essay

Third-millennium metalwork

Excavations at Tell Brak • 2 • Published In 2001 • Pages: 233-254

By: McDonald, Helen, Curtis, John, Maxwell-Hyslop, Rachel.

AbstractBrief abstract written by HRAF anthropologists who have done the subject indexing for the document

McDonald describes the metal artifacts (copper/bronze, silver, gold, lead, and iron) found at Tell Brak. Table 22, at the end of the chapter, is a catalog of the metal objects and the molds used to make some of the metal objects. The metal collection from Tell Brak is different from other contemporary collections in that it is not from grave deposits; instead over one third of the objects were found associated with the ritual closure deposits when the SS and FS buildings were filled in. Unlike the other hoards, they were buried without the intention of later recovery. Found at the site were metal tools, sickles, a metal mirror, weapons, ingots, ornaments, vessels, cosmetic tools, and figurines. Also found were several stone molds used to make metal objects. Numerous figures that illustrate the various objects described can be found in eHRAF document number 43.

SubjectsDocument-level OCM identifiers given by the anthropology subject indexers at HRAF

Smiths and their crafts

Nonferrous metal industries

General tools

Weapons

Ornament

traditionCulture name from the Outline of World Cultures (OWC)

Akkadian

HRAF PubDateThe date HRAF published the document

2009

RegionThe area the document pertains to

Middle East

Sub RegionThe more specific area the document pertains to, which is located within the Region

Middle East

Document TypeMay include journal articles, essays, collections of essays, monographs, or chapters/parts of monographs

essay

Evaluation

Creator TypeThe type of person writing the document, e.g. Ethnographer, Missionary, Archaeologist, Folklorist, Linguist, Indigenous Person, and so on.

Archaeologist

Document Rating A ranking done by HRAF anthropologists based on the strength of the source material on a scale of 1 to 5, as follows: 1 - poor; 2 - fair; 3 - good, useful data, but not uniformly excellent; 4 - excellent secondary data; 5 - excellent primary data.

4: Excellent Secondary Data

5: Excellent Primary Data

AnalystThe HRAF anthropologist who subject indexed the document and prepared other materials for the eHRAF culture/tradition collection

Sarah Berry; 2008

Field DateThe date the researcher conducted the fieldwork or archival research that produced the document

1976-1993 (14 field seasons)

Coverage DateThe date or dates that the information in the document pertains to

circa 4800-3950 BP(circa 2800 BC-1950 BC)

Coverage PlaceLocation of the research culture or tradition (often a smaller unit such as a band, community, or archaeological site)

Tell Brak, Syria

NotesAdditional notes

Helen McDonald, John Curtis and Rachael Maxwell-Hyslop

For bibliographical references see document 13: Oates

LCCNLibrary of Congress Control Number

00303945

LCSHLibrary of Congress Subject Headings

Civilization, Assyro-Babylonian/Excavations (Archaeology) Iraq/Mitanni (Ancient kingdom)/Dayr al-Zawr (Syria) Antiquities