Pottery Production Changes During the Transition from Byzantine to Umayyad Rule

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Pottery is the most affected tool by the changes in human societies; this is due to its flexibility during forming. In order to estimate the effect of the transition of inhabitants of the urban center of Umm Qais (Gadara), north Jordan, from Byzantine (Christianity) to Umayyad (Islam) rule on pottery production traditions, a total of 29 cooking pots and sherds of pottery jars were selected. The samples were dated according to stratigraphy, archaeological context, and parallel examples to the proposed periods. The samples were investigated following the typological and archaeometric approaches. The raw materials and firing technology of the pottery during the two periods were determined following chemical and mineralogical methods using petrography, XRD, ED-XRF, and EDX-SEM techniques. The results revealed that many styles and forms of pottery continued to be produced and some new styles emerged at the urban center of Gadara. Technically, the potters inherited the knowledge of selecting the available raw materials and firing conditions of pottery during the Byzantine and Umayyad periods. During these periods, Umm Qais potters used the local raw materials—non-calcareous ferruginous illite clays mixed with medium to high amounts of coarse quartz grains and fired at temperatures around 1000° in an oxidizing atmosphere to produce cooking pots. They used the available medium to highcalcareous ferruginous illite clays and fired them at temperatures between 850° and 950° in an oxidizing atmosphere to produce the jars. Importing fine fabric jars and cooking pots during the seventh century from Jarash are indicated too. Thus, the types and forms of everyday use pottery were more affected by the political and religious changes than the technical aspects.