Communities of ceramic practice and the development of complex societies in the Jordan Valley in the 4th and 3rd Millenia BC

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Research backgroundThe Early Bronze Age (EBA) in the Levant witnessed major political and economictransformations associated with the rise and collapse of the region's earliest protourban systems. A shift from agricultural villages (3600-3100 BC) to nucleated, fortified settlements (3100-2500 BC) was followed by a return to dispersed, rural sites(2500-2000 BC). Our understanding of the forces driving these changes has beentraditionally framed within theories of urbanism forged on the floodplains of southernIraq. However, recent research stresses ways in which societies developed particularlyLevantine forms of proto-urban complexity. A key point-of-difference in the JordanValley (JV), where these changes are most apparent, was the exploitation ofhorticultural crops such as olive and grape. These industries developed new forms ofceramic vessels for the storage, serving and transportation of high-value liquidcommodities such as oil and wine. These vessels offer strong evidence forunderstanding socio-economic developments throughout the EBA.Aims and objectivesThis project will investigate how these vessels were manufactured across the JV andits adjacent upland zones. By characterising the chemical, mineralogical and texturalcomposition of 248 sherds from 12 sites , the project aims to define fabricgroups over the EBA. It will articulate patterns in the chaine opératoire of ceramicproduction, including materials selection (eg. clay sources and inclusions added to theclay matrix), surface treatment (eg. polishing and/or the application of paint or slips)and firing technology (eg. temperature and kiln conditions). These characteristics willenable the project identify non-local ceramics, suggesting transportation or exchange.This study will produce the first comprehensive petrographic database for the JV,placing the project in a unique position to address the following research questions:1) How do patterns in ceramic manufacture and exchange reflect developingeconomic networks and horticultural production between 3600-2500 BC?2) What do these patterns tell us about the reconfiguration of such networks followingthe abandonment of fortified settlements between 2500-2000 BC?3) Do these patterns reflect changing political and economic relationships betweenlowland Jordan Valley settlements and horticultural communities in adjacent uplandzones?