Ilgynly-Depe (Turkmenistan) and the 4th Millennium BC Metallurgy of Central Asia

Paléorient. — 2009. — Vol. 35.1 — p. 47-67.On the surface of the site of Ilgynly-depe (southern Turkmenistan) we identified a cluster of artefacts indicating the local performance of multiple metallurgical activities. About 100 objects were mapped and collected. The finds were studied in detail by the means of basic analytical techniques. The surface record can be ascribed to the middle of the 4th millennium BC. As a result, we provide a new picture of the metallurgy of the Kopetdagh piedmont in such time range, discussing not only copper-bronze artefacts, but also some aspects of the manufacturing of lead, silver and gold products. We argue that the protohistoric metallurgy of southern Turkmenistan had reached a noticeable level of technical complexity at least 1,000 years before the “urban revolution” of the Middle Bronze Age.