New research has provided robust data that afford a more precise chronological but also geographical distinction between the various strands of development, which differ according to regional “schools”. The mining areas, which are widely known in Iran, can rarely be dated, therefore to establish the beginning of opencast and underground mine exploitation remains a problem however, at the latest from the Bronze Age onwards, underground shafts were used to obtain the desired materials. Raw materials for the metal industry were in the beginning native metals. Surprisingly, tin bronze is introduced to highland Iran only in the 2nd millennium BCE. From that moment onwards, we can also observe experimentation in the production of various alloys such as arsenic copper. The foundation of the first urban sites in the late 4th millennium BCE correlates with a quantum leap in metallurgical technology that became possible through the introduction of updraft furnaces. The new investigations enable us to trace a technological development that begins with hammering and annealing of copper in the Neolithic period, proceeds with small-scale smelting and casting during the 5th millennium BCE, and from the early 4th millennium on evolves into an advanced copper and silver metallurgy whose products circulate widely and supply consumers in the lowlands of Khuzestan and probably Mesopotamia. Following a long gap in archaeological research after 1979, the work carried out since 2000 has made possible to gain a more detailed understanding of the early steps of metal exploitation and usage in Iran. The highlands of Iran, with their rich mineral resources, are known as one of the hotspots of early metallurgy.
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