Late Bronze Age copper production in Timna: new evidence from Site 3

This paper presents for the first time results of two excavation seasons conducted in 1979 and 1984 by the Arabah Expedition at one of the major smelting camps in the copper ore district of Timna. The results, together with new radiocarbon dates of short-lived samples from the site, demonstrate that copper production during the Late Bronze Age (13th to the first half of 12th centuries BC) was undertaken on a relatively small scale in demilitarized camps, systematically organized in a distinct area at the northern part of the Timna Valley. This production system should be associated with the Egyptian presence in the region, represented by the nearby Hathor Shrine. The new data from Site 3 also shed light on the transition to the Iron Age, a period when production peaked in the entire Arabah Valley as new copper production systems were established, replacing their predecessors entirely.