Lead isotope analyses from Tell Abraq, United Arab Emirates: new data regarding the 'tin problem' in Western Asia.

Lead isotope analyses from Tell Abraq, United Arab Emirates: new data regarding the 'tin problem' in Western Asia. The subject of this article is the evidence for the earliest useand trade of tin and bronze(1) in Western Asia. The article begins withan outline of the 'tin problem', followed by an overview ofrecent archaeometric research programs of importance to discussions ofthe Early Bronze Age Bronze Age,period in the development of technology when metals were first used regularly in the manufacture of tools and weapons. Pure copper and bronze, an alloy of copper and tin, were used indiscriminately at first; this early period is sometimes called the tin trade in Western Asia and the Aegean.Subsequently, relevant new lead isotope data from the site of Tell Abraqare presented, and the implications for the advent of bronze use inWestern Asia are discussed. Why is tin a problem? Discussions of the tin trade in Bronze Age Western Asia relyprimarily upon three forms of evidence: archaeological, geological andtextual. Unfortunately, these categories of information have tended tosuggest conflicting explanations with regard to aspects of the BronzeAge tin trade, giving rise to the 'problem' to which thisarticle is addressed. Bronze Age tin sources remain unidentified aftermore than 50 years of archaeological investigation in Western Asia, withlikely candidates sequentially nominated, debated and dismissed in anongoing debate (e.g. Muhly 1973; 1985; 1993; Stech & Pigott 1986;Yener & Vandiver 1993; Moorey 1994: 297-301). The relevant data andhypotheses are summarized below. Archaeological evidence for early bronzes Bronzes, defined variously as copper alloys containing over one ortwo percent tin, first appear in a number of areas of Western Asia atthe beginning of the 3rd millennium BC. In Mesopotamia, bronzes firstappear in the Early Dynastic I (ED I) period at the Y cemetery at Kish,c. 2900-2700 BC (Muhly 1995: 1507; Muller-Karpe 1991), but remainuncommon until the ED III period (c. 2600-2400 BC), when they form asignificant percentage of the copper-based objects found in the RoyalCemetery at Ur (Muller-Karpe 1991; Muhly 1985: 281). Bronzes of a similar antiquity are also found further to the west.A cache of human figurines from Tell Judeidah in northern Syria whichdates to approximately 3000 BC contains some of the earliest knownexamples of bronze, with other bronzes of similar date known from nearbysites (Stech & Pigott 1986: 52). Early or mid 3rd-millennium bronzesare also reported from southeastern Anatolia at Tarsus (Yener &Vandiver 1993; Muhly 1993: 240), and from central Anatolia at the sitesof Ahlatlibel, Mahmatlar, Alaca Huyuk and Horoztepe (Esin 1969; Muhly1993: 240-42). Additionally, evidence of significant bronze use is found in3rd-millennium contexts in northwestern Anatolia, at the sites of Troyand Beshiktepe (Pernicka et al. 1984; Muhly 1993: 241), and at a numberof nearby settlements in the Aegean such as Poliochni on Lemnos(Pernicka et al. 1990), Thermi on Lesbos Lesbos(lĕz`bŏs)or Lésvos(lāz`vôs), island (1991 pop. 87,151), c.630 sq mi (1,630 sq km), E Greece, in the Aegean Sea near Turkey. (Begemann et al. 1992; 1995;Stos-Gale 1992) and Kastri on Syros (Stos-Gale et al. 1984). Thesebronzes were thought to have been amongst the earliest in the WesternAsia, dating to the first half of the 3rd millennium BC, but more recentdebate has tended to date them towards the mid-third millennium (Coleman1992: 276; Mellink 1992: 219; Muhly et al. 1991: 215ff.). From thisperiod comes the earliest example of metallic tin in the region, abangle from Level IV at Thermi (Begemann et al. 1992). Elsewhere, tin is used very infrequently in 3rd-millennium Egyptand Palestine (Muhly 1993: 243, although admittedly few analyses ofEgyptian material exist), and in Iran with any great frequency only atthe site of Susa in the Susa D period, with isolated examples from SusaA, B and C contexts (Moorey 1982; Stech & Pigott 1986: 42-3; T.F.Potts 1994: 155). By the end of the 3rd millennium, however, the use ofbronze becomes much more widespread, and the 2nd millennium sees thedevelopment of a true bronze metallurgy in most areas of ancient WesternAsia. Geological research on tin deposits in Western Asia It has been suggested that the pattern of early bronze use inMesopotamia, central Anatolia and the Troad might be explained by theexistence of local tin deposits, which were exploited to meet localneeds, in each of these areas (Renfrew 1967). However, the geology ofMesopotamia precludes the presence of copper and tin deposits, so theappearance of these materials in Bronze Age Mesopotamia has always beenlinked to the establishment of long-distance trade (e.g. Stech &Pigart 1986: 40-41). In contrast, copper, iron, silver and lead areplentiful in Anatolia, and the geological preconditions necessary forthe occurrence of tin ores are met in a number of regions of thecountry, such as the Troad and the Taurus Mountains Taurus MountainsMountain chain, southern Turkey, running parallel with the Mediterranean Sea coast. The system extends along a curve from Lake Egridir in the west to the upper reaches of the Euphrates River in the east. (Muhly 1985: 277). Claims for the occurrence of tin deposits within Anatolia have beenrelatively common (eg. Muhly 1995a: 1507), and explanations thatpostulate postulate:see axiom. local tin-mines have been seen as better than positing'some hypothetical and distant tin trade, for which there is nogood evidence' (Renfrew 1967: 13). The most important recentresearch has involved the investigation of the mine site of Kestel inthe Taurus Mountains of southeastern Turkey, which allegedly operated asa tin mine tin minen → mina de esta?otin minen → mine f d'��taintin minetin n → Zinnbergwerk ntin the Early Bronze Age (Yener & Ozbal 1987; Yener et al.1989; Yener & Goodway 1992; Willies 1990; 1992; Yener & Vandiver1993). The mine, a complicated series of shafts and galleries used fromChalcolithic to Byzantine times, contains relatively low concentrationsof cassiterite cassiterite(kəsĭt`ərīt), heavy, brown-to-black mineral, tin oxide, SnO2, crystallizing in the tetragonal system. (tin ore) which are said to be the non-economic remainsfrom Bronze Age mining activities (Yener & Vandiver 1993: 215).Associated with the Kestel mine is the nearby Early Bronze Age site ofGoltepe, where the mined cassiterite is said to have been processedthrough a complex series of concentration, crushing and smelting stagesto produce metallic tin (Yener & Goodway 1992). However, the trueimportance of these sites remains a contentious issue (see Hall &Steadman 1991; Pernicka et al. 1992; Muhly 1993), and geologicalresearch has yet to locate substantial tin deposits in Anatolia. Alleged tin deposits in other areas of Western Asia have largelyfailed to withstand the scrutiny of modern geological research. Despitethe presence of very early bronzes at Tell Judeidah in the Amuq, no tindeposits exist in Syria or the Levant Levant(ləvănt`)[Ital.,=east], collective name for the countries of the eastern shore of the Mediterranean from Egypt to, and including, Turkey. . Suitable geological conditionsfor the occurrence of tin exist in various parts of Iran, however minoroccurrences of primary and placer cassiterite have only been recorded inthe far east of the country, well away from Iranian sites which showearly bronze use (Stocklin et al. 1972; Muhly 1985: 283; Moorey 1994:299). In contrast, significant granite-hosted and alluvial cassiteritedeposits exist in a number of places in the Eastern Desert of Egypt(Wertime 1978; Muhly 1978; 1993: 244-8) and the western ArabianPeninsula Arabian Peninsulaor ArabiaPeninsular region, southwest Asia. With its offshore islands, it covers about 1 million sq mi (2.6 million sq km). Constituent countries are Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, United Arab Emirates, Yemen, and, the largest, Saudi Arabia. in both Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia(sä`dē ərā`bēə, sou`–, sô–), officially Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, kingdom (2005 est. pop. and Yemen (Du Bray 1985; Du Bray et al.1988; Kamilli & Criss 1996; Overstreet et al. 1988: 411-13). As noted above, there is little evidence for the Egyptianexploitation of bronze before the 2nd millennium, and the same can besaid with regard to the exploitation of copper and tin deposits in thewestern Arabian peninsula (Glanzman 1987: 146; Fleming & Pigott1987; Wertime 1978: 6). Thus, the majority of regions of Western Asiahave no geologically-verified tin deposits, and those that are knownshow no archaeological evidence of Bronze Age exploitation and arelocated in areas where the local metallurgy does not incorporate theproduction of bronze alloys. This discrepancy is the crux of the 'tin problem' asformulated by archaeologists, and has lead to the search for viable tinsources in regions with well-documented deposits which lie outsideWestern Asia itself. For Anatolia and the Aegean, tin sources in thewestern Mediterranean (eg. Sardinia and Iberia), or in western Europe Western EuropeThe countries of western Europe, especially those that are allied with the United States and Canada in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (established 1949 and usually known as NATO). (eg. the Erzgebirge Mountains and Brittany), have often seemedattractive options (Muhly 1985: 285-7). For the metal industries ofMesopotamia and Iran, tin is often posited to have come from further tothe east, either from the deposits of Uzbekistan (Crawford 1974) andIndia (Hegde 1978), or even as far as the Malaysian peninsula (Wertime1978: 4). The most important of these sources are discussed in the finalsection of this article, in light of important textual evidence outlinedbelow. Texts referring to the Bronze Age tin trade The earliest surviving textual references to the use of metallictin in Western Asia come from the early-mid 3rd millennium BC, followingearlier texts which distinguish only between copper and bronze (Limet1960; Waetzoldt & Bachmann 1984; Muhly 1985: 281). Discussions ofthe trade in tin, however, revolve around Verb 1. revolve around - center upon; "Her entire attention centered on her children"; "Our day revolved around our work"center, center on, concentrate on, focus on, revolve about two much later collections ofcuneiform cuneiform(kynē`ĭfôrm)[Lat.,=wedge-shaped], system of writing developed before the last centuries of the 4th millennium B.C. texts, from Marl on the Euphrates and from the centralAnatolian site of Kfiltepe (ancient Kanesh), which date to the earlycenturies of the 2nd millennium BC (see Muhly 1973: 288-335; Larsen1976; 1987; Moorey 1994: 298-9). These texts indicate that tin was moving exclusively from east towest; arriving in Mesopotamia from unspecified sources to the east,large amounts of tin were shipped up the Euphrates to Marl, or overlandto Assur. From Assur the tin was transported via donkey caravan tovarious Assyrian trading colonies such as Kanesh/Kfiltepe in Anatolia(Larsen 1976), while from Marl, the tin was traded further west to sitesin Syria and Palestine (Malamat 1971), and perhaps as far as Crete(Muhly 1985: 282). The original sources of this tin are unknown, andmany of the place-names mentioned in the texts can refer only toway-stations along the trade routes, rather than the actual tin sourcesthemselves. The Kanesh texts refer to tin coming overland through theZagros Mountains Zag��ros Mountains?A range of western Iran forming the western and southern borders of the central Iranian plateau and rising to 4,550.6 m (14,920 ft). to Mesopotamia from northwestern Iran (Muhly 1973:306), while Marl seems to have obtained its tin almost exclusivelythrough gift exchange with Susa, the tin having reached Susa from someunknown point further to the east (Joannes 1991; Moorey 1994: 298). Other sources of textual evidence support claims for an easternsource of tin, which could have reached Mesopotamia along maritime traderoutes as well as overland. In 3rd-millennium Mesopotamian texts, tin isusually mentioned in association with lapis lazuli lapis lazuli(lăp`ĭs lăz`lē), gem, deep blue, violet, or greenish blue in color and usually flecked with yellow iron pyrites. and carnelian carnelian(kärnēl`yən)or cornelian(kôr–, kər–), variety of red chalcedony, used as a gem. . Thisis taken to indicate that it had a similar origin to these goods, whichare known to have come from the east (Herrmann 1968; T.F. Potts 1994:155). Lapis lazuli and carnelian are frequently referred to in cuneiformsources as coming from the land of Meluhha, now known to be the regionof the Indus Valley, and would have reached Mesopotamia via thePersian/Arabian Gulf (Muhly 1973: 307). From the reign of Gudea ofLagash (c. 2150-2100 BC) we have one text which mentions that, inaddition to lapis lazuli and carnelian, tin was also traded toMesopotamia from the land of Meluhha (Muhly 1973: 307). Further evidenceof the trade in tin through the Gulf may be indicated by references to'Dilmun tin' in Mesopotamian texts, particularly in the OldBabylonian Old Babylonian may refer to: the period of the First Babylonian Dynasty (20th to 16th centuries BC) the historical stage of the Akkadian language of that time See alsoOld Assyrian period (Moorey 1994: 298). Dilmun is the Sumerian/Akkadiantoponym for the eastern Saudi Arabian coast and Bahrain, and was aregion that prospered through its involvement in the mercantile activitylinking Mesopotamia and the Indus. However, geological research has proven that tin deposits do notexist in Dilmun or the Indus Valley. The tin deposits of India have beensuggested as a potential source for the tin used in the Indus Valley(Hegde 1978), however there is limited evidence for their earlyexploitation (Stech & Pigott 1986: 44-5; Moorey 1994: 300). Thus,while textual sources have proven useful in delineating the directionand extent of the Bronze Age tin trade, they are inconclusive withregard to the ultimate source(s) of this metal. Lead isotope analysis Isotope analysis is the identification of isotopic signature, the distribution of certain stable isotopes and chemical elements within chemical compounds. This can be applied to a food web to make it possible to draw direct inferences regarding diet, trophic level, and subsistence. and the tin problem Lead isotope analysis (LIA) involves the measurement of theisotopic composition of lead in a particular sample, in this case thesmall amounts of lead which are commonly found in copper and bronzeartefacts (Gale & StosGale 1982). Naturally occurring lead iscomposed of four isotopes (204Pb, 206Pb, 207Pb and 208Pb), and themeasurement of the relative proportions of each of these isotopes in aparticular sample can provide information on the raw materials used inits production (Stos-Gale 1989: 275). Although affected by a number offactors, lead isotope concentrations of copper-based objects are to afirst approximation 1. to a first approximation - When one is doing certain numerical computations, an approximate solution may be computed by any of several heuristic methods, then refined to a final value. determined by the age of formation of the oredeposit from which they were produced (Stos-Gale et al. 1984: 27;Pernicka et al. 1990: 286). Thus, variations in the lead isotopiccomposition of archaeological objects commonly reflect their productionfrom ores of different geological age. Lead isotope measurements from archaeological samples can berelated to ratios measured from particular ore bodies and otherarchaeological objects in order to isolate those which have similar leadisotopic compositions (a matching lead isotope 'signature' or'fingerprint'). Similarity and divergence in lead-isotopiccharacteristics can then be used to investigate a variety ofarchaeological questions, commonly involving variations through time inraw material sources, and have the potential to indicate absoluteprovenance for particular artefacts. LIA of Early Bronze Age objects from the Aegean and northwesternAnatolia Important lead isotope and compositional analyses have been carriedout on metal objects from the Early Bronze Age (EBA EBA Eisenbahn-Bundesamt (German)EBA Euro Banking AssociationEBA Emergency Brake AssistanceEBA Enterprise Bargaining Agreement (Australia)EBA Elite Beat Agents (video game)) sites of Poliochni,Thermi and Kastri in the Aegean, and from Troy and the Troad inAnatolia. As discussed above, these sites all show use of bronze in theearly to mid 3rd millennium BC, and have been exceptionally important indiscussions of the development of bronze technology and the tin trade inthe eastern Mediterranean and Western Asia. In their discussion of the EBA metal objects from Kastri and Troy,Stos-Gale et al. (1984: 28) find that five separate ore sources aresuggested by the isotopic data, ranging in age from Pliocene (2-33million years) to Precambrian (700-900 million years). Bronzes fall intoall five groups, and include samples with lead isotopic 'ages'beyond any known ores from the Aegean, eastern Mediterranean orAnatolia. Very similar patterns were seen in further LIA of materialfrom Troy (Pernicka et al. 1984), Poliochni (Pernicka et al. 1990) andThermi (Begemann et al. 1992; 1995; Stos-Gale 1992). The conclusionfollowed that, during the 3rd millennium, bronze had been traded intonorthwestern Anatolia and the Aegean from as-yet unknown externalsources. Furthermore, trace element data were said to indicate thatbronze was imported pre-alloyed as ingots or objects, and 'was notproduced by adding imported tin to locally produced copper'(Begemann et al. 1992: 220). This is interesting given the wide range ofisotopic concentrations of the bronzes. It is uncertain whether thesebronzes come from separate deposits of varying geological age (cf.Stos-Gale et al. 1984: 28), or from one deposit exceptionallyheterogenous (spelling) heterogenous - It's spelled heterogeneous. in its lead isotopy (cf. Tadmor et al. 1995: 139).Significantly, the use of bronze from deposits of widely varying agedoes not necessarily indicate that the sources were widely separated inspace. Isotopic data also indicate that 'exotic' copper andbrass (an alloy of copper and zinc), in addition to the bronze, werealso reaching sites such as Kastri and Troy from areas outside theAegean or Anatolia (Stos-Gale et al. 1984). Thus, foreign metal wasclearly reaching the region in the EBA; the majority appears to havebeen bronze pre-alloyed as ingots or objects, but some copper and alsounusual early brass was also being traded. It is clear that somemetallic tin was also reaching the region, as indicated by the tinbangle from Thermi, and as might be expected given the previouslydiscussed mention of metallic tin in a number of mid 3rd-millenniumwritten sources. Furthermore, the isotopic analyses of the bronzes from this regionand the tin bangle from Thermi indicate conclusively that proposed tinsources in the Taurus Mountains, in particular the site of Kestel, couldnot have supplied the tin that was used in EBA contexts in the Aegeanand northwestern Anatolia (Pernicka 1995: 108; Sayre et al. 1992). Themetal used in a number of these bronzes is isotopically incompatiblewith any Anatolian deposit, and its ultimate source remains uncertain.Various authors have suggested that the Precambrian copper and tindeposits in the Arabian Peninsula and Egypt (Stos-Gale et al. 1984: 29)or Afghanistan (Pernicka et al. 1990: 290; Pernicka 1995: 1078) may havebeen used in their production. The importance of these known tin sourcesis discussed below, following the introduction of new data from TellAbraq. New evidence from southeastern Arabia Prehistoric copper production in southeastern Arabia has been afocus of archaeological interest since the 1920s, when the SumerianMetals Project began analysis of copper ore samples in order todetermine the provenance of the metal used in 3rd-millennium BCMesopotamia (Peake 1928). Rigorous research on the subject was notundertaken until the late 1970s, when an archaeological expedition fromthe German Mining Museum began work in Oman (Weisgerber 1980a; 1981).This work focused on the primary extraction of copper in the Omanmountains, and has provided evidence of large-scale copper productionfrom the 3rd millennium BC onwards (Hauptmann 1985: 114). Production of2000-4000 tonnes is postulated for the local Bronze Age (c. 2500-1300BC), the majority destined for Mesopotamia and Elam (Hauptmann 1985;Potts 1990a: 133-49; Berthoud et al. 1980), and perhaps the Indus Valley(Weisgerber 1984). These studies indicate that the Oman Peninsula wasone of the most important areas of copper production in ancient WesternAsia and have proven conclusive in the association of the Oman Peninsulawith the ancient land of Magan, a region mentioned in cuneiform texts asa major supplier of copper to southern Mesopotamia in the late 3rdmillennium BC (Hauptmann 1985:115; Potts 1990a: 117-49). More recent archaeological work has highlighted other aspects ofmetal use at Bronze Age sites in southeastern Arabia which were notinvolved in the primary production of copper, and the large mound ofTell Abraq is one such site. Situated near the Gulf coast of the UnitedArab Emirates United Arab Emirates,federation of sheikhdoms (2005 est. pop. 2,563,000), c.30,000 sq mi (77,700 sq km), SE Arabia, on the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman. (U.A.E.) on the border of the Emirates of Sharjah and Ummal Qaiwain, Tell Abraq was the largest site on the southern Gulf shoresfor most of the period of its occupation (c. 2300-300 BC). Detaileddescriptions of the archaeological remains from Tell Abraq can be foundin a number of publications (Potts 1990b; 1991; 1993a), and occupationat the site spans three periods of the local cultural sequence: the Umman-Nar Period (c. 2500-2000 BC), Wadi Suq suq?n.Variant of souk. Period (c. 2000-1300 BC) andIron Age (c. 1300-300 BC) (Potts 1990a; Magee 1996). Compositional analyses from Tell Abraq Since excavation began at Tell Abraq in 1989, over 500 objects ofcopper and bronze have been recovered from settlement and burialcontexts, with a large number having undergone chemical analysis(Pedersen & Buchwald 1991; Weeks 1997). Analysed samples includefinished objects such as rings, awls and vessel fragments, and pieces ofmetallurgical waste from such processes as refining and casting. Theresults indicate that bronze (as opposed to un-alloyed copper) wasfrequently used at Tell Abraq from the earliest levels of its occupationonwards. In the Umm an-Nar period, 17 of 32 analysed objects (53%) werefound to be of bronze. In the Wadi Suq Period, 17 of 41 objects (41%)were bronze, and in the Iron Age nine objects of 24 analysed (38%) werebronze. The results obtained from Tell Abraq are highly significant whenconsidered in the light of previous analytical programmes undertaken inOman. These studies (Hauptmann 1987; Hauptmann et al. 1988; Weisgerber1988) indicate that bronze was rarely found in the more southerlyregions of the Oman Peninsula before the Iron Age. Tell Abraq thusprovides the first solid evidence of a site on the Persian/Arabian Gulfusing considerable amounts of bronze in the 3rd millennium BC.Discussions of the Bronze Age tin trade have largely ignored the PersianGulf as an important avenue for the arrival of tin in Western Asia dueto the lack of tin or bronze at contemporary settlements on Bahrain,which were heavily involved in the Gulf trade (e.g. McKerrell 1978: 21). Lead isotope analyses from Tell Abraq LIA of material from Tell Abraq was undertaken in part toinvestigate the provenance of the metals used in this importantassemblage. A total of 74 samples from the site have been analysed usingLIA. These include objects from Umm an-Nar (8 samples), Wadi Suq (28samples) and Iron Age (29 samples) contexts in the settlement, as wellas from the Umm an-Nar tomb (9 samples) adjacent to the settlement. The samples, their phasing, composition and isotopic concentrationsare shown in TABLE 1. Throughout the discussion samples will be referredto by their registration number, e.g. TA 90. Object designations aregenerally self-evident: the term 'waste' designates residuefrom secondary copper refining processes or casting [TABULAR DATA FORTABLE 1 OMITTED] spillage. Major elements are those present inconcentrations of greater than 1%, as determined by Energy Dispersive dispersive/dis��per��sive/ (-per��siv)1. tending to become dispersed.2. promoting dispersion. Spectrometry (EDS (Electronic Data Systems, Plano, TX, www.eds.com) Founded in 1962 by H. Ross Perot (independent candidate for the President of the U.S. in 1992), EDS is the largest outsourcing and data processing services organization in the country. - see Weeks 1997). The LIA results are presented as ratios of the four naturallyoccurring isotopes of lead Lead (Pb) has four stable isotopes - 204Pb, 206Pb, 207Pb, 208Pb and one common radiogenic isotope 202Pb with a half-life of ~53,000 years. The Standard atomic mass is 207.2(1) u. - a standard way of displaying lead isotopedata which reflects the techniques by which isotopic compositions aremeasured and which minimizes laboratory error (Stos-Gale 1989: 275). All2-[Sigma] (95% confidence level) errors are less than 0.05% for the207Pb/206Pb and 208Pb/206Pb ratios, and less than 0.1% for the204Pb/206Pb ratio. Samples were analysed by at the University ofQueensland The University of Queensland (UQ) is the longest-established university in the state of Queensland, Australia, a member of Australia's Group of Eight, and the Sandstone Universities. It is also a founding member of the international Universitas 21 organisation. , Australia, using Thermal Ionisation Noun 1. ionisation - the condition of being dissociated into ions (as by heat or radiation or chemical reaction or electrical discharge); "the ionization of a gas"ionization Mass Spectrometry mass spectrometryor mass spectroscopyAnalytic technique by which chemical substances are identified by sorting gaseous ions by mass using electric and magnetic fields. (TIMS TIMS Thermal Ionization Mass SpectrometryTIMS The Institute of Management SciencesTIMS Thermal Infrared Multispectral ScannerTIMS Transportation Information Management SystemTIMS The International Molinological SocietyTIMS Tuberculosis Information Management System ). Isotopic outliers at Tell Abraq It is clear from the examination of FIGURE 1 that three of thesamples from Tell Abraq could be regarded as outliers to the maindistribution. The three samples (TA 1614, TA 699, TA 107) are bronzesfrom late 3rd millennium BC settlement and funerary fu��ner��ar��y?adj.Of or suitable for a funeral or burial.[Latin fner contexts at thesite. The outliers would generally be described as'radiogenic' or 'uranogenic', referring to the factthat the lead isotopic composition of these samples has been affected byhigh levels of uranium in the ores from which they were smelted (Gulson1986: 19). Such ores have not been found within the Oman Peninsula to date(Calvez & Lescuyer 1991). The fact that all three of the Tell Abraqoutliers are bronzes is significant, as we know from geological studiesthat tin deposits do not occur within the Oman Mountains, where tinconcentrations are generally less than 10 parts per million parts per millionmg/kg or ml/l; see ppm. (ppm)(Cleuziou & Berthoud 1982: 18). These considerations suggest thatall the tin used in the Oman Peninsula must have been imported - eitheras metallic tin or alloyed with copper as bronze. Radiogenic ra��di��o��ge��nic?adj.Relating to or caused by radioactivity.radiogenic?1. Being a stable element that is product of radioactive decay. copper oresand tin-bearing granites have been recorded in western Saudi Arabia(Stacey et al. 1980; Du Bray et al. 1988), however the lead-isotopiccompositions of these deposits do not match those of the radiogenicsamples from Tell Abraq. The original provenance of these objects,whilst almost certainly outside the Oman Peninsula, remains uncertain. Tell Abraq objects and local Omani ore sources In order adequatelyto explain the importance of the LIA data for bronzes from Tell Abraq,it is necessary to first demonstrate their dissimilarity to theun-alloyed copper objects from the site, and to local copper deposits.Lead isotopic studies in the Oman Mountains have been carried out sincethe early 1980s, always as a component of geological rather thanarchaeological research, and are presented and discussed in numerouspapers (Chen & Pallister 1981; Gale et al. 1981; Thorpe 1982; Doe1982; Gale & Spooner 1982; Hamelin et al. 1984; 1988; Lippard et al.1986: 134-5; Calvez & Lescuyer 1991; Briqueau et al. 1991; Stos-Galeet al. 1997; 103-5). The information presented in these studies providesan important data-base against which the Tell Abraq analyses can beassessed. The lead isotope data for the Tell Abraq samples, minus the threeoutliers discussed above, are shown in FIGURE 2, along with the isotopicdata for copper-bearing massive sulphide deposits and mantle-level rocksof the Semail Ophiolite oph��i��o��lite?n.Any of a group of igneous and metamorphic rocks, rich in iron and magnesium, whose origin is associated with an early phase of the development of a geosyncline. , the major copper-bearing unit of the OmanMountains. It is apparent that many of the Tell Abraq objects do notmatch the isotopic signature An isotopic signature (also isotopic fingerprint) is a ratio of stable or unstable isotopes of particular elements found in an investigated material. The atomic mass of different isotopes affect their chemical kinetic behavior, leading to natural isotope separation processes. of the local massive sulphide deposits.Metal from these deposits does not seem to have been exploited at TellAbraq until the mid to late 2nd millennium BC, and then infrequently(samples TA 90, TA 400, TA 738 and TA 892 appear to have been producedfrom such deposits). Copper minerals from massive sulphide deposits weresmelted in Oman in the 3rd millennium BC (Hauptmann 1985: 113; Hauptmannet al. 1988), but do not seem to have been reaching Tell Abraq at thattime. The provenance of the majority of un-alloyed copper (includingAs/Ni-copper) objects from Tell Abraq remains uncertain based purely onthe isotopic evidence. Many objects from the site have an isotopiccomposition similar to that of the mantle-sequence rocks in theophiolite, the lead isotope data supporting archaeological observationsof slag heaps associated with mantle-level copper deposits (e.g.Hauptmann 1985: Abb. 3, 6; Glennie et al. 1974: 284; Vogt 1995: 3; Tosi1975: 197-204). However, the lead isotope characteristics of host-rockscan sometimes differ from those of the ores they contain, so theattribution of Tell Abraq objects to the mantle-level deposits remainstentative. The lead isotope data-base for Omani copper ores is, however, farfrom complete. A number of small copper deposits located withingeological units that underlie the Semail ophiolite also remainunanalysed (see Greenwood & Loney 1968: 30; Hassan & Al-Sulaimi1979: 921; Hauptmann et al. 1988: 48; Calvez & Lescuyer 1991;Batchelor 1992: B117). However, the most significant lacuna lacuna/la��cu��na/ (lah-ku��nah) pl. lacu��nae ? [L.]1. a small pit or hollow cavity.2. a defect or gap, as in the field of vision (scotoma). in the leadisotope data-base for the Oman Peninsula is the lack of analysis ofcopper ores from Masirah Island Masirah (Arabic: مصيرة) is an island off the East coast of Oman. It contains an Omani air base and a fish factory, as well as a few small towns. , off the southeastern coast of Oman,which are known to have been exploited from at least the early 2ndmillennium BC (Weisgerber 1991; Hauptmann 1985: Abb 3). These ores areophiolite-hosted, but unrelated to the Semail ophiolite (Gnos et al.1997; Meyer et al. 1996; Smewing et al. 1991; Batchelor 1992: B117), andare likely to have a different range of lead isotopic ratios than themainland copper ores. Even though we lack a complete body of lead isotope data for theOman Peninsula, we can say with confidence that local copper was beingused at Tell Abraq. The use of local metal seems highly likely, giventhe evidence for extensive local production in the Bronze Age, and istentatively supported by the available isotopic data. Additionally, thebroad similarity in composition between the Tell Abraq objects and thosefound elsewhere in the peninsula is suggestive of suggestive ofDecision making adjective Referring to a pattern by LM or imaging, that the interpreter associates with a particular–usually malignant lesion. See Aunt Millie approach, Defensive medicine. the use of indigenousmetal. This is particularly clear from the presence of objects ofarsenical-nickel-copper in all periods of occupation at Tell Abraq, adistinctive alloy type which appears frequently in local metalassemblages from all areas of the Oman Peninsula (see Weeks 1997). Bronzes at Tell Abraq FIGURE 3 shows the isotopic distribution of the Tell Abraq samplesin terms of their major elemental components. It is clear that thebronzes, whilst showing a degree of overlap with some un-alloyed copperobjects, have a different distribution than samples without tin. Thebronze distribution tends towards older lead isotope 'ages'which do not follow the systematics systematics:see classification. of the Semail ophiolite copper-orefields established by geological work in Oman. This indicates that thebronzes incorporate lead of a different geological origin than the localcopper from the Semail ophiolite - ie. the bronzes utilize metal fromone or more different sources. One important factor which must be assessed is the materials whichmay have been contributing lead to the bronze and copper objects. Leadlevels in the Tell Abraq samples are generally low, always less than 1%and probably much lower (EDS reports higher values but is unreliable inthe measurement of lead levels - see Weeks 1997: App. A). Such lowlevels are unlikely to represent the intentional alloying of lead withcopper or bronze, so all the lead in the Tell Abraq samples is thoughtto have been derived from the lead in their parent ores (cf. Gale &Stos-Gale 1982: 12-13). Thus, it seems likely that the Tell Abraqobjects produced of un-alloyed copper (this includes copper containingarsenic and nickel) should have lead isotopic signatures closelymatching those of the copper ores from which they were produced. The situation for the bronzes is somewhat different. Bronze is analloy of copper and tin, commonly containing between 5 and 15% tin. Inthe production of such an alloy, there is obvious potential for themixture of copper and tin (ores or metal) from entirely differentsources, in which case the lead isotope signature of the resultingbronze may not be the same as the copper from which it was produced. Itis therefore important to assess how much lead might have come from thetin, and how much from the copper. Previous LIA in archaeology has always sought to demonstrate thatthere was no significant contribution of lead from the tin in a bronze(e.g. Pernicka et al. 1990; Stos-Gale 1989). In support of this premise,lead concentrations in tin ores of generally less than 100 parts permillion (ppm) are reported (Pernicka 1995: 106), as are analyses ofancient tin ingots and objects which show no sign of lead (Maddin 1989:102; Selimkhanov 1978: table 1; Moorey 1994: 301). However, small amounts of lead are associated with tin ores in anumber of geological situations (Rapp 1978; Tylecote 1978: table 4; Gale& Stos-Gale 1985: 87-8), and of the tin ingots analysed from theLate Bronze Age shipwreck shipwreck,complete or partial destruction of a vessel as a result of collision, fire, grounding, storm, explosion, or other mishap. In the ancient world sea travel was hazardous, but in modern times the number of shipwrecks due to nonhostile causes has steadily at Ulu Burun, one has a high level of 630 ppmlead (N. Gale pers. comm.). Other analyses of tin objects from Bronzeand Iron Age archaeological contexts have also revealed the occasionalpresence of significant amounts of lead in tin objects (Selimkhanov1978; Muhly 1985: 279; Gale & Stos-Gale 1985: 88). In at least one instance, examination of tin and lead levels versusisotopic composition has suggested a contribution of lead from the tin,particularly in bronzes with less than 0-1% (1000 ppm) lead (Gale &Stos-Gale 1985: 88). Such results are significant because Bronze andIron Age objects from the Oman Peninsula are particularly lead-poor.Seventeen of the 23 ingots and raw copper samples analysed from the 3rdmillennium BC sites of Maysar and Ras al-Hamra contained less than 100ppm lead. Additionally, 7 objects out of 13 from Bronze Age contexts and5 bronzes of Iron Age date from various localities in Omen containedless than 100 ppm lead (Hauptmann et el. 1988: tables 4.2, 4.4). Thesebronzes commonly have one-tenth the lead of samples regarded aslead-poor by Gale & Stos-Gale (1985), and would therefore seemhighly susceptible to contamination by lead of different isotopiccomposition coming from the tin. Recent excavations at Tell Abraq have uncovered the first metallictin object from the region, a ring from the Umm an-Nar tomb which issecurely dated to the late 3rd millennium BC (Weeks, unpublished EDSanalysis). The lead content of this object is as yet unmeasured; howeverits lead isotopic characteristics have been analysed(2) and place thetin ring firmly into the middle of the bronze distribution from TellAbraq [ILLUSTRATION FOR FIGURE 4 OMITTED]. Although we cannot knowwhether this sample is representative of all the tin which may have beenused at Tell Abraq, tin of such isotopic characteristics would not haveunduly perturbed per��turb?tr.v. per��turbed, per��turb��ing, per��turbs1. To disturb greatly; make uneasy or anxious.2. To throw into great confusion.3. the isotopic signature of local Omani copper if the twohad been alloyed, If the tin is contributing little or no dissimilar lead to thebronzes, then the disparity between the bronze and copper samples wouldindicate that different copper sources were used for their production.This would further suggest that at least some of the bronze was beingtraded to Tell Abraq in its alloyed form, either as ingots or asfinished objects. The bronzes from Tell Abraq show a broad range ofisotopic compositions, but it is difficult to determine whether thisrepresents the use of metal from a number of sources of different age,or one source with a very high degree of isotopic heterogeneity (cf.Stos-Gale et al. 1984: 28; Tadmor et al. 1995: 139). The evidence forthe use of foreign bronze at the site is interesting, given analyses ofken Age material from Oman which suggest that, at this time, bronze wasproduced by alloying imported tin with local copper (Weisgerber 1988:292). Tell Abraq and the Bronze Age tin trade The data discussed above indicate that metallic tin and pre-alloyedbronze were reaching Tell Abraq from sources external to southeasternArabia, a pattern similar to that reconstructed for the Aegean in theEBA. It is extremely significant, then, to note the isotopic similarityof bronzes from these widely separated regions. Examination of FIGURE 4indicates that the earliest Tell Abraq bronzes follow exactly the linearpattern of the bronzes from northwestern Anatolia and the Aegean,although they do not show as broad a range of values. It should also benoted that a very similar pattern seems to occur in a number of Luristanbronzes whose isotopic composition has been analysed (Begemann et el.1989: [ILLUSTRATION FOR FIGURE 30.5 OMITTED]), although the data are notfully published. The isotopic similarity between the Tell Abraq and Aegean bronzesseen in FIGURE 4 suggests to the author that the bronze being used atKastri, Poliochni, Thermi, Troy and Tell Abraq was obtained from thesame sources. This possibility is supported by a number of lines ofreasoning. Firstly, geological evidence of the scarcity of tin depositsin Western Asia suggests that a relatively small number of sources couldhave been supplying the raw material for bronze industries across theregion. Secondly, the surviving 3rd- and early 2nd-millennium texts fromthe region indicate that all the major sources of tin used in WesternAsia in the Early Bronze Age lay to the east of Mesopotamia. Finally,isotopic and geological evidence has shown that the earliest bronzes inAnatolia, Mesopotamia and the Gulf were obtained through trade, and wereproduced from metal foreign to any of these regions. Isotopic similaritybetween bronzes from sites as distant as Tell Abraq and Troy is thusexactly what might be expected in such a situation, reflecting the widedispersal of a scarce and highly demanded commodity. A parallel, earlier example of such a widely distributed Adj. 1. widely distributed - growing or occurring in many parts of the world; "a cosmopolitan herb"; "cosmopolitan in distribution"cosmopolitanbionomics, environmental science, ecology - the branch of biology concerned with the relations between organisms rawmaterial has been clearly documented in the case of the Neolithicobsidian trade in Western Asia (e.g. Renfrew et el. 1966), and recentchemical studies have also suggested that exotic metal alloys weretraded over very long distances in the Chalcolithic period to producethe objects of the famous Nahal Mishmar hoard (Tadmor et al. 1995: 143).Trade over the great distances implied by the isotopic data in thisarticle should not, therefore, come as a surprise when examining themovement of commodities in Bronze Age contexts. However, there is a wide discrepancy between the isotopicconcentrations of the lone tin objects analysed from the Aegean and theGulf. Unfortunately, our data are so limited that it is impossible toknow whether two different sources are indicated, or only oneisotopically heterogenous deposit. Even if the data indicate that thesetwo tin objects came from sources of different geological age, it doesnot necessarily follow that these sources were widely separated inspace. This issue will be discussed below in regard to the tin depositsof Afghanistan. What might have been the source of this metal? Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Yemen As noted above, the only tin deposits recorded with certainty inWestern Asia are those in Eastern Desert Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Yemen,and it has been suggested that one of these could have provided the tinused in the EBA Aegean and Anatolia. For a number of reasons, however,it is unlikely that they did. One of the most powerful arguments againsttheir use is that Egyptian craftspeople crafts��people?pl.n.People who practice a craft; artisans. seem to have made little use ofbronze before the 2nd millennium BC. The situation is similar withregard to Arabian tin ores, which are associated with deposits of copperand gold, but which show no signs of exploitation prior to the 1stmillennium BC (Glanzman 1987: 146; Fleming & Pigott 1987; Wertime1978: 6). Additionally, lead isotope data exists for the massive-sulphidecopper-bearing ores of Saudi Arabia (Stacey et al. 1980) and fortin-bearing granites in the region (Du Bray et al. 1988). The onlyexample of a copper-ore deposit which corresponds closely to theisotopic concentrations seen in a number of the bronzes from Poliochnior Troy is that of Kutam, just north of the Yemen border in Saudi Arabia(Stacey et al. 1980: [ILLUSTRATION FOR FIGURE 2 OMITTED]). However, asdiscussed above, the lack of any kind of archaeological evidence forcontact with this region in the Early Bronze Age, or for theexploitation of western Arabian ores at this time (Wertime 1978), wouldsuggest that the Kutam copper deposit was not supplying the raw materialfor the bronzes found in the Aegean. The question is a little more complicated when dealing with theso-called Sn-W (tin-tungsten) granites of Saudi Arabia and Yemen forwhich we have isotopic data. An actual tin deposit is only associatedwith one of these granites (the Silsilah deposit in the Fawarrahpluton plu��ton?n.A body of igneous rock formed beneath the surface of the earth by consolidation of magma.[German, back-formation from plutonisch, plutonic, from Latin ), however cassiterite occurs in small quantities as an associatedmineral in three other deposits (Du Bray et al. 1988: table 1).Unfortunately, no lead isotope values are available for the cassiteriteores themselves, only for their host granites. If the data from thegranites are an accurate reflection of the isotopic composition of thecassiterite ores they host, then it seems clear that tin from westernand central Saudi Arabia was not supplying the EBA Aegean or Anatolia(if the lone analysed tin bangle from Thermi is representative).However, cassiterite ores are frequently lead-poor and uranium-rich(Gulson & Jones 1992), meaning that the isotopic signature of thecassiterite may not match that of the host granite. Until definitivelead isotope data for these tin deposits is available, no concreteconclusions can be reached in this matter, although the lack ofarchaeological evidence for early exploitation of these sources or forcontact with the eastern Mediterranean region must preclude the SaudiArabian tin deposits as likely sources for the Bronze Age metal trade. If we examine the evidence from Tell Abraq, foreign connectionsseen in the archaeological record The archaeological record is a term used in archaeology to denote all archaeological evidence, including the physical remains of past human activities which archaeologists seek out and record in an attempt to analyze and reconstruct the past. at the site attest to ties with thenorthwest (Dilmun, Elam and Mesopotamia), north (Iran) and east (theIndus Valley), but not western Arabia (Potts 1993b). The same is truefor archaeological sites in the Oman Peninsula in general: contact withwestern Arabia does not seem to occur until the later 1st millennium BC(Potts 1990a), making the Bronze Age use of tin and copper ores from theregion unlikely. The tin object from Tell Abraq is also isotopicallydissimilar to the copper deposits and tin-bearing granites of westernArabia. Afghanistan Given the consistent textual references to an eastern tin source,it is unsurprising that the region from Iran to the Indus has receivedparticular attention in the debate on the tin trade. Whilst only minortin occurrences have been found in far eastern Iran, extensive depositsare known from many areas of Afghanistan (Cleuziou & Berthoud 1982;Stech & Pigott 1986: 44-5; Moorey 1994: 299; Pigott 1996; Economic& Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific 1996), ranging in agefrom Precambrian to Oligocene (ESCAP ESCAP Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the PacificESCAP European Society for Child and Adolescent Psychology 1996: 10-12). The wide range in theage of the tin deposits in the region may in fact account for the verywide isotopic range of the bronzes from the Aegean, the Troad and alsoTell Abraq. Consequently, Afghanistan is emerging as the most likely source ofthe tin used in Bronze Age Western Asia (Moorey 1994: 301). The limitedamount of archaeological evidence from Afghanistan indicates significantlevels of cultural contact with the societies of both Iran and the IndusValley, and a local metallurgy which witnessed the appearance of bronzeby at least the 3rd millennium BC (Caley 1971; 1972a; 1972b; Berthoud etal. 1980; Asthana 1993: 2713; Stech & Pigott 1986: 43-8;Muller-Karpe 1991). It seems highly probable that, in addition to the overland traderoute across Iran suggested by cuneiform sources, tin from Afghanistanwas being traded through the Persian/Arabian Gulf as one component ofthe long-distance trade between Mesopotamia and the Indus Valley(Meluhha). This hypothesis is supported by the evidence for extensiveHarappan use of tin and bronze (Lamberg-Karlovsky 1967; Agrawal 1982;1984), the Harappan influence at Tell Abraq (Potts 1993c) and in theOman Peninsula generally (Cleuziou 1992; Edens 1993; Franke-Vogt 1993).Additionally, other materials of undoubted Central Asian origin havebeen found at Tell Abraq and elsewhere in the Gulf (Potts 1993d; 1994)and their presence is also suggested as having resulted from trade withthe Indus Valley (During-Caspers 1994). However, the wide variety of foreign contacts evidenced by thematerial excavated from Tell Abraq cannot allow us to reconstructspecific trade routes with any great degree of certainty. The potentialexists for the tin and bronze utilized at Tell Abraq to have reached thesite, from an ultimate origin in Central Asia, by a number of routesthrough various intermediaries. In particular, an overland route Overland Route or Overland Trail refers to the following travel routes: The Overland Trail (United States), the roughly parallel routes of the Overland Stage Line and First Transcontinental Railroad throughsoutheastern Iran and thence thence?adv.1. From that place; from there: flew to Helsinki and thence to Moscow.2. From that circumstance or source; therefrom.3. Archaic From that time; thenceforth. across the Straits of Hormuz must beconsidered. Returning to the tin problem The data discussed in this paper have significant implications forthe Bronze Age tin trade. They suggest that the most intuitiveexplanations for the distribution of bronzes in the 3rd millennium BCare not necessarily correct. Previous interpretations suggested thatsources of tin were available somewhere in the Troad which provided theraw material for some of the earliest experiments in bronze alloying(e.g. Renfrew 1972: 313). Within such a paradigm, predicated upon thecorrelation of tin deposits with the earliest appearance of bronzealloying in Western Asia, the disparity between the distribution ofbronze as seen in the archaeological record and the geological evidencefor the location of tin deposits was a real stumbling block stum��bling blockn.An obstacle or impediment.stumbling blockNounany obstacle that prevents something from taking place or progressingNoun 1. - tin was a'problem'. In contrast, recent analyses discussed in this article suggest aninternally consistent explanation. Textual, geological and isotopic dataconcur in their demonstration that the earliest bronzes in Western Asia- those from northwestern Anatolia and Mesopotamia - were obtainedthrough trade, and suggest that an eastern source of tin, possibly inAfghanistan, may have been supplying the entire region in the earlyBronze Age. Such conclusions are tentative, however, and will requiresupporting analytical evidence from Mesopotamia and Iran before they arewidely accepted. The definitive determination of Bronze Age tin sourcesis a challenge which still faces the archaeologist. As a final note, it must be pointed out that the delineation of tinsources will not signify the end of the tin problem. As the evidence forthe tin sources supplying Western Asia has been clarified, the need foran adequate explanation of the factors affecting the demand for this newmaterial has become apparent. Whilst earlier archaeological workfocussed primarily on the mechanical advantages of bronze over copper,recent studies have increasingly examined the importance of suchproperties as physical appearance (colour change from un-alloyed copper)and scarcity in the introduction of new alloy types (e.g. Levy &Shalev 1989: 358; Hosler 1995; Lahiri 1995; Tadmor et al. 1995). Theevidence discussed in this article is certainly compatible with anhypothesis put forth by Stech & Pigott (1986), who suggest alimited, directed exchange of tin (and bronze?) in the 3rd millenniumBC, generated by the demand of local elites for rare materials. Theseissues are a topic for a paper other than this, but suffice to indicatethat variables affecting both supply and demand must be understoodbefore tin in Bronze Age Western Asia will cease to be a problem. Acknowledgements. The analytical programmed discussed in thisarticle would not have been possible without the assistance of manypeople. Primary thanks ar due to Prof. Daniel Potts (University ofSydney The University of Sydney, established in Sydney in 1850, is the oldest university in Australia. It is a member of Australia's "Group of Eight" Australian universities that are highly ranked in terms of their research performance. ) for the funding and supervision of this work, and to Prof. KenCollerson (University of Queensland) for the lead isotope analyses.Aspects of the paper were discussed with Dr Richard Thomas (Universityof Western Sydney HistoryIn 1987 the New South Wales Labor government decided to name the planned new university in Sydney's western suburbs Chifley University. When, in 1989, a new Liberal government renamed it the University of Western Sydney, controversy broke out. ) and Dr Mike Barbetti (N.W.G. Macintosh Centre forQuaternary quaternary/qua��ter��nary/ (kwah��ter-nar?e)1. fourth in order.2. containing four elements or groups.qua��ter��nar��yadj.1. Consisting of four; in fours. Dating), and a draft was edited by Mr John Clegg John Clegg (born in Murree, Pakistan), is an English actor.He is probably best known for playing the part of 'Mr. La-di-da' Gunner 'Paderewski' Graham in the BBC sitcom It Ain't Half Hot Mum. (Universityof Sydney). The author would also like to thank the two referees chosenby ANTIQUITY, Prof. N.H. Gale and Prof. P.R.S. Moorey, for theirextremely helpful comments. Any remaining errors or omissions are theauthor's own. 1 The term 'bronze' is issued in this article to referexclusively to the alloy of copper and tin. 2 The LIA data are as follows: 204Pb/206Pb = 0.05418; 207Pb/206Pb =0.8491; 208Pb/206Pb = 2-0948. References AGRAWAL, D.P. 1982. The Indian Bronze Age cultures and their metaltechnology, in F. Wendorf & A.E. Close (ed.), Advances in WorldArchaeology 1:213-64. New York New York, state, United StatesNew York,Middle Atlantic state of the United States. 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