This study aims to examine seven pottery sherds attributed to the Aliabad cultural horizon (4th millennium BCE) from the Mokhtarabad site in Shahdad, southeastern Iran. The research focuses on analyzing their structural and mineralogical similarities and differences, identifying the raw and temper materials used, and ultimately determining the origin and manufacturing techniques. Thin-section petrography and X-ray diffraction (XRD) methods were employed for this purpose. All samples exhibit similar petrographic fabrics characterized by fine-grained homogeneous clay matrices. Mineralogically, the pottery contains similar inclusions such as angular quartz grains, plagioclase with polysynthetic twinning, feldspar, fine-grained muscovite, as well as carbonate and calcareous particles. The shared mineralogical features suggest a common source, and comparison with the local geological outcrops supports the conclusion of a regional and indigenous origin for the raw materials used.
