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Made me curious too: Apparently Britain indeed became the primary source of tin to the region after the 3rd century AD as Iberian mines became exhausted. [1] [

Made me curious too: Apparently Britain indeed became the primary source of tin to the region after the 3rd century AD as Iberian mines became exhausted. [1] [1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tin_sources_and_trade_in_ancient_times https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tin_sources_and_trade_in_ancie...

DoreenMichele 6y ago
From your link: Tin is a relatively rare element in the Earth's crust, with about two parts per million (ppm), compared to iron with 50,000 ppm, copper with 70 ppm, lead with 16 ppm, arsenic with 5 ppm, silver with 0.1 ppm, and gold with 0.005 ppm (Valera & Valera 2003, p. 10). Ancient sources of tin were therefore rare, and the metal usually had to be traded over very long distances to meet demand in areas which lacked tin deposits. Also: Archaeological importance The importance of tin to the success of Bronze Age cultures and the scarcity of the resource offers a glimpse into that time period's trade and cultural interactions, and has therefore been the focus of intense archaeological studies. That's some good stuff. Thanks. For those who don't readily recognize the word Iberian, that's the peninsula where Spain and Portugal are. (Maybe that's just me. Maybe it's not.) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iberian_Peninsula https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iberian_Peninsula
- divbzero 6y ago
  I also found it curious that the main sources of tin in ancient times don’t seem to coincide with the earliest known instances of bronze: [2] - 4650 BC Balkans - 3500 BC Mesopotamia - 3300 BC Indus - 3150 BC Egypt - 3200 BC Aegean - 2900 BC Gansu Makes me wonder how early metallurgists discovered bronze. Maybe they worked with smaller local sources of tin? Or maybe this is just another gap in our knowledge of ancient history… [2]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bronze_Age https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bronze_Age
  - DoreenMichele 6y ago
    So you know a lot more about metals than I do. I wouldn't have caught that at all: Bronze is an alloy consisting primarily of copper, commonly with about 12–12.5% tin and often with the addition of other metals (such as aluminium, manganese, nickel or zinc) and sometimes non-metals or metalloids such as arsenic, phosphorus or silicon. These additions produce a range of alloys that may be harder than copper alone, or have other useful properties, such as strength, ductility, or machinability. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bronze https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bronze
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DoreenMichele 6y ago

From your link: Tin is a relatively rare element in the Earth's crust, with about two parts per million (ppm), compared to iron with 50,000 ppm, copper with 70 ppm, lead with 16 ppm, arsenic with 5 ppm, silver with 0.1 ppm, and gold with 0.005 ppm (Valera & Valera 2003, p. 10). Ancient sources of tin were therefore rare, and the metal usually had to be traded over very long distances to meet demand in areas which lacked tin deposits. Also: Archaeological importance The importance of tin to the success of Bronze Age cultures and the scarcity of the resource offers a glimpse into that time period's trade and cultural interactions, and has therefore been the focus of intense archaeological studies. That's some good stuff. Thanks. For those who don't readily recognize the word Iberian, that's the peninsula where Spain and Portugal are. (Maybe that's just me. Maybe it's not.) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iberian_Peninsula https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iberian_Peninsula

divbzero 6y ago
I also found it curious that the main sources of tin in ancient times don’t seem to coincide with the earliest known instances of bronze: [2] - 4650 BC Balkans - 3500 BC Mesopotamia - 3300 BC Indus - 3150 BC Egypt - 3200 BC Aegean - 2900 BC Gansu Makes me wonder how early metallurgists discovered bronze. Maybe they worked with smaller local sources of tin? Or maybe this is just another gap in our knowledge of ancient history… [2]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bronze_Age https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bronze_Age
- DoreenMichele 6y ago
  So you know a lot more about metals than I do. I wouldn't have caught that at all: Bronze is an alloy consisting primarily of copper, commonly with about 12–12.5% tin and often with the addition of other metals (such as aluminium, manganese, nickel or zinc) and sometimes non-metals or metalloids such as arsenic, phosphorus or silicon. These additions produce a range of alloys that may be harder than copper alone, or have other useful properties, such as strength, ductility, or machinability. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bronze https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bronze

deleted 6y ago

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