Production of Pottery from Esfandaghe and Jiroft, Iran, late 7th - early 3rd Millennium BC

Abstract

ABSTRACT The Jiroft civilization is one of the most interesting cultures in the Iranian region, with important archeological finds. The area is considered the homeland of a mysterious culture: Aratta. Jiroft/Aratta might be the homeland of Sumerian myths, which then traveled west to Mesopotamia. Ten pieces of Neolithic pottery dated to the 7th–6th Mill. BC, and eight samples from Bronze Age (early 3rd Mill. BC) have been sampled and analyzed by means of a mineralogical approach to study the technological features of the pottery manufacturing process. They come from two important and logistic regions in Jiroft, “Konar-Sandal and “Esfandaghe”. The bulk of the samples was investigated by X-Ray fluorescence; X-ray diffraction and Rietveld refining method were applied to determine, qualitatively and quantitatively, the crystalline phase. Polarized light microscopy helped to determine significant data on the manufacturing process by means of phase decomposition within the fabrics of the pottery and their thermodynamically crystalline phase stability. The results provide information on the existence of two different workshops with regional raw material usage and different techniques in the ceramics production in the 7th–6th Mill. BC and 3rd Mill. BC.