Abstract
In this talk, an overview of the written sources on early iron mining and iron metallurgy, along with archaeometric studies to date will be provided in order to examine the possibility that Cilicia was a center for iron mining and metallurgy during the transition from the Late Bronze to the Early Iron Age (ca. 1200-1000
BCE).
Iron technology is generally regarded as having its origins in the eastern Mediterranean. From Hittite sources, the first references to iron have already been found, exclusively in the famous Kizzuwatna letter, in which southeastern Anatolia was pointed out as a center for "good iron" production, however material evidence such as smelting slags has not yet been identified to support this claim. In spite of this, modern geological studies have demonstrated that there are iron-rich mineralizations that may be suitable for use in iron production in the eastern Cilicia region, such as laterite and bauxite mineralizations in İskenderun-
Payas-Dörtyol. Despite the absence of smelting evidence, the examination of Early Iron Age iron finds and smithing slag from Kinet Höyük and Sirkeli Höyük indicates that iron smithing was mastered in Cilicia.
Hence, iron was not only distributed in the region in the form of finished products, but might also have been distributed in the form of intermediate products. Such intermediate products remain unknown in terms of their source. It is expected that the combination of isotopic and geochemical techniques will be able to contribute to the debate regarding the beginning of iron mining and metallurgy in Cilicia.