Lost in Transition: The Late Bronze–Iron Age Pottery Assemblage in Tell Atchana/Alalakh

Abstract

The transition from the Late Bronze to the Iron Age in the eastern Mediterranean and the Near East is rec¬ognised as a period of major social and historical significance. Despite being at the centre of these changes, the Late Bronze-Iron Age transition at Alalakh and in the ‘Amuq valley generally remains poorly under¬stood in terms of chronology and local development. This paper presents the pottery assemblage coming from selected Late Bronze Age II and Iron Age I contexts retrieved from the new excavations at Alalakh. In particular, the paper aims at analysing the changes occurred in pottery typology and function during the transition from the Late Bronze to the Iron Ages.