Silver and silvery alloys in Early Minoan IB Crete

This paper presents the results of X-ray fluorescence analysis carried out in the last years on silver objects from three different Cretan Early Minoan cemeteries, Hagia Photia Siteias, Kephala Petras, and Livari Skiadi, dated to ca. 3000 to 2800 BC. The classes of objects discussed in this paper comprise mainly daggers and jewelry pieces; other kinds of items, however, can also be included as comparisons. For this project various groups of copper-alloy and silver-alloy artifacts from Hagia Photia, from the Petras rock shelter, and from Livari have been analyzed. The silver-based objects of this period can be distributed into two groups according to their composition: unalloyed silver and alloys of silver and copper or silver and arsenical copper. The analyses of the metal finds, both of silver and of arsenical copper, from the three sites indicate their appurtenance to the same metallurgical tradition, common to the areas around the Black Sea, Anatolia, and the Near East, with similar metallurgical practice, esthetic choices, and styles.