Pragmatic Technology and the Libyan Bronze Age

Abstract

The last decade has seen an increase in our knowledge of the archaeology of the Libyans in the western desert of Egypt. This paper considers the extent to which the Libyans possessed a metals technology. Without access to indigenous ore bodies, it has been widely assumed that the Libyans lacked any metallurgical know- how. The discovery of crucibles at Marsa Matruh and Zawiyet Umm el-Rakham has not changed this view. In this paper it is argued that the Libyans possessed a pragmatic knowledge based on the need to repair and re-work metal objects gained through trade or war. The crucibles represent material evidence for this that has been over looked by scholars with overly pessimistic conceptions of the adaptive capacities of nomadic and semi-nomadic societies.

How to Cite

Hulin, L., (2010) “Pragmatic Technology and the Libyan Bronze Age”, Journal of Ancient Egyptian Interconnections 1(1), 18-21. doi: https://doi.org/10.2458/azu_jaei_v01i1_hulin

Download

Download PDF

1226

Views

1788

Downloads

Share

Authors

Linda Hulin (University of Oxford)

Download

Issue

Publication details

Dates

Licence

All rights reserved

Identifiers

Peer Review

This article has been peer reviewed.

File Checksums (MD5)

  • PDF: 9f1c717ee4433a8bde2dd83326a460d6