Iron Age metalworking at Masafi-1? A reconsideration of the metal hoards discovered in the collective buildings

Anne Benoist (1) , Aurélien Hamel , Cécile Le Carlier de Veslud (2) , Michele Degli Esposti (3) , Julie Goy (4)

1 Archéorient - ARCHEORIENT - Environnements et sociétés de l'Orient ancien
2 CReAAH - Centre de Recherche en Archéologie, Archéosciences, Histoire
3 PAN - Polska Akademia Nauk = Polish Academy of Sciences = Académie polonaise des sciences
4 ArScAn - Archéologies et Sciences de l'Antiquité

Excavations in a series of superimposed Iron Age II collective buildings located at Masafi (Fujairah, U.A.E.) by the French Archaeological Mission in the U.A.E. allowed the discovery of two deposits of copper metal buried in two jars. Copper smelting was playing a major rule in the economy and the society of the region and several evidence suggest that it also had a symbolic importance. The context of these two discoveries is discussed in this contribution, in order to precise the nature of these two hoards and the function of the buildings.

Domaines: Archéologie et Préhistoire

Anne Benoist, Aurélien Hamel, Cécile Le Carlier de Veslud, Michele Degli Esposti, Julie Goy. Iron Age metalworking at Masafi-1? A reconsideration of the metal hoards discovered in the collective buildings. Etudes et Travaux / Travaux du centre d'Archéologie Méditerranéenne de l'Académie Polonaise des Sciences, 37, In press. ⟨hal-04347078⟩