Reconsidering the Pottery from Dahān-i Ghulāmān (Iran, Sistān – 6th century BC): Some Preliminary Production-related Typological Observations

The site of Dahān-i Ghulāmān, in Iranian Sistān, was excavated in the 1960s-1970s by an Italian team of the former Is.M.E.O. of Rome and was interpreted as the capital of the Achaemenid Satrapy of Zranka. The present reappraisal of its pottery is based upon the analysis of an unpublished assemblage of over 3000 ceramic fragments stored in Rome. From this analysis, beside some enrichment in typological classification, interesting details are emerging regarding a pottery production which, despite differences in the fabrics attested, seems morphologically standardized, reflecting the nature of the site: an urban centre probably entirely pre-ordered by the central administration of the Empire