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Metal Resources in Ancient Anatolia

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 December 2013

Prentiss S. De Jesus
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Extract

The rich metal deposits of Anatolia have been, for archaeologists and historians, a matter of much confusion. Small wonder, when we discover that the reporting of the basic geological data through the years has been altered, interpreted and reinterpreted to the extent that the picture no longer resembles its original form. Particularly lacking in the archaeological literature on Anatolian metal resources is an up-to-date account of the metalliferous deposits available in antiquity. Although a number of attempts have been made to give an over-all view of Anatolia's ore deposits, much of the potentially useful data is published in geological journals which, unfortunately, have been routinely ignored for their archaeological importance.

The recent article in this journal by J. Yakar is another of the attempts to interpret the movements of Anatolian peoples with respect to the natural resources of the land, in this case metal resources. However, Yakar's article draws on much out-dated information, and he is a victim of the often rash convictions of Forbes. As a corrective, let us focus on the basic geological data. Yakar suggests that the metal resources of the West and Southwest were the main impetus behind Hittite involvement in the region.

Type
Research Article
Information
Anatolian Studies , Volume 28 , December 1978 , pp. 97 - 102
Copyright
Copyright © The British Institute at Ankara 1978

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References

1 Yakar, J., “Hittite Involvement in Western Anatolia”, AS XXVI (1976), pp. 118–28Google Scholar. Hereafter Yakar.

2 Forbes, R. J., Metallurgy in Antiquity (Leiden, 1950)Google Scholar; idem, Studies in Ancient Technology, Vol. VIII (Leiden, 1964).

3 Yakar, p. 121.

4 For copper deposits in these regions, see Lead, Copper and Zinc Deposits of Turkey, Publication No. 133 of Mineral Research and Exploration Institute of Turkey (Ankara, 1972)Google Scholar, hereafter MTA (1972); and Ryan, C. W., A Guide to the Known Minerals of Turkey (Ankara, 1960)Google Scholar, hereafter Ryan (1960). Those copper deposits in the West said to have been worked formerly are:

(1) Seki, , MTA (1972), p. 99Google Scholar.

(2) Bülbüller, , MTA (1972), pp. 99–100Google Scholar.

(3) Seydiköy, Ryan (1960), p. 30.

(4) Kızılca, , MTA (1972), p. 100Google Scholar.

The only other copper deposits known in this region are:

(5) Karakilise, , MTA (1972), p. 104Google Scholar.

(6) Kocak, , MTA (1972), p. 100Google Scholar.

(7) Haliferler, , MTA (1972), p. 117Google Scholar.

None of these seven deposits is said to be particularly rich. They may have been extensive enough to support local metallurgical needs, but they were definitely inadequate to meet Hittite requirements.

5 Giles, D. and Kuijpers, E., “Stratiform Copper Deposit, Northern Anatolia, Turkey. Evidence for Early Bronze I (2800 B.C.) Mining Activity”, Science, Vol. 186, Nov. 29, 1974, pp. 823–5CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed. Metalliferous ore deposits, mines and smelting sites are discussed at length in my Ph.D. thesis, “The Development of Prehistoric Mining and Metallurgy in Anatolia”, submitted to the Institute of Archaeology, London, in 1977Google Scholar. Some currently available information on the subject of ancient mines may be found in de Jesus, P. S., “Metallurgical Practices in Early Anatolia”, Bulletin of the Mineral Research and Exploration Institute of Turkey, 87 (1977), pp. 49–63Google Scholar.

6 These deposits are:

(1) Çamyurt, , MTA (1972), p. 61Google Scholar; and Ryan (1960), p. 28.

(2) Balcılar, , MTA (1972), pp. 61–2Google Scholar; and Ryan (1960), p. 27.

(3) Doğancılar, , MTA (1972), p. 77Google Scholar.

(4) Gümüşçatı, , MTA (1972), p. 76Google Scholar; and Ryan (1960), p. 28.

7 Yakar, p. 121.

8 Forbes, R. J., Studies in Ancient Technology, VIII, pp. 214–15Google Scholar.

9 The first mention of Tris Maden is in Hamilton, W. J., Researches in Asia Minor, Pontus and Armenia, Vol. I (London, 1842), p. 339Google Scholar. It was subsequently cited by Smyth, W. W., A Year with the Turks (London, 1850), p. 298Google Scholar, then by Gowland, W., “Silver in Roman and Earlier Times: I. Prehistoric and Protohistoric times”, Archaeologia, 69 (1920), p. 156CrossRefGoogle Scholar, then by Forbes (supra n. 8).

10 For details on these sites see:

(1) Bozkır, , MTA (1972), pp. 109–10Google Scholar.

(2) Ortakonuş, , MTA (1972), pp. 115–17Google Scholar; and Ryan (1960), pp. 13–14.

(3) Yelmezköy, , MTA (1972), p. 110Google Scholar.

(4) Maden, Bulgar, MTA (1972), pp. 104–9Google Scholar; and Ryan (1960), pp. 11–12.

(5) Aladağ, Ryan (1960), p. 12.

11 Nor is it as certain as claims, Cary, “The Sources of Silver for the Greek World”, in Mélanges Glotz, I (Paris, 1932), p. 136Google Scholar. Cf. Gray, D. F., “Metalworking in Homer”, JHS 74 (1954), p. 13CrossRefGoogle Scholar. For considerations on the Homeric Alybe, Page, D., History and the Homeric Iliad (Berkeley, 1961), pp. 141–2Google Scholar.

12 Korudere, , MTA (1972), p. 61Google Scholar. Bergaz has given evidence of former working, MTA (1972), p. 76Google Scholar. Balya Maden in Balıkesır Province has also given evidence of former working and produced large quantities of silver in Ottoman times, MTA (1972), pp. 81–3Google Scholar; Ryan (1960), p. 3; Gowland (supra n. 9), p. 139; and Karajian, H. A., Mineral Resources of Armenia and Anatolia (New York, 1920), pp. 158–9Google Scholar. Nothing is known about the remote history of these deposits.

13 See MTA (1972), p. 54Google Scholar; Ryan (1960:, p. 19; and Karajian (supra n. 12), pp. 149–50. Other argentiferous deposits and former workings in this region have been reported at:

(1) Ascarcık-Licese, , MTA (1972), p. 71Google Scholar.

(2) Kızılkaya, , MTA (1972), p. 41Google Scholar; and Ryan (1960), p. 44.

(3) Dandi, , MTA (1972), p. 47Google Scholar; and Ryan (1960), p. 53.

(4) Eşeli, Md., MTA (1972), pp. 34–5Google Scholar; and Ryan (1960), p. 46.

(5) Akköy, Md., MTA (1972) p. 34Google Scholar.

(6) Yanı, Karaköl, MTA (1972), pp. 35–6Google Scholar.

Other argentiferous deposits are known in this area, but these will be discussed at another occasion when space allows.

14 Yakar, p. 121. For other references to this deposit, MTA (1972), pp. 87–8Google Scholar; and Ryan (1960), pp. 10–11.

15 The site is actually Gümüş, a village 5 km south of Gümüşhaciköy This site has been recently discussed and identified with Strabo's Roman arsenic mines, P. S. de Jesus (1977) (supra n. 5), pp. 59–60.

16 De Launay, L., La géologie et les richesses minérales de l'Asie (Paris, 1911), p. 650Google Scholar.

17 As expressed in Anadolu XVI (1972), pp. 129–40Google Scholar.

18 Yakar, p. 118. See also pp. 121–2. He quotes Esin, , Kuantitatif Spektral Analiz Yardımıyla Anadolu'da Başlangıcından Asur Kolonileri Çağina Kadar Bakir ve Tunç Madenciliği (Istanbul, 1969), pp. 107–8Google Scholar, who gives reference to three geological reports of the Sakarya basin, ibid. note 6. Yakar also quotes Forbes, R. J., Studies in Ancient Technologies IX (Leiden, 1972), p. 141Google Scholar, but the latter drew on secondary information supplied by Hintze, C. A., Handbuch der Mineralogie I (Leipzig, 1915), p. 1702Google Scholar, who drew on other secondary sources. I have not yet been able to track down the original report of tin in the area, but it dates prior to 1904, hence, hardly fresh data. There is no known tin deposit at Uşak, as reported by Forbes and Yakar.

19 Sasson, J. M., “A Study of North Syrian economic relations of the Middle Bronze Age” JESHO IX (1966), p. 164Google Scholar. Also Malamat, A., “Syro-Palestinian destinations in a Mari tin inventory”, IEJ 21 (1971), pp. 31–8Google Scholar; Dossin, G., “La route de l'étain en Mésopotamie au temps de Zimri-Lim”, Revue d'Assyriologie LXIV (1970), pp. 97–106Google Scholar. Another facet of the tin trade is expressed in de Jesus, P. S., “Report on the Analyses of the ‘Makarska’ Tools and some implications”, SMEA XVII (1976), pp. 226–7Google Scholar.

20 A list of 13 deposits in the western provinces may be found in Arsenic, Mercury, Antimony and Gold Deposits of Turkey, Publication No. 129 of Mineral Research and Exploration Institute of Turkey (Ankara, 1970), pp. 23–6Google Scholar; and in Ryan (1960), pp. 7–8. These deposits occur in Izmir, Aydin, Manisa and Çanakkale Provinces. Some are related to quartz-arsenopyrite formations in the Menderes Massif, others are alluvial in character.

21 Hanfmann, G. M. and Waldbaum, J. C., “New Excavations at Sardis and some problems in western Anatolian archaeology”, in Near Eastern Archaeology in the 20th Century, Sandars, J. A. (Ed.) (New York, 1970), pp. 307–26Google Scholar. Also, Hanfmann, G., Letters from Sardis (Cambridge, Mass., 1972), p. 230Google Scholar; Ramage, A., “Pactolus North”, BASOR 199 (1970), pp. 16–23Google Scholar; and S. M. Goldstein, “The Examination of the Gold Samples from Pactolus North”, ibid, pp. 26–8.

22 Karajian refers to alluvial deposits in this area, Karajian (supra n. 12), pp. 146–7. The latter reports that in the upper reaches of the Çoruh River gold is associated with platinum, and in the lower Çoruh it is associated with iridium and other impurities. Regarding impurities in gold, cf. Young, W., “The Fabulous Gold of the Pactolus Valley”, Boston Museum Bulletin No. 359, LXX (1972), pp. 5–13Google Scholar.