Copper Smelting Site Research Articles

QURAYYAH PAINTED WARE OUTSIDE THE HEJAZ: EVIDENCE OF A COMMUNITY OF PRACTICE IN THE LATE BRONZE AND EARLY IRON AGES?

SummaryQurayyah Painted Ware (QPW) is the most solid evidence of contacts between the Hejaz and the southern Levant in the Late Bronze and Early Iron Ages. However, even after decades of research, there is still much uncertainty regarding the chronology of these contacts and their nature. Here, we present an exceptionally rich collection of QPW fragments documented recently in the copper smelting sites of the Timna Valley. We argue that the distribution of this painted ware in the southern Levant extended from the early thirteenth to ninth centuries BC and that its prominent presence in industrial contexts in the Aravah Valley is related to the transmission of metallurgical ‘know‐how’ from the Hejaz, which included rituals in which QPW vessels took part. While the original exchange probably involved craftspeople from the Hejaz in the Aravah's metalworking, the continuous use of QPW throughout several centuries in the southern Levant is best explained as a reflection of an enduring community of practice of the local populations with the metalworkers of the Hejaz.

Multispectral radiation thermometry platform based on wireless data transmission.

In metal smelting, precise temperature control is of vital importance for reaction rates, efficiency, and product quality. Traditional methods such as thermocouples have inherent limitations, but multispectral radiation thermometry (MRT) offers high resolution and reliability. This paper proposes a multispectral radiation thermometry platform featuring wireless data transmission, which enables remote data transfer and precise temperature measurements. The platform was meticulously calibrated, and six common emissivity models were inverted with high accuracy. The results of temperature measurements conducted at a copper smelting site demonstrated an excellent degree of agreement with those obtained using disposable thermocouples. The platform has the potential to be applied in harsh environments, offering, to our knowledge, a novel approach to temperature measurement in metal smelting processes.

Provenancing copper in the middle Shang period through isotopic analysis of metallurgical remains

Archaeological investigations recently conducted at the site of Tajiasi, a Middle Shang bronze casting workshop, have led to the discovery of abundant metallurgical micro-remains from various stages of bronze production processes. Lead isotope analysis of these samples has given fresh insights into the discussion about the origin of the metal sources employed during this period. The copper melting and refining slags, characterized by 206Pb/204Pb around 18.0 and very low lead concentrations (＜4,000 ppm), provided the first reliable indicator about the geological origin of copper used in the Middle Shang period. It is suggested the Jiurui metallogenic district in the Middle Yangtze River, home to the Shang period copper smelting site of Tongling, was the copper source for the Taijiasi site. On the other hand, alloying slags and bronze objects bearing highly radiogenic lead (206Pb/204Pb > 19.0) show an elevated, but still relatively low Pb content (＜2 wt%), suggesting that the source of tin introduced Pb which was characterized by HRL. Items including alloying slags, dross, spillages and bronze objects have similar HRL characteristics to the Middle Shang bronzes from other sites. This result indicated the Taijiasi site was involved in a multi-line metal circulation during this period, and elucidated the complexity and multiplicity of supply networks for different kinds of metals in the Middle Shang period. It also highlighted the great potential of copper melting and refining slags for detecting the copper provenance.

Characteristics and Risk Assessment of Heavy Metals in the Soil Around Copper Smelting Sites

Copper smelting can cause heavy metal pollution in surrounding soil and threaten human health. This study examined the characteristics, distribution, and health risk of heavy metals in soil with different land uses around 40 copper smelting sites at home and abroad by collecting published literature data. The results showed that the mean values of ω(As), ω(Cd), ω(Cu), ω(Pb), and ω(Zn) in the soil around the copper smelting sites were 196, 10.5, 1948, 604, and 853 mg·kg-1, respectively. The order of Igeo was Cd(5.63)>Cu(3.88)>As(2.96)>Pb(2.30)>Zn(1.27), and the accumulation of Cd and Cu was the most serious. High Nemero index (NIPI) values were found in the soil around smelting sites with a long history of smelting, outdated process, and insufficient environmental protection measures. Significant correlations were found between the concentrations of heavy metals in the soil, which decreased with the sampling distance. The heavy metals mainly accumulated within 2-3 km from the smelting sites. Compared with the smelting history, scale, and process, land use type had a lower effect on soil heavy metal concentrations. The heavy metals in the soil around copper smelters may pose carcinogenic and non-carcinogenic risks on residents. The high health risks were mainly caused by As and Pb in smelting production areas, and Pb in woodland. These results may guide the risk prevention of heavy metal pollution in the soil around smelting sites.

Slags from Bronze Age copper production in Acqua Fredda

Abstract So-called “plate slags” from the archaeological Bronze Age copper smelting site Acqua Fredda were examined. What was common to all the examined slags was that their compositions, once converted and plotted on the FeO-SiO2-CaO phase diagram, were located at the phase boundary between olivine and wollastonite, resulting in melting temperatures of approx. 1100 °C for the slags. Slags with a composition which fall within the olivine region exhibit long, thin olivine crystals in a glassy matrix. Slags in the wollastonite region have a very fine-grained structure, making phase identification impossible. The copper-containing inclusions in the slag mainly consist of Fe-poor Cu2S, but FeO and SiO2 may also be present. General assertions about the local copper production in Acqua Fredda should not be made based on the slag analyses conducted in this study.

Plant Remains from Rothenberg’s Excavations in Timna: Smelters’ Food and Cultic Offerings at the Turn of the First Millennium BCE

In the 1960s and 1970s, two copper-smelting sites (Sites 2 and 30) and a cultic place (the ‘Hathor Shrine’, Site 200) were excavated by Beno Rothenberg’s ‘Arabah Expedition’ in the Timna Valley. They yielded rich archaeobotanical assemblages, most of which were never published. These data provide a rare opportunity to reconstruct plant food aspects of the daily lives of copper smelters. In this study, we were able to locate and identify some 10,000 plant remains, dated to the final phase of the Late Bronze Age and the early Iron Age (the 13th–9th centuries BCE). Most of the finds are fruits (grape, date, fig and olive). We suggest that this evidence represents dried or pickled fruits, consumed by the smelters throughout the day due to their calorie-rich value and ease of use. Plant-based food preparation was probably carried out elsewhere, in ephemeral tent encampments. In addition, the shrine’s plant assemblage, which includes the same species found in the smelting camps, suggests that the metalworkers used their food as an offering to the goddess Hathor (and possibly also to other deities).

Characteristics of heavy metal pollution in soils of a typical copper smelting site in China

During copper smelting, discharge of waste gas, waste water and waste residue has resulted in heavy metals pollution in soils. In a typical copper smelting site in China, arsenic pollution was the most serious, which could be found in soils within 6 m. All the measured heavy metals including Cu, Pb, As, Cd, Zn, Hg, Ni, Cr exceeded background concentrations in the study area. Key contamination areas of the site distributed nearby the uncontrolled emission source and under the leakage area of waste water and waste residue. This study is of great significance to the soil management and control of copper smelting industry.

Early evidence of royal purple dyed textile from Timna Valley (Israel).

In the context of a broad study aimed at examining dyeing technologies in the Timna textiles collection, three samples of prestigious fibers dyed with murex sea snail were identified. Our identification is based on the presence of 6-monobromoindigotin and 6,6-dibromoindigotin components (detected using HPLC analysis), which is considered unequivocal evidence for the use of murex-derived purple dyestuff. Furthermore, by comparing the analytical results with those obtained in a series of controlled dyeing experiments we were able to shed more light on the specific species used in the dyeing process and glean insights into the ancient dyeing technology. The samples originated from excavations at the extensive Iron Age copper smelting site of “Slaves’ Hill” (Site 34), which is tightly dated by radiocarbon to the late 11th–early 10th centuries BCE. While evidence for the important role of purple dyes in the ancient Mediterranean goes back to the Middle Bronze Age (early 2nd millennium BCE), finds of dyed textiles are extremely rare, and those from Timna are the oldest currently known in the Southern Levant. In conjunction with other observations of the very high quality of the Timna textiles, this provides an exceptional opportunity to address questions related to social stratification and organization of the nomadic society operating the mines (early Edom), the “fashion” of elite in the region during the early Iron Age, trade connections, technological capabilities, and more.

Up the Wadi: Development of an Iron Age Industrial Landscape in Faynan, Jordan

ABSTRACT In 2014, the Edom Lowlands Regional Archaeology Project renewed excavations at Khirbat al-Jariya (KAJ), an Iron Age copper smelting site in Faynan, Jordan. Located roughly 3 km from the prominent smelting center Khirbat en-Nahas (KEN), KAJ was an integral component of Early Iron Age (ca. 1200–800 b.c.) copper production in Faynan, one of the largest copper ore deposits in the southern Levant. To date, the site had only been investigated by surveys and limited excavation; the 2014 excavations opened two areas (the largest extant building and a slag mound sounding) to explore the social dynamics and temporal intricacies of copper production. The excavation results, detailed site remapping, paleobotanical analysis, and new radiocarbon dates suggest KAJ more rapidly developed into a large-scale copper production center than previously believed, likely as a strategic expansion to the industry at KEN. This reinterpretation sheds new light on the development of the Iron Age industrial landscape in Faynan.

Unearthing the Wilderness: Studies on the History and Archaeology of the Negev and Edom in the Iron Age

Unearthing the Wilderness: Studies on the History and Archaeology of the Negev and Edom in the Iron Age

Insights on the geomagnetic secular variation in the Eastern Mediterranean: First directional data from Cyprus

The first directional archaeomagnetic results from Cyprus are presented, based on the study of seven baked clay structures excavated at the copper smelting site of Agia Varvara-Almyras, situated some 20 km south of Nicosia. This ancient copper working site represents a unique example of complete primary production of the copper metal in Cyprus. In total five furnaces, one ore roasting pit and an oven were sampled in situ for an archaeomagnetic investigation. All the studied structures are well dated, based on pottery finds and radiocarbon dates, with ages ranging from 600 BCE to 50 BCE. Several rock magnetic experiments were performed to determine the main magnetic carrier and to investigate the thermal stability of the studied material. The direction of the Characteristic Remanent Magnetization (ChRM) for each structure has been determined by demagnetization of 7–15 specimens in alternating magnetic fields up to 100–120 mT. Mean directions were calculated assuming a Fisherian distribution and are well defined for five out of the seven structures studied. The new directions are compared with the directional data and the secular variation curves available from the surrounding area, and with the predictions of global geomagnetic field models. They are an important contribution to improving our knowledge of the geomagnetic field variations in the Eastern Mediterranean and offer new insights about fast geomagnetic directional changes during the first millennium BCE that were not previously identified by the available geomagnetic field models’ predictions in this area.

The Ebb and Flow of Copper and Iron Smelting in the South Caucasus

AbstractThe Eastern Black Sea region of the South Caucasus contains an extremely rich record of metallurgical remains that is poorly known outside of the former Soviet Union. Large numbers of relatively small smelting sites dot the foothill regions, forming a dispersed, yet large-scale metallurgical landscape. New fieldwork in the region has followed up on earlier Soviet period research, relocating and reanalyzing previously known sites and identifying new ones. This paper presents a series of 33 radiocarbon (14C) dates from copper and iron smelting sites in this region. Dates from copper smelting sites suggest that copper smelting occurred over a shorter and more intense period than previously thought, between about 1300 and 800 BC. Dates from newly discovered iron smelting sites place these activities in two episodes during the Classical-Hellenistic period (ca. 500–200 BC) and the High Medieval period (ca. AD 1050–1400). The dramatic expansion in bronze production immediately prior to the adoption of iron mirrors patterns in other regions of Europe and the Near East, and has implications for understanding the economic contexts in which iron emerged. While the new dates from iron smelting sites provide only an initial outline of the iron production chronology in the region, they represent an important step for resolving outstanding issues from previous investigations.

Early evidence (late 2nd millennium BCE) of plant-based dyeing of textiles from Timna, Israel.

In this article, we focus on the analysis of dyed textile fragments uncovered at an early Iron Age (11th-10th centuries BCE) copper smelting site during new excavations in the Timna Valley conducted by the Central Timna Valley (CTV) Project, as well as those found by the Arabah Expedition at the Hathor Temple (Site 200), dated to the Late Bronze/early Iron Ages (13th-11th centuries BCE). Analysis by HPLC-DAD identified two organic dyestuffs, Rubia tinctorum L. and indigotin, from a plant source (probably Isatis tinctoria L.). They are among the earliest plants known in the dyeing craft and cultivated primarily for this purpose. This study provides the earliest evidence of textiles dyed utilizing a chemical dyeing process based on an industrial dyeing plant from the Levant. Moreover, our results shed new light on the society operating the copper mines at the time, suggesting the existence of an elite that was interested in these high quality textiles and invested efforts in procuring them by long-distance trade.

Copper production landscapes of the South Caucasus

Studies of metal production frequently show a correlation between scale and organizational complexity. The remarkably rich landscapes of metal-producing sites of late 2nd-early 1st millennium BC Colchis provide an unprecedented opportunity to reexamine this apparent correlation. Investigations of copper smelting sites show that industries with a large aggregate output can be the result of numerous small groups of metalworkers acting independently. Spatial data on site distributions, estimates of productive output, and archaeometric data on ore procurement patterns were integrated to reconstruct the organization of production. Judicious use of a portable X-ray fluorescence spectrometer (pXRF) showed that not only were smelting sites highly dispersed, but also that metalworkers at different sites were using ores from geologically distinct deposits. This innovative approach helped to reconstruct the organization of production in a distinctive metal production landscape, bridging an enduring divide between landscape-scale and microscopic investigations of craft production.

Slag Investigations from Bronze Age Copper Smelting Sites

During the Bronze Age intensive mining and smelting activities for copper production took place in the Eastern Alps. To get information about the copper smelting process, the elemental compositions of slags are marked in equilibrium phase diagrams (e.g. FeO-CaO-SiO2) and so the melting properties can be estimated. Doing so you have to keep in mind that slags have complex compositions and phase diagrams are available for three compounds only. For the analytical measurements it has to be ensured that only molten parts of the slag are measured and not contamination of other ambient material. Spot and area measurements by SEM-EDX are useful to get realistic data. In this case a complete correlation between the image of the analyzed area, the microstructure and the chemical composition of the sample is necessary. For marking spots in the phase diagram the calculation method has to be described exactly. For our results we calculated the ratio FeO-SiO2-CaO(+MgO+Al2O3). From the morphology of the observed phases, their chemical composition and the data from the phase diagram a solidification sequence can be suggested. We recommend this method because measurements by e.g. XRF provide rather general composition values. If the slag samples are inhomogeneous, unrealistic melting points are read from the phase diagram. Inhomogeneities can be caused by soil contaminations, which are not part of the molten slag, or by corrosion, when some phases were attacked and changed during storage in soil.

The ground stone assemblage of a metal workers community: An unexplored dimension of Iron Age copper production at Timna

The systematic archaeological study of the Timna Valley began over 50 years ago. Since then it has become a key site for understanding ancient copper production technologies in the Near East and beyond. However, the fantastic quantity of ground stone tools which are present at the Late Bronze and Early Iron Age copper smelting sites were never systematically studied. Questions regarding their origin, distribution, typologies, and especially their role within the chaîne opératoire of copper production, were seldom addressed. Although surprising, this has been the case for almost all of the excavated metal production sites around the world.In the framework of the renewed excavations at several of the copper smelting sites at Timna, a pioneering study was conducted in which more than 1000 ground stone tools were identified and registered. These tools include, among others, grinding stones, pounders, anvils and mortars; most were manufactured of compacted sandstone and granite, exposed in several locations in the valley. In this paper we present a typology and quantitative analysis of the ground stone tools which were used by the metal workers, and offer an interpretation of how the various types of tools were employed as part of the copper production process. This provides new insights regarding the smelting process and the conditions needed for its successful outcome.

P.1.j.012 - Effects of chronic memantine treatment on okadaic acid induced memory impairment and changes in neurotransmitter activity in the septo-hippocampal system

Studies of metal production frequently show a correlation between scale and organizational complexity. The remarkably rich landscapes of metal-producing sites of late 2nd-early 1st millennium BC Colchis provide an unprecedented opportunity to reexamine this apparent correlation. Investigations of copper smelting sites show that industries with a large aggregate output can be the result of numerous small groups of metalworkers acting independently. Spatial data on site distributions, estimates of productive output, and archaeometric data on ore procurement patterns were integrated to reconstruct the organization of production. Judicious use of a portable X-ray fluorescence spectrometer (pXRF) showed that not only were smelting sites highly dispersed, but also that metalworkers at different sites were using ores from geologically distinct deposits. This innovative approach helped to reconstruct the organization of production in a distinctive metal production landscape, bridging an enduring divide between landscape-scale and microscopic investigations of craft production.

Explorations in El-Markha Plain, South Sinai: Preliminary Findings at Tell Markha (Site 346) and Elsewhere

The 2002 University of Toronto and SCA (renamed MoA) expedition to el-Markha Plain, South Sinai, mapped and excavated the eastern portion of a small, seasonal copper smelting site and anchorage (Rothenberg’s site 346), which W. F. Albright had discovered in 1948 and dated to the early New Kingdom. In 2002, this encampment yielded potsherds from Nile silt vessels (5%) and numerous pottery fragments (95%) from two types of “Sinaitic”/Red Sea fabrics, most of which date to the Middle Kingdom. The remaining artifacts represent copper lumps and slag, stone tools, fish bones, sea urchin spines, marine shells, and coral. The expedition also investigated an adjacent wadi bed and waterfall, and found isolated pottery scatters from Egyptian store jars at several places along the northwest edge of the plain. In addition, the team surveyed Rothenberg’s site 345 (Ras Budran), Seih Baba, the mouth of Wadi Sidri, and selected portions of el-Markha Plain to the south of Abu Rodeis.

Environmental Constraints on Ancient Copper Production in the Aravah Valley: Implications of the Newly Discovered Site of Khirbet Mana'iyah in Southern Jordan

The paper presents the recently discovered copper smelting site of Khirbet Mana'iyah and its relations to the copper ore deposits and ancient production systems in the nearby Timna Valley. The unique location of the site, in the foothills of southern Edom and away from the ore sources, sheds light on the environmental factors that shaped and limited the production of copper in this region through the millennia. The site is one of the largest ancient smelting camps in the southern Aravah known today, containing several hundred tons of slag. Thus, it was probably the search for fuel sources that dictated its location—near an extensive spread of acacia trees that grew on the alluvial fans on the eastern side of the Aravah. It is also suggested that the site, whose smelting technology cannot date earlier than the late 10th century BCE, represents an Iron IIA activity related to the transformation in smelting technology that followed the campaign of Pharaoh Shoshenq I to the southern Levant.

Camels, Copper and Donkeys in the Early Iron Age of the Southern Levant: Timna Revisited

The camel and equid remains from a copper-smelting site — Site 30 at Timna in the southern Arabah excavated by Rothenberg in the 1970s and recently re-dated to the Iron I/Iron II — are analysed in relation to recently published data on the domestication of the dromedary and on the morphology of the various equid taxa present in the Middle East. It is concluded that camels and donkeys were employed in the distribution of copper from Timna and from mines in the eastern Arabah, prior to the large-scale utilization of camels in the incense trade between the Levant and southern Arabia in Iron II.