Early Bronze Age I 'Um Hammad Ware': A Study in Regionalism

Abstract

This paper sheds new light on the most common type of pottery associated with advanced phases of Early Bronze I (EB I) in the southern Jordan valley: the distinctive family or group known as Um Hammad Ware, or Proto-Urban D (PUD) Ware. To date, this kind of pottery was thought to be concentrated mostly around the site of Tell Um Hammad. This study presents new evidence suggesting that this ware was dispersed over a region considerably wider than previously understood, and that the centre of its manufacture was probably in the region of western Wadi Far'ah. This paper also explores the possibility that the origins of this family are to be found in the pottery traditions of the Golan region during the Chalcolithic period.