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I'm Alexandra Sofroniew, and
I'm a professor in the Art History and
Classics departments.
You might not think that an art historian
has a favorite element from the periodic
table, but my favorite element is tin.
My research is on pre-Roman Italy,
specifically the Etruscans, and they
were famous in antiquity for the quality
and the craftsmanship of their bronze.
The tin they had to get from quite far
away, so either from northern Spain or
from Cornwall in the south of England.
This shows that they had quite remote
trading connections at that time.
They were trading with tin but
also silver and amber.
Adding tin to copper produces bronze,
a stronger, harder,
fancier metal that's easier to work,
and ideal for
producing weapons and luxury goods,
like statues and even mirrors.
And so you could say that makes tin a
vital element in the production of bronze.
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