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Nami H, Mousavinia S M. (2021). Description, Classification and Typology of the Parthian Potteries of ShahrTappeh, Dargaz. Parseh J. Archaeol. Stud.. 5(17), : 9 doi:10.30699/PJAS.5.17.167
URL: http://journal.richt.ir/mbp/article-1-537-en.html

Abstract
The northeast Iran has been the context of some of the most important events of the Parthian Period, in a way that one can restrict the geography of the Parthians to Pathawa and Hyrcania until before gradual expansion of the territory during Mehrdad the First (138-171 BC).One of the least-known aspects of the Parthian in the northeast region is the potteries assemblages. Pottery is the most abundant of the archaeological finds and is the most important one to understand the cultural specifics of the historical periods. The Parthian pottery is not the same throughout the whole empire and it can be grouped into several categories based on geographic regions. The pottery assemblage under study in this paper, collected from two seasons of excavations at ShahrTappeh in Dargaz, represents part of the Parthian pottery corpus of the northeast region. In current research, the pottery aasemblage of ShahrTappeh has been studied from the typological perspective and it has been tried to put forward specifics of the pottery of Parthian period of the northeast region by comparative studies of the similar assemblages.The most frequent forms amongst the pottery assemblage of ShahrTappeh are jar, pithos, handled jar, pot, caldron, trough, bowl and cup. These forms, which are seen from the early to late phase of the Parthian period, are comparable with specimens from Marv, Nisa, Qumes, Chasada, Shamshir Ghar, Ai Khanom, HasaniMahale, Tol Espid, Tappeh Yahya, Bardsir cemetery, Gowri Kohneh, Nadali, south of Baluchestan, Khorheh, Sang-e Shir cemetery, QalehEzhdahak and Bisotun. In addition, finding of some kiln waste in the second season of excavation at ShahrTappeh suggest that this site was a center for pottery production in the northeast during the Parthian period. Lack of glazed ware, rarity of the painted ware and the prevalence of the plain ware are the most characteristics of the ShahrTappeh pottery assemblage. The latter was used as common ordinary ware during the Parthian period and based on comparative studies they were parts of the pottery tradition of the Parthians. 
Keywords: The Northeast Region of Iran, Dargaz, ShahrTappeh, Pottery, Parthian Period.

Introduction
The site of ShahrTappeh is located near the town of Chapeshlow in the northeast Iran. From several aspects this site has important in archaeology of the Parthian Period: with more than 70 ha, the site of ShahrTappeh is one of the largest sites of this period in the northeast Iran; 2. The site is just 100 km, as crow flies, from the first capital of the Parthians; 3. Archaeological data, including fortifications, acropolis, sharestan (lower town), industrial quarter and cultural materials recovered from the excavations comparable with those from Nisa, suggest that the site was a city in the Parthian period; 4. Based on materials recovered from the surface and excavations, ShahrTappeh was a single-period site of the Parthian period in the northeast region. These items suggest that ShahrTappeh was one of the most important Parthian centers of the northeast region. Regarding the importance of the site of ShahrTappeh in the northeast region we try in this paper to discuss the main pottery characteristics of the site to some extent. In this line, first we have studied the pottery forms of the site and then we have chosen 89 sherd fragments and whole vessels for in-depth studies. We have tried to choose the pottery sample so that it is the representative of the whole assemblage. In the following the pottery assemblage has been divided into two classes: open forms and closed forms, and then each class has been discussed. Finally, we tried to discuss, in a separate part, the common features of the Parthian pottery of the region from this study and at the end we propose a pattern for identification and characterization of the Parthian pottery in the northeast region. 

Typology and General Characteristics of the Study Sample
From the pottery collection recovered from two seasons of excavations at ShahrTappeh, 89 pottery fragments and whole vessels were chosen for study here. At the first stage, these potteries are divided into two classes: open forms and closed forms. The closed forms of the ShahrTappeh assemblage include necked jars and simple jars, pithoi, stoups, caldrons, troughs, a vessel type known as Misagh and base fragments of the vessels. The open forms include bowls and cups. Without considering the various types of forms, the ware has some general characteristics. The pottery collection under study is all plain. No glazed ware is found in ShahrTappeh yet. Some of the sherds have incised, applique or burnished decorations. The sherds usually have mean thickness, but both thick and thin variants are also seen. The color paste covers a spectrum: buff, light orange, orange, red and gray. The color of slip ranges from buff, light buff, dark buff, greenish buff, orange buff, reddish buff, buff orange, light orange, dark orange, reddish orange, red, greenish red, buff brown, gray to greenish gray. All samples are wheel made and the temper agent used is mineral, including sand, silt and white particles. The kiln temperature was enough and all sherds were exposed to proper heat. 

Conclusion
With more than 70 ha in area, ShahrTappeh is one the largest Parthian sites of the northeast region. The important point about this site is that it is a single-period site and discussing about its finds can be pursued from this perspective. One of the most important finds of ShahrTappeh is pottery. Except typological and technical grounds, the Parthian potteries of ShahrTappeh can be assessed from the viewpoints of chronology, comparable specimens, imported potteries and local production. The potteries assemblage of ShahrTappeh is datable to the early to late Parthian period. This conclusion is based on comparative grounds. On this basis, the ShahrTappeh specimens are comparable with those of eastern Parthian Empire. The early Parthian potteries of the site are comparable with those of Nisa, Marv and Qumes. Some of the specimens are comparable with pottery from Charseda, Shamshir Ghar and Ai Khanomwhich are categorized in the Seleucid-Parthian context. Although the site established in the early Parthian period, it lasted to the end of the era. Among the potteries assemblage of ShahrTappeh there are specimens that are comparable with those from Tol Spid, Tappeh Yahya, Bardsir cemetery, Gowri Kohneh, Nadali, south of Baluchestan, Khorheh, Sang-e Shir cemetery, QalehEzhdahak and Bisotun. The pottery types of ShahrTappeh can be assessed from the import and local production viewpoints. Amongst the potteries of ShahrTappeh a burnished vessel dated to the 1st to 3rd centuries AD has been found. Existence of this specimen indicates the importation of such vessels from the southeast region to the northeast region including ShahrTappeh. On the other hand, discovery of large amounts of kiln waste suggest that the site was a manufacturing center for pottery vessels. It should be noted that as no deformed specimens were found, we cannot make comments about the local variants. In general, potteries of ShahrTappeh which are comparable with assemblages from the eastern Iran can be dated from the early to the late Parthian period. These pottery types that in which imported specimens and local production can be seen, are representatives of some of the Parthian pottery types of the northeast region.