Discovering the Dawn of Metallurgy: How the Last Hunter-Gatherers Innovated 11,000 Years Ago

A recent discovery in Türkiye is turning heads in the world of archaeology. A curious lump of glass-like soil, believed to be around 10,800 years old, hints at early experiments with copper smelting. This find opens a window into our distant past, suggesting that some of our ancestors were playing with metal long before they settled down and started farming.

This unusual greenish-yellow lump was unearthed at a site known as Gre Filla, found in the Upper Tigris valley. Interestingly, it predates the earliest confirmed examples of copper metallurgy from Serbia, which date back to about 5,350 to 4,600 BCE. Researchers found this lump in a layer of sediment that dates back nearly 11,000 years.

The analysis of this lump revealed intriguing signs of high temperatures, possibly reaching around 1,000 °C (1,830 °F). There were also bits of ash and charcoal nearby, along with animal bones. This suggests that cooking fires were set up in the area, providing a possible explanation for how copper might have melted in the soil.

However, the excitement grows with the presence of specific “high-temperature mineral phases” within the lump, suggesting that the copper was deliberately heated in a controlled environment, likely a furnace or kiln. There are even marks on the lump that seem to indicate contact with such a structure.

But there’s a catch. No actual furnace was located near the lump, and researchers found no by-products like slag, which would be typical of smelting. This absence makes it hard to say definitively if this discovery signals the beginning of metallurgy in the region.

The authors of the study suggest that while this site may not represent a fully-fledged metal workshop, it could be a crucial location where early metallurgical ideas were put into practice. This opens up fascinating questions: How did these early people experiment with heating and casting? Were they among the first to recognize copper’s unique properties?

In a broader perspective, this find connects to the ongoing narrative of human innovation. Over the centuries, copper metallurgy has influenced cultures worldwide, laying the groundwork for the development of advanced tools and technologies.

The study has been documented in the Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports, showcasing a significant step in understanding our technological heritage. As researchers dig deeper into sites like Gre Filla, they continue to uncover layers of history that reshape our understanding of how civilization developed. The discovery not only highlights the ingenuity of our hunter-gatherer ancestors but also raises intriguing possibilities about the origins of metallurgy.

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