La céramique aux lignes peintes

The Ceramics with Painted Lines: Study on a « Fossile Directeur » of the Early Bronze Age in the Southern LevantSince the work of G. E. Wright in the 30’s, the “Line-Group Painted Pottery” has always played a major chronological and interpretative role for the Early Bronze Age (EB) in the Southern Levant, particularly for the EB I. It was even recognized as the “southern counterpart” of the Grey Burnished Ware (Wright 1937, p. 45.).The present paper intends firstly to provide a new simplified way of defining the Line-Group Painted Pottery, in order to clarify its distribution and the consistency of this group as a chronological clue, and secondly to give a recent overview of our data.It seems that many scholars identified the “Line-Group Painted Pottery” with inapropriate indices, as it was the case for the “Line-group painted style” (Amiran 1970, p. 49.)for instance. Others did not focus on a reliable definition and a proper internal subdivision. By differentiating it with the painted pottery on chalk (the “Pajama” style and related wares), and with the “Trickle painting” group, the “Grain wash” decoration, the “Abydos painted ware” and the “Dribbled-Painted Ware”, we wish to distinguish the “ceramics with painted lines” A and B. The former was previously called the Basket Style Group (BSG) by E. Braun (Braun 1996, pp. 216-21.), who made an interesting study of it in his PhD thesis. However his internal subdivision seems to us to be too complex, dividing without reason a uniform group. Our definition separates the ceramics with complex painted motives (B), usually in frames, from the simple ones (A). This distinction also relies on the length of time and the specialization of the workers needed to produce these vessels. Furthermore this B group (138 EB I vessels), which disappears in the EB II, presents a very homogenous distribution in the central regions of the Southern Levant. The A group (203 EB I recipients), which still goes on in the EB II-III, has a more global dispersion.The study of the ceramics with painted lines A on a wide time range gives us a good picture of the gradual disappearance of the ceramics with painted lines during the Early Bronze Age. However, despite the ceramic production normalization touching the EB II-III, we must not disregard that the painted lines pottery still persists in the south, and in some localized places in the north of the Southern Levant till the EB III, like Khirbet ez-Zeraqon for instance.According to us, and to the study of other ceramic traditions with the same reflection (Cf. Charloux 2006), it shows, in some ways, the profound attachment for local population to their non-urban ancestral ways of life. The globalizing urban “identity” of the EB II-III populations is apparently insufficient to let them overlook their traditions, which could be related to an incomplete integration into the urban society. It could further explain the collapse of the urban society at the end of the EB III, by their incapacity to resolve any sort of crisis (epidemic, socio-economic, climate, etc.)

Troisième campagne de la Mission archéologique franco-saʿūdienne dans la région de Najrān. Rapport préliminaire

Preliminary report of the 3rd campaign of the French-Saudi Archaeological Mission in the province of Najrān : survey of the rock-art sites of an-Jamal, an-Halkan, Bi'r Hima and Murayghan.Rapport préliminaire de la 3e campagne de la Mission archéologique franco-saʿūdienne dans la région de Najrān : relevé des graffites rupestres des sites d'an-Jamal, an-Halkan, Bi'r Hima et Murayghan

Deuxième campagne de la Mission archéologique franco-saʿūdienne dans la région de Najrān. Rapport préliminaire

Preliminary report of the 1st campaign of the French-Saudi Archaeological Mission in the province of Najrān : survey of the rock-art sites of an-Jamal, an-Halkan and Bi'r Hima.Rapport préliminaire de la 2e campagne de la Mission archéologique franco-saʿūdienne dans la région de Najrān : relevé des graffites rupestres des sites d'an-Jamal, an-Halkan et Bi'r Hima

Mission Qatabān. Rapport de la 4e campagne de fouille sur le site de Ḥaṣī (Yémen)

Preliminary report of the 4th campaign of excavations in the site of Hasî by the French Mission in the ancient kingdom of Qataban (Yemen), in 2007-08. Plan of the site; archaeological excavation; survey of the surrounding.Rapport non publié des résultats obtenus lors de la 4e campagne de la mission archéologique dans le royaume antique de Qataban (Yémen) en 2007-08 sur le site de Hasi : relevé topographique du site, fouille archéologique, prospection du territoire alentour

Preliminary report of the First season of the Saudi-French mission in al-Yamāma. Al-Kharj area (20 September-21 October 2011)

Report of the archaeological, geophysical, archaeozoological and topographical activities of the French-Saudi mission in the oasis of al-Kharj, 80 km South of Riyadh, in the Central Province of Saudi Arabia carried out from September 20th to October 21st 2011. It includes chapters on: - The geographic and historical setting - The present issues for a study of al-Kharj area - An historiography of the exploration of al-Kharj area - Description on the Registration system - Details of the Historical survey of the oasis - Report of the exploration of the site of al-Yamāma (geophysical survey, topographical survey, archaeological sounding, zooarchaeological study) - Ceramic study An abstract in Arabic is available at the end of the report

Report on the Fourth Excavation Season (2011) of the Madâ'in Sâlih Archaeological Project

This volume is the report on the results of the fourth excavation season of the Saudi-French Archaeological Project at Madâ'in Sâlih, ancient Hegra in the Nabataean kingdom, in north-west Saudi Arabia (MAEE, SCTA, CNRS, Univ Paris 1, IFPO). Apart from the results obtained in the different excavation areas (both in the residential area and in tomb IGN 117), the reader will find a study on the cairns/tumuli of the site (W. Abu-Azizeh) as well as intermediary reports on the geophysical detection (Chr. Benech), the fauna (J. Studer) and the pottery (C. Durand).Ce volume constitue le rapport sur les résultats de la quatrième campagne de fouilles de la mission archéologique franco-saoudienne de Madâ'in Sâlih, l'ancienne Hégra des Nabatéens, dans le nord-ouest de l'Arabie Saoudite (MAEE, SCTA, CNRS, Univ. Paris 1, IFPO). Outre les résultats obtenus dans les différents chantiers (dans la zone résidentielle et dans le tombeau IGN 117), le lecteur trouvera une étude synthétique sur les cairns/tumuli du site (W. Abu-Azizeh) ainsi que des rapports intermédiaires sur la détection géophysique (Chr. Benech), la faune (J. Studer) et la céramique (C. Durand)

Rock Art [Arabian]

International audienc

Comprendre l’évolution des paysages oasiens sur la longue durée. La question des oasis fortifiées d’Arabie septentrionale

International audienc

Seven Archaeological Seasons in the Oasis of Dûmat al-Jandal (Saudi Arabia)

International audienc