The Importance of TIN

The importance of tin in the Bronze Age cannot be over emphasised. Bronze is an alloy of copper and tin. Copper was found in relative abundance in the Sinai and Cyprus. Tin was extreemly rare in the Middle East, and what little there was, was soon used up.

Before the discovery of tin, the metal workers of Sumer were using arsenic with the copper to create a form of bronze. Arsenic was poisoning the metal workers, so prospectors searched the world for cassiterite the oxide of tin. Trade in tin became very lucrative.

People of the levant, Phoenicians and Danites, were the merchants of the Middle East, and they controlled most of the Tin trade. Some tin was found in Spain and Brittany, but the best source of tin ore was South West England which was later called The Cassiterides (Land of tin ore) and Danmonia (Mines of Dan). Cassiterite could be found in the streams coming from the granite upland. At this early stage of the Bronze Age both copper and tin was picked off the surface; deep mining was not yet develloped. Although Bodmin Moor, had some tin on or near the surface, Dartmoor was the best source in all Europe and the Middle East. Archaeologists have not found any positive physical proof that tin was exploited during the Bronze Age, but it is inconceivable that the people livng within yards of the tin ore deposits would have not noticed the valuable mineral. It would seem obvious that the reason for the settlement of dartmoor during the Bronze Age was to exploit the Tin.

Dartmoor. The unexplained Bronze Age landscape.

Dartmoor is a granite upland in the county of Devonshire South West England. It is a National Park with probably the greatest concentration of Bronze Age remains in Europe. Unfortunately this important prehistoric landscape has not been adequately explained.
I have been a guide for the National Park since the "Guided Walks" began over thirty years ago, and have taken a special interest in the Bronze Age Landscape.
These articles are my personal understanding of the situation, and not the accepted view of the National Park Authority. Many of my findings will be in direct conflict with the officially accepted interpretations.
Although Dartmoor has been one of the most explored and studied regions of Britain, there are still many unanswered questions.
1. Why was dartmoor so heavily populated in the Bronze Age and why did the population diminish so dramatically in the Iron Age?
2. Why were so many settlements created in places that would appear to be difficult to find adequate food?
3.Who were the people that settled on dartmoor in the Bronze Age, and why did they choose to live there?
4. What was the thinking behind the strange parallel field systems?
5. What was the purpose of the Long Reaves?
6. What was the purpose of the Stone Rows?
7. What was the purpose of the Stone circles?
8. What was the purpose of the Standing Stones?
9. Was the tin ore exploited in the Bronze Age?
10. Were the large Cairns and Barrows Burial mounds, or did they have a more practical purpose.