Mining, Economy, and Society

Abstract

The opening chapter of this book considered different factors that influenced the availability of copper resources in prehistory. While geological distribution and technological expertise were critical, consideration must also be given to the wider societal context of production. The operation of early mines must be explained in terms of access to ore deposits and the desire and ability of different population groups to become involved in primary metal production. The impact on local and regional economies is also relevant, in terms of wealth generation through trade and the repercussions for society as a whole. Understanding the organization of this activity is a challenge. Key elements of the chaîne opératoire are often missing, such as the location of smelting sites or the workshops where objects were made. This makes it difficult to establish links between mines and the circulation of intermediate and final metal products in a wider settlement context. With stone tools it is possible to apply production indices to quantify the different stages involved in the use of a specific raw material, with a view to modelling a lithic production system in space (see Ericson 1984). This approach cannot be easily applied to metal objects, which generally have a more complex life cycle than stone tools. This began with a fundamentally different use of a raw material to create a finished object, requiring chemical as well as physical transformation. For this reason, scientific analysis of prehistoric metalwork is problematic in terms of source provenancing to specific ore deposits and mines. There is the further complication of recycling, which in some instances involved the mixing of metal from different mine sources. One approach has been to identify metal circulation zones where copper of a similar chemistry, lead isotope signature, and/ or alloy type was used (e.g. Northover 1982). Within these circulation zones various patterns of primary and secondary (recycled) metal use can be explored in the context of local workshop traditions. This provides a spatial and typochronological context in which to view the input of metal from particular mines.