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© TEL SHIMRON EXCAVATIONS/PHOTO BY MELISSA AJA

VESSELS OF RITUAL PURITY. During the Roman period, Jews began using stone vessels with greater frequency. Unlike ceramic vessels that could become ritually impure, stone vessels were thought to be impervious to impurity. After coming into contact with contaminants, ceramic vessels had to be broken, but stone vessels did not. They could continue to be used. Fragments of stone vessels from Tel Shimron, along with local pottery and ritual baths, show that a Jewish community lived at the site during the Roman period; the Mishnah also supports this identification.