Oxhide ingots are heavy (20–30 kg) metal slabs, usually of copper but sometimes of tin, produced and widely distributed during the Mediterranean Late Bronze Age (LBA).
The appearance of oxhide ingots in the archaeological record corresponds with the beginning of the bulk copper trade in the Mediterranean—approximately 1600 BC.
[4]: 283 The copper trade was largely maritime: the principal sites where oxhide ingots are found are at sea, on the coast, and on islands.
Cemal Pulak argues that the weights of the Uluburun ingots are similar enough to have allowed "a rough but quick reckoning of a given quantity of raw metal prior to weighing".
[6]: 14 The remains included a substantial amount of copper oxhide ingot material: 34 in full, five in half, 12 corners, and 75 kilograms (165 lb) of random fragments.
[6]: 52 In addition, the ship contained numerous complete and incomplete copper bun-shaped ingots, rectangular tin bars, and Cypriot agricultural tools made of scrap bronze.
[10]: 6–7 Their existence implies that slag was not fully removed from the smelted metal and thus that the ingots were made from remelted copper.
[15] On the other hand, Late Minoan I ingots found on Crete have Paleozoic lead isotope ratios and are more consistent with ore sources in Afghanistan, Iran, or Central Asia.
Paul Budd argues that LBA copper is the product of such extensive mixing and recycling that LIA, which works best for metals from a single ore deposit, is unfeasible.
They note that Cyprus was smelting copper on a large scale in the early LBA and had the potential to export the metal to Crete and other places at this time.
[5]: 320–321 Archaeologists have discovered numerous Cypriot exports to Sardinia including metalworking tools and prestige metal objects.
[18] The fact that scholars have been unable to pinpoint Bronze Age tin ore deposits compounds this problem.
[19] A mold for casting an oxhide ingot was discovered in the LBA north palace at Ras Ibn Hani in Syria.
[6]: 62–67 The captions accompanying the scenes explain that the men who bring the ingots come from the north, specifically Retnu (Syria) and Keftiu (unidentified).
[6]: 62–67 They are shown being carried on the shoulders of men, sitting with other goods in storage, or as part of scenes in smelting workshops.
[6]: 65 Several of the “Amarna letters” dating to the mid-14th century BC refer to hundreds of copper talents—in addition to goods such as elephant tusks and glass ingots—sent from the kingdom of Alashiya to Egypt.