Archaeometallurgy In Global Perspective

Download or read book Archaeometallurgy in Global Perspective written by Benjamin W. Roberts and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2014-01-07 with total page 866 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The study of ancient metals in their social and cultural contexts has been a topic of considerable interest in archaeology and ancient history for decades, partly due to the modern dependence on technology and man-made materials. The formal study of Archaeometallurgy began in the 1970s-1980s, and has seen a recent growth in techniques, data, and theoretical movements. This comprehensive sourcebook on Archaeometallurgy provides an overview of earlier research as well as a review of modern techniques, written in an approachable way. Covering an extensive range of archaeological time-periods and regions, this volume will be a valuable resource for those studying archaeology worldwide. It provides a clear, straightforward look at the available methodologies, including: • Smelting processes • Slag analysis • Technical Ceramics • Archaeology of Mining and Field Survey • Ethnoarchaeology • Chemical Analysis and Provenance Studies • Conservation Studies With chapters focused on most geographic regions of Archaeometallurgical inquiry, researchers will find practical applications for metallurgical techniques in any area of their study. Ben Roberts is a specialist in the early metallurgy and later prehistoric archaeology of Europe. He was the Curator of the European Copper and Bronze Age collections at the British Museum between 2007 and 2012 and is now a Lecturer in Prehistoric Europe in the Departm ent of Archaeology at the Durham University, UK. Chris Thornton is a specialist in the ancient metallurgy of the Middle East, combining anthropological theory with archaeometrical analysis to understand the development and diffusion of metallurgical technologies throughout Eurasia. He is currently a Consulting Scholar of the University of Pennsylvania Museum, where he received his PhD in 2009, and the Lead Program Officer of research grants at the National Geographic Society.

Download or read book The Rise of Metallurgy in Eurasia written by Miljana Radivojević and published by Archaeopress Publishing Ltd. This book was released on 2021-12-23 with total page 700 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Rise of Metallurgy in Eurasia is a landmark study in the evolution of early metallurgy in the Balkans. It demonstrates that far from being a rare and elite practice, the earliest metallurgy in the world was a common and communal craft activity.

Download or read book Archaeometallurgy in Mesoamerica written by Aaron N. Shugar and published by University Press of Colorado. This book was released on 2013-01-15 with total page 258 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Presenting the latest in archaeometallurgical research in a Mesoamerican context, Archaeometallurgy in Mesoamerica brings together up-to-date research from the most notable scholars in the field. These contributors analyze data from a variety of sites, examining current approaches to the study of archaeometallurgy in the region as well as new perspectives on the significance metallurgy and metal objects had in the lives of its ancient peoples. The chapters are organized following the cyclical nature of metals--beginning with extracting and mining ore, moving to smelting and casting of finished objects, and ending with recycling and deterioration back to the original state once the object is no longer in use. Data obtained from archaeological investigations, ethnohistoric sources, ethnographic studies, along with materials science analyses, are brought to bear on questions related to the integration of metallurgy into local and regional economies, the sacred connotations of copper objects, metallurgy as specialized crafting, and the nature of mining, alloy technology, and metal fabrication.

Download or read book Metals in Past Societies written by Shadreck Chirikure and published by Springer. This book was released on 2015-03-18 with total page 181 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book seeks to communicate to both a global and local audience, the key attributes of pre-industrial African metallurgy such as technological variation across space and time, methods of mining and extractive metallurgy and the fabrication of metal objects. These processes were transformative in a physical and metaphoric sense, which made them total social facts. Because the production and use of metals was an accretion of various categories of practice, a chaine operatoire conceptual and theoretical framework that simultaneously considers the embedded technological and anthropological factors was used. The book focuses on Africa’s different regions as roughly defined by cultural geography. On the one hand there is North Africa, Egypt, the Egyptian Sudan, and the Horn of Africa which share cultural inheritances with the Middle East and on the other is Africa south of the Sahara and the Sudan which despite interacting with the former is remarkably different in terms of technological practice. For example, not only is the timing of metallurgy different but so is the infrastructure for working metals and the associated symbolic and sociological factors. The cultural valuation of metals and the social positions of metal workers were different too although there is evidence of some values transfer and multi-directional technological cross borrowing. The multitude of permutations associated with metals production and use amply demonstrates that metals participated in the production and reproduction of society. Despite huge temporal and spatial differences there are so many common factors between African metallurgy and that of other regions of the world. For example, the role of magic and ritual in metal working is almost universal be it in Bolivia, Nepal, Malawi, Timna, Togo or Zimbabwe. Similarly, techniques of mining were constrained by the underlying geology but this should not in any way suggest that Africa’s metallurgy was derivative or that the continent had no initiative. Rather it demonstrates that when confronted with similar challenges, humanity in different regions of the world responded to identical challenges in predictable ways mediated as mediated by the prevailing cultural context. The success of the use of historical and ethnographic data in understanding variation and improvisation in African metallurgical practices flags the potential utility of these sources in Asia, Latin America and Europe. Some nuance is however needed because it is simply naïve to assume that everything depicted in the history or ethnography has a parallel in the past and vice versa. Rather, the confluence of archaeology, history and ethnography becomes a pedestal for dialogue between different sources, subjects and ideas that is important for broadening our knowledge of global categories of metallurgical practice.

Download or read book Ban Chiang, Northeast Thailand, Volume 2A written by Joyce C. White and published by University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology. This book was released on 2018-11-09 with total page 296 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The emergence and adoption of metallurgy is one of the seminal topics of investigation in the history of archaeology, particularly in the history of archaeological research in Southeast Asia. The site of Ban Chiang, Thailand, is a central site in debates surrounding the chronology and significance of early metallurgy in the region. This book is the first in a series of four volumes that review the contributions of Ban Chiang and three related sites in northeast Thailand excavated by the Penn Museum to an understanding early metallurgy in Thailand. As the study of archaeometallurgy is a complex topic that draws on numerous technical and social science disciplines, this introductory volume presents in several chapters the background needed to assess the metal and related evidence presented in the subsequent volumes in this series. A history of perspectives on the role of metals in ancient societies generally and Southeast Asia, specifically, is provided. Other chapters debunk the conventional paradigm for understanding metals and society and provide current theoretical perspectives and new paradigms for the study of ancient metals. The geological basis for the presence and location of metal ore resources in the region is reviewed. The final chapter presents a technical overview of ways material properties of ancient metals may be studied. While providing a background to the study of metals at Ban Chiang, the volume also reviews, synthesizes, and repositions the method and theory for the study of archaeometallurgy generally. Thai Archaeology Monograph Series, 2A; University Museum Monograph, 149

Download or read book Archaeological Chemistry written by Mary Virginia Orna and published by Cambridge Scholars Publishing. This book was released on 2020-11-24 with total page 519 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Highlighting its broad, multidisciplinary nature, this volume presents new research and applications in the field of archaeological chemistry, which focuses on the application of chemical techniques to the study of the material remains of the cultures of historical or prehistorical peoples. Consisting of 18 chapters written by a diverse collection of international authors, this volume highlights new research in archaeological chemistry, and shows how the field combines aspects of analytical chemistry, history, archaeology, and materials science. Current efforts to include archaeological chemistry in science education are also presented. As this book utilizes current scientific advances to better understand our past, it will be of broad general interest to the chemical, archaeological, and historical communities.

Download or read book Archaeometallurgy – Materials Science Aspects written by Andreas Hauptmann and published by Springer Nature. This book was released on 2020-11-21 with total page 595 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book successfully connects archaeology and archaeometallurgy with geoscience and metallurgy. It addresses topics concerning ore deposits, archaeological field evidence of early metal production, and basic chemical-physical principles, as well as experimental ethnographic works on a low handicraft base and artisanal metal production to help readers better understand what happened in antiquity. The book is chiefly intended for scholars and students engaged in interdisciplinary work.