Journal
ANTIQUITY
Volume 95, Issue 381, Pages 670-685Publisher
CAMBRIDGE UNIV PRESS
DOI: 10.15184/aqy.2020.171
Keywords
Cyprus; Chalcolithic; Philia phase; archaeometallurgy; copper; lead isotope analysis
Categories
Funding
- Royal Commission for AlUla
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The study indicates that there is no compelling evidence for transformative metallurgy in Chalcolithic Cyprus, suggesting a lack of significant changes in the copper technology during the Late Copper Age on the island.
The extraction and smelting of the rich copper ore deposits of Cyprus and the manufacture of copper objects on the island are thought to have begun during the Philia phase (c. 2400-2200 BC). Here, the authors present the results of lead isotope analysis undertaken on Late Chalcolithic (2900-2400 BC) metal objects from the site of Chlorakas-Palloures. The results facilitate a reassessment of the timing of the start of transformative copper technologies on Cyprus and the re-evaluation of contemporaneous copper artefacts from Jordan and Crete previously suggested to have been consistent with Cypriot ores. They conclude that there is no compelling evidence for transformative metallurgy in Chalcolithic Cyprus.
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