Ur- und Frühgeschichte und Archäologie des Mittelalters

Development of metallurgy in Eurasia

Ernst Pernicka

A short overview of the beginnings of metallurgy in the Old World will be given, from the eleventh/ninth millennium BC in Southwest Asia when colourful ores and naturally occurring metals came into use. Various explanations for this fundamental change will be presented. In the early sixth millennium BC the techniques of smelting were developed to produce lead, copper, copper alloys and eventually silver. Most scholars tend to see this as a single invention with subsequent cultural transmission of the technology. However, since the presently earliest evidence for copper smelting is found in southeastern Europe, alternative models have been proposed. The implications for the cultural and technological development will be discussed.