SUMERIAN COPPER 303 
rare to find any mention of the presence of accessory elements. Such 
specimens as have been received for examination, except for the native 
coppers described in the First Report, have been from deep-seated deposits 
of pyrites, whilst the ancient copper was undoubtedly derived mainly from 
oxidised outcrops. Some specimens have proved to be slags from compara- 
tively modern workings. The search for ores is being pursued, and the 
Committee is indebted to Sir Arnold Wilson for his assistance in procuring 
them and in advising as to possible sources. Arsenical copper ores, some- 
times containing nickel, are found in Armenia, south of Lake Van, and in 
Anatolia, at Yenikoi, south of the Sea of Marmora, whilst the ore at 
Kastamouni, near to the Black Sea, is known to contain nickel. The known 
occurrences have been mapped, and the region within which such mixed 
ores, containing both arsenic and nickel, may occur appears to form a band 
extending through Anatolia, Armenia and Azerbaijan, but sources farther 
afield cannot at present be excluded. 
A piece of thin metal from Professor Langdon, from the 1930 excava- 
tions at Kish, reported as of date 3200 B.C., gave 95°17 per cent. copper, 
0:08 nickel, 4-60 arsenic, and 0-15 iron. This proportion of arsenic is 
unusually high. ‘Two objects of early date from Ur were received from the 
British Museum for micrographic examination, having a core of uncorroded 
metal. One proved to be a copper and the other a bronze, the structure 
showing that the former had been hammered and slightly reheated after 
casting, whilst the bronze was in the cast condition. Analyses :— 
Copper. Tin. Nickel. Arsenic. Lead. 
Spear. U 12239 BMLIII . 97:2 0:56 1°36 _- trace 
Axe. U12098 BML XVI . 87-93 11°65 0'20 — 0:22 
An arrow head from Anau, obtained from the Hermitage Museum at 
Leningrad, from its Director, through the good offices of the Foreign Office, 
was accidentally omitted from an earlier Report. A core of unoxidised 
metal was present, and the composition was :— 
Copper, 96°85. Tin, 2:35. Iron, 1°25. 
Nickel, arsenic and lead were absent: ‘The object was found in the North 
Kurgan, but the layer in which it occurred was not indicated. 
An analysis has been received from Philadelphia of the copper spearhead 
found by Mr. Woolley at Ur below the ‘ Flood ’ level, and described as 
copper. The copper found was 99:69 per cent., with 0°16 arsenic, 0-01 
iron, and 0:12 zinc, without a trace of nickel, tin, or silver. The zinc 
reported must be regarded as doubtful. The writer at one time found zinc 
in a number of specimens, which was at last traced to the presence of that 
metal in the glass vessels used for analysis. 
The largest number of specimens examined has come from the excava- 
tions of the Oriental Institute of Chicago at Tell Asmar and Khafaje, sent 
by Dr. H. Frankfort, to whom the Committee is indebted for a grant of 
£20 to supplement that received from the Association. The bronze ‘dagger 
which appears first on the list is of special interest, since it still held the 
remains of an iron blade, analysis showing that this iron is of terrestrial 
origin, and not, as in the case of other early iron objects, examined by the 
Committee, forged from a meteorite. 
A portion of a spearhead from Nineveh, submitted by Mr. Mallowan, 
although completely oxidised, proved to be of pure copper, tin and nickel 
being completely absent, whilst the minute quantity of iron found (0-15 per 
cent.) may well have been derived from the soil. 
A batch of specimens has been received recently from Dr. H. H. von der 
