Production Centers of Cooking Pots in Iron Age Judah

Abstract

This article will discuss a recent, multifaceted study of the production of cooking pots during the Iron Age II (ca. 1,000–586 BCE) in Judah (modern Israel). In particular, the article will present the compositional analysis of 541 cooking vessels from 11 sites in Iron Age Judah. The study employs petrographic and chemical (NAA) analysis and examines forming techniques. The results of this research provide new information about production centers and the mobility of cooking pots in Iron Age II Judah. The vast majority of the cooking pots sampled from most types appear to have been made of a similar type of clay, related to terra rossa soil. This is also true of sites in the northern Negev and Judean Desert, where this type of soil was not available in the region of the sites. Furthermore, many of the cooking pots distributed throughout Judah were made in Jerusalem, according to a well-located chemical profile (JleB). Other groups may represent Judean Shephelah production centers, such as the Lachish area, or production centers in southern Israel or ancient Edom. The study will conclude with a general discussion of the implications of importation patterns of cooking pots near peripheral Judean sites.