Provenance of tin in the Late Bronze Age balkans based on probabilistic and spatial analysis of Sn isotopes
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2020
Authors
Mason, AndreaPowell, Wayne
Bankoff, Arthur H.
Mathur, Ryan
Price, M.
Bulatović, Aleksandar
Filipović, Vojislav
Article (Published version)
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We report the largest published dataset to date of Sn-isotopic compositions of Bronze Age artifacts (338) along with 150 cassiterite samples (75 new) from six potential tin ore sources from which the tin in these artifacts were thought to have likely originated. The artifacts are from a broad area, Central Europe through the Central Balkans, and the six tin sources are Cornwall, three sites in the Erzgebirge, and two sites in Serbia. A clustering analysis on mean site-level isotopic values of δ124Sn identifies regional variation that can be attributed to the use of different tin ore sources in different regions. Therefore, geographically meaningful regions were identified to group the Bronze Age artifact assemblages and a probabilistic, Bayesian analysis was performed to determine the proportional contribution of each tin source to each regional assemblage. Artifacts enriched in heavy isotopes (δ124Sn > 0.7‰) that cluster in west-central Serbia are likely associated with the ores fr...om Mt. Cer in west Serbia. Mixed artifact assemblages (high and low δ124Sn) in this region are attributed to the use of cassiterite from the two Serbian sites (Mt. Cer and Mt. Bukulja). Moderate composition artifacts that occur north of the Middle Danube in Vojvodina, Transylvania, and Central Europe are likely associated primarily with ores from the West Pluton of the Erzgebirge. Compositionally light bronzes (δ124Sn < 0.2‰) in southern Serbia and the lower Danube river valley cannot be linked to a documented ore source. There is no indication of the use of ores from Cornwall or the East Pluton of the Erzgebirge in Central Europe and the Balkans during the Late Bronze Age.
Keywords:
Tin isotopes / Provenance / Probabilistic sourcing / Cassiterite / Bronze / Bronze age / ArchaeometallurgySource:
Journal of Archaeological Science, 2020, 122Publisher:
- Elsevier Inc.
DOI: 10.1016/j.jas.2020.105181
ISSN: 0305-4403
WoS: 000571506000003
Scopus: 2-s2.0-85089388093
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Археолошки институт / Institute of ArchaeologyTY - JOUR AU - Mason, Andrea AU - Powell, Wayne AU - Bankoff, Arthur H. AU - Mathur, Ryan AU - Price, M. AU - Bulatović, Aleksandar AU - Filipović, Vojislav PY - 2020 UR - http://rai.ai.ac.rs/handle/123456789/336 AB - We report the largest published dataset to date of Sn-isotopic compositions of Bronze Age artifacts (338) along with 150 cassiterite samples (75 new) from six potential tin ore sources from which the tin in these artifacts were thought to have likely originated. The artifacts are from a broad area, Central Europe through the Central Balkans, and the six tin sources are Cornwall, three sites in the Erzgebirge, and two sites in Serbia. A clustering analysis on mean site-level isotopic values of δ124Sn identifies regional variation that can be attributed to the use of different tin ore sources in different regions. Therefore, geographically meaningful regions were identified to group the Bronze Age artifact assemblages and a probabilistic, Bayesian analysis was performed to determine the proportional contribution of each tin source to each regional assemblage. Artifacts enriched in heavy isotopes (δ124Sn > 0.7‰) that cluster in west-central Serbia are likely associated with the ores from Mt. Cer in west Serbia. Mixed artifact assemblages (high and low δ124Sn) in this region are attributed to the use of cassiterite from the two Serbian sites (Mt. Cer and Mt. Bukulja). Moderate composition artifacts that occur north of the Middle Danube in Vojvodina, Transylvania, and Central Europe are likely associated primarily with ores from the West Pluton of the Erzgebirge. Compositionally light bronzes (δ124Sn < 0.2‰) in southern Serbia and the lower Danube river valley cannot be linked to a documented ore source. There is no indication of the use of ores from Cornwall or the East Pluton of the Erzgebirge in Central Europe and the Balkans during the Late Bronze Age. PB - Elsevier Inc. T2 - Journal of Archaeological Science T1 - Provenance of tin in the Late Bronze Age balkans based on probabilistic and spatial analysis of Sn isotopes VL - 122 DO - 10.1016/j.jas.2020.105181 ER -
@article{ author = "Mason, Andrea and Powell, Wayne and Bankoff, Arthur H. and Mathur, Ryan and Price, M. and Bulatović, Aleksandar and Filipović, Vojislav", year = "2020", abstract = "We report the largest published dataset to date of Sn-isotopic compositions of Bronze Age artifacts (338) along with 150 cassiterite samples (75 new) from six potential tin ore sources from which the tin in these artifacts were thought to have likely originated. The artifacts are from a broad area, Central Europe through the Central Balkans, and the six tin sources are Cornwall, three sites in the Erzgebirge, and two sites in Serbia. A clustering analysis on mean site-level isotopic values of δ124Sn identifies regional variation that can be attributed to the use of different tin ore sources in different regions. Therefore, geographically meaningful regions were identified to group the Bronze Age artifact assemblages and a probabilistic, Bayesian analysis was performed to determine the proportional contribution of each tin source to each regional assemblage. Artifacts enriched in heavy isotopes (δ124Sn > 0.7‰) that cluster in west-central Serbia are likely associated with the ores from Mt. Cer in west Serbia. Mixed artifact assemblages (high and low δ124Sn) in this region are attributed to the use of cassiterite from the two Serbian sites (Mt. Cer and Mt. Bukulja). Moderate composition artifacts that occur north of the Middle Danube in Vojvodina, Transylvania, and Central Europe are likely associated primarily with ores from the West Pluton of the Erzgebirge. Compositionally light bronzes (δ124Sn < 0.2‰) in southern Serbia and the lower Danube river valley cannot be linked to a documented ore source. There is no indication of the use of ores from Cornwall or the East Pluton of the Erzgebirge in Central Europe and the Balkans during the Late Bronze Age.", publisher = "Elsevier Inc.", journal = "Journal of Archaeological Science", title = "Provenance of tin in the Late Bronze Age balkans based on probabilistic and spatial analysis of Sn isotopes", volume = "122", doi = "10.1016/j.jas.2020.105181" }
Mason, A., Powell, W., Bankoff, A. H., Mathur, R., Price, M., Bulatović, A.,& Filipović, V.. (2020). Provenance of tin in the Late Bronze Age balkans based on probabilistic and spatial analysis of Sn isotopes. in Journal of Archaeological Science Elsevier Inc.., 122. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jas.2020.105181
Mason A, Powell W, Bankoff AH, Mathur R, Price M, Bulatović A, Filipović V. Provenance of tin in the Late Bronze Age balkans based on probabilistic and spatial analysis of Sn isotopes. in Journal of Archaeological Science. 2020;122. doi:10.1016/j.jas.2020.105181 .
Mason, Andrea, Powell, Wayne, Bankoff, Arthur H., Mathur, Ryan, Price, M., Bulatović, Aleksandar, Filipović, Vojislav, "Provenance of tin in the Late Bronze Age balkans based on probabilistic and spatial analysis of Sn isotopes" in Journal of Archaeological Science, 122 (2020), https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jas.2020.105181 . .