Changes in metal production in the Levant are examined in order to date mining activity. A more precise date for the earliest significant remains of ore smelting in Timna, Feinan, and Sinai is suggested from a reconstruction of the socioeconomic structures of metal production in the Chalcolithic and early Bronze Age. Qualitative and quantitative chemical analyses of more than 200 archaeological finds and metallography of about one-fourth of them have been conducted using electron probe x-ray microanalysis (EPMA) and atomic absorption spectrophotometry (AAS). The analytical results present a clear distinction between the Chalcolithic and the early Bronze metal products and production methods. The results are discussed according to type, composition, and provenance of objects analyzed.