Τhe cupellation of argentiferous lead in Mesogeia, East Attica, during the Final Neolithic/Early Bronze Age periods – The cupellation workshop at Lambrika

Excavations in SE Attica have uncovered a wealth of metallurgical finds relating primarily to cupellation and to a lesser extent copper working. Workshop installations were only identified at Lambrika, but significant quantities of litharge are also known from the sites of Merenda, Gyalou and Zapani. Litharge is characteristically scarce at the extensive, nodal settlement of Koropi. The finds from Merenda and possibly Gyalou place the beginnings of cupellation in this region at least to the mid 4th millennium BC, extending continuously among the different sites to the EHII. The bowl-shaped litharge is the most common type of litharge identified here with the characteristically arranged ten depressions on the top surface appearing to be a chronologically later (mature EBI/ EBII) feature, possibly also spatially restricted in the Lavrion/ Lambrika zone. The identification of litharge does not intrinsically testify to in situ practice of cupellation, as the material is known to have had secondary usages in antiquity, not least as a raw material for lead production. The quantity of finds and other considerations, however, suggest that cupellation workshops existed on almost all the sites considered here, even if actual remains of installations have only been identified at Lambrika. The finds from SE Attica testify to the significance of the Lavrion deposits already for the earliest Aegean silver production and allow a direct study of this technology.