The Rise of Metallurgy in Eurasia

The Rise of Metallurgy in Eurasia is a landmark study in the evolution of early metallurgy in the Balkans. It demonstrates that far from being a rare and elite practice, the earliest metallurgy in the world was a common and communal craft activity.

The Rise of Metallurgy in Eurasia is a landmark study in the origins of metallurgy. The project aimed to trace the invention and innovation of metallurgy in the Balkans. It combined targeted excavations and surveys with extensive scientific analyses at two Neolithic-Chalcolithic copper production and consumption sites, Belovode and Plocnik, in Serbia. At Belovode, the project revealed chronologically and contextually secure evidence for copper smelting in the 49th century BC. This confirms the earlier interpretation of c. 7000-year-old metallurgy at the site, making it the earliest record of fully developed metallurgical activity in the world. However, far from being a rare and elite practice, metallurgy at both Belovode and Plocnik is demonstrated to have been a common and communal craft activity. This monograph reviews the pre-existing scholarship on early metallurgy in the Balkans. It subsequently presents detailed results from the excavations, surveys and scientific analyses conducted at Belovode and Plocnik. These are followed by new and up-to-date regional syntheses by leading specialists on the Neolithic-Chalcolithic material culture, technologies, settlement and subsistence practices in the Central Balkans. Finally, the monograph places the project results in the context of major debates surrounding early metallurgy in Eurasia before proposing a new agenda for global early metallurgy studies.

Foreword Stephen J. Shennan Evgeniy N. Chernykh Acknowledgements Authors List Part 1. Introduction 1. The birth of archaeometallurgy in Serbia: a reflection - Julka Kuzmanovic-Cvetkovic 2. The Rise of Metallurgy in Eurasia: Evolution, organisation and consumption of early metal in the Balkans: an introduction to the project - Thilo Rehren, Miljana Radivojevic and Benjamin W. Roberts 3. Balkan metallurgy and society, 6200-3700 BC - Miljana Radivojevic and Benjamin W. Roberts 4. The Vinca culture: an overview - Benjamin W. Roberts, Miljana Radivojevic and Miroslav Maric 5. Introducing Belovode and results of archaeometallurgical research 1993-2012 - Miljana Radivojevic 6. Introducing Plocnik and the results of archaeometallurgical research 1996-2011 - Miljana Radivojevic 7. Excavation methodology for the sites of Belovode and Plocnik - Miroslav Maric, Benjamin W. Roberts and Jugoslav Pendic Part 2. Belovode 8. Belovode landscape and settlement perspectives - Miroslav Maric 9. Belovode geomagnetic data as a proxy for the reconstruction of house numbers, population size and the internal spatial structure - Knut Rassmann, Roman Scholz, Patrick Mertl, Kai Radloff, Jugoslav Pendic and Aleksandar Jablanovic 10. Belovode excavation results - Miroslav Maric, Benjamin W. Roberts and Miljana Radivojevic 11. Belovode: technology of metal production - Miljana Radivojevic and Thilo Rehren 12. Pottery from Trench 18 at Belovode - Neda Mirkovic-Maric, Marija Savic and Milica Rajicic 13. Chronological attribution of pottery from Trench 18 at Belovode based on correspondence analysis - Miroslav Maric and Neda Mirkovic-Maric 14. Belovode: technology of pottery production - Silvia Amicone 15. Figurines from Belovode - Julka Kuzmanovic-Cvetkovic 16. Ground and abrasive stone tools from Belovode - Vidan Dimic and Dragana Antonovic 17. Bone industry from Belovode - Selena Vitezovic 18. Chipped stone industry at Belovode - Elmira Ibragimova 19. Chemical and technological analyses of obsidian from Belovode - Marina Milic 20. Plant use at Belovode - Dragana Filipovic 21. Animal remains from the site of Belovode - Ivana Dimitrijevic and David Orton 22. Belovode: past, present and future - Benjamin W. Roberts and Miljana Radivojevic Part 3. Plocnik 23. Plocnik landscape and settlement perspectives - Miroslav Maric 24. Plocnik: geomagnetic prospection data as a proxy for the reconstruction of house numbers, population size and the internal spatial structure - Knut Rassmann, Roman Scholz, Patrick Mertl, Jugoslav Pendic and Aleksandar Jablanovic 25. Plocnik: excavation results - Miroslav Maric, Jugoslav Pendic, Benjamin W. Roberts and Miljana Radivojevic 26. Plocnik: technology of metal production - Miljana Radivojevic and Thilo Rehren 27. Pottery from Trench 24 at Plocnik - Neda Mirkovic-Maric, Marija Savic and Milica Rajicic 28. Chronological attribution of pottery from Trench 24 at Plocnik based on correspondence analysis - Neda Mirkovic-Maric and Miroslav Maric 29. Plocnik: technology of pottery production - Silvia Amicone 30. Figurines from Plocnik - Julka Kuzmanovic-Cvetkovic 31. Ground and abrasive stone tools from Plocnik - Vidan Dimic and Dragana Antonovic 32. Bone industry from Plocnik - Selena Vitezovic 33. Chipped stone industry at Plocnik - Elmira Ibragimova 34. Plant use at Plocnik - Dragana Filipovic 35. Animal remains from the site of Plocnik - Jelena Bulatovic and David Orton ; 36. Plocnik: past, present and future - Benjamin W. Roberts and Miljana Radivojevic Part 4. The Rise of Metallurgy in Eurasia: A View from the Balkans 37. Relative and absolute chronologies of Belovode and Plocnik - Miroslav Maric, Miljana Radivojevic, Benjamin W. Roberts and David C. Orton 38. The social organisation of the Vinca culture settlements. New evidence from magnetic and archaeological excavation data - Knut Rassmann, Martin Furholt, Nils Muller-Scheessel and Johannes Muller 39. Belovode and Plocnik: site visibility and remotely sensed data - Jugoslav Pendic 40. Population size and dynamics at Belovode and Plocnik - Marko Porcic and Mladen Nikolic 41. Metallurgical knowledge and networks of supply in the 5th millennium BC Balkans: Belovode and Plocnik in their regional context - Miljana Radivojevic, Thilo Rehren and Ernst Pernicka 42. The pottery typology and relative chronology of Belovode and Plocnik: concluding remarks - Neda Mirkovic-Maric and Miroslav Maric 43. Pottery technology at the dawn of metallurgy in the Vinca culture - Silvia Amicone, Miljana Radivojevic, Patrick Quinn and Thilo Rehren 44. Belovode and Plocnik figurines in their wider context - Julka Kuzmanovic-Cvetkovic 45. Ground and abrasive stone tools from Belovode and Plocnik: concluding remarks - Vidan Dimic and Dragana Antonovic 46. Bone tool technology at Belovode and Plocnik - Selena Vitezovic 47. Chipped Stone industries in the Vinca culture - Elmira Ibragimova 48. Geochemical characterisation of chipped stones from Belovode and Plocnik - Enrica Bonato, Martin Rittner and Silvia Amicone 49. Belovode obsidian in a regional context - Marina Milic 50. Plant consumption at Belovode and Plocnik - Dragana Filipovic 51. Evidence for animal use in the central Balkan Neolithic across the early metallurgical horizon: the animal remains from Belovode and Plocnik in context - David Orton, Jelena Bulatovic and Ivana Dimitrijevic Part 5. The Rise of Metallurgy in Eurasia and Beyond 52. Balkan metallurgy in a Eurasian context - Miljana Radivojevic and Benjamin W. Roberts 53. Where do we take global early metallurgy studies next? - Benjamin W. Roberts, Miljana Radivojevic and Thilo Rehren, Foreword ;

Stephen J. Shennan ;

Evgeniy N. Chernykh ;

Acknowledgements ;

Authors List ;

Part 1. Introduction Part 2. Belovode Part 3. Pločnik Part 4. The Rise of Metallurgy in Eurasia: A View from the Balkans Part 5. The Rise of Metallurgy in Eurasia and Beyond