Islamic pottery from Jerba (7th-10th century). Aspects of contiuity?

The aim of this paper is to discuss some aspects of the ceramic evidence discovered during the Jerba Survey Project (1995-2000). The project, directed by Ali Drine of the “Institut National du Patrimoine”, Elizabeth Fentress of the American Academy of Rome and Renata Holod of the University of Pennsylvania, was aimed not only at the understanding of the history of settlement on the island, but also at recuperating the archaeological evidence that has been disappearing steadily under the impact of increased tourism and urban development over the last twenty-five years. Through this project, Jerba’s archaeological past has thus been recorded, at least in part. The pottery described here derives both from the field survey and from limited test trenches conducted at Roman, late antique and early medieval period sites identified on the island . In this paper we will review the data concerning the periods from the Vandal occupation of the island beginning in the middle of the sixth century through what we have called the early medieval period (also known as the early Islamic period), ending in the first half of the eleventh century.