Israel/Galilee
Middle-Late Islamic/Mamluk
Dining/Drinking/Serving
matrix is ferruginous and isotropic. Contains silt-sized sub-angular to rounded quartz (comprising c. 1–2% to 6–8% of the volume of the matrix), and rare minute ore nodules (opaque under the microscope). Sand-sized materials comprise 3% of the volume of the sherd, and are represented by rounded to sub-rounded quartz grains varying in size from 0.2 to 0.8 mm, sporadic chalk fragments (0.2–0.3 mm) and same-sized opaque rounded particles of iron oxides with occasional silt-sized quartz inside. Firing temperature was estimated at 750ºC or slightly greater because the clay minerals of the matrix partially preserved their optical properties and the carbonate material (chalk) is still present in the sections.
