ABSTRACT
Fundamental to understanding the transmission of tin bronze metallurgy across Eurasia is the evidence for known tin sources that may have been available to metalworking populations in Bronze Age Southwest Asia. The Anatolian evidence from the tin-mining complex of Kestel-Göltepe and that from the Erciyes Dağ stratovolcano sites is discussed first. New research on the 2nd millennium BC Old Assyrian tin trade into central Anatolia to Kültepe/Kanesh follows with an emphasis on the southern Mesopotamian end of the trade and its potential links to neighboring Elam. Next, the tin-mining complex at Deh Hosein, on the northern periphery of Elam and its potential as a tin source for many bronze-producing sites in the ancient Near East is examined. Finally, recent fieldwork in Afghanistan documenting its remarkable mineral reserves (e.g., tin, gold, lapis) in relation to its wealth of archaeological sites is reviewed. Here the Oxus Civilization/Bactria-Margiana Archaeological Complex (BMAC) enters the discussion with its proximity to major ancient tin mines as well as its potential as a source of tin bronze metallurgy for the Iranian plateau. Whether or not Afghanistan’s and neighboring Central Asia’s tin sources were supplying their mineral wealth to urban elite consumers to the West remains a question for debate. The Elamites’ potential role as tin-trading middlemen moving tin westward from nearby sources or from as far afield as Afghanistan closes the discussion.
