Analysis of Methods of Potmaking in Archaeology

Abstract

A good deal of information is being collected about the potter's craft in many parts of the world. Some work has been done on the analysis of potmaking in antiquity, but as far as the present writer knows, the importance of this type of analysis for archaeological studies has not been critically investigated. This paper intends to present the reader with the results of research into the methods of potmaking in two cultural periods in Palestine, as well as with some of the problems that came up during this research. The two periods concerned are the Early Iron Age (ca. 1200–1000 B.C.) and the Medieval period from the beginning of the Islamic conquest to ca. 1500 A.D.