An Ethno-Archaeological Study on the Thin-Walled Ceramics based on the Production Techniques of the Contemporary “Jahleh” Wares in Minab, Hormozgan, Iran

Abstract

Some production techniques of prehistoric ceramics are still continuing in the South and Southeast of Iran. One of these production techniques is common in the traditional workshops in the Shahvar and Hakami – Minab - for produc-ing “Jahleh” as a thin-walled ceramic. We can compare Jahleh with prehistoric wares. The question is, how do the ethno-archaeological studies on Jahleh, help us to understand the production techniques of the prehistoric ceramics? The research method includes interviews with potters in Shahvar and Hakami in 2019, the survey in some prehistoric sites, and the studies on prehistoric thin-walled ceramics. The analysis was done using analogy, and deductive rea-soning. Results show similarities between Jahleh and some of the prehistoric wares in Iran and Mesopotamia. If we pay attention to the “similarity between the tools”, “the pottery methods in Shahvar and Hakami”, and “some of the archaeological findings”, we can accept that the production method of prehis-toric thin-walled ceramics is similar to the method of producing Jahleh. There-fore, the study on the Jahleh in a contemporary context helps us to understand the processes of producing prehistoric ceramics.

Keywords

• ethno-archaeology
• shahvar and hakami villages
• minab
• jahleh ceramics
• prehistoric ceramics