Ancient CyprusAncient Cyprus

Excavator · Archaeologist · Scholar

Cemal Pulak

b. 1951 · Türkiye

Nautical archaeologist who excavated the Late Bronze Age Uluburun shipwreck, whose cargo held about ten tonnes of copper in ingots that lead-isotope work ties to Cyprus.

Biography

Cemal Pulak excavated the Uluburun shipwreck, the Late Bronze Age cargo whose copper ingots lead-isotope analysis ties to Cyprus. He was born in 19516. As the Institute of Nautical Archaeology's vice president for Turkey, he directed the excavation off the southern Turkish coast from 1985 to 1994, after George Bass had opened it in July 19841. Other works describe him as co-director for the whole of 1984 to 1994, and the dates differ between them.

The cargo included 354 oxide ingots and 121 plano-convex ingots, about ten tonnes of copper that lead-isotope analysis attributes to Cyprus3. The oxide ingots average about 24 kg and the bun ingots about 6 kg5. The wreck is dated to about 1330-1300 BCE2. Pulak published the main preliminary account in 1998 in the International Journal of Nautical Archaeology7, and a study of the copper and tin ingots in 20008. The finds went to the Bodrum Museum of Underwater Archaeology for conservation1.

Life and work

  1. 1984–1994
    Excavated the Late Bronze Age Uluburun shipwreck off southern Turkey with George Bass for the Institute of Nautical Archaeology; the cargo included about ten tonnes of Cypriot copper in 354 oxide and 121 plano-convex ingots, of which lead-isotope analysis points to Cyprus.

    Kas, TurkeyChristoph Bachhuber (2013). Uluburun shipwreck (Encyclopedia of Ancient History). Encyclopedia of Ancient History, p. 1, p. 1; (2018). Apliki Karamallos on Cyprus in the 13th century BCE (2018 article). p. 18, p. 18; Uluburun shipwreck (Wikipedia, en). Wikipedia

  2. 1998
    Published 'The Uluburun shipwreck: an overview' in the International Journal of Nautical Archaeology 27, the main preliminary account.

    Le probleme de l'etain a l'origine de la metallurgie / The Problem of Early Tin (colloquium volume). p. 126, p. 126

  3. 2000
    Published 'The copper and tin ingots from the Late Bronze Age shipwreck at Uluburun' (Anatolian Metal I) on oxide ingots of c. 24 kg and bun ingots of c. 6 kg, the standard references for the Cypriot ingot forms.

    Le probleme de l'etain a l'origine de la metallurgie / The Problem of Early Tin (colloquium volume). p. 126, p. 126; Copper for the early oxhide ingots: trace evidence (article). p. 5, p. 5

  4. 2023
    Said in the recorded talk «Middle and Late Bronze Age Levantine amphorae and maritime trade in the Eastern Mediterranean and Cyprus» (Archaeological Research Unit - University of Cyprus, 2023-11-16): Supervised study of the Uluburun shipwreck material at the INA in Bodrum.

    Cydrisse Cateloy, «Middle and Late Bronze Age Levantine amphorae and maritime trade in the Eastern Mediterranean and Cyprus», recorded lecture, ComPAS Afternoon Seminar Series, Archaeological Research Unit - University of Cyprus, published on YouTube 2023-11-16, at 0:02:01

  5. Undated

Connections

4 people
George Fletcher BassMichael Rice JonesZofia Anna Stos-GaleDon FreyCemal Pulak
FieldworkScholarshipColleagues

Scholarship

  • Teacher of Michael Rice JonesMichael Rice Jones made preliminary notes from post-conservation cataloguing of oxide ingots under Cemal Pulak. Jones, p. 972003–2004

Colleagues & contacts

Recording and study

1 record
Other work1

Mentioned in

26 mentions

Documents · 21

Institutions · 1

Sources

  1. 1.“Uluburun shipwreck (Wikipedia, en)”. Wikipedia. Online
  2. 2.Christoph Bachhuber (2013). “Uluburun shipwreck (Encyclopedia of Ancient History)”. Encyclopedia of Ancient History, p. 1.
  3. 3. (2018). “Apliki Karamallos on Cyprus in the 13th century BCE (2018 article)”. p. 18.
  4. 4.“Le probleme de l'etain a l'origine de la metallurgie / The Problem of Early Tin (colloquium volume)”. p. 126.
  5. 5.“Copper for the early oxhide ingots: trace evidence (article)”. p. 5.
  6. 6.Pulak, Cemalettin Mustafa (GND 1336753226). Online
  7. 7.C. Pulak (1998). “The Uluburun shipwreck: an overview”. International Journal of Nautical Archaeology 27, pp. 188-224.
  8. 8.C. Pulak (2000). “The copper and tin ingots from the Late Bronze Age shipwreck at Uluburun”. Anatolian Metal I (Der Anschnitt, Beiheft 13), ed. U. Yalcin 13, pp. 137-157.
  9. 9.C. Pulak (2005). “Uluburun ingots”. pp. 59-63.
  10. 10.C. Pulak (2008). “Uluburun cargo”. pp. 291-292.
  11. 11.Michael Rice Jones. “Oxhide Ingots, Copper Production, and the Mediterranean Trade in Copper and Other Metals in the Bronze Age”. MA thesis.
  12. 12.Z. A. Stos-Gale (2011). “'Biscuits with ears': a search for the origin of the earliest oxhide ingots”. Metallurgy: Understanding How, Learning Why. Studies in Honor of James D. Muhly, 221-229. INSTAP Academic Press.
  13. 13.P. P. Betancourt (ed.), S. C. Ferrence (ed.) (2011). Metallurgy: Understanding How, Learning WhY: Studies in Honor of James D. Muhly. INSTAP Academic Press.
  14. 14.Cydrisse Cateloy, «Middle and Late Bronze Age Levantine amphorae and maritime trade in the Eastern Mediterranean and Cyprus», recorded lecture, ComPAS Afternoon Seminar Series, Archaeological Research Unit - University of Cyprus, published on YouTube 2023-11-16, at 0:02:01. Online
  15. 15.Daniel J. Pullen (2010). Political Economies of the Aegean Bronze Age: Papers from the Langford Conference, Florida State University, Tallahassee, 22–24 February 2007. Oxford and Oakville, Oxbow Books. p. 155..
  16. 16.Uluburun shipwreck (Wikipedia, en); Christoph Bachhuber, 2013, Uluburun shipwreck (Encyclopedia of Ancient History).
  17. 17.Eric H. Cline, Sailing the Wine-Dark Sea: International trade and the Late Bronze Age Aegean (2009).
  18. 18.Jean Ensminger Joseph Henrich Eds.
  19. 19.A D I C T IONARY OF ARCHAEOLOGY.
  20. 20.Ian Shaw - Robert Jameson, A Dictionary of Archaeology.
  21. 21.Brian M. Fagan, Eyewitness to Discovery: First-Person Accounts of More Than Fifty of the World's Greatest Archaeological Discoveries (1996).
  22. 22.Z. A. Stos-Gale, 2011, 'Biscuits with ears': a search for the origin of the earliest oxhide ingots.
  23. 23.Suzanne Richard (ed.), 2003, Near Eastern Archaeology: A Reader.
  24. 24.trade-and-civilisation-economic-networks-and-cultural-ties-from-prehistory-to-the-early-modern-era-1108425410-9781108425414.
  25. 25.Suzanne Richard, Near Eastern Archaeology: A Reader (2003).
  26. 26.Michael Rice Jones, Oxhide Ingots, Copper Production, and the Mediterranean Trade in Copper and Other Metals in the Bronze Age.

Corrections and additions

Did you know this person?

We would like to hear from relatives, colleagues and anyone who knows more about this person's life and work.

We would like to hear about

  • Dates and places of birth and death
  • Other spellings or names they used
  • Photographs, letters or papers
  • Their work, collections or excavations
  • A mistake in what we say
Write to us

or alexis@ancientcyprus.com

If this page is about you, write to us and we will correct it or take it down. Tell us if you would like to be thanked by name on the page.