The Early Bronze IVB pottery from Tell Mardikh/Ebla. Chrono-typological and technological data for framing the site within the regional context

Abstract

From 2007–2010, a team from Sapienza University of Rome, working at Tell Mardikh, ancient Ebla, excavated one of the longest and better-preserved Early Bronze IVB (c. 2300–2000 BC) stratigraphic and architectural sequences known, thus far, in Western Inland Syria. This provided a unique chance to revise ceramic chronology and phasing of Early Bronze IVB at the site, and to elaborate a four-phase relative periodization (EB IVB1–4). Furthermore, a group of ceramic samples selected from different phases within this sequence recently underwent chemical and petrographic analyses within the Ebla Chora Project.

In this article, we report on the preliminary results of the chrono-typological study, present a summary of the petrographic and technological examination, and put forward some considerations on pottery production at Ebla during the last quarter of the 3rd millennium BC. Building on these insights, we will try to frame Ebla's EB IVB typological and petrographic dataset into a micro- (the Ebla region) and macro-regional (Western Inland Syria) picture by means of parallels with other Syrian sites that have yielded EB IVB assemblages and/or petrographic data. This will allow us to deal with issues of inter-regional comparison and synchronization that might challenge current interpretations of EB IVB regional periodization and ceramic regionalism in Western Inland Syria.

Keywords:

• Ebla
• Early Bronze IVB
• pottery technology
• pottery production
• ceramic regionalism

Acknowledgments

I wish to thank warmly Paolo Matthiae and Frances Pinnock for their permission to use the Ebla EB IV materials for the article and for continuous exchange of ideas on the period’s stratigraphy and chronology. Likewise, I wish to thank deeply Luca Peyronel for discussing with me several aspects of pottery production and consumption at Ebla in the context of the archaeometric study of Ebla's EB IVB pottery. Petrographic analyses of the sherds were made possible by ERC funding (FP7-IDEAS 249394) and were carried out by Laura Medeghini, Caterina De Vito and Silvano Mignardi, who also deserve my gratitude. Finally, I want to thank two anonymous referees for their helpful remarks on the manuscript and Agnese Vacca for discussions and comments. Needless to say, any remaining mistakes and omissions are solely my responsibility.

Notes

1 Throughout the article, when not otherwise stated, traditional absolute dates are used, following the Middle Chronology.

2 The study was carried out within the framework of the Ebla Chora Project with ERC funding. The archaeometric study of the materials from Ebla was carried out by Luca Peyronel, Marta D'Andrea and Agnese Vacca for the archaeological part, and Laura Medeghini, Caterina De Vito and Silvano Mignardi for the petrographic analysis.