Iron Age II Phoenician Transport-Jars from a South-Levantine Perspective: Typology, Evolution and High-Resolution Dating

Abstract

Levantine "Phoenician" transport-jars developed from the 9th through 7th century BCE distinct morphological features which allow for typological definitions of high resolution. In contrast, contemporary ceramics produced in the Southern Levant are often characterized by continuation and a lack of distinction. The exceptional high research and excavation density in the Southern Levant in tandem with the available historical records are applied here to reconstruct the chronological development of the transport-jars with a relative high resolution. During the same period, the "Phoenician" expansion reached the entire Mediterranean as well as vast continental areas in the Ancient Near East, rendering the pro- posed chronological conclusions of significant importance beyond the Southern Levant.