Journal of Archaeological Science 113 (2020) 105047 Available online 18 November 2019 0305-4403/© 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Metal procurement, artefact manufacture and the use of imported tin bronze in Middle Bronze Age Cyprus Andreas Charalambous a, * , Jennifer M. Webb a, b a Archaeological Research Unit, Department of History and Archaeology, University of Cyprus, P.O. Box 20537, CY–1678, Nicosia, Cyprus b Department of Archaeology and History, La Trobe University, Victoria 3086, Australia A R T I C L E INFO Keywords: Cyprus Middle Bronze Age pXRF Arsenical copper Tin bronze Mixing Recycling ABSTRACT Four hundred and ffteen Middle Bronze Age metal artefacts from Lapithos in Cyprus were examined using a portable ED-XRF analyser (pXRF). The results show a higher than expected presence of non-local tin and a small number of leaded bronzes and copper-zinc alloys. A more detailed analysis suggests the use of particular alloys for some artefact types, most notably high-arsenic and high-tin bronze for plain pins and toggle pins, as well as recycling and mixing practices not previously considered for this period on Cyprus. It would appear that Lapithos was engaged in the production of metal artefacts and that imported tin bronze and high arsenic copper ores from the Limassol Forest region, on the other side of the island, were available to local metalsmiths in signifcant quantities. Lapithos’ location on the north coast, the sheer quantity of metal found at this site and the presence of imports also suggest that it was involved in the maritime metals trade which linked southeast Anatolia to the Aegean and the Cyclades in the frst half of the 2nd Millennium BC. 1. Introduction The Middle Bronze Age (MBA) in Cyprus (ca. 2000/1950–1700/ 1690 cal BC) has often been seen as comprised of agropastoral com- munities largely isolated from the wider eastern Mediterranean world (e.g. Knapp, 2013). Current excavations and new readings of ‘legacy’ data, however, are challenging such views, suggesting that MBA com- munities were signifcantly more complex and interconnected and that the internationalism of Late Bronze Age Cyprus, largely based on the trade of Cypriot copper, had its antecedents in the MBA (see e.g. Webb, 2018a). The site of Lapithos, located on the north coast of Cyprus (Fig. 1), is of major importance in this discussion. Some 140 tombs excavated here in the early 20th century produced over 1800 copper-base artefacts and more than 150 imported objects, primarily of faience, gold, silver, lead, copper and bronze (Webb, 2018a, 2018b: 2–8). These suggest that the settlement was involved in an internal procurement network, which linked Lapithos with mining villages located close to copper ore bodies in the foothills of the Troodos Mountains, and an international maritime trade in metals and other goods conducted along sea routes which passed between the south coast of Anatolia and the north coast of Cyprus in the frst half of the 2nd Millennium BC (see, most recently, Massa and Palmisano, 2018: 78–79, Fig. 14; Webb, 2018a). Four hundred and ffteen (415) copper-base objects from Lapithos were analysed for this study, using portable X-Ray Fluorescence Spec- trometry (pXRF). They constitute one of the largest site-specifc datasets for the Bronze Age Eastern Mediterranean and offer an opportunity to investigate the use of non-local tin and alloying, recycling and mixing practices on Cyprus in the MBA, and the extent to which Lapithos may have been involved in an international trade in raw metals. The analyses also provide an opportunity, within the precision limits imposed by the use of pXRF, to investigate changes in alloy composition over time and consider the degree to which alloy types may have been preferred for certain artefact categories. The objects are held by the Cyprus Museum in Nicosia. They form part of an assemblage of over 1125 metal artefacts recovered from 80 tombs excavated in 1913 and 1917—the remainder of which can no longer be securely identifed (see Webb, 2018b: 35–36). The associated settlement remains unknown and this part of the island has been inac- cessible for legitimate excavation since the Turkish invasion of Cyprus in 1974. For additional information on Lapithos see Supplementary Online Material. * Corresponding author. E-mail address: anchar@ucy.ac.cy (A. Charalambous). Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Journal of Archaeological Science journal homepage: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/jas https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jas.2019.105047 Received 26 July 2019; Received in revised form 5 November 2019; Accepted 7 November 2019