A reassessment of the chronology of the Iron Age site of Khirbet en-Nahas, Southern Jordan

Abstract

The chronology of Khirbet en-Nahas, a large Iron Age archaeological site located in the copper mining region of Faynan, southern Jordan, has been under fierce debate for the last 15 years. Since the site was excavated in 2002?2009, several analyses challenged the excavators' interpretation of the stratigraphy, the results of the radiocarbon data and its dating. However, so far none of these challenges considered the final report published in 2014, which provided precious information from new areas of excavations and novel series of 14C dates. It is therefore necessary to have an independent reassessment of the archaeological and radiocarbon evidence of each excavated area based on the final report. Reasonable questions raised since the beginning about the 14C dates and the use of Bayesian modelling, the stratigraphic contexts from which they were recovered, and the interpretation of the ceramic assemblage can now be reassessed through a meticulous analysis of the site's stratigraphy and finds. Considering this re-evaluation of the evidence, it is possible to present a reconstruction of the history of the site somewhat different from the one suggested by the excavators.