Ceramic technology at Wadi Fidan 61, an early Pottery Neolithic site (ca. 6500 B.C.E.) in the Faynan region of southern Jordan

Abstract

The Faynan region of southern Jordan became a center of industrial-scale metallurgical production during the Bronze and Iron Ages. However, socio-economic developments of the Pottery Neolithic period (ca. 6500-5500 B.C.E.) that helped set the stage for the rise of complex copper-producing societies are not well-understood. In this paper, we focus on ceramic technology at the early Pottery Neolithic site of Wadi Fidan 61 in the western part of the Faynan region. The composition of 38 pottery sherds is characterized using an analytical approach that integrates petrography, instrumental geochemistry and Scanning Electron Microscopy-Energy Dispersive X-Ray Spectroscopy (SEM-EDS). Results indicate six distinct clay recipes and suggest the use of different clay deposits and tempering materials from locations within ca. 5 km of the site. Implications of this compositionally diverse pottery assemblage are considered, possibly linking this initial phase of ceramic production in the Faynan with a kind of foraging-farming economy.