The mineral wealth of ancient Arabia and its use I: Copper mining and smelting at Feinan and Timna – comparison and evaluation of techniques, production, and strategies

Near Eastern fieldwork in mining archaeology and archaeometallurgy began at Timna (Israel) in the 1960s and 1970s and continued in Feinan (Jordan) in the 1980s and 1990s. For the first time, Bronze Age copper mines were excavated and cleared and importance was given to the slag recovered. At both sites copper was produced for over 5000 years, from the Chalcolithic to the Mamluk periods. Although the broad outlines of technical development can be traced, much remains to be learned in future studies.     

A new approach for geomagnetic archaeointensity research: insights on ancient metallurgy in the Southern Levant

We present results from an archaeointensity investigation based on a relatively unexploited recording medium, copper slag deposits. Together with a recently improved experimental design for the archaeointensity experiment, we demonstrate the applicability of this medium, as well as other archaeometallurgical artifacts, for the study of the ancient geomagnetic field intensity. In addition to archaeointensity data from well-dated archaeological contexts, we obtained reliable archaeointensity results from poorly dated or contentious archaeometallurgical sites in the Southern Levant. These results shed new light on the dating of these sites, among them the copper smelting installation of Timna 39b – a site that has important implications for the beginning of metallurgy during the fifth millennium BCE. The paper also aims to introduce archaeointensity research to the archaeologist scholar, and to encourage further collaboration between the disciplines in future research.     

Archaeomagnetic Dating of Pyrotechnological Contexts: a Case Study for Copper Smelting Sites in the Central Timna Valley,Israel

This study is focused on establishing age constraints for several copper slag deposits at the centre of the Timna Valley (Israel) via reconstruction of their ancient geomagnetic intensities as recorded by the individual slag samples at the time of their formation. The results show a correlation between the location of the slag deposits (labelled as individual ‘mounds’ in our survey) and their inferred ages, reflecting varying socio‐economic and political dynamics in the region. While the slag mounds found at the unprotected foothills represent a variety of dates (mostly Early Islamic), the slag mounds on the hilltops are chronologically constrained to the early Iron Age (late 11th to 10th centuries bce ), supporting the idea for a need for protection during this period. Furthermore, in comparing the new data with previous archaeomagnetic studies from Timna, we can assert the existence of simultaneous copper production at the archaeological Sites 30, 30a and 34. This gives further support to the claim of intense smelting in the central Timna Valley during the early Iron Age. Finally, this project demonstrates the potential of archaeomagnetic experiments to provide chronological insights, and their particular advantage in addressing pyrotechnology‐related cases.     

New research and findings from Tell Sufan

Abstract

The article reviews archaeological surveys and excavations in the area of the Wadi Faynan, together with various dating proposals. In particular, the results so far published of the San Diego expedition under Thomas Levy and of the possible connection between Iron Age copper mining and the biblical King Solomon are considered, along with the necessity of utilizing evaluation of the material remains by conventional archaeological means (stratigraphy, ceramic typology) alongside laboratory analysis, and not the latter alone.     

Nouvelles antiquités qatabanites du British Museum

Thirty-five inscribed fragments in Qatabanian, probably from Timna' and currently held in the British Museum, are published here.