The pottery production from the Deh Dumen Bronze Age graveyard (South-Western Iran): a chemical, mineralogical and physical study

Heritage Science

Reza Naseri¹  Omid Oudbashi²  Isabel Egartner³  Anna Arizzi⁴  Giuseppe Cultrone⁴ 

[1] Department of Archaeology, University of Zabol, Zabol, Iran;Department of Conservation of Cultural and Historical Properties, Art University of Isfahan, Isfahan, Iran;Researcher at Center for International Scientific Studies and Collaborations (CISSC), Ministry of Science, Research and Technology (MSRT), Tehran, Iran;Department of Geography and Regional Science, University of Graz, Graz, Austria;Department of Mineralogy and Petrology, University of Granada, Granada, Spain;

关键词: Bronze Age;    Deh Dumen graveyard;    Pottery production;    Sandwich-like structure;    Temper;   

DOI  :  10.1186/s40494-021-00557-6

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

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.

【 授权许可】

CC BY