Similar pottery was used in Canaanite cities. In the settlements there is less variety in pottery types than in the Canaanite cities, and it tends to more crudely made and not decorated. No large temples in the settlements. The bull and inscriptions suggest continuity with the Canaanites. The lack of temples could suggest a nomadic background.
Burial customs show Egyptian and Aegean influence.
Fits the picture of the Philistines, part of the Sea Peoples, migrating from the Aegean to the eastern Mediterranean, encountering Egyptians, and settling in Canaan.