Technology, organisation, and networks of metal production and circulation in the Eurasian Steppe Bronze Age: a case of large-scale copper production

公元前2000年的欧亚大陆以金属生产的强化为标志，这为连接大陆两端的贸易网络奠定了基础，后来被称为丝绸之路。这个复杂系统的中心是半游牧的草原牧民，通常被视为商人。这个研究项目探讨了他们作为工程师在这种工业规模的金属生产和流通中被忽视的作用。到目前为止，这一突出技术在草原上的演变和传播，转化为冶金(i)生产参数和协议以及相关的（ii）循环机制，主要通过人工制品类型学和金属矿床特征来接近，导致通过生产核心从西到东的阶段发展的理论化，标记为“冶金省”。然而，目前对青铜时代欧亚草原地方/区域规模组织和冶金技术发展的机制和轨迹知之甚少。在这方面，需要更多旨在描述单个地点的整个生产链的研究，以便获得能够描述从地方/区域到大陆规模的冶金生产和循环的细粒度图像。公元前2千年的塔尔德赛（哈萨克斯坦中部）遗址出土了独特的熔炉、生产废料、采矿工具和青铜器，所有这些都可以用于详细分析，并与区域冶金数据库进行比较。它靠近Dzhezkazgan，这是一个主要的青铜器时代的大草原矿山，允许调查大规模的金属制造技术和景观开发和管理，以研究塔尔德赛在更广泛的金属生产和流通区域网络中的作用。方法建立在一个强大的协议，整合创新的分析工具从考古学，材料和地球科学，地理学，物理学和统计学通过考古和网络分析。(i)生产和（ii）流通的主题将通过三个研究重点和相关的研究问题并行解决：(1)原材料：它们的来源、质量和获取途径是什么？在景观管理和开发方面，这些项目是否具有可持续性？(2)金属生产：塔尔德赛的金属铁匠的技能是什么，即冶炼铜的配方/规程是什么？这个过程标准化了吗？金属的生产规模是多少？(3)金属与青铜时代晚期草原社会：当地生产的金属可能在哪里进行交易，为什么？塔尔德赛的金属铁匠是如何适应大草原和其他地区更广泛的金属/矿石供应经济网络的？研究结果将为非定居社会的冶金专业知识提供更完整的研究，并扩展我们对连接不同草原地区的网络动态的理解，以及推动欧亚大陆金属生产和流通的力量。

The 2nd millennium BC in Eurasia is marked by an intensification of metal production, which laid the foundations for the trade networks linking the far ends of this continent, later recognised as the Silk Roads. Towards the centre of this complex system were the semi-nomadic steppe pastoralists, commonly regarded as merchants. This research project explores their overlooked role as engineers of such an industrial-scale metal production and circulation. Thus far, the evolution and spread of this prominent technology in the steppes, which translate into metallurgical (i) production parameters and protocols and the related (ii) circulation mechanisms, have been approached largely through artefacts typologies and characterisation of metal ore deposits, leading to the theorization of a West-to-East staged development via production cores, labelled as 'metallurgical provinces'.Nevertheless, at present little is yet known on mechanisms and trajectories underlying local/regional-scale organisation and technological development of metallurgy in the Bronze Age Eurasian Steppe. On this line, more studies aiming to characterise the whole production chain at single sites are required, in order to gain a fine-grained picture enabling to describe metallurgical production and circulation from local/regional to continental scale. The 2nd millennium BC site of Taldysai (central Kazakhstan) yielded a unique complex of furnaces, production debris, mining tools and bronze artefacts, all available for detailed analysis together with comparative regional metallurgical databases. Its proximity to Dzhezkazgan, a major Bronze Age mine in the steppes, allows the investigation of large-scale metalmaking technology and landscape exploitation and management to study the role of Taldysai within the wider regional network of metal production and circulation. Methodology builds on a robust protocol that integrates innovative analytical tools from Archaeology, Material and Earth Sciences, Geography, Physics and Statistics through archaeomaterials and network analyses. The main themes of (i) production and (ii) circulation will be addressed in parallel through three research focuses and related research questions:(1) Raw materials: What were their origins, quality and acquisition routes? Were these sustainably organised in terms of landscape management and exploitation?(2) Metal production: What were the skills of the metalsmiths at Taldysai, i.e. what were the recipes/protocols for copper smelting? Was the process standardised? What was the scale of metal produced? (3) Metals and Late Bronze Age steppe society: Where was locally produced metal likely to be traded and why? How did metalsmiths of Taldysai fit in the wider economic network of metals/ores supply in the steppes, and beyond?Results will provide a more complete study of the metallurgical expertise among non-sedentary societies and expand our understanding of the network dynamics connecting different steppe regions, alongside forces driving metal production and circulation across the Eurasian continent.