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Abstract
The article examines the evidence for metal-working in the Iron I and Iron IIA, as well as in the Iron IIB in the Land of Israel. The comparative analysis of material from northern valley sites and the Beersheba Valley reveals a discrepancy in the progress of technological development: by the early Iron II A, the iron industry in the south was already relatively well developed, while in the north it remained largely ignored and smiths continued to work in bronze. A striking case is the disparity in the metal-working of the contemporaneous early Iron IIA Beersheba Valley sites of Tel Masos II on the one hand and Arad XII and Beersheba VII on the other. All three sites belonged to the same settlement entity and were located in equal proximity to the Feinan copper production centre. But while Tel Masos II shows extensive evidence of copper-working, which fits its involvement in the Arabah copper trade, Arad XII and Beersheba VII feature marks of an iron-dominated metal industry.
