Zahra Hashemi, Nima Nezafati, Daniel Demant

Looking for Ancient Metalworking Sites of Luristan (Western Iran): a Preliminary Archaeometallurgical Approach

Introduction

Looking for ancient metalworking sites of luristan (western iran): a preliminary archaeometallurgical approach. Explore ancient iron and bronze metalworking sites in Luristan, Western Iran, through an archaeometallurgical survey. Discover slag heaps revealing smelting and smithing activities from the Bronze and Iron Ages.

Abstract

The region of Luristan in the Zagros Mountains (western Iran) is known worldwide for its skilled and enigmatic ancient metal production, in particular its “Luristan Bronzes” dated to the Bronze and Iron Ages. At the crossroads between the IInd and Ist millennia BC, in parallel with tradition of elaborate bronze production, Luristan also saw the arrival of iron. Bimetallic bronze iron artefacts and technically well-developed iron mask swords are among very notable iron products of Luristan metalworkers and are  potentially among the oldest iron artefacts known from Iran. Despite this situation, technical aspects of iron metallurgy are almost  unknown in Luristan. Field investigations are rare, archaeological production contexts are unknown, and little attention has been paid to iron metalworking. This article, as an initial step in this field, will address the results of a recent short archaeometallurgical survey  in Luristan which lead to the discovery of five slag heaps. The physicochemical analyses and microscopic observations, which were carried out at the Departments of Mining Archaeology and Archaeometallurgy of the German Mining Museum, Bochum (DBM),  Germany, indicated that we have identified several ironworking workshops: mostly smelting together with some vestiges of smithing  activities. In addition, geochemical and isotopic analyses attested that the ores probably came from geochemically similar deposits in  the wider region. 

Review

This article presents a timely and important preliminary archaeometallurgical investigation into ancient metalworking sites in Luristan, Western Iran, with a particular focus on iron production. The region is globally renowned for its Bronze and Iron Age metalwork, yet, as the abstract highlights, the technical aspects of iron metallurgy, especially the identification of production contexts, remain largely unknown. This paper directly addresses this significant knowledge gap by reporting on the discovery of five new slag heaps, thus offering a crucial initial step towards understanding the organizational and technological aspects of iron production in an area pivotal to the development of early iron use. The methodology employed appears robust for a preliminary study. The authors describe a recent archaeometallurgical survey that led to the identification of the slag heaps. Subsequent physicochemical analyses and microscopic observations, conducted at the specialized German Mining Museum, Bochum, allowed for the confident identification of several ironworking workshops, encompassing both smelting and some smithing activities. Furthermore, the inclusion of geochemical and isotopic analyses to ascertain probable local ore sources adds another layer of scientific rigor, supporting the notion of indigenous resource utilization within the wider region. These detailed analytical approaches provide strong evidence for the existence of organized iron production in Luristan, moving beyond the mere presence of artifacts to shed light on their manufacture. While explicitly preliminary, this paper makes a substantial contribution to archaeometallurgy and Iranian archaeology. The findings lay a vital foundation for future, more extensive research, particularly in terms of dating the newly identified sites, contextualizing them within the broader archaeological landscape, and connecting them to the well-known "Luristan Bronzes" and iron artifacts. This study is highly commendable for its systematic approach to addressing a long-standing lacuna in the field. It promises to open new avenues of inquiry into the development and spread of iron technology in the ancient Near East and is certainly deserving of publication to stimulate further investigation into this fascinating and complex region.

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