A Tale of Production, Circulation and Consumption: Metals in Anatolia during the Late Chalcolithic and Early Bronze Age

Abstract

The present dissertation aims at investigating the social and economic value assigned to metal by Anatolian communities and how it changed over time accordingly to the growth of social complexity and interregional connections. the adoption of a holistic approach embracing the whole metal life cycle will allow the systematization of the vast array of regional evidence into a coherent ‘big picture’ and – at the same time - achieve a more refined understanding of the interconnections existing between the major steps in the life cycle of metals - i.e. production, circulation and consumption, and their synergic significance in revealing how metal was perceived by real people. Focussing on the interaction between metallurgical technologies, metal artefacts and the real people that developed and utilised them, the dissertation represents an attempt to integrate scientific results with theoretical and contextual studies. Each step of the metals’ life history will be addressed through different lines of analytical approach, in order to reconstruct a coherent narrative of the major developments that occurred in the relationship between metals and Anatolian communities during the LC and EBA.