Uncovering a 3200 year old ceramic 'brand'

Embargoed until: Publicly released: 2026-08-20 04:00

Australia; International; NSW

Ancient "brand" Qurayyah Painted Ware QPW 4, formerly known as ‘Midianite Pottery’. Image credit: Marta Luciani @ Qurayyah Joint Archaeological Project, CC-BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

Aussie and international researchers have uncovered what they believe to be an early example of a ‘brand’ in 3,200-year-old ceramics. The team say the pieces, which are painted with distinctive black-and-red geometric designs, stylised animals and human figures, were not imitating others and seemed to be intentionally created as a recognisable ceramic ware. The team analysed and defined the brand based on eight criteria, including visual identity, continuity in technology, consistency of chosen raw material, export abroad, and cultural reputation. While the authors are uncertain whether the creators set out to create a brand from the beginning, their actions set in motion a trajectory for the later established brand.

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Journal/
conference: PLOS One

Research:Paper

Organisation/s: The University of Sydney, University of Vienna, Austria

Funder: This research was funded in whole or in part by the Austrian Science Fund (FWF) [grant DOI: 10.55776/I6562 available under https://www.fwf.ac.at/ forschungsradar/10.55776/I6562]. For open access purposes, the author has applied a CC BY public copyright license to any author accepted manuscript version arising from this submission. -Award by the Faculty of Historical and Cultural Studies of the University of Vienna “Pottery Production and Exchange Networks in Ancient Arabia and the Near East” (https://hist-kult.univie.ac.at/forschung-und-digitales/forscherinnengruppen/pottery-production-and-exchange-networks-in-ancient-arabia-and-the-near-east/): PI ML -Award by the Holzhausen-Legat of the OeAW “Pottery production and exchange networks in Ancient Arabia” Project no. OSTI000205: PI PF -Award by the Austrian Science Fund FWF under the International WEAVE scheme of the Project ANAPAN, “A New Approach to Pottery of Arabia and its Neighbors. Understanding Technology and Commercial Networks in the Greater Levant”. Project no. I6562: PI ML The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.

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