Metalworking in Area G

Pp. 195–204 in Excavations at Dor, Final Report, Volume IIB—Area G, The Late Bronze and Iron Ages: Pottery, Artifacts, Ecofacts and Other Studies, eds. A. Gilboa; I. Sharon; J. R. Zorn; and S. Matskevich. Qedem Reports 11. Jerusalem: Institute of Archaeology, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, IsraelDiscussion first of the metal working installations, artifacts and waste products recovered from Phase 10 in Area G at Tel Dor, Israel. Brief discussion the the waste products found in Phases 11-12 as well. This is followed by a reconstruction of the resmelting process evident in phase 10 and concludes with a look at how Dor fits into the wider trends in metallurgy in the transition from the Late Bronze Age into the Iron Age

Earliest evidence for equid bit wear in the ancient Near East: The "ass" from Early Bronze Age Tell eṣ-Ṣâfi/Gath, Israel.

Analysis of a sacrificed and interred domestic donkey from an Early Bronze Age (EB) IIIB (c. 2800-2600 BCE) domestic residential neighborhood at Tell eṣ-Ṣâfi/Gath, Israel, indicate the presence of bit wear on the Lower Premolar 2 (LPM2). This is the earliest evidence for the use of a bit among early domestic equids, and in particular donkeys, in the Near East. The mesial enamel surfaces on both the right and left LPM2 of the particular donkey in question are slightly worn in a fashion that suggests that a dental bit (metal, bone, wood, etc.) was used to control the animal. Given the secure chronological context of the burial (beneath the floor of an EB IIIB house), it is suggested that this animal provides the earliest evidence for the use of a bit on an early domestic equid from the Near East

The Earliest Lead Object in the Levant.

In the deepest section of a large complex cave in the northern Negev desert, Israel, a bi-conical lead object was found logged onto a wooden shaft. Associated material remains and radiocarbon dating of the shaft place the object within the Late Chalcolithic period, at the late 5th millennium BCE. Based on chemical and lead isotope analysis, we show that this unique object was made of almost pure metallic lead, likely smelted from lead ores originating in the Taurus range in Anatolia. Either the finished object, or the raw material, was brought to the southern Levant, adding another major component to the already-rich Late Chalcolithic metallurgical corpus known to-date. The paper also discusses possible uses of the object, suggesting that it may have been used as a spindle whorl, at least towards its deposition

The Ashalim Cave lead object.

<p>The Ashalim Cave lead object.</p

Results of lead isotope analysis.

<p>Lead isotope ratios of the Ashalim Cave lead object plotted against ores from selected regions. Details and references are provided in the text.</p

Map.

<p>The location of Ashalim Cave and additional sites that are mentioned in the text. The figure was created with ARC-GIS 10 software, based on a topographic model generated by NASA Earth Observatory (public domain).</p

Microscopic images of the sampled area.

<p>(a) Secondary electron and (b) Back-scatter images of the freshly cut surface. The five measured points are marked on Fig 6b.</p