Ancient metallurgy in the caucasus from the sixth to the third millennium BCE

Abstract

Situated between the Caspian and the Black Seas, the Caucasus mountain range is not a barrier but rather links the vast Eurasian Steppe in the north to Anatolia, Mesopotamia and Iran to the south through several important passes. Cultural connectivity and exchange have always been a significant feature of this region. Among the various materials that bear witness to these cultural interactions in the past, it is clear that metals and metallurgy played an important role. The beginnings of metallurgy in this region correspond to a technological and conceptual revolution that had important cultural implications. In order to understand the importance of metal to the ancient peoples of the Caucasus, the term metallurgy is used in its broadest sense: from the extraction of ore to the use and deposition (or recycling) of objects. The aim of this chapter is to explain the development of extractive and manufacturing metallurgies in the northern and southern Caucasus and highlight the cultural consequences of the appearance of this new technology. This study combines archaeological, geological and metallurgical data in order to provide a broad synthesis of both early and recent research into the prehistoric metallurgy of the Caucasus.