Late Bronze Age II pottery tradition from Qatna: The Palace Destruction Phase evidenced in Areas Q and T

The final phase of the Late Bronze Age (LBA) is well known from textual sources, through the documentation from Ugarit especially, and more recently through the discoveries from many sites in Western Syria, such as Tell Kazel, Tell Afis and Alalakh in the Amuq. Conversely, the evidence from the region of Homs, including Qatna and its surroundings is relatively poorly known. Recent archaeological investigations at Qatna have provided new data concerning the LBA occupation, particularly with regard to architecture and ceramic production.

The areas excavated by the Syrian team, the ‘Coupole de Loth’ and Area T, are among the most important at Qatna for this period and show all the features characterizing the LBA II, from its emergence (1400 BC) to the destruction of the city by Suppiluliuma I around 1340 BC. The substantial amount of stratified material discovered there has been the subject of detailed research and allows us to propose a new chronology for the last phase of the LBA in Qatna and the surrounding region. This paper presents initial results of the typological and petrographic analyses conducted on the previously unpublished ceramic assemblage discovered at the ‘Coupole de Loth’ and Area T.

As a result we can follow closely the evolution of the various stages of development of the Late Bronze Age ceramics and shed light on the typological and compositional features of LBA ceramic production.