year 10, Issue 2 (2024)                   JRA 2024, 10(2): 207-224 | Back to browse issues page

‎ 10.61186/jra.10.2.417

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Benmaran S, Hosseinzadeh Sadati J, Torkiha Isfahani M. (2024). PIXE Analysis of the Pottery of Estark-Joshaghan, Sialk, and Sarm Cemeteries in Order to Reconstruct the Subsistence System and Cultural Links of the Iron Age Communities in the Central Plateau of Iran. JRA. 10(2), 207-224. doi:10.61186/jra.10.2.417
URL: http://jra-tabriziau.ir/article-1-417-en.html
PIXE Analysis of the Pottery of Estark-Joshaghan, Sialk, and Sarm Cemeteries in Order to Reconstruct the Subsistence System and Cultural Links of the Iron Age Communities in the Central Plateau of Iran
Sara Benmaran *1 , Javad Hosseinzadeh Sadati2 , Mohammad Torkiha Isfahani3
1- Department of Archaeology, Kashan University, Kashan, Iran , saarabenmaaran@gmail.com
2- Department of Archaeology, Kashan University, Kashan, Iran
3- Department of Physics, Kashan University, Kashan, Iran
Abstract:   (2445 Views)
One of the most important characteristics of Iran's Iron Age is the existence of cemeteries without a connection with the settlement. The reason for not finding settlements near most of these cemeteries can be explained in connection with the nomadic nature of the Iron Age societies or the existence of temporary settlements whose traces have not been discovered so far. The important feature of these cemeteries is the abundance of burial pottery that is not known how and where they were made. Pottery from relatively close cemeteries are very similar. Since the time of Ghirshman, important questions have been raised in this regard; Were very similar pottery produced in a specific workshop and then distributed among the communities, or did each community produce its own pottery, considering that no pottery production sites and kilns have been found in its vicinity? In this research, to answer the questions mentioned above, a total of 22 random samples of Iron Age pottery from the three cemeteries of Estark-Joshaghan and Sialk in Kashan and Sarm in Qom were subjected to PIXE elemental analysis, and the resulting data were analyzed by PCA statistical method. According to the results, no correlation was observed between the pottery. Further, despite the overlap in some of the main elements, the amount of magnesium oxide was significantly different in the ceramics of all three areas. This archaeometric analysis shows that the Iron Age pottery samples of Estark-Joshaghan, Sialk, and Sarm cemeteries were made from separate soil sources. However, the ceramics of the sites are very similar in form, which most likely indicates the existence of cultural relations, demographic displacement, or stylistic imitation, not due to concentrated production in one or more limited places and their distribution through trade. Therefore, the results support the nomadic or semi-sedentary hypothesis of Iron Age societies in the cultural region of North Central Iran
Keywords: Iron Age I-II pottery, Estark-Joshaghan, Sarm, Sialk cemeteries, PIXE analysis
Full-Text [PDF 1957 kb]   (558 Downloads)    
Technical Note: Original Research | Subject: Archaeometry
Received: 2024/06/9 | Accepted: 2024/10/14
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