Gunneweg, Jan, Perlman, I. and Asaro, F. 1994, Interregional contacts between Tell en-Nasbeh and littoral Philistine centres in Canaan during Early Iron Age I, Archaeometry 36, 227-239 It is interesting in itself that somewhere in the hill country of early Israel (Iron Age !), there is a site (Tell en-Nasbeh) that made its own Philistine pottery that hitherto has only been found in Ashdod, Ekron and in Tel Qasile that produced their own Philistine ware. The Philistine Bichrome pottery that reached Tell en-Nasbeh from the south coast of Israel is probably due to trade relations. This means that, though Tel en-Nasbeh is situated in the Benjaminite hills, it surely had relations with the land of the Philistines. This study proves once again that stylistic studies alone cannot give definitive clues of what pottery is locally made and what is brought in from elsewhere. Gunneweg, Jan and Marta Balla How Neutron Activation Analysis Can Assist Research into the Provenance of the Pottery at Qumran. In Historical Perspectives: From the Hasmoneans to Bar Kokhba in Light of the Dead Sea Scrolls. Proceedings of the Fourth International Symposium of the Orion Center for the Study of the Dead Sea Scrolls and Associated Literature, 27-31 January 1999, eds. David Goodblatt, Avital Pinnick, and Daniel R. Schwartz, 179-185. STDJ 37. Leiden: Brill, 2001. Our research established that by means of neutron activation we were able to determine that the Jar with the Roma inscriptions was made in Qumran and not that the jar was brought in from Rome or any other place, certainly not from Jerusalem as some may think. Comments? Please write: Jan Gunneweg To return, click Archaeometry abstracts of our work or click "BACK" or click the Homepage . Jan Gunneweg Ph.D., The Hebrew University, revised November 2005