Abstract
We present results from an archaeointensity investigation based on a relatively unexploited recording medium, copper slag deposits. Together with a recently improved experimental design for the archaeointensity experiment, we demonstrate the applicability of this medium, as well as other archaeometallurgical artifacts, for the study of the ancient geomagnetic field intensity. In addition to archaeointensity data from well-dated archaeological contexts, we obtained reliable archaeointensity results from poorly dated or contentious archaeometallurgical sites in the Southern Levant. These results shed new light on the dating of these sites, among them the copper smelting installation of Timna 39b - a site that has important implications for the beginning of metallurgy during the fifth millennium BCE. The paper also aims to introduce archaeointensity research to the archaeologist scholar, and to encourage further collaboration between the disciplines in future research.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 2863-2879 |
| Number of pages | 17 |
| Journal | Journal of Archaeological Science |
| Volume | 35 |
| Issue number | 11 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Nov 2008 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:This study was supported by the FIRST program of the Israel Science Foundation Grant No. 1334/05, US-Israel Binational Science Foundation Grant No. 2004/98, NSF grant EAR0636051, the US - Israel Educational Foundation Fulbright Grant for Ph.D. students 2006-2007 and the Academic Senate of UCSD.
Keywords
- Archaeointensity
- Archaeometallurgy
- Chalcolithic
- Copper slag
- Faynan
- Paleomagnetism
- Secular variations
- Slag deposits
- Timna