Story thread · 2 reports / 2 sources

How Bronze Age Arabian traders invented ‘brand value'

thenationalnews.com · 2h · first reportShare

The ad men of Madison Avenue may think they conjured up the importance of brand recognition, but an archaeological study suggests its value stretches back as far as the Bronze Age. Items of painted pottery known as Midianite uncovered in an oasis in Saudi Arabia are so “distinctive, appealing and sought-after” that they should be considered a brand, researchers suggested. Analysing vessels found in the oasis of Qurayyah offers unprecedented insights into trading 3,200 years ago, they said. Hundreds of items were found at the site, but hundreds of similar items had been exported abroad and have been found in the southern Levant. “Oasis-dwellers were resourceful and inventive enough to create their own ceramic repertoire: to cherish at home and eventually export abroad”, says study lead Marta Luciani from the Department of Prehistoric and Historical Archaeology of the University of Vienna. Prof Luciani told The National the pottery was painted red and black and included “an extremely ric