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Posted on 05/17/2025 10:46:24 AM PDT by SunkenCiv
The emergence of bronze and the onset of the Mediterranean Bronze Age is one of the most pivotal events in history, as it coincided with the rise of new advanced civilizations. Yet to make bronze, which is an amalgam of both tin and copper, one needed tin, which was not readily available in the region. Experts have long argued about who exactly supplied all the tin. According to a statement released by Durham University, it was the remote tin mines of southwest Britain that were instrumental in satisfying the Mediterranean demand for bronze 3,300 years ago. New research led by Durham University archaeologists Alan Williams and Benjamin Roberts employed chemical and isotope analysis of tin ores and artifacts from shipwrecks found off the coasts of Britain, France, and Israel to determine that the precious metal was traded from sources in Cornwall and Devon to locales as far as 2,500 miles away. The study also seems to directly confirm the accounts of the Greek explorer Pytheas, who traveled to Britain around 320 b.c. and described a thriving tin trading center in the southwest of the island known as Iktis. Read the original scholarly article about this research in Antiquity.
(Excerpt) Read more at archaeology.org ...
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The nearest tin mines to Tintagel were likely on Bodmin Moor, about 20–30 miles away, depending on the route. Major tin mining areas in west Cornwall, like St Just, were farther, around 50–70 miles.
The age and significance of the medieval ruin at Tintagel were said to rule out any connection with the immediate post-Roman Britons, or much of anything else.
Then, in the 1980s, after a serious drought, a grass fire got started that burned so intensely the covering layer was destroyed revealing the ruins of over 200 buildings. The gov’t archaeologist assigned to the site was amazed. :^)
The biblical Tarshish has long been speculated with Britain and its tin mines.
Selections from the 'darkages' keyword, sorted:
Some believe it was Joseph of Arimathea who provided tin to Asia Minor. It is also speculated that during his time spent freely in Rome St. Paul visited the Cornish region and founded the first Church at Avalon.
Tarshish is the Biblical name for Crete. Caphtor is the Biblical name for Cyprus. The Cypriotes were the source of a big chunk of the Bronze Age copper supply. The Egyptians referred to them as the Keftiu.
Interesting. Well I’m sure if they had the resources, they used them and traded them. But until now I was under the impression most of the tin came from Germania (Germany and the surroundings of Central Europe) and a little bit from Hispania (Spain) usually in the mountainous regions thereof.
That's why I used the word speculated about Tarshish and Britain.
It is possible that Tarshish existed in multiple different locations throughout the thousands of years of biblical history.
There are several candidate locations for Tarshish I am aware of but when tin is mentioned as being associated with Tarshish, the connection is made with Britain is one possible location.
Poldark is probably still trying to open Wheal Leisure.
I believe copper was more widely available than tin, making the tin trade and tin regions highly coveted.
I asked perplexity.ai for the source of tin during the bronze age. Here was the answer.
Europe (especially Cornwall and Devon in Britain, Brittany in France, Iberia, and some Balkan regions): Recent chemical and isotopic analyses of tin ingots found at Bronze Age sites in Israel, Turkey, and Greece indicate that much of the tin originated from European deposits, especially southwestern Britain. These findings suggest extensive trade networks connecting Europe and the Eastern Mediterranean.
Central Asia (notably Afghanistan): Some scholars and ancient texts have pointed to Central Asian sources, particularly Afghanistan, as important tin suppliers, especially in the early Bronze Age. Tin from these regions likely traveled along overland routes into Mesopotamia and Anatolia.
Anatolia (Turkey): Archaeological discoveries, such as the Kestel mine in the Taurus Mountains, show that local tin mining was also practiced in Anatolia during the Bronze Age, contributing to regional supplies.
It’s in the name of- TINTAGEL
“ Tintagel cornwall
Tintagel is a civil parish and village located on the Atlantic coast of Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It is associated with the legends surrounding King Arthur ”
"Poldark" - I think.
The period was late 1700s, I think.
You’re thinking along my lines, LOL!
The series starts with Poldark returning from the Revolutionary War to find his girlfriend marrying his cousin. So, late 1700’s.
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