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Bronze and Oil: A Possible Link between the Introduction of Tin and Lallemantia to Northern Greece1

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 June 2011

Soultana-Maria Valamoti  and
Glynis Jones
Soultana-Maria Valamoti
Affiliation:
Department of Archaeology, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
Glynis Jones
Affiliation:
Department of Archaeology, Sheffield University
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Abstract

Lallemantia, an exotic oil plant, recently identified at Bronze Age sites in the Macedonia region of northern Greece, has a natural distribution lying outside Europe, in regions ranging from Iran to Anatolia, Jordan, Palestine, and Israel. The possible routes through which Lallemantia arrived in northern Greece are considered in relation to evidence for Bronze Age trade in metals, in particular tin. The overlap of Bronze Age tin sources proposed in the archaeological literature with the natural distribution of Lallemantia, in regions such as Iran and Afghanistan, suggest that the importation of this plant to northern Greece may have been facilitated by the tin trade, and that both, at least initially, may have represented luxuries rather than mere commodities.

Η Lallemantia, ένα εξωτικής προέλευσης ελαιοδοτικό φυτό, το οποίο πρόσφατα προσδιορίστηκε σε θέσεις της Εποχής του Χαλκού στην περιοχή της Μακεδονίας στη βόρεια Ελλάδα, έχει μια φυσική κατανομή εκτός της Ευρώπης, σε περιοχές που εκτείνονται μεταξύ του Ιράν, της Ανατολίας, της Ιορδανίας, της Παλαιστίνης και του Ισραήλ. Σε αυτό το άρθρο εξετάςονται οι πιθανοί δρόμοι μέσα από τους οποίους έφτασε το φυτό αυτό στη βόρεια Ελλάδα σε συνδυασμό με ενδείξεις για τη διακίνηση των μετάλλων και ιδιαίτερα του κασσίτερου. Η παρουσία πηγών κασσίτερου της Εποχής του Χαλκού, όπως αναφέρονται στην βιβλιογραφία, σε περιοχές όπου η Lallemantia είναι αυτοφυής, όπως το Ιράν και το Αφγανιστάν, υποδηλώνουν ότι η εισαγωγή αυτού του φυτού στη βόρεια Ελλάδα μπορεί να διευκολύνθηκε από τη διακίνηση του κασσίτερου. Τόσο ο κασσίτερος όσο και η Lallemantia, τουλάχιστο στην αρχή, ενδέχεται να αποτελούσαν είδη πολυτελείας.

Type
Articles
Information
Annual of the British School at Athens , Volume 105 , November 2010 , pp. 83 - 96
Copyright
Copyright © The Council, British School at Athens 2010

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