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Rahimi F, Kolbadinejad M, Mortezai M. (2025). Structural analysis of Islamic era glazed pottery in Anahita Kangavar Temple based on petrographic results. JRA. 11(1), doi:10.61186/jra.11.1.412
URL: http://jra-tabriziau.ir/article-1-412-en.html

 The Anahita Kangavar Temple is considered one of the most significant sites in the west of Iran, and it has always attracted the attention of historians and geographers of the Islamic period, as well as European travelers and archaeologists. At this site, there is a stone building from the historical period, where archaeological excavations have been carried out since 1968. Therefore, the Islamic glazed pottery of the site has been less researched, and so far no petrographic laboratory study has been conducted on the construction methods and mineralogical structure of the Islamic pottery from this site. In this research, the main question is: what are the structure and texture of the glazed pottery of the Islamic era at the Anahita Kangavar Temple, based on petrographic results, and how much did their mineralogical structure change from the middle to late Islamic period? This laboratory research is dedicated to the study of 12 pottery pieces related to the middle to late Islamic period from the Anahita Temple in Kangavar, with the aim of identifying the construction methods and mineralogical components of these artifacts. The petrographic results of these 12 pieces of glazed pottery from the Islamic period revealed that, in terms of texture or petrofabric, the samples exhibit heterogeneous (porphyritic) and silty (fine-grained) textures, with some samples also displaying heterogeneous silty textures. Quartz minerals are abundant in all samples. This mineral is generally present in the form of phenocrysts or single crystals, while its polycrystalline type is less common. Other components in the matrix, such as iron compounds, plagioclase, and calcite, are found in the paste of some pottery. The mineral biotite (mica) in the paste of some pottery has been completely burnt, and only a frame of it has remained due to the high firing temperature. The mineral muscovite is also seen in limited amounts in some samples