Vessel tempered with 10-20 percent polymineral sand, which consists mostly of rounded to sub-rounded quartz and limestone grains and angular and rhombic dolomite crystals. Sub-angular chert and fragments of aquatic shells including Amphiroa sp. are rare. The grains are ranging between 0.3 and 0.8 mm.
Tempering with dolomitic sand is usually associated with the well-known “Moza clay-dolomitic sand” fabric, which is one of the common components of the ceramic assemblages of Judean-Samarian Ridge and northern Negev through Chalcolithic to Roman periods (Glass et al 1993; Goren 1995; Maier et al. 1992; Goldfus and Arubas 2002; Berlin 2005). On one hand hand, vessels of this petrographic group differ in many respects from the latter, and since dolomite exposures are common also on Mount Carmel (Bentor 1966:5-7) and on Manara-Ramim Ridge (Sneh and Weinberger 2003 geological map), it may be attributed to this areas rather than to Judea or Samaria. At the same time, presence of Amphiroa sp., which is one of the fingerprints of the coast, suggests the Mt. Carmel coast as the possible place, where these vessels were manufactured.
Photomicrograph of sample P51. Magnification x 20, nicols crossed, field width 2.5 mm. Q – quartz, Ch – chert, Am – Amphiroa sp.