LAUSR

Abstract A collection of 206 copper-base artefacts coming from the Late Bronze Age settlement of Enkomi, located on the east coast of Cyprus, and dated to the 16th-11th centuries BC, was studied and non-destructively chemically analysed using a handheld pXRF instrument. The assemblage consists of various categories of objects, such as weapons, tools, ornaments and scrap metal. The basic aims of the present work are the determination of the alloy type of the artefacts and the comparative study of the copper alloys used in the different chronological phases of Enkomi. The results show that most of the analysed artefacts, in all chronological phases, are made of a copper-tin binary alloy (bronze) with a tin concentration lower than 10 wt%, while some artefacts were made of unalloyed copper. Among the bronze artefacts, there is a group of objects which was found to have a significantly higher tin concentration (>13 wt% Sn). Regarding the other elements, there is a limited number of copper-arsenic and copper-zinc alloys and an extensive presence of lead, although in most artefacts the latter is detected in concentrations lower than 1 wt%. Because lead concentration in local Cypriot ores is unusually low, its presence can be interpreted either as a deliberate or an accidental addition, even at these low concentrations. In addition, the presence of a noteworthy number of scrap metal fragments and the detection of low concentrations of arsenic and lead in most of the studied copper-tin alloy artefacts may suggest the possible use of recycled metal deriving from artefacts dating to earlier periods, namely the Early and Middle Bronze Age, which would originally have contained much higher concentrations of arsenic.