Dawn of the Metal Age

The fifth millennium BCE was a period of rapid social change. One of the key factors was the developments in technology which led to the rise of the metals industry. Archaeological finds from sites dating to the Chalcolithic period indicate the production and use of copper. 'Dawn of the Metal Age' examines a range of sites - from copper mines in Jordan and Israel to the villages of the northern Negev where copper was produced in household workshops, to a series of cave burials where a range of luxury metal goods were buried with the elite members of Chalcolithic society. Ancient technology is reconstructed from the archaeological evidence, which also illuminates the changing economic, social, religious and political environment of the time. Preface by Thomas E. Levy; Chapter One: The Dawn of the Metal Age; Chapter Two: Leaving the Neolithic; Chapter Three: The Northern Negev Copper Boom; Chapter Four: Elite Tombs of the Chalcolithic Mortuary Evidence and Social Organization; Chapter Five: Cornets and Copper - A Metallurgical Perspective on Chalcolithic Chronology; Chapter Six: A Model for Specialized Craft Production; Chapter Seven: Copper Production at Abu Matar; Chapter Eight: The Seduction of the Industry; Chapter Nine: Technology and Society; Chapter Ten: Production and Social Organization during the Chalcolithic; Chapter 11: Conclusion.