The ground stone assemblage of a metal workers community: An unexplored dimension of Iron Age copper production at Timna
Keywords:
Timna, copper production, ground stone tools, Iron Age, Arabah Valley
Abstract
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.
References
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Belgiorno, M.R., Ferro, D., & Loepp, D.R. 2012, Pyrgos-Mavrorachi in Cypriot metallurgy. In: Eastern Metallurgy and Metalwork in the Second Millennium BC. A Conference in Honour of James D. Muhly Nicosia, 10th–11th October 2009 (Kassianidou, V., & Papasavvas, G., Eds.), Oxbow Books, Oxford: p. 26-34.
Ben-Yosef, E. 2010, Technology and Social Process: Oscillations in Iron Age Copper Production and Power in Southern Jordan. PhD Dissertation at the Department of Anthropology, University of California at San Diego, San Diego, 1124 p.
Ben-Yosef, E. in press. The Central Timna Valley Project: Research Design and Preliminary Results. In: Mining for Copper: Essays in Memory of Professor Beno Rothenberg (Ben-Yosef, E., Ed.), The Tel Aviv University Institute of Archaeology, Tel Aviv.15 p.
Ben-Yosef, E., & Levy, T.E. 2014, The material culture of Iron Age copper production in Faynan. In: New Insights into the Iron Age Archaeology of Edom, Southern Jordan: Surveys, Excavations, and Research from the University of California, San Diego - Department of Antiquities of Jordan, Edom Lowlands Regional Archaeology Program (ELRAP) (Levy, T.E., Najjar, M., & Ben-Yosef, E., Eds.), Cotsen Institute of Archaeology, UCLA, Los Angeles: p. 887-959.
Ben-Yosef, E., Shaar, R., Tauxe, L., & Ron, H. 2012, A new chronological framework for Iron Age copper production at Timna (Israel). Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research, 367: 31-71. doi:10.5615/bullamerschoorie.367.0031
Beyth, M., Segev, A., & Bartov, Y. 1999, Be’er Ora Geological Map, Israel Geological Survey, Jerusalem.
Bisson, M.S. 2000, Precolonial copper metallurgy: sociopolitical context. In: Ancient African Metallurgy: The Socio-Cultural Context (Bisson, M.S., Childs, S.T., De Barros, P., & Holl, A.F.C., Eds.), Altamira Press, Walnut Creek: p. 83-146.
Chaplin, J.H. 1961, Notes on traditional smelting in Northern Rhodesia. South African Archaeological Bulletin, 16(62): 53-60. doi:10.2307/3886869
Chapman, D.A. & Chapman, S.G., (directors) 2012, Prehistoric copper smelting in a pit! Produced by Ancient Arts. YouTube. Running time: 5m, 43s. URL: https://youtu.be/8uHc4Hirexc
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Ilan, D. 1999, Northeastern Israel in the Iron Age I: Cultural, Socioeconomic and Political Perspectives. PhD Dissertation at Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, 1124 p.
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Levy, T.E., Najjar, M., & Ben-Yosef, E. 2014, New Insights into the Iron Age Archaeology of Edom, Southern Jordan: Surveys, Excavations, and Research from the University of California, San Diego - Department of Antiquities of Jordan, Edom Lowlands Regional Archaeology Program (ELRAP) (Vols. I-II). Cotsen Institute of Archaeology Press, University of California, Los Angeles, 1034 p.
Merkel, J. F. 1990, Experimental reconstruction of Bronze Age copper smelting based on archaeological evidence from Timna. In: The Ancient Metallurgy of Copper: Archaeology, Experiment, Theory (Rothenberg, B., Ed.), Researches in the Arabah 1959-1984, Vol. 2. Institute for Archaeo-Metallurgical Studies [and] Institute of Archaeology, University College London, London: p. 78-122.
Miller, D.E. 1994, Kaonde copper smelting: technical versatility and the ethnographic record. In: Society, Culture and Technology in Africa (Childs, S.T., Ed.), MASCA Research Papers I: Science and Archaeology, Vol. 11 Supplement. University of Pennsylvania, University Museum, Philadelphia: p. 79-85.
Pigott, V. 1996, Near Eastern archaeometallurgy: modern research and future directions. In: The Study of the Ancient Near East in the 21st Century (Cooper, J.S. & Schwartz, G.M., Eds.), Eisenbrauns, Winona Lake, Indiana: p. 139-176.
Rosenberg, D. 2008, Spatial distribution of food processing activities at Late Iron I Megiddo. Tel Aviv, 35: 96-113. doi:10.1179/tav.2008.2008.1.96
Rosenberg, D., & Golani, A. 2012, Groundstone tools of a copper-smiths’ community: understanding stone- related aspects of the Early Bronze Age site of Ashqelon Barnea. Journal of Mediterranean Archaeology, 25(1): 27-51. doi:10.1558/jmea.v25i1.27
Rothenberg, B. 1990, The Ancient Metallurgy of Copper: Archaeology, Experiment, Theory. Researches in the Arabah 1959-1984, Vol. 2. Institute for Archaeo-Metallurgical Studies [and] Institute of Archaeology, University College London, London, 191 p.
Rothenberg, B. 1999, Archaeo-metallurgical researches in the Southern Arabah 1959-1990. Part 2: Egyptian New Kingdom (Ramesside) to Early Islam. Palestine Exploration Quarterly, 131: 149-175. doi:10.1179/peq.1999.131.2.149
Rowan, Y.M., & Ebeling, J.R. 2008, Introduction: the potential of ground stone studies. In: New Approaches to Old Stones: Recent Studies of Ground Stone Artifacts, (Rowan, Y.M., & Ebeling, J.R., Eds.), Equinox, London, 378 p.
Sapir-Hen, L., & Ben-Yosef, E. 2014, The socioeconomic status of Iron Age metalworkers: animal economy in the “Slaves’ hill”, Timna, Israel. Antiquity, 88(341): 775-790. doi:10.1017/S0003598X00050687
Smith, N.G., & Levy, T.E. 2008, The Iron Age pottery from Khirbat en-Nahas, Jordan: a preliminary study. Bulletin of the American School of Oriental Research, 352: 41-91. URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/25609301
Smith, N.G., Levy, T.E., & Goren, Y. 2014, From lowland to highland – petrographic perspectives on Iron Age Edom. In: New Insights into the Iron Age Archaeology of Edom, Southern Jordan: Surveys, Excavations, and Research from the University of California, San Diego - Department of Antiquities of Jordan, Edom Lowlands Regional Archaeology Program (ELRAP) (Levy, T.E., Najjar, M., & Ben-Yosef, E., Eds.), Cotsen Institute of Archaeology, UCLA, Los Angeles: p. 461-491.
Tylecote, R.F., & Boydell, P.J. 1978, Experiments on copper smelting based on early furnaces found at Timna. In: Chalcolithic Copper Smelting: Excavations and Experiments (Rothenberg, B., Ed.) Archaeo-Metallurgy IAMS monograph no. 1. Institute for Archaeo-Metallurgical Studies, London, p. 27-49.
Vardi, J., Shilstein, S., Shalev, S., & Yekutieli, Y. 2008, The Early Bronze Age IV chipped and ground stone assemblage of ‘En Yahav and its relation to copper smelting activities. Journal of the Prehistoric Society, 38: 1-20. URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/23386445
Webb, J.M. 2015, Identifying stone tools used in mining, smelting, and casting in Middle Bronze Age Cyprus. Journal of Field Archaeology, 40: 22-36. doi:10.1179/0093469014Z.000000000108
Wright, K. I. 1992, A Classification system for ground stone tools from prehistoric Levant. Paléorient, 18(2): 53-81. doi:10.3406/paleo.1992.4573
Yahalom-Mack, N., & Panitz-Cohen, N. 2009, Groundstone implements. In: Excavations at Tel Beth-Shean 1989-1996, Volume III: The 13th-11th Century BCE Strata in Areas N and S (Panitz-Cohen, N., & Mazar, A., Eds.), The Israel Exploration Society (and) The Institute of Archaeology, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem: p. 719-736.
Anfinset, N. 2000, Copper technology in contemporary Western Nepal. A discussion of its form, function and context. In: Form, Function and Context. Material Culture Studies in Scandinavian Archaeology (Olausson, D., & Vandkilde, H., Eds.), Acta Archaeologica Lundensia, Series in 8, 31. Wallin & Dalholm Boktryckeri AB, Lund: p. 203-212.
Belgiorno, M.R., Ferro, D., & Loepp, D.R. 2012, Pyrgos-Mavrorachi in Cypriot metallurgy. In: Eastern Metallurgy and Metalwork in the Second Millennium BC. A Conference in Honour of James D. Muhly Nicosia, 10th–11th October 2009 (Kassianidou, V., & Papasavvas, G., Eds.), Oxbow Books, Oxford: p. 26-34.
Ben-Yosef, E. 2010, Technology and Social Process: Oscillations in Iron Age Copper Production and Power in Southern Jordan. PhD Dissertation at the Department of Anthropology, University of California at San Diego, San Diego, 1124 p.
Ben-Yosef, E. in press. The Central Timna Valley Project: Research Design and Preliminary Results. In: Mining for Copper: Essays in Memory of Professor Beno Rothenberg (Ben-Yosef, E., Ed.), The Tel Aviv University Institute of Archaeology, Tel Aviv.15 p.
Ben-Yosef, E., & Levy, T.E. 2014, The material culture of Iron Age copper production in Faynan. In: New Insights into the Iron Age Archaeology of Edom, Southern Jordan: Surveys, Excavations, and Research from the University of California, San Diego - Department of Antiquities of Jordan, Edom Lowlands Regional Archaeology Program (ELRAP) (Levy, T.E., Najjar, M., & Ben-Yosef, E., Eds.), Cotsen Institute of Archaeology, UCLA, Los Angeles: p. 887-959.
Ben-Yosef, E., Shaar, R., Tauxe, L., & Ron, H. 2012, A new chronological framework for Iron Age copper production at Timna (Israel). Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research, 367: 31-71. doi:10.5615/bullamerschoorie.367.0031
Beyth, M., Segev, A., & Bartov, Y. 1999, Be’er Ora Geological Map, Israel Geological Survey, Jerusalem.
Bisson, M.S. 2000, Precolonial copper metallurgy: sociopolitical context. In: Ancient African Metallurgy: The Socio-Cultural Context (Bisson, M.S., Childs, S.T., De Barros, P., & Holl, A.F.C., Eds.), Altamira Press, Walnut Creek: p. 83-146.
Chaplin, J.H. 1961, Notes on traditional smelting in Northern Rhodesia. South African Archaeological Bulletin, 16(62): 53-60. doi:10.2307/3886869
Chapman, D.A. & Chapman, S.G., (directors) 2012, Prehistoric copper smelting in a pit! Produced by Ancient Arts. YouTube. Running time: 5m, 43s. URL: https://youtu.be/8uHc4Hirexc
Conrad, H. G., & Rothenberg, B. 1980, Antikes Kupfer im Timna-Tal. Der Anschnitt Beiheft. Deutsches Bergbau-Museum, Bochum, 236 p.
Craddock, P.T. 1995, Early Metal Mining and Production, Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington D.C., 363 p.
Fendin, T. 2006, Grinding processes and reproductive metaphors. In: Old Norse Religion in Long-term Perspectives: Origins, Changes, and Interactions. An International Conference in Lund, Sweden, June 3-7, 2004 (Andrén, A., Jennbert, K., & Raudvere, C., Eds.), Nordic Academic Press, Lund: p. 159-163.
Hauptmann, A. 2007, The archaeo-metallurgy of copper. Evidence from Faynan, Jordan. Springer, Berlin, 388 p.
Herbert, E.W. 1984, Red Gold of Africa: Copper in Precolonial History and Culture. The University of Wisconsin Press, Madison, 413 p.
Hovers, E. 1996, The groundstone industry. In: Excavations at the City of David 1978-1985: Vol. IV. Various Reports (Ariel, D., & De Groot, A., Eds.), Qedem 35, Hebrew University Institute of Archaeology, Jerusalem: p. 171-203.
Ilan, D. 1999, Northeastern Israel in the Iron Age I: Cultural, Socioeconomic and Political Perspectives. PhD Dissertation at Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, 1124 p.
Levy, T.E., Bettilyon, M. & Burton, M.M. 2016. The Iron Age copper industrial complex: A preliminary study of the role of ground stone tools at Khirbat en-Nahas, Jordan. Journal of Lithic Studies, 3(3): 23 p. doi:10.2218/jls.v3i3.1648
Levy, T.E., Najjar, M., & Ben-Yosef, E. 2014, New Insights into the Iron Age Archaeology of Edom, Southern Jordan: Surveys, Excavations, and Research from the University of California, San Diego - Department of Antiquities of Jordan, Edom Lowlands Regional Archaeology Program (ELRAP) (Vols. I-II). Cotsen Institute of Archaeology Press, University of California, Los Angeles, 1034 p.
Merkel, J. F. 1990, Experimental reconstruction of Bronze Age copper smelting based on archaeological evidence from Timna. In: The Ancient Metallurgy of Copper: Archaeology, Experiment, Theory (Rothenberg, B., Ed.), Researches in the Arabah 1959-1984, Vol. 2. Institute for Archaeo-Metallurgical Studies [and] Institute of Archaeology, University College London, London: p. 78-122.
Miller, D.E. 1994, Kaonde copper smelting: technical versatility and the ethnographic record. In: Society, Culture and Technology in Africa (Childs, S.T., Ed.), MASCA Research Papers I: Science and Archaeology, Vol. 11 Supplement. University of Pennsylvania, University Museum, Philadelphia: p. 79-85.
Pigott, V. 1996, Near Eastern archaeometallurgy: modern research and future directions. In: The Study of the Ancient Near East in the 21st Century (Cooper, J.S. & Schwartz, G.M., Eds.), Eisenbrauns, Winona Lake, Indiana: p. 139-176.
Rosenberg, D. 2008, Spatial distribution of food processing activities at Late Iron I Megiddo. Tel Aviv, 35: 96-113. doi:10.1179/tav.2008.2008.1.96
Rosenberg, D., & Golani, A. 2012, Groundstone tools of a copper-smiths’ community: understanding stone- related aspects of the Early Bronze Age site of Ashqelon Barnea. Journal of Mediterranean Archaeology, 25(1): 27-51. doi:10.1558/jmea.v25i1.27
Rothenberg, B. 1990, The Ancient Metallurgy of Copper: Archaeology, Experiment, Theory. Researches in the Arabah 1959-1984, Vol. 2. Institute for Archaeo-Metallurgical Studies [and] Institute of Archaeology, University College London, London, 191 p.
Rothenberg, B. 1999, Archaeo-metallurgical researches in the Southern Arabah 1959-1990. Part 2: Egyptian New Kingdom (Ramesside) to Early Islam. Palestine Exploration Quarterly, 131: 149-175. doi:10.1179/peq.1999.131.2.149
Rowan, Y.M., & Ebeling, J.R. 2008, Introduction: the potential of ground stone studies. In: New Approaches to Old Stones: Recent Studies of Ground Stone Artifacts, (Rowan, Y.M., & Ebeling, J.R., Eds.), Equinox, London, 378 p.
Sapir-Hen, L., & Ben-Yosef, E. 2014, The socioeconomic status of Iron Age metalworkers: animal economy in the “Slaves’ hill”, Timna, Israel. Antiquity, 88(341): 775-790. doi:10.1017/S0003598X00050687
Smith, N.G., & Levy, T.E. 2008, The Iron Age pottery from Khirbat en-Nahas, Jordan: a preliminary study. Bulletin of the American School of Oriental Research, 352: 41-91. URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/25609301
Smith, N.G., Levy, T.E., & Goren, Y. 2014, From lowland to highland – petrographic perspectives on Iron Age Edom. In: New Insights into the Iron Age Archaeology of Edom, Southern Jordan: Surveys, Excavations, and Research from the University of California, San Diego - Department of Antiquities of Jordan, Edom Lowlands Regional Archaeology Program (ELRAP) (Levy, T.E., Najjar, M., & Ben-Yosef, E., Eds.), Cotsen Institute of Archaeology, UCLA, Los Angeles: p. 461-491.
Tylecote, R.F., & Boydell, P.J. 1978, Experiments on copper smelting based on early furnaces found at Timna. In: Chalcolithic Copper Smelting: Excavations and Experiments (Rothenberg, B., Ed.) Archaeo-Metallurgy IAMS monograph no. 1. Institute for Archaeo-Metallurgical Studies, London, p. 27-49.
Vardi, J., Shilstein, S., Shalev, S., & Yekutieli, Y. 2008, The Early Bronze Age IV chipped and ground stone assemblage of ‘En Yahav and its relation to copper smelting activities. Journal of the Prehistoric Society, 38: 1-20. URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/23386445
Webb, J.M. 2015, Identifying stone tools used in mining, smelting, and casting in Middle Bronze Age Cyprus. Journal of Field Archaeology, 40: 22-36. doi:10.1179/0093469014Z.000000000108
Wright, K. I. 1992, A Classification system for ground stone tools from prehistoric Levant. Paléorient, 18(2): 53-81. doi:10.3406/paleo.1992.4573
Yahalom-Mack, N., & Panitz-Cohen, N. 2009, Groundstone implements. In: Excavations at Tel Beth-Shean 1989-1996, Volume III: The 13th-11th Century BCE Strata in Areas N and S (Panitz-Cohen, N., & Mazar, A., Eds.), The Israel Exploration Society (and) The Institute of Archaeology, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem: p. 719-736.
Published
31-Oct-2016
How to Cite
Greener, A., & Ben-Yosef, E. (2016). The ground stone assemblage of a metal workers community: An unexplored dimension of Iron Age copper production at Timna. Journal of Lithic Studies, 3(3), 191-220. https://doi.org/10.2218/jls.v3i3.1678
Issue
Section
Presented at the 1st Meeting of the Association for Ground Stone Tools Research
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