Craft Production and Specialization in the Transcaucasian Early Bronze Age: A View from Köhne Shahar, NW Iran

Summary

A common image of the Kura Araxes Cultural Community (KACC) of Transcaucasia is one of egalitarian and mobile groups of pastoralists. While mobility and pastoralism are important aspects of KACC, this generalization dampens what in reality is a more complicated picture of the Early Bronze Age of Transcaucasia. Recent investigations in Transcaucasia, including the site of Köhne Shahar (KSH) in northwestern Iran, present a much more nuanced image of social and economic interactions in this time period. In this paper we contend that KSH served as a locus of craft specialization in the region, focusing on the large-scale production of such goods as metal and antler tools and ornaments. Finally, we discuss the importance of KSH and its economic and productive activities within a broader regional framework, including the relationship between the Caucasian highlands and the steppe communities to its north and Mesopotamia to its south.

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This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 80th Annual Meeting, San Francisco, CA (2015)

Keywords

Spatial Coverage