Book Review: Palestinian Traditional Pottery: A Contribution to Palestinian Culture: A Fieldwork Study

Charles C. Kolb, Honorary Associate Editor for Archaeological Ceramic

Palestinian Traditional Pottery: A Contribution to Palestinian Culture: A Fieldwork Study, 1972-1980. John E. Landgraf and Owen Rye; Elizabeth Burr, Jean-Baptiste Humbert, Owen Rye, and Hamed Salem (eds.). Series: Cahiers de la Revue Biblique 101, Cahiers de la Revue Biblique, Series Archaeologica 3. Leuven: Peeters Publishers, 2021. xxxi + 329 pp. ISBN Print ISBN: 9789042947085, 904294708, XPrint ISBN: 9789042947085, 904294708X, eText, ISBN: 9789042947092.

This unique monograph documents in both text and image the disappeared and disappearing craft of traditional pottery making by Palestinian women and men potters. The two primary authors, an American born in Highland Park, Michigan, John Elsemore Landgraf (1928-2017), who undertook ethnographic and archaeological field work in Palestine in 1970s, while the Australian, Owen Rye (b. 1944), Cooma, New South Wales, Australia, a studio potter/ceramic artist who is at the forefront of the contemporary international wood firing movement and contributed to ceramic ethnoarchaeology with field studies in Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, and Palestine, the latter 1973-1978. They are two very different, yet complementary, researchers and authors, both interested in pottery traditions and employed techniques of social anthropology. For various unexplained reasons, this material lay dormant over four decades in the possession of Owen Rye. Friends and colleagues have resurrected, edited, and published these studies.

The late John Landgraf graduated from Michigan State College in 1950 with a B.S. in botany, earning an M.S. in horticulture there in 1952. Drafted into the U.S. Army in 1953, he served with the Medical Corps in Washington, D.C., until 1955. In 1962 he completed his doctorate in molecular biology at the University of Tübingen in Germany. He then did graduate study at

Tübingen in biblical archaeology, history, and theology. In the Netherland, Landgraf was influenced by H. J. Franken and Jan Kalsbeek and studied Bronze and Iron Age ceramics as well as contemporary potters. From 1965 to 1980, he lived in Jerusalem working as an archaeologist and unofficial social worker and collected information on women potters.

Owen Rye earned a B.Sc. with first Class Honors (major in craft ceramics) in 1965 at the University of New South Wales, Sydney, and his doctorate at NSW in 1970 with a thesis “The use of Australian raw materials in the development of porcelain bodies and glazes.” Rye is best known for several major studies in ceramics: Owen S. Rye coauthored with Clifford Evans, Traditional Pottery Techniques in Pakistan (1976), Smithsonian Contributions to Anthropology 21, Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution Press (reprinted in Pakistan 1988); Pottery Technology. Principles and Reconstructions (1981), Manuals on Archaeology 4, Washington, DC: Taraxacum (reprinted 1987 and 1994). His studies in Palestine were undertaken during three field seasons between 1973 and 1978. He received the Society for American Archaeology Award for Ceramic Studies in 2000 and in 2010 was elected to the International Academy of Ceramics (Sėvres Museum), Paris, France. See also: https://www.owenrye.com/resume/rsum-long

The monograph focuses on two very different traditions: The first is designated “First Part,” authored by Landgraf, and focused on Palestinian women potters who fabricated handmade vessels primarily for household use – a tradition that was being abandoned and would soon end.

The “Second Part” by Rye featured Palestinian male potters creating quantities of wheel-thrown pottery in workshops in a tradition that continues into the new millennium. The volume begins with appreciations by Linda Ammons (a cultural anthropologist who was studying a West Bank village at the same time Landgraf was conducting his research) and Claudine Dauphin (a French archaeologist working on Byzantine era Palestine); a “Forward” by Jean-Baptiste Humbert (pp. ix-xi) and a 2019 preface by Elizabeth Burr (who studied potters at Sinjil), as well as John Landgraf (1999), and Owen Rye (2019) (pp. xvi-xx). An informative “Introduction” by Hamed Salem (pp. xxi-xxvi), an archaeologist who conducted fieldwork beginning in the 1980s, provided a brief archaeological background about Palestine, a review of fieldwork and publications (he cites seven of his publications), commenting on socioeconomic constraints, procurement of resources, the production sequence (workplace, clay preparation, forming and decorating techniques, and firing), cessation and adaptation of the craft, and “interpretations and use of the present to understand the past. This is a very fine summary and valuable contribution to the book. I mention these essays because collectively they provide significant context about Landgraf as a scholar and that Landgraf and Rye worked together since 1974, combining their research talents as they visited villages and urban center, particularly Deir ‘Alla.

Another “Introduction” by John Landgraf and Owen Rye (pp. xxvii-xxxi) focused on a definition of the term “traditional,” archaeological and ethnographical connections, and locations of pottery making. The authors also discuss the traditions of male and female potters, with the former fabricating handmade vessels – a tradition that died out – and men who made pottery on the wheel – a tradition that survived. The introductory material also includes color maps: “Map: Historic Palestine in 1967” (p. 2) and “Map” Distribution of potters’ sites, most of them in the Palestine Territories, in 1977” (p. 3).

“End of a tradition: Palestine’s women potters” by John Landgraf (pp. 5-25. Figs. 1.1-1.11). The handmade tradition produced primarily cooking pots and water storage vessels were fabricated always by women. Landgraf noted the transition from handmade to wheel-made pottery occurred at the same time as the introduction and impact of electricity. The collection and preparation of raw materials included the use of various tempers: crushed limestone temper, grog plus chaff, grog plus crushed calcite, and crushed calcite. The tempers are related to desired firing characteristics in the production of water jars and cooking pots. Kiln versus open firings are reviewed and fuels included cow, donkey, and sheep/goat dung. Five principles of firing are reported (pp. 23-24).

“Women potters in ten West Bank villages (pp. 26-144). Landgraf begins this section with a discussion of the impacts of the 1948 and 1976 wars on village life when the Israeli’s blew up Palestinian housing in retaliation and ultimately appropriate 70% of Palestinian land for their own uses. The first group of villages, Dura, Fuqeiqis and Beit ‘Awwa (pp. 26-35, figs. 2.1-2.58), features the production of water jars and vessel forms that are no longer made. Among these were bowls for tanning hides, oil lamps, cosmetic pallets, and canteens as pottery making became an “occasional” craft. The raw materials used included local clays plus crushed calcite and wheat chaff temper; crushed calcite was a main ingredient in cooking pots. Clay body preparation and forming techniques, featured a clay disc base fashioned on cleared ground and large strips of clay added as the potter moves around the vessel. A pit firing from Fuqeiqis in 1976 is documented.

The fabrication of vessels at Beit ‘Anan (pp. 36-55, figs 2.7-2.27) is, likewise described, including raw materials (local clay with crushed calcite temper), clay body preparation, forming techniques (slab and coil building), adding neck rims and handles for water jars, and forming cooking pots using grog temper. A water jar firing on level ground is recorded (including a firing graph and many images), and three different jar forms described. Fuels included animal dung and refuse. A comparison of cooking pot manufacture from Beit ‘Anan and al Jib is also presented. Firing cooking pots in the latter village utilized Opuntia cactus leaves (this non-native cactus had been imported from Mexico beginning in the 1500s.). Enamel painted decoration is added using chicken feathers as brushes to some post-fired vessels. Potting at al Jib (pp. 56-67, figs 2.28- 2.48) focuses on two potters, the local clay source, crushed calcite temper, the five stages of pot forming (hand built using slabs on a disk), incised decoration, and firing in shallow pits fueled by a dwarf shrub (Sarcopoterium) common to the southeast Mediterranean region and the Middle East.

Landgraf’s Beitunia village potting report from 1976 (pp. 68-78, figs.n2.49-2.58) is augmented by a Excursus: “Handmade Pottery of the Peasant Women from Ramallah and Surroundings [1914]” written by Lydia Einsler (pp. 68-72, translated by Landgraf from the original German language publication). Three potters working in 1976 made water jars with grog temper, forming the coiled vessels in stages on a woven straw tray, and slip painted. A comparison with the 1914 report indicates changes in forming techniques and added painted decoration. The firing report in 1976 also lists vessel types, numbers fired, and breakage. From Sinjil (pp. 79-99, figs 3.1-3.42) we are informed about clay sources including location, land ownership and depth of source below the surface. Clay body preparation included grog temper made from crushed soft (low fired) archaeological potsherds with fabrication on straw trays. Water jars were formed in four stages, handles attached, then covered with cream-colored slip and decorated with red pigment called migre brought from northern Jordan. Fuel and firing relied on dung cakes (cow and sheep/goat) with straw as well as burlap bags, discarded clothing and shoes. Lansgraf recorded three separate shallow pit firings in 1975 observing that the excessive use of straw resulted in higher breakage. The focus on water jars ignored the manufacture of other vessel forms with specific painted designs using donkey hair tail paint brushes.

Three potters from the village of Qusra (pp. 100-115, figs. 3.43-3.69) were studied. Raw materials and clay body preparations for water jars were similar to other documented villages, with slab-building on trays, the addition of handles, slipping, but no painting. Firing utilized cow manure and straw and the observed firing was of six large jars and one bowl. The forming of cooking pots utilized an old broken clay cooking vessel or metal pan as a mold. Qabalan potters (pp. 116-126, figs 3.70-3.83) used clay tempered with grog and crushed calcite for cooking pots or chaff in forming water jars. Vessels were fired in shallow pits with sheep/goat dung as fuel in one recorded firing in 1976. Kafr al Labad (pp. 127-132, figs. 3.84-3.94) women made a variety of forms: cooking pots with two vertical or two horizontal handles, flat ceramic plates with two horizontal handles used as frying pans and coffee roasting pans, and round-bottom bowls with a basket handle. The forming techniques were recorded in detail and included coiling, with some coils up to 6 cm in diameter and 30 cm in length. Two Ya’bad potters (pp. 133-143, figs. 3.95- 3.111) utilized calcite crushed in stone hand mills for temper and reported that crushed limestone was not used as a temper because it resulted in cracking and vessel loss. Slab-building was used to form a variety of vessels: cooking pot, charcoal brazier, and frying pan/coffee roaster with handles, slipped, and sometimes burnished. A footed bowl and foot-washing bowls were also made. Firing was done in a sheltered bonfire in the corner of a courtyard with twigs and dung cakes, and sometimes kerosene used as fuel.

“Survival of a tradition: Palestine’s male potters” by Owen Rye (pp. 145-163, figs. 4.1-4.12) begins with an “Overview of the tradition” (pp. 145-161. Figs 4.13-4.33). Rye characterizes “tradition” as homogeity over time in producing consistent vessel forms, forming techniques, kiln designs, and firing techniques. Workshops in Palestine were located on the outskirts of towns and had one or two master potters (usually sons) with outsiders who prepared the clay and occasionally would become master potters. Clay was delivered in truckloads, and Rye provided information about types of clays and their locations, and noted that men, by comparison to the women potters, had few clay sources and used one type of clay which had to be refined to remove grit; sand was added as temper and measured by volume rather than weight. The potter’s wheel was used to make all vessels, and Rye has a lengthy, illustrated discussion of the components of the wheel and speed of rotation, and notes that it takes five to ten years of continuous practice for a potters to become “skilled.” The so-called Tijlis Technique of throwing is limited to Palestine, Lebanon, Jordan, and Gaza; the technique has four characteristic; the techniques used at Jaba’, Hebron, and Gaza were also summarized. The male potters produced six vessel Groups: 1) coffee molds, garlic mortars, and jar covers/lids; 2) couscous bowls, coffee mortars, and flower pots; 3) water storage jars; 4) water carrying jars and cooking pots; 5) drums (a cylindrical form open at both ends); and 6) butter churn (in two sizes). Rye also observed distinctions between Jaba’, Hebron, and Gaza vessels in shapes and colors.

“Male potters at eight centers in Palestine” (pp. 162-263) begins with Ramallah, including al Ramla, Jericho, and Jordan (pp. 162-163, fig 4.34). As Landgraf previously stated, the 1948 and 1967 wars impacted the production of pottery vessels by the confiscation of Palestinian land, but also, as Rye points out, in consumption patterns. The Arabs, the main customers of the potters, had purchased a large range of vessels but the Jewish population had bought flowerpots, so there was little overlap between the two markets. Sesame seeds were washed in salt water to separate their husks and these were unusable as fertilizer but were fuel for kilns and resulted in a whitening effect on the pottery. Grass, straw, and agricultural waste were also utilized as kiln fuels. Rye considered Jericho pottery production 1948-1967, which produced a range of vessels for Palestinians, particularly water storage, and water drinking vessels. Clay was mixed with sand temper and the vessels fired in Palestinian-type kilns using rubber from tires, sawdust, wood, and used motor oil as fuels. In Ramallah (al Bireh and Qalandia) slaking pits, settling pools, drying beds, and rain water tanks were characteristics of workshops. Forming techniques included the production of a limited range of vessels, from Groups 1 and 3, with Palestinian-type kilns fired with cardboard, rubbish soaked in used motor oil, sawdust, and rubber scraps.

One potter from ‘Irtah (pp. 166-167) was interviewed and provided information on the potting history before 1948 when there were five workshops. Clay sources, clay preparation, products, and markets are noted, with olive jars, water storage jars, milk vessels, drums, and cooking pots produced. Vessels were water smoked for in kilns 4-5 days prior to firing. The 1948 war resulted in changes in clay sources, clay preparation, products, and market, with sales only to Palestinians and dependence on scrap wood and motor oil for firing.

Jaba’ (pp. 167-185, figs. 4.35-4.65) had two workshops located on the northwest edge of the village in the 1970s. The vessels being made were of the same forms as were fabricated 50-60 years ago. The major change was the introduction of ball bearings to potters’ wheels to improve rotation speed. The raw materials included white clays procured from near the workshops and red clays from various locations added for red color and to improve clay workability, mixed in equal amounts; there were no slips but enamel paints were used for decoration. The clays were in processed in pits, sun dried and slaked. Traditional utilitarian vessels were made in five of the six Groups (1, 2, 3, 4, and 6), but some novelty vessels had been fabricated: wedding jars, money boxes/banks, and candlesticks. Handles were pulled and spouts thrown. Palestinian kilns similar to those in Gaza and Hebron were built in the 1930’s into the 1970s. Unfired bricks of white refractory clay with wheat straw were used in construction with two to four firings per year, and the kilns were repaired after every second firing. Mixed cow and donkey dung was the main fuel but diesel fuel and waste motor oil were also employed. One firing was observed by Dr. Albert Glock (an archaeologist at the Albright Institute who was later murdered). The kiln was preheated using strips from rubber tires, old shoes dung, and anything combustible. Only red and black wares were made (no whitewares); there was a “tremendous” production Sales were made directly by the potters for cash and buyers came “from all over.” Vessels produced included water jars (red), yogurt jars, milk jars, canteens, Pilgrim’s flasks, spouted drinking jars, wedding jars, ceramic ducks, candlesticks, cooking pots, and butter churns.

The work of two potters from Nazareth (p. 187) was reviewed briefly. Haifa (Kafr Samir) potters (pp. 187-191, figs. 5.1-5.5) had been working since the 1920s, and Rye was able to obtain historical data about workshops from the ‘Atalla brothers (a Christian family and the only Christian potters in the study). The raw materials in the 1920s-1948 included two types of clays, a dark brown and white, mixed 2:1, plus seawater beach sand. Quartz sand would lead to breakage. Clays were mixed in small amounts and kneaded by hand. The impact of the 1948 conflict resulted in Palestinian Arabs fleeing the area. From 1948 to 1967 the fuels used included straw, dung, sawdust, dried pulp from olive pressing, and driftwood. The typical Palestinian-type kiln was used and four days of water soaking necessitated. The vessels produced pre-1948 included water drinking jars, water carrying jars, water storage jars, and flower pots. Glazes were introduced in 1971 after one brother (Munir ‘Atalla) studied in Holland, and the whole workshop gradually converted entirely to the production of glazed ware. Fuels in glaze firing included wood from packing cases, wood chips, grass, and sawdust soaked with waste motor oil. The entire production of the workshop was sold to one distributor in Tel Aviv and included ashtrays and lidded pots; seconds were sold at the workshop. Notably, Christian women members of the family assisted in the work but did not throw pottery. Sales plunged during the Six Day War in June 1967 and the large-capacity Palestinian-type kiln was no longer used and was replaced by a smaller kiln.

One pottery workshop in Akka (Acre) (pp. 192-194) was studied in 1997. Prior to1948 production was devoted entirely to Palestinian Arab customers but the number of workshops decreased from nine to five as most Palestinian potters migrated to Lebanon. The range of vessels produced also greatly diminished, but the Jewish demand for flower pots increased. The June 1967 conflict with the Israeli occupation of the west Bank resulted in the closure of four of the five workshops and minor changes in working techniques. In the 1997 study, Rye found that potters mixed two clays at a 1:1 ratio and added beach sand as temper when the production was white wares. Flower pots were made from a red clay from Galilee, and a white clay procured from a source 5-10 km from Akka. Slaking pits were used with dry sand blended by foot kneading, then run through a pug mill, and hand kneaded just before being thrown. The products were Groups 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6 with flower pots the main product after 1977 and a limited number of water carrying jars and butter churns made for Russian immigrants. Pottery was fired in a Palestinian updraft kiln with three days of water smoking and fuels including scrap wood, sawdust, and used motor oil.

The pottery making at Hebron (pp. 194-235, figs. 5.6-5.69) is the longest and most detailed report in the book. Prior to 1964, workshops were located in the city but moved south to Fahs and the number of shops increased to ten, all owned by the Fakhuri family. Rye provides great detail about these workshop and a history of Hebron potters during the twentieth century, particularly the impact of the 1948 war on temper types, firing, and kilns. Clay with limestone fragments was supplanted by Mediterranean beach sand which fired faster. Oil jars and water carrying jars were dropped from the inventory, followed by glaze ware and some workshops used refractory brick to build kilns which took longer to cool after firing. A considerable number of potters migrated to other countries as the demand for traditional wares diminished but some moved into the city to make glazed wares using crushed glass and produced miniatures for tourists. “The Technology of Hebron Pottery (figs. 5.13-5.69)” is a comprehensive assessment of changes in raw materials sources, detailed information on clay body preparation, including the use pf pug mills, and changes in kiln locations and the use of waste rubber inner tubes as fuel. Changes in market demand included novelty items, two types of cooking vessels, three types of bowls, and flower pots.

The histories of four Gaza workshops and their locations (pp. 236-263, figs. 6.1-6.37) in 1948 were contrasted with the 22 pottery workshops in Old Gaza. Rye’s study in 1974 and his descriptions of clay body preparations featured slaking pits, drying beds, mechanical sieves, and stone lined pits for traditional potting wheels. Six vessel forms, mostly blackwares (and some red), are also detailed. Large Palestinian-type updraft kilns at the Hajazi brothers workshop are described including Arabic names for kiln parts, firing techniques and stages (water smoking was from three or five days and up to ten days), a maximum temperature was attained for only six or seven hours, and cooling required from two to four days. For the first time we have statistics on firing losses (10-20%) and repairing cracked vessel before sale. A detailed list of Gaza pottery forms was compiled in July 1975; there were six categories: bowls, water vessels, cooking vessels, milk vessels, cylindrical vessels, and miscellaneous (banks). Rye also provided a list of 17 discontinued pottery forms and a synopsis of forty years of Gaza pottery workshops (more than fifty in the 1970s and “barely five” by 2013. He also documented “Reasons for the decline in numbers of Palestinian male potters” (pp. 260-261) and “Change and stability in traditions” (pp. 261-263).

The book also has a list of 64 “Works cited” (pp. 265-268); 62 in English and 2 in German). There are five “Appendixes” (pp. 269-277): toponyms; lists of workshops, and list of potters’ names. Others were Palestine census data for 1967 and 1997, and a “Glossary of technical terms” by Owen Rye which contained 61 entries (pp. 273-274) and is an important asset to the narratives. The “List of figures” (pp. 279-287) is a tabulation of 351 monochromes and line drawings found in the narratives; and a “List of color images” (unpaginated) clusters splendid color pictures of 24 women potters and 23 male potters.

This monograph is essentially two books conjoined, each with fieldwork descriptions of individual potters or potting communities, plus important prefatory essays that provide significant background about the two authors and their research. The “Contents” (pp. vii-viii) has on no chapter numbers or titles per se but has logical topical headings so that the major divisions are best followed by referring to the “List of Figures” (pp. 279-287). The two major parts each provide significant introductory information prior to Landgraf’s and Rye’s separate illustrated, descriptive essays on ten West Bank villages where women made pottery almost exclusively for their own households’ consumption, and eight potting communities of male potters who produce vessels and other objects for commercial sales. Landgraf and Rye indicate that men are not engaged in the women’s pottery-making process, not even in the procurement – location, excavation and transport -- of clays. However, Hamid Salem writes that there is little help from men. Women are not engaged in the large-scale production except in the case of a family of Christian potters in Gaza.

The eighteen case studies are of different page lengths, different content organizations, and quality – transcribed field notes -- “uneven” is the best overall description of the corpus. Some studies are mere mentions as at Nazareth and ‘Irtah (several paragraphs each), but the studies at Beitunia (and the Excursus by Einsler) Sinjil, Qusra, Qabalan, and Ya’bad are quite informative, Rye’s excellent introductory essay (pp. 1440161 is especially valuable, as are his assessments at Haifa, Akka (Acre), Hebron, and Gaza. The two authors’ figures and color illustrations are magnificent and often tell the story of fabrication and firing as well or better than the narratives – a picture is “worth a thousand words.” Several of the studies are sufficiently complete as to be important for pedagogy and understanding characteristics of the production sequences. On the whole, the illustrative narratives make for highly interesting but difficult reading; alas, there is no index.

The authors might have clarified the two “wars” (1948 and 1967) that caused the displacement of Palestinian and Syrian civilians. The 1948 Arab-Israeli War (Israel versus Egypt, Lebanon, Jordan, and Syria) ended early in 1949 with a permanent ceasefire but no actual peace agreements were signed. Israel’s new borders (the “Green Line”) were established but not recognized by the Arab states. Jordanian forces remained in the West Bank and Jordan would later annex the region; Egypt kept Gaza as an occupied zone. Syria retained control of a strip of territory along the Sea of Galilee, while Lebanon occupied a small area at Rosh HaNikra.

In a subsequent armed conflict called the Six-Day War (Third Arab-Israeli War) June 5-10, 1967, with Israel against the United Arab Republic (Jordan, Syria, and Egypt), resulted in an overwhelming Israeli military victory and the transfer of the West Bank to Israel. In both the 1948 and 1967 (and other conflicts) significant numbers of the civilian populations were displaced including merchants, craftsperson’s (including potters), their families, and their customers. Clay, temper, and fuel sources were also lost, and the economic effects of the migrations cannot be minimized.

In the clay preparation process for cooking jars, calcite was used to prevent cracking during kiln firing and during culinary use, and there are some references to the literature (pp. xxiii footnote 8, xxx). The West Bank women had stopped making pottery by the 1980s, partially due to the use of new fuels such as kerosene, propane gas, and electricity. Calcite and other aplastics could not withstand the higher and faster cooking temperatures attained, and the handmade vessels were replaced by metal ones. The introduction and use of ball bearings in the pottery wheels resulted in faster throwing, which is mentioned in several instances; however, it is unclear if some or all of the workshops studied had made use of this innovation during the period of the field studies or at later times. The improvement would result in higher levels of production.

Lastly, “Palestinian-type” kilns are not adequately described either by Owen Rye or Hamed Salem (p. xxv). However, the latter has some information (pp. 17-19) in his doctoral dissertation Early Bronze Age Settlement System and Village Life in the Jenin Region / Palestine: A Study of Tell Jenin Stratigraphy and Pottery Traditions (Leiden: University of Leiden, 2006) and especially in his MA thesis (pp. 57-61), Ceramic Ethnoarchaeology: A Preliminary Study (Tucson: University of Arizona, 1986) in which he documents fieldwork at a’Qabet Jaber, Palestine. The “Palestine-type” updraft kiln appears to follow from the construction of the typical bread oven (tabūn) (p. 9, 146); tandur in Iran and Afghanistan where I worked. Normally, the kiln is shaped like a truncated cone with an opening at the bottom (the stokehole door) leading to the lower chamber (firebox) for loading the fuel, and a separate door for the upper chamber where the unfired pottery would be placed. At Jaba’, Rye notes the use of unfired bricks that become firing and illustrates a kiln (pp. 175-180, fig. 4.55a, b p. 178), but I am unsure is this is a “typical” kiln and similar to those reported at the eight other workshops. Most appear to be fabricated using clay bricks (pottery clay?) or as mentioned in two instances, white refractory brick, with an outer wall of stone. Little or nothing is said about a kiln’s internal structure: chimney or vent hole, flue, columnar support, and perforated floor, or combustion chamber.

In sum, this monograph is a “labor of love” prepared to honor Landgraf and Rye’s pioneering efforts to describe women’s household production and men’s and sometimes families small industries in a region undergoing rapid adjustment due to war, forced and unforced migration, and political, religious, and culture change. The authors have documented a craft and its producers and consumers during a bygone era making the book a valuable reference work with important narratives and incredible color images.