Abstract
The western Anatolian littoral has long been considered an interface, a frontier, or a buffer zone between more prominent and archaeologically more recognisable neighbours - the Hittites and the Mycenaeans in the Late Bronze Age and the Greek and the non-Greek in the Early Iron Age. As such, the previous explanations of local socio-cultural processes and connectivity beyond the region were largely determined by this perception of dichotomy.
Consequently, the earlier formative models of the spread and innovation of iron in the Aegean have omitted the western Anatolian littoral, leading to a number of deep-set assumptions about the somewhat passive and receptive nature of this development. This contribution challenges such a description and outlines aspects of established local tradition with respect to metal technologies based on recent evidence from archaeological and scientific research.
Shaped by cultural and social aspects, and situated within respective environment, the local metallurgical knowledge represented an active agent in the introduction, adoption, and adaptation of the new metal, iron, in the region at the dawn of the first millennium BC. Moreover, exploring the interplay between the innovative characteristics of local technological tradition and the favourable character of interregional connectivity of the western Anatolian region enables us to reposition the rather negative connotations imbued in the concept of a 'frontier'toward a more positive meaning of a 'contact space', which engenders dynamic social and cultural processes.