The Archaeological Site HLO1 : A Bronze Age Copper Mining and Smelting Site in the Emirate of Sharjah (U.A.E.) / Johannes Kutterer aus Karlsruhe.

Includes bibliographical references (pages 214-221).

Acknowledgments

Preface

Introduction

History of the Wadi Hilo project

State of Bronze Age metallurgical research in SE Arabia

Research objectives

Methodology

Excavation methods and techniques

Geography and geology

Situation in the landscape and ecological setting of HLO1

Geological environment of the site HLO1

Indications for local copper production at HLO1

Geology and the occurrence of copper ore in Wadi Hilo

Ore veins and mining at HLO1 (Area D)

The Bronze Age at HLO1

Workshop (Area F)

Room 1

Room 2

Room 3

Room 4

Room 5

Room 6

South-East Area

Chronology

Particular finds and findings

14C-dates

The house and workshop in Area C

Room 1

Room 2

Room 3

Rooms 4 and 5

Western slope area

Trenches 48 and 51: The Workshop

Trench 49: A Bronze Age grave?

Traces of smelting at HLO1

Slag

Ore processing

Charcoal

Furnaces

Wind as a resource

Archaeometric analyses

Copper isotopes

Analyses of the metal finds

Lead isotope analyses (LIA)

Copper production at HLO1

Other Bronze Age features

The Umm an-Nar watchtower (Area I)

Northern fortification

Area E

Trenches 41 and 42

Further structures at HLO1

Trenches 68 and 69

General conclusions with regard to the Bronze Age period at HLO1

Animal remains from HLO1

Mammal bones from HLO1

Molluscs from HLO1

The Iron Age at HLO1

Iron Age use of the workshop and the house

Copper smelting in the Iron Age

Conclusions with regard to the Iron Age at HLO1

The Neolithic occupation at HLO1

Neolithic layers in the south of the site

Structure H Eastern part of trench 56

Neolithic layers in the northern part of HLO1

Conclusions with regard to the Neolithic period at HLO1

Radiocarbon dating of HLO1

Pottery-finds from HLO1

Documentation of the pottery

Results for the prehistoric periods

Features of the historic period

Watchtower

Threshing area (feature no. 1)

Feature 182

Feature 7 = "Tobacco shed"

The "Islamic Village"

Further structures

Other features of the historic period

Islamic graves

Conclusions of the early historic occupation of HLO1

Summary

Zusammenfassung

Bibliography

The site HLO1 in the Wadi al-Hilo, which means “Hilo river valley”, in the Emirate of Sharjah, UAE, has been excavated since 2007 by a Joint Project of the Directorate of Antiquities of the Government of Sharjah and the Institute of Pre- and Protohistory of Tübingen University under the direction of Sabah A. Jasim from the Sharjah side and Margarethe Uerpmann and Hans-Peter Uerpmann from the Tübingen side. The author was in charge of the actual excavations at the site from 2007 to 2012 and, under the supervision of Ernst Pernicka and Gregor Markl, of the evaluation of finds and findings presented in this dissertation. The site is situated near the upper end of the valley. Its name translates as “sweet valley”, which is due to its fertility and the rich supply of fresh water in its alluvial underground. Geologically, the area is dominated by Gabbro of the Oman–UAE Ophiolite, which contains small occurrences of copper ore. Some of them indicate traces of surface mining, including a locality at the northern periphery of the archaeological site. Indications for copper smelting at the site begin during the transition from the Neolithic to the Bronze Age. At present, this is the earliest proof for metallurgy in SE Arabia. Indications for continued occupation of the site during the Bronze and Iron Ages exist in the form of typical pottery from these periods. Direct and indirect evidence for metal production was found in the form of smelting furnaces, workshops, and traces of ore processing. An ingot of pure copper with a weight of 4.6 kg—which, according to the lead isotopes, was produced from local ore—is direct evidence for on-site metallurgy. Isotope analyses of artefacts from other Bronze Age sites indicate that HLO1 is a potential source of copper for a larger area of SE Arabia. The economic importance of the site and its products is indicated by traces of fortifications. The most obvious is the base of a watchtower of the Umm an-Nar period excavated near the southern access to the site. Traces of a fortification wall were found along the northern border of the site. The stone foundations of a house with several rooms are the only indication for potential domestic buildings. This house was later transformed into a workshop. Presumably, wooden huts, which have left no traces, served as housing for the prehistoric population. An additional outcome of the excavations at HLO1 is the evidence for a Neolithic occupation of the site. Unfortunately, the only evidence for that period are five radiocarbon dates for fireplaces which span the time from the 9th to the 4th millennium BC. Based on stratigraphy, a partly excavated stone structure also belongs to this period. Some few flint artefacts from the corresponding levels are insufficiently characteristic for a typological characterization. Obvious ruins indicate human presence during the historic period in the form of fairly well preserved rural buildings in the north of the site. They seem to form a “socio-economic unit”, which as such seemed deserving of detailed description before their state of preservation deteriorates further. A large number of presumably Islamic graves were spared from excavation. A well preserved Islamic watchtower at the southern entrance of HLO1 and the ruins of a noble house on the other side of the wadi indicate that the ecological advantages of the area attracted people at all times.