New Archaeometallurgical Fingerprints of Copper and Slag from Early Iron Age Smelting Sites in Faynan and Timna

Abstract

The copper deposits of Faynan and Timna have been exploited in two major economic cycles: a Chalcolithic – Early Bronze Age cycle, and a Late Bronze Age – Early Iron Age cycle. The present study focuses on the Late Bronze Age - Early Iron Age cycle of the two districts and analyses a relatively large sample of smelting remains from their main smelting sites (slag, raw copper, archaeological ores). The analytical results from lead isotope analysis (LIA; n = 145), copper isotope analysis (CIA; n = 49), chemical analysis (n = 52) and microstructural analysis (n = 5) are compared with the current geological and mining archaeological knowledge and confirm earlier results according to which in Faynan only the ore type DLS was smelted in this phase and in Timna almost exclusively the ore type Amir/Avrona. Based on the analytical data, multidimensional models of these two copper types are developed, which presumably come relatively close to the copper types marketed in reality. Our models are intended to serve as a basis for comparison in future provenance studies.