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New tin mines and production sites near Kültepe in Turkey: a third-millennium BC highland production model

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 June 2015

K. Aslıhan Yener ,
Fikri Kulakoğlu ,
Evren Yazgan ,
Ryoichi Kontani ,
Yuichi S. Hayakawa ,
Joseph W. Lehner ,
Gonca Dardeniz ,
Güzel Öztürk ,
Michael Johnson  and
Ergun Kaptan
...Show all authors
K. Aslıhan Yener
Affiliation:
Department of Archaeology and History of Art, Koç University, Istanbul, Turkey (Email: [email protected])
Fikri Kulakoğlu
Affiliation:
Department of Archaeology, Ankara University, Turkey (Email: [email protected]; [email protected])
Evren Yazgan
Affiliation:
General Directorate of Mineral Research and Exploration (Retired), Turkey (Email: [email protected])
Ryoichi Kontani
Affiliation:
Department of Contemporary Sociological Studies, Notre Dame Seishin University, Okayama, Japan (Email: [email protected])
Yuichi S. Hayakawa
Affiliation:
Center for Spatial Information Science, The University of Tokyo, Japan (Email: [email protected])
Joseph W. Lehner
Affiliation:
Cotsen Institute of Archaeology, University of California, 308 Charles E Young Drive West, Los Angeles, CA 90024, USA (Email: [email protected])
Gonca Dardeniz
Affiliation:
Department of Archaeology and History of Art, Koç University, Istanbul, Turkey (Email: [email protected])
Güzel Öztürk
Affiliation:
Department of Archaeology, Ankara University, Turkey (Email: [email protected]; [email protected])
Michael Johnson
Affiliation:
Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations, 1155 East 58th Street, University of Chicago IL 60637, USA (Email: [email protected])
Ergun Kaptan
Affiliation:
General Directorate of Mineral Research and Exploration (Retired), Turkey (Email: [email protected])
Abdullah Hacar
Affiliation:
Archaeology Department, Dokuz Eylül University, Izmir (Email: [email protected])
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Abstract

An unexpected new source of tin was recently located at Hisarcık, in the foothills of the Mount Erciyes volcano in the Kayseri Plain, close to the Bronze Age town of Kültepe, ancient Kanesh and home to a colony of Assyrian traders. Volcanoes in Turkey have always been associated with obsidian sources but were not known to be a major source of heavy metals, much less tin. X-ray fluorescence analyses of the Hisarcık ores revealed the presence of minerals suitable for the production of complex copper alloys, and sufficient tin and arsenic content to produce tin-bronze. These findings revise our understanding of bronze production in Anatolia in the third millennium BC and demand a re-evaluation of Assyrian trade routes and the position of the Early Bronze Age societies of Anatolia within that network.

Keywords

Kültepe KaneshBolkardağKestelAnatoliaBronze AgepXRFtintrade networks
Type
Research
Information
Antiquity , Volume 89 , Issue 345 , June 2015 , pp. 596 - 612
Copyright
Copyright © Antiquity Publications Ltd, 2015 

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