THE FAERIE-SMITH MEETS THE BRONZE INDUSTRY - MAGIC VERSUS SCIENCE IN THE INTERPRETATION OF PREHISTORIC METAL-MAKING

In this article we address the question of the emergence and developme nt of copper and iron metallurgy in Eurasia in relation to a historica l debate within archaeology and archaeometallurgy concerning appropria te technological scales and social organizational models. We believe t hat the concepts of large-scale extraction and production and concomit ant reconstruction of specialized activities and monoplex social roles that figure strongly in the prevailing, orthodox 'industrial model' a re either underdetermined or unsupported by archaeological data. Such concepts represent an anachronistic back-projection of the modern noti on of technological change as driven by rational science. We suggest t hat ritual and magical dimensions need to be given a more central plac e in interpretation and hypothesis formulation, and we tentatively sug gest a broad social-developmental perspective that would incorporate t hem.