Pottery production at Tell Arqa (Lebanon) during the 3rd millennium BC: preliminary results of petrographic analysis

Abstract

Studying well-documented assemblages is key to enhancing our understanding of the long-term evolution of pottery production and distribution in Bronze Age Levant. As a contribution to this effort, this paper presents, for the first time, the results of petrographic analysis undertaken on the Early Bronze (EB) pottery assemblage from Tell Arqa (northern Lebanon). Macroscopic and thin-section analyses were performed on a large set of samples. Beyond the characterization of eight petrographic groups, the study discusses the provenance of the raw materials and, taking advantage of the precise stratigraphic and typo-chronological sequence, gives a detailed vision of temporal change in ceramic production. It highlights a disruption at the end of the EB II–Early Central Levant (ECL) 2 and then a continuous evolution towards the homogenization of production both petrographically and technically — until the end of the EBA. Finally, through comparison with other evidence, it is possible to contextualize the evidence from Tell Arqa within regional Levantine pottery traditions existing during the 3rd millennium BC.

Keywords:

• ceramics
• petrographic analysis
• Early Bronze Age
• northern Levant
• Lebanon

Acknowledgements

This research was made possible thanks to the General Directorate of Antiquities of Lebanon, who provided all necessary facilities. The French Archaeological Mission of Tell Arqa, along with the VEPMO and HAROC laboratories (CNRS, UMR 7041 ArScAn) are happily acknowledged for their financial support. I am deeply indebted to Jean-Paul Thalmann, whose wide knowledge, reflections and trust were essential to this work. I am also grateful to the supervisors of my PhD, Professor Pascal Butterlin (Université Paris 1) and Dr Sophie Méry (CNRS), who read drafts of this paper. Finally, many thanks to Professor Graham Philip and Dr Kamal Badreshany for organizing the workshop and welcoming me to Durham to discuss ceramic petrography.

Notes

1 Corresponding to the Early Bronze Age in conventional chronology. The ARCANE project has revised the entire periodization of the 3rd millennium BC in the Near East; the chronological table is available on the website of the ARCANE project (http://www.arcane.uni-tuebingen.de/EA-EM-EL_phasing_v5-4-6.pdf).

2 The petrographic study of the EB pottery from Tell Arqa is part of an ongoing PhD thesis. The petrographic groups are well defined and the results presented in this paper may be considered reliable. If some refinements occur in future work, they should be limited.

3 More information on the macroscopic study and the quantitative analysis of the results will appear in Jean (forthcoming).

4 The observation of thin sections under a polarizing microscope was performed at the Service d’Imagerie et de Microscopie Optique (SIMO), Maison d’Archéologie et d’Ethnologie-René Ginouvès, Nanterre (France), using a Nikon Eclipse E600 POL.

5 As this work is part of a PhD thesis in progress, the number of thin sections is likely to increase in future.

6 A set of unica was also sampled. As they are rare and not representative of the whole EB assemblage, they are not discussed in this paper.

7 The methodology and criteria used for describing the thin sections in this study are commonly accepted and may be found in several references (e.g. Braekmans and Degryse 2017: 235–36; Orton et al. 1993: 158–60; Quinn 2013: 81–93; Rice 1987: 376–80).

8 The comparison charts chosen for the visual estimation of the frequency, sorting and shape of non-plastics are those suggested by Orton et al. (1993: 238–39). Grain size is indicated according to the Wentworth (1922) grain size classification.

9 The scarcity of samples from group 7 is probably due to its late appearance, in low proportions, at the end of phase P. It becomes common during the succeeding chronological phase N (MB I). Sample 187 is from phase N but corresponds to the emerging group 7 from the end of phase P, as indicated by its very similar characteristics in macroscopy.

10 Geological samples — both rocks and clays — from the area around Arqa have been collected and are expected to provide further information on the provenance of raw materials.

11 Personal observation, Département des Antiquités Orientales, Musée du Louvre (Paris). Calcite has also been observed in non-Levantine ceramics (e.g. Fabbri et al. 2014: 1903).

12 The set of 71 thin sections is not sufficient to provide a reliable quantitative analysis. However, these results are supported by those of the macroscopic analysis undertaken on an important set of samples (Jean forthcoming). The trends evidenced here may thus be considered as representative of the evolution of the assemblage.

13 For quantitative analysis based on macroscopic observations, see Jean (forthcoming).

14 The comparison charts chosen for the visual estimation of the frequency, sorting and shape of non-plastics are those suggested by Orton et al. (1993: 238–39). Grain size is indicated according to the Wentworth grain size classification (1922).

15 The colours are indicated according to the Munsell colour chart.

16 As indicated by comparing the ceramic sample with a geological sample of sand from Nahr Arqa in thin-section.