Craft production at Köhne Shahar, a Kura-Araxes settlement in Iranian Azerbaijan

Alizadeh, Karim; Samei, Siavash; Mohammadkhani, Kourosh; Heidari, Reza; Tykot, Robert H.

doi:10.1016/j.jaa.2018.06.006

Cited by 7 publications

(14 citation statements)

References 34 publications

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“…High concentrations of finished antler tools in S204 and the presence of antler tools in S202, S203, and S401 in ENH IV-V suggest that these structures were workshops where primary manufacturing took place. This observation confirms the pattern already detected from abundant non-faunal contextual and artifactual evidence for manufacturing activities in some of these structures [13]. This is also true of S502 in WNH, where two bone tools were found in association with a similar suite of workshop-related features and artifacts.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 87%

“…All recovered materials from these excavations, including faunal remains, are curated at the Cultural Heritage Organization of West Azerbaijan Province in Urmia, Iran. Underneath the aforementioned disturbed surface deposits, excavations exposed in situ cultural deposits and numerous round and rectilinear structures and inter-structural spaces in Phases IV and V (Fig 4a-4c) [13]. Part of a small curvilinear structure belonging to Phase III was also excavated in Trench 13I5 in ENH (Fig 4a).…”

Section: Kö Hne Shaharmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Some of these contexts contained a wealth of primary and secondary evidence for craft production. Four of the structures-S202 (ENH), S401/1 (ENH), S401/2 (ENH), and S502 (WNH)-contained similarly-sized small pyrotechnological installations as well as numerous tuyères, beads and bead blanks, and large hammerstones, all suggesting that these structures were primary manufacturing workshops [13]. One structure (S101 in ENH) and one inter-structural space (S306 in CNH) were most likely primary waste disposal areas, as they contained thick secondary deposits of ash, broken tools, broken ceramic vessels and wasters, broken crucibles, and slags.…”

Section: Kö Hne Shaharmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…These "empty" structures Zooarchaeological approach to the spatial organization of craft production at Köhne Shahar, Iran were largely devoid of any notable features and artifacts and contained little evidence for either manufacturing or domestic activities, and so their functions remain unclear. The results of an extensive geophysical survey pointed to a high frequency of manufacturing activities throughout the citadel [13]. While this does not mean that all areas of the citadel were dedicated solely to craft production, the spatial scope of activities suggests that craft production was practiced throughout the community.…”

Section: Kö Hne Shaharmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The full range of objects produced at KSH is not yet known. The abundance of stone and soapstone beads and bead blanks (Fig 5a-5e), the small size of the pyrotechnological installations, and the small size of the crucibles and slags suggests that manufacturing focused on the production of small, possibly ornamental objects [13]. Finished objects are rare at the site, but the plethora of beads, a miniature container from S502 (WNH) possibly made of steatite ( Fig 5f), and a silver ring from the fill of a disturbed grave in the cemetery of KSH may exemplify the type of objects manufactured inside the citadel.…”

Section: Kö Hne Shaharmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The spatial organization of craft production at the Kura-Araxes settlement of Köhne Shahar in northwestern Iran: A zooarchaeological approach

Samei¹,

Alizadeh²

2020

PLoS ONE

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The Kura-Araxes cultural tradition (ca. 3500-2200 BCE) was one of the most widespread archaeological horizons in Southwest Asian prehistory, spanning from the Caucasus to the southern Levant. Although several decades of research have considerably increased our knowledge about this Early Bronze Age tradition, the social and economic organization of its communities remains a matter of much debate. Interpretations of the organization of Kura-Araxes craft economies range from need-based household production to extra-household specialized production for exchange and elite consumption. This issue stems from the absence of a systematic approach to studying the spatial organization of craft production; that is the study of the spatial distribution of archaeological material across multiple contexts to reconstruct the location of various activities involved in craft production. Extensive evidence for craft production at Kö hne Shahar (KSH)-one of the largest Kura-Araxes sites ever discovered-provides an opportunity for such a study. Faunal remains are among the most abundant types of remains recovered at KSH Phases IV and V (ca. 2800-2500 BCE), where bone and antler were cached and then shaped into tools that were used to manufacture other objects like beads. We use zooarchaeology to study the spatial distribution of worked and unworked animal remains to analyze the function of several structures and spaces in the craft production areas to ultimately gain better insight into the organization of labor and the social organization of the community. We identify evidence for two antler storage units, numerous waste dumps, and several workshops. Some workshops manufactured a similar range of small, possibly ornamental objects, while others specialized in the manufacture of certain goods, textiles, and objects made of animal horn. When combined with other lines of evidence, our observations point to a community-wide production economy with little direct evidence for a stratified social organization. We argue that the absence of a strict social hierarchy at KSH and across the Kura-Araxes world is not evidence of the absence of social complexity, but the presence of a horizontal or heterarchical social order.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 87%

Section: Kö Hne Shaharmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Kö Hne Shaharmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Kö Hne Shaharmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Kö Hne Shaharmentioning

confidence: 99%

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