The EB II ‘metallic ware’ from Tell el-Far‘ah North (West Bank): typology, technology and petrography of a ceramic industry of the central hill country

Abstract

The present work reports the results of the typological, technological and archaeometric study undertaken on Early Bronze Age ceramic fragments from the site of Tell el-Far‘ah North (West Bank), which macroscopic analysis has recognized as representative of ‘metallic ware’. The fragments belong to a distinctive class of medium-sized carinated bowls dating to the south Levantine EB II/ESL 4. Petrographic (OM), mineralogical (XRPD) and chemical (SEM-EDS) analyses have yielded the identification of a ‘metallic ware’ industry, which used a low calcareous clay where quartz is dominant, along with feldspars, fragments of sedimentary and siliceous rocks, nodules of iron oxides, and was fired at a temperature in a range between 800–900 °C. Petrographic and mineralogical data have made it possible to discuss the nature of raw materials and to investigate aspects of the production technology. Finally, through a comparison with other ceramics from the site, the fragments have been examined against the background of the local pottery tradition. The metallic ware bowls from Tell el-Far‘ah North have proved to be representative of a distinctive specialized ceramic industry of the central hill country, linked to the so-called ‘Aphek family’ bowls.