Although the pottery is found in a massive amount in archaeological discoveries, these materials are the most important materials for different orientations in studies on the ancient people. One aspects of the study on ancient potteries, is the investigation about the painting and different colorants used for decorating potteries in variety patterns with different colors. This study aims to explore the ancient people knowledge and their experiments on creation of color by making up dying materials that could be found close to their dwells. The present work represented an attempt to discern experimentally the base and chemical composition of colorants used as decorative elements on ancient ceramics. Thus, five pieces of late Bronze painted pottery of the eastern Lake Urmia Basin (from the archaeological site of Kul Tepe of Ajabshir) were singled out. First, to determine whether the paint came from organic or inorganic sources and also to identify the existing anions and cations the Fourier-Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FT-IR) technique was employed. The results demonstrated that the used coloring material has a mineral origin, where the sharp and strong peak at 465 cm-1 of the spectrums confirmed that the nature of coloring agents consists of iron oxides. Next, for elemental analysis and studying the chemical structure and composition of the colorants Scanning Electron Microscope-Energy Dispersive X-Ray analysis (SEM-EDX) was used. SEM-EDX analysis result demonstrated the presence of iron and manganese (Mn) content alongside other component elements of the ceramic bodies including SiO₂, MgO, Al₂O₃, and K₂O, where the results tallied with the FT-IR spectrums. On the basis of elemental analysis results, it could be said that iron oxides are the main components of coloring agents, where they could produce a variety of colors, ranging from red to dark brown. Moreover, the presence of manganese make the paintings darker, and consequently, the brighter nature of paintings of sample no. 3 of Kul Tepe and sample no. 1 of Haftvan could be the consequence of the miserable amount of this element (1.77 and 0.49%, respectively). Finally, in order to confirm and complete the study, the specimens were subjected to X-Ray Diffraction analysis (XRD). This experiment also showed that the pigments used in ornamenting the sherds were mineral and comprised of Agite mineral (Ca(Fe, Mg)Si₂O₆), as the coloring mineral, alongside other minerals including sodic and calcite feldspars. The results obtained are in good agreements with the geology of the region, where the feldspars exist as the main minerals of both sites. Therefore experimental analysis on the pigments structure that used in the painting of Kul Tepe Urmia ware decorations in different ways and various laboratory equipments demonstrated that the pigments used in the pottery decorations have mineral source and presented various iron compounds in the paint of decorations. As result of this study, the presence of iron compounds in the soil of the Kul Tepe region, it could be said the ancient people did use the natural sources of colorants for decoration of their potteries. Moreover, the techniques and materials used for decoration of the potteries were the same at both side of the Lake Urmia.

Earthquake in 26^th of December 2003 devastated the city of Bam and its magnificent Arg [citadel] and turned it to ruins. The Arg was surviving for centuries in this location. Some time it was more inhabited and once abandoned. During the past decades the Arg gradually becomes well known and it finds a general popularity over the past decade since the Iranian society recognizes it thanks to the efforts of the erudite scholars. This comprehensive recognition especially in the field of the materials is more important for the interventions since it supports any correct and successful conservation measure. Eventually, the structure of the Arg has been composed of several architectural layers constructed over each other. A considerable share of these structures includes repairs and infill constructions created upon the base of archaeological layers over the centuries. However, the recent researches discovered several structural weaknesses in most of the adobes used in Arg-e Bam. Nevertheless, the huge adobes which have been used in the surrounding wall, some parts of the governors sector, and a few significant buildings in the public sector, have a considerable quality and more attention has been paid in their production. Occasionally, weak architectural composition has intensified the structural weakness of the adobes. Accordingly, usage of the same adobe composition with the similar technique in restoration will follow an understandable concern and it sounds a critical measure. Neglecting this important element will direct the Arg in to the similar harsh experience of the past. According to the experiences concerning the structural behavior of the materials used in the Bam citadel, it is certain that any restoration and conservation measure by the same material would not result in any success. If no improvement is conducted on the weaknesses of such a fragile material, then the restoration exercises will encounter major challenges. Having referred to the results of the researches performed of the historical adobes of the Bam citadel, the importance and necessity of such improvement will become more apparent. Arg-e Bam has been frequently invaded the armies and tribes during its long life and the inhabitants had a very limited time for fixing the damaged parts. Consequently, adequate attention has not been paid on the quality of some of the adobes. This research with a functional approach is looking for recognition of the structural properties of the adobes used in the site as well as their strengths and weaknesses. In the frame of inductive reasoning (looking from detail to the whole), based on the experimental system with a compound method (library, laboratory, site investigations), this research tries to respond to the main question that is quiddity of the factors affecting the structure and the material behavior under the tensions as well as improvement and resolving the known weaknesses. Thus, the results of the researches concerning the structural characters of the adobes of the Bam citadel will help us in achieving the materials without or at least with minimum weaknesses comparing to the prior adobes in order to be used for the more reliable restorations. One may even think about production of the new adobes with boosted mechanical behavior. According to our knowledge about the condition of the earthen materials of the Bam citadel, it is possible to improve the characteristics of the new adobes and earthen mortars for the restoration measures by innovations in the production process. This is actually the hypothesis of the research.

Obsidian is a dark glass formed by very rapid solidification of volcanic lava, but in the archaeological view, this volcanic glass is an important source for prehistoric tool-making and artifacts such as arrowhead, point, flake, blade, hand axes, micro-blades and etc. Therefore, obsidian artifacts are frequently used material in prehistory and found widely in archaeological sites around the world. The provenance study of obsidian has been an issue of intense research and debate between archeaometrist and geologists. Hence, different provenance studies carried out in Anatolia and Caucasus since 1960s up to 2015, but the obsidian research in Iran is in very early stage and consider as terra incognita. According to the occurrence of lithic obsidian artifacts in most of the prehistoric archaeological sites in north-west of Iran have been recovered during last decades, various questions have been rise on the subject of the provenance of these materials. New studies on prehistoric obsidian artifacts have been done by other scholar specially Iranians during the recent years, where the main part of these studies focus on the characterization and classification of the obsidian artifacts by chemical analysis, in order to find an evidence of sourcing and provenance. More recent research showed that some obsidian tools might have come from unknown sources located in Iran (perhaps Sahand and Sabalan Mountain). This paper will try to discuss the new obsidian mine in north-west Iran in western Asia. After a brief introduction of obsidian studies in north-west Iran, the paper addresses preliminary report of recent researches that took place concerning 10 local obsidian mine samples from Tajaraq of Miyaneh and Ghizilja of Bostababad, around of Bozghoosh Mountain in the skirt of Sahand volcano. This study was realized by portable X-ray fluorescence (pXRF), as a non-distractive technique for elemental analysis, to differentiate between local obsidian mine. From 10 mine samples, 8 samples from Tajaraq of Miyaneh and 2 samples of Ghizilja of Bostanabad were selected and analyzed. This mine samples could be consider as the first obsidian source specimens in association with prehistoric lithic artifacts of north-west Iran and give the chance for detail and comparative studies of these sources with prehistoric site artifacts for provenance studies, as local or imported materials to this part of Iran. The research has been carried out with a focus on locating the origins and resources of obsidian procurement in the northwest of Iran, in order to rethink and reconstruct the regional and supra-regional trade and exchange networks in future. The project clearly identified the three groups of geochemically different obsidians named Tajaraq A, Tajaraq B, and Ghizilja. Due to the fact that Tajaraq obsidian is of a higher quality than the Ghizilja ones, it seems likely that the samples of Tajaraq obsidians have had the ability to be used for tool-making in the past, as the samples of Ghizilja, Bostanabad are too fragile and perlitic in structure. Hence, as the two groups of Tajaraq A and Tajaraq B have the ability to be used for ancient tools in all probability, they can be introduced as candidates for obsidian mining in prehistoric times in the northwest of Iran. In fact, the proposed hypothesis is still at a very early stage and future scientific studies and field research have to be followed. Comparing the new results with prehistoric sites in the cultural areas of Miyaneh and Bostanabad, it becomes obvious that the Tajaraq B obsidian overlaps in some trace elements with published data Anatolian sources. If this overlap could be found also by comparing other elements and their combination, and if it will be confirmed by other methods in future, it could lead to a complete review of all previous obsidian analysis from Iran. In other words, several samples that were up to now thought to be from Anatolia could come in reality from source B of Tajaraq. This is a serious and peculiar hypothesis, which means, at first step, more data have to be collected at the geological outcrops and especially, by analyzing the archaeological finds from well stratified context. The implications of the findings will discuss along with limitations and future research directions.

During the Islamic periods, the containers characterized by narrow or pear-shaped glass-body with a round bottom and long drainage pipe or tube were known, but rarely have been studied. There are three different hypotheses for applications of such containers. A cupping glass(Shakh-i hajamat) for phlebotomize in medicine, “Alembic” for chemical or alchemical experiments, or containers for pharmaceuticals and the production of cosmetics and perfumes which has been used for making the materials and transfer them through tubes, or perfume containers as particular container for cosmetics. It seems that if the container is placed from the opening on a surface, then its pipe is wholly bent in the opposite direction of the body. Where it is taller than the body, it could be used or applied as a cupping glass for phlebotomize in medicine or as a container for materials in medications, cosmetics and perfumery. If the pipe is entirely straight and perpendicular to the body or slightly curved, it could be used for all three applications mentioned above. In Islamic periods, the Arabic word of KIMIA (elixir) was synonymous with alchemy and chemistry in the viewpoint of technology and therefore, includes a variety of processes, including distillation of herbs and medicinal oils, perfumes and rosewater, and fragrant oils and other substances. Some of tools and equipment used for alchemy have been made of glass like the distiller. There have been many pacts for using these kinds of container in the Islamic literature written by Abu Musa Jaber Ibn Hayyan (Around 721 to 815 AD) and Abū Bakr Muhammad ibn Zakariyyā al-Rāzī (865 to 923 AD) who were known as the greatest scientists in the history of chemistry and chemical technology in the Islamic world. Their scientific and practical works have had a great impact on the scientists and researchers of the next generations, both Muslims and Europeans. Many methods, such as distillation and all kinds of basic related tools, such as Cucurbit (qar’a) and Alembic (al-inbīq) have been attributed to Jabir Ibn Hayyan. However, al-Razi in his book, Kitab al-asrar or Secret of alchemy, among the tools and devices for chemical processing (Tadbir) and distillation (Taqtir), has mentioned to them and studied the Cucurbit and Alembic with an outlet pipe, a distilled liquid container, recipient (qabila) and a blind Alembic (without an outlet pipe) (anbiq al'aemaa). As a matter of fact, the chemical composition of materials inside such containers discovered in Iran has not yet been studied, while it is a critical issue for the characterization and application of these containers. For the first time, one of such containers with a long and straight tube which was kept in the Glassware and Ceramic Museum of Iran has been analyzed and processed by the Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS) technique. The analysis of chemical compounds detected in this container revealed that it had been exposed to essential, and natural oils for a long time. The GC-MS analysis of the washing solution led to the identification of 22 substances, where the main identified compounds were: thymol, carvacrol, p-cymene and γ-terpinene, fatty acids (palmitic acid and stearic acid), and a significant number of substances of the waxes groups. Thymol and carvacrol are the main substances of natural essential oils of Thyme, Savory and Marjoram. Also, the findings of this research have proved the contact of the above-mentioned container with natural essential oils, especially thyme. The ingredients found in this container could be recognizable in many distillates. So, it can suggest that the container has been used as an Alembic for distillation and extraction of vegetable and volatile oil substances in pharmacy, cosmetics and perfumes. More analysis in the future on the contaminated materials within such containers can give more clues and advantages for clarifying the more possible application of these containers.

Accounting for only a rather limited part of northwestern Iran, the Zab basin has historically assumed a prominent, strategic role as a bridge between Mesopotamia and the Lake Urmia Basin. The Zab region has not received due scholarly attention notwithstanding its great importance to the Early Bronze Age (EBA) research, in particular the regional developments characterizing the Late Chalcolithic-Early Bronze transition. As a crossroads, northwest Iran links Mesopotamia to Caucasia on the one hand and the regions to the north to the central Iranian plateau on the other, hence its important place in archaeology of Iran and the broader Middle East. Meanwhile, the Zab basin as the home for the major lines of communication linking southern Mesopotamia to the Urmia Lake basin and thence the mineral rich region of Caucasia is of great importance. Thus, an inquiry into local cultural developments, viz. the spread of cultural contacts in the ancient Near East, at the onset of the Bronze Age, is vital.

The raw and building material in historical papers are plant fibers that are into the category of non-woody or dicotyledonous plants. There are few sources that have mentioned these plants in Iran in different historical periods or even mentioned them in paper making. This research aims to find the types of historical paper fibers in the manuscripts available in the Malek National Library and Museum, which belong to the 5th, 7th to 12th centuries AH. Identify and adapt their structure to the fibers of current non-woody plants, which are most frequently referenced in library historical sources. To achieve this goal, laboratory methods based on microscopic examinations and Microchemical reagents (standard 9718 for paper fibers and Franklin method for plant fibers) were used. The results show that the main primary and structural compounds used in the study papers are the bast fibers of flax and hemp fibers, which have been used separately or in combination with cotton fibers. Because paper-making processes affect the morphology of the fibers, the presence of associated cells such as parenchyma, calcium oxalate crystals, etc. in the pulp of historical paper plays an important role in the correct identification of paper fibers. Although the presence of kenaf fibers in papermaking has been mentioned in some historical sources, it was not observed in the study samples in this research.