One Man's Trash: Using XRF to Recreate Ancient Narratives from Metallurgical Waste Heaps in Southern Jordan

Abstract

Recent excavations at Khirbat al-Jariya, an Iron Age copper smelting center in Southern Jordan, were supplemented with X-Ray Fluorescence (XRF) spectroscopy to study the diachronic narrative of copper smelting over the site's history. By elementally analyzing copper production waste (copper slag) from stratigraphically controlled contexts, it is possible to compare relative element concentrations in the slags over the chronological framework provided by archaeological excavation. Despite the relatively short-lived occupancy of the site (during the 11th and 10th centuries BCE), the XRF analysis revealed its metal workers successfully improved the efficiency of their craft. Based on the invaluable role of XRF in creating these narratives and its comparative potential, the XRF data sets from studies like the one presented should be disseminated through the cyber-infrastructure to foster grander metallurgical narratives across time and space. Thus, this paper presents a case study of using XRF in metallurgical contexts and suggests a new web-based platform for data dissemination and collaborative projects.