Atlas of the Assyrian Pottery of the Iron Age

Assyrian pottery of the eleventh to sixth centuries BC holds a special place in Near Easter archaeology, explains Anastasio (Near Eastern archaeology, U. of Siena), because its wide diffusion reflects the expansion of the first real empire in Western Asia and is well characterized in terms of typology, manufacturing, and decoration. Drawing on his preliminary research on Upper Mesopotamia, he identifies and describes caches of Iron Age Assyrian pottery, and links them to sites on his maps of the region. He also includes an atlas of diagnostic types and diagnostic assemblages. There is no index. Distributed in North America by The David Brown Book Co. Annotation c2010 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Stefano Anastasio is in charge of the "Laboratory of Near Eastern Archaeology" of the University of Siena, Italy. Currently, he participates in the project "Building Archaeology in Jordan" of the University of Siena at the site of Umm es-Sarab (Jordan). He studied and published Assyrian pottery assemblages from Qasr Shamamok (Iraq) and from Tell Barri and a survey in the Khabur region (Syria).