This volume brings together innovative research to explore the profound impact of resources on the development of early societies. Divided into three major themes – lifeworlds in resource landscapes, skill and embodied knowledge, and the role of resources within complex systems – the volume draws on diverse case studies, from Bronze Age Chinese mining to Iron Age preurban resource management and the metallurgy-pastoralism nexus. Contributors reveal how materials were not merely extracted ...

The Iranian highlands are characterized by very special resource conditions: although being dominated in large parts by aridity, the presence of ecological niches and specific weather phenomena, along with rich deposits of minerals and raw materials, provide livelihoods for pre-modern societies. These conditions have favoured the development of different but also specific practices based on intricate knowledge of individual resources. Ancient communities in this region have developed very spe...