ממצא כלי החרס מהתקופה הביזנטית בפי מצובה

The pottery finds retrieved from the buildings excavated at Pi Maẓuva (see Cinamon and Lerer, this volume) originated in accumulations (L300, L315, L326, L333, L602) and in stone collapses (L304); some were surface finds (L101, L103). Most of the vessels date to the late Byzantine period. Vessels from other periods are presented in Fig. 1, without further discussion, including specimens dating from the Hellenistic (Fig. 1:1) and Umayyad (Fig. 1:2–8) periods. The Byzantine-period assemblage comprises local and imported vessels. The local vessels (Figs. 2–6) include bowls (Fig. 2:1, 2); kraters (Fig. 2:3–7); cooking pots (Fig. 3), one of them is a handle incised with a cross (Fig. 3:9); store jars (Fig. 4:1–7) and their lids (Fig. 4:8–10); pithoi (Fig. 5); and mold-made oil lamps (Fig. 6). The imported vessels (Figs. 7–11) comprise red-slipped bowls and amphorae. Bowls of ARS ware (Fig. 7) include two decorated body fragments: one (Fig. 7:2) adorned with a cross, and the other (Fig. 7:3), with a human figure holding a staff within a circle; both were dated to the sixth century CE. Bowls of CRS ware (Fig. 8) comprise several subtypes. The Late Roman C ware, later termed Phocaean Red Slip ware (Figs. 9, 10), comprised two decorated body fragments: one (Fig. 10:4) bearing a cross stamp, and the other (Fig. 10:5), a roulette decoration surrounding a floral pattern, in the center of which is a double circle enclosing a cross. The pottery from Pi Maẓuva shows a clear affinity with assemblages dated to the late Byzantine period at nearby sites in the Western Galilee. The Pi Maẓuva assemblage comprises a rather large quantity of imported bowls and amphorae, possibly suggesting the existence of dwellings and storehouses for agricultural produce at the site.