Provenance of the Bronze Age lapis lazuli pieces from the Early Urban Center of Konar Sandal, Jiroft, Southern Iran

Abstract

The sources of lapis lazuli objects found in the Bronze Age of the Iranian Plateau and its trade routes have been a subject of interest and a research question. Four archaeological pieces of lapis lazuli recovered from a stone-working workshop in the Bronze Age site of Konar Sandal South (Jiroft Plain), southern Iran, were analyzed using X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy-energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (SEM-EDS) techniques to characterize the mineralogical composition and the possible provenance of raw materials. Results showed that these objects are identical based on their composition, presenting diopside and specific trace element proportions as provenance markers. Comparison with available data from Iranian archaeological sites and ancient resources from Central Asia revealed that these finds may have been imported from lapis lazuli mines located at Badakhshan in Afghanistan, as they were supplied raw materials for ancient lapis lazuli objects of Iran.