Oxhide Ingot - Uluburun Shipwreck

Uluburun Shipwreck

In 1982, a diver discovered a shipwreck off the shore of Uluburun, Turkey. The ship contained 317 copper ingots in the normal oxhide shape, 36 with only two corner protrusions, 121 shaped like buns, and five shaped like pillows. The oxhide ingots (ingots with two or four protrusions) range in weight from 20.1 to 29.5 kg after being cleaned of their corrosion. These ingots were found stacked in four rows following a herringbone pattern. The smooth sides of the ingots faced downwards, and the lowest layer rested on brushwood. There are three whole tin oxhide ingots, and there are many tin ingots cut into quarters or halves, with their corner protrusion(s) still intact. Besides metal ingots, the cargo included ivory, metal jewelry, and Mycenaean, Cypriot, and Canaanite pottery. Tree-ring dating of firewood from the ship gives an approximate date of 1300 BC. More than 160 copper oxhide ingots, 62 bun ingots, and some of the tin oxhide ingots have incised marks typically on their rough sides. Some of these marks—resembling fish, oars, and boats—relate to the sea, and they were probably incised after casting, when the ingot was received or exported.

Recently Yuval Goren proposed that the ten tons of copper ingots, one ton of tin ingots, and the resin stored in the Canaanite jars aboard the ship were one complete package. The recipients of the copper, tin, and resin would have used these materials for bronze casting through the lost-wax technique.