Pottery from the mamluk–early ottoman and late ottoman Periods from khirbat y amma (y aḥam) With insights on regionalism and imPorts edna J. stern introduction An excavation conducted in 2009 at Khirbat Yamma (Yaḥam), in the northeastern Sharon plain, yielded a small but important pottery assemblage (see Massarwa 2017). 1 Aside from a few sherds dated to the late Ottoman period and associated with Stratum I at the site, the pottery uncovered in the excavation dates from the Mamluk and the early Ottoman periods (fourteenth–sixteenth centuries CE); it seems to represent a rural village. The limited area excavated, the relatively poor state of preservation of the living surfaces and the small number of sealed loci determined the methodology employed for the study of the pottery. Accordingly, the assemblage is presented typologically, and its dating is based on parallels from well-dated sites. Nevertheless, the assemblage provides new insights into the pottery, including imported vessels, used by the inhabitants of rural sites in the Sharon plain during the Mamluk and early Ottoman periods. The Mamluk-period pottery is quite typical of the region. For the most part, the typology and citations here are based upon Avissar and Stern (2005); therefore, type descriptions are brief, and parallels are made only to nearby key sites and to reports published after 2005 (Fig. 1). The relevant sites in the Sharon plain and in near proximity to the site are el-Burj el-Ahmar (Pringle 1986), Khirbat Burin (Kletter and Stern 2006), Khirbat Ibreika (Yannai 2006) and Tell Jatt (Yannai 2010). Other sites referred to include Naḥal Ḥaggit (Seligman 2010) and Yoqne‘am (Avissar 2005) to the north, Khirbat Ka‘kul (Boas 2006) and Khirbat ‘Adasa near Jerusalem (Khalaily and Avissar 2008), the city of Ramla (Cytryn-Silverman 2010) and Khirbat el-Ni‘ana (Vincenz and Sion 2007). The presence of early Ottoman pottery at the site is apparently due to the continuous occupation of the Mamluk-period buildings. The Ottoman-period assemblage is dated to the sixteenth century CE based upon the presence of well-dated Italian imports and the absence of tobacco pipes, which first appeared in our region in the seventeenth century CE. The transition from Mamluk to Ottoman rule in this area occurred in 1516. However, since material culture is not usually affected immediately by a change in regime, there was a continuation in the manufacture, distribution and consumption of most Hadashot Arkheologiyot— Excavations and Surveys in Israel 129