Metals production

Findings and traces of early metallurgical production in the Far Northeast of Asia and Alaska show that the spread of bronze and iron metallurgy took place mainly along the Lena River towards of the Far Northeast, as well as to Taimyr. Spread of metallurgical technology is confirmed by the casting mould for a burin or awl, which was discovered in Eastern Chukotka on the Amguema River. However, metals in Chukotka were obviously too rare to trade until the first millennium AD. An eastward decline in emphasis on metals is evidenced. Across the Bering Strait, into Alaska, iron appeared nearly two thousand years later than it existed within the the Far Northeast of Asia. Traces of metallurgy production were not found in Alaska. The spread of metals across Northeast Asia to Alaska indicates the existence of lasting and persistent connections between the Lena River Basin, the Far Northeast and Chukotka.

Anatolian Metalwork Hoards
(Essays on Metal Production and Cultural Contexts)

L.I. Avilova

Summary

Importance of metal for development of cultural and social processes in ancient times is difficult to overestimate. Historical metallurgical studies provide an opportunity to raise and address issues of early metallurgy and metalworking development, spread of technological innovations and other advances, describe factors which determined readiness of society to adopt technical and cultural innovations.
This book deals with a specific group of archaeological collections of materials, i.e. metalwork hoards from Anatolia (Fig. 1). A hoard is perceived as a deposit which stores information on morphological, production and social standards of a prehistoric society. Changes over time in production and use of metals in the region stretching over a long period from the Chalcolithic to the Late Bronze Age (late fifth-early fourth – second millennia BC) can be traced by analyzing the contents of the hoards. This study relies on a database which includes 31 hoards (almost 32,000 finds) and 115 spectral analyses of copper and bronze items.
Chapter 1 describes contemporary trends in historical metallurgical studies. A particular emphasis is put on the phenomenon of the earliest metal objects because Anatolia forms part of the region where metal production first emerged (ninth –seventh millennia BC). In author’s view, production of the earliest metal items pursued the aim of creating symbols marking a special status of socially stratified groups or individuals rather than making utilitarian tools. Such artifacts reflect the beginning of social stratification; and only much later improved access to metal changed the social status of metal items turning them from prestige and religious cult items to utilitarian tools.
The analysis is based on the historical metallurgical periodization developed by a group of researchers collaborating with the Laboratory of Science Methods of the Institute of Archaeology, Russian Academy of Sciences, (Chernykh, 1992; Chernykh, Avilova, Orlovskaya, 2002). This periodization is based on major production shifts and as such is less detailed compared to the regional systems of traditional relative chronology of the Mesopotamian and Anatolian Regions though it is consistent with them (Table 1). The absolute chronology is based on calibrated radiocarbon dates.
Regarding the methodology (Chapter 3), the author proceeds from the need to review specific features of the Anatolian region against the background of a broad objective historical and cultural phenomenon, i.e. emergence and development of the Near-Eastern type of the earliest civilizations.
Chapter 4 explores materials of the Anatolian hoards, the context of their discovery, its reliability, and the contents of the associations.
Chapter 5 discusses mineral resources used by the population of ancient Anatolia and general issues of Anatolian metallurgy development. Heterogeneity of the chemical composition of metals and alloys also noted for the hoards in question is connected to characterization and localization of mineral deposits, routes of metal delivery to consumers, forms of trade or exchange, etc. A lot of attention is paid to tin sources, i.e. an issue which is still pending. Different opinions are presented. 
The contents of hoard associations include items used by the rulers of city-states as symbols of power, prestige objects that probably circulated in the system of gift exchange, the implication is that they were linked to noneconomic relations. In certain situations hoards could also be treated as a treasure, a stock of values. These hoards are a vivid representation of types of finds such as semi-finished goods, ingots and scrap (Peyronel, 2010) that indicate the presence of highly developed crafts and exchange.
Chapter 6 analyzes ingots and blanks found in a number of hoards as well as broader issues that help single out commodity forms of metal and describe their characteristics, likely typological standards, weight characteristics which correspond or are similar to main weighing systems of the Near East and Ancient Egypt. Data are provided on the spread of the Near Eastern weighing systems outside the studied region, for example, among steppe stock-breeding mobile communities in the northern part of the Circumpontic Region (Lebedi and Malaya Ternovka kurgan cemeteries in South Russia, III mill. BC).
Various types of ingots and blanks (small shapeless ones and those in the form of semi-finished good of a standard form, size and weight) were used in circulation of metals. Standardized objects of the simplest forms (rods, rings, wire sections) suited the purposes of transportation, exchange transactions based on weighing and were possibly used as early equivalents of value.
Apparently, when Anatolia reached the peak in its development in the third millennium BC, an extensive network of trade routes which covered entire Anatolia and connected the central regions with the Northwest, the western coastline and Agais emerged (Şahoglu, 2005). The process of standardizing sets of item types and metals first signs of which can be traced in the hoards dating to the late third millennium BC – Tarsus room 56 and Soli – was completed. The LBA hoards mostly consist of tools and weapons; jewelry and precious metals are practically absent. Few analyses of metal composition from that period demonstrate that production was based primarily on tin bronze. The LBA hoards evidence that energy of society was rechanneled from the ideological realm towards practical application of metal as weaponry and trade objects. It is not incidental that standardized types of tools and weapon dominate in later hoards (Ordu). Discovered series of large ingots intended for sale suggest developed trade in metal. LBA materials (such as Uluburun shipwreck remains, Pulak, 2008) evidence commercial production of metal and extensive trade in metal. Heavy metal bars known as ox-hide ingots) the weight of which is multiple of the talent, the biggest weight unit of antiquity, is a characteristic trait of this stage of metal production and circulation.
Development of the exchange of valuables, especially, metal, encouraged spread of Near Eastern weighing systems to far-flung regions, including the North Pontic Region. A group of archaeological finds classified functionally as balance weights is related with the system of trade and exchange relations of the Bronze Age (Авилова, Гей, 2016). Comparison of materials from the Near East and the North Pontic Region provides an opportunity to give an affirmative answer to the question concerning existence and nature of long-distance trade links between these regions and the scale of using the Near Eastern weighing systems in the third millennium BC.
Studies of the role and the place of metal in ancient societies raise broad issues of cultural and social development, and reconstruct functional models of the earliest social organizations. The progress in metal production was one of the most powerful drivers of economic and social development of Near Eastern society in the Late Chalcolithic and the Bronze Age. The research of production and use of metals is closely associated with the issues related to formation of the early states and the reflection of these processes in archaeological materials. Metal items used as prestige objects that the social elite was so much interested in acquiring played an important role in the evolution of society from the egalitarian stage to the hierarchical stage.
Chapter 7 talks about the Balkan type of ring-shaped pendants found in Anatolia and bronze axes of Anatolian types known from Thrace. These finds used as specific types of markers confirm existence of cultural contracts that occurred at the intersection of the Anatolian and Balkan cultures in the Chalcolithic – Bronze Age. To get a better understanding of specific traits of Anatolia social and economic development, some characteristics of the Anatolian Region can be compared with those of the Balkans. 
Anatolian metal production emerged locally and was linked to the model of Near Eastern society development: from rural settlements to a rank society with early urban centers and state formations. This development trajectory is typical for Southern, Eastern and Southeastern Anatolia which formed part of Syro-Mesopotamian civilization. The early urban stage and the early state stage of its development are marked by existence of the elite which organized production and exchange and consumed prestige objects (Авилова, 2009).
The theme of design features of wheeled transport in the Irano-Mesopotamian Region is discussed in a separate annex. This theme is not related directly to hoards and early metallurgy; however, it is relevant to various aspects of progressive development of technological traditions, communications, trade routes, evolution of societies from the late prehistoric rank societies to the earliest urban and state hierarchic systems.
This book presents the author’s understanding of some aspects of metal production and its function in ancient society, since its products became a vivid symbol of high social status, provided ideological justification of the elite power, reflected transformation of societies, emergence and development of the early civilizations.

Эпоха раннего  металла (энеолит и бронзовый  век, V–II тыс.  до  н.э.)  отмечена сложением новой  отрасли  экономики –  производства и обработки  металлов. Одновременно происходит становление  цивилизаций,  интенсификации  взаимодействия  человеческих  коллективов, передачи культурных и производственных достижений на огромные расстояния. В России и за рубежом бурно развиваются историко- металлургические  исследования – перспективное  направление в изучении  древних производств. В российской археологической науке обосновано существование крупных культурно производственных систем (металлургических провинций), определявших процесс производственного,  культурного и социального развития древних обществ. В рамках провинций развивалось горное дело, металлургия и металлообработка, вырабатывались  технологические и морфологические стандарты продукции. Металлопроизводство было также одним из важнейших факторов  культурных и социальных процессов древности, поскольку металл был
одним из основных видов сырья, добывавшихся  для внутреннего рынка и  товарообмена. В последние десятилетия этот материал привлекает к себе все  больше внимания исследователей, поскольку он позволяет ставить и решать  проблемы развития ранней металлургии и металлообработки, распространения  технологических инноваций, сложения в обществе
тех факторов, которые определяли степень его готовности к принятию технических и культурных достижений. Публикуется обзор серии научных проектов по исследованию древнего металлопроизводства.

Изучение древнего металла включает ряд проблем, таких как
причины становления и ранние этапы его производства; пути поступления металлов в районы, бедные рудными месторождениями; роль металла как индикатора социальных процессов. Ближний Восток как область зарождения древнейших  мировых цивилизаций играет ключевую роль в рассмотрении  этих проблем, поскольку раннее знакомство с металлом и производство сплавов на медной основе было одним из условий и отличительных черт развития  древних  ближневосточных  цивилизаций.  Ценность  металла в  древности  была  чрезвычайно  высока.  Он  был одним  из  наиболее  ценных  материалов,  добывался  со  значительными затратами труда для внутреннего потребления и обмена, служил эквивалентом ценности и использовался для изготовления символически значимых предметов. В данной  работе автор рассматривает в основном идеологические  стороны  использования металла, обращаясь к археологическому и культурному контексту металлических находок с тем, чтобы полнее понять связь  между производственным и идеологическим аспектами жизни древних обществ на разных стадиях развития.

L.I. Avilova. On circulation of metal in the epoch of the Chalcolithic – Bronze Age (ingots, blanks and weight systems of the Near East)

Abstract. The article is focused on archaeological finds from the Near East dated to the Early Metal period (V-IV – II mill. BC). Special attention is paid to the artefacts related to exchange – metal ingots/blanks and balance weights. Some aspects of metal circulation in the zone of early civilizations are discussed. The work aims at defining position the analyzed materials occupy in trade and exchange relations of IV – II mill. BC. The author applies comparative-typological method of investigation and draws corresponding data from archaeological publications. Morphological types of ingots/blanks from Anatolia, Syria-Mesopotamia, Palestine, Iran, Central Asia are singled out. Balance weights are compared to the weight characteristics of ingots and jewellery blanks. The author concludes that there existed intensive trade relations between Troy II–VI with Syria and Mesopotamia, stressing that the majority of Anatolian ingots/blanks correspond to weight standards of this zone of III – II mill. BC. Data from Late Bronze Age shipwrecks are presented. It is underlined that exchange systems using metals as equivalent of value must be regarded as indication of early civilizations of Near Eastern type. The data from burials of bronze-casters of Eastern Europe attest usage of Near Eastern weight standards. Relations between specialized population groups involved in metal production and exchange let infiltration of elements of Near Eastern civilization to pastoral tribes of a distant periphery.
Keywords: Bronze Age, metal, Near East, Iran, Central Asia, ingots, blanks, balance weights, exchange, weight standards, civilization, periphery.

L.I. Avilova. Treasure Hoards of Metal Items in Anatolia (Eneolithic – Bronze Age). In: Archaeological sites and cross-cultural phenomena of the Eneolithic and the Bronze Age. Moscow: IA RAN. 2018. Pp. 37-90.

Abstract. The paper explores a specific type of archaeological assemblages in Anatolia, i.e. treasure hoards containing metal items. A treasure hoard is understood to be a data source of information on morphological, production and social standards of prehistoric society. Our corpus of hoards includes 31 treasure hoards, which means almost 32000 finds and 115 spectral analyses of copper/bronze items. The paper provides an overview of assemblages, their chronological distribution, a description of functional categories of items and metals used and archaeological contexts of the hoards. The artifacts are considered from several angles, including characteristics of how metal was introduced, produced and used throughout a long period, i.e. from the Late Eneolithic to the Late Bronze Age inclusive (the turn of V and IV till II mill. BC). The paper contains comparative analysis of the assemblages based on a number of indications such as the set of functional categories of the items, the material the items are made from (copper, arsenical and tin bronzes, noble metals), and chronologies. Based on the research of the chemical composition of Anatolian bronzes, the copper-base alloys are characterized by periods; mineral resources of early Anatolian metallurgy are discussed and the role of local mining sources and a developed network of trading links are highlighted. A special focus is given to the issue of tin sources because during transition from Troy I to Troy II arsenical bronze was gradually replaced by tin bronze. The paper provides a number of conclusions on the linkage between changes in metal working and the overall cultural and historical situation in the region, namely, emergence of urban centers as ‘hubs’ of the exchange networks of III mill. BC or areas where contacts with advanced regions took place. It was the time when states and power elites emerged and developed. In a number of cases there is a link established between the cult and public constructions emphasizing a symbolic role of such assemblages. Developed systems of exchange in which metal was used as an equivalent of value are an attribute of early civilizations of the Near Eastern type which is reflected in standardization of metal production. Late Bronze Age artifacts permit the author to conclude that this process was completed and public energy began to be refocused from ideology to practical use of metal as an item of weaponry and trade.

Key words: Anatolia, Eneolithic, Bronze Age, assemblage, treasure hoard, database, morphological categories of items, metals, alloys, production, mineral resources, exchange systems, social development, civilization.

Авилова Л.И. О кладах металлических изделий в Анатолии (энеолит – бронзовый век) // Археологические памятники и межкультурные феномены энеолита и бронзового века. М.: ИА РАН. 2018. С. 37-90

Резюме. Статья посвящена исследованию специфического вида археологических комплексов на территории Анатолии-кладам, содержащим металлические изделия. Клад понимается как носитель информации о морфологических, производственных, социальных стандартах древнего общества. База данных включает 31 клада, это почти 32 тысячи находок и 115 спектральных анализов медно/бронзовых изделий. Представлен обзор комплексов, их распределение во времени, состав набора функциональных категорий изделий и металлов, археологический контекст. Материал рассматривается с нескольких точек зрения. Это особенности внедрения, производства и использования металла на протяжении длительного периода - от позднего энеолита до позднего бронзового века включительно (рубеж V-IV-II тыс. до н.э.). Проводится сравнительный анализ комплексов по ряду признаков: набору функциональных классов вещей, материалу изготовления (медь, мышьяковая и оловянная бронзы, драгоценные металлы), хронологии. На основе исследования химического состава анатолийских бронз дается характеристика использовавшихся сплавов по периодам и обсуждается проблема минеральных ресурсов древней анатолийской металлургии, подчеркивается роль местных рудных источников и развитой сети торговых связей. Особое внимание уделено проблеме источников олова в связи с переходом от мышьяковой бронзы к оловянной бронзе при переходе от Трои I к Трое II. Предлагается ряд выводов о связи изменений в металлопроизводстве с общей культурно-исторической ситуацией в регионе, а имен-но с появлением городских центров, которые стали узловыми пунктами в сети обмена III тыс. до н.э., зонами взаимодействия с передовыми регионами. В это время происходит формирование государств и властных элит. В ряде случаев наблюдается связь кладов с культовыми и общественными сооружениями, что свидетельствует о символической роли этих комплексов. Развитые системы обмена с использованием металла как эквивалента ценности являются признаком ранних цивилизаций ближневосточного типа, что отражается в стандартизации металлопроизводства. Материалы позднебронзового века дают основания для вывода о завершении этого процесса. Наблюдается перераспределение общественной энергии из сферы идеологии в область практического использования металла как предмета вооружения и торговли. Ключевые слова: Анатолия, энеолит, бронзовый век, комплекс, клад, база данных, морфологические классы изделий, металлы, сплавы, производство, минеральные ресурсы, системы обмена, социальное развитие, цивилизация.

The article focuses on the comparative analysis of regional models of early metal production in the Near East (Anatolia, Mesopotamia, the Levant, and Iran) in the 5th – early 2nd millennia BC. The study is based on the statistical analysis of computer databases on ancient copper/bronze, gold, silver, and lead artifacts, compiled by the author. Four criteria are suggested for characterizing the regional models of metal production: production dynamics, distribution of artifacts
by function, the role of various metals, and proportions of components of copper-based alloys. Regularities underlying the origins and evolution of metal production in the Near East are described along with regional and chronological specifics. The relationship between the features of metal production and stages of social and economic development of ancient societies is reconstructed.

Our understanding of metalsmiths during the Protohistoric period has been developed mainly through the study of their endproducts. As a complementary source of information, the study of the structure of production [the workshop as a working place, the study of the wastes produced and the range of tools] enables also the characterisation of the activity of the workmen while it illustrates the organisation of their work as well as their daily life.
As such, it would seem essential to characterise the features linked to metal craft between the end of the first Iron Age to the beginning of the second Iron Age. During this period the concentration of power is particularly noticeable within the funerary world where the aristocraty is particularly apparent.
This is also a time where settlements on hills and their faubourgs are reoccupied and refortified becoming real centres of power. They are regarded as the home of the elite but also as centres of craft production.
In this context of a society growing more complex, it seems interesting to attempt to precise the role and definition of the elite members as well as perhaps that of the artisans, in order to approach the nature of their relationship, during this period of deep mutation.

The Nahal Mishmar hoard (technological and cultural context)

The Nahal Mishmar Late Chalcolithic hoard from the Negev desert is well known as the richest complex of technologically and morphologically unique objects, unvalued for the characteristic of the early metal production in Palestine. The paper presents a review of its technological and stylistic investigations within functional groups of metal artefacts (tools/weapons, standards, «crowns», vessels). The author points to some discrepancies in the chronology of the hoard, with the regard to some analogies of later date from Tepe Hissar, Susa, Ur. Absence of metal scrape does not allow consider it a founder’s hoard. It also includes no personal ornaments, ingots, noble metals (unlike Nahal Qanah). The hoard represents a primary means of storing wealth, a treasure which belonged to a local community and was preserved in its central place, religious and administrative centre (probably shrine En Gedi). This situation is characteristic of the processes of accumulation, redistribution, and use of common wealth, and exchange organization best illustrated for the Late Chalcolithic – EBA by Arslantepe VIA hoard.

The electrodeposition-redox replacement (EDRR) process is a promising method for a selective extraction of minor metals from complex mixtures. When it is performed in a benign medium (such as sodium chloride solution or deep eutectic solvent), the EDRR method provides a non-toxic alternative for a conventional cyanide-based process. The detailed reaction mechanisms of the EDRR in Cu-Au systems, as well as the effect of the reaction medium are elucidated in this article. Electrogravimetric studies show that the EDRR process comprises three distinct stages: (1) deposition of Cu at a constant applied potential; (2) dissolution of deposited Cu at open circuit conditions in reaction with dissolved species in solution; (3) reduction of Au to elemental form in reaction with various Cu species. It is discovered that the recovery of Au takes place surprisingly via both the redox replacement between Cu and Au at the surface and the homogeneous Au reduction by Cu(I) species in solution. Both of these reaction pathways are facilitated by open circuit conditions (redox replacement step) between electrodeposition cycles and the utilization of other sacrificial elements in the solution is crucial. The use of aqueous chloride solution is advantageous over 1 : 2 ChCl : EG for the increased Au recovery (94.4%) and the purity of the product (93.7%), although it consumes slightly more electricity. Therefore, the EDRR enables energy and resource efficient selective extraction of Au from multi-metal industrial solutions even when it is present at low concentrations.

The article by L.I. Avilova and N.N. Terekhova reviews the archaeological finds from the Near East and Central Asia interpreted as standard ingots of copper/bronze and noble metals (the Chalcolithic-the Late Bronze Age). Several types of ingots are discussed. Special attention is paid to "long pins" with drop-like bulb on the end. Analytical investigations of a series of these finds from Central Asia show them to be standard ingots of copper/bronze cast by series and non-processed after casting, used as blanks for forging out tools, and exchange equivalents. These conclusions may be extrapolated to the numerous finds from Iran and single finds from Mesopotamia. The following classification of the Bronze Age ingots is suggested: first, the objects of exchange were finished artefacts, then ingots of raw metal; roughly at the same time, marketable bar-shaped ingots and ingots imitating certain artefacts appeared. Standard ingots became the equivalent of value and exchange (early money).

Investigation of metal is important for understanding relationship between production and ideology in ancient Near East. Metal production in the Eneolithic and Early Bronze Age stimulated transformation of egalitarian society into stratified one. The author traces relation of objects of social and religious significance (interior decorations, anthropo- and zoomorphic sculpture, symbolic weapons and implements) with certain types of sites. From the Neolithic onward metal was used in mortuary practice. In the Early Bronze Age metal production shows relationship with the process of urbanization and formation of early polities. The Middle Bronze Age sees dramatic rise of metal production; valuable and symbolically important finds originate from royal tombs, temples, and treasures. When considering metal finds' context, the author concludes that in the Near East in the late prehistory, urban civilization, and early states metal actively functioned in sacral sphere. Moreover, ideology to a great extent determined development of metal production.

Pithekoussai, the first Greek settlement in the West, is not only known for the famous Nestor cup and the burial rites and grave goods in its well-researched necropolis. There were also excavated houses and sanctuaries from Late Geometric to Archaic times and between the houses workshop activities were brought to light: An area of ceramic production in the località St. Restituta and an area of metal production at the località Mazzola. An offering of remains of bronze production was also found in one of the local sanctuaries in località Scarico Gossetti. All these production activities took place at the beginning of the settlement, in the 8th century BC. Commercial opportunities and especially commod-ity trade are often considered as reasons for the Western colonisation by the Greeks. In 2016, a new archaeological excavation started in the neighbourhood of the workshop area in the località Mazzola. In this context, a new research on the traces of the production process was undertaken, especially on the structure of the working areas and on the use of space there, on the connection with other functions like living, representation, storing and other forms of the day-to-day life in an early foundation at a foreign shore. The spatial organisation and its development are of particular interest in the course of early Greek settlement activity.

The paper explores metal vessels from the early and the middle periods of the Anatolian Bronze Age. The study attempts to analyze the chronological and morphological distribution of metal vessels in this region and clarify their purpose, social and ritual functions by analyzing the context of archaeological finds. In line with this aim, metal vessels are considered from several aspects: changes in their distribution over time; morphology and the material the finds are made from; functional purpose and social practices metal vessels were used in. The author emphasizes relevance of such finds for categorizing assemblages containing metal vessels as elite ones as well as highlights their significance in relation with their use in socially important events such as ceremonial feasts, including funerary feasts. Despite a relatively limited number of finds attributed to this group, metal vessels should be regarded as one of eloquent markers of a hierarchical structure of society in early state formations and development of civilizations of the Near Eastern type. The said is indirectly confirmed by absence of metal vessels in the III mill. materials from the North Pontic region.
Key words: Anatolia, Bronze Age, metal vessels, elite assemblages, chronology of finds, morphology, social functions, civilization.

The Ancient Greek writers mention Pangaeon Mountain in northeastern Greece as one of the richest gold and silver prospecting territories during antiquity. The mining and metallurgical operations are located mainly at the central and eastern parts of Pangaeon. The most important and extended ancient mining area is “Asimotrypes” at the central part of the mountain. Along a steep valley, 8 ancient and 3 modern (20th cent.) mining adits are found. Four trial excavation trenches in three of the mining galleries did not yield any ceramic material to allow relative chronology of the mining activity.  The archaeometallurgical excavation at the Valtouda metallurgical area provides a useful tool for under- standing the metallurgical activity, especially during Roman times at the study area. Archaeological and geological information gained by this study will help to understand the metals chain production in this mining and metallurgical area.

This paper aims to investigate the spatial distribution of metal finds within the site of Ayia Triada, the relationship between the contexts of discovery and functional aspects-utilitarian, prestigious, ritual or ceremonial-deepening the relationship between the metal in circulation, stored permanently or temporarily, or intended to be recycled. The goal is to investigate the choices within a single settlement, relating to the use or storage of metals, to the functional priorities that the artefacts played in a specific context and to any restrictive strategies developed by a social group to limit access to this highly valuable sources. Haghia Triada is characterized as a key site for the presence of a considerable amount of bronze artefacts and nineteen copper ox-hide ingots. It also allows an analysis not affected by the limitations inherent in the study of metals, because it was suddenly abandoned and thanks to that has preserved a large part of the recovery contexts. Il presente contributo intende analizzare la distribuzione spaziale dei reperti metallici all'interno del sito di Haghia Triada e la relazione tra contesti di rinvenimento e aspetti funzionali, siano essi utilitaristici, di prestigio, rituali o cerimoniali, evidenziando il rapporto esistente tra il metallo in circolazione, quello immagazzinato, in maniera permanente o temporanea, e quello destinato ad essere riciclato. L'obiettivo è riuscire ad indagare le scelte, messe in atto all'interno di questo insediamento, relative all'utilizzo o all'immagazzinamento del metallo, alle priorità funzionali che i manufatti assumevano all'interno di un contesto specifico e alle eventuali strategie restrittive elaborate all'interno di un gruppo sociale per limitare l'accesso a questo bene di grande valore. Haghia Triada si connota come un sito chiave per la presenza di una mole non indifferente di manufatti bronzei e di ben diciannove lingotti di rame. Permette, inoltre, un'analisi non inficiata dai limiti insiti nello studio dei metalli, perché oggetto di un abbandono repentino che ha preservato buona parte dei contesti di rinvenimento. Premessa A Creta nel periodo neopalaziale (MM III-TM IB) la produzione metallurgica si connota come una delle attività industriali di maggiore rilievo e gli scambi che interessano le materie prime, quali rame e stagno, fra i fattori primari di prosperità dell'economia minoica 1. Si assiste, quindi, al definitivo consolidarsi di quelle pratiche produttive che a Creta fecero la loro prima comparsa alla fine del Neolitico 2 , e che sembrano essere emerse in maniera autonoma all'interno di determinati contesti di produzione, anche in stretta relazione con altre forme artigianali come quella ceramica 3. Al di là delle complesse dinamiche che hanno interessato lo sviluppo delle conoscenze in ambito metallurgico 4 , a Creta si afferma una produzione

The review of the metal finds from Ayia Triada and their contextual and functional
analysis have brought to light some aspects related to the manufacturing activity of
bronze, that allow us to begin defining the role that this would have played in the site.
This paper aims to focus on some processing phases, such as repair, reuse and recycling, starting from the analysis of a single tool – a stake – stored in the Heraklion
Museum, which summarizes in itself a double factor of interest, being an uncommon
object, made in bronze and used as a tool in the metal vessels manufacturing. Through the analysis of bibliographic sources, especially the notebooks, has been possible to reconstruct its context. Therefore, some observations are proposed about the relationship between its context of discovery and the functional aspects of some rooms of the Villa, in relation with the conduct of metallurgical activities. The presence of many bronze tools, including the stake, in the NW Quarter indicate unequivocally that some of these rooms were connected to production and transformation activities, in close association with the official and representative rooms. The multifunctionality of the spaces and the co-presence of domestic, storage and artisan functions in the Villa, once again, has been confirmed, as well as the presence of some kinds of metallurgical activities in Ayia Triada.