Archaic Societies. Cohen and West, London.
McGeehan-Liritzis, V.
1996 Th e Role and Dev elopm ent of Metallurgy in the Late
Neolithic and Early Bronze Age of Greece. Paul Astrijrns
Forlag, Sweden.
McGeehan-Liritzis, V., and J. W. Taylor
1987 Yugoslavian tin deposits and the Early Bronze Age
industries of the Aegean region. Oxfor d Journal of
Archaeology 6:287-300.
McGill, R. A. R., P. Budd, B. Scaife, P Lythgoe, A. M. Pollard
Haggerty, and S. M. M. Young
1999 The investigation and archaeological applications
anthropogenic heavy metal isotope fractionation. In
Metals in Antiqu ity, edited by S. M. M. Young, A.
Pollard, P. Budd, and R. A. Ixer, pp. 258-261. BAR
International Series 792. Archaeopress, Oxford.
McGlade, J.
199 7 The limits of social control: coherence and chao
prestige-goods economy. In Time , Process and Struc
Transformation in Archaeology, edited by S. E. van
Leeuw, and J. McGlade, pp. 298-330. Routledge,
London.
McKerrell, H.
1977 Non-dispersive XRF applied to ancient metalwo
in copper and tin bronze. PACT 1:138-73.
1978 The use of tin-bronze in Britain and the compararelationship with the Near East. In Th e Search for
Ancient Tin, edited by A. D. Franklin, J. S. Olin, an
A. Wertime, pp. 7-24. U.S. Government Printing O
Washington, D.C.
Mellink, M. J.
1992 Anatolia. In Chronologies in Old World Archaeo
edited by R. W. Ehrich, pp. 207-220. vol. 1. Chica
University Press, Chicago.
Merkel, J. F.
1983 Summary of experimental results for late Bronze
copper smelting and refining. MA SCA Journal
2:173-178.
1986 Ancient smelting and casting of copper for oxhid
ingots. In Studies in Sardinian A rchaeology 2: Sardi
the Mediterranean, edited by M. S. Balmuth, pp.
251-264. University of Michigan Press, Ann Arbor.
site http://www.geo.vu.nl/archaeometry/ abstracts/m
general.pdf.
Mtry, S.
1991 Origine et production des ricipients de terre cui
la Ptninsule D'Oman 2 L'ge du Bronze. Pale orient
1751-77
230 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf
8/14/2019 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf Technology, Trade, And the Bronze Age World ThePoet006102
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/early-metallurgy-of-the-persian-gulf-technology-trade-and-the-bronze-age 251/269
1996 Ceramics and patterns of exchange across the Arabian
Sea and the Persian Gulf in the Early Bronze Age. In T h e
Prehistory o f Asia and Oceania , Col loquium XX XI I:
Trade as a Subsistence Strategy. Post-Pleistocene
Adaptat ions i n Arabia a nd Early Mari t ime Trade in the
Indian Ocean, edited by G. Afanas'ev, S. Cleuziou, J. R.
Lukacs, and M. Tosi, pp. 167-179. XI11 International
Congress of Prehistoric and Protohistoric Sciences.
A.B.A.C.O., Forli.
1997 A funerary assemblage from the Umm an-Nar period:
the ceramics from tomb A a t Hili North, UAE.
Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies
27:171-191.
2000 Les Ce ramiques d O ma n e t 1 Asie Moyenne: une
Arche ologie d es ~ c h a n ~ e s1 Age du Bronze. CNRS,
Paris.
Mtry, S., and M. J. Blackman
1999 Harappa et Mohenjo-Daro: deux zones de productionde jarres engobe noir au Pakistan la ptriode Indus.
Pale orient 25:167-177.
MCry, S., and P. Marquis
1998 First campaign of excavation at Khor Bani Bu Ali
SWY-3, Sultanate of Oman. Proceedings of t he Seminar
for Arabian Studies 28:215-228.
Mtry, S., and G. Schneider
1996 Mesopotamian pottery wares in eastern Arabia from
the 5 th to the 2nd millennium BC: a contribut ion of
archaeometry to the economic history. Proceedings of the
Seminar for A rabian Studies 26:78-96.
Meyer, J., I. Mercolli, and A. Immenhauser
1996 Off-ridge alkaline magmatism and seamount volca-
noes in the Masirah island ophiolite, Oman.
Tectonophysics 267:187-208.
Momenzadeh, M., N. Nezafati, and E. Pernicka
2002 First indication of tin at the ancient mining site nearDeh Hosein, West-Central Iran: a possible source for
Luristan bronze? Paper presented at the 33rd
International Archaeometry Symposium, Amsterdam.
Web site http://www.
geo.vu.nl/archaeometry/abstracts/metalgeneral.
pdf.
Mommsen, H., K. G. Bauer, Q. Fazly, T. Mayer-Kuckuk, and
Schurkes
1979 Analyse altagyptischer Metallfundstiicke durch
alphainduzierte Rontgenemission. Zeitschrift fur ag
cher Sprache 106:137-148.
Montero, J.-L.
1995 Estudio provisional del ajuar metdico del conjun
funreario de 10s loci 12E y 12W. Tell Qara Quzaq (
Campaiia 1992. Aula Orientalis 13:25-30.
Montero Fenolhs, J.-L.
1996 Metallurgia en el Proximo Oriente antiguo. El ej
de Siria. Revista de Arqueologia 178:14-23.
1997 L'activitt mktallurgique dans la valte du Haut
Euphrate syrien (IIIe et IIe milltnaires av. J.C.). Akk
103:6-28.
Montero Fenollbs, J.-L., and I. M. Ruiz2000 El estaiio: primeras producciones y comercio. In
Arqueometalurgia en el Mediterrdneo, edited by I. M
Ruiz, pp. 89-114. Centro de Estudios del Pr6ximo
Oriente, Lenguas y Culturas del Antiguo Oriente
Pr6ximo 3. Ediciones ClAsicas, Madrid.
Moorey, P. R. S.
1982 Archaeology and pre-Achaemenid metalworking
Iran: a fifteen year retrospective. Iran 20:81-101.
1994 Ancient Mesopotamian Materials and Industries:
Archaeological E vidence. Clarendon Press, Oxford.
Moorey, P. R. S., and F. Schweizer
1972 Copper and copper alloys in ancient Iraq, Syria
Palestine and new analyses. Archaeometry 14:177-1
Moorey, P R. S., J. E. Curtis, D. R. Hook, and M. J. Hughes
1988 New analyses of Old Babylonian metalwork from
Sifr. Iraq 50:39-48.
Mortensen, P.1986 The Barbar Temple: its chronology and foreign r
tions reconsidered. In Bahrain Throu gh the Ages. T
Archaeology, edited by H. A. A1 Khalifa, and M. R
pp. 178-185. Kegan Paul, London.
References
8/14/2019 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf Technology, Trade, And the Bronze Age World ThePoet006102
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/early-metallurgy-of-the-persian-gulf-technology-trade-and-the-bronze-age 252/269
Moseley, F.
1969 The Upper Cretaceous ophiolite complex of Masirah
Island, Oman. Geological Journal 6:293-306.
199 0 The structure of Masirah Island, Oman. In The
Geology and Tectonics of the Oman Region, edited by A.
H. F. Robertson, M. P. Searle, and A. C. Ries, pp.
665-671. Geological Society Special Publication No. 49.
Geological Society, London.
Moseley, F., and I. L. Abbotts
1979 The ophiolite milange of Masirah, Oman. Journal of
the Geological Society of London 136:713-724.
Muhly, J. D.
1973a Copper and tin. Transactions, The Connecticut
Academy of Arts and Sciences 43:155-535.
1973b Tin trade routes of the Bronze Age. American Scientist
61:404-413.
1977 The copper ox-hide ingots and the Bronze Age metalstrade. Iraq 39:73-82.
1978 New evidence for sources of and trade in Bronze Age
tin. In Th e Search for A ncient T in, edited by A. D.
Franklin, J. S. Olin, and T. A. Wertime, pp. 43-48. U.S.
Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C.
1983 Lead isotope Analysis and the k ingd om of Alashiya.
Report of the Department of Antiquities, Cyprus
1983:210-218.
1985a Sources of tin and the beginnings of bronze metallur-
gy. American Journal of Archaeology 89:275-291.
1985b Lead isotope analysis and the problem of lead in cop-
per. Report of the Departmen t of Antiquities, Cyprus
1985:78-82.
1987a Ur and Tepe Gawra: the Mesopotamian metals proj-
ect. American Journal of Archaeology 91:285.
1987b Review of Tin in Antiquity: its Mining and Trade
Throughout the Ancient World with Particular Reference
to Cornwall , by R. D. Penhallurick. Archeomaterials
2:99-107.
1993a Metalle. Reallexikon der Assyriologie 8:119-136.
1993b Early Bronze Age tin and the Taurus. AmericanJournal of Archaeology 97:239-253.
1995a Lead isotope analysis and the archaeologist.Journal
of Mediterranean Archaeology 854-58.
1995b Mining and metalwork in ancient Western Asia.
Civilizations of the Ancient N ear East, edited by J .
Sasson, pp. 1501-1521. vol. 3. Charles Scribner's S
New York.
1999 Copper and bronze in Cyprus and the eastern
Mediterranean. In Th e Archaeometallurgy of the As
Old World, edited by V. C. Pigott, pp. 15-26. MAS
Volume 16. The University Museum, University of
Pennsylvania, Philaddelphia.
Muhly, J. D., F. Begemann, 0. Oztunali, E. Pernicka, S. Schm
Strecker, and G. A. Wagner
1991 The Bronze Age metallurgy of Anatolia and the
tion of local tin sources. In Archaeometry 'go, edite
E. Pernicka, and G. A. Wagner, pp. 209-220. Birkh
Verlag, Basel.
Muhly, J. D., R. Maddin, and T. Stech
1988 Cyprus, Crete and Sardinia: copper ox-hide ingothe Bronze Age metals trade. Report of the Depart
of Antiquities, Cyprus l988:281-298.
Muller, J.
1984 Mississippian specialization and salt. American
Antiquity 49:489-507.
Muller-Karpe, M.
1989 Neue Forschungen zur fruhen Metallverarbeitun
Mesopotamien. Jahrbuch des Rom isch-Germanisch
Zentralmuseum 36:179-192.
1991 Aspects of early metallurgy in Mesopotamia. In
Archaeometry '90, edited by E. Pernicka, and G. A
Wagner, pp. 105-1 16. Birkhauser Verlag, Basel.
1994 Zur Verwendung fruher Metallegierungen in
Mesopotamien-ResumC. In Handwerk und Techn
im Alten Orient, edited by R.-B. Wartke, pp. 71. P
von Zabern, Mainz.
Nagler, T. F., and R. Frei
1994 Production of acidic rocks by pure differentiatiodepleted mantle source; a combined U-Pb-zircon, P
Nd isotope study on the Masirah Ophiolite, Oman
Abstracts of the Eighth International Conference o
Geochronology, Cosmochronology, and Isotope Ge
edited by M. A. Lanphere, G. B. Dalrymple, and B
Turrin, pp. 230. U. S. Geological Survey Circular R
C 1107. U. S. Geological Survey.
232 Early Metallurgy of th e Pers ian Gulf
8/14/2019 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf Technology, Trade, And the Bronze Age World ThePoet006102
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/early-metallurgy-of-the-persian-gulf-technology-trade-and-the-bronze-age 253/269
Nayeem, M. A.
1994 The United Arab Emirates. Prehistory and
Protohistory of the Arabian Peninsula Volume 3 .
Hyderabad Publishers, Hyderabad.
Niederschlag, E., M. Bartelheim, E. Pernicka, and T. Siefert
2002 Early Bronze Age tin and copper production in the
Erzgerbirge? Paper presented at the 33rd International
Archaeometry Symposium, Amsterdam. Web site
http://www.geo.vu.nl/ archaeometry/abstracts/metalgener-
al.pdf
Niederschlag, E., E. Pernicka, T. Seifert, and M. Bartelheim
2003 The determination of lead isotope ratios by multiple
collector ICP-MS: a case study of Early Bronze Age arte-
facts and their possible relation with ore deposits of the
Erzgebirge. Archaeometry 45:61-100.
Nissen, H. J.
198 6 The occurrence of Dilmun in the oldest texts of
Mesopotamia. In Bahrain Through the Ages. The
Archaeology, edited by H. A. A1 Khalifa, and M. Rice,
pp. 143-156. Kegan Paul, London.
Northover, J. P.
1989 Properties and use of arsenic-copper alloys. In Old
World Archaeometallurgy, edited by A. Hauptmann, E.
Pernicka, and G. A. Wagner, pp. 111-118. Deutsches
Bergbau Museum, Bochum.
199 7 The analysis of early copper and copper alloys. In Art
of Ancient Iran: Copper and Bronze, edited by H.
Mahboubian, pp. 325-341. Philip Wilson, London.
1999 The earliest metalworking in southern Britain. In The
Beginnings of Metallurgy, edited by A. Hauptmann, E.
Pernicka, T. Rehren, and U. Yalcin. Der Anschnitt
Beiheft 9. Deutsches Bergbau Museum, Bochum.
Northover, J. P., and C. Gillis
1999 Questions in the analysis of ancient tin. In Metals in
Antiquity, edited by S. M. M. Young, A. M. Pollard, P.Budd, and R. A. Ixer, pp. 78-85. BAR International
Series 792. Archaeopress, Oxford.
OYBrien,W.
1998 Approaches to the study of metal in the insular
Bronze Age. In Science in Archaeology: an Agenda for
the Future, edited by J. Bayley, pp. 109-122. Englis
Heritage, London.
1999a Resource availability and metal supply in the ins
Bronze Age. In The Beginnings of Metallurgy, edite
A. Hauptmann, E. Pernicka, T. Rehren, and U. Yalc
pp. 227-236. Der Anschnitt Beiheft 9. Deutsches B
Museum, Bochum.
1999b Arsenical copper in early Irish metallurgy. In Me
Antiquity, edited by S. M. M. Young, A. M. Pollard
Budd, and R. A. Ixer, pp. 33-42. BAR Internationa
Series 792. Archaeopress, Oxford.
Oppenheim, A. L.
1954 Seafaring merchants of Ur. Journal of the Americ
Oriental Society 74:6-17.
Orchard, J.
1995 The origins of agricultural settlement in the al-H
region. Iraq 57:147-158.
Orchard, J., and G. Stanger
1994 Third millennium oasis towns and environmenta
straints on settlement in the Al-Hajar region. Iraq
56:63-100.
Ottaway, B.
2001 Innovation, production and specialization in ear
historic copper metallurgy. European Journal of
Archaeology 4:87-112.
Overstreet, W. C., D. E. Detra, T. Botinelly,
M. S. Grolier, D. B. Stoeser, and D. L. Schmidt
1988 Mineral resources of the al-Jubah quadrangle, Ye
Arab Republic. In Geological and Archaeological
Reconnaissance in the Yemen Arab Republic, 1985,
by W. Overstreet, M. J. Grolier, and M. R. Toplyn,
359-41 8. The Wadi Al-Jubah Archaeological Projec
Volume 4. American Foundation for the Study of M
Washington, D.C.
Oxford University Committee for Archaeology
1997 Report of the Committee for Archaeology 1996-
University of Oxford web site
http://athens.arch.ox.ac.uk/schoolarch/
annual-report/report96-7.html.
References
8/14/2019 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf Technology, Trade, And the Bronze Age World ThePoet006102
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/early-metallurgy-of-the-persian-gulf-technology-trade-and-the-bronze-age 254/269
Panayioto u, A.
19 80 Cu-Ni-CO-Fe sulphide mineralization, Limassol
Forest, Cyprus. In Ophiolites: Proceedings of the
International O phioli te Symp osium C yprus 1979, edited
by A. Panayioto u, pp. 102-16. Ministry of Agriculture
and N atura l Resources, G eological Survey Departmen t,
Nicosia.
Parzinger, H.
2000 Zinn f ii r Mesopotamien. In Archaologisches
Entdeckungen. Die Forschungen des Deutschen
Archaologischen Insti tuts im 20 . Jahrhundert, by the
Deutschen Archaologischen Instituts, pp. 247-25 1.
Philipp von Za bern, M ainz.
Parzinger, H., and N. Boroffka
2 0 0 3 Das Z inn der Bronzezeit i n Mittelasien I. Die sied-
lungsarchaologiscben Forshungen i m U mfeld der
Zinnlagerstatten. Philipp von Zabern, Mainz.
Peabody, D. P. S.
1 9 8 2 Pottery in the R om an World: A n Ethnoarchaeological
Approach. Longman, London.
Peake, H.
192 8 The copper mountain of Magan. Antiquity 2:452-457.
Pedersen, C. H., and V. F. Buchwald
19 91 An examin ation of metal objects from Tell Abraq,
U.A.E. Arabian Archaeology and Epigraphy 2:l-9.
Penhallurick, R. D.
1 9 8 6 Tin in Antiquity: i ts Mining and Trade Thro ughou t
the Ancient W od d with Particular Reference to Cornwall.
Institute of Metals, London.
Peregrine, P.
19 91 Some political aspects of craft specialization. World
Archaeology 23: 1-1 1.
Pernicka, E.
19 92 Evaluating lead isotope data: comments on E.V. Sayre,
K.A. Yener, E.C. Joel, and I.L. Barnes, 'Statistical evalua-
tion of the presently accumulated lead isotope data from
Anatolia and surrounding regions' ... 11. Archaeometry
34:322-326.
1 9 9 3 Comments on P. Budd, D. Gale, A.M. Pollard, R
Thomas, and P.A. Williams, 'Evaluating lead isotop
data : further observations' ..., 111. Archaeometry
35:259-262.
199 5a Crisis or catharsis in lead isotope analysis? Jour
Mediterranean Archaeology 859- 64 .
19 95 b Gewinn ung und Verbreitung der Metalle in prah
torische Zeit. Jahrbuch des Romisch-Germanischen
Zentralmuseums, M ainz 3 7:2 1-134.
1 9 9 9 Trace element f ingerprinting of ancient copp er:
to technology or provenance? In Metals in Antiquit
edited by S. M . M. Young, A. M. Po llard, P. Budd,
R. A. Ixer, pp. 16 3-171. BAR Intern ation al Series 7
Archaeopress, Ox ford.
Pernicka, E., F. Begemann, S. Schmitt-Strecker, and A. P. Grim
1 9 9 0 O n the composition an d provenance of metal ob
from Poliochni on Lemnos. Ox ford Journal of
Archaeology 9:263-298.
Pernicka, E., F. Begemann, S. Schmitt-Strecker, and G. A. Wa
1 9 9 3 Eneolithic and Early Bronze Age copper artefact
the Balkans and their relation t o Serbian copper or
Praehistorische Zeitschrift 68:l-54.
Pernicka, E., T. C. Seeliger, G. A. Wagner, F. Begemann, S. Sc
Strecker, C. Eibner, 0. Oztuna li, and I . Baranyi
19 84 Archaometallurgische Untersuchungen in
Nordwestanatol ien. Jahrbuch des Romisch-German
Zentralmuseums, Mainz 3 1533- 599 .
Pernicka, E., G. A. Wagner, J. D. Muhly, and 0. Oztunali
1 9 9 2 Com ment o n the discussion of ancient tin sourc
Anatolia. Journal of Mediterranean Archaeology 5:
PCzard, M.
1 9 1 4 Mission 6 Bender-Bouchir; d ocum ents arcbbolog
et bpigraphiques. E. Leroux, Paris.
Pettinato, G.1 9 7 2 I1 commercio con l'estero della Mesopotamia m
ionale nel 3. millennio av. Cr. alla luce della fonti l
arie e lessicali sum eriche. Mesopotamia 7:43-166.
234 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf
8/14/2019 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf Technology, Trade, And the Bronze Age World ThePoet006102
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/early-metallurgy-of-the-persian-gulf-technology-trade-and-the-bronze-age 255/269
1983 Dilmun nella documentazione epigrafica di Ebla. In
Dilmun. N ew Studies in the Archaeology and Early
History of Bahrain, edited by D. T. Potts, pp. 75-82.
Berliner Beitrage zum Vorderen Orient 2. Dietrich
Reimer, Berlin.
Philip, G.
1991 Tin, arsenic, lead: alloying practices in Syria-Palestine
around 2000 B.C. Levant 23:93-104.
Phillips, C.
199 7 The pattern of settlement in the Wadi al-Qawr.
Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies
27:205-218.
Piesinger, C. M.
1983 Legacy of Dilmun: the Roots of Ancient Maritime
Trade in Eastern Coastal Arabia in the 4thl3rd
Millennium B.C. Unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, Dept.of Anthropology, University of Wisconsin.
Pigott, V. C.
198 0 Research at MASCA. Pale orient 6:lO5-llO.
1989 Archaeo-metallurgical investigations at Bronze Age
Tappeh Hesar, 1976. In Tappe h Hesar. Reports of th e
Rest udy Project, 1976, edited by R. H. Dyson, and S. M.
Howard, pp. 25-34. Monografie di Mesopotamia 11.
Casa Editrice le Lettere, Florence.
1996 Bronze I. In pre-Islamic Iran. In Encyclopaedia
Iranica, edited by E. Yarshater, pp. 457-471. vol. 4.
Routledge and Kegan Paul, London.
1998 Prehistoric copper mining in the context of emerging
community craft specialization in northeast Thailand. In
Social Approaches to a n Industrial Past. T he Archaeology
and Anthropology o f Mining, edited by A. B. Knapp, V.
C. Pigott, and E. W. Herbert , pp. 205-225. Routledge,
London.
1999a A heartland of metallurgy. Neolithicl Chalcolithic
metallurgical origins on the Iranian Plateau. In T h e
Beginnings of Metallurgy, edited by A. Hauptmann, E.
Pernicka, T. Rehren, and U. Yalcin, pp. 107-120. Der
Anschnitt Beiheft 9. Deutsches Bergbau Museum,
Bochum.
1999b The development of metal production on the Ira
Plateau: an archaeometallurgical perspective. In T h
Archaeometal lurgy o f the Asian Old Wor ld , edited b
C. Pigott, pp. 73-106. University Museum Monogr
89. University of Pennsylvania Museum, Philadelph
1999c The archaeometallurgy of the Asian Old World.
Introductory comments. In Th e Archaeometal lurgy
As ian O ld Wor ld , edited by V. C. Pigott, pp. 1-13.
University Museum Monograph 89. University of
Pennsylvania Museum, Philadelphia.
Pigott, V. C., S. M. Howard, and S. M. Epstein
1982 Pyrotechnology and culture change at Bronze Ag
Tepe Hissar (Iran). In Early Pyrotechnology. The
Evolu tion o f th e First Fire-Using Industries, edited b
A. Wertime, and S. F. Wertime, pp. 215-236.
Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington, D.C.
Pigott, V. C., H. C. Rogers, and S. K. Nash2003 Archaeometallurgical investigations at Malyan: t
evidence for tin-bronze in the Kaftari phase. In Yek
Yek i Nabud. Essays o n the Archaeology Iran in Hon
Wi l l i am M. Sum ne r , edited by N. F. Miller, and K.
pp. 161-176. Cotsen Institute of Archaeology
Monograph No. 48. The Cotsen Institute of Archae
Los Angeles.
Pilgrim, G. E.
1908 The geology of the Persian Gulf and the adjoinin
tions of Persia and Arabia. Memoirs of the Geologi
Survey o f India 34(4):177.
Pinnock, F.
1985 About the trade of Early Syrian Ebla. M A R I 4:8
1988 Observations on the trade of lapis lazuli in the II
millennium B.C. In Wirtschaft und Gesellschaft von
edited by H. Waetzoldt, and H. Hauptmann, pp.
107-110. Heidelberger Studien zum Alten Orient B
Heidelberger Orientverlag, Heidelberg.
Ploquin, A., and S. Orzechowski
1994 Palaeo-metallurgy at Mleiha. Preliminary notes.
Archaeological Surveys and Excava tions in the Sha
Emirate, 1993 and 1994. A Seventh Interim Repor
ed by M. Mouton, pp. 25-32. Joint Archaeological
Expedition to the Sharjah Emirate.
References
8/14/2019 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf Technology, Trade, And the Bronze Age World ThePoet006102
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/early-metallurgy-of-the-persian-gulf-technology-trade-and-the-bronze-age 256/269
Pollard, A. M., and C. Heron
1996 Archaeological Che mistry. Royal Society for
Chemistry, Cambridge.
Polanyi, K.
1975 Traders and trade. In Ancient Civilization and Trade,
edited by J. A. Sabloff, and C. C. Lamberg-Karlovsky,
pp. 133-154. University of New Mexico Press,
Albuquerque.
Possehl, G. L.
1996 Meluhha. In T he I ndian Ocean in Ant iqu i ty , edited by
J. Reade, pp. 133-208. Kegan Paul International with
the British Museum, London.
1999 lnd us Age. T he Beginnings. University of
Pennsylvania Press, Philadelphia.
Potts, D. T.
1986 The booty of Magan. Oriens Antiquus 25:271-285.1990a The Arabian Gulf in Antiqui ty I . Clarendon Press,
Oxford.
1990b A Prehistoric Mou nd in the Emirate of U m m al-
Qaiwain, U.A.E.: Excavations at Tell Abraq i n 1989.
Munksgaard, Copenhagen.
1991 Further Excavations a t Tell Abraq. T he 1990 Season.
Munksgaard, Copenhagen.
1993a Four seasons of excavation at Tell Abraq
(1989-1993). Proceedings o f th e Seminar for Arabian
Studies 23:117-126.
1993b Rethinking some aspects of trade in the Arabian Gulf.
World Archaeology 24:423-438.
1993c Tell Abraq and the Harappan tradition in southeast-
ern Arabia. In Harappan Civilization, edited by G. L.
Possehl, pp. 323-333. Second edition. Oxford and IBH,
New Delhi.
1993d A new Bactrian find from southeastern Arabia.
Antiqui ty 67591-596.
1993e The late prehistoric, protohistoric, and early historic
periods in eastern Arabia (ca. 5000-1200 B.C.). Journal
of World Prehistory 7: 163-212.1994a South and Central Asian elements at Tell Abraq
(Emirate of Umm a1 Qaiwain, United Arab Emirates), c.
2200 B.C.-A.D. 400. In Sout h Asian Archaeology 1 993,
edited by A. Parpola, and P Koskikallio, pp. 615-628.
vol. 2. Annales Academiae Scientarium Fennicae Ser.
B271, Helsinki.
1997a Rewriting the late prehistory of south-eastern A
a reply to Jocelyn Orchard. Iraq 59:63-71.
199713 Before the Emirates: an archaeological and histo
account of developments in the region ca. 5000 BC
676 AD. In Perspectives o n th e United Arab Em irat
edited by E. Ghareeb, and I. A. Abed, pp. 36-73. T
Press, London.
1998 Maritime beginnings. In Waves o f T ime: The Ma
Heritage o f th e U nited Arab Em irates, edited by P.
Hellyer, pp. 8-43. Trident Press, London.
1999a Th e Archaeology of Elam: Formation and
Transformation of an Ancient Iranian State. Cambr
World Archaeology Series. Cambridge University Pr
Cambridge.
1999b an-na zabar. Nouvelles Assyriologiques Breves e
Utilitaires 1999(4):94.
2000 Ancient Magan. Trident Press, London.
2003a Anshan, Liyan, and Magan circa 2000 BCE. In Y
Bud, Yeki Nabud. Essays o n the Archaeology I ran iHonor of Wil l iam M. Sumner , edited by N. F. Mille
K. Abdi, pp. 156-160. Cotsen Institute of Archaeol
Monograph No. 48. The Cotsen Institute of Archae
Los Angeles.
2003b The Gulf: Dilmun and Magan. In Art of the Firs
Cities: Th e Third Millennium B.C. from the
Mediterranean t o the Indus, edited by J. Aruz, and
Wallenfels. The Metropolitan Museum of Art and Y
University Press, New Haven.
Potts, D. T., and L. R. Weeks
1999 An AMS radiocarbon chronology for the late Um
an-Nar type tomb at Tell Abraq. Tribulus 9:9-10.
Potts, T. F.
1994 Mesopotam ia and the East. An Archaeological a
Historical Study of Foreign Relations ca. 3400-2000
Oxford Committee for Archaeology Monograph 37
Oxford Committee for Archaeology, Oxford.
Prange, M., and A. Hauptmann2001 The chemical composition of bronze objects from
'Ibri/Selme. In Th e Metal Hoard from YbrilSelme
Sultanate of Oman, by P Yule, and G. Weisgerber,
75-84. Prahistorischer Bronzefunde Abteilung XX
7. Franz Steiner Verlag, Stuttgar t.
236 Early Metallurgyof the Persian Gulf
8/14/2019 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf Technology, Trade, And the Bronze Age World ThePoet006102
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/early-metallurgy-of-the-persian-gulf-technology-trade-and-the-bronze-age 257/269
Prange, M. K., H.-J. Gotze, A. Hauptmann, and
G. W eisgerber
1999 Is Oman the ancient M aga n? Analytical studies of
copper f rom Om an. In Metals in Antiquity, edited by S.
M . M. Youn g, A. M . Pollard, P. Budd, an d R. A. Ixer,
pp. 187-192. BAR International Series 7 9 2 .
Archaeopress, Oxford.
Rao, S. R.
1963 A 'Persian Gulf' seal from Lothal. Antiquity
37:96-99.
1979 Lothal, a Harappan Port Town (1955-62) I .
Archaeological Survey of India, New Delhi.
1985 Lothal, a Harappan Port Town (1955-62) 2 .
Archaeological Survey of India, New Delhi.
R ~ P P , .
1978 Trace elements as a guide to t he geological source of
tin ore: sm elting experiments. In The Search for Ancient
Tin, edited by A. D. Franklin, J. S. Olin, and T. A.
Wertime, pp. 59-63. U.S. Government Printing Office,
Washington, D.C.
1988 O n the origins of copp er and bronze alloying. In The
Beginning of the Use of Metals and Alloys, edited by R.
Maddin, pp. 21-27. M IT Press, Camb ridge,
Massachusetts.
1989 Determining the origins of sulfide smelting. In Old
World Archaeometallurgy, edited by A. Hauptmann, E.
Pernicka, and G. A. Wagner, pp. 107-110. Deutsches
Bergbau-Museums, Bochum.
Rapp, G., R. Rothe, and Z. J ing
1999 Using neutron activation analysis to source ancient tin
(cassiterite). In Metals in Antiquity, edited by S. M . M.
Young, A. M . Pollard, P. Budd, a nd R . A. Ixer, pp.
153-162. BAR International Series 7 9 2 . Archaeopress,
Oxford.
Ratnagar, S.
1981 Encounters, the Westerly Trade of the Harappa
Civilization. Oxford University Press, Delhi, New York.
Ravich, I. G., and N. R yndina
1995 Early copper-arsenic alloys and the problems of their
use in the Bronze Age of the North Caucasus. Bulletin of
the Metals Museum 23: l -18 .
Reade, J., and R. Burleigh
1978 The 'Ali cemetery: old excavations, ivory, and ra
carbon dating. Journal of Oman Studies 4:75-83.
Reade, J., and A. Searight
2001 Arabian softstone vessels from Iraq in the British
Museum. Arabian Archaeology and Epigraphy
12:156-172.
Reade, W. J., and D. T. Potts
1993 New evidence for late third m illennium linen fro
Abraq, Umm al-Qaiwain, UAE. Pale'orient 19:99-10
Reedy, T. J., and C. L. Reedy
1992 Evaluating lead isotope data: comments on
E. V. Sayre, K. A. Yener, E. C. Joel, and I. L. Barnes
'Statistical evaluation of the presently accumulated
isotope data from Anatolia a nd surround ing region
Archaeometry 34:327-329.
Reiter, K.
1999 Metals and metallurgy in the Old Babylonian Pe
In The Beginnings of Metallurgy, edited by A.
Hauptmann, E. Pernicka, T. Rehren, and U. Yalcin,
167-171. Der Anschnitt Beiheft 9. Deutsches Bergb
Museum, Bochum.
Renfrew, C.
1967 Cycladic metallurgy and the Aegean Early Bronz
American Journal of Archaeology 71: l -20 .
1972 The Emergence o f Civilisation. The Cyclades an
Aegean in the Third Millennium B.C. Methuen, Lo
1986 Varna and the emergence of wealth in prehistori
Europe. In The Social Life of Things. Commodities
Cultural Perspective, edited by A. Appadurai, pp.
141-168. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
Riederer, J.
1994 Die friihen Kupferlegierungen im Vorderen Orie
Handwerk und Technologie im Alten Orient, editedR.-B. Wartke, pp. 85-94. Philip von Zabern, Mainz
Robertson , A. H. F., M . P. Searle, an d A. C . Ries
1990 The Geology and Tectonics of the Oman Region
Geological Society Special Publication No. 49:715-
Geological Society, Lond on.
References
8/14/2019 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf Technology, Trade, And the Bronze Age World ThePoet006102
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/early-metallurgy-of-the-persian-gulf-technology-trade-and-the-bronze-age 258/269
Roden, C.
1985 Montanarchaologische Quellen des ur- und
fruhgeschtlichen Zinnbergbaus in Europa. Der Anschnitt
37:50-80.
Rohl, B., and S. Needham
1998 Th e Circula t ion o f Metal in the Bri ti sh Bronze Age:
Th e Application of Lead Iso tope Analysis. British
Museum Occasional Paper No. 102. British Museum,
London.
Rossovsky, L. N., V. V. Mogarevsky, and
V. M. Chmiriev
1987 The metallogeny of tin and rare metals in the eastern
part of the Mediterranean folded belt (southern Pamirs,
USSR and Hindu-Kush, Afghanistan). In Mineral
Deposits o f the Te thyan Eurasian Metallogenic Belt
Betw een the Alps an d the Pamirs (Selected Exam ples) ,
edited by S. Jankovic. Dept. of Mineral Exploration,Faculty of Mining and Geology, Belgrade University,
Belgrade.
Rostoker, W., and J. R. Dvorak
199 1 Some experiments with CO-smelting o copper alloys.
Archeometerials 55-20.
Rostoker, W., V. C. Pigott, and J. R. Dvorak
1989 Direct reduction to copper metal by oxide-sulfide
mineral interaction. Archeomaterials 3:69-87.
Rothenberg, B.
1982 Comments. In Early Metallurgy in Cyprus, 4000-500
B C , edited by J. D. Muhly, R. Maddin, and V.
Karageorghis, pp. 267-268. The Pierides Foundat ion and
the Dept. of Antiquities of the Republic of Cyprus,
Nicosia.
Rutley, F.
1988 Elements of Mineralogy. Unwin Hyman, London.
Ruzanov, V.
1979 On general ancient tin ore sources on the territory of
Uzbekistan. Material for the History o f Uzbek istan
15:98-104 (in Russian).
199 9 Zum fruhen Auftreten der Zinnbronze in Mittela
In Th e Beginnings o f Metal lurgy , edited by A.
Hauptmann, E. Pernicka, T. Rehren, and U. Yalcin,
103-106. Der Anschnitt Beiheft 9. Deutsches Bergb
Museum, Bochum.
Sahlins, M.
1972 Stone Age Economics. Aldine-Atherton, Chicago
Sahm, N.
1988 Preliminary report of the excavation of the Um a
tomb in Shimal North. In Excavat ions o f the Germ
Archaeological Mission to Ra s a l -Khaimah. Report
4 t h Season 1988, edited by J.-M. Kastner, N. Sahm
C. Velde, pp. 1-4. Seminar fur Vorderasiatische
Archaologie, Gottingen.
Salvatori, S., M. Vidale, G. Guida, and G. Gigante.
2002 A glimpse on copper and lead metalworking at ADepe (Turkmenistan) in the 3rd millennium BC. An
Civilizations from Scythia t o Siberia 8:69-106.
Sayre, E. V., K. A. Yener, and E. C. Joel
1993 Comments on P. Budd, D. Gale, A.M. Pollard, R
Thomas, and P.A. Williams, 'Evaluating lead isotop
data: further observations' ..., I. Archaeometry
35:247-252.
1995 Comments on Oxhide ingots, recycling and the
Mediterranean metals trade . Journal o f Mediterran
Archaeology 8:45-53.
Sayre, E. V., K. A. Yener, E. C. Joel, and I. L. Barnes
1992 Statistical evaluation of the presently accumulate
isotope data from Anatolia and surrounding regions
Archaeometry 34:73-105.
Scaife, B., P. Budd, J. G. McDonnell, and A. M. Pollard
1999 Lead isotope analysis, oxhide ingots and the pre
tion of scientific data in archaeology. In Metals in
Ant iqui ty , edited by S. M. M. Young, A. M. PollardBudd, and R. A. Ixer, pp. 122-133. BAR Internatio
Series 792. Archaeopress, Oxford.
238 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf
8/14/2019 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf Technology, Trade, And the Bronze Age World ThePoet006102
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/early-metallurgy-of-the-persian-gulf-technology-trade-and-the-bronze-age 259/269
Schiegl, S.
1994 Zusammensetzung und Provenienz von Blau- und
Griinpigmenten in Altagyptischen Wandmalereien: Ein
Beitrag zur exakten Chronologie der Bronzetechnologie
in Altagypten-ResumC. In Handwerk und Technologie
im Al ten Orient , edited by R.-B. Wartke, pp. 95-96.
Philip von Zabern, Mainz.
Schmitt-Strecker, S., F. Begemann, and E. Pernicka
1992 Chemische Zusammensetzung und
Bleiisotopenverhaltnissen der Metallfunde von Hassek
Hoyiik und aus dem Graberfeld Hassek-West. In Hassek
Hoyiik. Naturwissenschaftliche Untersuchungen und
Lithische Industrie, edited by M. R. Behm-Blamcke, pp.
108-123. Istanbuler Forschungen Band 38. Ernst
Wasmuth, Tiibingen.
Schneider, J.
197 7 Was there a pre-capitalist world system? PeasantStudies 6:20-28.
Scott, D. A.
1991 Metallography and Microstructure of Ancient and
Historic Metals. The Getty Conservation Institute and
the J. Paul Getty Museum, California.
Seeden, H.
1980 Th e Standing Armed Figures in the Levant. C. H.
Beck, Munich.
Seeliger, T. C., E. Pernicka, G. A. Wagner, F. Begemann, S. Schmitt-
Strecker, C. Eibner, 0 . Oztunali, and I. Baranyi
198 5 Archaometallurgische Untersuchungen in Nord-und
Ostanatolien. Jahrbuch der Romisch-Germanisches
Zentralmuseum Mainz 32597-659.
Seetharam, R.
1986 Argentiferous roquesite (CuInS2) from the Tosham tin
prospect, Bhiwani District, Haryana. Journal of the
Geographical Society of India 28:21-28.
Selimkhanov, I. R.
1978 Ancient tin objects of the Caucasus and the results of
their analyses. In Th e Search for An cient T in, edited by
A. D. Franklin, J. S. Olin, and T. A. Wertime, pp. 53-58.
U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C.
Shackleton, R. M*, and A. C. Ries
1990 Tectonics of the Masirah fault zone and eastern
Oman. In The Geology and Tectonics of the O ma n
Region, edited by A. H. F. Robertson, M. P. Searle,
A. C. Ries, pp. 715-724. Geological Society Specia
Publication No. 49. Geological Society, London.
Shahabpour, J. and J. D. Kramers
1987 Lead isotope data from the Sar-Cheshmeh porph
copper deposit, Iran. Mineralium Deposita
22(4):278-281.
Shalev, S.
1988 Re-dating the 'Philistine sword' at the British
Museum: a case study in typology and technology.
Oxfo rd Journal of Archaeology 7:3O3-3 11.
Shalev, S., Y. Goren, T. E. Levy, and J. P. Northover
1992 A Chalcolithic mace head from the Negev, Israelnological aspects and cultural implications. Archae
34:63-71.
Sharp, W. E., and S. K. Mittwede
1994 Was Kestel really the source of tin for ancient br
Geoarchaeology: An International Journal 9: 155-1
Shennan, S.
1998 Producing copper in the eastern Alps during the
ond millennium BC. In Social Approaches to an
Industrial Past. Th e Archaeology and A nthrop ology
Mining, edited by A. B. Knapp, V. C. Pigott, and E.
Herbert , pp. 191-204. Routledge, London.
1999 Cost, benefit and value in the organization of ea
European copper production. Antiquity 73:352-363
Sherratt, A.
1976 Resources, technology and trade: an essay in ear
European metallurgy. In Problems in Econom ic and
Social Archaeology, edited by G. Sieveking, I. H.
Longworth, and K. E. Wilson, pp. 557-582. DuckwLondon.
1993 What would a Bronze Age world system look lik
Relations between temperate Europe and the
Mediterranean in later prehistory. Journal of Europ
Archaeology 1 -5 8.
References
8/14/2019 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf Technology, Trade, And the Bronze Age World ThePoet006102
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/early-metallurgy-of-the-persian-gulf-technology-trade-and-the-bronze-age 260/269
1994 Core, periphery and margin: perspectives on the
Bronze Age. In Development and Decl ine i n the
Mediterranean Bro nze Age, edited by C. Mathers, and S.
Stoddart, pp. 335-345. Sheffield Archaeological
Monographs 8. J.R. Collis Publications, Sheffield.
Sherratt, A., and S. Sherratt
199 1 From luxuries to commodities: the nature of
Mediterranean Bronze Age trading systems. In Bronze
Age Trade in th e Mediterranean, edited by N. H. Gale,
pp. 351-386. Studies in Mediterranean Archaeology Vol.
90. P Astroms fijrlag, Jonsered.
Smewing, J. D., I. L. Abbotts, L. A. Dunne, and D. C. Rex
1991 Formation and emplacement ages of the Masirah
ophiolite, Sultanate of Oman. Geology 19:453-456.
Smewing, J. D., K. 0. Simonian, I. M. Elboushi, and I. G. Gass
197 7 Mineralized fault zone parallel to the Oman ophiolite
spreading axis. Geology 5534-538.
Smith, C. S.
1973 An examination of the arsenic-rich coating on a
bronze bull from Horoztepe. In Application of Science in
Ex am ina t ion o f W ork s o f Ar t , edited by W. J. Young, pp.
96-102. Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.
Spooner, E. T. C., and N. H. Gale
1982 The lead and strontium isotope geochemistry of met-
alliferous sediments associated with Upper Cretaceous
ophiolitic rocks in Cyprus, Syria and the Sultanate of
Oman: Reply, Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences
19:1715-1719.
Srinivasan, S.
1999 Lead isotope and trace element analysis in the study
of over a hundred South Indian metal icons.
Archaeometry 41:91-116.
Stacey, J. S., B. R. Doe, R. J. Roberts, M. H. Delevaux, and J. W.Gramlich
1980 A lead isotope study of mineralization in the Saudi
Arabian Shield. Contribut ions to Mineralogy an d
Petrology 74: 175-1 88.
Stacey, J. S., and J. D. Kramers
1975 Approximation of terrestrial lead isotope evoluti
a two-stage model. Earth and Planetary Science Let
26:207-221.
Stech, T.
1999 Aspects of early metallurgy in Mesopotamia and
Anatolia. In Th e Archaeometal lurgy o f th e Asian O
W o r l d , edited by V C. Pigott, pp. 59-71. University
Museum Monograph 89. University of Pennsylvania
Museum, Philadelphia.
Stech, T., and V. C. Pigott
1986 The metals trade in southwest Asia in the third m
nium BC. Iraq 48:39-64.
Stech-Wheeler, T., R. Maddin, and J. D. Muhly
197 5 Ingots and the Bronze Age copper trade in the
Mediterranean. Expedi t ion 17:31-39.
Stieglitz, R. R.
198 7 Ebla and Dilmun. In Eblaitica: Essays on t he Eb
Archives and Eblaite Language, edited by C. H. Go
G. A. Rendsburg, and N. H. Winter, pp. 43-46. vol
Eisenbrauns, Winona Lake, Indiana.
Stocklin, J., N. Eftekhar-Nezhad, and A. Taghizadeh
1972 Central Lu t reconnaissance, eastern Iran. Geolog
Survey of Iran Report No. 22, Tehran.
Stos-Gale, Z. A.
1989 Lead isotope studies of metal and the metals trad
the Bronze Age Mediterranean. In Scientific Analysi
Archaeology, edited by J. Henderson, pp. 213-236.
Oxford University Committee for Archaeology
Monograph No. 19. Oxford University Committee
Archaeology, Oxford.
1992 The origin of metal objects from the Early Bronz
site of Thermi on the island of Lesbos. O x for d J our
Archaeology 11:155-177.2001 The impact of the natural sciences on studies of
Hacksilber and early silver coinage. In Hacksi lber t
Co inage : Ne w In s igh ts i n to t he Mone ta ry H i s to ry o
Near East and Greece , edited by M. S. Balmuth, pp
53-76. Numismatic Studies No. 24. The American
Numismatic Society, New York.
240 Early Metallurgyof the Persian Gulf
8/14/2019 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf Technology, Trade, And the Bronze Age World ThePoet006102
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/early-metallurgy-of-the-persian-gulf-technology-trade-and-the-bronze-age 261/269
Stos-Gale, Z. A., and N. H. Gale
1994 Metals. In Provenience Studies and Bronze Ag e
Cyprus. Produ ction, Exchange a nd Politico-Economic
Change , edited by A. B. Knapp, and J. F. Cherry, pp.
92-121. Monographs in World Archaeology No. 21.
Prehistory Press, Madison, Wisconsin.
Stos-Gale, Z. A., N. H. Gale, and G. R. Gilmore
1984 Early Bronze Age Trojan metal sources and
Anatolians in the Cyclades. Oxf ord Journal o f
Archaeology 3(3):23-37.
Stos-Gale, Z. A., G. Maliotis, N. H. Gale, and N. Annetts
1997 Lead isotope characteristics of the Cyprus copper ore
deposits applied to provenance studies of copper oxhide
ingots. Archaeometry 39:83-123.
Swiny, S.
1982 Correlations between the composition and function ofBronze Age metal types in Cyprus. In Early Metallurgy in
Cyprus, 4000-500 B C , edited by J . D. Muhly, R.
Maddin, and V. Karageorghis, pp. 69-79. The Pierides
Foundation and the Dept. of Antiquities of the Republic
of Cyprus, Nicosia.
Tadmor, M., D. Kedem, F. Begemann, A. Hauptmann, E. Pernicka,
and S. Schmitt-Strecker
1995 The Nahal Mishmar hoard from the Judean desert:
technology, composition, and provenance. Atiqot
27:95-148.
Tallon, F., L. Hurtel, and F. Drilhon
1989 Un Aspect de la MCtallurgie du Cuivre ii Suse: La
Petite Statuaire du IIe Mil lha ir e avant J.-C. Iranica
Ant igua 24:121-151.
Taylor, J. W.
1983 Erzgebirge tin: a closer look. O x for d J ourna l o f
Archaeology 2:295-298.
Taylor, T. F.
1999 Metals and middle-range theory: how copper became
bronze. In Metals in Ant iqui ty , edited by S. M. M.
Young, A. M. Pollard, P. Budd, and R. A. Ixer, pp.
22-32. BAR International Series 792. Archaeopress,
Oxford.
Terekhova, N. N.
1981 The history of metalworking production among
ancient agriculturalists of southern Turkrnenia. In T
Bronze A ge civilization of Central Asia: recent Sovi
coveries, edited by P L. Kohl, pp. 315-324. M.E. S
Armonk, New York.
Thornton, C. P., C. C. Lamberg-Karlovsky, M. Liezers, and S
M. Young
2002a On pins and needles: tracing the evolution of co
base alloying at Tepe Yahya, via ICP-MS analysis o
mon-place items. Journal o f Archaeological Science
29:1451-1460.
2002b Stech and Pigott revisited: new evidence for the
of tin bronze in light of chemical and metallograph
analyses of the metal artifacts from Tepe Yahya, Ira
Paper presented at the 33rd International Archaeom
Symposium, Amsterdam. Web site http:l/www.geo.v
archaeometry/abstracts/metalgeneral.pdf.
Thorpe, R. I.
1982 The lead and strontium isotope geochemistry of
liferous sediments associated with Upper Cretaceou
ophiolitic rocks in Cyprus, Syria, and the Sultanate
Oman: Discussion. Canadian Journal of Earth Scien
19:1710-1719.
Tilton, G. R.
1973 Isotopic lead ages of chondritic meteorites. Eart
Planetary Science Letters 5:321-329.
Tilton, G. R., C. A. Hopson, and J. E. Wright
1981 Uranium-lead isotopic ages of the Samail Ophio
Oman, with applications to Tethyan ocean ridge tec
ics. Journal of Geophysical Research 86(B4):2763-
Tite, M. S.
1996 In defence of lead isotope analysis. Antiqui ty
70:959-962.
Todt, W., R. A. Cliff, A. Hanser, and A. W. Hofmann
1996 Evaluation of a 20 2~ b- 20 5~ bouble spike for h
precision lead isotope analysis. In Earth Processes:
Reading the Isotope Cod e , edited by S. R. Hart, an
Basu, pp. 429-437. vol. 95.
References
8/14/2019 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf Technology, Trade, And the Bronze Age World ThePoet006102
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/early-metallurgy-of-the-persian-gulf-technology-trade-and-the-bronze-age 262/269
Tosi, M.
1975 Notes on the distribution and exploitation of natural
resources in ancient Oman. Journal of Oman Studies
1:187-206.
1980 Karneol. Reallexikon der Assyriologie 5:448-452.
Tosi, M., and D. Usai
2003 Preliminary report on the excavations at Wadi Shab,
Area 1, Sultanate of Oman. Arabian Archaeology and
Epigraphy 14:8-23.
Tylecote, R. F.
1977 Summary of results of experimental work on early
copper smelting. In Aspects of Early Metallurgy, edited
by W. A. Oddy, pp. 5-12. Historical Metallurgy Society
and the British Museum Research Laboratory, London.
1978 Early tin ingots and tinstone from western Europe
and the Mediterranean. In The Search for Ancient Tin,
edited by A. D. Franklin, J. S. Olin, and T. A. Wertime,pp. 49-52. U.S. Government Printing Office,
Washington, D.C.
1980 Furnaces, crucibles and slag. In The Coming of the
Age of Iron, edited by T. A. Wertime, and J. D. Muhly,
pp. 183-228. Yale University Press, New Haven,
Connecticut.
1987 The Early History of Metallurgy in Europe. Longman,
London.
Tylecote, R. F., and P J. Boydell
1978 Experiments on copper smelting. In Chalcolithic
Copper Smelting, edited by B. Rothenberg, R. F.
Tylecote, and P. J. Boydell. IAMS Monograph No. 1.
Institute of Archaeometallurgical Studies, London.
Tylecote, R. F., M. S. Balmuth, and R. Massoli-Novelli
1983 Copper, and bronze metallurgy in Sardinia. Journal of
the Historical Metallurgical Society 17:63-77.
Tylecote, R. F., H. A. Ghaznavi, and P. J. Boydell
1977 Partitioning of trace elements between the ores, flux-es, slags and metal during the smelting of copper. Journal
of Archaeological Science 4:305-333.
Uerpmann, M.
1992 Restructuring the Late Stone Age of southeastern
Arabia. Arabian Archaeology and Epigraphy 3:65-109.
Ullah, M. S.
1931a Copper and bronze utensils and other objects. P
Sources and metallurgy of copper and its alloys. In
Mohenjo-Daro and the Indus Civilization, by S. J.
Marshall, pp. 484-488. vol. 2. Arthur Probsthain,
London.
1931b Appendix I. Notes and analyses. In Mohenjo-Da
and the Indus Civilization, by S. J. Marshall, pp.
686-691. vol. 2. Arthur Probsthain, London.
Van De Mieroop, M.
1992 Society and Enterprise in Old Babylonian Ur. D
Reimer, Berlin.
Van Der Leeuw, S. E.
1977 Towards a study of the economics of pottery ma
In Ex Horreo, edited by B. L. van Beek, R. W. Bran
and W. Groenman-van Waateringe, pp. 68-76. Univ
of Amsterdam, Amsterdam.
Vandiver, P. B., R. Kaylor, J. Feathers, M. Gottfried, K. A. Ye
W. F Hornyak and A. Franklin
199 3 Thermoluminescence dating of a crucible fragme
from an early tin processing site in Turkey. Archaeo
35:295-298.
Van Lerberghe, K.
1988 Copper and bronze in Ebla and in Mesopotamia
Wirtschaft und Gesellschaft von Ebla, edited by H.
Waetzoldt, and H. Hauptmann, pp. 253-255.
Heidelberger Studien zum Alten Orient Band 2.
Heidelberger Orientverlag, Heidelberg.
Van Lerberghe, K., and L. Maes
1984 Contribution ii 17Ctudedes mktaux de Tell ed-De
Tell ed-Der, edited by L. De Meyer, pp. 97-118. vo
Uitgeverij Peeters, Leuven.
Vatandoust, A.
1999 A view on prehistoric Iranian metalworking: eleanalyses and metallographic examinations. In The
Beginnings of Metallurgy, edited by A. Hauptmann
Pernicka, T. Rehren, and U. Yalcin, pp. 121-140. D
Anschnitt Beiheft 9. Deutsches Bergbau Museum,
Bochum.
242 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf
8/14/2019 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf Technology, Trade, And the Bronze Age World ThePoet006102
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/early-metallurgy-of-the-persian-gulf-technology-trade-and-the-bronze-age 263/269
8/14/2019 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf Technology, Trade, And the Bronze Age World ThePoet006102
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/early-metallurgy-of-the-persian-gulf-technology-trade-and-the-bronze-age 264/269
2000a Pre-Islamic Metallurgy of the Gulf. Unpublished
Ph.D. dissertation, Dept. of Archaeology, University of
Sydney.
200 0b Metal ar tefacts f rom the Sharm tomb. Arabian
Archaeology and Epigraphy 11:180-198.
2 0 0 3 Prehistoric Me tallurgy in the U.A.E.: Bronze Age-Iron
Age Transitions. In Proceedings of the First
Archaeological Conference on t he U.A.E., edited by D.T.
Potts, pp. 115-121. Trident Press, Galway.
Forthcoming a Archaeometallurgical Analyses from Saar. In
Th e Di lmun Se t t lement a t Saar, edited by R. Killick, and
J . Moon.
Forthcoming b Non-Ferrous metalworking at Muweilah. In
Four Seasons of Excavation a t Muw eilah, edited by P. G.
Magee.
Week s, L. R., and K. D. Collerson
Forthcoming Lead Isotope Analyses from Saar. In T h e D i l m u n
Settlement a t Saar, edited by R. Killick, and J. Moon.
Weisgerber, G.
197 8a Evidence of ancient mining sites in Oman: a prelimi-
nary report. J ourna l o f O m an S tud ie s 4:15-28.
19 78 b Beispiele zu Problemen und Moglichkeiten berg-
bauarchaologischer Forschungen. In Mineralische
Rohs toffe als Kulturhistorische Infor mationsquelle, edit-
ed by H . W. Hennicke, pp. 19-35. Vereins Deutsche r
Emailfachleute, Hage n.
l98Oa Archaologische und Archaometallurgische
Untersuchungen in Oman. Allgemeine und Vergleichende
Archaologie-Beitrage 2:67-90.
1980 b . . .und Kupfer in Oman Das Oman-Projekt des
Deutschen Bergbau-Museums. Der Anschnitt 32:62-110.
198 0c Patterns of early Islamic metallurgy in Oman .
Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies
13:115-125.
19 81 M ehr als Kupfer in Oman-Ergebnisse der Expedition
1981. Der Anschnitt 33:174-263.
19 82 Toward s a history of copper mining in Cypru s and the
Near East: possibilities of mining archaeology. In EarlyMetallurgy i n Cyprus, 4000-500 B C , edited by J. D.
Muhly, R. Madd in, and V. Karageorghis, pp. 25-32.
Pierides Foundation and the D ept. of Antiquities of the
Republic of Cyprus, Nicosia.
1 9 8 3 Copper production during the third millennium
Oman and the quest ion of Makan . J ourna l o f O m a
Studies 6:269-276.
19 84 M akan and Meluhha-third millennium BC cop
production in O man and the evidence of contact wi
Indu s Valley. In South Asian Archaeology 1981, edi
B. Allchin, pp. 19 6-201. Cam bridge University Pres
Cambridge.
19 86 Dilmun-a trading entrep6t: evidence from histo
and archaeological sources. In Bahrain T hroug h the
Th e Archaeology, edited by H . A. A1 Khalifa, and M
Rice, pp. 143-156. Kegan Paul, London.
19 87 Archaeological evidence of copper exploitation a
'Arja, in P.M. Costa , and T.J. Wilkinso n The Hint
of Sohar. Archaeological Surveys and Excavations w
the Region of an O man i Seafaring City . Journal o
O m an S tud ie s 9:145-172.
198 8 Oma n: a bronze-producing centre during the 1s
of the 1 st millennium BC. In Bronzework ing C entrWestern Asia c. 1000-539 B.C., edited by J . Curtis,
285-295. Keegan Paul International, London.
199 1a Archaologisches Fundg ut des 2. Jahrtausends v.
in Oman . Moglichkeiten zur chronologischen Glied
In Golf-Archaologie: Meso potam ien, Iran, Kuwait,
Bahrain, Vereinigte Arabische Emirate un d O ma n, e
by K. Schippmann, A. Herling, and J.-F. Salles, pp.
321-330. Internationale Archaologie 6.
19 91 b Die Suche nach dem Altsumerische Kupferland
Makan . Das Al tertum 37:76-90.
Weisgerber, G., and P. Yule
199 9 Preliminary report of the 199 6 season of excava
the Sultanate of Oman. In Studies i n the Archaeolo
the Sul tana te o f O m a n , edited by P. Yule, pp. 97-11
Orient-Archaologie Band 2. Verlag M arie L eidorf,
Rahden.
2 0 0 3 Al-Aqir ne ar Bah1a'-an Early Bronze Age da m
with planoconvex 'copper ' ingots. Arabian Archaeo
and Epigraphy 14:24-53.
Wertime, T. A.
1 9 7 3 The beginnings of metallurgy: a new look. Scien
182(4115) :875-887.
244 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf
8/14/2019 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf Technology, Trade, And the Bronze Age World ThePoet006102
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/early-metallurgy-of-the-persian-gulf-technology-trade-and-the-bronze-age 265/269
1978 The search for ancient tin: the geographic and historic
boundaries. In Th e Search for Ancient Tin , edited by A.
D. Franklin, J. S. O h , and T. A. Wertime, pp. 1-6. U.S.
Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C.
Western, R.
1984 As-Safafir-an early Islamic copper mine in the U.A.E.
Tribulus 24LI-13.
Wheeler, T. S., and R. Maddin
1980 Metallurgy and ancient man. In T he Coming o f the
Age of Iron, edited by T. A. Wertime, and J. D. Muhly,
pp. 99-126. Yale University Press, New Haven.
White, J. C., and V. C. Pigott
1996 From community craft to regional specialization:
intensification of copper production in pre-state
Thailand. In Craft Specialization and Social Evolution : In
Memory of V. Gordon Childe, edited by B. Wailes, pp.
151-1 76. University Museum Monograph 93. The
University Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology,
University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia.
Whitehouse, D.
1979 Maritime trade in the Arabian Sea: The 9th and 10th
centuries AD. In Sou th Asian Archaeology 1977, edited
by M. Taddei, pp. 865-885. Seminario di Studi Asiatici,
Series Minor VI. vol. 2. Istituto Universitario Orientale,
Naples.
Wilkinson, J. C.
1979 Suhar (Sohar) in the early Islamic period: the written
evidence. In Sout h Asian Archaeology 1977, edited by M.
Taddei, pp. 886-907. Seminario di Studi Asiatici, Series
Minor VI. vol. 2. Istituto Universitario Orientale, Naples.
Willcox, G., and M. Tengberg
1995 Preliminary report on the archaeobotanical investiga-
tions a t Tell Abraq with special attent ion to chaff impres-
sions in mud brick. Arabian Archaeology and Epigraphy6:129-138.
Williamson, A.
1973 Sohar and O ma ni Seafaring in the Indian Ocean .
Petroleum Development (Oman), Muscat.
Willies, L.
1990 An Early Bronze Age tin mine in Anatolia, Turke
Bulletin of the Peak District Mines Historical Socie
11(2):91-96.
1992 Reply to Pernicka et al.: Comment on the discus
of ancient tin sources in Anatolia. Journal of
Mediterranean Archaeology 5:99-103.
1993 Appendix: Early Bronze Age tin working at Kest
American Journal of Archaeology 97:262-264.
Wilson, E. J.
1996 Th e Cylinders of Gud ea. Transliteration, Transla
and Index. Butzon and Bercker, Kevelaer.
Woodhead, A. P., N. H. Gale, and Z. A. Stos-Gale
1999 An investigation into the fractionation of copper
topes and its possible application to archaeometallu
In Metals in Antiqui ty , edited by S. M. M. Young,
Pollard, P. Budd, and R. A. Ixer, pp. 134-139. BAR
International Series 792. Archaeopress, Oxford.
Wright, R. V. S.
1992 Doing Multivariate Archaeology and Prehistory:
Handling Large Data Sets wit h MV -AR CH . Author
Sydney.
Yakar, J.
1984 Regional and local schools of metalwork in Earl
Bronze Age Anatolia, part 1. Anatolian Studies 395
Yener, K. A.
2000 The Domest icat ion of Metals . The Rise of C omp
Metal Industries in Anatolia. Culture and History o
Ancient Near East Volume 4. Brill, Leiden.
Yener, K. A., and M. Goodway
1992 Response to Mark E. Hall, and Sharon R. Stead
'Tin in Anatolia: another look'. Journal o f Mediterr
Archaeology 5:91-98.
Yener, K. A., and H. Ozbal
1987 Tin in the Turkish Taurus mountains: the Bolka
mining district. Antiqui ty 61:220-226.
References
8/14/2019 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf Technology, Trade, And the Bronze Age World ThePoet006102
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/early-metallurgy-of-the-persian-gulf-technology-trade-and-the-bronze-age 266/269
Yener, K. A., H. Ozbal, E. Kaptan, A. N. Pehlivan, and M.
Goodway
1 9 8 9 Kestel: an Early Bronze Age source of tin ore in the
Taurus Mo untains . Science 244:200-203.
Yener, K. A., and P. Vandiv er
199 3a Tin processing at Goltepe, an Early Bronze Age site in
Anatolia. American Journal of Archaeology 97:207-238.
199313 Reply to J.D. Muhly, Early Bronze Age tin and the
Taurus . American Journal of Archaeology 97:255-262.
Yener, K. A., E. V. Sayre, E. C. Joel, H . Oz ba l, I. L. Barnes, an d R.
H. Brill
1 9 9 1 Stable lead isotope studies of central Tauru s ore
sources and related artifacts from eastern Mediterranea n
Chalcolithic and Bronze Age sites. Journal o f
Archaeological Science l8:54 1-577.
Yi, W., P. Budd, R. A. R. McG ill, S. M . M . Young, A. N. Halliday,R. Haggerty, B. Scaife, and A. M . Pollard
1 9 9 9 Tin isotope studies of experimental a nd prehistoric
bronzes. In Th e Beginnings o f Metal lurgy , edited by A.
H auptmann,
E. Pernicka, T. Rehren, an d U. Yalcin, pp. 103-106 . Der
Anschnitt Beiheft 9. Deutsches Bergbau Museum,
Bochum.
Yule, P.
1 9 8 9 The copper hoards of the Indian subcontinent.
Preliminaries for an interpretation. Jahrbuch des
Romisches-Germanisches Zentralmuseum 36:193-273.
1 9 9 6 The 199 5 German archaeological mission to the
Sultanate of Oman. Proceedings o f t he Seminar for
Arabian Studies 26:175-176.
1 9 9 9 A prehistoric grave inventory from A ztah, Zufar. In
Studies in the Archaeology o f the Sul tanate o f Om an ,
edited by P. Yule, pp. 91-96. Orient-Archao logie Band 2.
Verlag Marie Leidorf, Rahden.
Yule, P., and G. Weisgerber1 9 9 6 Die 14. Deutsche Archaologische Oman-Expe dition
1995. Mitteilungen der Deutschen Orient-Gesellschaft
128:135-155.
2 0 0 1 Th e Metal Hoard from IbriISelme Sul tanate o f Om an.
Prahistorische Bronzefunde Abteilung XX, Band 7. Franz
Steiner, Stuttgart.
Zaccagnini, C.
1988 Terms for copper an d bronze a t Ebla. In Wirtsch
und Gesel lschaft v on Ebla , edited by H. Waetzoldt,
H. Haup tma nn, pp. 359-360. H eidelberger Studien
Alten Orient B and 2. Heidelberger O rientverlag,
Heidelberg.
Zarins, J.
19 89 Eastern Saudi Arabia and external relations: sele
ceramic, steatit e and textua l evidence-3500-1900 B
South Asian Archaeology 1 9 8 5 , edited by K. Frifelt
P. Sarrensen, pp. 74-103. Scandin avian Ins titute of A
Studies Occasional Papers 4. Curzon Press, London
Zettler, R. L.
1 9 9 0 Metalworkers in the economy of Mesopotamia i
late third millennium B.C. In Economy and Se t t lem
the Nea r East: Analyses o f Ancient Sites and Materi
edited by N. F. Miller, pp. 85 -87. MASC A ResearcPapers in Science and Archaeology Volume 7
Supplement. University Museu m of Archaeology an
Anthropology, Philadelphia.
1 9 9 2 Th e U r I I I Te m p le o f l nanna a t Nippur. Berliner
Beitrage zum Vorderen Orien t Band 11. Dietrich Re
Berlin.
Ziolkowski , M. C.
20 01 The soft-stone vessels from Sharm, Fujairah, U.A
Arabian Archaeology and Epigraphy 12:10-86.
Zwicker, U.
1 9 7 7 Investigations on the extractive metallurgy of
Cu/Sb/As ore and excavated smelting products from
Norsun-Tepe (Ke ban) on the Upper Euph rates
(3500-2800 BC). In Aspects of Early Metallurgy, e
by W. A. Oddy, pp. 13-26. Historical M etallurgy S
and the British Museum Research Laboratory, Lon
1 9 8 9 Untersuchungen zur Herstellung von Kupfer und
Kupferlegierungen im Bereich des ostlichen Mittelm
In Ol d World Archaeometal lurgy, edited by A.Hau ptm ann , E. Pernicka, and G. A. Wagner, pp.
191-202. Deutsches Bergbau Mu seum, Bochum.
246 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf
8/14/2019 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf Technology, Trade, And the Bronze Age World ThePoet006102
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/early-metallurgy-of-the-persian-gulf-technology-trade-and-the-bronze-age 267/269
Index 'Arja, 12, 20, 22, 25-27, 29, 32-33, 42, 54, 110, 119,
134-136,143,155-156
Anatolia, 3, 16-17, 41, 113, 116, 133, 135, 140, 152,
160-163, 165-169, 172, 174-176, 179-181, 192-193,195, 198
Anau, 176
Andronovo, 171, 176
Assur, 179, 181, 187
Bactria, 65, 176, 179, 181-182, 185, 187
Bahla, 39, 56, 152, 208
Bahrain, 1, 5, 14, 43, 64, 67, 74, 84, 88, 107, 113
Bayda, 12, 22, 26, 28, 33, 42, 57, 110, 134, 136, 143, 135,
155
carnelian, 15, 60-61, 65, 67, 179-181, 185-186, 190
Cyprus, 12-13,17,22,52-53,111, 134-135,161
Dilmun, 1, 4, 14-16, 22, 37, 41, 43, 57
Dushanbe, 171
Ebla, 15, 174, 179, 180, 186, 189
Elam, 182, 184, 186-187
Failaka, 14, 182, 186-187, 198
Goltepe, 161, 168-169, 179-180
Gujarat, 15, 159, 172, 179
Hafit, 1, 3, 8, 24, 36, 55, 82, 125, 142, 200
Harappa, 37, 41, 177, 185, 192
Hili, 21, 25, 36, 42, 52, 54-57, 78, 82, 94, 96, 113, 118, 125,
138,182-183, 185-186, 188, 195, 198 ,208
Indus, 1, 3, 4, 15, 22, 34, 36-37, 41, 44, 46-47, 49, 50,
53-54, 58
Iran, 1-2, 16, 20-21, 36-37, 43, 55, 58, 60-61, 64, 67, 110,
111, 116, 127, 138, 158-159, 166, 169-170,175, 179
Italy, 172
KaneshIKiiltepe, 179, 181
Kargaly, 40
8/14/2019 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf Technology, Trade, And the Bronze Age World ThePoet006102
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/early-metallurgy-of-the-persian-gulf-technology-trade-and-the-bronze-age 268/269
Karnab, 171, 176, 181
Kastri, 160-163, 175
Kish, 18, 173, 192
lapis lazuli, 15, 60, 67, 176, 179-180, 185, 191-191, 193-194
Lasail, 12 ,2 2, 25-26, 28, 33, 42, 53-54, 57, 110, 119,
134-136, 142-143, 155
Levant, 6 , 112, 138, 160, 166
Lothal, 37, 177, 185, 186
Magan, 1 , 14-16, 21-22, 37, 41, 43, 51, 57, 124, 137,
180-184, 186-187, 190, 19 7, 20 1
Mari, 17, 179, 187
Masirah Island, 1, 10, 13-14, 17, 22,24-25, 27-31, 37, 39
Maysar, 46-50, 52, 88, 108, 111, 119, 125, 139, 152, 186,
208
Mediterranean, 17, 123, 132, 135, 138-141, 160-161, 167,
172-1 73
Meluhha, 14, 15, 37, 41, 124, 179-182, 186-187, 190, 193
Mesopotamia, 1, 3-4, 14-18, 21, 36-37, 39-41, 43, 45, 51,
55, 57-58, 6 4,66 , 107, 123-124, 135, 138, 141, 160,
165-166, 170, 173-175,179-183, 186-188, 190-194
Mohenjo-Daro, 176, 185
Mundigak, 176
Mushiston, 18 1
Namazga, 176
Old Assyrian trade, 181
ox-hide ingot(s), 132, 139
Poliochni, 133, 160-163, 174
Qara Quzaq, 174, 188, 192
Ra7s al-Jinz, 38-39, 50, 52, 55, 183 , 190
Rajasthan, 159
Raki, 12,25-26,43, 53, 57 , 110-111, 135-136, 156-157
Ricardo7s Law of Comparative Advantage, 38-39, 52
Saar, 74, 76, 78, 82, 84, 88, 90, 10-108, 113, 152-154, 156,
160, 177-178, 186, 198-199
Samdah, 20, 22, 26, 28, 30, 54
248 Early Metallurgyof the Persian Gulf
8/14/2019 Early Metallurgy of the Persian Gulf Technology, Trade, And the Bronze Age World ThePoet006102
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/early-metallurgy-of-the-persian-gulf-technology-trade-and-the-bronze-age 269/269
Sarazm, 176
Sar-Cheshmeh, 159
Saudi Arabia, 1, 15, 160-161, 166
Shahdad, 36, 116 ,17 5,1 84, 194
Shahr-i Sokhta, 20, 116, 175, 184, 194
Recommended