Anatolia: the cradle of castings.

It's a well-documented fact that metalcasting is an ancient art that has played a pivotal role in developing societies throughout time. Often, metalcasting is thought to have been integral for only the last 3,000-4,000 yrs., when, in fact, the history of metalcasting can be traced back much further to Anatolia.

The land is a peninsula that lies between the Black and Mediterranean seas. Known as Asia Minor by the Romans, it is the Asian part of modern-day Turkey. It lies across the Aegean Sea to the east of Greece and is usually known by its Greek name, Anatolia, meaning "The Land of Sunrise."

Archaeologists have recovered evidence that suggests the Anatolian people discovered metals in 10,000 B.C. Rich deposits of arsenic, zinc, lead, silver, gold and especially copper were discovered and exploited by the Anatolian people. In time, they learned to alloy metals with each other and, from the results of trial and error experiments passed from generation to generation, began the process of metalcasting.

Metalcasting was born shortly after the Anatolians began bringing colored minerals and stones into their settlements and shaping them into tools. Eventually, they realized that copper, which was abundant in their land, also could be shaped in this way. In working with copper, they discovered that when it was cold, it would crack and crumble, but when heated, its elasticity increased, allowing it to be reworked.

It has been discovered that during the early Bronze Age (2,000-l,000 B.C.), castings were produced in both open and closed molds. Evidence also suggests the Anatolians employed the use of investment casting. To produce these castings, the object was shaped with clay or wax and was covered with a second clay layer or immersed in sand to produce the mold. Molten metal was then poured into the cavity. Stone master models also are known to have been used for the production of large metal objects.

The findings in Anatolia include a wide range of items, such as simple ornaments, tools, advanced weapons, artifacts reflecting religious beliefs, statues and luxury goods reflecting their tastes.

Information for this article was taken from "Anatolia: The Cradle of Castings," a book published for the 66th World Castings Congress, Istanbul, 2004.