Revisiting the Chronology of Early Plain Handmade Ware in Southern Jordan (9th–12th Centuries a.d. )

The aim of this paper is to present an updated theoretical framework for the discussion of the first phase in the long sequence of development of plain handmade wares in Bilād al-Shām. Primary attention is paid to material from three sites located in southern Jordan, namely Khirbat al-Dharīḥ, Gharandal, and Khirbat Shaykh ʿĪsā. Newly obtained data, including the results of optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) analysis, indicate that the phenomenon of the rise of a new pottery class was initiated in the 9th, if not mid-8th, century a.d. and that it further developed over the course of the 10th and 11th centuries a.d. Although the whole process was primarily local in nature, it had a crucial meaning for the further development of handmade wares in the later Islamic periods.