Cypriot copper ores

Some of the objects from Kastri falling in Trojan field B need further discussion. Four of these objects (16167, 16169, 16171, and 16174) have lead isotope compositions that resemble the fingerprint of Cypriot copper ores however, we have rejected the hypothesis that these metal objects at Kastri are Cypriot in origin by comparing their trace elemental composition, particularly gold and silver content, with some Cypriot copper artifacts excavated on Cyprus. The results of the neutron activation analyses of these objects are presented in Figure 11. 

The earliest metal implements from Cypriote tombs are not true bronze but are composed of copper containing only a slight admixture of tin, which may have been introduced from the use of a slightly stanniferous copper ore. Part of the ore was purposely left unreduced in the form of copper oxide in order to give greater hardness to the metal (154). 

Tin bronze is another matter because, apart from rare copper ore deposits also containing tin (e.g., some of those in Cornwall), tin from a quite different source than the copper has almost always been added to copper to produce bronze. The only tin mineral that is likely to contain lead is stannite, which is not common except as a mineralogical curiosity. Tin has always been obtained in very large quantities from cassiterite, which almost never contains even a trace of lead. The tin ingots found underwater off the coast of Israel contain no lead. Our work on Cypriot Late Bronze Age bronzes indicates no perturbation away from the characteristic Cypriot lead isotope composition, even for bronzes containing 18% tin. 

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