Microscopic analyses of thin-sections in Berlin

The main topic of the dissertation research ?The pots and potters of Assyria. Ceramic sequence and the production and use of ceramics at Late Bronze Age Tell Sabi Abyad, Syria? concerns the organisation of pottery production at the site of Sabi Abyad. In order to answer several core questions regarding the technology and production organisation of Middle Assyrian ceramics at Tell Sabi Abyad, a selection of sherds will be analysed using microscopic analyses of thin-sections. Results from the thin-section analyses will include information on used materials, preparation of clays, number of different ?ware? groups, existence of non-local materials in the corpus, and the firing of the ceramics. The study of thin-sections will be carried out at, and in cooperation with, the Arbeitsgruppe Archaeometrie, Institut für Chemie at the Freie Universität Berlin, Germany, together with dr. Gerwulf Schneider. For this purpose, it is necessary to travel to Berlin for a period of two weeks.