Iridium to provenance ancient silver

Wood, Jonathan R.; Charlton, Michael; Murillo-Barroso, Mercedes; Martinón‐Torres, Marcos

doi:10.1016/j.jas.2017.03.002

Cited by 19 publications

(24 citation statements)

References 22 publications

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“…4). It is also very different to that of Athenian coins which were produced from silver mined at Laurion in Attica, which generally have low Pb crustal ages (see Wood et al 2017, 2019. Figure 4 shows that the Pb crustal ages of Laurion ores lie between -30 and +55 Ma and a range of ages of Athenian coins from the Asyut hoard (Gale et al 1980).…”

Section: Iberian Silver In Greecementioning

confidence: 83%

“…The sample was described as a Ag-Pb cake, reflecting the high levels of lead in this semi-refined ingot. LIA values were used to calculate the Pb crustal age in millions of years (Ma) from the twostage evolution model (see Wood et al 2017Wood et al , 2019Desaulty et al 2011). EPMA was conducted as it permitted measurement of elements not detected by pXRF, e.g.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Most coins from Aegina have Au/Ag levels in excess of that found in the ores of Laurion or Siphnos, suggesting a different silver source. The silver in coins with high iridium levels may have derived from the Near East (Wood et al 2017). The range of crustal ages and the semblance of linearity are suggestive of silver from Iberia mixed with lead from Laurion (in colour in the electronic version).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…silver-lead ingots from Iberia mixed with lead from Laurion. Figure 8 shows the same data, incorporating the gold to silver fraction in the Aeginetan coins, plotted against their Pb Crustal age (Ma) calculated from their lead isotope ratios (see Wood et al 2017). What is immediately apparent is that many of the coins have Au/Ag levels which are higher than expected from silver deriving from Laurion or Siphnian ores (which generally have less than 0.1 % Au).…”

Section: Island Of Aeginamentioning

confidence: 94%

“…It is probable that the people of this silver-free island procured silver from wherever they could. In fact, six of the 38 Aeginetan coins have high levels of iridium, which possibly indicates a Near East origin for the silver (Wood et al 2017). Nonetheless, this silver may still have been refined with lead from Laurion.…”

Section: Island Of Aeginamentioning

confidence: 99%

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Plata semirrefinada para los plateros de la Edad del Hierro en el Mediterráneo: un mecanismo para identificar la plata ibérica

Wood

Montero‐Ruiz

2019

Trab. prehist.

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A fragment of a silver ingot recovered from the Phoenician settlement of La Rebanadilla, near Malaga, in south-east Iberia has been investigated using lead isotope and compositional analyses. The ingot, which was found at the lowest levels of the site, potentially dates from 11 th -9 th century BC, placing it alongside the hoards of hacksilver found in the southern Levant in terms of chronology. The Pb crustal age (from lead isotope data) and compositional data support that the ingot derives from Hercynian-age ores with high bismuth concentrations. This signature is consistent with the Pyritic belt of south-west Iberia, particularly around the ancient mining areas of Riotinto. It is proposed that the silver for this ingot was extracted from jarosite ores at Riotinto, where it was coarsely refined through cupellation into an ingot still retaining high levels of lead, before being transported to La Rebanadilla, which was a potential point of departure back to the Phoenician homeland. The significance of transporting silver in a form which would have required further refining is discussed in relation to the movement of silver by the Phoenicians in the Iron Age Mediterranean. A new mechanism is proposed to explain the elusive nature of Iberian silver in the archaeological record.

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Section: Iberian Silver In Greecementioning

confidence: 83%

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Island Of Aeginamentioning

confidence: 94%

Section: Island Of Aeginamentioning

confidence: 99%

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Plata semirrefinada para los plateros de la Edad del Hierro en el Mediterráneo: un mecanismo para identificar la plata ibérica

Wood

Montero‐Ruiz

2019

Trab. prehist.

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Eastern Mediterranean Bronze Age Trade in Archaeological Perspective: A Review of Interpretative and Empirical Developments

Murray

2022

J Archaeol Res

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From Iberia to the Southern Levant: The Movement of Silver Across the Mediterranean in the Early Iron Age

2019

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The origins of the silver trade across the Mediterranean, and the role of the Phoenicians in this phenomenon, remain contentious. This is partly because of difficulties encountered when trying to assign archaeological silver to its geological sources. Here we present a reanalysis of Iron Age silver hoards in the southern Levant, which demonstrates not only that recycling of silver was widespread in the Early and Late Iron Age, but that the components of this mixed silver originated from the Aegean, Anatolia and the western Mediterranean. An assessment of lead isotope analyses combined with compositional data allows the identification of mixing lines based on gold levels in the silver and the Pb crustal age (or, more loosely, geological age) of the ore from which the silver originated. It is shown that, from as early as the 11th century BC, these mixed silver signatures derive from the Taurus mountains in Anatolia, from Iberia and an unknown source-with Sardinia as an additional possibility-and Laurion in Greece in the Late Iron Age. In contrast to copper, which was deliberately alloyed with silver, gold appears to have been mixed unintentionally, through the melting down of silver objects with gold parts. It is suggested that vertical mixing lines (with constant Pb crustal age but variable Au), may indicate the melting down and mixing of silver in times of unrest, both here and in other contexts. Gold and lead concentrations in the silver indicate that native silver from Iberia was most likely used in the Early Iron Age, suggesting that the first people to convey silver to the southern Levant were not miners but traders who had acquired silver directly from the indigenous Bronze Age inhabitants of Iberia. However, evidence of the exploitation of jarosite also supports that silver ore mining and cupellation was ongoing in Iberia at a similar time, and continued in the Late Iron Agepotentially a result of technological transfer from the East. In essence, the western Mediterranean origin of the silver in these Early Iron Age southern Levantine hoards supports an emerging picture of Mediterranean interactions and trade relations in the increasingly bright Dark Ages (c. 1200-800 BC).

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Iridium to provenance ancient silver

Cited by 19 publications

References 22 publications

Plata semirrefinada para los plateros de la Edad del Hierro en el Mediterráneo: un mecanismo para identificar la plata ibérica

Plata semirrefinada para los plateros de la Edad del Hierro en el Mediterráneo: un mecanismo para identificar la plata ibérica

Eastern Mediterranean Bronze Age Trade in Archaeological Perspective: A Review of Interpretative and Empirical Developments

From Iberia to the Southern Levant: The Movement of Silver Across the Mediterranean in the Early Iron Age

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