LEAD ISOTOPE ANALYSES OF BRONZE AGE COPPER-BASE ARTEFACTS FROM AL-MIDAMMAN, YEMEN: TOWARDS THE IDENTIFICATION OF AN INDIGENOUS METAL PRODUCTION AND EXCHANGE SYSTEM IN THE SOUTHERN RED SEA REGION*

The results of the lead isotope analysis (LIA) of 15 copper-base artefacts from the Bronze Age site of al-Midamman, Yemen, are reported. The LIA data suggest the existence of an indigenous Bronze Age metal production and exchange system centred on the southern Red Sea region, distinct from those in neighbouring regions of Arabia and the Levant. These preliminary results are highly significant for the archaeology of the region, suggesting that local prehistoric copper extraction sites have thus far gone unrecorded, and highlighting the need for systematic archaeometallurgical fieldwork programmes in the countries surrounding the southern Red Sea.