Ancient Goltepe and Kestel Mine

Early Bronze Age habitation site of Göltepe
and its associated tin mine Kestel .....

Göltepe is located two kilometers opposite Kestel Mine on top of a large natural hill in south-central Turkey. The hill measures close to sixty hectares total and is fortified at the summit with cultural deposition throughout the entire extent of its surface. The size of the settlement is estimated to be between eight to ten hectares. Five samples of charcoal from excavated contexts inside Kestel Mine gave radiocarbon determinations 2070-1880 BC calibrated to 2870-2200 BC - thus dating the use of Kestel Mine firmly in the Early Bronze Age .....

Bibliography

(1) THE GÖLTEPE/KESTEL PROJECT
(The Oriental Institute of Chicago)

(2) Tin Processing at Goltepe: an Early Bronze Age Site in Anatolia
Yener and Vandiver in American Journal of Archaeology
Volume 97 - Nunber 2 - April 1993 (LC # CC 1 A6)

(3) Evidence for Early Bronze Age Tin Ore Processing
Laughlin and Todd in Materials Characterization
Volume 45 Number 4 (Pages 269-273) October 2000

Abstract Excerpt: Recent discoveries related to ores from Kestel Mine in the Taurus Mountains of Turkey show how prehistoric miners used the magnetic properties of the black iron oxide to accomplish the difficult separation of cassiterite (tin oxide) from low-grade cassiterite ores. Excavations at the site of Göltepe - dating to the third millenium BC - have yielded hematite ore nodules containing a few percent or less of cassiterite and also a sequence of processed - ground and separated minerals. These findings establish Kestel/Göltepe as a viable cassiterite (ore) production site .....

(4) An Analytical Study Using Electron and Ion Microscopy
of Thin-walled Crucibles from Göltepe in Turkey
Adriaens/Yener/Adams in Journal of Archaeological Science
Volume 26 - Number 8 (Pages 1069-1073) August 1999

Abstract Excerpt: Archaeological artefacts have been analysed using surface analytical techniques to investigate potential evidence for tin ore smelting activities dating from the Early Bronze Age (3000–2000 BC). The samples originate from Göltepe. Many groundstone tools and ceramic crucibles have been discovered and it is presumed that these materials were used to smelt cassiterite or tin ore originating from Kestel Mine. Before the discovery of this mine the tin used to produce bronze in Anatolia during the Early Bronze Age was considered to be imported from distant places .....

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