| Third millennium B.C. Anatolia experienced a surge of technological activity documented, in part, by the appearance of tin-bronze and hard-fired Anatolian metallic ware. The incorporation of "metallic" ware into the Early Bronze Age ceramic repertoire and the use of ceramic crucibles for smelting and casting underscores the strong relationship between the metal and ceramic industries. The presence of Anatolian metallic ware at Goltepe, where crucible furnaces were used to smelt tin, strongly suggests that the metal and ceramic technologies were part of a larger, all encompassing, technological continuum. The potters and smiths shared a spectrum of technological choices, which were entrenched in overlapping social, cultural, and environmental processes.;The course of ceramic analysis, founded in the theoretical framework of the anthropology of technology, sets the stage for a holistic approach to the interpretation of the archaeological record. This paper employs a materials science approach to show that Anatolian metallic ware was manufactured not from a new type of technology and ordinary clay, but from existing technology and an alternative source of clay. This dissertation demonstrates that as the potters and smiths of ancient Anatolia transformed their raw materials into manufactured goods, they created a regional technological style. |
