On Wed, 23 Feb 2000, Ken Hamilton wrote:
> Although direct evidence of Bronze Age tin mining in Europe and
> the Mediterranean are rare (the only mine I can think of offhand is
> Kestel, in Turkey, and that may have been a hematite mine which also
> produced a bit of tin), there was almost certainly enough tin for the
> "vast amounts" of bronze produced. Alluvial tin occurs in very near
> surface deposits of stream tin, which merely need to be dug out, rather
> than mined (i.e. you don't need to cut into the rock). Also, you can
> pan for cassiterite (tin oxide), in the same way you pan for gold.
> There were sizeable deposits in Cornwall, some in the Harz mountains,
> in Germany (although there is no mining evidence here, but panning is
> possible), Iberia (with evidence for tin smelting) and Turkey.
Just to add to Ken's expertise the work carried out by the German
Archaeological Institute in the Central Asian Republics of the former
Soviet Union
http://www.dainst.de/en/pro/karnab.html
The results look quite interesting and I am certainly not the only person
who is looking forward to hearing more. Furthermore, I think tin deposits
were exploited in antiquity also in the Ore Mountains of Eastern
Germany/Bohemia, but I am less well informed about the precise dating of
the evidence.
Irene
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Wer die Vergangenheit nicht kennt, kann die Zukunft nicht gestalten.
(Goethe)
Irene E Schrufer-Kolb
School of Archaeological Studies Tel.: +44-(0)1280-823102
University of Leicester FAX: +44-(0)116-252-5005
University Road e-mail: [log in to unmask]
Leicester LE1 7RH http://www.le.ac.uk/ar/ies1/
United Kingdom
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