Part I
In reporting from the northern districts of the territory of the Mari kingdom, the Middle Bronze Age material culture evidence from the Lower Habur basin (eastern Syria) will be presented. It is the result of a regional study basing on the analysis of surface pottery, sampled in the course of the survey carried out by the Tübinger Atlas des Vorderen Orients in the 70ies.

Part II
The new joint project of the DGAMS, the University of Udine and the University of Tübingen on the important Syrian capital Tell Mishrife/Qatna is the object of the second part of the contribution. Special emphasis will be placed on the Middle to Late Bronze Age pottery sequence as obtained from old and new researches (especially Operation K).

For both study-cases, different distribution patterns will be compared and a statement on the overlapping of political with material cultural borders will be reached.