Modern chemical and isotopic evidence traces Bronze Age copper from Great Orme in Wales to Scandinavia, revealing trade shifts through time.

Moving Metals by Sea is the most up to date and extensive volume on both the Great Orme copper mine and the metal trade along the Atlantic façade of Europe during the Bronze Age. It is an indispensable resource for scholars of Bronze Age Europe, archaeometallurgy, maritime interaction and the political economy of early complex societies.

Recent chemical and isotopic analyses of Nordic Bronze Age tools and weapons indicates that important sources of their metal were ancient copper mines near Aberystwyth in mid-Wales from 2100–1700 BC and at Great Orme in North Wales from 1700–1400 BC. After 1400 BC, copper production at Great Orme declined steeply and sources from southwest Europe came into use, possibly Sardinia, but more probably the metal-rich Iberian Peninsula.

These discoveries raise many questions. In what form was the copper traded? Was tin from Cornwall added at the start? Was transport entirely by sea from Britain’s west coast or did it also travel overland to the North Sea? Who moved the metal? What happened during the transition around 1400/1300 BC? Was it connected to the newly discovered North–South genetic equalisation of 1300–800 BC?

This book presents chapters that collectively attempt to answer these questions. Arising from a three-day workshop held in Aberystwyth in June 2023, the volume brings together contributions by international experts. The chapters address and contextualise fieldwork conducted at Great Orme and place the site within the wider context of Bronze Age Great Britain, and discuss the scientific analysis of artefacts made with Great Orme copper. They also model the transport of copper between Great Orme and other points in Europe, analyse linguistic evidence for Bronze Age interactions connected with the social phenomena associated with Great Orme, and finally, they consider the social organisation of copper production associated with this important site.