German archaeologist seeks to trace origins of metallurgy in ancient Levant

German archaeologist seeks to trace origins of metallurgy in ancient Levant

AMMAN “” Aqaba was one of the ancient centres of metallurgy, the process of working metals into tools, according to a German archaeologist.

"The Southern Levant is a hub for early metallurgy and has really spectacular sites from a very early time “” for instance the copper mines at Wadi Faynan,“ said Florian Klimscha, who is affiliated with the State Museum of Lower Saxony.

"Tell Hujayrat Al Ghuzlan and its neighbouring site Tell Al Magass, both within the northern limits of Aqaba, belong to the very few sites in the whole Levant where we have a good preservation of layers of the Late Chalcolithic and Early Bronze Ages [4,000-3,300 BC],“ Klimscha told The Jordan Times in a recent e-mail interview. 

The site of Tell Hujayrat Al Ghuzlan was occupied from circa 4,100 to 3,600/3,500 BC, Klimscha continued, adding that the walls are still standing up to four metres high and large parts are decorated with scenes of ibexes, hands and humans.

However, the archaeologist said: "We do not really have good evidence for the production of early copper artefacts and this is where Hujayrat Al Ghuzlan comes in“.

"Here we can see step by step the complete production chain, from the crushing of ores to