Long-distance interaction in Urartu?: Provenance and composition of copper alloys from Ayanis, Turkey

Abstract

The paper analyses tin bronze weaponry found at the first-half-of-the-seventh-century-BCE Urartian fortress in the Lake Van region of eastern Turkey. Examples of finely manufactured artefacts provide evidence for the consumption of high-quality bronzes in a well-defined elite context. This study tests for the presence or absence of long-distance procurement of the raw materials used to produce status objects. The results of quantitative elemental and lead isotope abundance ratio analyses show that the bronzes were produced with varying copper tin alloys, and the copper was procured from several possible locations, including Anatolia and Cyprus.