A late Roman pastoralist ironworking site in the North-Eastern Black Desert, Jordan

Abstract

In 2013, field survey conducted in Jordan revealed the remnants of a series of small stone-built installations to the east of Azraq, in the Jebel Qurma area. Looting of the site had occurred shortly before our identification, and the looting pits of different shapes and sizes made the contours of the site barely recognizable. To make matters worse, the material removed by this plunder was randomly thrown on what remained of the low stone walls (Fig. 1). The site was designated QUR- 595 as part of our wider survey, and a closer inspection of the site and the looting debris yielded masses of charcoal and iron slag. This suggested that the place had once been used to work iron. Subsequent excavations in 2015 offered a more nuanced picture of the installations at QUR-595, together with their history of occupation and use.