Copper smelting in the early Bronze Age southern Aegean :
General Material Designation
[Thesis]
First Statement of Responsibility
Catapotis, Michalis
Title Proper by Another Author
a technological and contextual analysis
.PUBLICATION, DISTRIBUTION, ETC
Name of Publisher, Distributor, etc.
University of Sheffield
Date of Publication, Distribution, etc.
2005
DISSERTATION (THESIS) NOTE
Dissertation or thesis details and type of degree
Ph.D.
Body granting the degree
University of Sheffield
Text preceding or following the note
2005
SUMMARY OR ABSTRACT
Text of Note
This thesis is a study of copper-smelting technology in the southern Aegean during the Early Bronze Age. The aim is to develop a framework and methodology that can help promote the integration of archaeological and archaometallurgical research in this area. To investigate the social dynamics of early metal technology, a three-fold approach is employed. Firstly, an analytical methodology for the reconstruction of prehistoric smelting processes is developed and used for the study of metallurgical remains from the Early Bronze Age site of Chrysokamino in northeastern Crete. Secondly, a comparative analysis of copper-smelting techniques in the Early Bronze Age southern Aegean is undertaken, shedding light to the range of alternative technical strategies employed in the various tasks of the production sequence. Finally, a contextual analysis of coppersmelting activities, their spatial organisation and contextual associations, helps to reveal some of the social and political underpinnings of technological choices in early copper production in the Aegean.