Archaeology
Subject: South-Phonecia and its surroundings in the Persian, Hellenistic and Roman periods: reflections of social, economic and cultural changes in the material culture
Supervisor: Prof. Ilan Sharon
Abstract: Cooking vessels occupy an important place in the archaeological research. The manufacturing of cooking pots is a result of a careful production process; modification of this production process can be indicative of social and behavioral changes. During the Persian, Hellenistic and Roman periods (ca. 500BCE through ca. 250CE), a gradual revolution occurred in cooking vessels production at Phoenicia, in the southern Levantine coast, that made the Phoenician kitchen – and dinner table – more diverse. I wish to consider how and why production of cooking vessels changed in this period. I will do so by examining Phoenician workshop production to determine what types of vessels local potters developed and what they borrowed. I am interested in determining the extent to which local workshops used potting techniques, originating from other areas around the eastern Mediterranean, shaping new assemblage of cooking vessels. This will allow to move from archaeological evidence – such as the manufacture of new types of cooking vessels – to the interpretation of behaviors.
Rotenstreich Stipend 2013/14