Islamic pottery

En octubre de 1983, recién inaugurado el Ayuntamiento democrático, se organizó una mostra de Ceràmica islámica a la ciutat de València, con materiales procedentes del fondo arqueológico municipal. Esta exposición fue la primera materialización del importante legado cultural de al-Andalus en tierras valencianas y posiblemente una de las primeras de la Península Ibérica, con excepción quizá del montaje de las salas de arqueología islámica del Museo de Mallorca, acometido por Guillermo Rosselló en 1980.  Esta modesta exposición era el síntoma de un larvado interés por un pasado que había sido hurtado y tergiversado, y  su éxito la convirtió en una reivindicación espontánea de la nueva historia local, plural y objetiva, que se quería construir y de la que –no conviene olvidarlo- los ayuntamientos fueron importantes acicates. La potenciación de las corporaciones locales, consecuencia de la descentralización administrativa, trajo consigo un aumento de las competencias municipales en la responsabilidad de la conservación de su patrimonio histórico. La gestión de la arqueología preventiva en los centros históricos y  en sus términos  municipales, unida a la proliferación de servicios locales de arqueología en los primeros ayuntamientos democráticos, tuvo como consecuencia inmediata la visibilización de los vestigios materiales de las ciudades andalusíes sepultadas bajo los centros urbanos actuales.

En este artículo se presentaron por primera vez piezas con este tipo de técnica y decoración, fechadas en época almohade (1195-1212), y de la cual no se tenía constancia para esta época. Encontradas en claros contextos almohades meseteños, este tipo de decoración (polícroma en blanco, verde y negro), salvo escasos fragmentos encontrados posteriormente en el área cordobesa y del bajo Guadiana portugués (Mértola), parece limitarse al valle medio del Guadiana meseteño, precisamente, en el área más en vanguardia del imperio almohade contra Castilla.
Por otro lado, la constatación de este tipo de decoración, a caballo de los siglos XII y XIII, viene a llenar el gran e inexplicable hueco, que hasta la publicación de este artículo existía, entre la producción de época omeya en "verde y manganeso" de los siglos X y XI  y la producción valenciana (Paterna y Manises) y aragonesa (Teruel) de los siglos XIII y XV, también e"en verde y manganeso".

In 1969–70, a single Tang dynasty blue-spotted Gongyi sherd was found at Siraf, Iran, the main trading port on the Persian Gulf in the early Islamic period. This is the only known example of Chinese blue-and-white ware, whether low- or high-fired, found in the Middle East from such an early date. The sherd provides direct archaeological evidence for the Indian Ocean trade between China and the Middle East in the ninth century AD. The body paste, clear glaze and blue glaze or pigment were analyzed by thin-section petrography, scanning electron microscopy with energy-dispersive X-ray spectrometry (SEM-EDX) and X-ray fluorescence (XRF). The technological analysis reveals the different steps of the chaîne opératoire: clay mixing, slip and glaze
application, and decoration with the cobalt blue glaze before high-temperature firing. These steps are characteristic of Tang stoneware production at Gongyi in Henan province, China.
The use of cobalt blue pigment as part of a simple spotted decoration scheme on the Gongyi sherd, and its find context within the Middle East, provides evidence for the complex interplay and influence occurring between Chinese and Middle East ceramic industries at this time.
Closely comparable examples of contemporary low-fired earthenware ceramics with cobalt blue decoration on a white tin glaze manufactured within the Middle East also occur within the same assemblage from Siraf.

Jundishapur is one of the towns with a rectangular plan, built by Shapur I in the north of the Kuzistan close to the Mansor River and like Bishapur, on one side is limited to the river, but here there is no fort and castle to protect the city. Archaeological studies in Jundishapur were carried out by mapping and aerial photography and systematic archaeological examination and a total of forty one point of occupation were identified. The abstract results of the index samples along with written sources made it clear that the establishment has continued throughout Christian centuries. The water flowed in the city from the Mansoor black harbor through the Jundishapur Bridge. Due to the decrease in water in the summer, a qanat was built in 14 km length from the Dez River to adjust and increase the water level of the Jundishapur River representing the efforts of Sasanians in the water supply system.

The extensive excavations recently held at a potter’s workshop in Qalhāt on the Omani coast allowed us to follow the evolution of this ceramic production center between the end of the 13th century and the second half of the 14th century, and to bring to light three kilns among which two have a double chamber separated by a sole.
These excavations have also provided useful insights into the medieval ceramic production in Oman, the technics involved and the vessels produced. The assemblage of local ceramics, glazed and unglazed, covers all domestic forms: jars, jugs, bottles, basins, bowls and oil lamps. The typo-chronological study of this material was carried out in order to highlight the evolution of the assemblage during the 14th century.

This book is the first comprehensive synthesis of the life cycle of ceramics and of refuse management in ancient Palestine during the later Roman, Byzantine and Early Islamic periods (4 th to 11 th centuries CE). The study sheds light on selected material culture-related behavioral practices of the people who produced, used and manipulated ceramics during late antique and early medieval times. The research presents the local picture of pottery use-life, including prime use, reuse, repair, recycling and disposal. The reuse, repair and recycling of pottery reflect a plethora of behavioral practices, some common to the greater Mediterranean and Near Eastern world and some unique to the discussed region and periods. Similarly, the discussion of refuse disposal, while using selected case studies, has shown that attitudes towards the residues of people's activity were basically similar in different regions and periods, though the ways in which refuse was managed was often dictated by specific cultural and regional circumstances. Finally, a first attempt has been made in this study to partially unveil the mental rationale behind the above-mentioned practices. The conclusion is that mere pragmatism motivated the rather frequent reuse, repair and recycling of pottery, though it also showed that this tendency became more dominant-in historical Palestine and probably elsewhere in Late Antiquity and later.

Many proposals were made how to describe pottery fabrics in the field and there is a lot of experience of many groups of archaeologists working in different regions. But in many instances later archaeometric analysis done to check the fabric groups from field showed large discrepancies and the fabric groups classified in the field were not confirmed. If the laboratory test was not made in the beginning of the field work later corrections of the previous pottery classification mostly is impossible. Therefore, and also in cases when a large number of samples can not be taken to a laboratory e.g. to another country for archaeometric analysis, a fabric classification and documentation in the field is necessary. Modern digital cameras offer a cheep and quick possibility to make a photo of a fresh break. This could be done with thousands of sherds. Later thin sections studies, refiring (MGRanalysis)
and chemical analysis can be made on a few sherds and then correlated to the appearance in the fabric photo. This is tested using examples from a basis of 500 sherds from Neolithic to Islamic periods collected during archaeological field surveys in Oman and analysed in the
laboratories in Berlin and Warsaw (project was paid by DFG). For the
laboratory analysis a down-up sampling strategy was used starting with 500 MGR-analyses, followed by selecting 70 samples for chemical analyses by WD-XRF and 52 for thin sectioning.
Cf: DASZKIEWICZ & AL.: POSSIBILITIES AND LIMITATIONS OF MACROSCOPIC DETERMINATION OF POTTERY FABRICS IN THE FIELD, in: Vessels: Inside and Outside. Proceedings of the Conference EMAC 2007, 9th European Meeting on Ancient Ceramics, 24-27 October 2007, Hungarian National Museum, Budapest (2009), 29-36

Se presentan en este trabajo los nuevos datos proporcionados por las actividades arqueológicas recientes llevadas a cabo en la Cueva de la Dehesilla (Jerez de la Frontera, Cádiz), concretamente la excavación de dos cortes en la plataforma situada en la boca de acceso a la cueva. Este yacimiento es de reconocida importancia para la Prehistoria reciente del sector sur-occidental de la Península Ibérica, pero brinda ahora una serie de informaciones estratigráficas, estructurales y materiales que permiten confirmar la existencia en este lugar de un yacimiento de época andalusí. Son dos los periodos documentados, correspondientes a una ocupación del lugar en época de los primeros reinos taifas (segunda mitad del siglo XI) y una segunda fase cronológica-cultural de época almohade (segunda mitad del siglo XI), separadas ambas por un periodo de abandono del lugar de aproximadamente medio siglo. Los datos presentados, con especial énfasis en la documentación estratigráfica y en los indicadores materiales cerámicos, contribuyen a la definición del faseado de la secuencia de ocupación andalusí del yacimiento arqueológico de Cueva de la Dehesilla, mientras que en la discusión se ofrece una visión renovada de su contexto histórico y territorial regional.

This paper presents the new data obtained from the recent archaeological work carried out at La Dehesilla Cave (Jerez de la Frontera, Cádiz), specifically from the excavation of two areas located on the platform just outside the cave entrance. This site is of renowned importance for the Late Prehistory of the southwestern sector of the Iberian Peninsula but now provides a series of stratigraphic, structural and material informations that enable us to confirm the existence of an Andalusi site. There is evidence of two periods, the first corresponding to an occupation during the time of the First Taifa Kingdoms (second half of the 11th century) and the second during the Almohad chrono-cultural period (second half of the 12th century), with an abandonment of approximately half a century between the two. The data presented here, with particular emphasis on the stratigraphic record and on the material pottery markers, contribute to the definition of the phases of the Andalusi sequence of occupation of the site of La Dehesilla Cave, while the discussion provides a renewed perspective on its regional historical and territorial context.

In this brief note in Turkish language terracotta lamps in the museum of Mersin in Cilicia (southern Turkey) were presented. It is a report of main forms of Hellenistic, Roman and early Byzantine lamps with few Archaic, Classical and Medieval examples.  An abstract in English is added at the end of this short note.