16 ABSTRACT USING PO TERY TO INTERPRET THE PAST: ASTARTE FIGURINES IN LATE BRONZE AGE PALESTINE, A CASE STUDY R.T. Sparks School of Archaeology, Classics and Ancient History University of Sydney NSW 2006 AUSTRALIA R.T. Sparks Pottery is one of the most valuable tools available to the archaeologist for interpreting the past. Produced, used and discarded in quantity, it reflected the fashions of its day. Studying pottery together with the stratified contexts it comes from enables us to trace patterns of use and style, and their development over time, while comparisons with other sites extend our knowledge about such areas as regionalism and trade contacts. Although less frequent in archaeological deposits, ceramic objects can also illuminate certain aspects of past society. A combination of stylistic, technological and scientific analyses allow us to interpret object classes in the light of their social, economic and historical backgrounds. The potential of this kind of multi disciplinary approach to the study of archaeological materials will be examined using the case study of ceramic figurines from Late Bronze Age Palestine. INTRODUCTION Numerous ceramic plaque figurines have been excavated from Late Bronze Age contexts in Palestine (c. 1550-1200 BC). They are usually assumed to have some sort of cultic function, and have been linked to various Canaanite goddesses including Astarte, Ashereh, Anat and Qadesh. Previous research into these figurines has been carried out by such as Albright (1939), Pritchard (1943), and inost recently Tadmor (1982).1 The tendency has been to concentrate on their typological classification, origin, distribution and interpretation in the light of Canaanite religion. Less attention has been paid to questions of manufacture, and the mechanisms by which different styles were transmitted throughout the Levant. A selection of 1w.F.'Albright, Astarte Plaques and Figurines from Tell Beit Mirsim", 109-117 in Syriens Offerts a Monsieur Dussaud /, 1939; J.B. Pritchard, Palestinian Figurines in Relation to Certain Goddesses Known Through Literature, 1943; M. Tadmor, "Female Cult Figurines in Late Canaan and Early Israel; Archaeological Evidence", 139-173 in Studies In the Period of David and Soloman and Other Essays. Ed. T. lshida, 1982.