%0 Journal Article
%T Geophysical Surveys at Khirbat Faynan, an Ancient Mound Site in Southern Jordan
%A Alexandre Novo
%A Matthew L. Vincent
%A Thomas E. Levy
%J International Journal of Geophysics
%D 2012
%I Hindawi Publishing Corporation
%R 10.1155/2012/432823
%X Faynan in Jordan contains the largest copper ore resource zone in the southern Levant (Israel, Jordan, Palestinian territories, Lebanon, Syria, and the Sinai Peninsula). Located 50£¿km southeast of the Dead Sea, it is home to one of the world¡¯s best-preserved ancient mining and metallurgy districts encompassing an area of ca. 400£¿km2. During the past three decades, archaeologists have carried out numerous excavations and surveys recording hundreds of mines and sites related to metallurgical activities that span the past 10 millennia. Khirbat Faynan (Biblical Punon), is situated in the main Faynan Valley and is the largest (ca. 15£¿ha) settlement site in the region and has remained unexcavated until 2011. As Jordan¡¯s most southern mound site with indications of widespread ancient architecture, we employed a suite of noninvasive geophysical survey methods to identify areas suitable for excavation. Earlier geophysical surveys were carried out in the Faynan region by our team in the late 1990s when only EMI (electromagnetic induction) proved successful, but with relatively poor resolution. As reported here, by 2011, improvements in data processing software and 3D ERT (electrical resistivity tomography) sampling protocols made it possible to greatly improve the application of noninvasive geophysical surveying in this hyperarid zone. 1. Introduction Improvements in processing software and sampling protocols for shallow geophysical prospecting make it a key tool for initiating archaeological exploration. In terms of research design, geophysics have increasingly become an essential part of the methodology for planning archaeological excavation in a number of unexplored regions around the world [1, 2]. As part of a long-term archaeological study of the role of mining and metallurgy in the evolution of societies from the Neolithic period (ca. 8000£¿BC¨C6000£¿BC) to Islamic times (7th c. CE¨Cearly 20th c. CE) in Jordan¡¯s Faynan copper ore district, the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) Edom Lowlands Regional Archaeology Project (ELRAP) conducted intensive systematic surveys and large-scale excavations at sites spanning all these periods. From 2002¨C2010, the primary research focus was on the formative Iron Age (ca. 1200¨C500£¿BCE) when the first historical state-level societies evolved in this part of the eastern Mediterranean and the ancient Near East¡¯s first industrial revolution took place. Large-scale excavations were carried out at Khirbat en-Nahas (ca. 10 hectares), the largest copper ore processing and smelting site in the region (cf. [3]), smaller
%U http://www.hindawi.com/journals/ijge/2012/432823/