Archaeology, Ethnology & Anthropology of Eurasia 37 (3) 2009

Annotation:  Middle Paleolithic Industries of the Early Late Pleistocene (OIS 5) in the Southwestern Part of East Evidence of Environmental Instability of the Lake Baikal Area after the Last Glaciation (Based on P Radiocarbon Chronology of Neolithic and Bronze Age Cultures in Yakutia Clay Balls from Suchu Island as Neolithic Sacral Symbols Models of Metal Production in the Near East (Chalcolithic – Middle Bronze Age) Chinese Inscription on the Lacquer Cup from Noin Ula Mound 20 (Mongolia) Horse Forehead Pieces from the Kuban Region The Pakhomovskaya Culture of the Late Bronze Age Stone Stele Bearing a “Sun-Headed” Deity on the Tuim River, Khakassia (In commemoration of the Finni Methodological Issues in the Digital Mapping of Archaeological Sites The Church of the Saviour from Zashiversk: The Dendrochronological Aspect The “Harlequin”: An Ostyak Idol “Technological Eschatology” in Modern Traditions of Popular Orthodoxy and among the Old Believers o Mummery in the Calendar Rites of German Settlers in Siberia Silver of Kazakh Zergers: Traditions in Modern Jewelry Art Dental Remains from Mound 20 at Noin-Ula, Mongolia The Origin of the Medieval Population of the Novgorod Republic) (10th–13th centuries): A Craniometri   

Models of Metal Production in the Near East (Chalcolithic – Middle Bronze Age)

L.I. Avilova.

The article focuses on the comparative analysis of regional models of early metal production in the Near East (Anatolia, Mesopotamia, the Levant, and Iran) in the 5th – early 2nd millennia BC. The study is based on the statistical analysis of computer databases on ancient copper/bronze, gold, silver, and lead artifacts, compiled by the author. Four criteria are suggested for characterizing the regional models of metal production: production dynamics, distribution of artifacts by function, the role of various metals, and proportions of components of copper-based alloys. Regularities underlying the origins and evolution of metal production in the Near East are described along with regional and chronological peculiarities. The relationship between the features of metal production and stages of social and economic development of ancient societies is reconstructed.

Keywords: The Near East, Chalcolithic, Bronze Age, metal production, databases, statistical analysis, comparative analysis.