Pewter Pewter Pewter () is a malleable metal alloy. It is traditionally composed of 85–99% tin, mixed with copper, antimony, bismuth, and sometimes silver or lead, although the use of lead is less common today. Copper and antimony act as hardeners while lead is more common in the lower grades of pewter, which have a bluish tint. Pewter has a low melting point, around , depending on the exact mixture of metals. The word "pewter" is probably a variation of the word "spelter", a term for zinc alloys (originally a colloquial name for zinc). Pewter was first used around the beginning
Hüseyindede vases the excavations of Boğazköy (the Hittite capital of Hattusa). Fragments have also been found at Alişar, Alaca Höyük, Eskiyapar, Kabaklı, Elbistan-Karahöyük und Kaman-Kalehöyük. They have generally been dated to the early period of the Hittite Empire, in the first quarter of the second millennium BC. The sole reconstructed example was a four frieze vase from İnandıktepe, which is on display in the Museum of Anatolian Civilizations in Ankara, and a fragment with three friezes from Bitik. The motifs depicted on these vases consist of ritual activities, offering scenes, and festivals with acrobats, dancers and musicians. The clay of the vases