Ancient Technology and Archaeological Cultures: Understanding the Earliest Metallurgy in Eurasia

Archaeometallurgy at Lamanai, Belize: New Discoveries and Insights from the Southern Maya Lowland Area

“…Archaeometallurgy is not only relevant but highly contributory to larger issues in anthropology, archaeology, and particularly our understanding of human technological innovation through time (Dobres and Hoffman 1999;Doonan 1999, 72;Ehrenreich 1991b;Ehrhardt 2002;Lechtman 1999;Lemonnier 1986Lemonnier , 1993Lubar 1996;Pfaffenberger 1992Pfaffenberger , 2001Pigott 1991, 81;Pollard and Bray 2007;Roberts 2011;Schiffer 2001;Shimada et al 1999, 301;Sillar and Tite 2000;Wells 1991). A wide range of anthropological questions can be addressed through archaeometallurgical studies.…”

Mining and Metallurgy, and the Evidence for Their Development in West Mexico

“…Information gleaned from such metallurgical inquiries provides valuable insights into experimental aspects of metalworking, the technological expertise craftspeople possessed, and the material properties and performance of the materials with which they worked. This information can then enrich our understanding of the technological choices people made in materials selection, processing, and manipulation as well as in artifact design, production, and use (Pryce et al 2007;Roberts 2011;Sillar and Tite 2000). When interpreted within larger cultural, social, and geographical contexts and associations, information derived from archaeometallurgical research can strengthen our inferences concerning larger anthropological questions about social organization and development; craft specialization; the dynamics of hierarchy; power relations; trade, barter, and other exchange interactions; and the organization of labor along gender, class, or ethnic lines (Ehrhardt 2002(Ehrhardt , 2005Lechtman 1999, 223-224).…”

“…Archaeometallurgy is not only relevant but highly contributory to larger issues in anthropology, archaeology, and particularly our understanding of human technological innovation through time (Dobres and Hoffman 1999;Doonan 1999, 72;Ehrenreich 1991b;Ehrhardt 2002;Lechtman 1999;Lemonnier 1986Lemonnier , 1993Lubar 1996;Pfaffenberger 1992Pfaffenberger , 2001Pigott 1991, 81;Pollard and Bray 2007;Roberts 2011;Schiffer 2001;Shimada et al 1999, 301;Sillar and Tite 2000;Wells 1991). A wide range of anthropological questions can be addressed through archaeometallurgical studies.…”