Archaeomagnetic dating of pyrotechnological contexts: a case study for copper smelting sites in the central Timna Valley, Israel
Open accessAbstract
This study is focused on establishing age constraints for several copper slag deposits at the centre of the Timna Valley (Israel) via reconstruction of their ancient geomagnetic intensities as recorded by the individual slag samples at the time of their formation. The results show a correlation between the location of the slag deposits (labelled as individual ‘mounds’ in our survey) and their inferred ages, reflecting varying socio‐economic and political dynamics in the region. While the slag mounds found at the unprotected foothills represent a variety of dates (mostly Early Islamic), the slag mounds on the hilltops are chronologically constrained to the early Iron Age (late 11th to 10th centuries bce), supporting the idea for a need for protection during this period. Furthermore, in comparing the new data with previous archaeomagnetic studies from Timna, we can assert the existence of simultaneous copper production at the archaeological Sites 30, 30a and 34. This gives further support to the claim of intense smelting in the central Timna Valley during the early Iron Age. Finally, this project demonstrates the potential of archaeomagnetic experiments to provide chronological insights, and their particular advantage in addressing pyrotechnology‐related cases.
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In the archaeological research of the Levant, the growing body of archaeomagnetic data enables an increasingly reliable dating method.
“In the archaeological research of the Levant, the growing body of archaeomagnetic data [19–21] enables an increasingly reliable dating method [22–24].”
From The Earth’s magnetic field in Jerusalem during the Babylonian destruction: A unique reference for field behavior and an anchor for archaeomagnetic dating (2020) · cites this paper as [24]
The Results describe dating samples against a Levantine archaeointensity master curve, and the Conclusions report that the method constrained the ages of 9 of 14 sampled contexts. These passages support archaeomagnetic dating in the Levant, but do not establish that the method has become increasingly reliable. (LLM, conf=0.82)
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“In general, archaeomagnetic dating is usually carried out after excavation and is rarely used to date finds found on the surface (Peters et al. 2017).”
- Authors
- Peters, I., Tauxe, L., & Ben‐Yosef, E.
- Affiliations
- Tel Aviv University (IL)
- Scripps Institution of Oceanography (US)
- Corresponding author
- Ben‐Yosef, E.
- Venue
- Archaeometry
- Publisher
- Wiley
- Published
- 2017-06-28
- Volume
- 60
- Issue
- 3
- Pages
- 554-570
- ISSN
- 0003-813X (ISSN-L)
- 1475-4754
- OpenAlex
- W2729792165
- Cited by
- 16
- References
- 31
- Citations by year
- 2026: 1 · 2025: 1 · 2024: 1 · 2023: 4 · 2021: 1 · 2020: 4 · 2019: 1 · 2018: 1 · 2017: 2
- FWCI
- 0.89
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- www.escholarship.org
- Locations
- Archaeometry (publishedVersion)
- eScholarship (California Digital Library) (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- National Sleep Foundation (EAR1345003)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Geomagnetism and Paleomagnetism Studies
- Social Sciences › Archeology › Metallurgy and Cultural Artifacts
- Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › Archeology › Cultural Heritage Materials Analysis
- Keywords
- archaeomagnetic dating, copper smelting, geomagnetic field intensity, Early Iron Age, early Islamic history, pyrotechnology, chronology, ancient metallurgy
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