CHAPTER 4: THE CERAMIC ASSEMBLAGES 99 Chapter 4: THE CERAMIC ASSEMBLAGES BENJAMIN ADAM SAIDEL AND MORDECHAI HAIMAN INTRODUCTION This chapter opens with a presentation of the unpublished pottery collected in the course of Haiman’s survey of the Kadesh Barnea region (2007). It is treated as a single assemblage because the quantities of pottery collected at each location varied. The pottery retrieved from the excavated settlements is described and illustrated as individual assemblages. 1 Processing the pottery for the present study included weighing each basket, counting the number of diagnostic and undiagnostic sherds, and identifying the periods present. When the information is available, the type and number of diagnostic sherds are presented in the tables that accompany this chapter. Sixty-eight sherds were selected for petrographic analysis in order to source the origin of these containers (see Cohen-Weinberger and Saidel, this volume). Many of the sherds that were petrographically sampled are illustrated in this chapter. Dating and ascertaining parallels for some of the Early Bronze Age sherds were difficult as many were badly damaged. For instance, 11 of 17 sherds found at Site 9 (Mitnan Cairn Field Cluster 3/Halufi III) were too damaged to measure their diameter (see Figs. 4.13: 1-6, 8, 10-11, 4.14: 1-2). Dating holemouth vessels is also problematic as certain forms attributed to the EB II continued in use into the EB III and EB IV/MB I (Avner, Carmi, and Segal 1994: 280). The attribution of the holemouth vessels to the EB II is based in part on the “similarity to finds in southern Sinai and Arad” that “suggests a date in the Early Bronze Age II” (Haiman 1991: 177). In this report, ‘Negebite’ ware refers specifically to the crude handmade pottery found at Site 7 (Nahal Mitnan 1 In some instances, however, specific sherds illustrated in preliminary publications could not be relocated (e.g., Haiman 1994: 29, Fig. 8:11- 12). Cairn Field Cluster 1/Halufi I/Jebel Tiwal) which is dated to the Iron Age II (Bernick-Greenberg 2007a: 187). The term ‘Late Byzantine-Early Islamic’ refers to the timeframe extending from the sixth through eighth centuries C.E. (Avni 1996: 5). Magness (2003: 7) is critical of those archaeologists who attributed cooking wares to “Roman/Byzantine or Byzantine,” periods, when these containers were actually in use in Palestine from the 3rd to 9th centuries C.E. (Magness 2003: 7). Her point is acknowledged, however, in this chapter these wares are attributed to the Late Byzantine-Early Islamic period based on the models put forth to explain the relationships between tribes and states for this time frame (e.g., Rosen and Avni 1993; Haiman 1995; Avni 1996; Rosen 2000). THE SURVEY MATERIAL Surveys conducted in the environs of Kadesh Barnea in October 1981 and from February to April 1982 identified a total of 123 sites (Haiman 2007) (Table 4.1). The unpublished pottery collected from 16 sites in this survey map is presented below (Tables 4.2, 4.3). Given the variable and often small amounts of pottery gathered from these settlements, the ceramics are treated as one assemblage (although a breakdown of the pottery by site is presented in Table 4.2). A total of 400 sherds were retrieved from 16 sites, however, there are only 36 diagnostic forms (Table 4.2; Figs. 4.1-4.4). The weight of the pottery baskets and the size of the illustrated pottery demonstrate that most diagnostic sherds are small in size. In fact, some of these sherds were too small to attribute to a specific vessel type (Figs. 4.3: 1-3, 4, 4: 4), but are nevertheless included as others may find the information of use. The survey assemblage is dominated by two types of wares: coarse handmade pottery which is attributed to the EBA and cooking ware from the Late Byzantine-Early Islamic periods. The former represents the bulk of the