Tin Sources and regional Trade in the Bronze Age of Southeast Europe: Evidence from Tin Isotopes

Abstract

The Balkan and Rhodope mountains of Bulgaria are rich in copper, gold, lead, zinc, and silver, for the most part associated with Alpine magmatism (Ciobanu et al. 2002). Copper ores from this region were exploited by prehistoric cultures as early as 5000 BCE (O’Brien 2014), with an estimated 500 tonnes of copper metal produced from the Chalcolithic mines of Ai Bunar alone (Черных 1978a). However, lacking volumetrically significant ores of tin, this metal must have been imported to supply Bulgarian bronze production in present day Bulgarian lands throughout Prehistory. Large-scale, trans-regional trade of tin was well established in the Late Bronze Age of the Eastern Mediterranean (Bass 1986; Galili et al. 1986). Given Bulgaria’s proximity to the Aegean, it is probable that this appropriate geographic location contributed to Bulgaria’s tin imports. However, well-documented tin ores occur in the Erzgebirge Mountains of Bohemia. Some opinions exist about the important role of the ore deposits in the Dinaric Alps of west Serbia. These European ores may have contributed significantly to bronze production in the Lower Danube region (cf. Nessel, Pernicka, this volume).