The location of specialized copper production by the lost wax technique in the Chalcolithic southern Levant

Abstract

The origins of southern Levantine Chalcolithic copper metallurgy have been debated for decades. Typological and metallurgical examinations of the copper artifacts from the Nahal Mishmar hoard and elsewhere have indicated a dichotomy between simple tools, made of pure copper by open casting, and elaborate items made by the "lost wax" technique of copper alloys with arsenic, antimony, and nickel. While the first were considered local production of the northern Negev sites, the prestige objects were either considered as imports from the remote sources of arsenic copper, or local to the southern Levant. The present paper presents the results of a research project that was aimed at examining this issue through the analysis of ceramic mold remains that were still attached to a large number of copper implements from Israel. The En Gedi area in the Judean Desert of Israel is identified as the place of origin of all copper objects produced by this method. Based on the results, some new interpretations are suggested to the complex topic of Chalcolithic copper metallurgy.

The contents of unusual cone-shaped vessels (cornets) from the Chalcolithic of the southern Levant

“…Although cornets are rare or absent in the Beer Sheva area, where evidence for copper industry was found (Levy, 1987;Perrot, 1955;Shugar, 2000), it should be emphasized that no evidence for casting by the lost wax technique was observed in these sites, Open casting seemed to be the normal practice. A recent provenance study of the mould remains that were still attached to nearly 80 objects cast by the lost wax technique, including many from the Nahal Mishmar hoard, was able to link the production area of these items with the Judean Desert area (Goren, 2008). This study also demonstrated the possible archaeological invisibility of this technique in sites where regular excavation methods were applied with no use of modern micromorphological, mineralogical or chemical analyses of their sediments.…”

Production Sites of Early Iron Age Greek Bronze Tripod Cauldrons: First Evidence from Neutron Activation Analysis of Casting Ceramics

“…The analytical approach was constrained by the scarce amount of preserved casting ceramics, that were available for sampling (Figure b). For example, this precluded the application of ceramic petrography, which has been applied in former studies on casting ceramics (Reedy ; Lombardi & Vidale, ; Schneider ; Goren ; Lombardi ). Therefore, this investigation of provenance follows an alternative approach based mainly on the examination of the trace element composition of the casting ceramics (Holmes & Harbottle, ).…”

Skeuomorphism, Boundary Objects and Socialization of the Chalcolithic Metallurgy in the Southern Levant

“…Eldar and Baumgarten 1985, Namdar et al 2004, Shalev et al 1992, Shalev and Northover 1987). Goren's (2008) recent suggestion that a copper industry operated in the En Gedi shrine or nearby cannot be supported since no metallurgical remains were recovered there.…”

“…This explanation seems only partial. The extensive casting techniques used by Ghassulian metalworking, including lost wax technique in which many elaborately decorated objects are made, as well as use of pure copper for casting in open or two-part molds and complex metals for lost wax technique (Goren 2008, Shalev 1991, demonstrate that Ghassulian copper workers were well aware of the properties of the materials they were using, and of the methods to process them. It is not that they were technically unable to produce copper axe without the image of ropes.…”