First insights into the origin of iron in eastern Cilicia during the Iron Age, using osmium isotope and trace element analysis

Due to the abundance of ore resources and the probable technological advances of the Hittite civilisation, the Anatolian plateau is conventionally regarded as “the birthplace” of iron smelting technology. The present paper presents a complex archaeometric investigation of iron production remains from the Middle and Late Iron Age phases (c. 750–575 BC) at Kinet Höyük, a major trading port on the coast of eastern Cilicia (modern-day Dörtyol, Hatay). To provide an initial insight into the sources of iron processed at Kinet Höyük and to generate an overview of the 187Os/188Os and 187Re/188Os isotope ratios expected from eastern Anatolian iron ores, we analysed six iron production remains (three iron slags and three iron ore fragments) from Kinet Höyük and 18 ore samples from major iron deposits in the eastern Taurus region, using optical microscopy, X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray fluorescence (XRF), inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS), and Os isotopy. The results allow the exclusion of the analysed iron ore samples from central Anatolia as a source of the iron processed at Kinet Höyük. The ore chunks found at the site can be identified as hematite with varying amounts of quartz, and the iron slags—as having originated from the iron smithing operations. Both the slags and one of the hematite fragments are characterised by low radiogenic 187Os/188Os ratios (average 0.181), high Os concentrations (411–15057 pg/g), elevated contents of Ni, Cr, As, and low contents of Co, V, Sb, and W. This suggests a local origin for the forged iron, the source of which should be sought in a geological environment associated with ultrabasic rocks in the ophiolitic suture zones. Comparison with the published analyses of slag from Kinet Höyük supports the assumption that ores of this type were the dominant raw material for iron hammered at the settlement during the Middle Iron Age.