The Chalcolithic and early Bronze Age metallurgy of Tepe Hissar, northeast Iran: A challenge to the 'Levantine Paradigm

In this dissertation, the scientific analyses of the metallurgical remains from Tepe Hissar---a 4th and 3rd millennium site in Northeastern Iran---are presented and juxtaposed with a new understanding of the 2000-year archaeological sequence at the site. It is argued that two types of contemporaneous metallurgical production occurred within this 'middle range' community: traditional practices (so-called "cottage industry") and standardized practices (e.g., workshop production). While traditional models for the development of metallurgy in Southwest Asia (the "Levantine Paradigm") would see these two types of production as representing entirely different stages in social development, at Tepe Hissar they are carried out at the same time and less than 100m from each other. Furthermore, the sophistication of metallurgical production at this site, particularly among the more 'traditional' practitioners, is truly staggering, and forces us to reconsider what independent craftspeople in small-scale societies understood about the chemical and material properties of the objects they made and used.;In addition to challenging the "Levantine Paradigm," this dissertation set out to test theoretical discussions of "craft specialization" by applying various models to the data compiled herein. Although difficult in this situation to speak confidently about the craftspeople themselves, given the lack of suitable burial information and the secondary contexts of most of the metallurgical remains, it seems evident that using the concept of specialized craftspeople (e.g., "independent" vs. "attached" specialists) to compare the traditional vs. standardized practices at Tepe Hissar is not suitable. Instead it is argued that the spatial context of production directed technological practice, and not the level of specialization held by the artisans themselves. That is, distinct areas of the site (called "workshops") were designated for specialized (and standardized) production, while other areas (called "houses") were used for non-specialized, traditional craft production---a distinction not necessarily requiring different craftspeople. While this critique of "craft specialization" must await further analysis of the crafts from this site and others, the metallurgical remains from Tepe Hissar present an interesting case study for craft production in ancient societies that should resonate with our understanding of craft production in traditional societies today.