A miner's perspective on Pb isotope provenances in the Western and Central Mediterranean

Albarède, F.; Blichert‐Toft, Janne; Gentelli, Liesel; Milot, Jean; Vaxevanopoulos, Markos; Klein, Sabine; Westner, Katrin; Birch, Thomas; Davis, Gillan; Callataÿ, François De

doi:10.1016/j.jas.2020.105194

Cited by 35 publications

(40 citation statements)

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“…The question of the origin of the metal is particularly interesting given that one of the sites studied, the Roman villa of Portmán, is on the edge of the mining district of Carthago Nova, the most important silver and lead production and exporting centre on the Iberian Peninsula (Trincherini et al ., 2009). This is a question that can only be resolved with isotopic analyses and new methodological approaches, such as those recently undertaken for cases in the central and western Mediterranean (Albarede et al ., 2020).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Lead Labelling on Roman Amphoras. A Short‐Lived Fashion?

Quevedo

Díaz

2020

International Journal of Nautical Archaeology

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The 1970s saw the first publication of a set of lead plaques used as labels on transport vessels found in a shipwreck off Annaba, Algeria. They were wrapped around the handles of several Africana II C2 amphoras and some referred to officinae, probably of salted fish. Labelling merchandise with tesserae plumbeae was common for products such as textiles in the Roman Empire, but considered unusual on amphoras. New finds in the coastal archaeological sites of the villa of Portmán (Spain) and Portimão (Portugal) have led us to reconsider this statement. In this article we discuss these newly discovered lead labels and assess their chronology, use, and rarity in the archaeological record.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Lead Labelling on Roman Amphoras. A Short‐Lived Fashion?

Quevedo

Díaz

2020

International Journal of Nautical Archaeology

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“…Silver isotope variation in coinage (Fujii and Albarede, 2018) is much narrower than in ores (Arribas et al, 2020;Mathur et al, 2018), which potentially allows for a high selectivity of provenance. Correlating minting ages and Pb isotopes have been able to uphold the proposition of a major shift of silver ores shortly after the Second Punic War (Albarède et al, 2020;Albarède et al, 2016) . Here we add to this suggestion by describing correlations between Ag and Pb isotopes on 92 literature and newly acquired data on silver coinage from the Aegean world, Magna Graecia, Carthage, and Rome (Figure 1).…”

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confidence: 87%

“…2016; Albarède et al . 2020). Here we add to this suggestion by describing correlations between Ag and Pb isotopes on 92 literature and newly acquired data on silver coinage from the Aegean world, Magna Graecia, Carthage and Rome (Fig.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Particularly striking is a major difference in the apparent source of the metal used to mint the denarii from the Roman Republic (Albarède et al . 2020; Westner et al . 2020).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The Pb isotope compositions are reported in Figure 2 with symbols for proper identification and dates for minting age (the median of the uncertainty range). The fields of volcanic rocks ( (Albarède et al, 2020); http://georoc.mpch-mainz.gwdg.de/georoc/) genetically related to magmatic hydrothermal ore deposits (light blue for Southern Iberia, pink for the Aegean) from the literature are also plotted to show how closely the main group comprising most samples from Thrace, Greece, and the Greek colonies (Magna Graecia) track potential lead sources. Also plotted is the field of Pb isotopes in the Near Eastern silver hoards of hacksilber (chopped silver plates and jewelry) from Dor, Akko, and Ein Hofez (10 th -9 th century BCE), which are contemporaneous with the first Phoenician settlements around the Mediterranean, especially in Southern Iberia (Eshel et al, 2019;Neville, 2007).…”

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From commodity to money: The rise of silver coinage around the Ancient Mediterranean (sixth–first centuries bce)

Albarède¹,

Blichert‐Toft

Callataÿ

et al. 2020

Archaeometry

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The reasons why the Western Mediterranean, especially Carthage and Rome, resisted monetization relative to the Eastern Mediterranean are still unclear. Here, we address this question by combining lead and silver isotope abundances in silver coinage from the Aegean, Magna Graecia, Carthage, and the Roman Republic. The clear relationships observed between 109 Ag/ 107 Ag and 208 Pb/ 206 Pb reflect mixing of silver ores or silver objects with lead metal used for cupellation. The combined analysis of Ag and Pb isotopes reveal important information about the technology of smelting. The Greek world extracted Ag and Pb from associated ores, whereas, on the Iberian Peninsula, Carthaginians and Republican era Romans applied Phoenician cupellation techniques and added exotic Pb to lead-poor Ag ores. Massive silver re-cupellation is observed in Rome during the Second Punic War. After defeating the Carthaginians and the Macedonians in the late 2 nd century BCE, the Romans brought together the efficient, millenniumold techniques of silver extraction of the Phoenicians, who considered this metal a simple commodity, with the monetization of economy introduced by the Greeks.Silver has been highly prized in the Mediterranean and Near East region for millennia. The most obvious traces of its extraction can be seen in the contamination of ice and peat bogs all the way to the Arctic (Cortizas et al., 2002;Hong et al., 1994). The rise of monetized silver in the late 6 th and the 5 th century BCE in the Eastern Mediterranean world can be interpreted in different ways. Some consider that minting facilitated trade (Davis, 2012;Kim and Kroll, 2008), and, indeed, the abundance of shipwrecks in the Mediterranean as a proxy for economic performance correlates with lead peaks observed in Arctic ice (Parker, 1992). In the long run, however, the spread of coinage is also undoubtedly linked to the explosion of Greek mercenary service in the late 6 th -5 th centuries, but to an extent that varies with the period and the local political circumstances (De Callataÿ, 2019;Krasilnikoff, 1992; Trundle, 2004). The present work uses Ag and Pb isotopes to further inform the debate by investigating the transition between two modes of silver utilization

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Scientific Studies of Inorganic Resources in Archaeology – Overview of Current Status and Prospects

Chirikure

2023

Handbook of Archaeological Sciences

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A miner's perspective on Pb isotope provenances in the Western and Central Mediterranean

Cited by 35 publications

References 40 publications

Lead Labelling on Roman Amphoras. A Short‐Lived Fashion?

Lead Labelling on Roman Amphoras. A Short‐Lived Fashion?

From commodity to money: The rise of silver coinage around the Ancient Mediterranean (sixth–first centuries bce)

Scientific Studies of Inorganic Resources in Archaeology – Overview of Current Status and Prospects

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