Copper Metallurgy in the Jordan Valley from the Third to the First Millennia BC: Chemical, Metallographic and Lead Isotope Analyses of Artefacts from Pella

Abstract

This paper investigates Bronze and Iron Age metallurgy in the Levant while recognizing that metal artefacts were employed within a world in which social, economic and technological factors were closely intertwined. This theme is addressed through the investigation of sixty-eight copper-base artefacts from the site of Pella in the Jordan Valley, taken from contexts spanning the Early Bronze Age through to the early Iron Age. Data arising from a combination of chemical, metallographic and lead isotope analyses are considered in terms of artefact typology, manufacturing techniques and archaeological context, and their social and economic implications for ancient metallurgy discussed.