The 2021 Bunch et al. paper in Scientific Reports was not retracted. It reported a roughly 1.5 m destruction layer at Tall el-Hammam and a 10–15 cm vitrified zone of melted pottery, mudbrick, and roofing clay. The authors estimated temperatures up to about 2,200°C (4,000°F) from the melting evidence; they did not measure 8,000°F, and plaster was not among the listed melted materials. They argued that a Tunguska-scale airburst caused the destruction—a hypothesis, not an established conclusion. Philip Silfen's description of the bone burning was an expert assessment, not proof that no comparable context exists.
Tall el-Hammam: estimated 4,000°F vitrification, not 8,000°F readings
JordanBioarchaeologyNew Research
Site mentioned
Key facts
- The cited article is Theodore E. Bunch et al., published in Scientific Reports on 7 October 2021; neither PubMed nor the journal lists it as retracted.
- The study reported a city-wide destruction layer about 1.5 metres thick and a 10–15 cm vitrified layer containing melted pottery, mudbrick, and roofing clay.
- Temperatures of roughly 2,200°C (4,000°F) were inferred from melting and vitrification. The paper did not directly measure temperatures or document areas above 8,000°F.
- Melted plaster was not among the materials listed in the reported destruction matrix.
- Bunch et al. proposed a Tunguska-scale airburst as the cause; this is the authors' hypothesis, not an established conclusion.
- Forensic anthropologist Philip Silfen described the bone-burning as unprecedented in his experience. That is an expert assessment, not proof that no comparable archaeological context exists.
Sources
A Tunguska sized airburst destroyed Tall el-Hammam a Middle ...zenodo.org
Excavations reveal that more than 12 m of a palace complex and a massive mudbrick rampart were leveled, and widespread fatalities occurred, with ...
RETRACTED ARTICLE: A Tunguska sized airburst destroyed Tall el ...nature.com
Early archaeological excavations at TeH revealed the presence of unusual materials, including melted mudbrick fragments, melted roofing clay, melted pottery, ...
Uncovering the Biblical City of Sodom | ArmstrongInstitute.orgarmstronginstitute.org
This “trinitite” was one of many signs of some kind of peculiar destruction event at Tall el-Hammam. Destroyed pottery with surfaces melted into glass. Melted ...
A Tunguska sized airburst destroyed Tall el-Hammam a Middle ...ui.adsabs.harvard.edu
Amid city-side devastation, the airburst demolished 12+ m of the 4-to-5-story palace complex and the massive 4-m-thick mudbrick rampart, while causing extreme ...
Did the destruction of this Middle Bronze Age city inspire Sodom?jpost.com
The buildings of Tell el-Hammam were made of mud bricks, some five stories tall. In the upper part of the city, the destructive force ...
A Tunguska sized airburst destroyed Tall el-Hammam ...pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
by TE Bunch · 2021 · Cited by 82 — A city-wide ~ 1.5-m-thick carbon-and-ash-rich destruction layer contains peak concentrations of shocked quartz (~ 5-10 GPa); melted pottery and ...
Tell el-Hammamen.wikipedia.org
Tell el-Hammam (also Tall al-Hammam) is an archaeological site in the Amman Governorate of Jordan, in the eastern part of the lower Jordan Valley 11.7 ...
BIBLICAL BURNING - ECU News Servicesnews.ecu.edu
Tall el-Hammam, located in the Jordan Valley northeast of the Dead Sea, was destroyed by a cosmic airburst. B.C.E. ), contains shocked quartz, ...
Was this story useful?
Keep exploring
Every site on this page sits on the globe, and the people who research them are on the Discord.
3D Globe · Sites by country · Story Archive · Research Library · Weekly Journal · Search
AI-generated text · images from the original sources · always verify with the sources.