On Early Bronze Age Copper Bar Ingots from the Southern Levant
We report on late Early Bronze Age (crescent-shaped) copper bar ingots from Khirbat Hamra Ifdan, Fay nan, Jordan, from Har Yeruham in the central Negev, and from a stray find hoard from the Hebron Hills. All these ingots are composed of pure copper, with remarkably constant phase content and texture...
| Authors: | ; ; ; |
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| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
The University of Chicago Press
2015
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| In: |
Bulletin of ASOR
Year: 2015, Issue: 373, Pages: 1-24 |
| IxTheo Classification: | HB Old Testament HH Archaeology KBL Near East and North Africa |
| Further subjects: | B
INGOTS
B Negev (Israel) B Copper B Jordan B Bronze Age |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
| Summary: | We report on late Early Bronze Age (crescent-shaped) copper bar ingots from Khirbat Hamra Ifdan, Fay nan, Jordan, from Har Yeruham in the central Negev, and from a stray find hoard from the Hebron Hills. All these ingots are composed of pure copper, with remarkably constant phase content and texture as well as concentrations of trace elements and lead isotope abundance ratios. We suggest the origin of these ingots to be the copper district of Faynan, Jordan. There are two reasons for the almost identical composition of the ingots. First, the Dolomite-Limestone-Shale Unit (Burj) that was mined during this time period in Faynan is characterized by a homogeneously composed copper mineralization. Second, copper lumps and prills, as well as copper-rich slags delivered from various smelting sites in this area to the central copper workshop of Khirbat Hamra Ifdan, were commonly remelted and recycled. This resulted in a characteristic cluster-fingerprint of Early Bronze Age Faynan copper, which was also identified in numerous bar ingots found elsewhere in the southern Levant. |
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| ISSN: | 2161-8062 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: American Schools of Oriental Research, Bulletin of ASOR
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.5615/bullamerschoorie.373.0001 |