Revisiting the Amuq sequence: a preliminary investigation of the EBIVB ceramic assemblage from Tell Tayinat

Abstract

The chronology of the Early Bronze Age in the Northern Levant has been constructed around a small group of key sequences and excavations, including the Amuq Sequence. Information about this sequence has predominantly been taken from excavations conducted in the 1930s. The final Early Bronze Age phase in the Amuq (Phase J, EBIVB) was, however, based on a comparatively small sample of ceramics originating only from the site of Tell Tayinat. Excavations of EBIVB levels by the Tayinat Archaeological Project have provided a larger sample of Amuq Phase J ceramics, which are described here, quantified and evaluated in comparison to the original Braidwood collection and to the larger Northern Levantine region.

Beyond megadrought and collapse in the Northern Levant: The chronology of Tell Tayinat and two historical inflection episodes, around 4.2ka BP, and following 3.2ka BP

“…This suggests that the site was active as the 4.2 ka climate event began (23 rd century BCE) and likely continued at least into the early part of the following century. We have relatively few data as yet from the more substantial earlier phases of occupation, including the construction of a major structure in FP8b [ 48 , 50 ], for which only a terminus post quem can be provided. The destruction of this structure, however, appears to be dated somewhere between 2300–2200 BCE, relatively early in the EB IVB period.…”

“…Following identification, we selected a number of samples (both wood charcoal and short-lived seeds) for which reasonably secure archaeological associations are available (as is inevitable at a complicated multi-period tell site with such a multi-phase stratigraphic sequence, the work of this project has in fact led to the reassessment of a few contexts–see below). The general Tell Tayinat site stratigraphic sequence is set out in Table 1 ; further stratigraphic description and the discussion of associated material culture can be found in [ 48 , 50 , 51 , 53 , 110 , 118 ]. The samples ultimately selected for 14 C dating and any comments related to their archaeological contexts are listed in Table 2 .…”

“…Historically, the site is also well-attested. The Early Bronze Age city is perhaps the location referred to as Alalaḫu in records preserved on clay tablets from the late 3 rd millennium BCE archive found at the site of Ebla in Syria [ 49 , 50 , 59 ]. For the Iron Age, interpretation of inscriptional evidence has led to suggestions that by at least the 11 th century BCE, early Iron Age Tell Tayinat represented the center of a kingdom named Palastin or Walastin, with one king being a certain Taita, “Hero and King of Palastin”, best known from inscriptions in the Aleppo Temple [ 60 – 63 ].…”

Ceramics, society and economy in the northern Levant

“…The studies by Mazzoni (2002) and Welton and Cooper (2014) confirm that there is considerable commonality of vessel forms across a zone extending southwards, from Aleppo to Homs, including the Orontes Valley to the west, and with an eastern boundary around the edge of the steppe. There is also a northernand slightly divergentextension into the Amuq (Welton 2014;. In broad spatial terms this equates to a core area that is well-suited to cereal production, with the possibility of tree crops in some areas, and significant opportunities for large-scale livestock raising towards its eastern edge (Wilkinson et al 2014).…”

“…Turning to vessel morphology, it is, therefore, no surprise to discover that while a core EB IV 'Ebla' ceramic region can be identified, extending from Tell Tuqan through to Qarqur, the EB IV vessel forms documented in the Amuq (Welton 2014;, and at Acharneh (Boileau 2018) and TNM (Kennedy 2015) are reminiscent of, but distinct from, the former. In terms of ceramic production, and following Chesson (2015: 55) when discussing the EBA in the southern Levant, it seems that while 'people were responding to a broad, regional cultural transformation', the evidence points to local communities adopting, and to some extent reworking, particular components of this wider repertory according to specific local social and economic circumstances, the size and capability of local production, and the nature of pre-existing practices.…”