PREHISTORIC TIN MINING AT MT. CER: DETERMINING THE DURATION OF TIN PRODUCTION VIA ANALYSIS OF METALLURGICAL CRUCIBLE FRAGMENTS FROM WEST SERBIA

The integration of tin in metallurgy was the primary technological innovation of the Bronze Age (3000-1200 BCE). The mixing of tin and copper forms bronze, an alloy of greater hardness utilized for weaponry and tools, and has an aesthetically pleasing golden hue utilized in ornaments and jewelry. Little is known of the nature of ancient tin mining because tin is thought to have been mined via the panning of fluvial sediments (placer deposits), which leaves little trace of extraction activities. Archeological surveys were conducted on Spasovine, a terrace adjacent to the Milinska River which hosts a subeconomic placer tin deposit on the southern flank of Mt. Cer in West Serbia. Technical ceramic fragments (crucibles) with irregular metal-rich vitreous coatings were unearthed, indicating that metallurgical activity occurred on site. Preliminary analysis of crucible surfaces by pXRF has shown that the fragments are enriched in various metallic residues, including Sn, Cu, Pb and Zn. These metals were introduced into alloys in the region at different times: tin bronze was the typical alloy of the Bronze Age, leaded bronze was not common in Serbia until the Early Iron Age (ca. 800 BCE), and the Cu-Zn alloy brass was not used until the Roman Period (100 BC-600 AD). Thus, the finding of Bronze Age, Iron Age, and Roman technical ceramics suggests that the Spasovine site had been actively mined over a span of 1000-1500 years. This would suggest that small tin deposits (subeconomic by modern standards) likely played a significant role in the metal economy of ancient Europe, and that greater attention must be given to such cassiterite occurrences in future paleo-metallurgical and paleo-mining studies.