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.

Keywords

• galena
• Ulucak Höyük
• Neolithic
• personal ornmaments

References

1. Anthony, J.W., R.A. Bideaux, K.W. Bladh, and M.C. Nichols. 1990. Handbook of Mineralogy. Vol. 1, Elements, Sulfides, Sulfosalts. Tuscon, AZ: Mineral Data Publishing.
2. Arbuckle, B.S., S.W. Kansa, E. Kansa, D. Orton et al. 2014. “Data Sharing Reveals Complexity in the Westward Spread of Domestic Animals across Neolithic Turkey.” PLOS ONE 9.6. https://journals. plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0099845
3. Austin, R.J., R.M. Farquhar, and K.J. Walker. 2000. “Isotope Analysis of Galena from Prehistoric Sites in South Florida.” Anthropological Sciences 63.2:123-31.
4. Bagley, J.M., and R. Schumann. 2013. “Materialized Prestige. Remarks on the Archaeological Research of Social Distinction Based on Case Studies of the Lake Hallstatt Golden Necklaces and Early La Téne Maskenfibeln.” In Interpretierte Eisenzeiten. Fallstudien, Methoden, Theorie. Tagungsbeiträge der 5. Linzer Gespräche zur interpretativen Eisenzeitarchäologie, edited by R. Karl and J. Leskovar, 123-36. Studien zur Kulturgeschichte von Oberösterreich 37. Linz: Oberösterreichisches Landesmuseum.
5. Begemann, F., E. Pernicka, and S. Schmitt-Strecker. 1994. “Metal Finds from Ilıpınar and the Advent of Arsenical Copper.” Anatolica 20:203-19.
6. Birch, T., T. Rehren, and E. Pernicka. 2013. “The Metallic Finds from Çatalhöyük: A Review and Preliminary New Work.” In Substantive Technologies at Çatalhöyük: Reports from the 2000-2008 Seasons, edited by I. Hodder, 307-16. British Institute at Ankara Monograph Series 48. London: British Institute at Ankara.
7. Clark, N. 2015. “Fiery Arts: Pyrotechnology and the Political Aesthetics of the Anthropocene.” GeoHumanities 1.2: 266-84.
8. Çakırlar, C. 2012. “The Evolution of Animal Husbandry in Neolithic Central-West Anatolia: The Zooarchaeological Record from Ulucak Höyük (c. 7040-5660 cal. BC, Izmir, Turkey).” AnatSt 62:1-33.

9. Çevik, Ö., and E. Abay. 2016. “Neolithisation in Aegean Turkey: Towards a More Realistic Reading.” In Anatolian Metal 7: Anatolien und seine Nachbarn vor 10.000 Jahren/Anatolia and Neighbours 10,000 Years Ago, edited by Ü. Yalçın, 187-97. Der Anschnitt Suppl. 31. Veröffentlichungen aus dem Deutschen Bergbau-Museum Bochum 214. Bochum: Deutschen Bergbau-Museum.
10. Çevik, Ö. 2016. “Neolithic Pottery Production Workshop at Ulucak Höyük, Western Turkey: Evidence for a Full Production Sequence.” Antiquity 90.350. https://www.antiquity.ac.uk/projgall/cevik350.
11. Çevik, Ö. 2019. “Changing Ideologies in Community-Making through the Neolithic Period at Ulucak.” In Concluding the Neolithic: The Near East in the Second Half of the Seventh Millennium BCE, edited by A. Marciniak, 219-40. Atlanta: Lockwood Press.
12. Çilingiroğlu, A., Z. Derin, E. Abay, H. Sağlamtimur, and İ. Kayan. 2004. Ulucak Höyük: Excavations Conducted between 1995-2002. Leuven: Peeters Publisher.
13. de Jesus, P.S., and G. Dardeniz. 2015. “Archaeological and Geological Concepts on the Topic of Ancient Mining.” MTA Bulletin Mineral Research and Exploration 151:231-46.
14. de Jesus, P.S. 1978. “Metal Resources in Ancient Anatolia.” AnatSt 28:97-102.
15. de Jesus, P.S. 1980. The Development of Prehistoric Mining and Metallurgy in Anatolia. BAR-IS 74. Oxford: B.A.R.
16. Erdoğu, B. 2017. “Whither the Aegean Neolithic?” In Going West? The Dissemination of Neolithic Innovations between the Bosporus and the Carpathians, edited by A. Reingruber, Z. Tsirtsoni, and P. Nedelcheva, 29-41. New York: Routledge.
17. Erkanal, H. 2008. “Die neuen Forschungen in Bakla Tepe bei İzmir.” In The Aegean in the Neolithic, Chalcolithic and Early Bronze Age, Proceedings of the International Symposium in Urla, October 13th-19th, 1997, edited by H. Erkanal, H. Hauptmann, V. Şahoğlu, and R. Tuncel, 165-77. Ankara: Ankara Üniversitesi Yayınları.
18. Esin, U. 1995. “Early Copper Metallurgy at the Pre-Pottery Site of Aşıklı.” In Halet Çambel için Prehistorya Yazıları/Readings in Prehistory: Studies Presented to Halet Çambel, 61-77. Istanbul: Graphis Yayınları.
19. Esin, U. 1999. “Copper Objects from the Pre-Pottery Neolithic Site of Aşıklı (Kızılkaya Village, Provinence of Aksaray Turkey.” In The Beginnings of Metallurgy: Proceedings of the International Conference “The Beginnings of Metallurgy”, Bochum 1995, edited by A. Hauptmann, E. Pernicka, T. Rehren, and Ü. Yalçın, 23-30. Der Anschnitt Suppl. 9. Veröffentlichungen aus dem Deutschen Bergbau-Museum Bochum 84. Bochum: Deutsches Bergbau-Museum.
20. Guilbeau, D., N. Kayacan, Ç. Altınbilek Algül, B. Erdoğu, and Ö. Çevik. 2019. “A Comparative Study of the Initial Neolithic Chipped-Stone Assemblges of Ulucak and Uğurlu.” AnatSt 69:1-20.
21. Hayden, B. 1998. “Practical and Prestige Technologies: The Evolution of Material Systems.” Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory 5.1:1-55.
22. Horejs, B., and M. Mehofer. 2015. “Early Bronze Age Metal Workshops at Çukuriçi Höyük. Production of Arsenical Copper at the Beginning of the 3rd Millennium BC.” In Archaeometallurgy in Europe III: Proceedings of the 3rd International Conference June 29-July 1, 2011, edited by A. Hauptmann and D. Modarressi-Tehrani, 165-76. Der Anschnitt Suppl. 26. Veröffentlichungen aus dem Deutschen Bergbau-Museum Bochum 202. Bochum: Deutsches Bergbau-Museum.
23. Joyce, R.A. 2005. “Archaeology of the Body.” The Annual Review of Anthropology 34:139-58.
24. Kaptan, E. 2008. “Metallurgical Residues from Late Chalcolithic and Early Bronze Age Liman Tepe.” In The Aegean in the Neolithic, Chalcolithic and the Early Bronze Age, Proceedings of the International Symposium in Urla, October 13th-19th, 1997, edited by H. Erkanal, H. Hauptmann, V. Şahoğlu, and R. Tuncel, 243-50. Ankara: Ankara Üniversitesi Yayınları.
25. Keim, M., and G. Markl. 2015. “Weathering of Galena: Mineralogical Processes, Hydrogeochemical Fluid Path Modeling, and Estimation of the Growth Rate of Pyromorphite.” American Mineralogist 100.7:1584-594.
26. Klein, C., and A.R. Philpotts. 2013. Earth Materials: Introduction to Mineralogy and Petrology. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
27. Lehner, J.W., and K.A. Yener. 2014. “Organization and Specialization of Early Mining and Metal Technologies in Anatolia.” In Archaeometallurgy in Global Perspectives: Methods and Syntheses, edited by B.W. Roberts and C. Thornton, 529-57. New York: Springer.
28. Lafuente, B., R.T. Downs, H. Yang, and N. Stone. 2016. “The Power of Databases: The RRUFF Project.” In Highlights in Mineralogical Crystallography, edited by T. Armbruster and R.M Danisi, 1-29. Berlin: De Gruyter.
29. Maddin, R., J.D. Muhly, and T. Stech. 1999. “Early Metal Working at Çayönü.” In The Beginnings of Metallurgy: Proceedings of the International Conference “The Beginnings of Metallurgy”, Bochum 1995, edited by A. Hauptmann, E. Pernicka, T. Rehren, and Ü. Yalçın, 37-44. Der Anschnitt Suppl. 9. Veröffentlichungen aus dem Deutschen Bergbau-Museum Bochum 84. Bochum: Deutsches Bergbau-Museum.
30. Meskell, L., C. Nakamura, L. Der, C. Tsornaki, and M. Arntz. 2016. “Figurines.” Çatalhöyük Archive Report, edited by S.D. Haddow, 137-64. http://www.catalhoyuk.com/archive_reports/2016
31. Molist, M., I.M. Ruiz, X. Clop, S. Rovira, E. Guerrero, and J. Anfruns. 2009. “New Metallurgic Findings from the Pre-Pottery Neolithic: Tell-Halula (Euphrates Valley, Syria).” Paléorient 35.2:33-48.
32. Moore, D.M., and R.C. Reynolds. 1997. X-ray Diffraction and Identification and Analysis of Clay Minerals. 2nd ed. New York: Oxford University Press.
33. Moorey, P.R.S. 1994. Ancient Mesopotamian Materials and Industries: The Archaeological Evidence. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
34. MTA 1972. Lead, Copper and Zinc Deposits of Turkey. Maden Tetkik ve Arama Genel Müdürlüğü, Publication No. 133. Ankara.
35. Özdoğan, M., and A. Özdoğan. 1999. “Archaeological Evidence on the Early Metallurgy at Çayönü Tepesi.” In The Beginnings of Metallurgy: Proceedings of the International Conference “The Beginnings of Metallurgy”, Bochum 1995, edited by A. Hauptmann, E. Pernicka, T. Rehren, and Ü. Yalçın, 13-22. Der Anschnitt Suppl. 9. Veröffentlichungen aus dem Deutschen Bergbau-Museum Bochum 84. Bochum: Deutsches Bergbau-Museum.
36. Pernicka, E. 2014. “The Development of Metallurgy in Western Anatolia, The Aegean and the Southern Europe before Troy.” In Western Anatolia Before Troy: Proto-Urbanisation in the 4th Millennium BC?: Proceedings of the International Symposium held at the Kunsthistorisches Museum Wien, Vienna, Austria, 21-24 November 2012, edited by B. Horejs and M. Mehofer, 447-61. Oriental and European Archaeology 1. Vienna: Austrian Academy of Sciences Press.
37. Radivojevic, M., T. Rehren, S. Farid, E. Pernicka, and D. Çamurcuoğlu. 2017. “Repealing the Çatalhöyük Extractive Metallurgy: The Green, the Fire and the Slag.” JAS 86:101-22.
38. Roberts, B.W., C.P. Thornton, and V.C. Pigott. 2009. “Development of Metallurgy in Eurasia.” Antiquity 83.322:1012-22.
39. Smith, C.S. 1977. “On Art, Invention, and Technology.” Leonardo 10.2:144-47.
40. Sperl, G. 1990. “Zur Urgeschichte des Bleises.” Zeitschrift für Metallkunde 81.11:799-801.
41. Şahoğlu, V., and R. Tuncer. 2014. “New Insights into the Late Chalcolithic of Coastal Western Anatolia: A View from Bakla Tepe, İzmir.” In Western Anatolia Before Troy: Proto-Urbanisation in the 4th Millennium BC?: Proceedings of the International Symposium held at the Kunsthistorisches Museum Wien, Vienna, Austria, 21-24 November 2012, edited by B. Horejs and M. Mehofer, 65-82. Oriental and European Archaeology 1. Vienna: Austrian Academy of Sciences Press.
42. Tylecote, R.F. 1976. A History of Metallurgy. London: Metals Society.
43. Yalçın, Ü. 2016. “Anadolu Madencilik Tarihine Toplu Bir Bakış.” MT Bilimsel Yer Altı Kaynakları Dergisi 9:3-13.