Organization of production and social role of metallurgy in the prehistoric sequence of Arslantepe (Turkey)

Published in Origini n. XXXV/2013. Rivista annuale del Dipartimento di Scienze dell’Antichità – “Sapienza” Università di Roma | Preistoria e protostoria delle civiltà antiche – Prehistory and protohistory of ancient civilizations

This paper summarizes the main steps of the history of metallurgy at Arslantepe from the of the 5th millennium to 2000 BC. It is a story about technology and about the role that metal has played over time. It starts in a very simple way, due to the very few objects found in the settlement dating back to period VIII and gets more and more complex in the following periods (VII; VI A-D). At Arslantepe a strong link appears to have existed between metallurgy and the organization of power. The visibility of metal objects depends upon the social practices in which they were involved.The collapse of the palace at end of the 4th millennium is the result of a drastic change in the political system. This change was probably also due to the new needs of the local community: manufacturing of metal grew increasingly oriented toward utilitarian production, both in terms of quality and quantity. This aspect came to characterize the entire second half of the 3rd millennium BC.