In the Laboratory for Cultural Materials at the University of Arizona, under the direction of Pamela Vandiver, Lesley Frame will examine evidence for some of the earliest copper production in the world (early 5th millennium BCE) to understand technological choices made by prehistoric craftspeople. Three sites on the Iranian Plateau (Tal-i Iblis in the South, and Seh Gabi and Godin Tepe in the North) have yielded archaeological evidence for smelting copper. The Plateau region is unique in the persistent use of crucibles (shallow bowl-like vessels) for over two millennia for converting copper ore to metal for despite the presence of more efficient technologies (e.g. the furnace) in the surrounding lowlands and nearby coastal regions.
In order to study the reasons for the persistent use of crucibles, and the earliest metallurgy on the Iranian Plateau in general, one must first develop a dynamic view of metallurgical technology on the plateau. This dynamic view must consider metal production in different locations (with access to different raw materials including ore, fuel, and clay), and it must consider different scales of production (in workshop and residential settings), and changes in social values, trade networks, demand for metal goods, and access to other craftspeople, and therefore other technological processes. This project examines early metal production on the Iranian Plateau by focusing on (1) both published data and new results generated by this project from large-scale production areas, (2) data from trade and urban centers that exhibit evidence of small-scale, "cottage-level" metal production and working as well as a wide range of metal artifacts, and (3) the technological choices and technological changes exhibited at these sites that occur with other, non-metal, materials on the Plateau.
This project will contribute significantly to our understandings of the early development of metal technology in the Iranian highlands. In addition, the detailed study of the important highland Iranian sites included in this project, which have been largely neglected since their initial excavation over 30 years ago, will shed new light on the practices of and interactions between Chalcolithic and Bronze Age communities. Furthermore, the methodology and use of social technology theories makes this project anthropologically robust as well as analytically detailed.
Further, the number of scholars studying the archaeometallurgy of Iran is small, but diverse. The broader impacts of this project include contributions to an ongoing dialogue within this international group of German, British, Iranian, Canadian, and American researchers regarding the state of the field and the interpretation of our collective data. The project will also contribute to undergraduate education at the University of Arizona. The experimental archaeological casting is being incorporated as a demonstration and interactive experiment for upper-level undergraduates in Materials Science and Engineering. These classes are designed to help students understand the relationships between processing and properties of materials, and how technology has changed over the past 30,000 years.
