The Galena Objects from Neolithic Ulucak: The Earliest Metallic Finds in Western Turkey

Abstract

The earliest metal finds in central and eastern Anatolia are small copper and malachite beads dating from the 9th millennium BC onwards. However, the presence of metallic finds in Neolithic contexts from western Anatolia are rarely known. An analysis of metallic finds from Ulucak Höyük shows that galena was used at the site from the early 7th millennium BC to the early 6th millennium BC. Objects made of galena from initial phases at the site are considered personal ornaments, while an
 increasing number of galena lumps in relation to ovens were found in later phases. Thus, galena finds from Ulucak Höyük suggest that at first this raw material seemed to have been perceived as an exotic “stone”, while a full understanding of its properties may have been developed later.