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Jarring contrast. With elaborate geometrical designs and human and animal motifs, Philistine “bichrome ware”—so-called because it was painted in two colors, black and red—is starkly different from the plain, unadorned style of Israelite and Canaanite pottery. So, while it may not be possible to use pottery to distinguish Canaanites and Israelites, pottery can help identify Canaanite cities that came under the domination of the Philistines during Iron Age I—including such important cities as Ashdod, Ekron and Timnah on Israel’s southern coastal plain.