Painting Pots – Painting People: Late Neolithic Ceramics in Ancient Mesopotamia [Hardback]

Archaeologists have recently made tremendous advances in understanding the early ceramic traditions of the prehistoric Near East. Over the past decade there has been a huge increase in research focusing on various aspects of ceramic production, its origins and evolution, distribution and consumption in the Late Neolithic (ca. 7000–5000 cal. BC). Fieldwork brings new and exciting finds every year while laboratory studies change our perspectives regarding ceramic technology. Near Eastern ceramic specialists actively engage with, and contribute to, current trends in theoretical archaeology. The first time, the 19 papers presented here bring together specialists discussing Neolithic ceramics from the Near East in the broadest sense. There is a general focus on decorated pottery traditions. What raw materials and ceramic technologies did Late Neolithic peoples employ? How did they paint their designs? How may we analyze decorated ceramics to explore social networks and identities? What did these decorated pottery traditions mean socially? Essential reading to Near Eastern prehistorians, these collected papers provide new insights for anyone interested in the development of early pottery traditions and the social significance of ceramics in Neolithic societies.

Contents

1. Late Neolithic Ceramics in Ancient Mesopotamia
Olivier Nieuwenhuyse, Walter Cruells & Inna Mateiciucová

2. Transitions and their Chronologies in the Pottery Neolithic of the Near East
Walter Cruells

3. Dark and light colour in Early Near Eastern Pottery: from Technique to Decoration
Marie Le Mière, Mihriban Özbaşaran & Maurice Picon

4. Investigating Painted, Incised and Impressed Ware from the Late Halaf Period
Anna Gómez Bach

5. The Painted Halaf Pottery From Tell Tawila and the Tell Chuera Region
Jörg Becker

6. The Appearance and Development of Painted Ceramics at Tell Halula
Josep-Miquel Faura & Miquel Molist

7. Analyzing Painted Pottery from Late Neolithic Tell Arbid Abyad
Dalibor Všianský & Inna Mateiciucová

8. Late Neolithic Pottery at Çatalhöyük East
Lech Czerniak & Joanna Pyzel

9. Late Neolithic Pottery Traditions on the Upper Tigris Valley
Halil Tekin

10. Pots to be Seen
Olivier Nieuwenhuyse

11. De l’art ou du cochon?
Beatrice Robert & Loïc Daverat

12. Painted Pottery and Visual Representations at Tell Kurdu
Rana Özbal

13. Animal Motifs on Halaf Painted Pottery
Mücella Erdalkıran

14. What Happened in Prehistory: Can Sherds Speak?
Petr Charvát

15. More than Just a Pretty Face: The Meaningful Use of Painted Pottery in the Halaf Period
Marie Hopwood

16. Decoration of Neolithic pottery in the Northern Levant: a view from the Rouj Basin
Takahiro Odaka

17. Exploring the data: The pottery of Umm Qseir
Frank Hole

18. Was White Ware always white? Looking into the world of painted plaster
Bonnie Nilhamn

19. Weaving and Potting during the Late Neolithic Period: Are there textile patterns on the early painted pottery of Mesopotamia?
Catherine Breniquet

"“…the authors and editors have thoroughly and enthusiastically created a valuable set of very detailed papers… It is a rich source of information that will be drawn upon for decades, and it will undoubtedly contribute to the process of reclaiming and celebrating Mesopotamian archaeological heritage.” "

Prehistoric Society ()