On the origins of metallurgy in Europe : metal production in the Vinca culture
The beginnings of metallurgy in Eurasia are contentious. The first cast copper objects in this region emerged c. 7000 years ago, and their production has been tentatively linked to centres in the Near East. This assumption, however, was not substantiated by the copper smelting evidence in those centres. The recent discovery of the worldâs earliest copper smelting in Belovode, a VinÄa culture site in eastern Serbia, dated at c. 5000 BC has changed our understanding on when and where metallurgy possibly first occurred. By extending the known record of copper smelting for more than half a millennium, and occurring at the location remote from the Near East, this evidence challenged the traditional model of a single origin of metallurgy and revived the possibility of multiple, independent inventions. However, the origins of metallurgy have usually been studied in isolation and detached from their technological, social and environmental context, and there has been little research specifically addressing how and why metallurgy evolved. This thesis explores the invention, innovation and cultural transmission of early metal technology within five VinÄa culture settlements in the Balkans, using assemblages of high
Radivojevic, M.
On the origins of metallurgy in Europe : metal production in the Vinca culture. The beginnings of metallurgy in Eurasia are contentious. The first cast copper objects in this region emerged c. 7000 years ago, and their production has been tentatively linked to centres in the Near East. This assumption, however, was not substantiated by the copper smelting evidence in those centres. The recent discovery of the worldâs earliest copper smelting in Belovode, a VinÄa culture site in eastern Serbia, dated at c. 5000 BC has changed our understanding on when and where metallurgy possibly first occurred. By extending the known record of copper smelting for more than half a millennium, and occurring at the location remote from the Near East, this evidence challenged the traditional model of a single origin of metallurgy and revived the possibility of multiple, independent inventions. However, the origins of metallurgy have usually been studied in isolation and detached from their technological, social and environmental context, and there has been little research specifically addressing how and why metallurgy evolved. This thesis explores the invention, innovation and cultural transmission of early metal technology within five VinÄa culture settlements in the Balkans, using assemblages of high
origin metallurgy europe metal_production culture beginning metallurgy eurasia contentious first cast copper object region emerge production tentatively link centre near_east assumption however substantiate copper smelt evidence centre recent_discovery world early copper smelt culture site eastern serbia date change metallurgy possibly first occur extend know record copper_smelting occur location remote near_east evidence challenge_traditional model single origin metallurgy revive possibility multiple independent invention however origin metallurgy usually study isolation detach technological social_environmental context little specifically_address metallurgy evolve explores invention innovation cultural_transmission early metal technology within culture settlement balkans use assemblage high