Nails from a 2,400 year old shipwreck: A study of copper in a marine archaeological environment

The metal nails that fastened the wooden components of a 2,400 year old shi p found along the coast of Kibbutz Ma'agan Mikhael, Israel, were made of un alloyed copper that was intensively hammered. A lead isotype analysis of on e nail indicates with high probability that it was made of copper from Cypr us. The copper of the nails in the wood was replaced entirely by copper sul fide mineral, displaying the occurrence of deep anaerobic conditions in a b reaker zone under a shallow cover of sand. the slow decay of the cellulose and hemicellulose in the wood is a possible explanation for the specific ne cessary environmental conditions.