Arti-facts : Iron production center found in the Jordan Valley

The old aphorism, good things come in small packages, once again is confirmed. The small site of Tell Hammeh az-Zarqa in Jordan has produced exciting new evidence that bears on the development of metal-making technology in the Near East. The authors relate here an outline of recent excavations at the site, located just to the southwest of the only iron ore deposit in Jordan, which have uncovered metal-making equipment together with large amounts of the byproducts of iron production. Most exciting, the finds are associated with the earliest known examples of furnace structures in the region.