Wadi Faynan copper

One of the oldest industrial landscapes on the planet. In the desert of southern Jordan, copper was smelted at Faynan for six thousand years, from the Neolithic through the Roman era, leaving hundreds of thousands of tonnes of slag, ancient mine shafts and the ruins of a Roman-era works where convict labour was sent. It sits in the Dana Biosphere Reserve, and researchers still study the pollution it left in the soil. The Copper Mines trail at Feynan leads into the old shafts and past slag heaps still lying where the smelters left them; it runs all year, but only with a licensed guide, booked through the Wild Jordan Center. PUBLIC reserve with guided access, Jordan.