EARLY BRONZE AGE DAGGERS IN CENTRAL ... - Bilkent University

metallurgical connections concerned, it should be remembered that the finished
metallurgical products were a valuable amenity in the EBA. They were relatively easy
to transport and exchanged for other valuable goods such as other precious metals and
gems or other exotic goods. It would not be difficult to imagine these goods travelling
hundreds of kilometers in relatively short amount of time, perhaps not direct
transportation by a single group but rather from community to community. When
these relatively valuable and prestigious items appear, they also are likely to be
imitated for its social value. Trade items, or morphological influences, may arrive to a
region before any individual from the producing culture may. The nature of cultural
interactions must be investigated but placing too much importance of a valuable items,
or morphological influences, appearing in a grave of an elite individual is a dangerous
practice.
There is not even a single mold for casting daggers were recovered in Central
Anatolia, nor in the immediate neighboring regions. Some of the daggers might have
been forged but, more complicated forms would certainly need closed molds. The
negative evidence, however, do not indicate the absence of molding practices. For
example, cire perdue with sans molds instead of clay might have been practiced
(Bilgi, 1984: 170).
Presence of molds, especially of a known dagger type, would indicate that the
item was produced locally. Yet, even without this evidence, it is clear that the major
settlements in Central Anatolia had advanced metallurgical skills. Arsenical copper
was used almost 99% of the larger artifacts in Central Anatolia and its immediate
neighbor Central Black Sea region (Bilgi 1984: 171).
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