Archaeometric Investigation on the Grey Ware from Baluchestan, Iran: Intraregional Interactions in the Indo-Iranian Borderlands During the Late 4th‒Early 3rd Millennium BCE

Abstract

The focus of this work is the archaeometric investigation of a high quality ceramic typical of the Indo-IranianBorderlands in ca. 3300‒2900 BCE. Variously labelled as “Emir Grey” and “Late Shahi Tump” ware, this finegrey ceramic is often considered an elite or prestige product on account of its very thin walls, fine fabric, andpainted designs. In the present paper, thin-section petrography, XRD, and SEM-EDX analyses were carried out ona selection of pottery pieces from the burial contexts at the Chegerdak cemetery of Iranshahr (Baluchestan, Iran).The results shed new light on the production and circulation of the pottery. Most notably, it potentially extendedthe map of its production centers to western Iranian Baluchestan.

Keywords

• indo-iranian borderlands
• bronze age
• chegerdak cemetery
• archaeometry