BULGARMADEN: THOUGHTS ABOUT IRON, BOLKARDAG AND THE TAURUS MOUNTAINS

It has long been suspected that the use of iron predated the so-called meteoric and smelted iron of the later stages of prehistory. Certainly small objects of iron such as awls and pins are found from the Chalcolithic period onwards and the rightly famous iron swords from Alaca Höyük demonstrate ski...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Iraq 2010, Vol.72, p.183-191
Main Author: YENER, K. Aslihan
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Ancient civilizations of the near east
Art and archaeology
Asia
Mesopotamia and Near East
Metal Ages
Minor Asia and Hittites
Near East
Prehistory and protohistory
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Summary:It has long been suspected that the use of iron predated the so-called meteoric and smelted iron of the later stages of prehistory. Certainly small objects of iron such as awls and pins are found from the Chalcolithic period onwards and the rightly famous iron swords from Alaca Höyük demonstrate skills in making larger weapons in the Early Bronze Age. I document the use of iron ore for hammers and maces at Early Bronze Age sites in the Taurus Mountains and early Chalcolithic Tell Kurdu in the Amuq valley. This intensive understanding of materials and their properties led, millennia later, to the ability to smelt terrestrial iron.
ISSN:0021-0889
2053-4744
DOI:10.1017/S0021088900000644