LEAD ISOTOPE ANALYSES OF BRONZE AGE COPPER‐BASE ARTEFACTS FROM AL‐MIDAMMAN,YEMEN: TOWARDS THE IDENTIFICATION OF AN INDIGENOUS METAL PRODUCTION AND EXCHANGE SYSTEM IN THE SOUTHERN RED SEA REGION* |
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| Authors: | L. WEEKS E. KEALL V. PASHLEY J. EVANS S. STOCK |
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| Affiliation: | 1. Department of Archaeology, University of Nottingham, University Park, Nottingham NG7 2RD, UK;2. Near Eastern and Asian Civilizations Department, Royal Ontario Museum, 100 Queen's Park, Toronto, Ontario M5S 2C6, Canada;3. NERC Isotope Geosciences Laboratory, British Geological Survey, Keyworth, Nottingham NG12 5GG, UK;4. Conservation Department, Royal Ontario Museum, 100 Queen's Park, Toronto, Ontario M5S 2C6, Canada |
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| Abstract: | The results of the lead isotope analysis (LIA) of 15 copper‐base artefacts from the Bronze Age site of al‐Midamman, Yemen, are reported. The LIA data suggest the existence of an indigenous Bronze Age metal production and exchange system centred on the southern Red Sea region, distinct from those in neighbouring regions of Arabia and the Levant. These preliminary results are highly significant for the archaeology of the region, suggesting that local prehistoric copper extraction sites have thus far gone unrecorded, and highlighting the need for systematic archaeometallurgical fieldwork programmes in the countries surrounding the southern Red Sea. |
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| Keywords: | ARCHAEOMETALLURGY LEAD ISOTOPE ANALYSIS BRONZE AGE RED SEA ARABIA YEMEN COPPER CORROSION |
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