The Iron Age metallurgic site of ‘Uqdat Al-Bakrah in the Rub al-Khali

The excavations carried out at As-Safah putted in light many indication of a local metal workshop, with the characteristic of a large activity area where a large spectrum of manufacturing activities were performed together. These evidences were provided not only by the large number of items related with metallurgy (ie. stone and bronze tools, scrap, casting jet, casting residues, etc.), but also by the remains of facilities devoted to the metallurgical activities. This is a very lucky situation, that very rarely occurs in an archaeological excavation. Looking at these data, it is possible to examine the all stages in the metal production. The site was in fact very well preserved by its location, in the sands of the Rub’ Al-Khali, far away from possible damaging circumstances and where the dry desert environment contributed to the good preservation of the metal items.