Hacinebi Metal Production and Exchange

Abstract

Excavations from the pre-Uruk levels at Hacinebi yielded a complete repertoire of archaeometallurgical finds including ores, slags, crucible fragments with accretions, molds, a tuyere, metal artifacts, as well as a multi-furnace metal workshop. The highly advanced metal technology at Hacinebi is in accordance with other Late Chalcolithic local Anatolian sites. Anatolian metals may have aroused Mesopotamian interest and the Uruk trade networks may have been established to obtain this new exotic material. At Hacinebi, where Mesopotamians were living among local inhabitants with a well-established metal smelting tradition, there is strong evidence for metal production. Chemical and structural analyses of Hacinebi archaeometallurgical materials indicate that both oxide and sulfide ores were smelted. While excavations yielded no evidence for intentional alloying, experimentation with polymetallic ores is possible. The trace element distribution of Hacinebi metals, slags, crucible accretions and prills is consistent with ores from known sources in southeastern Turkey. Hacinebi appears to be a copper production and export center. While molds suggest that copper was cast into small ingots for export after smelting and refining, the intensive metal production workshop indicates that metallurgical production was practiced as a specialized craft.

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