Table des matières
Introduction
Catherine Marro et Thomas Stöllner
On salt, copper and goldThe story behind shepherds, metallurgists and miners in the first mining enterprises of the Caucasus
- Introduction
- The organisation of early mining and metal production
- The role of pastoral nomads in mining and early metallurgy
- The place of salt and metal in the economy of Late Chalcolithic and Early Bronze Age communities
- The social impact of mining and metallurgy on Late Prehistoric societies
- Conclusions
Early mining in the Caucasus and beyond
Anthony Harding
Prehistoric rock‑salt productionThierry Gonon, Nicolas Gailhard, Baki Varol et al.
Early salt‑mining systems and strategies at Duzdağı, Nakhchivan- Introduction
- Geological study
- Excavations results
- The earliest mining infrastructures: evidence of a cell-mining system from the Kura-Araxes period in M1
- M1 during the Late Bronze/Early Iron Age (LBA/EIA): evidence of a slab-extraction system
- A case of semi-underground salt exploitation: the overhang mining works of M9
- A few words about Late Prehistoric salt extraction in Salt Level 3 (SL3)
- Conclusions
Caroline Hamon, Nicolas Gailhard et Gilles Fronteau
Salt‑exploitation techniques during the Early Bronze Age in the CaucasusTechnology and use-wear of the macro-lithic tools from Duzdağı and Kültepe I (Nakhchivan)
- Introduction
- Methodology and classification of the macro-lithic tools
- Stone tools from the field survey
- The context
- The tools
- Overview
- Intermediate size hammers (Types A to D)
- Massive hammers (Type F)
- Type E hammers
- The stone tools from test trenches M1 and M11
- Early Bronze Age exploitation: trenches M1 and M11
- The context
- The tools
- Overview
- Late Bronze/Early Iron Age exploitation
- The context
- The tools
- Overview
- The stone tools from Kültepe I
- The context
- The tools
- Overview
- Discussion
- Dating of the tools
- Of tools and techniques: a specialized activity?
- Symbolic and identity-defining tools?
- Conclusion
Catherine Marro
The functions of Kura‑Araxes ceramic containers in Caucasian early mining- The Kura-Araxes repertoire from Duzdağı
- The general corpus: main features of the survey assemblage
- The corpus from M1 and M11
- Comparisons of the Kura-Araxes ceramic assemblage with earlier and later repertoires
- Late Chalcolithic period
- Late Bronze/Early Iron Age
- Late Iron Age/Early Antiquity
- Interpretation
- Comparison of the Kura-Araxes pottery from Duzdağı with the ceramic vessels of metalliferous mines
- Conclusions
Thomas Stöllner, Irina Gambashidze, Nicole Boenke et al.
The Paravani calculationThe early gold‑mining complex in Sakdrisi and its societal impact
- Introduction
- The Sakdrisi-Dzezdvebi gold-production complex: new insights into the chaîne opératoire of the gold-mining process
- New evidence on the gold processing: gold content and possible gold crucibles at the Dzedzvebi settlement area
- An estimate of the amount of gold extracted from the ore-deposit of Sakdrisi-Kachagiani: the “Paravani” calculation
- Simply the other side of the coin: the ritual interplay of the chaîne opératoire
- Conclusions
- Appendix: the Dzedzvebi and Sakdrisi complex in the light of some archaeobotanical data (N. Boenke, W.H. Schoch)
Ketevan Tamazashvili
The prehistoric mining implements from GeorgiaNino Otchvani, Felix Klein, Sebastian Senczek et al.
Kura-Araxes ceramics and the prehistoric gold mine of SakdrisiEarly metallurgy in the Caucasus and beyond
Nicolas Gailhard, Michael Bode, Veli Bakhshaliyev et al.
The invisible movements of metallurgy: the interactions between nomads and metalSome evidence from Nakhchivan (Azerbaijan) during the Chalcolithic and the Early Bronze Age
- Introduction
- Nakhchivan and the sites under study
- Kültepe I
- Ovçular Tepesi
- Uçan Ağıl
- Zirinçlik
- The material
- General overview of the metallurgical evidence from Nakhchivan
- Kültepe I
- Ovçular Tepesi
- Metal objects
- Copper ores
- Ceramic tools
- Zirinçlik
- Uçan Ağıl
- Analytical methods
- Results
- Copper-bearing rocks
- Ceramic tools
- Slags
- Object composition and structure
- Provenance analysis
- Discussion
- Conclusion
Moritz Jansen, Andreas Hauptmann, Sabine Klein et al.
Geochemistry of gold from the prehistoric mine of Sakdrisi and Transcaucasian gold artefacts between the 4th and 2nd millennia BCBarbara Helwing
Patterns of early metallurgy on the Iranian Plateau, from the beginnings to the end of the Bronze Age- Introduction
- Background
- Copper sources and ore extraction
- Copper: early extraction, smelting, casting
- A reorganisation of copper processing
- Tin bronze in Early Bronze Age Iran and beyond
- Early Bronze Age bronze objects from the Zagros
- Copper and bronze in the 2nd millennium BCE
- The 2nd millennium BCE bronze production of the Zagros highlands and the Central Plateau
- Gold and silver, silver and lead
- Evaluation of diachronic patterns
Nima Nezafati, Ernst Pernicka, Barbara Helwing et al.
Reassessment of the prehistoric metallurgy at Arisman, Central Iran- Introduction
- Materials and methods
- Review of the previous data
- Mineralogy and geochemistry of the ore samples
- Mineralogy and geochemistry of slag samples
- Green slag
- Brown slag
- Comparison of the green and brown slags
- Mineralogy and geochemistry of the litharge fragments
- Geochemistry of analyzed artifacts
- Lead isotope investigations
- Tentative sources for the ancient ore
- The ancient mine of Baqoroq
- The ancient mine of Komjan
- Discussion and conclusions
- Wider implications
- Recommendations for further research
Early mining and metallurgy within their broader economic context
Rémi Berthon, Julia Giblin, Marie Balasse et al.
The role of herding strategies in the exploitation of natural resources by early mining communities in the Caucasus- Introduction
- Definition of pastoralism and preconceptions about mobility
- Material and methods
- Settlements
- Zooarchaeological methods
- Isotopic methods
- Results
- Pastoral signature of the faunal spectra
- Demographic evidence of mobility
- Isotopic evidence of mobility
- Discussion
- The antiquity of the pastoral system and vertical mobility in the Araxes valley
- The appearance of specialised pastoralism in the Kura Valley
- Did mobile pastoralism play a role in the emergence of mining activities in the Caucasus?
- Conclusions
Giulio Palumbi, Irena Kalantaryan, Adrian Bălăşescu et al.
Early pastoralism and natural resource management: recent research at Godedzor- Introduction
- The stratigraphic sequence and the architectural evidence (I. Kalantaryan, P. Avetisyan, G. Palumbi, C. Chataigner)
- The chronology of the Late Chalcolithic occupation (C. Chataigner)
- The Late Chalcolithic ceramics (G. Palumbi)
- Ware groups
- Chaff-tempered ware
- Chaff and grit-tempered ware
- Urmiah painted ware
- Fine painted ware
- Regional ceramic comparisons
- Metals (K. Meliksetian)
- The lithic industry (C. Chataigner)
- Circulation of the Syunik obsidian (C. Chataigner)
- Analysis of the animal remains from Godedzor (A. Bălășescu, J. Chahoud)
- General analysis
- Culling profile of domestic mammals
- Reconstruction of the pastoral movements (O. Barge)
- Archeobotany (R. Hovsepyan)
- Conclusions
Estelle Herrscher, Modwene Poulmarc’h, Liana Bitadze et al.
Is there homogeneity in Georgian Kura-Araxes human dietary practices?- Introduction
- The principles of stable isotope analysis and its role in palaeodietary reconstruction
- Georgian Kura-Araxes sites and material for isotope analysis
- Kiketi site
- Tiselis Seri site
- Methods
- Results and discussion
- Preservation of collagen and apatite data
- Animal stable isotope ratios across Georgia
- Reconstructing Georgian human dietary practices during the Kura-Araxes period
- Are there specific dietary practices during the Kura-Araxes period?
- Conclusion
Catherine Longford et Antonio Sagona
The Kura-Araxes economy: mobile pastoralism or sedentary agriculture?Perspectives from Sos Höyük
- Defining principles: mobility, pastoralism, transhumance and agriculture
- Models of economic subsistence
- Nomadic pastoralism
- Transhumant pastoralism
- Settled mixed farming
- Archaeobotanical case study: Sos Höyük
- Archaeology of Sos Höyük
- Environment and modern economy in the Pasinler Valley
- Sos Höyük compared with the nomadic pastoralist, transhumant pastoralist and settled mixed farming models
- Investigating the subsistence economy at Sos Höyük through archaeobotanical evidence
- Crop cultivation
- Crop seasonality
- Animal dung
- Kura-Araxes: mobile pastoralists or settled agriculturalists?
Veli Bakhshaliyev
Archaeological investigations at Nakhchivan TepeJudith Thomalsky
Obsidian tool production in the South Caucasus of the 5th and 4th millennium BCETechnology, typology and sociocultural implications
- Introduction
- The obsidian industry from Ovçular Tepesi, Nakhchivan
- Obsidian blade retouch patterns: a blade typology of the South-Caucasian Chalcolithic
- The obsidian large blades
- The flint industry of Ovçular Tepesi
- The technology of the Late Chalcolithic Kura-Araxes lithic industry at Ovçular Tepesi
- The LC and EBA lithic industry of the Mashavera valley in Georgia
- Further comparisons with the chipped stone industries of eastern Anatolia
- Hypothesis: a Kura-Araxes lithic industry?
The exploitation of natural resources in the Caucasus in Late Prehistory
Laurence Astruc, Antoine Courcier, Bernard Gratuze et al.
The use of natural resources at Mentesh Tepe during the Late Chalcolithic period and the Early Bronze AgeRuben Badalyan
The exploitation of mineral resources in Armenia in the Early Bronze AgeObsidian, metal, bitumen, and salt
Thomas Stöllner
From generalists to specialists?Transcaucasian communities and their approach to resources during the 5th and the 3rd millennium BCE
- Introduction: the evolution of mining strategies in the Trans-Caucasus
- Research history and research concepts
- Metals as indicators of early mining
- Agro-pastoral strategies as a precondition for raw-material exploitation during the 5th and the 3rd millennium BC
- Procurement strategies of obsidian, salt and metals: the state of the art as concerns the archaeology of raw materials in the Trans-Caucasus
- Obsidian
- Rock salt
- Metal ores
- Some conclusions: on the earliest phases of mining and metallurgy in the Trans-Caucasus
