Black-on-Red Pottery in the Levant

This article focuses on the problem of identifying the possible origin of the so-called Black-on-Red pottery of the Iron Age found at Tell Keisan, a site in southern Phoenicia/Lower Galilee. Sixteen samples were selected for petrographic, chemical, and micropaleontological analyses, representing the entire period of the pottery occurrence (late tenth–fifth century BC) at the site. The results allow the authors to conclude that most of the vessels from which the samples came should be considered imports from southern and western regions of Cyprus. This result aligns with similar studies undertaken on Black-on-Red pottery from other sites on the Levantine coast. Looking at it from a broader perspective, the currently dominant hypothesis of Cyprus as the main production centre of the Black-on-Red pottery in the Iron Age also gains a strong reinforcement from Tell Keisan

Chronology · Iron Age · Petrography · Pottery · Ancient Mediterranean Archaeology and History · Archaeology and ancient environmental studies · Law, logistics, and international trade