Dear Sheppard,
As a specialist in early central Med metallurgy I have always been a little sceptical as to the long-standing claims for Sardinian and (especially) Tuscan tin ore exploitation in prehistory, and quite possibly in ancient times in general. I wonder if you (or someone else) have come across any hard evidence of ancient cassiterite/stannite exploitation (or tin usage) from either region, and if so to what period it dates?
Best wishes,
Andrea Dolfini
Newcastle University
From: Arch-Metals Group [mailto:[log in to unmask]
AC.UK] On Behalf Of W. Sheppard Baird
Sent: 29 August 2017 22:16
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: [Updated Version] Tuscan Bronze Age Tin with Lead Isotopes Analysis Publication
Dear All,
Some of you may know of my interest in the availability of tin during the Bronze Age from the GIS publication "The Distribution of Tin (Cassiterite): Mediterranean Bronze Age" I published online in 2013 based extensively on the world's largest public mineralogical database - Mindat.org. From my research on the Nuraghic Sardinians, I've been looking for deposits of Cassiterite or Stannite for some years now that could explain their abundant production of Bronze objects in the 2nd Millenium BC. Given there are ten locations in Sardinia with mineralizations of Cassiterite I suspected, at least, one of these was possibly a useful source of Bronze Age tin that had been thoroughly exhausted and then later destroyed leaving little or no evidence. This still may be true.
But, after finding nothing beyond mineralizations on Sardinia I recently widened my search following the trail of Cassiterite to Tuscany on the Italian mainland. As my investigation took me on the road to the mines of Monte Valerio I discovered the following works of the Italian scholar Auro Pampaloni:
Pampaloni, 2017, Lo stagno del Campigliese: 40 secoli di uso (Original Italian)
Pampaloni, 2017, The tin of Campigliese: 40 centuries of usage (English Translation)
The following images comprise a Google Earth "slideshow" for mining sites and geographical features mentioned in the above publication:
2. Sardinia
Animated Slideshow Tour for Google Earth users:
Cento Camerelle - Google Earth KMZ file
Note: with Google Earth Pro (it's free!) installed on your computer all you need to do is simply open this file and the slideshow will automatically begin playing.
The following publication on Lead Isotopes Analysis is tightly coupled with the above paper on Campigliese tin.
Pampaloni, 2017, Lead Isotopes Analysis: possibili rischi e probabili error (Original Italian)
Pampaloni, 2017, Lead Isotopes Analysis: possible risks and probable errors (English Translation)
I think anyone interested in a much clearer picture of the supply of tin in the greater Mediterranean during the Bronze Age will find this of great interest and I would love to hear any comments anyone may have.
Best Wishes,
W. Sheppard Baird