Two types of tin incrusted pottery (Mycenaean, 14th century B.C., and Salamis/Cyprus, ca. 700 B.C.) were investigated by energy-dispersive x-ray spectroscopy, SEM, and x-ray diffrac-tion. The tin coatings were built up by small pieces of foils which were fixed on the vessel surface by a nitrogen-containing organic binder. During soil storage, the metal was converted to its oxides. Some Mycenean sherds were coated by foils of a tin/lead alloy. The alloy was decom-posed into tin oxides, cerussite, and phosgenite. These investigations prove that tin/lead alloys were produced as early as the Mycenaean bronze age and, like tin, were worked up to foils. -- AATA