A Pottery Study Approach to Small Find Analyses: The Zoomorphic Clay Figurines from Tell Abraq
Résumé
Recent excavations at Tell Abraq (Umm Al-Quwain, UAE) yielded an unexpectedly rich corpus of zoomorphic clay figurines, ranging in date from the beginning of the Iron Age II period (c. 1100/1000 BC) to the Late Pre-Islamic Period (up to the 2nd–3rd century AD). With a few exceptions coming from stratified contexts, the majority was found in disturbed, superficial sand layers not linked with any occupational remains. Nevertheless, all the fragments were studied and will be presented here. Some are of difficult interpretation due to excessive fragmentation, yet all the figurines but one could be identified as representing either horses or camels, despite the fact that more than half of them consists of isolated animal legs that could not be re-joined to the body. At the basis of these results stands the application of methods traditionally used for pottery studies – such as fabrics characterization and technological analysis - that allowed the inclusion of the figurines into a chrono- typology that is not based solely on morpho-stylistic analysis. The results show the perdurable fashion of the represented subjects, while highlighting the changing materials and techniques used to create these figurines over time, arguably mirroring the changing taste of the communities to which these products were destined. At the same time, they offer an insight into possible contact with, and influences from, the wider Arabian Peninsula and beyond – finally underlining the importance of this class of ʻsmall findsʼ.
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