Abstract
This paper reviews the evidence for the earliest metal objects and metal production practices throughout Eurasia. It is argued that it is through the movement of people possessing metallurgical expertise that the new material and technology is initially transmitted. This creates underlying technological similarities, but it does not explain the different characteristics encountered in the earliest metal and metallurgy in Eurasia. The processes underlying the adoption of metal are shaped by distinct choices based on the pre-existing material worlds of the communities involved. These are frequently, although not always, bound up in the broader entities of archaeological cultures. In order to understand the earliest metallurgy, it is therefore necessary to understand the dynamics that created the temporal and spatial patterns in the archaeological record that came to be labelled archaeological cultures.
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Roberts, B.W. (2011). Ancient Technology and Archaeological Cultures: Understanding the Earliest Metallurgy in Eurasia. In: Roberts, B., Vander Linden, M. (eds) Investigating Archaeological Cultures. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-6970-5_7
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