EBIV ceramic production in the Orontes watershed: petrography from the Amuq and beyond

Abstract

The second half of the 3rd millennium BC represents the height of the urbanization process observed during the Early Bronze Age of northern Syria. In a geo-political sense, the Amuq Plain, located in southern Turkey, is situated in a strategic location and as such has long been described as a crossroads of Near Eastern cultures. Tell Tayinat has been identified as the largest settlement in the plain beginning in the early 3rd millennium BC; excavations conducted in the 1930s uncovered a series of levels dating to the 3rd millennium which formed the foundation of the chronological sequence for this time period. More recent excavations at the site have produced significant remains dating to the Early Bronze IVB (2300–2000 BC). This article presents preliminary results of petrographic analysis of 57 samples from the Early Bronze IVB ceramic assemblage, identifying five primary petro-fabrics, and seven outlier groups, and goes on to discuss the broader significance of these results with regard to other comparative petrographic data in the Orontes area.

Keywords:

• ceramic petrography
• Amuq plain
• Early Bronze Age IV
• craft production

Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. The author would like to thank Zhichun Jing for the use of his petrographic microscope at the University of British Columbia. She is also grateful to Stephen Batiuk and Lisa Cooper for allowing her to examine petrographic thin sections from various parts of western Syria and the Amuq, as well as Tim Harrison, the Director of the Tayinat Archaeological Project, who has actively encouraged this research. Finally, the author would like to thank Kamal Badreshany and Graham Philip for their efforts in organizing this workshop and its ultimate publication.

Notes

1 The generally accepted chronological framework for this time period in the northern Levant, as standardized by the ARCANE project, is employed here, with Early Bronze III (Amuq Phase H, ENL2) representing c. 2800–2600/2500 BC; Early Bronze IVA (Amuq Phase I, ENL3–4) representing c. 2600/2500–2300 BC; and EBIVB (Amuq Phase J, ENL5–6) representing c. 2300–2000 BC. See Lebeau (2014) for further details.

2 This description summarizes the main features of this assemblage. For a more detailed discussion, see Welton (2014); and Braidwood and Braidwood (1960: 430–50).

3 Braidwood’s higher estimate of 9–14% appears to be based on the inclusion of painted body sherds as part of the diagnostic count, which tends to over estimate this ware type; see Welton (2014: table 2, 347).

4 I wish to thank Stephen Batiuk for allowing me to examine thin sections from the Amuq Valley Regional Project survey pottery.

5 I wish to thank Lisa Cooper for allowing me to examine her collection of thin sections originating from the sites of Tell ‘Acharneh, Tell Nebi Mend, Tell Mishrifeh-Qatna and Hama.

6 Similarly, another frequently occurring group of Late Chalcolithic samples from the site of Tell Afis was also characterized as imported (n=8 samples of 44 LCh samples analysed; Maritan et al. 2017; Falcone and Lazzarini 1998: 484). This fabric was characterized by a calcareous matrix with carbonate inclusions along with prevalent serpentines (described as strongly altered; Falcone and Lazzarini 1998: 484). These ceramics are described as being of Simple Ware type, fine yellowish-brown, with painted decoration in brown-black (Falcone and Lazzarini 1998: 484). These samples were also suggested to originate from the coast, in the vicinity of Ras al-Bassit, but an origin in the Amuq is also plausible, particularly given the connections in the Late Chalcolithic assemblages between Afis and the Amuq Plain (Mazzoni 1998: 21–22).