Ceramic Finds: Typological and Technological Studies of the Pottery Remains from Tell Hesban and Vicinity

PUBLISHED 2012. Please visit the publication's webpage.

With B.A. degrees in Prehistory and Geography (Tel Aviv University) and a Ph.D. in Ancient Near Eastern Studies (University of Arizona), my first excavation experience at Tel Sheva in 1971 was followed by years of survey (Sinai and Negev) and excavations in southern Israel. The vast quantities of sherds and my dissatisfaction with the emphasis on chronological explanations for differences in pottery, led me to focus on where and how pots were made in order to learn about sources of variation in ceramics. I began with petrographic studies with D.P.S. Peacock followed by research into ancient ceramic technology with H.J. Franken and J. Kalsbeek. To observe traditional potters at work, I have carried out ethnoarchaeological field work in the Philippines (1981) where I examined standardization in the work of craft specialists. In 1986 I began a long-term field project of the rural potters of Cyprus. My recent book Ancient Cookware from the Levant: An Ethnoarchaeological Perspective (2016) explains how ancient cookware was made, used, cleaned, and reused. In 1987 I began my collaboration with Larry Herr of the Madaba Plains Project –’Umayri to record evidence of ceramic technology for pottery excavated at Tall al-‘Umayri. Another current project is the history of huge stationary clay jars for fermenting wine in 18^th to 20^th century Cyprus and the implications for ancient jars. Over the years I have carried out NEH funded workshops for school teachers to bring them the most recent archaeological findings and to share with their students.