Pottery from Halat Aobeer and Hazem Al-Jasrah, Qatar

In this paper the results of investigations on six archaeological ceramic sherds of the most common Islamic earthenware from the site of Halat Aobeer and Hazam Al-Jasrah are presented. The data was obtained by using a multi-analytical approach, comprising chemical and mineralogical analyses. External features were investigated by optical and scanning electron microscopy (OM, SEM) while the chemical composition of the pottery surfaces was analysed by X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy (XRF) in order to obtain information about the production technologies employed in the past. The results showed not unexpectedly that the sherds were different in shape, style, and composition and the diversity of ceramics can be regarded as evidence for economically prosperous communities.