Metal finds at the Middle and Late Bronze Age settlement of Scoglio del Tonno (Taranto, Apulia): results of archaeometallurgical analyses

Abstract

Scoglio del Tonno (Taranto) is a settlement with a strategic location in one of the best natural harbours of the Italian Peninsula. During the Late Bronze Age it was an emporion, a privileged and permanent landing place for ships sailing between the Aegean and Italian Peninsulas. Crucibles and a number of metal artefacts were found during its excavation (1899, Quagliati 1900; Säflund 1939); this work reports the quantitative analysis of these metal artefacts by energy dispersive X-ray fluorescence. All are made of copper alloys except for one piece, an eyelet pin made of a gold-silver-copper alloy. The examination of these objects and the analytical data obtained help reconstruct the functions of this site. Metal was systematically accumulated at Scoglio del Tonno, presumably to be shipped towards the eastern Mediterranean. The site highlights the exponential increase in northern Italian metal production during the Recent Bronze Age (ca. 14 th -13 th c. BC).