New Bibliography of SCIEM2000 Scientists

Bettina BADER:
SCIEM2000, Vienna
A-1030 Wien, Strohgasse 45/7 (Austria)
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Marl C pottery is found at a large number of sites in Egypt, particularly in the Memphis-Fayoum region from which such pottery is presumed to originate. It is as is well-known, a good indicator of the Middle Kingdom and Second Intermediate Period, but in this analysis of shapes, find places and chronological discussion it becomes obvious that Marl C was also utilised both in earlier and later periods, and for a wider variety of vessel types than previously realised. Beginning with the description of Marl C clays and a discussion of their geographical origins, this monograph continues with a catalogue of all known Marl C pottery types. The majority of the vessels illustrated derive from graves, temple precincts and settlements areas at Tell el-Dab´s, with further examples drawn from Memphis/Kom Rabi´a, Lisht and Dahschur. That such pottery is also found in Sinai and other parts of Egypt and Nubia points to a complex system of internal trade which is also touched upon in this study.

THE SYNCHRONISATION OF CIVILISATIONS IN THE EASTERN MEDITERRANEAN IN THE SECOND MILLENNIUM BC. Proceedings of an International Symposium at Schloß Haindorf, 15^th-17^th of November 1996 and at the Austrian Academy, Vienna, 11^th-12^th of May 1998. Contributions to the Chronology of the Eastern Mediterranean, Vol. I, Vienna 2000.

Manfred Bietak (ed.)
SCIEM2000, Vienna
A-1030 Wien, Strohgasse 45/7 (Austria)
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This volume includes scientific, historical, archaeological and anthropological studies concerning the chronology of the Eastern Mediterranean in the 2^nd Millennium BC. After a short introduction into the research project "The Synchronization of Civilizations in the Eastern Mediterranean in the Second Millennium B.C." by Manfred Bietak, the first part of the volume focuses on relative chronology. Other articles deal with the date of the eruption of the Santorini (Thera) Volcano and absolute chronology. A survey about relevant archaeological projects is also included. Finally, short contributions deal with East Mediterranean Population Movements, with the average life span of ceramic-types of daily usage and on the problems of synchronizing separate cultural complexes based on finds.

THE WHITE SLIP WARE OF LATE BRONZE AGE CYPRUS. Proceedings of an International Conference. Organized by the Anastasios G. Leventis Foundation, Nicosia in honour of Malcolm Wiener. Nicosia 29^th-30^th October 1998.Vienna 2001

Vassos Karageorghis (ed.)
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The chronology and diffusion of the Cypriote White Slip ware in the various regions of the Eastern Mediterranean and the Aegean is generally considered of high importance for Late Bronze Age studies. This ware dominated Cypriote ceramics for some 400 years if not more and a detailed study of all its aspects was felt as a desideratum by many scholars. The international conference at Nicosia, organized by Prof. Vassos Karageorghis, examined not only aspects of chronology, but also techniques of manufacture, style and other matters of the topic. The published proceedings of the conference may, thus, serve as a handbook on White Slip ware. Most papers are followed by discussions and at the end, a "General Discussion" is annexed to the volume.

TELL EL-DAB'A X. THE PALACE DISTRICT OF AVARIS. THE POTTERY OF THE HYKSOS PERIOD AND THE NEW KINGDOM (AREAS H/III AND H/VI). PART I: LOCUS 66, Denkschriften der Gesamtakademie, Bd. 17, UZK 16, Vienna 2000

Perla Fuscaldo
CONICET - Buenos Aires (Scientific National Council)
Buenos Aires (Argentine)
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This is the first volume dealing with the excavation results of the Hyksos/early 18^th Dynasty citadel at 'Ezbet Helmi, discovered by the Austrian Archaeological Institute in Cairo and the Institute of Egyptology of the Univ. of Vienna under the Direction of M. Bietak 1 km west of Tell el-Dab'a/Avaris. The latest ceramic assemblage contemporary with the end of the Hyksos period from a part of the citadel (the area H/III, Locus 66) is published here. It is a rare collection with several hundred objects smashed and scattered all along a street after the conquest of Avaris by Ahmose. The material culture treated here is particularly interesting, as the inhabitants of Avaris were not Egyptians but Canaanites, mainly carriers of the Syro-Palestinian Middle Bronze Age Culture. Their everyday life pottery displays, however, a highly egyptianized culture. Besides that, mercantile connections with southern Palestine and Cyprus show up prominently in the ceramic remains. The outcome is one of the first comprehensive publications about settlement pottery obtained in a stratified excavation in Egypt. It is specially an investment for the future: it will help not only to understand the meeting point of the Eastern Mediterranean cultures but it will also contribute to the future subtle evaluations in the changes of material culture.

TELL EL-DAB'A IX. EINE PLANSIEDLUNG DES FRÜHEN MITTLEREN REICHES, Denkschriften der Gesamtakademie, Bd. 16, UZK 15. Wien 1999

Ernst Czerny
SCIEM2000, Vienna
A-1030 Wien, Strohgasse 45/7 (Austria)
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The excavations of many years' standing of the Austrian Archaeological Institute in Cairo under the direction of Prof. Manfred Bietak in Tell el-Dab'a revealed continuous settlement activities from the Middle Kingdom through the Second Intermediate Period up to the New Kingdom. The oldest record until now found under the ruins of Avaris are parts of an orthogonal planned settlement enclosed by a wall from the early Middle Kingdom. The present work emphasizes the documentation of an extensive collection of pottery for daily use, giving a general view of the production of a provincial settlement, which was very likely founded in the process of governmental domestic colonisation activities on the edge of the eastern Delta. Scarce sherds of row handmade pottery indicate early contacts with western Asiatic people, probably Bedouins. Remains of animals and plants allow the reconstruction of the flora and fauna supplying this settlement. In context with other findings like the one of numerous flint implements, the hard and until now only scarcely documented conditions of everyday life of an Egyptian town far from the splendour of temples and the royal court are disclosed.

THE SYNCHRONISATION OF CIVILISATIONS IN THE EASTERN MEDITERRANEAN IN THE SECOND MILLENNIUM BC (II). Proceedings of the SCIEM2000 EuroOConference Haindorf, May 2001 (forthcoming)

Manfred Bietak (ed.)
SCIEM2000, Vienna
A-1030 Wien, Strohgasse 45/7 (Austria)

SCARABS OF THE "nd MILLENNIUM BC FROM EGYPT, NUBIA AND THE LEVANT: CHRONOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL IMPLICATIONS. Proceedings of an International Conference organised by SCIEM 2000 (Vienna 10^th-13^th of January 2002)(forthcoming)

Manfred Bietak (ed.)
SCIEM2000, Vienna
A-1030 Wien, Strohgasse 45/7 (Austria)

THE MIDDLE BRONZE AGE IN THE LEVANT Proceedings of an International Conference on MB IIA Ceramic in Vienna 24^th-26^th of January 2001)(forthcoming)

Manfred Bietak (ed.)
SCIEM2000, Vienna
A-1030 Wien, Strohgasse 45/7 (Austria)

TELL EL DAB'A XI. AREA A/V - A SETTLEMENT FROM THE LATE HYKSOS PERIOD. (161 black and white plates, photographs on 41 plates, 2 maps) Verlag der Österr. Akademie der Wissenschaften (forthcoming)

Irmgard Hein, Peter Jánosi
With contributions by: K. Großschmidt, K. Kopetzky, L.C. Maguire, C. Mlinar, G. Philip, A. Tillmann, U. Thanheiser, E.Winkler †
Institut für Ägyptologie, Vienna University
A-1090 Wien, Frankgasse 1 (Austria)
Website of the SCIEM2000 Project 9

This volume of the Tell el-Dab'a series presents results of a salvage campaign, which took place in 1988 and 1989 in an area located to the East of the main Tell. The archaeological investigation became necessary, because this zone neighboured to the main site was in danger of agricultural activity by the landowner. The publication comprises results and materials of a investigation in 18 squares, covering an area of about 1800 m². Since it was already known that archaeological relicts of the Late Hyksos period are present in the soil, it was the main target to get more material from this time-span, as well as to get the information about the beginning of the settlement activity at that spot. Because of the large variety of finds several contributions to different object groups written by different authors are included in the volume: Animal bones by A. van den Driesch, statistic investigation of sherd material by K. Kopetzky, Cypriote pottery by L.C. Maguire, scarabs by C. Mlinar, metal objects by G. Philip, plant remains by U. Thanheiser, silices by A. Tillmann, and skeleton remains by K. Großschmidt/E. Winkler. All registered objects from the area are represented in black and white line drawings, some also as photographs. In general the volume contains a large variety of materials from the late Hyksos Period, as well as information about settlement architecture and gives an insight in a suburb of Avaris at the late Hyksos period.

CHOCOLATE-ON-WHITE WARE: TYPOLOGY, CHRONOLOGY AND PROVENANCE. THE EVIDENCE FROM TELL ABU AL-KHARAZ, JORDAN VALLEY. Bulletin of the American School of Oriental Research 313, 1999, 1-29.

Peter M. Fischer
SCIEM2000, Vienna (Austria) / Gothenburg University (Sweden)
Website of the SCIEM2000 Project 11

This study deals with the typology, chronology and possible provenance of the Chocolate-on-White Wares from the settlement of Tell Abu al-Kharaz, Jordan Valley. Ten seasons of excavations produced 347 stratified vessels, which were included within the Chocolate-on-White Ware group as satisfying a number of listed criteria. Most of the bichrome-decorated and monochrome-decorated Chocolate-on-White Ware vessels were bowls, chalices, goblets, kraters, juglets and jugs, and jars. The wares were confirmed in Phases IV/1 and 2, V and VI and include six sub-groups: Proto-Chocolate-on-White Bichrome Ware, Chocolate-on-White Bichrome Ware, Eggshell Ware, and Chocolate-on-White I, II and III. The chronological framework, which is supported by radiocarbon dates and cross-references with Cyprus, shows that the ware was produced from the late Middle Bronze Age IIB until the beginning of the Late Bronze Age IB. Absolute dates are offered. Trade and the possible provenance of the different wares are discussed. The petrographically analysed samples point to two production areas: the Central Jordan Valley and southern Lebanon. Pottery synchronism and the terminology of burnished and unburnished bichrome-decorated pottery are considered.

TELL ABU AL-KHARAZ, JORDAN VALLEY, AND CYPRUS: A STUDY OF BRONZE AGE INTERACTIONS. Cypriote Archaeology in Göteborg. Papers presented at a Symposium on Cypriote Archaeology Held in Göteborg 20 May 1998, ed. K.H. Niklasson. Jonsered 1999, 41-63.

Peter M. Fischer
SCIEM2000, Vienna (Austria) / Gothenburg University (Sweden)
Website of the SCIEM2000 Project 11

Tell Abu al-Kharaz lies in the Jordan Valley along the important north-south trading route, which connects the Sea of Galilee with the Dead Sea and close to the trading route, running north-west, which connects Beth Shan and Megiddo with the Mediterranean Sea in the Mount Carmel area. Although Tell Abu al-Kharaz lies in Transjordan, its proximity to the Mediterranean, some 80 km, and the areas from which imported goods came, demonstrates that the site belongs to the Eastern Mediterranean sphere of culture during the Bronze and Iron Ages rather than to the cultures in the east. A variety of imported Cypriote pottery, which includes White Painted V/White Painted Wheel-made I, White Slip I and II, and Base-ring I, has been excavated at the site. The Cypriote imported vessels are described and presented within a relative and absolute chronological framework. Trading routes and trade in general are discussed in this paper.

THE JORDAN VALLEY AND CYPRUS: CHOCOLATE-ON-WHITE AND WHITE SLIP WARES. Periplus. Festschrift für Hans-Günther Buchholz zu seinem achtzigsten Geburtstag am 24. Dezember 1999, Studies in Mediterranean Archaeology CXXVII. Paul Åströms Förlag 2000, 51-58.

Peter M. Fischer
SCIEM2000, Vienna (Austria) / Gothenburg University (Sweden)
Website of the SCIEM2000 Project 11

The aim of this study is to investigate a possible association between two tablewares of different origin: Chocolate-on-White ware from the Jordan Valley, of which there are six different sub-groups, and Cypriote White Slip I and II wares. The decorations, forms and functions of these wares will be briefly discussed, together with chronological implications and trading connections between Cyprus and the Jordan Valley. The study is mainly based on the material excavated by the Swedish Jordan Expedition at Tell Abu al-Kharaz in the Jordan Valley, which has been directed by the author since 1989.

WHITE SLIP I AND II FROM TELL ABU AL-KHARAZ, JORDAN VALLEY: POTTERY SYNCHRONISM AND DATINGS. White Slip Ware. A Conference in Honor of Malcolm Wiener. Leventis Foundation, Nicosia, in press.

Peter M. Fischer
SCIEM2000, Vienna (Austria) / Gothenburg University (Sweden)
Website of the SCIEM2000 Project 11
Homepage of the Swedish Jordan Expedition
Homepage of the Tell el-'Ajjul Research Project

Tell Abu al-Kharaz lies in Transjordan along the northern part of the north-south road which connects the Sea of Galilee with the Dead Sea. The aim of this paper is to report White Slip I and II finds from the settlement of Tell Abu al-Kharaz, which represent the most eastern occurrence of White Slip Wares reported and discussed during the conference. The find contexts were described and pottery synchronism was studied. Relative dates and a hypothesis concerning probable absolute dates were offered.

A SYNTHESIS OF TEN CAMPAIGNS AT TELL ABU AL-KHARAZ, JORDAN VALLEY: THE EARLY, MIDDLE, LATE BRONZE AND IRON AGES. Rome, in press.

Peter M. Fischer
SCIEM2000, Vienna (Austria) / Gothenburg University (Sweden)
Website of the SCIEM2000 Project 11
Homepage of the Swedish Jordan Expedition
Homepage of the Tell el-'Ajjul Research Project

Tell Abu al-Kharaz lies in Transjordan along the northern part of the north-south road which connects the Sea of Galilee with the Dead Sea. This multiperiod tell was occupied from the Chalcolithic period (stray finds) until Islamic times except for a break of more than thousand years (state of excavation spring 1998), which lasted from the transitional Early Bronze Age II/III or even from the second part of the Early Bronze Age II until the later part of the Middle Bronze Age. The aim of this paper is to present a brief and, in many respects, provisional interpretation of the results of ten seasons of explorations at the site. The paper will concentrate on the architecture, the pottery and, to some extent, on small finds from the major occupations, namely, the later part of Early Bronze Age I, Early Bronze Age II, late Middle Bronze Age, Late Bronze Age and Iron Age. Relative and absolute datings and the synchronization with other cultures in the Eastern Mediterranean will be discussed.

CYPRIOTE BICHROME WHEEL-MADE WARE AND BASE-RING WARE FROM THE NEW EXCAVATIONS AT TELL EL-'AJJUL: SYNCHRONISM AND DATING. Stockholm, in press.

Peter M. Fischer
SCIEM2000, Vienna (Austria) / Gothenburg University (Sweden)
Website of the SCIEM2000 Project 11
Homepage of the Swedish Jordan Expedition
Homepage of the Tell el-'Ajjul Research Project

The present study deals with Cypriote Bichrome Wheel-made Ware and Base-ring Ware which were excavated during first season of the renewed excavations at Tell el-'Ajjul in the autumn of 1999. The petrography, the context, the synchronism with material from other areas in the Eastern Mediterranean and five radiocarbon cross-dates from Tell Abu al-Kharaz in the Jordan Valley are discussed.

TELL EL-'AJJUL 1999. A JOINT PALESTINIAN-SWEDISH FIELD PROJECT: FIRST SEASON PRELIMINARY REPORT. Egypt and the Levant 10, 2000, 211-226.
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Peter M. Fischer, M. Sadeq
SCIEM2000, Vienna (Austria) / Gothenburg University (Sweden) / Palestinian Department of Antiquities of Gaza
Website of the SCIEM2000 Project 11
Homepage of the Swedish Jordan Expedition
Homepage of the Tell el-'Ajjul Research Project

This report deals with the results of the first campaign of the renewed excavations at Tell el-cAjjul. The exposed architecture belongs to four occupational phases, however, virgin soil has not yet been reached. The number of complete or almost complete objects four of which are vessels of earthenware, is astonishing considering the small excavated area. The repertoire of pottery and small finds demonstrates the cosmopolitan nature of the obviously rich societies of Tell el-'Ajjul. The majority of the imported pottery comes from Cyprus but it derives also from Egypt, Greece and the Jordan Valley, and maybe also from the northern Levant. The calcite vessels and the faience/glass objects very probably belong to the group of objects which were imported from Egypt. The scarabs may also have been imported from Egypt, or they were locally produced. Gold, silver, bronze and lead objects are certainly also imports from different regions of the Eastern Mediterranean. A cautious approach to the chronology of H1-H4 is based on certain ceramic wares alone. The lowest dates of the excavated occupational layers, i.e. H1,2, may be defined by a late White Slip II bowl, maybe from the period of the reigns of Sethos I. and Ramses II. A Mycenaean piriform jar can be dated to Late Helladic IIIB1. The lowest date possible would then be the first half of the 13^th century. The dates of the lowest layer of Trench 1 so far to contain diagnostic pottery, H4, may be provided by Cypriote Red-on-Black which was found together with White Slip I, Chocolate-on-White Eggshell Ware, Black Lustrous Wheel-made and Cypriote Bichrome Wheel-made Wares. The latest ascertained appearance of Red-on-Black Ware is Late Cypriote IA2 which is the period of the earliest appearance of White Slip I. The results of the first season of the renewed excavations at Tell el-'Ajjul confirmed the high potential for future archaeological research.

THE "JEBUSITE" BURIAL PLACE IN JERUSALEM: CHOCOLATE-ON-WHITE WARE AND CHRONOLOGY. Amman, in press.

Peter M. Fischer
SCIEM2000, Vienna (Austria) / Gothenburg University (Sweden)
Website of the SCIEM2000 Project 11
Homepage of the Swedish Jordan Expedition
Homepage of the Tell el-'Ajjul Research Project

The aim of this study is to consider the possible presence of Chocolate-on-White Ware in a tomb from the "Jebusite" Burial Place at Dominus Flevit in Jerusalem, which was in use from the later part of the Middle Bronze Age to the Late Bronze Age II according to Saller. Other objectives are to relate the possible Chocolate-on-White Ware vessels to the recently established typology and chronology of this ware from the Transjordanian site of Tell Abu al-Kharaz in the Jordan Valley and to discuss the period of time represented by the tomb in relative and absolute terms. A brief contribution to the present debate concerning Jerusalem's status during the Late Bronze Age is presented.

IMPORTS OF OBJECTS AND SYMBOLS: CASE PRESENTATIONS FROM LATE BRONZE AGE TELL ABU AL-KHARAZ AND TELL EL-'AJJUL. The British School of Archaeology in Jerusalem, in press.

Peter M. Fischer, M. Sadeq
SCIEM2000, Vienna (Austria) / Gothenburg University (Sweden) / Palestinian Department of Antiquities of Gaza
Website of the SCIEM2000 Project 11
Homepage of the Swedish Jordan Expedition
Homepage of the Tell el-'Ajjul Research Project

This paper deals with the interpretation of the functions of imported objects which were excavated recently at Tell Abu al-Kharaz and Tell el-'Ajjul. Tell Abu al-Kharaz in the central Jordan Valley has been excavated during the last ten years by the Swedish Jordan Expedition directed by the first author. In the fall of 1999 renewed excavations started at Tell el-'Ajjul in the Gaza strip as part of a joint Palestinian-Swedish field project. The interpretative discussions chiefly concern a Late Bronze Age silver-bronze figurine of a male armed-god from Tell Abu al-Kharaz and white-slipped and monochrome and bichrome decorated pottery from both sites. The white slipped pottery comprises Jordan Valley Chocolate-on-White and Cypriote White Slip wares.

STONE VESSEL PRODUCTION: NEW BEGINNINGS AND NEW VISIONS IN NEW-PALACE CRETE. For the proceedings of 'The Social Context of Technological Change' workshop, Oxford (Oxford: Oxbow, expected 2001), in preparation.

Jacqueline S. Phillips
SCIEM2000, UK
Website of the SCIEM2000 Project 13

A QUESTION OF RECEPTION, in Abstracts, The Transmission and Assimilation of Culture in the Near East (Jerusalem: Council for British Research in the Levant) 27-28. (full paper in press for conference proceedings [Amman: Council for British Research in the Levant], expected 2001).

Jacqueline S. Phillips
SCIEM2000, UK
Website of the SCIEM2000 Project 13

OSTRICH EGGSHELLS, in P.T. Nicholson and I. Shaw (eds.), Ancient Egyptian Materials and Technology (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2000) 332-333.

Jacqueline S. Phillips
SCIEM2000, UK
Website of the SCIEM2000 Project 13

THE 'NEW' AEGEAN CHRONOLOGY: AN EGYPTIAN PERSPECTIVE, in "Mycenaean Seminars, 1996-97", Bulletin of the Institute of Classical Studies 42 (1997-98) 219-220 [lecture summary].

Jacqueline S. Phillips
SCIEM2000, UK
Website of the SCIEM2000 Project 13

SOME NON-EGYPTIAN CROCODILES, in C.J. Eyre (ed.), Proceedings of the Seventh International Congress of Egyptologists (Orientalia Lovaniensia Analecta 82, Leuven, 1998) 849-862. (abstract in C.J. Eyre [ed.], Seventh International Congress of Egyptologists Abstracts of Papers [Oxford 1995] 140).

Jacqueline S. Phillips
SCIEM2000, UK
Website of the SCIEM2000 Project 13

PETRIE IN THE AEGEAN, in J.S. Phillips, L. Bell and B.B. Williams (eds.), Ancient Egypt, the Aegean, and the Near East: Studies in Honour of Martha Rhoads Bell II (San Antonio: Van Siclen Books, 1997) 407-419.

Jacqueline S. Phillips
SCIEM2000, UK
Website of the SCIEM2000 Project 13

AEGYPTO-AEGEAN RELATIONS UP TO THE 2nd MILLENNIUM B.C., in L. Krzyzaniak, K. Kroeper and M. Kobusiewicz (eds.), Interregional Contacts in the Later Prehistory of Northeastern Africa (Studies in African Archaeology 5, Posnan, 1996) 459-470.

Jacqueline S. Phillips
SCIEM2000, UK
Website of the SCIEM2000 Project 13

FALSE ANALOGIES: THE MINOAN ORIGIN OF SOME SO-CALLED «EGYPTIANIZING» FEATURES, in Pepragmena tou Z' Diethnes Kretologiko Synedrio A2: Tmhma Archaiologiko (Rethymnon, 1995) 757-765.

Jacqueline S. Phillips
SCIEM2000, UK
Website of the SCIEM2000 Project 13

REWORKED AND REUSED EGYPTIAN JEWELLERY, VI Congresso Internazionale di Egittologia. Atti I (Turin, 1992) 497-504 (abstract in Sixth International Congress of Egyptology Abstracts of Papers [Turin, 1991] 328-329).

Jacqueline S. Phillips
SCIEM2000, UK
Website of the SCIEM2000 Project 13

TOMB ROBBERS AND THEIR BOOTY IN ANCIENT EGYPT, in Sara E. Orel (ed.), Death and Taxes in the Ancient Near East (Lewiston: Mellon Press, 1992) 153-188.

Jacqueline S. Phillips
SCIEM2000, UK
Website of the SCIEM2000 Project 13

CHOCOLATE-ON-WHITE WARE: FURTHER OBSERVATIONS AND RADIOCARBON DATES. Article forthcoming in Egypt and the Levant .

Peter M. Fischer
SCIEM2000, Vienna (Austria) / Gothenburg University (Sweden)
Website of the SCIEM2000 Project 11
Homepage of the Swedish Jordan Expedition
Homepage of the Tell el-'Ajjul Research Project

Since the study on the typology, chronology and provenance of Chocolate-on-White Wares from the settlement of Tell Abu al-Kharaz, Jordan Valley was published (Fischer 1999; see list of references under Project 11), the author has had the opportunity to investigate related wares from Pella's Tomb 62 visually at first hand. The studied vessels, which are a part of the assemblage from Tomb 62 and the majority of which were virtually or completely intact, are stored in the Pella Room and in the Nicholson Museum, both at the University of Sydney, Australia . One of the aims of this study is to try to classify the Chocolate-on-White material from Pella Tomb 62 which is stored in Sydney, according to the criteria which were established by the author. These criteria are based on the Chocolate-on-White material from the settlement of Tell Abu al-Kharaz, which lies approximately 5 km to the south of Pella in the Jordan Valley (Fig. 1). The Chocolate-on-White material from Pella's Tomb 62 provides the opportunity to study complete vessel shapes in contrast to the material from Tell Abu al-Kharaz, which only produced a limited number of complete vessels. Another goal is to try to clarify whether the provisional stratigraphy of the tomb and the associated vessels is in agreement with the diachronic pattern of the Chocolate-on-White Ware from the settlement of Tell Abu al-Kharaz thus suggesting a better defined time span for the tomb. The final aim of this study is to date the Tell Abu al-Kharaz Chocolate-on-White Ware and its contexts and as a consequence the classified Pella material according to the absolute dates which are provided by the VERA-Laboratory in Vienna (five dates) and the AMS-Laboratory in Oxford (two dates). The investigation of the waste Pella material offers the opportunity to study complete vessel shapes and to refine the criteria which were established in accordance with the observation of the Tell Abu al-Kharaz material. It has once more been confirmed by the excellent finish and the high artistic level of the Pella Chocolate-on-White vessels that this ware represents a peak in the pottery production of Canaanite potters. It also seems that the Chocolate-on-White vessels from Pella are more uniform in appearance than the Tell Abu al-Kharaz material, which may point to a small number of potters from a few, or maybe just one, centre(s) of production. In contrast, Tell Abu al-Kharaz shows a diversity, which is also reflected by petrography, which points to an import from different workshops (there is one single Chocolate-on-White II jug from Tell Abu al-Kharaz, which seems to have been manufactured from local clay). Petrography, which is certainly the most suitable technique for exploring the relationship of the Chocolate-on-White material from these two sites, should be utilized as a future project on the Pella material as well. The seven radiocarbon dates of relevant contexts at Tell Abu al-Kharaz confirm the provisional chronological framework of the author which earlier was based merely on parallels. A general observation is that the two Oxford (OxA) dates of Chocolate-on-White cover a wider time span compared with the five Vienna (VERA) dates which provide better statistics.

TELL EL-^cAJJUL 2000. SECOND SEASON PRELIMINARY REPORT. Article forthcoming in Egypt and the Levant .

Peter M. Fischer and Moain Sadeq
with contributions by Anne Lykke, Rainer Feldbacher, Michael Weigl and Christa Mlinar
SCIEM2000, Vienna (Austria) / Gothenburg University (Sweden) / Palestinian Department of Antiquities of Gaza
Website of the SCIEM2000 Project 11
Homepage of the Swedish Jordan Expedition
Homepage of the Tell el-'Ajjul Research Project

The results of the first season of the renewed excavations at Tell el-cAjjul in 1999 confirmed the high potential for continued archaeological research within the 5000 square metre area, which was fenced on the present summit of the tell (the 1999 campaign is published in Fischer and Sadeq, Egypt and the Levant 10 (2000): 211-226). Ten trenches, Trenches 4-13, to the north-west of Trenches 1 and 2 from the 1999 campaign at Tell el-cAjjul were opened during the season of 2000. Three of the trenches revealed traces of earlier excavations, maybe from Petrie's campaigns in the 30s, of which any documentation is lacking. Eight horizons, of which H8-H2 contain architectural remains, were exposed. Five main phases of occupation - or possibly six if we consider H6 as a separate phase - were recognized, if H1 in the north of the area, which contains only one structure (tomb?), is excluded. There is also one sub-phase in each of H5 to H2 which can be seen from clear evidence of repair after a limited destruction. Each of the occupational phases H8-H2 came to an end through conflagrations. However, surviving walls were re-used and incorporated into new constructions. H8 is the only phase in which stone walls were built. The preliminary interpretation of the architectural remains is so far limited to H5-H3 because there is not enough exposed in the lowest horizons H8-H6 and too much eroded of the architectural remains of H2 to enable us to draw any reliable conclusions. All structures are orientated north-west to south-east. The basic building plans of H5 and H4-3 are similar. There is a structure to the north. It is likely that this structure faces an open space/road to the south-west which is approximately 2.5 m wide and which separates it from a larger building to the south. This building to the south covers an area at least of 20 m in the north-south direction and 15 m in the east-west direction which includes the architecture of Trench 1 from 1999. The detailed interpretation of the function of the building has to await the results of the continued excavations. The pottery from H7 to H2 provides the possibility of cross-dating because of imports from Cyprus, which dominate (a total of 692 Cypriote sherds/vessels in H8 to H1/colluvial soil), and Egypt (a total of 28 sherds/vessels) and the Jordan Valley (a total of 45 sherds/vessels; see Table 1). Cypriote imports are Base-ring I and II, Bichrome Wheel-made, Red and Black Slip, Monochrome, Red Lustrous Wheel-made, Red-on-Black/Red-on-Red, White Painted V/VI, White Shaved, and White Slip I and II. There are also 12 sherds of Black Lustrous Wheel-made Ware. Egyptian and Egyptian-style pottery is represented by shallow bowls and piriform and carinated vessels, the latter two of which were very likely imports from Upper Egypt. Imports from the Jordan Valley/southern Lebanon are Chocolate-on-White Bichrome, Chocolate-on-White I and II, and Eggshell Ware. There are four body sherds of possible Mycenaean-type. Small finds from this season include three scarabs from the second part of the 15th/16th Dynasties, two of which are from the area of occupation and one from a tomb. Others are objects of bronze, among them being needles, toggle pins, a limb cover (armour) and jewellery which includes a ring and a bead. A small bowl and a pendant of silver and one of sheet gold with the image of Hathor should be mentioned. Objects of stone include a calcite dagger pommel and bowls of basalt. There are also some figurines of earthenware, one of which is of Egyptian-style. Finally some incised bone plaques should be mentioned. One of these depicts the hind part of a feline. Horizons 8 to 2, which are the layers which contain architecture, are preliminary dated within the later part of the Middle Bronze Age and the Late Bronze Age I B. A detailed preliminary relative chronology of the sequence of occupation is proposed. There are four burials and three additional features which are very likely remains of burials. Only two of the burials are undisturbed and provide the possibility of dating by means of the associated burial gifts. The oldest burial is from the Middle Bronze Age IIC or perhaps its end and the second is from the beginning of the Late Bronze Age. The objectives for the next season include primarily the extension of the excavations to the east.