Between Continuity and Transformation: the late 3rd Millennium BC Ceramic Sequence from Tell Barri (Syria)

The 1998-2002 excavations in the Area G at Tell Barri (Syria) uncovered a continuous sequence of human occupation that dates back to the late 3 rd Millennium BC. The data available from Tell Barri will provide scholars with a new set of stratified pottery assem- blages. The analysis of the diagnostic ceramic types belonging to phase Q, pertaining approximately to the Early Jazira IV period, will emphasize elements of strong continuity with the preceding production in the Tell Barri sequence, while the more recent phase P repertory reveals an increasing occurrence of new ceramic groups. The emergence of a new Fine Ware assemblage and the transformation of the morphological and technologi- cal characteristics might be part of broader changes in Tell Barri social and economic envi- ronment.