Provenance and Technology of Early Islamic Pottery from North Jordan

TY - BOOK

T1 - Provenance and Technology of Early Islamic Pottery from North Jordan

AU - Tarboush, Maher Mithqal Fayez

PY - 2015/6

Y1 - 2015/6

N2 - Pottery remains the main tool in evaluating relative chronologies in archaeology. However, only in a few cases has production techniques and the technological characterizations of pottery been studied from specific sites that spans a longer chronological period. This thesis presents a detailed study of pottery samples selected from four sites located in the north part of Jordan. Three of the sites were once major cities of the Decapolis: Jarash (Gerasa), Umm Qais (Gadara), and Tabaqat Fahl (Pella). The fourth site is Tal al - Husn, a substantial rural village located between Umm Qais and Jarash. A wide range of early Islamic pottery types known in Jordan dating to the 7 th - 10 th centuries CE were select ed. The provenance studies offered in the thesis examine the chemical as well as mineralogical composition of pottery, with a focus on issues such as the sources of the raw materials used to make the pottery, and manufacturing techniques . Three scientific methods have been applied: petrography, X - Ray Diffraction and X - Ray F luorescence aimed to investigating and identifying the raw materials of early Islamic pottery. The result of this study enriches our knowledge about early Islamic pottery from northern Jordan alongside the old chronological and typological studies of this period in Jordan. Clear evidence argues for some urban continuation in the studied areas that indicate continuation of local productions technologies. Likewise, the results identifying the nature of Jarash as a major site for pottery production and sagest the possibility of trade relations between Jarash and the other studied sites considered in this thesis

AB - Pottery remains the main tool in evaluating relative chronologies in archaeology. However, only in a few cases has production techniques and the technological characterizations of pottery been studied from specific sites that spans a longer chronological period. This thesis presents a detailed study of pottery samples selected from four sites located in the north part of Jordan. Three of the sites were once major cities of the Decapolis: Jarash (Gerasa), Umm Qais (Gadara), and Tabaqat Fahl (Pella). The fourth site is Tal al - Husn, a substantial rural village located between Umm Qais and Jarash. A wide range of early Islamic pottery types known in Jordan dating to the 7 th - 10 th centuries CE were select ed. The provenance studies offered in the thesis examine the chemical as well as mineralogical composition of pottery, with a focus on issues such as the sources of the raw materials used to make the pottery, and manufacturing techniques . Three scientific methods have been applied: petrography, X - Ray Diffraction and X - Ray F luorescence aimed to investigating and identifying the raw materials of early Islamic pottery. The result of this study enriches our knowledge about early Islamic pottery from northern Jordan alongside the old chronological and typological studies of this period in Jordan. Clear evidence argues for some urban continuation in the studied areas that indicate continuation of local productions technologies. Likewise, the results identifying the nature of Jarash as a major site for pottery production and sagest the possibility of trade relations between Jarash and the other studied sites considered in this thesis

M3 - Ph.D. thesis

BT - Provenance and Technology of Early Islamic Pottery from North Jordan

PB - Det Humanistiske Fakultet, Københavns Universitet

ER -