Ceramic Platters at Early Bronze Age Tell es-Sâfi/Gath: An Integrated <i>Chaîne Opératoire</i> Approach

ABSTRACT Recent ceramic studies in Early Bronze Age Levantine archaeology emphasize the need to update and expand the interpretative potentials of ceramic datasets by taking a multiscalar chaîne opératoire approach. In this article, we focus on the platters from the excavations at Tell eṣ-Ṣâfi/Gath in the southern Levant. The results of thin-section petrography are integrated with inspection of surface features and an alternative imaging technique for identifying traces of vessel manufacture on freshly cut and scanned thick sections. We pull together observations on the forms, surface features, petrofabrics, and vessel structure integrating macro, meso, and micro scales of analysis on a well stratified sample. This holistic treatment of the production sequence informs a larger discussion on commensality and the socioeconomic significance of platters during a formative period in the development of early urban societies in the southern Levant.