Efforts have been made to study the pottery in such a way that typological, stylistic, technological and compositional data are integrated as fully as possible. In terms of assessing composition, the initial aim has been the characterisation of local as opposed to non-local production, for all different periods of occupation from EB II to Byzantine. This far from simple task achieved, the next step has been to try and understand patterns of resource utilisation and the organisation of production locally. To facilitate this, a number of clay, sand and rock samples were taken to provide data on the variety and distribution of local resources. The study of non-local wares is in some senses a secondary priority, although attempts to ascertain possible origins of non-local wares take up a disproportionate amount of time. Therefore the RLWm issue falls into two broader contexts: that of a much wider temporal study, and that of trying to understand local patterns of production.
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