Messages impressed in clay: Scientific study of Iron Age Judahite bullae from Jerusalem

The application of ceramic petrography in archaeology is
celebrating now about seven decades since its introduction.
Over the years, it has become one of the most common
scientific methods in archaeology, due to its availability,
low cost and impressive track record. Even the introduction
of other, often more sophisticated methods for provenancing ceramics, first and foremost Neutron Activation Analysis (NAA), has not effected the use of petrography due to its ability to supply a wide range of technological as
well as provenance data. However, the method has always
been limited by its destructive nature, making the analyses
of delicate artifacts practically impossible.