Archaeoastronomy and Ancient Technologies 2017, 5(2), 17-41

DOI: 10.24411/2310-2144-2017-00006

Social processes in Ancient Eurasia and development of types of alloys in metallurgical production

Stanislav A. Grigoriev

Institute of History and Archaeology, Chelyabinsk, Russian Federation; e-mail: stgrig@mail.ru

Abstract

The article is devoted to the main regularities in changes of types of alloying in the Eurasian Bronze Age. The aim of the article is to show the reasons and mechanisms of these changes. The article is based on researches by the author of the Eurasian Bronze Age slags which showed direct link of use of particular alloys with types of ore and gangue. Deviations from this rule are rare. Social processes stimulating expansion of metal consumption were a cornerstone of these changes. It led to change of the ore base that resulted in emergence of appropriate technologies of ore smelting, technologies and types of alloying and, eventually, morphology of metal artifacts. The mass transition to arsenic copper or to use of copper-arsenic ore became possible with transition from smelting rather pure pieces of malachite to smelting ore with fragments of ore-bearing rock. This type of alloying was possible in case of low-temperature smelting of oxidized ores. After the abrupt territorial expansion of metallurgical technologies and increase in amounts of metallurgical production at the beginning of the Late Bronze Age, the mass use of ores from refractory rocks and coper-iron sulfides begins. It resulted in increase of smelting temperature and made impossible the alloys with arsenic because arsenic vaporized. Therefore a necessity to look for other alloying component was created. And it was tin. But, as its deposits were rare, specific conditions for its wide circulation and organization of trade and exchange network were necessary. Such conditions in Northern Eurasia were provided by migrations from east to west at first of the Seima-Turbino, and then of the Andronovo tribes. But the same processes took place in Europe and the Middle East, stimulating new social realities.

Keywords: Bronze Age, Northern Eurasia, tin, arsenic, metallurgical technologies, alloying, ore smelting, social processes.

Full Text: Download pdf (English)

Download pdf (Russian)

References

Agapov, S.A.; Degtyareva, A.D.; Kuzminykh, S.V. Metalloproizvodstvo vostochnoy zony obshchnosti kul'tur valikovoy keramiki. [Metallurgical production of the eastern zone of the community of cultures of cordoned ware]. Vestnik arkheologii, antropologii i etnografii. [Bulletin of archaeology, anthropology and ethnology] 2012, 3(18), 44-59.
Avilova, L.I. Regional models of metal production in Western Asia in the Chalcolithic, Early and Middle Bronze Ages. Trabajos de Prehistoria 2008, 65(1), 55-73.
Bobrov, V.V.; Kuzminykh, S.V.; Teneyshvili, T.O. Drevnyaya metallurgiya Srednego Eniseya [Ancient metallurgy of the Middle Yenisei]; Kuzbassvuzizdat: Kemerovo, Russia, 1997; 99 p.
Budd, P.; Ottaway, B. Eneolithic arsenical copper: chance or choice? In Ancient mining and metallurgy in Southeast Europe. Archaeological Institute Beograd monographs; Archaeological Institute: Belgrade, Yugoslavia, No27, 1990, pp. 95-101.
Charles, J.A. The Coming of Copper and Copper-Base Alloys and Iron: A Metallurgical Sequence. In The Coming of the Age of Iron; Yale University Press: New Haven, London, USA, 1980, pp. 151-182.
Chernykh, E.N. Istoriya drevneyshey metallurgii Vostochnoy Evropy [History of the earliest metallurgy of Eastern Europe]; Nauka: Moscow, Russia, 1966; 144 p.
Chernykh, E.N. Drevneyshaya metallurgiya Urala i Povolzh'ya [The earliest metallurgy of the Urals and Volga]; Nauka: Moscow, Russia, 1970; 180 p.
Chernykh, E.N. Metall i drevnie kul'tury: Uzlovye problemy issledovaniya [Metal and ancient cultures. Key research problems]. In Estestvennonauchnye metody v arkheologii; Nauka [Scientific methods in archaeology]: Moscow, Russia, 1989, pp. 14-30.
Chernykh, E.N. Ancient Mining and Metallurgy in the USSR. The Early Metal Age. University Press: Cambridge, UK, 1992; 335 p.
Chernykh, E.N. Kargaly, T V: Kargaly: fenomen i paradoksy razvitiya; Kargaly v sisteme metallurgicheskikh provintsiy; Potaennaya (sakral'naya) zhizn' drevnikh gornyakov i metallurgov [Kargaly: phenomenon and paradoxes of development. Kargaly in the system of metallurgical provinces. The hidden (sacral) life of archaic miners and metallurgists]; Yazyki slavyanskoy kul'tury: Moscow, Russia, 2007; 200 p.
Chernykh, E.N. Metallurgical Provinces of Eurasia in the Early Metal Age: Problems of Interrelation. ISIJ International 2014, 54 (5), 1002-1009.
Chernykh, E.N.; Kuzminykh, S.V. Drevnyaya metallurgiya Severnoy Evrazii [Ancient metallurgy of Northern Eurasia]; Nauka: Moscow, Russia, 1989; 320 p.
Chernykh, E.N.; Kuzminykh, S.V. Metall Mosolovskogo poseleniya (po dannym spektral'nogo analiza) [Metal of the Mosolovskoe settlement (according to spectral analysis)]. In Pryakhin A.D. Poseleniya srubnoy obshchnosti [Settlements of Srubnaja culture]; Voronezh university: Voronezh, Russia, 1989, pp. 5-14.
Chlenova, N.L. Khronologiya pamyatnikov karasukskoy epokhi [Chronology of sites of the Karasuk period]; Nauka: Moscow, 1972; 248 p.
Craddock, P.T. Paradigms of metallurgical innovation in prehistoric Europe. In The beginnings of metallurgy: proceedings of the International Conference "The Beginnings of Metallurgy", Bochum, Germany, 1995. Edited by Hauptmann, A. Bochum: Deutsches Bergbau-Museum; pp. 175-192.
Degtyareva, A.D. Istoriya metalloproizvodstva Yuzhnogo Zaural'ya v epokhu bronzy [History of metal production of the Southern Transurals in the Bronze Age]; Nauka: Novosibirsk, Russia, 2010; 162 p.
Degtyareva, A.D.; Kostomarova, Yu.V. Metall pozdnego bronzovogo veka lesostepnogo Pritobol'ya [Metal of the Late Bronze Age of the forest-steppe Tobol area]. Vestnik arkheologii, antropologii i etnografii [Bulletin of archaeology, anthropology and ethnology] 2011, 1 (14), 30-45.
Glumac, P.D.; Todd, J.A. Eneolithic Copper Smelting Slags from the Middle Danube Basin. In Archaeometry'90. Proceedings of the 27th Symposium on Archaeometry held in Heilderberg. Edited by Pernicka, E.; Wagner, G. Basel, Boston: Birkha?user Verlag, 1990; pp. 155-164.
Grigoriev, S.A. Ancient Indo-Europeans; Charoid: Chelyabinsk, Russia, 2002; 496 p.
Grigoriev, S.A. Metallurgical Production in Northern Eurasia in the Bronze Age; Archaeopress: Oxford, UK, 2015; 831 p.
Hunt Ortiz, M.A. Prehistoric mining and metallurgy in South West Iberian Peninsula. British Archaeological Report. International Series 1188; Archaeopress: Oxford, UK, 2003; 418 p.
Krizhevskaya, L.Ya. Rannebronzovoe vremya v Yuzhnom Zaural'e [Early Bronze Age in the Southern Transurals]; Nauka: Leningrad, Russia, 1977; 129 p.
Kuz'minykh, S.V.; Chernykh, E.N. Spektroanaliticheskoe issledovanie metalla bronzovogo veka lesostepnogo Pritobol'ya [Spectral analyses of the Bronze Age metal in the forest-steppe Tobol area]. In Potemkina, T.M. Bronzovyy vek lesostepnogo Pritobol'ya [The Bronze Age of the forest-steppe Tobol area]; Nauka: Moscow, USSR, 1985, pp. 346-367.
Margulan, A.Kh. Saryarka. Gornoe delo i metallurgiya v epokhu bronzy. Dzhezkazgan - drevniy i srednevekovyy metallurgicheskiy tsentr (gorodishche Milykuduk) [Saryarka. Mining and metallurgy in the Bronze Age. Jezkazgan - ancient and medieval metallurgical center (fortified settlement of Milykuduk)]; Dayk-Press: Almaty, Kazakhstan, 2001; 144 p.
McKerrell, H.; Tylecote, R.F. The working of copper-arsenic alloys in the Early Bronze Age and the effect on the determination of provenance. Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society 1972, 38, 209-218.
Qijia and Seima-Turbino: the question of early contacts between Northwest China and the Eurasian steppe. Bulletin of the museum of Far Eastern antiquities, 75, 31-54.
Mei, J.; Xu, J.; Chen, K.; Shen, L.; Wang, H. Recent research on early bronze metallurgy in Northwest China. In Scientific research on ancient Asian metallurgy; Archetype Publications Ltd: London, UK, 2012; Volume 2, pp. 35-44.
Muhly, J.D. Supplement to copper and tin. The distribution of mineral resources and the nature of metal trade in the Bronze Age. In Transactions of the Connecticut Academy of Arts and Sciences; Archon books: Hamden, USA, 1976; Volume 46, pp. 77-136.
Muhly, J.D. The Bronze Age Setting. In: The Coming of the Age of Iron; Yale University Press: New Haven, London, 1980, pp. 25-68.
Northover, P. Properties and Use of Arsenic-Copper Alloys. In Archaometallurgie der Alten Welt. Paper presented at International Symposium "Old World Archaeometallurgy". Heidelberg, 1987. Edited by Hauptmann, A.; Pernicka, E.; Wagner, G.A. Bochum: Deutschen Bergbau-Museums, 1987; pp. 111-118.
O'Brien, W. Arsenical copper in early Irish metallurgy. In Metals in Antiquity. Paper presented at Conference "Metals in Antiquity", Harvard, USA, 1995. Edited by Young, S. et al. British Archaeological Reports (International Series). Oxford, UK: Archaeopress, 1999; pp. 33-42.
O'Brien, W. Prehistoric copper mining and metallurgical expertise in Ireland. In Povoamento e Exploracao dos Recursos Mineiros; Centro de Investigacao Transdisciplinar "Cultura, Espaco e Memoria": Braga, Portugal, 2011; pp. 337-357.
O'Brien, W. Bronze Age copper mining in Europe. In Oxford Handbook of the Bronze Age; Oxford University Press: Oxford, UK, 2013; pp. 433-449.
Oudbashi, O.O.; Emami, S.M.; Davami, P. Bronze in Archaeology: A Review of the Archaeometallurgy of Bronze in Ancient Iran. In Copper Alloys - Early Applications and Current Performance - Enhancing Processes; TechOpenBook: Rijeka, Croatia, 2012; pp. 153-178.
Palmieri, A.M.; Sertok, K.; Chernykh, E. From Arslantepe metalwork to arsenical copper technology in Eastern Anatolia. In Between the rivers and over the Mountains. Archaeologica Anatolica et Mesopotamica Alba Palmieri dedicata. Universita di Roma La Sapienza: Roma, Italy, 1993; pp. 573-599.
Palmieri, A.; Hauptmann, A.; Hess, K.; Sertok, K. The Composition of Ores and Slags found at Arslantepe, Malatya. In Archaeometry'94. Paper presented at the 29th International Symposium on Archaeometry. Edited by Demirci, S.; Ozer, A.M.; Summers, G.D. Ankara, Turkey: Tubitak, 1994; pp. 447-449.
Papadimitriou, G. The Technological Evolution of Copper Alloys in the Aegean during the Prehistoric Period. In Aegean Metallurgy in the Bronze Age; Ta Pragmata: Athens, Greece, 2008; pp. 271-287.
Pernicka, E. Die Ausbreitung der Zinnbronze im 3. Jahrtausend. In Mensch und Umwelt in der Bronzezeit Europas Man und Environment in European Bronze Age; Oetker-Voges Verlag: Kiel, Germany, 1998; pp. 135-147.
Pigott, V.C. On the Importance of Iran in the Study of Prehistoric Copper-Base Metallurgy. In Persia's Ancient Splendour, Mining, Handicraft and Archaeology; Deutsches Bergbaumuseum: Bochum, Germany, 2004; pp. 28-43.
Pigott, V.C. "Luristan bronzes" and the development of metallurgy in the West-Central Zagros, Iran. In Metals and societies; Bonn: Habelt, Germany, 2009; pp. 369-382.
Pulak, C. The copper and tin ingots from the Late Bronze Age shipwreck at Uluburun. In Anatolian Metal I; Deutsches Bergbau-Museum: Bochum, Germany, 2000, pp. 137-157.
Radivojevic, M.; Rehren, Th.; Kuzmanovic-Cvetkovic, J.; Jovanovic, M.; Northover, J.P. Why are there tin bronzes in the 5th mill BC Balkans? In Archaeotechnology: Studying Technology from Prehistory to the Middle Ages; Prosveta: Belgrade, Serbia, 2014; pp. 235-256.
Ravich, I.G.; Ryndina, N.V. Izuchenie svoystv i mikrostruktury splavov med' - mysh'yak v svyazi s ikh ispol'zovaniem v drevnosti [Study of properties and microstructures of copper-arsenic alloys and their use in antiquity]. Khudozhestvennoe nasledie. Iskusstvo 1984, 9 (39), p. 114-124.
Rehren, Th. Crucibles as reaction vessels in ancient metallurgy. In Mining and metal production through the ages; British museum press: London, UK, 2003; pp. 207-215.
Riederer, J. Die fruhen Kupferlegierungen im Vorderen Orient. In Handwerk und Technologie in Alten Welt; Plilip v. Zabern: Mainz, Germany, 1991; pp. 85-93.
Roberts, B.W.; Thornton, C.P.; Pigott, V.C. Development of metallurgy in Eurasia. Antiquity 2009, 83, 1012-1022.
Ryndina, N.V.; Ravich, I.G.; Bystrov, S.V. O proiskhozhdenii i svoystvakh mysh'yako-nikelevykh bronz maykopskoy kul'tury Severnogo Kavkaza (ranniy bronzovyy vek) [About origins and properties of arsenic-nickel bronzes of Maikop culture of the Northern Caucasus (Early Bronze Age)]. In Arkheologiya Kavkaza i Blizhnego Vostoka [Archaeology of the Caucasus and the Near East]; Taus: Moscow, Russia, 2008, pp. 196-221.
Ryndina, N.V.; Ravich, I.G. O metalloproizvodstve maykopskikh plemen Severnogo Kavkaza (po dannym khimiko-tekhnologicheskikh issledovaniy) [About metal production of Maikop tribes of the Northern Caucasus]. Vestnik arkheologii, antropologii i etnografii [Bulletin of archaeology, anthropology and ethnology] 2012, 2 (17), 4-20.
Sabatini, B.J. The As-Cu-Ni System: A Chemical Thermodynamic Model for Ancient Recycling. JOM: the journal of the Minerals, Metals & Materials Society 2015, 67, 2984-2992.
Schmitt-Strecker, S.; Begemann, F.; Pernicka, E. Untersuchungen zur Metallurgie der Spaten Uruk- und Fruhen Bronzezeit am oberen Euphrat. In Handwerk und Technologie in Alten Welt; Plilip v. Zabern: Mainz, Germany, 1991; pp. 97-98.
Scott, D.A. Metallography and microstructure of ancient and historic metals. Metallography and microstructure of ancient and historic metals; The J. Paul Getty Trust: Los Angeles, USA, 1991; 176 p.
Sitnikov, S.M. K voprosu o gornom dele i metallurgicheskom proizvodstve sargarinsko-alekseevskogo naseleniya Altaya [To the question of mining and metallurgical production of Sargary-Alexeevka people of the Altai]. In Altay v sisteme metallurgicheskikh provintsiy Bronzovogo Veka [Altai in the system of metallurgical provinces of the Bronze Age]; Altai University: Barnaul, Russia, 2006; pp. 150-157.
Strahm, Ch.; Hauptmann, A. The metallurgical developmental phases in the Old World. In Metals and societies; Habelt: Bonn, Germany, pp. 116-128.
Thornton, C.P. The emergence of complex metallurgy on the Iranian Plateau: Escaping the Levantine Paradigm. Journal of World Prehistory 2009, 22(3), 301-327.
Thornton, C.P.; Lamberg-Karlovsky, C.C.; Liezers, M.; Young, S.M.M. Stech and Pigott revisited: New evidence for the origin of tin bronze in light of chemical and metallographic analyses of the metal artifacts from Tepe Yahya, Iran. In Geoarchaeological and Bioarchaeological Studies 3. Paper presented at the 33rd International Symposium on Archaeometry, 2002, Amsterdam. Edited by Kars, H.; Burke, E. Amsterdam, Netherland: Vrije Universiteit, 2005; pp. 395-398.
Thornton, C.P.; Lamberg-Karlovsky, C.C. Tappeh Yahya und die prahistorische Metallurgie in Sudostiran. In Persiens Antike Pracht; Deutsches Bergbaumuseum: Bochum, Germany, 2004; pp. 264-273.
Thornton, C.P.; Lamberg-Karlovsky, C.C. A new look at the prehistoric metallurgy of Southeastern Iran. Iran 2004, XLII, 47-59.
Thornton, C.P.; Rehren, Th. Report on the first Iranian prehistoric slag workshop. Iran 2007, XLV, 315-318.
Thornton, C.P.; Rehren, Th. A truly refractory crucible from fourth millennium Tepe Hissar, Northeast Iran. Journal of Archaeological Science 2009, 36 (12), 2700-2712.
Tigeeva, E.V. Tekhnologiya izgotovleniya metallicheskikh izdeliy Chistolebyazhskogo mogil'nika [Technology of producing metal objects of the Chistolebyazhie cemetery]. Vestnik arkheologii, antropologii i etnografii [Bulletin of archaeology, anthropology and ethnology] 2011, 2 (15), 66-78.
Tigeeva, E.V. Khimiko-metallurgicheskaya kharakteristika metalla alakul'skoy kul'tury Srednego Pritobol'ya [Chimical and metallurgical characteristics of metal of Alakul culture in the Middle Tobol]. Vestnik arkheologii, antropologii i etnografii [Bulletin of archaeology, anthropology and ethnology] 2013, 3 (22), 31-39.
Tylecote, R.F. Chalcolithic metallurgy in the Eastern Mediterranean. In: Chalcolithic Cyprus and Western Asia. British Museum Occasional Paper 1981, 26, 41-51.
Vinogradov, N.B.; Degtyareva, A.D.; Kuzminykh, S.V. Metallurgiya i metalloobrabotka v zhizni obitateley ukreplennogo poseleniya Ustie 1 [Metallurgy and metalworking in life of inhabitants of the fortified settlement of Ustie 1]. Vestnik arkheologii, antropologii i etnografii [Bulletin of archaeology, anthropology and ethnology] 2013, 3 (22), 4-30.
Yener, K.A. The domestication of metals. The rise of complex metal industries in Anatolia; Brill: Leiden, Boston, Koln, 2000; 210 p.
Yener, K.A.; Geckinly, E.; Ozbal, H. A Brief Survey of Anatolian Metallurgy prior to 500 BC. In Archaeometry'94. Paper presented at the 29th International Symposium on Archaeometry. Edited by Demirci, S.; Ozer, A.M.; Summers, G.D. Ankara, Turkey: Tubitak, 1994; pp. 373-392.
Yener, K.A.; Adriaens, A.; Earl, B.; Ozbal, H. Analyses of metalliferous residues, crucible fragments, experimental smelts, and ores from Kestel tin mine and the tin processing site of Goltepe, Turkey. In Mining and metal production through the ages; British museum press: London, UK; pp. 181-197.
Zwicker U. Untersuchungen zur Herstellung von Kupfer und Kupferlegierungen im Bereich des ostlichen Mittelmeeres (3500-1000 v. Chr.). In Archaometallurgie der Alten Welt. Paper presented at International Symposium "Old World Archaeometallurgy". Heidelberg, 1987. Edited by Hauptmann, A.; Pernicka, E.; Wagner, G.A. Bochum: Deutschen Bergbau-Museums, 1987; pp. 191-203.