Antiquity Reviews: Petrie March 2012

Book Review

ABDOLRASOOL VATANDOUST, HERMANN PARZINGER & BARBARA HELWING (ed.). Early mining and metallurgy on the western Central Iranian Plateau: the first five years of work (Archäologie in Iran und Turan 9). viii+728 pages, 734 colour illustrations, 86 tables. 2011. Mainz: Philipp von Zabern for Eurasien-Abteilung des Deutschen Archäologischen Instituts Außenstelle Teheran; 978-3-8053-4342-8 hardback €94.90.

Review by Cameron Petrie
Department of Archaeology and Anthropology, University of Cambridge, UK
(Email: cap59@cam.ac.uk)

Archaeological research in Iran has seen a major revival in the last ten years. In addition to a proliferation of new surveys and excavations, this period has also seen the publication of several long-awaited reports on sites excavated prior to the Iranian Revolution, and the considerably more rapid publication of several excavations carried out since the 1990s. The volume under review falls into the latter category and it is a major volume in many ways. At 700+ pages is pushes the limits of what can be published in one hardback volume, but it contains a wealth of important information between the boards. The volume consists of twenty-eight chapters separated into three parts. As one might expect from a von Zabern publication, it is lavishly produced, and stands out with its extensive use of colour images throughout.

By far the largest part of the volume is Part 1 (c. 520 pages), which presents the comprehensive report of the excavations at the important fourth millennium BC site of Arismān, which were carried out in 2000, 2001, 2002 and 2004, and complemented by a survey in 2002 and study seasons in 2002 and 2003. Part 2 (c. 94 pages) focuses on the mining archaeology of Iran and contains the results of a survey of the western Central Plateau and the evidence for ore extraction at Vešnāve. Part 3 (c. 66 pages) examines the archaeometallugy of the western Central Plateau, and incorporates a wide range of analytical results.

This is a volume deserving a detailed review, and relatively brief specific comments will have to suffice here. Part 1 includes a brief introduction to Arismān and detailed discussions of magnetic prospection conducted at the site (Chapter 3), the excavations carried out in different areas (Chapters 4–6), and analyses of the ceramics (Chapters 7–8), small finds (Chapter 9), lithics (Chapter 10), radiocarbon dates (Chapter 11), faunal (Chapter 12) and botanical remains (Chapter 13), as well as reports on post-excavation site protection (Chapter 14), artefact conservation (Chapter 15), restoration (Chapter 16), the results of archaeological surveys in the site's hinterland (Chapters 17–19) and very informative conclusions (Chapter 20). Arismān appears to have been an extensive but largely flat site, where different areas were occupied during the earlier (Sialk III, Area B) and later (Proto-Elamite, Area C) phases of the fourth millennium BC. Interestingly, rather than new houses being built upon older structures in ways that would produce a typical tell, the focus of the settlement appears to have moved over time. Perhaps the most interesting evidence from Arismān is that for craft production. The Sialk III deposits have important evidence for relatively small scale pottery, copper and silver production, including examples of copper ore, hammerstones, anvils, crucibles and fragments of moulds for casting ingots and shaft-hole axes. As Helwing notes "The scale and scope of metallurgical activity in Arismān changed dramatically during the second half of the 4th millennium BC" (p. 528), as suggested by the extensive evidence for various stages of industrial scale copper production, particularly the manufacture of flat axes. The evidence for shifts in metal production processes between the two phases is truly a boon for those interested in early metallurgy and the rise of urbanism and early complex societies during the fourth millennium BC. It is centres such as Arismān that have been presumed to have played a key role in the provision of metal resources for elites in lowland southern Mesopotamia, but the evidence from Arismān suggests that such settlements may well have developed within a more localised or at most regional socio-economic context, and while initially engaging in trade/exchange with places like Susa in lowland Khuzestan, the focus of trade subsequently shifted to the north toward the Hamrin and northern Syria.

Part 2 introduces the investigations of the metal extraction sites at Vešnāve (Chapter 21) and includes some supplementary reports on fibre samples (Chapter 22), and the conservation (Chapter 23) and restoration (Chapter 24) of metal and other artefacts, as well as a survey of ancient mines in the surrounding area (Chapter 25). The work at Vešnāve provides important information about mining during the second millennium BC, a period very poorly known on the Central Plateau and many other areas in Iran. The mines also reveal intriguing evidence for their use for ritual activities during the Iron Age.

Part 3 reviews archaeometallurgical research on the western Central Iranian Platueau (Chapter 26) and includes discussion of geology of various copper mineralisations and areas where mining has taken place, as well as geochemical analyses of ores, slags and finished objects from Arismān and other sites. Although largely of interest to specialists, this chapter offers important insights into the copper production processes in use during the fourth millennium BC.

The illustrations in the volume are generally exemplary, though there is some variation in style between the different sections. Of particular note are the illustrations of the archaeological deposits in Chapter 5 (excavations at Arismān, Area C) and the ceramic material in Chapter 7 (Sialk III pottery from Area B). The former uses digital colour renderings of plans to great effect, while the latter contains digital reproductions of pencil drawings combined with appropriately-oriented photographs of individual sherds to highlight the highly distinctive decoration on these vessels. The images in Part 3 are, however, disappointing as colour has unfortunately not been used on several charts, rendering data points invisible in several instances. There are other instances where low resolution images have been included and this unfortunately obscures the data.

The volume ends with an extensive bibliography and summaries in both English and Persian, which is to be welcomed. The volume lacks an overarching concluding chapter that draws together the different elements, but this is a minor quibble with what is in most respects a truly outstanding volume. The editors are to be congratulated for bringing together the wide range of overview chapters and specialist reports written by thirty-three primary authors and additional collaborators. That such a monumental volume has appeared within seven years of completing the field research is a testament to the tenacity and drive of the editors, and they have set a standard that it can only be hoped others will continue to follow.