Metal Resources in Ancient Anatolia

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Abstract
The rich metal deposits of Anatolia have been, for archaeologists and historians, a matter of much confusion. Small wonder, when we discover that the reporting of the basic geological data through the years has been altered, interpreted and reinterpreted to the extent that the picture no longer resembles its original form. Particularly lacking in the archaeological literature on Anatolian metal resources is an up-to-date account of the metalliferous deposits available in antiquity. Although a number of attempts have been made to give an over-all view of Anatolia's ore deposits, much of the potentially useful data is published in geological journals which, unfortunately, have been routinely ignored for their archaeological importance.The recent article in this journal by J. Yakar is another of the attempts to interpret the movements of Anatolian peoples with respect to the natural resources of the land, in this case metal resources. However, Yakar's article draws on much out-dated information, and he is a victim of the often rash convictions of Forbes. As a corrective, let us focus on the basic geological data. Yakar suggests that the metal resources of the West and Southwest were the main impetus behind Hittite involvement in the region.

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