Zinman Institute of Archaeology, School of Archaeology and Maritime Civilizations, University of Haifa, Mount Carmel, Haifa, Israel.
Department of Archaeology and Ancient Near Eastern Cultures, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel.
PLoS One. 2023 Dec 19;18(12):e0294569. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0294569. eCollection 2023.
Metalwork was a major technological innovation that displaced stone-tool technologies and transformed human society and the environment. However, our understanding of these processes remains partial. In this paper, we approach the stone-to-metal transition from a novel angle-the presence of flint knapping at metal production sites. Drawing on excavations at the Late Bronze and Iron Age copper smelting sites in Timna Valley, Israel, we demonstrate that systematic production of expedient stone tools was integral to these sites' industrial operations, placing it at the heart of the very same metal circulation networks that were presumably responsible for its displacement. The observations from Timna, coupled with evidence for the use of chipped stone technology in other early Iron Age metallurgical contexts, support the hypothesis that it was probably both the high accessibility of iron and its qualities that put an end to the stone tool industry. Copper and bronze could not easily fulfill the function of the ad hoc stone tools and were not used to replace stone tools even if they were available and accessible.
金属制品是一项重大的技术创新，它取代了石器技术，改变了人类社会和环境。然而，我们对这些过程的理解仍然是片面的。在本文中，我们从一个新的角度——石器在金属生产地的出现——来探讨从石器到金属的过渡。通过对以色列蒂姆纳谷的青铜时代晚期和铁器时代的铜冶炼遗址的挖掘，我们证明了在这些遗址中，有系统地生产简易石器是其工业运作不可或缺的一部分，这使得石器处于这些金属流通网络的核心位置，而这些网络可能正是导致石器被取代的原因。来自蒂姆纳的观察结果，加上在其他早期铁器时代冶金背景下使用石片技术的证据，支持了这样一种假说，即可能正是铁的高易得性及其特性导致了石器工业的终结。铜和青铜不能轻易地替代临时石器的功能，即使它们是可用的和可获得的，也不会被用来替代石器。
