A Metallographic, ICP- OES and SEM- EDS Examination on Three Bronze Age Alloys from Southern Part of Halil-Rud Region, Jiroft, Iran

Southeastern Iran is one of the earliest centers of archaeometallurgy in Southwestern Asia. Due to archaeological investigations many important documents were discovered in ancient sites such as Tal-i- Iblis, Tepe Yahya, Shahdad and Shahr-e-Sokhteh. There are many ancient mining evidences and slag heaps of ore smelting all the southeastern region over. Besides gathering many data of early urbanization by recent archaeological researches in Jiroft Plain south of Kerman province, the ancient metallurgical evidences and metal objects were discovered. Many ores especially copper and slags of smelting were identified in the region and reported on the basis of archeological and geological surveys. A set of objects were gathered by illegal diggings in a region named Mil-e- Farhad in the southeast of Jiroft. There are some metal objects among them. One metal pin and two needles were chosen and examined by laboratories analyses were argued in this paper. On the basis of archaeological excavations of some sites in this region and corresponding with types gathered from scientific diggings, these objects are belonging to Bronze Age –Late 4th/Early 3rd millennium B.C.-. Examination of metallugraphic analysis, was determined the method of these three objects production. These were produce by cold hammering and annealing manner. The quantity and quality of the elements of Inclusions, Globules and Impurities of these objects were analyzed by SEM- EDS and ICP- OES. Chemically, the main compositions of the objects are resemble to Bronze Age metallurgy of southeastern Iran; the pin and one of the needles were made of copper- arsenical alloy and another needle was made of pure copper. The other identified elements are included antimony, zinc, tin, lead, iron, strontium, silver, aluminum and some other trace elements. Ore deposites surveys indicate that the quantity and quality of ores elements of Halil-Rud region bear relatively exact resembalanse of these objects compositions. We could assay the locality of raw material of the mentioned objects by this elemental adaptation. One of the substantial point of Bronze Age cultures of southeastern Iran including Halil- Rud and Jiroft is the prevalence of inter-regional and inter-cultural styles. In the other word, material parameters of these cultures have beared resembalanse in forms, structures, techniques and chemical compounds regionally and trans-regionally. These similarities are noticeable and eye-worth in the case of bronze needle and pin. We shall able to analysis the cultural interactions between the Bronze Age centers of southeastern Iran with each other and with the contemporary sites of southern and southwestern of Iran, even, Mesopotamia in one hand and Baluchistan and Turkmenistan on the other hand. The high range distribution of the metal pins and needles all the Bronze Age centers of the southwestern Asia indicate that there were complex societies which produced and distributed these objects between each other while they had interactions. So, the analysis of economic, social and political complexities of these societies would be possible. Archaeometallurgy was an industrial chain in which have been groups such as miners, smelters, producers, merchants and consumers. Discovering the old mining evidences and smelting slag heaps, presence of enough water and fuel, gathering of various metal objects, tablets etc. appeal the productive, technical, economical and official mechanisms in the under-studying region.