Paint It Black: the rise of metallurgy in the Balkans

Summary

This study integrates archaeological, microstructural and compositional data of c. 7000 years old metallurgical production evidence with an aim to address the how and why of the world’s earliest metallurgy. The main focus is set on copper ores and metal production debris coming from four Vinča culture settlements in Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina, all dated between c. 5400 – 4400 BC.

Chemical study of copper minerals throughout all sites points at striking uniformity in selecting black and green minerals for metal extraction, some of which predate smelting events at c. 5000 BC. Microstructural examination of metal production debris showed convincing technological similarity throughout c. six centuries of copper making in studied sites. It is argued that black and green ores were intentionally selected as ingredients for the metal smelting ‘recipe’ in the early stages of Balkan metallurgy based on the knowledge related to their appealing visual aspects.

This finding demonstrates a unique technological trajectory for the evolution of metallurgy in this part of the world and illustrates the capacity that materials science carries in addressing the how and why of the emergence of metallurgy, and outlines methodology for future studies of early metallurgies worldwide.

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This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Micro-worlds, materiality and human behaviour: Magnifying material science in explanations of technology   •
• Society for American Archaeology 80th Annual Meeting, San Francisco, CA (2015)

Keywords

Spatial Coverage