Lead isotope and chemical signature of copper from Oman and its occurrence in Mesopotamia and sites on the Arabian Gulf coast

Abstract

Lead isotope data, together with an evaluation of previously published results for the chemical composition of Omani ores and copper‐base artefacts are used to define a material signature of Omani copper. Absent from our group of Bronze Age metal (Umm an Nar and Wadi Suq periods) are the signature of ores from Masirah Island and also from the vast deposits in north Oman inland from Suhar. Contemporaneous copper from Bahrain and from Tell Abraq on the Gulf coast is consistent in its material signature with Omani copper; a derivation from Omani ores of this copper is highly likely. A few exceptions at Tell Abraq point to Faynan/Timna in the southern Levant as a possible source region. Among Mesopotamian artefacts the signature of Omani copper is encountered during all cultural periods from Uruk at the end of the fourth millennium BC to Akkadian 1000 years later. Oman/Magan appears to have been particularly important during Early Dynastic III and Akkadian when about half of the copper in circulation bears the Omani signature.

Sulfide enrichment at an oceanic crust-mantle transition zone: Kane Megamullion (23°N, MAR)

“…More than 20 sites of ancient Cu excavations have been found at the MTZ of the Oman ophiolite (Begemann et al, 2010). Although Cu has been partially redeposited by secondary processes (Goettler et al, 1976;Begemann et al, 2010), the data from our study and the characteristic distribution of the ancient mining sites imply that the first stage of Cu enrichment may have been magmatic. In the ophiolitic peridotites from the Lanzo massif in Italy, dunitic bands that are a product of melt percolation in the mantle are enriched in Cu (Lorand et al, 1993).…”

“…These sections of MTZ are considered to be major collecting zones for mantle melts (Godard et al, 2000). More than 20 sites of ancient Cu excavations have been found at the MTZ of the Oman ophiolite (Begemann et al, 2010). Although Cu has been partially redeposited by secondary processes (Goettler et al, 1976;Begemann et al, 2010), the data from our study and the characteristic distribution of the ancient mining sites imply that the first stage of Cu enrichment may have been magmatic.…”

“…In the northern part of the world's largest ophiolites in Oman, dunites of the Moho transition zone are often rich in igneous sulfides (Negishi et al 2013). In addition, sulfide deposits of economic importance have been found in the crust-mantle transition zones of several ophiolites including Oman and Troodos (Panayiotou, 1978;Akinci, 2009;Begemann et al, 2010;Saalmann and Laine, 2014;. The sulfide deposits, however, are seen as late secondary formations (Goettler et al, 1976).…”

Procedencia de las puntas de jabalina del “Dolmen de la Pastora” (Valencina de la Concepción, Sevilla)

“…Se han recopilado datos relativos a las mineralizaciones de Turquía, Grecia, Chipre, Egipto, Palestina, Siria, Omán e Irán y a los elementos metá-licos arqueológicos analizados, así como las interpretaciones de los investigadores que los estudiaron. Destacamos el trabajo sobre Hassek Höyük (Schmitt-Strecker et al 1992) que incorpora datos de 2 puntas de jabalina de la denominada Tumba 12, aunque de tipología algo distinta y de cronología más antigua que las de la Península Ibérica, y los artículos de síntesis encabezados por F. Begemann (Begemann y Schmitt-Strecker 2009;Begemann et al 2010) sobre la procedencia del metal durante el IV y III milenio a .C .…”

“…Finalmente Omán es la otra zona en el Mediterráneo oriental con signaturas isotópicas similares (Begemann et al 2010). Además de la posición externa de las jabalinas de la Península Ibérica a la distribución de los minerales (Fig.…”