AJA Open Access
BY-NC-NDApril 2010 (114.2)
Forum Response
A Return to the Dark Ages? Reply to Thornton et al. 2010
A synthetic theory pointing out the central importance of metallurgy in the emergence of Bronze Age civilizations was recently published in the AJA (“From Metallurgy to Bronze Age Civilizations: The Synthetic Theory,” AJA 113 [2009] 497–519). In reaction, six well-known authors (Christopher Thornton, Jonathan Golden, David Killick, Vincent Pigott, Thilo Rehren, and Benjamin Roberts) have written a rebuttal devoted mainly to defending the current localizationist paradigm challenged by the synthetic theory. In this reply, the epistemological nature of localizationism and its position regarding scientific theories is considered first, then three critical points underlying the synthetic theory are discussed: (1) the external mode of crucible heating, (2) the incompatibility of crucible and furnace smelting, and (3) the prevalence of southern Canaan in the emergence of furnace metallurgy.
See Also
Chalcolithic metallurgy in southern Canaan: artifacts from the Nahal Mishmar hoard. The differences in color among artifacts are due to the copper alloying with arsenic, antimony, silver, and nickel at various ratios (Collection of the Israel Antiquities Authority; © The Israel Museum, Jerusalem).
More articles like this:
Bronze Age • Archaeological Science • Prehistory • Metallurgy/Metalworking • Near East
Chalcolithic metallurgy in southern Canaan: artifacts from the Nahal Mishmar hoard. The differences in color among artifacts are due to the copper alloying with arsenic, antimony, silver, and nickel at various ratios (Collection of the Israel Antiquities Authority; © The Israel Museum, Jerusalem).