Coals to Newcastle, copper to Magan? Isotopic analyses and the Persian Gulf metals trade

Abstract

This paper reviews the most recent evidence for metal production and exchange systems in the Bronze Age Persian Gulf. In particular, the evidence for the use of non-Omani metal (tin and tin-bronze) is addressed, and the implications for our understanding of the development of local alloying and exchange are discussed. Subsequently, the more unexpected possibility that copper ingots were being imported into copper-rich Oman in the Bronze Age is addressed. Upon consideration of the evidence, it seems possible that the putative foreign copper ingots are in fact local products, although there is a deal of ambiguity in relation to these claims.