The alluvial soils of coastal Cilicia offered excellent fine-grained potting clays that were utilized for the production of table vessels throughout the Bronze and Iron Ages and down through classical and medieval times. The alluvial plains lie at the base of mountainous foothills formed from limestones, conglomerate, and marl stone.
Generally, the members of this petrographic group (termed ‘Fine Ware 1’ = FW1) have a similar appearance, but two variants were defined: one with higher mica content (FW1(m)) and one with more calcareous inclusions (FW1(c)). The matrix is reddish-brown to brown in plane polarized light (pl), dark brown in cross polarized light (xpl); silty to fine; and probably calcareous in most cases. In some cases (FW1(m)), it is evidently low-grade micaceous (with high micaceous end members) (Fig. 3:4–5). The matrix sometimes has a ‘milky’ appearance, apparently due to high firing (cf. Quinn 2013: chapter 6.6). The coarse:fine [<0.01 mm]:voids ratio is 10:85:5 (more frequently)–20:65:15 (less so). Coarse inclusions (>0.06 mm) include common serpentine (sub-rounded to rounded); mono-crystalline quartz (sub-angular to rounded, some cracked or having ferruginous zones), and limestone; there are fewer calcareous concentrations (sand sized), opaques and textural-concentration-features (Tcf; dark brown, rounded, some very fine quartz inclusions); rare calcite, poly-crystalline quartz, chert, feldspars, mica and kurkar(?). Silty/fine inclusions (<0.06 mm) include common quartz, opaques, mica laths (reaching 10% of the slide area in the FW1(m) variant) and feldspar. Variant FW1(c) is silty with calcareous inclusions, including possibly worn dolomite and chert (up to 20% of the slide area) (Fig. 3:6–7). Generally, this fabric is similar to that described for Cretan Archaic products (Gilboa 2017: 570–71), yet here the samples are somewhat more micaceous*.
*This description comes from Lehmann et al. 2020: p 13
The alluvial soils of coastal Cilicia offered excellent fine-grained potting clays that were utilized for the production of table vessels throughout the Bronze and Iron Ages and down through classical and medieval times. The alluvial plains lie at the base of mountainous foothills formed from limestones, conglomerate, and marl stone.
Turkey/Eastern Mediterranean
'Akko/Acre (Israel/Northern Coastal Plain)
Horvat Rozez (Israel/Carmel Mountains)
Jaffa (Israel/Central Coastal Plain)
Shiqmona (Israel/Carmel Mountains)
Tel Dor (Israel/Carmel coastal plain)
Tel Tanninim (Israel/Central Coastal Plain)
