Abstract
A collection of pottery vessels uncovered during the first season of excavations in the Deh Dumen Bronze Age graveyard (the second half of the third millennium BC) located in south-western Iran were studied by using chemical, mineralogical and physical techniques, with the aim to identify the pottery manufacturing process in this region. The site is located in a region of the Zagros fold and thrust belt that includes carbonate rocks and alluvial deposits. The pottery vessels found in the site present two different fabric types in their fresh surface: bright yellowish hue fabric (TYPE-1) and sandwich-like or black core fabric (TYPE-2) showing presumably different production techniques or workshops. Twenty-four samples from pottery sherds were selected and analysed by X-ray fluorescence (XRF), powder X-ray diffraction (XRD), polarized light microscopy (PLM), and field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM). Hydric tests were also performed. Samples were different according to their chemistry having distinguished calcium-rich and calcium-poor ceramics. Al2O3 and Fe2O3 were detected as the other main components of samples besides SiO2 and CaO. The mineralogical and textural characterisation revealed a fine-grained clayey matrix with quartz and feldspar grains in TYPE-1 potteries and large and small calcitic and clayey lumps inclusions in TYPE-2 potteries. Imprints of straw or other plants can be responsible for the higher porosity of some of the potteries. It was found that most of the potteries from the Deh Dumen graveyard were produced by means of a local and traditional pottery manufacturing technique, whilst others may have been produced in different places and transported to the graveyard as ritual offerings.
Highlights
The history of ceramic technology in the Iranian Plateau dates back to ca. 10,000 years ago, showing the importance of this craft in the technological development of this region during the prehistoric era [1, 2]
Archaeological ceramics studied Among the objects discovered within the graves of Deh Dumen, many Bronze Age potteries were found, such as large jars, small handled vessels and painted potteries with very simple motifs and patterns [32]
Following Maniatis and Tite [51], ceramics have been divided into two groups on the basis of their CaO content: high calcareous ceramics and low calcareous ceramics, where CaO content is respectively over or below 6 % (Table 1)
Summary
The history of ceramic technology in the Iranian Plateau dates back to ca. 10,000 years ago, showing the importance of this craft in the technological development of this region during the prehistoric era [1, 2]. Researches carried out on potteries from later periods such as those from Tappeh Yahya (north-central Iran) [20, 21], Tol-e Kamin and Malyan (south-central Iran) [22, 23], Sistan region and Shahr-i Sokhta (eastern Iran) [24,25,26], Godin Tepe and Kolyaei plain (western Iran) [27, 28], the ceramics from the middle Elamite sites (second millennium BC) of Haft Tappeh and Chogha Zanbil [29, 30], as well as Middle Chalcolithic ceramics from Chaharmahal-Bakhtiari province (5th -4th millennium BC) [31] show the use of local raw materials and the preservation of traditional ceramic production, even though evidences of ceramic trades are visible These studies revealed some interesting aspects of pottery production in prehistoric Iran, regarding for example the choice of raw materials, the additives and the conditions of the firing process
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