Faynan, nomads and the western Negev in the Early Iron Age: a critical reappraisal
Abstract: The final report on the Edom Lowlands Regional Archaeology Project concludes that local nomadic tribes created a complex polity at early Iron Age Faynan, in southern Jordan, that was responsible for a radical shift in copper production to an industrial scale. Erez Ben-Yosef has subsequ...
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| Autores principales: | , |
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| Formato: | Artículo |
| Lenguaje: | Inglés |
| Publicado: |
Taylor & Francis
2024
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| Materias: | |
| Acceso en línea: | https://repositorio.uca.edu.ar/handle/123456789/18313 |
| Aporte de: |
| Sumario: | Abstract: The final report on the Edom Lowlands Regional Archaeology
Project concludes that local nomadic tribes created a complex
polity at early Iron Age Faynan, in southern Jordan, that was
responsible for a radical shift in copper production to an
industrial scale. Erez Ben-Yosef has subsequently used these
conclusions as the key example in a theoretical argument about
the social complexity – and, usually, archaeological invisibility –
of nomadic societies. A review of the archaeological evidence
from Faynan indicates that the sudden change at the beginning
of the 10th century BCE should not be attributed to local nomads.
Evidence from the Wadi Fidan 40 cemetery – both material
culture and chemical analysis of teeth – shows that its nomadic
inhabitants did not actively participate in the copper industry.
There is no evidence of a process of transition from nomadism to
sedentarism at Faynan, and its architecture does not reflect any
influence or antecedents in the archaeology of nomads. The
evidence shows close material culture connections with the
western Negev and the major site of Tel Masos. The scenario that
best fits the evidence is that Masos took direct control of copper
production at Faynan and developed it as an industrial site to
exponentially increase the copper trade – Masos had the
resources, technical skills, an architectural tradition, and
connections to trade networks that the local nomads lacked, and
which transformed Faynan. Hundreds of sites in the Negev
Highlands were settled by pastoralists who found employment
both in production and transport in the burgeoning copper
industry. The industrial transformation of Faynan, along with the
settlement of Tel Masos and the Negev Highlands sites, was
short-lived, and lasted little more than a hundred years. |
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