Bronzes lead isotope study

Sayre, E.V., Joel, E.C., Blackman, M.J., Yener, K.A. and Ozbal, H. (2001). Stable lead isotope studies of Black Sea Anatolian ore sources and related Bronze Age and Phrygian artefacts from nearby archaeological sites. Appendix new central Taurus ore data. Archaeometry 43 77-115. 

A promising approach to this problem has been the use of lead isotope ratios to characterize sources. Chapter 9 by Gale and Stos-Gale is an example of this type of study. The isotopic ratios of lead are variable because some of the isotopes are the daughters from the radioactive decay of uranium and thorium (4), Even though the amount of lead in bronze artifacts is small, Gale has been able to distinguish between sources of the ore on the basis of the ratios of the various lead isotopes. The sources of silver, lead, and copper in the Bronze Age Mediterranean are discussed. 

Seven years ago we started the first systematic research program on the application of the lead isotope techniques to provenance studies in archaeology. Particular stress was placed on the sources of metals in the Mediterranean Bronze Age. For the first 2 years we worked mostly on the sources of lead and silver in Bronze Age Greece, Cyprus, and Egypt (32-36). In 1982, we pioneered the application of the lead isotope method for prove-nancing copper-based artifacts (15, 37-38). 

Apart from direct studies of ancient mining or metallurgical remains, extensive fieldwork is needed also to establish the lead isotope characteristics of copper and lead-silver deposits that could have, or are known to have been, worked in the Bronze Age. In the past 8 years we have explored ore deposits in Greece, Cyprus, Sardinia, and the Sinai. 

Niederschlag, E., Pernicka, E., Seifert, T, Bartelheim, M. (2003) The determination of lead isotope ratios by multiple collector ICP-MS a case study of Early Bronze age artefacts and their possible relation with ore deposits of the Erzgebirge. Archaeometry, 45(1), 61-100. 

T7or the past 10 years extensive effort has been devoted to studying the isotopic ratios of the element lead contained in glasses, glazes, and pigments and from bronze, gold, and silver items from the ancient world... 

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