Iron and copper production at Iron Age Ashkelon: Implications for the organization of Levantine metal production

Abstract

Understanding the spatial distribution of different craft production activities is an essential part of any investigation into the organization of production. In the Iron Age southern Levant, discussions of the rise of iron often revolve around the relative organization of bronze and iron production. For these reasons, identifying where different stages of metal production occurred is essential for testing models of technological change during this period.This study reviews the challenges of identifying different stages of metal production from often-ephemeral residues found at settlement sites, with particular emphasis on the question of urban iron smelting in the early Iron Age southern Levant. These considerations are applied to the analysis of a small but significant assemblage of metal production remains from Iron IIB Ashkelon (c. 8th century BCE), using macroscopic observations, chemical analysis, and microscopy.The results of these analyses support the conclusion that multiple iron production processes—likely including both smelting and smithing—took place in or near a domestic quarter at Ashkelon. With one or two exceptions, copper production residues are restricted to secondary refining and casting residues. Copper smelting was carried out elsewhere. If this pattern holds as more urban production debris is recognized and analyzed, such differences in the relative organization of iron and copper-alloy production may provide clues as to why iron production expanded dramatically in the early 1st millennium BCE.