ABSTRACT
This chapter addresses a number of issues regarding the development and spread of Chalcolithic metal technology, by viewing the archaeological evidence in light of anthropological perspectives on these problems. In order to illustrate each of these themes, the chapter refers to ethnographic and archaeological examples, inferring what general principles we can in order to address issues specific to the Chalcolithic case study. The chapter discusses several possible explanations as to why the ores used in copper production at Shiqmim and the Beer Sheva sites were virtually identical. One theory is that a limited range of material was available at the ore deposits, restricting the options open to the ancient miners. The chapter also describes the first human interaction with ores as the 'greenstone' mode, and employed the term paradigm. While the same material, namely ores, was used in both the groundstone industry and for metallurgy, within the greenstone mode they were perceived in a completely different manner.
