Ancient tin mine found in Turkey.

Researchers have found a local Bronze Age source of tin in the Middle East. a discovery proving the metal that made the alloy possible was not imported entirely from regions outside the area as had been thought, Aslihan Yener, a University of Chicago archaeologist, indicates. She believes a mine and an ancient mining village she discovered in the Central Taurus Mountains in Turkey demonstrate that tin mining was a well-developed industry in the area as long ago as 2870 B.C., at the dawn of the Bronze Age.

Bronze is an alloy made by combining copper with as much as five-10% tin. Because it more easily is cast in molds and is harder than copper, bronze replaced copper in the production of tools, weapons, and ornamental objects. The Bronze Age lasted until 1100 B.C., when iron became the most important metal in manufacturing.

The site of the mine, Kestel, is about 60 miles north of Tarsus. Yener's work at the mine and at nearby Goltepe, an ancient miners' village, provides new insights into the development of the tin industry. Perhaps most important is her discovery that it can be smelted at relatively low temperatures in crucibles.

"The underground mining system at Kestel measures more than two miles." The shafts are about two feet wide, which made them difficult to enter by adults. "The mining was done with stone tools and fire." Miners would light fires by the ore veins, thus making it easier to batter away the ore. The mine probably produced about 5,000 tons of ore during its 1,000 years of operation.

The narrow measurements of the...