Abstract

The aim of this study is to determine whether pottery shards from Shah-I Sokhta especially the shards with red and gray in color are locally made or imported from elsewhere. Shah-I Sokhta is one of the most ancient settlement in Iranian Sistan and has been occupied by human since more than 5000 years ago. Based on archaeological excavations, the most ancient layer, considered as Period I, shows southern Turkmenian influences evidenced by clay figurines and pottery vessels similar to those of Namazga III period. The second period of occupation is dated between 2800 and 2500 BC. The first half of period III, ca. 2500-2200 BC, seems to be an continuation of the social changes of period II, but during the second part of period III signs of social/economical decline and environmental changes began to appear, leading to a great reduction of surface of the site in period IV (2200-1800 BC). By the end of period IV Shahr-I Sokhta was completely abandoned. Archaeological excavations also unearth thousand of pottery shards which are buff, grey and red in color which are mostly shards from broken bowls, jars, beakers and dishes. Archaeologists believe that most of the buff pottery shards are locally made; hence to determine whether this hypothesis is true, a scientific analysis was done to determine the chemical compositions of the pottery shards. The technique involved X-Rays Fluorescence (XRF) equipment which was applied to determine the major and trace elements of the pottery shards. The results shows that most of the pottery shards are in the same group and this strongly suggest that they are local products. Additionally, based on the major and trace elements, it can be suggested that sample 18259-9, 18265-10, 18266-13, 18271-15 and 18273-4 are not locally made and the surface of these potteries are buff and red in color.

Keywords:

Archaeometry, namazga III, pottery, shah-i sokhta, X-Rays Fluorescence (XRF),

References

Competing interests

The authors have no competing interests.

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