Abstract
Metallographic, chemical and lead isotopic analyses of copper-based artefacts recovered from the Northwest Quarter in Jerash (ancient Gerasa) in Jordan provide new information on the civic life and material culture from a key urban site in the Roman Empire’s eastern provinces. The samples span the city’s occupation from its flourishing under Roman rule into the Byzantine and early Islamic periods. We examined 49 copper-based artefacts using reflected light microscopy and micro-X-ray fluorescence. A subset of these artefacts was analysed by electron microprobe spectroscopy for major and minor elements at higher spatial resolution, and by multicollector inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry for lead isotopes. Results imply that binary bronze dominated the Roman period, (leaded) brass characterised the Byzantine period, while tin-containing alloys were prevalent during the Islamic period. Lead isotopes suggest that during the Roman and Byzantine periods some of the metal in Jerash came from European and/or Mediterranean sources, while copper used during the Islamic period may have been sourced more locally from Timna. The changes in alloy types and lead isotopes suggest that recycling of metals took place in Jerash possibly as early as the Roman period and more frequent from the Byzantine period onwards.
Highlights
Jerash in northwest Jordan (Fig. 1) was founded in the Hellenistic period and flourished under Roman rule as one of the cities of the Syrian Decapolis, a group of nominally ten cities on the empire’s eastern frontier with a shared cultural background
Major elements The μXRF and electron-probe microanalyzer (EPMA) analyses confirm that all objects are copper or copper-based alloys
The measurable difference in the lead isotope ratios between the two independent samples from the surface and the core of the Roman bronze pin (J49) shows the effect of external lead contamination on copper-based alloys due to post-depositional processes and highlights the importance of sampling pristine metal from the core of an artefact. Whilst this may be less of an problem for pure lead artefacts (Rehren and Prange, 1998), our findings show that there can be differences in lead isotope composition in copper alloys between the surface and the core
Summary
Jerash (ancient Gerasa) in northwest Jordan (Fig. 1) was founded in the Hellenistic period and flourished under Roman rule as one of the cities of the Syrian Decapolis, a group of nominally ten cities on the empire’s eastern frontier with a shared cultural background. The type of metals and alloys recovered from Jerash and their associated technologies over more than six centuries (Roman to Islamic periods) are analysed and discussed. Of particular interest is a group of objects identified as a scrap metal hoard (the box group) kept together for reuse in a wooden box of which only the metallic hinges are preserved (Lichtenberger et al, 2016) The deposition of this small hoard dates to the last phase of the early Islamic occupation and was preserved due to the site’s abrupt abandonment following the 749 CE earthquake. Examination of the fourteen copper-based samples from the metal hoard addresses aspects of recycling management in the early Islamic period. Metal hoarding for re-use raises basic, but crucial, questions about Jerash’s early Islamic copper-based technology and, by extension, contemporary production and social organisation. Jerash’s proximity to the rich copper ore district in the Arabah Valley and the sites of Wadi Faynan and Timan (Fig. 1) with evidence of intense mining and smelting activity from prehistory onwards (Ben-Yosef, 2012; Hauptmann, 2007; Levy et al, 2002) raises additional questions regarding the nature of the copper used
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