عنوان
پدید آورنده
موضوع
رده
کتابخانه
محل استقرار
TL50496
انگلیسی
Indus Tradition Copper and Bronze Metallurgy: A Model from Harappa
[Thesis]
Hoffman, Brett C.
Kenoyer, Jonathan M.
The University of Wisconsin - Madison
2019
468 p.
Ph.D.
The University of Wisconsin - Madison
2019
In this study the copper and copper alloy assemblage from the Harappa Archaeological Research Project (HARP) excavations at the Indus Tradition site of Harappa, Pakistan was analyzed to identify patterns of alloy usage and construct source provenience correlations. The HARP assemblage represents the changing patterns of copper acquisition, use, and discard from the entire chronological sequence, beginning at more than 3300 BCE to around 1700 BCE, spanning the entire period of the prehistoric occupation of the site. The largest component of the sample dates to the height of Indus urbanism, Period 3 at Harappa, dating from 2600-1900 BCE. At almost every excavated site of the Indus Tradition, copper and bronze artifacts have comprised a significant portion of the recovered material assemblage. Throughout the Indus area, copper and copper alloys were used by metalworkers to fashion a variety of objects ranging from prestige goods to basic utilitarian items. Earlier research on copper-bronze metallurgy in the Indus focused on the identification of general patterns and broad characterizations of the metallurgical tradition across the entire Indus area. The current research project applied leading analytical techniques to a comprehensive assemblage of copper and bronze materials from the HARP excavations at the site of Harappa, Pakistan in order to re-evaluate and modify these traditional interpretations to incorporate updated perspectives on the study of ancient metallurgy. My research has convincingly demonstrated that copper-bronze metallurgy at Harappa was a highly specialized and complex craft industry that included on-site production and importation of finished goods; employed a variety of alloying patterns, recycling and recasting some metal; and procurement of copper materials through a number of overlapping primarily South Asian supply networks. Through a detailed study of the chemical characterization of copper/bronze objects, and the archaeological distribution of metallurgical and pyro-technological artifacts at Harappa, it is evident that the metal industry at Harappa is unlike contemporaneous industries in neighboring regions, both in terms of initial production and use as well as recycling. Additionally, the analysis has made it possible to define specific interaction networks related to the acquisition of copper ores or metal during the 3rd millennium BCE. Isotopic analyses show that many finished copper and bronze artifacts from Harappa, Mesopotamia, and the Gulf region appear to have been made with copper originating from ore deposits across the Aravalli Range in northwestern India. Compositional analyses have identified the presence of multiple alloying patterns for copper and bronze artifacts at Harappa, pointing towards complex patterns of consumption and use that played a role in social, economic, and political hierarchies during the Indus period. Overall the patterns exhibited in the copper/bronze assemblage at Harappa support a model of relatively unrestricted access to copper and bronze artifacts during the Early Harappan and Harappan Phases. This research has produced a data driven model for all aspects of copper and bronze metallurgy that for the first time allows the Indus Tradition center of Harappa to be directly compared to other Indus Tradition sites and other 3rd millennium BCE copper and bronze using societies.
Archaeology
Hoffman, Brett C.
Kenoyer, Jonathan M.
The University of Wisconsin - Madison
مطالعه متن کتاب p
[Thesis]
276903
a
Y
