Facing the complexity of copper-sulphide ore smelting and assessing the role of copper in south-central Cyprus: A comparative study of the slag assemblage from Late Bronze Age Kalavasos-Ayios Dhimitrios Lente Van Brempt ⁎, Vasiliki Kassianidou Archaeological Research Unit, Department of History and Archaeology, University of Cyprus, P.O. Box 20537, CY1678 Nicosia, Cyprus abstract article info Article history: Received 31 October 2014 Received in revised form 16 August 2015 Accepted 19 August 2015 Available online 1 October 2015 Keywords: Late Bronze Age Cyprus Copper slag Sulphide smelting A rather small metallurgical assemblage was found at the Late Bronze Age urban settlement of Kalavasos-Ayios Dhimitrios. By means of a detailed and comparative study of the slag assemblage, which is the largest found at any of the sites within the Kalavasos-Maroni region, we aim to reconstruct the technological process involved in copper production at the site and enlighten the role copper may have played within the Late Cypriot societies of south-central Cyprus. The presence of both tap and furnace slag, resulting from two diverse processes with seemingly variable degrees of technical efficiency in metal extraction, leads us to reflect on the complexity of sul- phide ore smelting. © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction The island of Cyprus is well known for its massive copper sulphide de- posits, which are located in the geological formation of the pillow lavas within the foothills of the Troodos mountain range (Constantinou, 2012)(Fig. 1). This mineral wealth gave Cyprus the ability to become a dominating producer and exporter of copper in the Eastern Mediterra- nean by the 13th century BC (Kassianidou, 2013; Knapp, 2013). The evidence for large-scale metal production to be expected of a major copper producer may be rather limited but remains of metal pro- duction or working have been found at nearly every known Late Cypriot (LC, c. 1650–1050 BC) site. This is without doubt an indication that copper must indeed have been an important aspect in the Late Bronze Age (the LC corresponds to the LBA in Cyprus) society. A rather small metallurgical assemblage was found at the site of Kalavasos-Ayios Dhimitrios. Ayios Dhimitrios is the largest excavated site in the Kalavasos-Maroni area, which is located on the south coast between the modern cities of Larnaca and Limassol (South, 2002) (Fig. 2). The urban settlement was occupied throughout the 14th and 13th centuries BC (LC IIA-IIC) and abandoned by about 1200 BC (South, 2012). Its location was ideal for the control of the movement of products from the copper mines located 6 km further north, although it remains to be proven whether the Kalavasos mining area was exploited in the LBA (South, 2012). No archaeological evidence of LBA mining activity has been found. Furthermore, provenance studies have shown the use of various ore deposits on the island but oddly not those from Kalavasos (Gale and Stos-Gale, 2012; South, 2002). Never- theless, Ayios Dhimitrios seems indeed to have been the centre of the small Vasilikos river valley within which a series of small agricultural sites were scattered (South, 2002). The Kalavasos-Ayios Dhimitrios excavations took place between 1979 and 1998 under the direction of Alison South and Ian Todd. Five areas have been uncovered on the site (Fig. 3). The Northeast Area in- cludes a cluster of large-scale administrative and industrial buildings, amongst which the ashlar Building X that contains large facilities for the storage of olive oil. Towards the south and west of the site the build- ings are of a more modest size. The West Area is clearly domestic in character but small-scale industrial activities may have taken place in the East and Central Areas. Building IX in the Southeast area was interpreted by the excavator as a small-scale copper-smithing work- shop (South, 1996; 2012). The metallurgical assemblage from Ayios Dhimitrios, which dates primarily to LC IIC (which spans the 13th century BC), comprises about 150 kg of copper slag, 10 kg of bronze objects of known Cypriot types, nearly 1.5 kg of bronze and copper scrap, about 15 fragments and many more bits and pieces of technical ceramics, and some other remains that can be related to copper production, such as copper stained sediment, possible ore fragments and unidentified objects. Despite the small size the assemblage corresponds to a nearly complete ancient metallurgists' toolkit. The remains have been found in various quantities in literally all areas of the site. A good overview of the quantities, types and Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports 7 (2016) 539–553 ⁎ Corresponding author. E-mail addresses: van-brempt.lente@ucy.ac.cy (L. Van Brempt), v.kassianidou@ucy.ac.cy (V. Kassianidou). http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jasrep.2015.08.022 2352-409X/© 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. 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