Late Bronze Age Oxhide and oxhide‐like ingots from areas other than the Mediterranean: problems and challenges

Summary Oxhide ingots are probably one of the most remarkable metal artefacts that ever circulated throughout the Mediterranean during the second millennium BC . From the Levantine coast to S ardinia, oxhide ingots were produced, exchanged, used and transformed for almost six centuries (c.1600–1100/1000 BC ). They are generally regarded as a class of material that is found only in the Mediterranean area. However, there are a number of oxhide ingots that have been encountered far beyond the coasts of the Mediterranean. The aim of this paper is to throw some light on these items and their significance in order to increase our understanding of the complex and far‐reaching B ronze Age metal supply networks in E urope. The application of a commodity branding model also allows the possibility of achieving a deeper understanding of these items as tokens of the long‐lasting links between Continental E urope and the Mediterranean.