Ancient Copper and Copper-Arsenic Alloy Artifacts: Composition and Metallurgical Implications.

Various copper and copper-arsenic alloy artifacts from the Dead Sea area lack the tin and zinc that are normal trace elements. The trace elements found in the artifacts suggest that a copper sulf-arsenate ore was used in making some of them. The metallurgical use of such ore around 3000 B.C. has not been previously reported.