General Information
This ware was used exclusively to manufacture bread molds in a traditional Egyptian style. Clay matrix and temper. The clay matrix is identical to Shephelah EBA locally produced Egyptian ware: it is calcareous, with silt-sized quartz components. The dominant tempers are straw and rounded limestone grits, with smaller amounts of wadi sand and crushed calcite. According to petrographic analysis, the vessels found at Tel Halif were made from a loess deposit west of the site (N. Porat, personal communication).
The distinguishing characteristics of this ware are the large size and high percentage of temper (up to 30% of the entire matrix), and the thickness of the vessel walls, which ranges from 26-31 mm. Vessels were never fired but were simply sun-dried.
