Editorial handling by R. Fuge a b s t r a c tLead isotope analyses were carried out on fragments of White Slip II ware, a Late Bronze Age Cypriote pottery ware, and on raw materials possibly used for their production. Sherds originate from three Late Bronze Age sites (Hala Sultan Tekke and Sanidha in Cyprus and Minet el-Beida in Syria) and clays come from the surroundings of Sanidha, a production site for White Slip ware. X-ray fluorescence (XRF) and a Principal Component Analysis (PCA) are combined with Pb isotope analyses to further investigate the effectiveness of the latter method within a multiproxy approach for pottery provenance study. The pottery sherds from the three sites are compared between themselves and with potential raw material. Additional X-ray diffraction (XRD) and analyses using a scanning electron microscope (SEM) equipped with an energy dispersive X-ray detection (EDX) facility were performed on selected sherds and clays. This work confirms that the clay source used for pottery production in Sanidha derives from local weathered gabbro. It also shows that different origins can be proposed for White Slip II ware sherds from Hala Sultan Tekke and Minet el-Beida and that clays were prepared prior to White Slip II ware production. It finally confirms the effectiveness of Pb isotopes in tracing pottery provenance not only by comparing sherd assemblages but also by comparing sherds to potential raw materials.

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Archaeological interpretations of ancient economies have been strengthened by chemical analyses of ceramics, which provide the clearest evidence for economic activity, and comprise both the objects of exchange and its means. Pottery is often manufactured from local materials, but its compositional diversity typically prevents significant patterns of resource utilization from being identified. Centrally located and positioned on traditional shipping routes, Cyprus maintained ties with and supplied a variety of distinctive ceramic products to the major commercial centres in the eastern Mediterranean throughout Antiquity. We analysed two Cypriot fine wares and a variety of utilitarian pottery, as well as samples of extant Cypriot clays to determine source provenance. These chemical analyses provide an objective indication of the origins of ancient (Bronze Age and Roman) ceramics manufactured on Cyprus. The distribution of the probable clay sources and the links between pottery style and the material environment also afford a perspective on the spatial organization of large-scale pottery production on the island. Compositional analysis provides the means to assemble geographies of pottery production and to unravel the interregional system of exchange that operated in Antiquity, but the ability to accomplish these tasks is predicated on systematic analyses of ceramic products and raw materials that are found far beyond the bounds of individual archaeological sites.

The lead isotope composition of 45 sherds of six different pottery wares from the Eastern Mediterranean and dating from the Late Hellenistic -Late Roman period is analysed and compared to data obtained on ceramics and clays from the Eastern Mediterranean. These sherds were previously analysed by neutron activation and the origin and relationship between the wares has been debated in the literature. The results show that lead isotopes support earlier hypotheses proposed based on NAA or answer questions left unanswered by NAA concerning the origin and relationships between these wares. The lead isotopic data complement the NAA and the results also confirm the effectiveness of lead isotope analysis in discriminating among different wares from production centres in the Eastern Mediterranean.

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