La ceramica: segno e/o effetto di coabitazioni? Il caso di Kefar Hananya (Israele)

The study of ethnicity is a rather controversial field in con- temporary archaeological research. To recognize ancient cultures through the archaeological remains is often seen as inadequate. The ethnological observation has shown that in pre-modern societies patterns of behavior related to the food survive for a long time, although radical changes in so- cial and cultural life of the people have occurred: this is therefore a stable phenomenon, because the pottery used for kitchen is specialized and hard- ly changeable. We must also pay attention to the problem of the distinction between social context of production of the manufacture and consumption of the same social context. A full understanding of the social significance of ceramics is not reached by studying the production environment alone. Once left the production context, the pottery does not preserve social boundaries. A good example is constituted by the pottery produced at the Kefar Hananya site, in the area of ancient Galilee: this center was able to impose for many centuries (from the first century BC to the sixth century AD) its products in the Galilee and the Golan, but also in areas not adminis- tered or mainly occupied by Jewish populations, such as Transjordan area, mainly inhabited by various Semitic peoples and descendants of Greek and Roman settlers.