HH-XRF analyses of geological, archaeological, and experimental materials at Meroe, Sudan

Meroe, Sudan was an important royal and industrial centre of the Kingdom of Kush from the 3rd Century BC, through the 4th Century AD. The site is noted amongst archaeometallurgists for its extensive remains of iron production. UCL Qatar’s Sudan Project (2012-present) includes investigations of these remains in order to model the technology and its impact on the social, economic and natural environments. As a part of this research, a series of iron smelting experiments was conducted in January 2015. One goal of these experiments was to evaluate the character and performance of local geological resources, especially potential ores. HH-XRF was one tool used to evaluate and sort ores prior to the experiments. This dataset provides an overview of the research context, materials and methods, and the data obtained.