Formation and function: Middle Holocene pottery from Kom W, Fayum, Egypt

Pottery from Kom W, a Neolithic stratified site on the Fayum north shore, includes intact vessels as well as sherd fragments, with fragmented pottery also found on adjacent deflated surfaces. In part because of this material, Kom W was previously interpreted as a village associated with the introduction of domestic plants and animals from southwest Asia. Here pottery recovered from Kom W by Caton Thompson and Gardner during their 1920s excavations is reviewed and compared to pottery from other north shore sites. Vessel size is reconstructed as well as placement of the vessels within Kom W. It is suggested that a number of vessels found at Kom W were used for storage, in line with similar evidence from the Fayum north shore and from northeast Africa more generally.