The modern perception that technological success and failure are exclusively the result to objective, quantifiable material properties has colored the way scholars have studied technological change in the past. The development of metallurgy has been particularly susceptible to these misperceptions, in part because metals remain a fundamental part of modern industry. A broader anthropological perspective is necessary to understand how social and cultural factors influence technological change.
The NSF-supported dissertation research, to be carried out by Nathaniel Erb-Satullo with the supervision on Professor Karl Lamberg-Karlovsky, will investigate a number of key questions about the technology and organization of metal production at the end of the Bronze Age and the beginning of the Iron Age (c. 1500-500 BC). In many areas of western Asia, the beginnings of widespread iron usage are correlated with substantial political and social change. Archaeologists have long sought to place this technological change into a broader framework of political and social changes. Some argue that the rise of iron technology was related to a breakdown in elite-controlled copper and tin trade networks, leading to the exploitation of geologically abundant iron ores. Others argue that the development related to a series of technological innovations which made iron a harder and more effective tool than bronze. Little research has focused on this transition from the perspective of the metal producers themselves.
The research program funded by this grant will examine the relationship between copper and iron production, with a focus on the primary contexts of production. The principal investigators hypothesize that that iron and bronze production were closely linked with one another, and that early iron producers drew extensively on knowledge gained from earlier technological traditions. Moreover, initial data suggests that, in contrast to other more intensively studied regions, bronze production was highly dispersed, with smelting, casting, smithing occurring at large numbers of small-scale sites. This mode of organization contrasts dramatically from more intensively studied regions of the Middle East, calling into question long-held notions about iron representing a "democratic" alternative to elite-controlled bronze.
Using a combination of survey, test excavations, and laboratory analysis of production debris, Erb-Satullo and his British and Georgian colleagues will test these hypotheses, examining technological decision-making in its social, economic, and political context. In addition to addressing key questions about the development of iron production in western Asia, the research will contribute to the growing body of research which shows that technological invention and adoption is deeply embedded within a society's social and cultural systems. Understanding these dimensions of technological change is essential in a world where rapid technology transfer offers both opportunities and pitfalls for solving many pressing social and environmental problems.
More directly, this research will foster increased collaboration between Georgian and Western scholars, and increase awareness of the Republic of Georgia. Despite its rich history, varied landscapes, and traditions of hospitality, Georgia remains a little known country in the West. Greater engagement between Georgia and the international community, through collaborative projects and responsible tourism, can assist Georgia in facing the many challenges of a newly independent country.
