Blowin’ in the wind: The beginning of primary metallurgy in the Early Bronze Age Aegean

Abstract

AbstractOur understanding of Early Bronze Age copper smelting in the Southern Aegean has improved dramatically in the last two decades through a combination of fieldwork, laboratory analyses and experimental reconstructions. The current model which has emerged from these various studies centers on a perforated furnace stack that is used in conjunction with ceramic pot bellows. This study undertakes a critique of the current model and through a series of experimental reconstructions and the analysis of results suggests that the current model has conflated various strands of evidence and resulted in a confused model. It is argued here that primary copper production in the Early Bronze Age Southern Aegean was more likely a two‐stage process that did not rely on the simultaneous use of natural draught and bellows. Along with other examples of wind‐powered furnaces, the working of the Aegean perforated furnace is reconsidered and a new model proposed along with a consideration of the wider implications.