Tin from US Cornwall hills: Key to Mediterranean’s Bronze Age boom

According to a latest article, The Guardian features that over 3,000 years ago, civilizations across the Mediterranean were making bronze—a material essential for their weapons, tools, and jewelry—but the question remained: Where did they get the tin? The answer, as it turns out, might lie thousands of miles away in the hills of Cornwall and Devon. 

A groundbreaking discovery by British archaeologists has revealed how the ancient tin deposits of southern England fueled the technological revolution of the Bronze Age Mediterranean, rewriting the story of ancient trade networks.

Bronze is an alloy of copper and tin, but while copper was readily available, tin is rare and not easily found in large quantities. This "tin problem" has long puzzled archaeologists. How did Mediterranean societies source their tin?

A team of British archaeologists may have finally solved the mystery. Their recent study, published in Antiquity, shows that tin from Cornwall and Devon in England was traded extensively across the Mediterranean more than 3,000 years ago. This trade was crucial for the technological advancements of ancient Mediterranean civilizations, more than 4,000 kilometers away.

"This is the first commodity to be exported across the entire continent in British history," said Dr. Benjamin Roberts, an associate professor of archaeology at Durham University. He added that the discovery of the trade network "radically transforms" our understanding of Bronze Age Britain’s global connections.

The study used advanced analysis of ingots from Bronze Age shipwrecks in the Mediterranean, including those off the coast of Israel, as well as samples of ore and tin artifacts from Britain. Their findings confirm that tin from Cornwall was transported across a network spanning France, Sardinia, Cyprus, and Israel.

While the trade wasn't exclusively focused on Cornish tin, "it was the richest, the most easily accessible, and the main source," said Alan Williams, honorary fellow at Durham University.

The groundbreaking discovery offers new insights into ancient global trade, reshaping our understanding of the Bronze Age’s far-reaching connections.

By Naila Huseynova