Dawn of the Metal Age: Technology and Society During the Levantine Chalcolithic

by Jonathan M. Golden

Overview

The fifth millennium BCE was a period of rapid social change. One of the key factors was the developments in technology which led to the rise of the metals industry. Archaeological finds from sites dating to the Chalcolithic period indicate the production and use of copper. 'Dawn of the Metal Age' examines a range of sites - from copper mines in Jordan and Israel to the villages of the northern Negev where copper was produced in household workshops, to a series of cave burials where a range of luxury metal goods were buried with the elite members of Chalcolithic society. Ancient technology is reconstructed from the archaeological evidence, which also illuminates the changing economic, social, religious and political environment of the time.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781904768999
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	04/01/2009
Series:	Approaches to Anthropological Archaeology Series
Pages:	256
Product dimensions:	7.44(w) x 9.69(h) x (d)

About the Author

Authored by Golden, Jonathan M.

Table of Contents

List of Figures ix

List of Tables xi

Acknowledgments xii

Preface Thomas E. Levy xvii

1 The Dawn of the Metal Age 1

2 Leaving the Neolithic 8

3 The Northern Negev Copper Boom 35

4 Elite Tombs of the Chalcolithic 48

5 Cornets and Copper-A Metallurgical Perspective on Chalcolithic Chronology 71

6 A Model for Specialized Craft Production 97

7 Copper Production at Abu Matar 108

8 The Seduction of the Industry 150

9 Technology and Society 163

10 Production and Social Organization during the Chalcolithic 181

11 Conclusion 191

Bibliography 203

Index 228