Abstract
NEOLITHIC FAYUM POTTERY.-In Ancient Egypt, 1928, pt. 3, Miss G. Caton-Thompson has released in advance an account of the neolithic pottery of the Fayum, pending adequate publication of the material collected in the three seasons' investigations, of 1924-1925, 1925-26, and 1927-28. The bulk of the material is from a larger midden settlement, Kom W, of more than 600 ft. by 400 ft. and about 5 ft. deep. It belongs almost entirely to the earlier Neolithic or Fayum A period. Other and better-preserved vessels came from straw-lined granaries. Some were found singly in other parts of the desert. All the pottery is handmade in coarse clay with straw as a degraissant. Unequal and insufficient firing has produced a grey mottling on red pots, the core in nearly all cases being black and soft. Owing to the combination of organic matter from the midden and the salt of the desert, the texture has suffered and few pots retain their original surface. Many of the pots were rough-faced and devoid of slip and burnish. Some may originally have had a slip. A polished ferruginous wash and a burnished black finish were frequently used. One class (class 5) is associated with a thin ferruginous slip, polished and of a purple-red colour similar to the old Nile Valley pre-dynastic wares. Black polish is rare. A few sherds were hand smoothed. The forms are grouped into five classes: (1) Small bowls and cups; (2) cooking bowls or pots-these two classes being of the type common to all primitive ceramic development; (3) pedestal cups, an important class suggesting the prototype of rare and early Nile Valley pre-dynastic vases-this form occurs in the Middle Neolithic stratum at Knossos; (4) cups, with legged bases-poorly represented; (5) rectangular dishes with ' peaked ' rims-a type which appears to have no parallel in the pre-dynastic period.
Article PDF
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Research Items. Nature 123, 470–472 (1929). https://doi.org/10.1038/123470a0
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/123470a0