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A diachronic study of Cypriot copper alloy artefacts

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 Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports 7 (2016) 566–573

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Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/jasrep

A diachronic study of Cypriot copper alloy artefacts

Andreas Charalambous ⁎
Archaeological Research Unit, Department of History and Archaeology, University of Cyprus, P.O.Box 20537, CY1678, Nicosia, Cyprus

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: More than 750 copper alloy artefacts coming from the Late Bronze Age site of Pyla Kokkinokremos and the Iron
Received 27 October 2014 Age sites of Palaepaphos Skales and Salamis were analyzed using a handheld pXRF for the determination of the
Received in revised form 20 April 2015 alloy type that was used for their production. The results indicate the abundance of tin in the artefacts of
Accepted 12 December 2015
Palaepaphos Skales and a more cautious use in the artefacts from Salamis. On the other hand, the results reveal
Available online 22 December 2015
the shortage of tin and the use of scrap metal in the case of Pyla Kokkinokremos. In Palaepaphos Skales and
Keywords:
Salamis, tin was used in some artefacts in a high percentage in order to produce objects whose colour imitates
Handheld pXRF that of gold artefacts. Furthermore, the analysis has shown that lead was added deliberately into the alloys to
Chemical analysis improve their cast ability, as the specific component is not present in Cypriot copper ores. The low concentration
Copper alloys of arsenic in a number of artefacts is interpreted as evidence for the use of recycled metal deriving from artefacts
Late Bronze Age dating to previous periods. Iron and zinc are believed to be non-intentional additions to the alloys, resulting from
Iron Age the smelting process. The present diachronic study of Cypriot copper alloys provides significant information
Pyla Kokkinokremos regarding primarily the use of tin and secondly, the presence and justification of the use of the other metallic
Palaepaphos Skales
additives, in the production of bronzes.
Salamis
© 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Cyprus

1. Introduction
The area of the Eastern Mediterranean was facing a transitional state
at the end of the Late Bronze Age, marked by a series of destruction and
abandonment episodes (Muhly, 1992; Bachhuber and Roberts, 2009;
Cline, 2014). In the area of the Aegean, the Mycenaean palatial centres
collapsed (Rutter, 1992), while in the area of Central Anatolia, Hattusa,
the religious and administrative capital of the Hittite Empire was grad-
ually abandoned (Beckman, 2007). Also, in the area of the Levant, a
number of significant sites was either destroyed or abandoned, among
them the very important coastal trade centre of Ugarit (Yon, 1992;
Singer, 1999). As a result of these “Crisis Years” and the breakdown of
trading networks (Muhly, 1984; Snodgrass, 2000), the island of
Cyprus, one of the most important sources of copper in the Eastern
Mediterranean, would also have been affected. Late Bronze Age Cypriot
urban sites, such as Enkomi and Hala Sultan Tekke, were either
destroyed or abandoned (Iacovou, 2008) causing a disruption in the ex-
port and trade of Cypriot copper and conversely in the import of tin
since no tin deposits exist in the island (Muhly, 1985; Kassianidou,
2003). The sources of tin used during this period in Cyprus for the pro-
duction of bronze artefacts, remain open to debate (Muhly, 1984;
Constantinou, 2012).
⁎ Corresponding author at: Archaeological Research Unit, University of Cyprus, P.O. Box
20537, CY 1678, Nicosia, Cyprus.
E-mail address: anchar@ucy.ac.cy.
The LBA settlement of Pyla Kokkinokremos emerged during the tran-
sition from the 13th to the 12th century BC and was inhabited only for a
short period of time. It was abandoned before the middle of the 12th cen-
tury BC, probably as a result of the 12th century BC “crisis” (Karageorghis
and Demas, 1984; Iacovou, 2008; Karageorghis and Kanta, 2014). During
the excavations, a large number of objects made of copper alloys, silver
and gold was discovered at the site (Karageorghis and Demas, 1984).
In the case of Palaepaphos, the situation is very different. The urban
centre of south-western Cyprus had transcended the Mediterranean-
wide crisis at the end of Late Bronze Age and was not destroyed or aban-
doned (Maier, 1999; Iacovou, 2005). The excavation of the tombs in
Skales, one of the Early Iron Age cemeteries of Palaepaphos, brought to
light a large number of bronze and iron artefacts, as well as a significant
number of artefacts made of gold (Karageorghis, 1983).
Salamis, the Iron Age urban centre of eastern Cyprus and of the city-
kingdoms of this period, was founded in the 11th century BC, most
probably by the inhabitants of Enkomi, after the abandonment of their
city (Iacovou, 2005). The necropolis of Salamis is situated to the west
of the city and covers an area of about 7 km2 (Karageorghis, 1967).
The excavations of the very important built tombs, some of them asso-
ciated with the local royal dynasty, brought to light a vast number of ar-
tefacts made of copper alloys and iron, as well as a smaller number of
silver, gold and lead objects (Karageorghis, 1967, 1970, 1973, 1978).
This important assemblage of well dated Late Bronze and Iron Age
Cypriot copper alloy artefacts coming from systematic excavations has
never been previously studied as a whole and thus very little was
known up to now about the alloys used to produce these artefacts. For

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jasrep.2015.12.010
2352-409X/© 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
 A. Charalambous / Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports 7 (2016) 566–573 567

that reason, the basic aims of the present study are: 1) the chemical
analysis of the copper alloy artefacts coming from the three archaeolog-
ical sites in order to ascertain the types of alloys used in each case, 2) the
determination of the tin content in the bronze artefacts, and 3) the
determination of the concentration of the other metallic impurities,
which are found in the copper alloys.
2. Material and methods
2.1. Material
For the present study, a total of 785 copper alloy artefacts were
analysed (Table 1). The artefacts come from three archaeological sites:
1) the late 13th century BC settlement of Pyla Kokkinokremos, located
in east Cyprus, 2) the Early Iron Age (11th–8th centuries BC) necropolis
of Palaepaphos Skales, located in south-west Cyprus and 3) the Iron Age
necropolis of Salamis (9th–3rd centuries BC), located in east Cyprus
(Fig. 1). The large assemblage consists of several types of weapons,
tools, ornaments, table-ware, utensils, parts of the equipment of horses
and chariots, and copper scrap metal (Fig. 2). A number of artefacts
present an advanced corroded state with hardly any metal preserved
on the surface and was rejected from this study.
2.2. pXRF method
The copper alloy artefacts were analysed using a handheld portable
X-ray fluorescence spectrometer (HHpXRF): a 2010 DP-6500C Delta
analyser from Innov-X Systems (now Olympus). The specific analyser,
equipped with a high performance Silicon Drift Detector with a resolu-
tion of 155 eV (Mo-Kα), generates X-rays via a miniaturized 50 kV tube
with a tantalum anode. The X-Ray beam diameter was 3 mm. The final
reported result is the mean value of 3 to 5 measurements conducted on
small corrosion-free areas of each object. The measurement time for
each analysis was 70 s (Al filter).
The analytical mode of the instrument employed for the analyses of
these objects is Alloy Plus. For this mode Beam 1 (40 kV) analyses the
elements Ti, V, Cr, Mn, Fe, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn, As, Hf, Ta, W, Re, Pt, Au, Pb,
Bi, Zr, Nb, Mo, Pd, Ag, Sn and Sb, while Beam 2 (10 kV) is used for the
determination of Mg, Al, Si, P and S. The elements which were analysed
in the studied artefacts were Cu, Sn, Fe, As, Pb, Zn, Sb and Ni (traces). The
specific mode utilizes a Fundamental Parameters algorithm to deter-
mine elemental concentration without the requirement of stored spec-
tral fingerprint libraries (chemical composition of several types of
alloys). Additionally, certified reference materials like CRM-875 (Glen
Spectra Reference Materials, England) and BCR-691 (European
Commission — Joint Research Centre, Institute for Reference Materials
and Measurements, Belgium) were used in order to check the accuracy
and reliability of the applied mode. The results of the analyses of the cer-
tified reference materials along with the detection limits of the instru-
ment for the copper alloys' composition are provided in Table 2.
Despite the well-known limitations of the technique (Karydas, 2007;
Frahm and Doonan, 2013), regarding mainly the surface nature of the
analysis (Karydas, 2007; Gliozzo et al., 2010; Martinón-Torres et al.,
2012), the use of the pXRF in the present study was requisite due to
the fact that sampling or removing the artefacts from the museum
was not permitted. The portability and the non-destructive analysis
that the specific technique provides to the users, especially in the case
of analysing archaeological materials (Craig et al., 2007; Gliozzo et al.,
2010; Speakman et al., 2011; Shugar and Mass, 2012), have rendered
HHpXRF extremely widespread in the field of archaeological sciences.
Moreover, a number of artefacts from Palaepaphos Skales were
selected for the removal of the surface corrosion products and the expo-
sure of the metallic surface, in order to test the reliability of our analyt-
ical methodology, which was based on the analysis of surface corrosion-
free metallic areas. For this reason, the patina was removed from small
marked areas (5 × 5 mm). Measurements were performed on the
“fresh” exposed metal and on the previously selected metallic surface
which was free of corrosion in order to see if there is any significant dif-
ference in the chemical composition. The results of this comparison,

Table 1
The studied copper alloy artefacts.

Site Weapons Tools Jewellery Table-ware/utensils Equipment of Scrap metal

horses/chariots

Arrowheads 2 Needles 7 Earrings 2 Fragments 28

Pyla Kokkinokremos Handles 2 Bracelet 1 Flat sheets 11
Spatula 1 Attachments 2 Wires 2
Knife 1 pendants
Nail 1 Pins 2
Others 3
Total: 65
Palaepaphos Spearheads 6 Tweezers 3 Fibulae 47 Bowls 32
Skales Arrowhead 1 Needles 11 Pins 12 Vessel 1
Ladle 1 Rings 12 Obeloi 3
Awl 1 Finger-rings 10 Rod tripods 2
Saw 1 Earrings 6
Spatula 1 Bracelet 1
Others 6
Total: 157
Salamis Arrowheads 28 Rods 19 Earrings 63 Bowls 2 Bands 12
Spearhead 1 Needles 4 Pins 15 Cauldron 1 Blinkers 17
Shield 1 Cham 1 Attachments 7 Disks 4 Breast-plates 11
Scales 1 Finger-rings 3 Belts 5 Attachments 9
Rings 10 Rings 51 Standards 11
Nails 26 Mirrors 10 Nails 132
Spatula 1 Buckle 1 Rings 20
Strigils 3 Fibula 1 Sockets 4
Mountings 2 Caps 2
Handles 2 Tubular objects 17
Hooks 2 Loops 10
Hinges 3 Bell 1
Others 25
Total: 563
Total: 785
568 A. Charalambous / Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports 7 (2016) 566–573

Fig. 1. Map of Cyprus showing the location of Pyla Kokkinokremos, Palaepaphos Skales and the Necropolis of Salamis.

Fig. 2. (a) Broken bull figurine P.N.121 from Pyla Kokkinokremos, (b) Hemispherical bronze bowl T67/14 from Tomb 67 of Palaepaphos Skales' cemetery, (c) Horse blinker T3/20 from Tomb
3 of the Necropolis of Salamis, (d) Chariot standard T3/17 from Tomb 3 of the Necropolis of Salamis.
Photographed by A. Charalambous.
 A. Charalambous / Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports 7 (2016) 566–573 569

focusing on the main alloy component of tin, showed that the deviation

Detection
limits (%)
between the points initially selected for analysis and the freshly-cleaned

0.05
areas in all tested artefacts is rather small, always b ±5% of the initial

0.1
0.1
0.2

0.2
value (for more details see Charalambous et al., 2014).

0.27 ± 0.02
value ± std

7.4 ± 0.05
Measured
3. Results

n.d.

n.d.
–
The results of the analyses showed that the large majority of the

Certified value ±
studied artefacts are made of copper–tin alloys, with lead, iron, arsenic,

0.157 ± 0.025
zinc and antimony (Table 3) being the major metallic impurities. In the

0.194 ± 0.02
0.2 ± 0.018
uncertainty
Tin–bronze

cases of Pyla and Palaepaphos, almost all artefacts are made of copper–

7 ± 0.6
tin alloys, contrary to the case of Salamis, where a large group of more
than 100 objects has no tin content. The tin concentration of the copper

–
alloy artefacts is presented in Fig. 3 as histograms of its frequency

0.27 ± 0.02
9.85 ± 0.15
value ± std
Measured

distribution.
9 ± 0.4

More specifically, in the case of Pyla Kokkinokremos, the average tin

n.d.

content of the 65 objects is 5.6 ± 3.9%. Three artefacts contain no tin,

–

while four objects have a tin concentration ranging between 0.5 and
Certified value ±

1.5%. Moreover, there are 44 artefacts with a tin concentration between

0.148 ± 0.024

0.285 ± 0.022
Lead–bronze

2 and 9%, while only 14 objects have a tin concentration higher than 9%
uncertainty

10.1 ± 0.8
9.2 ± 1.7

(Charalambous and Kassianidou, 2014). Moving on to Palaepaphos

Skales, the average Sn content of the analysed artefacts is 8.1 ± 2.2%,
however, there is a group of 28 artefacts, where the average Sn content
–

is 18.6 ± 2.8%. On the contrary, only two artefacts have a tin content
0.31 ± 0.02
0.24 ± 0.03

4.67 ± 0.35
value ± std
Measured

below 1% and only three artefacts contain no tin at all (Charalambous

et al., 2014). Finally, in the case of Salamis, the average tin content is
n.d.

6.6 ± 4.5%. It should be pointed out however, that the assemblage in-
–

cludes a large group of 173 objects, comprised mainly of nails, which

Certified value ±
Arsenic–copper

contain no tin. As to the rest of the artefacts, 132 have a tin concentra-
0.175 ± 0.014
0.05 ± 0.005
0.2 ± 0.029

tion lower than 5% (among which 45 objects have a tin content of

uncertainty

4.6 ± 0.27

0.05–2%), 170 objects have a tin concentration between 5 and 9%,

while only 88 artefacts have a tin content higher than 9%. Out of these
–

88 artefacts, only 29 have a tin content higher than 13%.

Lead, in the case of Pyla Kokkinokremos, is detected in only 23 objects
14.83 ± 0.3
value ± std
The results of the analyses of the certified reference materials and the detection limits of the pXRF for the copper alloys.

2.18 ± 0.1
0.5 ± 0.05
Measured

(0.1–0.4%). Only four artefacts have a much higher Pb concentration. In

Palaepaphos Skales, Pb is detected in all objects, ranging from 0.1 up to
n.d
–

2.6%, but the vast majority of them have a Pb concentration below 1%.
Ten objects have no lead at all and only four artefacts have a higher Pb
Certified value ±

concentration. As for Salamis, the vast majority of the artefacts have a

0.099 ± 0.01
2.06 ± 0.07
0.39 ± 0.04
uncertainty

Pb concentration that ranges from 0.1 up to 2%. Only 47 artefacts have

14.8 ± 0.5

a Pb concentration that exceeds 2%.

Brass

Arsenic, in the case of Pyla Kokkinokremos, it is detected in 30 objects

–

(0.2–0.4%). At Palaepaphos Skales and Salamis, arsenic is present in 25

value ± std

7.11 ± 0.05

5.91 ± 0.15

and 21 artefacts, respectively, in a concentration of 0.2%. Iron was

Measured

7.7 ± 0.6

found in all objects in a concentration range of 0.05–2%, but the vast ma-
jority of them have iron concentration below 1%. As for zinc, in Pyla
n.d
–

Kokkinokremos and Palaepaphos Skales, it is found only in 15 (0.1–

Quaternary bronze

0.4%) and 24 objects (0.1–1%), respectively. In Salamis, Zn is detected

Certified value ±

in 110 objects (0.1–0.8%) and only three objects have a much higher
6 .02 ± 0.22
7.16 ± 0.21

0.19 ± 0.01
uncertainty

Zn concentration (5.1%, 8.5% and 11.2% Zn). Finally, antimony (Sb) is de-
7.9 ± 0.7
BCR-691

tected only in 32 artefacts from Salamis (0.1–0.6%).

–

4. Discussion
value ± std

0.65 ± 0.02
10.5 ± 0.2
Measured

5.2 ± 0.3

What is the lowest amount of tin in copper that is needed to define a

Certified reference material

deliberate addition for the production of bronze is not well defined

n.d.

(Pernicka et al., 1990; Hall and Steadman, 1991; Moorey, 1994). As tin
is rarely found in concentrations higher than 0.1% in copper ores, a tin
Certified Value ±

0.14 ± 0.02
uncertainty

0.6 ± 0.06
10.5 ± 0.8
5.4 ± 0.4
CRM-875

Table 3
Pb, As, Fe, Zn and Sb concentrations of the studied artefacts.
–

Site Pb (%) As (%) Fe (%) Zn (%) Sb (%)

Element

Pyla Kokkinokremos 0.1–0.4 0.2–0.4 0.1–1.5 0 1–0.4 n.d.

Table 2

Palaepaphos Skales 0.1–2.5 0.2 0.05–1.4 0.1–1 n.d.

Zn
Pb
Sn

As
Fe

Salamis 0.1–2 0.2 0.05–2 0.1–0.8 0.1–0.6

570 A. Charalambous / Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports 7 (2016) 566–573

Fig. 3. Histograms showing the Sn content of the studied bronze artefacts.

concentration of over 0.1%, therefore, should normally be considered as
a deliberate or accidental (recycling-use of scrap metal containing small
amounts of tin) addition, since the use and effects of such small
amounts of tin (below 1%) are minimal. Tin was intentionally added
to copper by smiths in order to reduce the melting temperature and to
improve the hardness of the bronze alloy (Klein and Hauptmann, 1999).
In the case of Pyla Kokkinokremos, the analysed assemblage exhibits
a great variability in the tin concentration, due mainly to the fact that
consists mostly of several pieces of scrap metal and only of a small
number of complete or identifiable objects. Additionally, there was
not even a consistent use of the same alloy for the same category of ob-
jects. A good example is the group of needles from the site, which have a
concentration of tin which ranges from 2.3% up to 10.7%. Moreover,
since Cypriot copper ores contain no tin, the low tin concentration in
four objects (a lump, a fragment and two sheets), ranging between 0.5
and 1.5%, possibly indicates the melting together of copper metal with
bronze scrap, originally containing a higher amount of tin (Balthazar,
1990).
As for Palaepaphos Skales, the Early Iron Age smiths seem to contin-
ue the Late Bronze Age metalworking tradition of using standard binary
bronzes with Sn content around 10% (Tylecote, 1982), as the average Sn
content of the majority of the artefacts is 8.1 ± 2.2%, but also they pro-
duced high-tin artefacts, with a golden colour, probably in an attempt to
imitate the appearance of similar gold artefacts (Giumlia-Mair, 2005;
 A. Charalambous / Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports 7 (2016) 566–573
Papasavvas, 2012). This high-tin group of 28 artefacts, with an average
Sn content of 18.6 ± 2.8%, is comprised mainly of bowls. The remaining
artefacts in this high-tin group are a ring, a finger-ring and a fibula. On
the other hand, the very low tin concentration of an obelos (roasting
spit) and a bowl (0.3 and 0.7% Sn) indicates the use of recycled bronze
for their manufacture.
Of much interest are the three obeloi (roasting spits), among the ear-
liest examples of this type in Cyprus (Karageorghis, 1983; Strøm, 1992).
It has been suggested that obeloi could have been used as an exchange
unit for copper (Strøm, 1992; Iacovou, 2012). However, the fact that the
specific obeloi differ both in their weight and length and are not made of
pure copper or even of the same alloy, cannot justify their use as an ex-
change unit (Charalambous et al., 2014).
In the Iron Age necropolis of Salamis, the results show a relatively
lower average tin concentration in the bronze artefacts, which is, how-
ever, due to the large group of objects without tin content (almost a
third of the assemblage), as well as the much smaller high-tin group,
in the assemblage as opposed to the one from Palaepaphos Skales. The
fact that the group of objects with no tin consists almost exclusively of
nails, suggests that the smiths of Salamis purposefully did not use the
expensive, imported tin, to make them but only the locally available
in abundance, pure copper. Furthermore, when considering the low
number of high tin bronzes in comparison to the assemblage from
Palaepaphos, one should bear in mind that the burial chambers of the
Salamis tombs were looted and that all the artefacts included in our
study were found in the dromos of the tomb (the area in front of the
burial chamber). Thus unlike Palaepaphos where numerous bronze
bowls were found in some of the tombs, the Salamis excavations pro-
duced only 2 bowls. In Salamis, the high-tin bronze alloy was used
mainly for the manufacture of the decorations of the chariots (stan-
dards) and horses (breast-plates) and again the reason must surely
have been to produce artefacts with a golden hue.
Lead had frequently been used in antiquity in copper alloys. The ad-
dition of lead improves fluidity and cast ability and lowers the melting
point of the alloy (Giumlia-Mair, 1992; Klein and Hauptmann, 1999).
The optimal fluidity was achieved with the addition of only 2–3% lead
(Philip, 1991). The vast majority of the objects have a lead content of
Fig. 4. The upper part of the cauldron T79/202 from Salamis, with the hammered sirens and the cast griffin attachments.
Photographed by A. Charalambous.
571
below 2% and only a limited number of artefacts exceed this optimal
limit. The effects of such small amounts of lead (below 1%) on the prop-
erties of the alloy are minimal. These small amounts of lead could have
entered in the alloys through the smelting process since copper ores
sometimes contain lead, but in the case of Cyprus the situation is differ-
ent as lead is not present in Cypriot copper ores (Constantinou, 1982).
Based on that, the detection of lead in the studied bronze artefacts
even at concentrations below 1% can only be interpreted as a deliberate
or accidental addition (melting together copper with scrap metal with
higher lead concentration).
As for the high-lead artefacts, of much interest is a rod tripod from
Skales (Charalambous et al., 2014) and the bronze cauldron from
Salamis (Tomb 79), which was decorated with four siren attachments
and eight griffin protomes (Fig. 4) (Karageorghis, 1973). Starting with
the tripod, the surface analyses showed that it contains a lead concen-
tration of 11.9 ± 0.8%. Since lead, in high concentrations, is not soluble
in molten copper and has the tendency to concentrate on the surface of
the object (Giumlia-Mair, 1992; Chiavari et al., 2010), the high lead con-
tent of the tripod could be an amassing of that lead. Nevertheless, even if
the level of lead is not exactly 11.9%, it must still be high, since the com-
plex design of the tripod would justify the use of an alloy with such a
high lead concentration, as this would improve its casting properties
(Papasavvas, 2003). Such high lead concentrations have also been de-
tected in the analysis of other Cypriot rod tripods and four sided stands
(Papasavvas, 2001). As for the cauldron of Salamis, the analyses show
that the alloy of the sirens is entirely different to the one used for the
griffins. More specifically, the hammered sirens are made of a copper-
tin alloy which contains low amounts of lead (less than 1%), in contrast
to the cast griffins, whose copper–tin alloy contains much more than
10% Pb, and in some cases as much as nearly 30%. It is of significance,
that the only parts of the sirens which exhibit higher lead content are
the cast crests, riveted to the top of their heads, where the lead content
is much higher than 10%, resembling that of the cast griffins. Clearly
there was a deliberate choice in the different alloys used arising from
the different techniques of manufacture of the two types of alloys.
As for arsenic, the very low detected concentration in the artefacts
indicates a non-intentional addition, since a concentration of arsenic
572 A. Charalambous / Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports 7 (2016) 566–573
higher than 2% was needed in order to improve the alloy's properties
(Hauptmann, 2007). Arsenic was entering the alloys through the
smelting of polymetallic copper ores, which contained small amounts
of this metal (Giumlia-Mair, 1992), or through the flux (Tylecote,
1982). Cypriot ores contain very low concentrations of arsenic
(~0.02%) and the only areas on the island with ores that contain high
concentrations of arsenic are located in the Limassol Forest (Gass
et al., 1994). This means that, either the metal used to produce these ob-
jects came from that area, or that these objects were partially made of
metal deriving from the recycling of objects dating to previous periods,
when arsenical copper was extensively used (Sherratt, 2012). This sug-
gestion is also supported by the fact that all objects that contain arsenic
also contain tin (Balthazar, 1990).
The presence of iron in all artefacts can be interpreted as coming
through the smelting of chalcopyrite (Tylecote, 1982). However, the
very low iron content of some of the artefacts indicates the successful
attempt to refine the copper before the production of bronze (Craddock
and Meeks, 1987).
Zinc commonly occurs in the Cypriot copper ores (Constantinou,
1982) and its presence in the artefacts can be justified as a non-
intentional addition to the alloy, resulting from the smelting procedure
(Hauptmann, 2007). As has already been mentioned, three artefacts
(a pin, a fibula and a nail) from Salamis have a much higher zinc concen-
tration and exhibit the characteristic golden colour of the copper–zinc
alloy (brass). The presence of these early brasses is not uncommon for
the period since earlier examples of brasses (2.6–14.4% Zn), dated to
the 14th century BC, were found at Nuzi (Northern Iraq) and in Ugarit
(Craddock and Eckstein, 2003).
Finally, the presence of antimony can also be justified as a non-
intentional addition to the alloy, resulting from the smelting process
(Hauptmann, 2007).
5. Conclusions
The chemical analysis of a large assemblage of copper alloy artefacts
from Pyla Kokkinokremos, Palaepaphos Skales and Salamis, brought to
light some interesting results. Starting with the use of tin, in the case
of Pyla Kokkinokremos, the fact that more than half of the assemblage,
mainly composed of different categories of scrap metal, has a tin con-
centration lower than 5% may suggest that tin was perhaps not available
in abundance in the specific area during that period (end of 13th centu-
ry BC). Indeed, the only finds from this site which had a tin content of
over 9% were broken artefacts, clearly ready to be recycled and dating
to an earlier phase.
The analyses of the artefacts from Palaepaphos Skales showed a gen-
erally high tin content, thus discouraging any suggestions for a shortage
in this metal during the Early Iron Age. The analysis of a large number of
different categories of objects revealed the use of different alloys, which
were regulated according to the specific types of artefacts, indicating the
high-level technological expertise of the Cypriot smiths. Thus, tools and
weapons were produced with the optimal amount 8–10% of tin, while
the group of the hemispherical bowls was made with a different alloy
with much higher percentages of tin, most probably in order to repro-
duce the appearance of golden-like vessels. The evidence from Skales
for the availability of tin in the area of Palaepaphos indicates a continu-
ity of the Cypriot bronze industry from the LBA to the EIA.
In Salamis, the results of the analysis showed that a large number of
objects, mainly nails, contain no tin. The number of high-tin artefacts is
limited, especially when compared with Skales, indicating perhaps a
more prudent use of this additive or reflecting the different configura-
tion of the assemblage. The fact that a significant number of objects
from Salamis have a tin concentration lower than 5% may also indicate
the recycling of discarded bronzes during this period.
As for the other elements detected, lead was added deliberately into
the alloys, mainly for the improvement of their cast ability, although its
low concentration in many cases indicates that they were possibly made
of recycled metal with initially higher lead concentration. The presence
of arsenic in a number of artefacts could be taken as evidence for the use
of recycled metal deriving from artefacts dating to the EBA and MBA.
Iron, zinc and antimony are believed to be non-intentional additions
to the alloys, all resulting from the smelting process. In Salamis there
are also some examples of early copper-zinc alloys.
The present diachronic study of Cypriot copper alloys, that covers
the Late Bronze and the Iron Age, provides significant information re-
garding the use of tin and the presence and justification of the use of
the other metallic additives, in the production of bronzes. The enrich-
ment of this study with the chemical analysis of copper alloy artefacts
from different sites on the island, dating to the same but also to earlier
and later periods, will provide further information concerning the use
of copper alloys through time in Cyprus.
Acknowledgments
The author wishes to thank Dr. Maria Hadjicosti, former Director of
the Department of Antiquities of Cyprus, and the excavator of the
sites, Prof. Vassos Karageorghis, for the permission to analyse the arte-
facts. The author would also like to thank the two anonymous reviewers
for their constructive comments and suggestions which resulted in a
significantly improved paper. The research was conducted as part of
the project entitled “A diachronic study of Cypriot metalwork” under-
taken by Dr. Andreas Charalambous within the framework of the
NARNIA (New Archaeological Research Network for Integrating Ap-
proaches to ancient material studies) Project and under the supervision
of Prof. Vasiliki Kassianidou and Dr. George Papasavvas. NARNIA is a
Marie Curie Initial Training Network which is funded by the FP7 and
the European Union (Grant agreement no.: 265010). For more informa-
tion please visit the NARNIA website: http://narnia-itn.eu/.
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