An abrasive fabric which ranges from 7.5YR 7/6 to 10YR 6/4 first found in the 8th Century B.C. These examples provided here come from the 8th and 7th Century. The mortarium was a cheaper version of the basalt grinding vessels used in earlier times and it was used in the same diverse range of settings as those stone implements. Once it had been introduced in the northeastern Mediterranean region, it was quickly adopted along the entire Levantine coast.
Ashkelon (Israel-Palestinian Authority/Southern Coastal Plain)
