       , . , . –,  Copyright © 2021 Te Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA DOI: 10.5325/jeasmedarcherstu.9.1–2.0116 ARCHAEOLOGICAL EVIDENCE FOR THE PRODUCTION OF BLACK GAZA WARE POTTERY AT THE FORMER ARAB VILLAGE OF FALUJA, ISRAEL Black and/or Gray Gaza Ware pottery is often found in archaeological contexts in the southern Levant and is broadly dated to the Ottoman and/or British Mandate periods (e.g., Nikolsky 2010; Peretz 2015; Walker 2005: 82–83; Ustinova and Nahshoni 1994: 173, 176). In the archaeological literature, this pottery is often identifed as Black Gaza Ware, Gaza Ware, and Gaza Gray Ware. In this study, however, we refer to this pottery as Black Gaza Ware (Rosen and Goodfriend 1993; Grey 2000: 90; Schick 1997–1998: 575; Ustinova and Nahshoni 1994: 173; Israel 2006). A number of studies have focused on the date and forms of Gaza Ware vessels (Avissar 2009: 9; Gibson, Ibbs, and Kloner 1991: 45; Rosen and Goodfriend 1993; Tsuk, Bordowicz, and Taxel 2016: 57; Salem 2009; Schaefer 1989: 42–43, 56). Te origins of Black Gaza Ware have been attributed by some scholars to the sixteenth century, while others have dated it to the seventeenth century (Schaefer 1989: 42–43, 56; Avissar 2009: 9; Tsuk, Bordowicz, and Taxel 2016: 57; Rosen and Goodfriend 1993; Israel 2006). Currently, Y. Israel has conducted the most exhaustive study of the known forms of Black Gaza Ware pottery (2006). Prior to the 1948 Arab-Israeli war, this ware was primarily made in Gaza, Khan Yunis, and Faluja (e.g., Diqs 1984: 27; Israel 2006: 39–47; Salem 2009: 24, 25). Owen Rye (1984) and H. Salem (2009) conducted ethnographic studies on those pottery workshops that produced Black Gaza Ware. In 1977, Rye conducted a fve- month long study of Palestinian potters that included those living in Gaza (1984: 769). Tese potters used three- meter-high circular updraft kilns, which were capped with domed roofs (1984: 772–73). Te kiln’s exterior walls were made of stone, functioning as a form of insulation. Yigal Israel Benjamin Adam Saidel Black and/or Gray Gaza Ware pottery is often found in archaeological contexts in the southern Levant and is broadly dated to the Ottoman and/or British Mandate periods. Tis ware was primarily made in Gaza, Khan Yunis, and Faluja. In 2002 Yigal Israel conducted an archaeological reconnaissance of Faluja and found archaeological evidence for the manufacture of this ware. He returned to this site in 2009 and excavated a kiln that was used to fre Black Gaza Ware pottery. Tis report describes his archaeological investigations at the former village Faluja. : Black/Gray Ware, Black Gaza Ware, kiln, Faluja, British Mandate Palestine  Downloaded from http://scholarlypublishingcollective.org/psup/jemahs/article-pdf/9/1-2/116/1357666/jeasmedarcherstu_9_1-2_116.pdf by guest on 05 February 2022