Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

The Identity of Potters in Early States: Determining the Age and Sex of Fingerprints on Early Bronze Age Pottery from Tell eṣ-Ṣâfi/Gath, Israel

  • Published:
Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The organization of craft production has long been a marker for broader social, economic, and political changes that accompanied urbanism. The identity of producers who comprised production groups, communities, or workshops is out of reach using conventional archaeological data. There has been some success using epidermal prints on artifacts to identify the age and sex of producers. However, while age estimates are well developed, determining the sex of ancient potters is complicated by similarities between the prints of adult women and adolescents of either sex. Forensic research indicates that a combination of ridge breadth and density would best identify the age and sex of individuals. To this end, we propose an identification framework to classify fingerprints grounded in experimental and forensic research. In this study, we classify 38 fingerprints on Early Bronze Age (EB) III pottery from the early urban neighborhood at Tell eṣ-Ṣâfi/Gath, Israel. Mean ridge breadth (MRB) and mean ridge density (MRD) are used to distinguish the age and sex of prints after accounting for the shrinkage of calcareous fabrics used to make four type of vessels. We apply a modified version of the Kamp et al. (1999) regression equation to the MRB for each individual print. The MRD data are correlated to comparable data from populations with appropriate ancestry to infer sex. When the results are combined, our analyses indicate that two thirds of the fingerprints were likely made by adult men and teenage boys and the remainder by adult women and adolescent girls. This result suggests that men or women were not exclusively making pottery at early urban centers in the Levant. This pattern contrasts a fingerprint study of post-state urban pottery production during the EB in northern Mesopotamia, which suggested women no longer made pottery after cities and states were established in the region.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6
Fig. 7
Fig. 8
Fig. 9
Fig. 10
Fig. 11
Fig. 12

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Acree, M. A. (1999). Is there a gender difference in fingerprint ridge density? Forensic Science International, 102(1), 35–44.

    Google Scholar 

  • Åström, P., & Erikson, S. (1980). Fingerprints in archaeology. Gothenburg: Paul Åströms.

    Google Scholar 

  • Athmania, D., Benaissa, A., Hammadi, A., & Bouassida, M. (2010). Clay and marl formation susceptibility in Mila Province, Algeria. Geotechnical and Geological Engineering, 28(6), 805–813.

    Google Scholar 

  • Baccour, H., Medhioub, M., Jamoussi, F., Mhiri, T., & Daoud, A. (2008). Mineralogical evaluation and industrial applications of the Triassic clay deposits, Southern Tunisia. Materials Characterization, 59, 1612–1622.

    Google Scholar 

  • Benco, N. L. (1988). Morphological standardization: an approach to the study of craft specialization. In C. C. Kolb & L. Lackey (Eds.), A pot for all reasons: ceramic ecology revisited (pp. 57–72). Philadelphia: Laboratory of Anthropology, Temple University.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bennison-Chapman, L. E., & Hager, L. D. (2018). Tracking the division of labour through handprints: applying reflectance transformation imaging (RTI) to clay ‘tokens’ in Neolithic West Asia. Journal of Archaeological Science, 99, 112–123.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ben-Shlomo, D. (2012). Provenience and technological studies of pottery. In A. M. Maeir (Ed.), Tell es-Safi/Gath I: the 1996–2005 seasons (pp. 383–428). Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz Verlag.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ben-Shlomo, D., Uziel, J., & Maeir, A. M. (2009). Pottery production at Tell es-Safi/Gath: a Longue Durée perspective. Journal of Archaeological Science, 36(10), 2258–2273.

    Google Scholar 

  • Blackman, M., Stein, G., & Vandiver, P. (1993). The standardization hypothesis and ceramic mass production: technological, compositional, and metric indexes of craft specialization at Tell Leilan, Syria. American Antiquity, 58(1), 60–80.

    Google Scholar 

  • Branigan, K., Papadatos, Y., & Wynn, D. (2002). Fingerprints on early Minoan pottery: a pilot study. Annual of the British School at Athens, 97, 49–53.

    Google Scholar 

  • Celik, H. (2010). Technological characterization and industrial application of two Turkish clays for the ceramic industry. Applied Clay Science, 50(2), 245–254.

    Google Scholar 

  • Clark, J., & Parry, W. J. (1990). Craft specialization and cultural complexity. Research in Economic Anthropology, 12, 289–346.

    Google Scholar 

  • Clark, J. E., & Houston, S. D. (1998). Craft specialization, gender and personhood among the post-conquest Maya of Yucatan, Mexico. Archeological Papers of the American Anthropological Association, 8, 31–46.

    Google Scholar 

  • Costin, C. L. (1991). Craft specialization: issues in defining, documenting, and explaining the organization of production. Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory, 3, 1–56.

    Google Scholar 

  • Costin, C. L. (2007). Thinking about production: phenomological classification and lexical semantics. Archaeological Papers of the American Anthropological Association, 17, 143–162.

    Google Scholar 

  • David, N., & Kramer, C. (2001). Ethnoarchaeology in action. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • de Miroschedji, P. (2006). At the dawn of history: sociopolitical developments in southwestern Canaan in Early Bronze Age III. In A. M. Maeir & P. de Miroschedji (Eds.), ‘I will speak the riddles of ancient times’: archaeological and historical studies in honor of Amihai Mazar on the occasion of his sixtieth birthday (pp. 55–78). Winona Lake, IN: Eisenbrauns.

    Google Scholar 

  • de Miroschedji, P. (2003). The late EB III palace B1 at Tel Yarmuth: a descriptive summary. Eretz-Israel, 27, 153–170.

    Google Scholar 

  • de Miroschedji, P. (2009). Rise and collapse in the southern Levant in the early bronze age. Scienze dell’antichità. Storia Archeologia Antropologia, 15, 101–129.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dhall, J. K., & Kapoor, A. K. (2016). Fingerprint ridge density as a potential forensic anthropological tool for sex identification. Journal of Forensic Sciences, 61(2), 424–429.

    Google Scholar 

  • Eliyahu-Behar, A., Shai, I., Regev, L., Ben-Shlomo, D., Albaz, S., Maeir, A. M., & Greenfield, H. J. (2017). Early Bronze Age pottery covered with lime-plaster: technological observations. Tel Aviv, 43, 27–42.

    Google Scholar 

  • Eltis, D., & Richardson, D. (2010). Atlas of the trans-Atlantic slave trade. New Haven: Connecticut, Yale University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Flad, R. K., & Hruby, Z. X. (2007). “Specialized” production in archaeological contexts: rethinking specialization, the social value of products, and the practice of production. Archeological Papers of the American Anthropological Association, 17, 1–19.

    Google Scholar 

  • Floris, G. U. (2012). On the breadth of dermal ridges in Sardinians. Journal of Biological Research, 85, 114–115.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fowler, K. D. (2008). Zulu pottery production in the lower Thukela Basin, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. Southern African Humanities, 20, 477–511.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gluckman, P. D., & Hanson, M. A. (2006). Evolution, development and timing of puberty. Trends in Endocrinology and Metabolism, 17(1), 7–12.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gosselain, O.P. (2002) Poteries du Cameroun méridional: styles techniques et rapports à l’identité. CRNS Éditions 26, Paris.

  • Greenfield, H.J., Shai, I. & Maeir, A.M. (2016) Understanding Early Bronze urban patterns from the perspective of an EB III commoner neighbourhood: the excavations at Tell eṣ-Ṣâfi/Gath, Israel. In: Proceedings of 9th International Congress on the Archaeology of the Ancient Near East (June 9–13, 2014, Basel), Vol. 3, (Eds, Stucky, R.A., Kaelin, O. & Mathys, H.-P.), pp. 1537–1551.

  • Greenfield, H. J., Shai, I., & Maeir, A. M. (2017). The Early Bronze Age domestic neighborhood at Tell eṣ-Ṣâfi/Gath. Near Eastern Archaeology, 80, 249–255.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gungadin, S. (2007). Sex determination from fingerprint ridge density. Internet Journal of Medical Updated, 2, 4–7.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gutérrez-Redomero, E., Alonso, M. C., & Dipierri, J. E. (2011). Sex differences in fingerprint ridge density in the Mataco-Mataguayo population. HOMO-Journal of Comparative Human Biology, 62(6), 487–499.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gutérrez-Redomero, E., Rivalderia, N., Alonso-Rodriguez, C., & Sánchez-Andrés, Á. (2014). Assessment of the methodology for estimating ridge density in fingerprints and its forensic application. Science and Justice, 54(3), 199–207.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gutiérrez-Redomero, E., Alonso, C., Romero, E., & Galera, V. (2008). Variability of fingerprint ridge density in a sample of Spanish Caucasians and its application to sex determination. Forensic Science International, 180(1), 17–22.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gutiérrez-Redomero, E., Quirós, J. A., Rivalderia, N., & Alonso, M. C. (2013a). Topological variability of fingerprint ridge density in a Sub-Saharan population sample for application in personal identification. Journal of Forensic Sciences, 58(3), 592–600.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gutiérrez-Redomero, E., Sánchez-Andrés, Á., Rivaldería, N., Alonso-Rodriguez, C., Dipierri, J. E., & Martín, L. M. (2013b). A comparative study of topological and sex differences in fingerprint ridge density in Argentinian and Spanish population samples. Journal of Forensic and Legal Medicine, 20(5), 419–429.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hagstrum, M. (1985). Measuring prehistoric craft specialization: a test case in the American Southwest. Journal of Field Archaeology, 12, 65–76.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hardy, T. (2006) The emergence of ceramic craft specialization during the Maya Formative Period: a petrographic investigation in Northern Belize. Senior thesis, Department of Anthropology, Yale University.

  • Hoard, R. J., O’Brian, M. J., Khorasgany, M. G., & Gopalaratnam, V. S. (1995). A materials-science approach to understanding limestone-tempered pottery from the midwestern United States. Journal of Archaeological Science, 22(6), 823–832.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kamp, K. A., Timmerman, N., Lind, G., Graybill, J., & Natowsky, I. (1999). Discovering childhood: using fingerprints to find children in the archaeological record. American Antiquity, 64(02), 309–315.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kanchan, T., Krishan, K., Aparna, K. R., & Shyamsundar, S. (2013). Is there a sex difference in palm print ridge density? Medicine, Science, and the Law, 53(1), 33–39.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kaur, R., & Garg, R. K. (2011). Determination of gender differences from fingerprint ridge density in two Northern Indian population. Problems of Forensic Sciences, 85, 5–10.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kilikoglou, V., Vekinis, G., Maniatis, Y., & Day, P. M. (1998). Mechanical performance of quartz-tempered ceramics: part I, strength and toughness. Archaeometry, 40(2), 261–279.

    Google Scholar 

  • Králík, M. (2000) Otisky prstů a dlaní na keramickém materiálu (fingerprints and palm-prints on ceramics). MSc thesis, Masaryk University.

  • Králík, M., & Novotný, V. (2003). Epidermal ridge breadth: an indicator of age and sex in palaeodermatoglyphics. Variability and Evolution, 11, 5–30.

    Google Scholar 

  • Krishan, K., Kanchan, T., & Ngangom, C. (2013). A study of sex differences in fingerprint ridge density in a North Indian young adult population. Journal of Forensic and Legal Medicine, 20(4), 217–222.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kumar, L., et al. (2013). Gender determination using fingerprints in the region of Uttarakhand. Journal of Indian Academy of Forensic Medicine, 35, 308–311.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lazaridis, I., Nadel, D., Rollefson, G., Merrett, D. C., Rohland, N., Mallick, S., Fernandes, D., Novak, M., Gamarra, B., Sirak, K., Connell, S., Stewardson, K., Harney, E., Fu, Q., Gonzalez-Fortes, G., Jones, E. R., Roodenberg, S. A., Lengyel, G., Bocquentin, F., Gasparian, B., Monge, J. M., Gregg, M., Eshed, V., Mizrahi, A. S., Meiklejohn, C., Gerritsen, F., Bejenaru, L., Blüher, M., Campbell, A., Cavalleri, G., Comas, D., Froguel, P., Gilbert, E., Kerr, S. M., Kovacs, P., Krause, J., McGettigan, D., Merrigan, M., Merriwether, D. A., O'Reilly, S., Richards, M. B., Semino, O., Shamoon-Pour, M., Stefanescu, G., Stumvoll, M., Tönjes, A., Torroni, A., Wilson, J. F., Yengo, L., Hovhannisyan, N. A., Patterson, N., Pinhasi, R., & Reich, D. (2016). Genomic insights into the origin of farming in the ancient near east. Nature, 536(7617), 419–424.

    Google Scholar 

  • Levy-Reifer, A., 2012 The Early Bronze Age in the Judean Shephelah, pp. 557–566. In: A. M. Maeir (ed) Tell eṣ-Ṣâfi/Gath I. Report on the 1996–2005 Seasons. Ägypten und Altes Testament 69. Harrassowitz Verlag, Wiesbaden.

  • Levy-Reifer, A. (2016). Settlement processes during the Early Bronze Age in the Judean Shephelah (in Hebrew with English abstract). Cathedra, 161, 7–36.

    Google Scholar 

  • London, Gloria and Robert Shuster (2011) Calcite: a hard habit to break. In: Daily life, materiality, and complexity in early urban communities of the southern Levant. Papers in honor of Walter E. Rast and R. Thomas Schaub (Ed, Chesson, M.S., Aufrecht, W.E., Kuijt, I., Rast, W.E. and R.T. Schaub. Eisenbrauns, Winona Lake, Ind.

  • Maeir, A. M. (2008). Zafit, Tel. In E. Stern (Ed.), The new encyclopedia of archaeological excavations in the Holy Land (pp. 2079–2081). Jerusalem: Israel Exploration Society.

    Google Scholar 

  • Maeir, A. M. (2012). Tell es-Safi/Gath 1: the 1996–2005 Seasons. Part 1: text. Weisbaden: Harrassowitz Verlag.

    Google Scholar 

  • Maeir, A. M. (2013). Gath. In D. M. Master (Ed.), The Oxford Encylopedia of the Bible and Archaeology (pp. 443–451). New York: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Maeir, A. M., Shai, I., & Horwitz, L. K. (2011). Like a lion in cover’: a cylinder seal from Early Bronze Age III Tell eṣ-Ṣâfi/Gath, Israel. Israel Exploration Journal, 61, 12–31.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nanakorn, S., & Kutanan, W. (2013). Variability of finger ridge density among Thai adolescents. Journal of Forensic Research, Special Issue, 1, 1.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nayak, V. C., Rastogi, P., Kanchan, T., Yoganarasimha, K., Kumar, G. P., & Menezes, R. G. (2010). Sex differences from fingerprint ridge density in Chinese and Malaysian population. Forensic Science International, 197(1-3), 67–69.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nithin, M. D., Manjunatha, B., Preethi, D. S., & Balaraj, B. M. (2011). Gender differentiation by finger ridge count among south Indian population. Journal of Forensic and Legal Medicine, 18(2), 79–81.

    Google Scholar 

  • Oktem, H., Kurkcuoglu, A., Pelin, I. C., Yazici, A. C., Aktaş, G., & Altunay, F. (2015). Sex differences in fingerprint ridge density in a Turkish young adult population: a sample of Baskent University. Journal of Forensic and Legal Medicine, 32, 34–38.

    Google Scholar 

  • Patterson, T. C. (2005). Craft specialization, the reorganization of production relations and state formation. Journal of Social Archaeology, 5(3), 307–337.

    Google Scholar 

  • Penrose, L. S. (1968). Memorandum on dermatoglyphic nomenclature. Birth Defects Original Article Series, 4, 1–13.

    Google Scholar 

  • Peters, T., & Iberg, R. (1978). Mineralogical changes during firing of calcium-rich brick clays. American Ceramic Society Bulletin, 57, 503–506.

    Google Scholar 

  • Promoponmaung, P., & Nanakorn, S. (2012). Finger ridge density of northeast Thai population. Khon Kean Journal of Science, 40, 52–58.

    Google Scholar 

  • Quinn, P. S. (2013). Ceramic petrography: the interpretation of archaeological pottery and related artefacts in thin section. Oxford: Archaeopress.

    Google Scholar 

  • Reedy, C. L. (2008). Thin-section petrography of stone and ceramic cultural materials. London: Archeotype.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rice, P. M. (2015). Pottery analysis: a sourcebook. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ross, J., & Ben-Shlomo, D. (2017). Ceramic vessel production and use at Early Bronze Age Tell eṣ-Ṣâfi/Gath. Near Eastern Archaeology, 80, 276–278.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ross, J., Fowler, K. D., Shai, I., Greenfield, H., & Maeir, A. (2018). A scanning method for the identification of pottery forming techniques at the mesoscopic scale: a pilot study in the manufacture of Early Bronze Age III holemouth jars and platters from Tell es-Safi/Gath. Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports, 18, 551–561.

    Google Scholar 

  • Roux, V., & Corbetta, D. (1989). The potter’s wheel: craft specialization and technical competence. New Delhi: Oxford and IBH Publishing Co. Pvt. Ltd.

    Google Scholar 

  • Roux, V., & Courty, M.-A. (1998). Identification of wheel-fashioning methods: technological analysis of 4th-3rd millennium BC oriental ceramics. Journal of Archaeological Science, 25(8), 747–763.

    Google Scholar 

  • Roux, V., & de Miroschedji, P. (2009). Revisiting the history of the potter’s wheel in the Southern Levant. Levant, 41, 155–173.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sanders, A. (2015). Fingerprints, sex, state, and the organization of the Tell Leilan ceramic industry. Journal of Archaeological Science, 57, 223–238.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schortman, E. M., & Urban, P. M. (2004). Modeling the role of craft production in ancient political economies. Journal of Archaeological Research, 12(2), 185–226.

    Google Scholar 

  • Shai, I., & Uziel, J. (2010). The why and why nots of writing: literacy and illiteracy in the southern Levant during the Bronze Ages. Kaskal, 7, 67–83.

    Google Scholar 

  • Shai, I., Greenfield, H. J., Eliyahu-Behar, A., Regev, J., Boaretto, E., & Maeir, A. M. (2014). The Early Bronze Age remains at Tell es-Safi/Gath: an interim report. Tel Aviv, 41(1), 20–49.

    Google Scholar 

  • Shai, I., Chadwick, J. R., Welch, E., Katz, J., Greenfield, H. J., & Maeir, A. M. (2016). The Early Bronze Age fortifications at Tell eṣ-Ṣâfi/Gath, Israel. Palestine Exploration Quarterly, 148(1), 42–58.

    Google Scholar 

  • Soanboon, P., Nanakorn, S., & Kutanan, W. (2016). Determination of sex difference from fingerprint ridge density in northeastern Thai teenagers. Egyptian Journal of Forensic Sciences, 6(2), 185–193.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stark, M. T. (2003). Current issues in ceramic ethnoarchaeology. Journal of Archaeological Research, 11(3), 193–242.

    Google Scholar 

  • Suthiprapha, I., Riengrojpitak, S. & Tiensuwan, M. (2010) Fingerprint ridge density and characteristics in Thais. In: Proceedings of the National Conference for Research Presentation, Abstract, 1–8.

  • Tite, M. S., Kilikoglou, V., & Vekinis, G. (2001). Strength, toughness and thermal shock resistance of ancient ceramics, and their influence on technological choice. Archaeometry, 43(3), 301–324.

    Google Scholar 

  • Uziel, J., & Maeir, A. M. (2005). Scratching the surface at Gath: implication of the Tell eṣ-Ṣâfi/Gath surface survey. Tel Aviv, 32(1), 50–75.

    Google Scholar 

  • Uziel, J., & Maeir, A. M. (2012a). The Early Bronze Age III pottery from Area E. In A. M. Maeir (Ed.), Tell es-Safi/Gath 1: the 1996–2005 seasons. Part 1: text (pp. 235–238). Weisbaden: Harrassowitz Verlag.

    Google Scholar 

  • Uziel, J., & Maeir, A. M. (2012b). The location, size and periods settlement at Tell eṣ-Ṣâfi/Gath: the surface survey results. In A. M. Maeir (Ed.), Tell eṣ-Ṣâfi/Gath I. Report on the 1996–2005 seasons (pp. 173–181). Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz Verlag.

    Google Scholar 

  • Uziel, J., Shai, I., & Cassuto, D. (2014). The ups and downs of settlement patterns: why sites fluctuate. In C. S. Spencer, R. A. Mullins, & A. J. Brody (Eds.), Material culture matters: essays on the archaeology of the southern Levant in honor of Seymour Gitin (pp. 295–308). Winona Lake, IN: Eisenbrauns.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wailes, B. (1996). Craft specialization and social evolution: in memory of V. Gordon Childe. Philadelphia: The University of Pennsylvania Museum.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wallaert-Pêtre, H. (2001). Learning how to make the right pots: apprenticeship strategies and material culture, a case study in handmade pottery from Cameroon. Journal of Anthropological Research, 57(4), 471–493.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wendrich, W. (2012). Archaeology and apprenticeship: body knowledge, identity, and communities of practice. Tucson: Arizona University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Yuen, K. K. (1974). The two-sample trimmed t for unequal population variances. Biometrika, 61(1), 165–170.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

The authors thank the staff and many volunteers on the Tell eṣ-Ṣâfi/Gath Archaeological Project. KF and EW would like to thank the volunteers who provided prints for the pilot study that assessed the methods. Special thanks must be extended to Shira Albaz for her unstinting patience and efforts in cataloging Area E pottery and sharing data on the Early Bronze typology for the Tell eṣ-Ṣâfi/Gath assemblage. Infrastructure and funding for the research was through the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (410-2009-1303 to HG and 895-2011-1005 to HG and AM), The University of Manitoba, St. Paul’s College, Bar-Ilan University, and a University of Manitoba Undergraduate Research Award to EW.

Data and Materials Availability

All data are available in the main text or the supplementary materials.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Anthropology and Ceramic Technology Laboratory, The University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Canada

    Kent D. Fowler, Elizabeth Walker, Haskel J. Greenfield & Jon Ross

  2. St. John’s College, The University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Canada

    Kent D. Fowler & Elizabeth Walker

  3. Department of Anthropology, The University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Canada

    Kent D. Fowler

  4. St. Paul’s College, Near Eastern Biblical Archaelogy Laboratory, The University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Canada

    Haskel J. Greenfield & Jon Ross

  5. The Institute of Archaeology, The Martin (Szusz) Department of Land of Israel Studies and Archaeology, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat Gan, Israel

    Aren M. Maeir

Authors
  1. Kent D. Fowler
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Elizabeth Walker
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Haskel J. Greenfield
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Jon Ross
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Aren M. Maeir
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Contributions

KF designed the study; KF and EW conducted the data collection and analysis; JR collected sherds for study and provided the specific typology, fabric, and contextual data provided in Table 2; and HG and AM directed the excavations, provided the ceramics for analysis, and placed the results in broader cultural and chronological context; all authors contributed to writing the final paper.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Kent D. Fowler.

Ethics declarations

Competing Interests

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Additional information

Publisher’s Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Fowler, K.D., Walker, E., Greenfield, H.J. et al. The Identity of Potters in Early States: Determining the Age and Sex of Fingerprints on Early Bronze Age Pottery from Tell eṣ-Ṣâfi/Gath, Israel. J Archaeol Method Theory 26, 1470–1512 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10816-019-09419-9

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10816-019-09419-9

Keywords

Search

Navigation