Dynamics in Ceramic Production: Petrographic Analysis of Ceramics from Godin Tepe III:6 and III:5

Abstract

ABSTRACT Petrographic analysis was conducted on pottery from Early Bronze Age archaeological levels at Godin Tepe (western Iran), for the purpose of defining traditions of raw material procurement and ceramic production methods in the context of a local abandonment and resettlement of an agricultural town within the excavation area. Thin-section samples of ceramics representing various ware types from each phase were analysed with a polarising light microscope. The results reveal that there was some continuity in raw material procurement strategies between these phases, especially with buff common wares. The high degree of petrofabric homogeneity within buff common wares strongly suggests the presence of workshops producing them, while more variation among buff coarse and grey-black wares indicates possible household production. A distinct petrofabric of mostly metamorphosing red shale inclusions appeared in III:5, closely associated with red-slipped wares which proliferated in that archaeological phase, suggests the appearance of a novel ceramic tradition at the summit of the town mound, alongside the persistence of existing ceramic traditions and raw material procurement strategies.