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General Description
Kura-Araxes refers to the region where this ware originated. The term is to be preferred to Early Transcaucasian, which is an older term and reflects an outsider’s point of view. The code ETC is maintained for simplicity sake.
Kura-Araxes pottery is very rare at Mozan. Examples are gray-brown with occasionaly red-orange sherds. In sites from the Kura-Araxes area there are pbvisouly many different wares; in our system this category subsumes different ware types, because of the paucity of material.
Kura-Araxes Ware is part of the Imitation and Imported Wares Group.
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Characteristics
| Basis for Definition | AK, A14a21, F1, A16. |
| Identifying Attributes | In the typical bowls the interior and much of the exterior is gray-brown with very few red-orange sherds. Jars exhibit less firing control and have variously red, gray, and gray-brown areas. |
| Temper | Much organic and small mineral temper. |
| Firing | Medium. |
| Firing Cloud | Sometimes uneven color on the surface. |
| Carbon Core | Usual. |
| Surface Treatment | Very highly polished. |
| Wall Thickness | ca 5mm. |
| Manufacturing Techniques | Contrast between coarse pottery and very highly polished surface. |
| Shapes |
Small and medium bowls (size range: rim d ca 18-20 cm). Medium bowl (size range: rim d ca 18-23 cm). Deep bowl (size range: rim d ca 20-30 cm). Small carinated bowls. |
| Burnishe | Space burnished on the poorer examples. |
| Polished | Highly polished on many examples. |
| Decoration | No. |
| Distribution | Few sherds of this ware at Mozan. |
| Comments | The Mozan examples are mainly black and grey, few reddish-tan examples, we have no orange, red or bichrome examples. Probably imported from the Elazig area where there are a large number of varieties in this type not found at Mozan. . |
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Sherd Illustrations
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Exteriors
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Interiors
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Sections
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