The production and trade in copper and bronze was one of the major features of the
complex societies in the Near East and Mediterranean during the third to first
millennia B.C. While finished metal objects are common finds from the period,
ancient metal ingots and hoards of scrap metal, as well as archaeological evidence of
metallurgical activities, are often more important sources of information for how
ancient technology and trade functioned. Shipwrecks, particularly those found off the
coast of Turkey at Uluburun and Cape Gelidonya, as well as mining and smelting sites
in the Mediterranean region, provide invaluable information on the production and
trade of copper and tin, the main ingredients of bronze. In this thesis, I examine the
evolution of the copper trade in the eastern and central Mediterranean, particularly
during the Late Bronze Age, when âÂÂoxhideâ ingots were widely exported. Finds of
oxhide ingots have increased dramatically in recent years, and no synthesis of all of
this newly available evidence is currently available. I attempt to analyze this new
evidence in relation to older finds and research, with a particular focus on the cargo of
the Uluburun shipwreck, the largest collection of Bronze Age metal ingots from a
single site in the Mediterranean. The history of oxhide ingot production is complex,
but by the Late Bronze Age Cyprus was supplying much of the copper used to
neighboring regions, with revolutionary effects on societies in Cyprus and elsewhere. The archaeological evidence shows that oxhide ingots are early examples of a
standardized industrial product made for export by emerging state-level societies
during the second millennium B.C. and fueled the development of international trade,
metallurgical technology, and complex social institutions in a variety of Mediterranean
societies from Egypt and the Levant, Greece, Cyprus, to Sardinia in the central
Mediterranean.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:tamu.edu/oai:repository.tamu.edu:1969.1/5957 |
| Date | 17 September 2007 |
| Creators | Jones, Michael Rice |
| Contributors | Pulak, Cemal |
| Publisher | Texas A&M University |
| Source Sets | Texas A and M University |
| Language | en_US |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Book, Thesis, Electronic Thesis, text |
| Format | 2603998 bytes, electronic, application/pdf, born digital |
Page generated in 0.002 seconds