Archeology and the Ancient Near East
Subject: Middle Bronze Age Metallurgy in the Southern Levant: Technology, Provenance, and Trade Networks.
Advisor: Prof. Naama Yahalom-Mack; Prof. Assaf Yasur-Landau (Haifa University).
Abstract: My research project will investigate metal sources during the height of Canaanite culture in the Southern Levant – the Middle Bronze Age (‘MBA’, ca. 1950–1550 BCE). During this period, both land- and maritime-based trade networks began to flourish, evident from small numbers of goods imported into the region. One potential import, copper, played a vital role in MBA society. Copper objects were alloyed using additives such as tin, lead, and arsenic to create elaborate weapons and implements. Local copper resources are present in the Arabah Valley, but evidence for large-scale MBA exploitation is not known. Therefore, each of these additives and, even the copper itself, did not come naturally from the Southern Levant and is most likely foreign in origin. My project seeks to analyze a large number of MBA Southern Levantine copper-based artifacts using elemental and lead isotope analysis to determine sources of copper utilized during the period. Results will be contextualized within the burgeoning MBA metal trade networks connecting the ancient Eastern Mediterranean and Near East.