Arcane Interregional. Ceramics in Bloomington, MN

The first interregional volume of the ARCANE collection gathers twenty-two contributions concerning ceramic fabrics that were produced from Egypt to Iran and from Thrace to Southern Mesopotamia across the third millennium BCE. These contributions, written by senior scholars and advanced doctoral students, are based primarily on complete vessels from secure stratigraphical contexts. They present the most recent and complete update on Near and Middle Eastern ceramic wares throughout the Early Bronze Age. As an integral component of the ARCANE Programme, the volume provides a careful examination of interregional contacts and allows for a deeper understanding and fine tuning of the relative chronologies of the entire area. The contributors relied on the methodology and interdisciplinary focus of the ARCANE Programme. As a result, scholars and students will find this volume an essential reference work for the interregional study of the material culture of the ancient Near East and Eastern Mediterranean world. Marc Lebeau is the Director of the Tell Beydar excavations (Syria) and Chairman of the ARCANE ESF Programme.