Journal of Iran's Pre Islamic Archaeological Essays

Journal of Iran's Pre Islamic Archaeological Essays

Classification and Typological Analysis of the Ceramics from Mud B Mound, Sarbisheh County, South Khorasan Province

Document Type : Original Article

Authors
1 Birjand University
2 Department of Archaeology, University of Birjand
3 Assistant Professor of Archeology, Birjand University
4 Cultural Heritage Organization
Abstract
Investigation of ancient pottery is considerably important in archaeological studies In addition, studying the ceramics; we can examine their different kinds of regional styles, types and techniques. Since according to Hernik’s classification the Parthian pottery has had a greater diversity and not the same styles were used during this period, investigation and study of the ceramics of this period is essential in order to better understand the local and regional styles of this period. Meanwhile, according to the surviving texts and inscriptions, South Khorasan or the ancient Qahestan has shown to be one of the important Parthian states in eastern Iran. Therefore, in this research, it has been attempted to study the pottery obtained from Mud B mound, one of the typical ancient hills of the Parthian period in South Khorasan. The purpose of the present research, which is conducted using a comparative-analytical method, The answer to the questions raised is: 1- What was the dominant pottery in this area? 2- Which regions have had the most cultural interactions?In this study, initially 85 typical pottery pieces were collected from the surface of Mud B mound during the educational excavation of Birjand University and then the ceramics gathered through this excavation were undergone a typological study according to which the following results were obtained: 1- This mound includes three pottery types, i.e. Lundo, Burnished War and non-glazed plain, among which the plain non-glazed pottery is one of the dominant pottery types of this hill. 2- Chronologically, the examined pottery exhibits a date from the Parthian to the early Sassanid period. 3- Mud B mound had the highest degree of cultural connection with neighboring regions such as Sistan, Baluchistan and the Greater Khorasan.
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