Israel/Galilee
Middle Hellenistic
Household/Utility
This vessel has a ferruginous matrix with some calcareous clay, very small amounts of silt, and voids from burned-out organic matter. Some of these voids are surrounded with gray aureoles. Such aureoles appear when the firing is too short to completely destroy the organic material. Coarse inclusions range from about 7% to 10%. Inclusions comprise chalk, crystalline limestone, ferruginous shale, terra rossa nodules, and aquatic shells. The chalk appears as rounded to elongated bodies, poorly sorted and varying in size from 0.5 to 2.0 mm. The limestone grains are subangular or subrounded in shape and range from 0.7 to 1.0 to 2.5 mm in size. Two kinds of limestone appear: crystalline and biogenic (i.e., laden with fossil shells). The sha...