Bioarchaeology and Behavior: The People of the Ancient Near East

Condemned to Metallum? Illuminating Life at the Byzantine Mining Camp at Phaeno in Jordan

5 Condemned to Metallum? Illuminating Life at the Byzantine Mining Camp at Phaeno in Jordan Megan A. Perry, Drew S. Coleman, David L. Dettman, and Abdel Halim al-Shiyab The region of Khirbet Faynan in southern Jordan was the site of major mining and smelting operations from at least the fifth millennium bc. Exploitation of copper from the mines became a major industrial operation under Roman and Byzantine rule (Hauptmann 2000; Grattan, Gilbertson, and Hunt 2007; Mattingly et al. 2007). In 1996, a cemetery associated with the Byzantine period occupation at the site, the Southern Cemetery of the third to sixth centuries ad, was excavated by the British Institute in Amman for Archaeology and History (now the Council for British Research in the Levant) and Yarmouk University (Findlater et al. 1998; Mattingly et al. 2007). The 45 skeletons excavated from graves sampled from across the Southern Cemetery are a subset of the estimated 1,000 graves that the cemetery originally held. However, even this small sample can provide a valuable cross-section of the individuals living and working at an imperial mining camp in the Byzantine province of Palaestina Tertia. Here we focus on presenting multiple chemical indicators of the origins of these individuals, their level of exposure to toxic environments produced by smelting operations, and their health and disease levels to provide a profile of the mining camp residents and the level of imperial control over such operations. 116 · Megan A. Perry, Drew S. Coleman, David L. Dettman, and Abdel Halim al-Shiyab Historical Background Byzantine Phaeno, modern Khirbet Faynan, is located at the confluence of Wadis Shegar, Ghuwayr, and Dana in southwestern Jordan (Figure 5.1). The main settlement was explored extensively by the Council for British Research in the Levant, who documented a number of churches, industrial and domestic complexes, water catchment and storage works, and extensive agricultural fields (Freeman and McEwan 1998; Hunt, Gilbertson , and el-Rishi 2007; Mattingly et al. 2007). They also identified three cemeteries contemporary with Roman and Byzantine occupation, including the Southern Cemetery to the southeast of the site. The excavated graves have a uniform interment style similar to that found in other Late Roman and Byzantine cemeteries in Jordan (Ibrahim and Gordon 1987; Perry 2007a), although two graves, one containing an individual 10 years old ±30 months (Grave 105) and another with a female 30–39 years old (Grave 107), contained a notably diverse array of artifacts (Findlater et al. 1998). Historical sources identify some individuals who occupied Faynan and were possibly buried in the southern cemetery. This includes Christian martyrs and heretics sent to Phaeno during the early fourth century ad who were documented by Eusebius (Ecclesiastical History VIII.8, 10; Martyrs of Palestine 7.4, 8.1, 13.1–3), Athanasius (Historia Arianorum 60), and other early Christian church historians. Khirbet Faynan also likely contained criminals charged with crimes other than religious ones, local mine laborers (often under hereditary contracts), and local and nonlocal administrators (Healy 1978; Millar 1984; Pharr 1952, 10.19.15). Other individuals involved in support operations, such as farmers, church officials , merchants, and craft specialists, also would have been buried in the cemetery. Our bioarchaeological interpretations thus must consider the reality that some of these groups are not represented in our sample of 45 individuals. Stable Isotopes and Human Migration First, we explored the presence of immigrants to the site—criminals condemned to metallum (the mines) or laborers lured by economic opportunities —using strontium and oxygen isotope analysis of human dental enamel. The ratio of 87Sr to 86Sr is unique to the underlying bedrock and Illuminating Life at the Byzantine Mining Camp at Phaeno in Jordan · 117 soils of a particular region (Faure 1986; Faure and Powell 1972). Humans and other animals ingest strontium through the consumption of plants, water, and other animals that reflect the geology of the origin of these resources (Bentley 2006; Ericson 1985; Price, Burton, and Bentley 2002). Oxygen isotopes reflect environmental water, including precipitation, surface water bodies, and groundwater (Dansgaard 1964). Oxygen isotope values vary regionally based on distance from the ocean, elevation, evaporation, and a number of climatic variables (Gat and Dansgaard 1972). Humans absorb oxygen isotopes primarily through drinking water , although water in food can slightly influence body water δ18O (Kohn, Schoeninger, and Valley 1996; Luz, Kolodny, and Horowitz 1984; Luz and Kolodny 1989). Isotopes in human dental enamel become absorbed Figure 5.1. Sites located...