Abstract:Techniques were implemented to extract anthropogenic features in the desert region of North Sinai using data from the first-and second-generation Phased Array type L-band Synthetic Aperture Radar (PALSAR-1 and 2). To obtain a synoptic view over the study area, a mosaic of average, multitemporal (De Grandi) filtered PALSAR-1 σ • backscatter of North Sinai was produced. Two subset regions were selected for further analysis. The first included an area of abundant linear features of high relative backscatter in a strategic, but sparsely developed area between the Wadi Tumilat and Gebel Maghara. The second included an area of low backscatter anomaly features in a coastal sabkha around the archaeological sites of Tell el-Farama, Tell el-Mahzan, and Tell el-Kanais. Over the subset region between the Wadi Tumilat and Gebel Maghara, algorithms were developed to extract linear features and convert them to vector format to facilitate interpretation. The algorithms were based on mathematical morphology, but to distinguish apparent man-made features from sand dune ridges, several techniques were applied. The first technique took as input the average σ • backscatter and used a Digital Elevation Model (DEM) derived Local Incidence Angle (LAI) mask to exclude sand dune ridges. The second technique, which proved more effective, used the average interferometric coherence as input. Extracted features were compared with other available information layers and in some cases revealed partially buried roads. Over the coastal subset region a time series of PALSAR-2 spotlight data were processed. The coefficient of variation (CoV) of De Grandi filtered imagery clearly revealed anomaly features of low CoV. These were compared with the results of an archaeological field walking survey carried out previously. The features generally correspond with isolated areas identified in the field survey as having a higher density of archaeological finds, and interpreted as possible islands of dry land, which may have been surrounded by lagoons, rivers, and swamplands in antiquity. It is suggested that these surrounding areas may still have a higher water content, sufficient to be detected in processed Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) imagery.

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A multi-analytical approach has been applied to characterize Khirbet Kerak Ware from the archaeological site of Khirbet al-Batrawy (Jordan), a highly distinctive pottery production of Early Bronze III Levant. Sherds of Khirbet Kerak Ware vessels, dating back to 2750-2500 B.C., show peculiar shapes and a highly polished red/black coating, alien to other Levantine ceramic traditions. Micro-Raman, infrared spectroscopic and petrographic data have been obtained with the aim of defining the fabric, tracing the origin of the raw material used in the manufacturing process and exploring the technological aspects. The results on Khirbet Kerak Ware are then compared with those of ceramics of the same period found at that site in order to highlight possible differences or similarities in the manufacturing process. All these pottery productions reveal similar mineralogical composition, compatible with a local sourcing of the raw materials; moreover, the identification of a specific mineral assemblage allows to estimate a firing temperature ranging from 850 degrees C to 900 degrees C. In spite of the marked differences observed between macroscopic appearances of Khirbet Kerak Ware and those of other coeval and local pottery productions, the results are indicative of overall local manufacturing

Recent excavations carried out in Area HH at Tell Mardikh/Ebla identified a huge sacred area in use from the middle of the 3rd millennium BC until the final destruction of the Middle Bronze Age city. The first building erected in this area in the Early Bronze IVA (2400-2300 BC) was the monumental Temple of the Rock, which was ritually sealed and abandoned at the beginning of the Early Bronze IVB (around 2300-2250 BC). Two of the pits inside the cavity in the cella of the Temple were found to have been filled with a large quantity of fine vessels, as part of a purification ritual carried out before their definitive sealing with superimposed courses of mud-brick. These provide the first coherent ceramic pottery assemblage for the initial stage of the EB IVB Period, and accordingly shed new light on the ceramic horizon of North-West Inner Syria during the last third of the 3rd millennium BC.

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