From the reviews:

"This book treats a much wider range of subjects than what one would expect from the title. The text is easy and pleasantly written with a surprisingly wide multidisciplinary background of knowledge and modern analytical techniques. The book is superbly produced, with high-quality illustrations, some in colour, and has an enormous amount of data over the broad spectrum of geology-mineralogy-metallurgy-archeology. It is very stimulating reading beyond the usual feed of economic geologists, and recalls the deep roots of our business." (Bernd Lehmann, Economic Geology, Vol. 103 (2), 2008) Aus den Resensionen: Das Buch ... mit dem anspruchsvollen Titel ... könnte den Eindruck erwecken, die immer wieder diskutierten Fragen des Wann und Wie seien nun eindeutig und endgültig beantwortet. Der Autor, ein erfahrener Mineraloge, ist viel ... sachkundig, ... Seine Publikation ist vielmehr ein wichtiger Beitrag zum Allgemeinthema 'Frühes Kupfer'. ... Die Gliederung des Buchinhalts folgt einer logischen Sequenz. ... Er hat aus der fülle der analytischen und verfahrenstechnischen Details und Erkenntnisse bleibende kulturgeschichtliche Folgerungen gezogen, die für Archäologen ... gleichermaßen informativ und wegweisend sind, wie für Archäometallurgen. (Prof. Dr. Hans-Gert Bachmann, in: Der Anschnitt, 2009, Vol. 61, Issue 4, S. 284 ff.)

Autorentext

Andreas Hauptmann is a professor emeritus for archaeometry/archaeometallurgy at the Ruhr University's Institute for Prehistory and of Geoscience. He studied mineralogy and ore deposits, and for many years, he headed the archaeometallurgy research group at the Deutsches Bergbau-Museum in Bochum. His research has largely focused on ancient mining and metallurgy. He has visited many countries in the Old World and performed field work in the Near and Middle East. He has investigated archaeological materials used in the production of copper, gold, silver, lead, zinc, iron and tin using modern analytical methods to explore old technologies and to reconstruct tradeways. He has taught at the Universities of Bochum, Frankfurt and Fribourg, Switzerland, as well as the Department of Anthropology, University of California San Diego (UCSD), USA.

Zusammenfassung

The book deals with the ancient exploitation and production of copper, exemplified by the mining district of Faynan, Jordan. It is an interdisciplinary study that comprises (mining-) archaeological and scientific aspects. The development of organizational patterns and technological improvements of mining and smelting through the ages (5th millennium BC to Roman Byzantine period), in a specific mining region, is discussed.

Inhalt
Problems and Methods of Archaeometallurgy.- Nature and Geology in Faynan.- The Raw Material Sources.- Field Evidence and Dating of Early Mining and Smelting in the Faynan District.- Study of Archaeometallurgical Slag and Metal.- Copper Smelting Technology.- Export of Ore and Copper: The Importance of Faynan in Prehistoric Palestine.- Summary.