Abstract
Despite the importance of the eastern regions of Iran, especially South Khorasan in the process of historical developments in Iran, archaeological research has not been done in this region. Kahnak archaeological site is an important Islamic site in South Khorasan province in the east of Iran where the weakness of environmental conditions and climatic constraints, especially the lack of water resources, has led to the formation of large and densely populated areas and settlements in this region. As this site provides economic, social, and cultural connections between the northern (Khorasan) and the southern regions (Sistan), which is also on another main route, it is very important for archaeological studies in the east of the country. Main routes have been a decisive factor in the location of human groups throughout history, and this has been more influential in areas where their habitats have been adjacent to major trade routes and communication roads. Kahnek site is considered as a place for educational activities of the Department of Archeology of Birjand University. From 2014 to 2019 excavation activities in this area have continued for six consecutive seasons. In this research, the fourth season of these excavations and their findings are introduced. The study aims to identify and analyze the architectural space called Kahnek Castle on the east side of the area in the winter of 2016. According to the surface data and excavations, the Kahnek site belongs to the third and fourth centuries until the Timurid period, and most of the gathered data include potteries and architectural structures are related to the Islamic Middle Ages. The architectural structures found in this season of excavation are mainly related to the architectural spaces of the castle. The present work is carried out in descriptive-analytical method and historical-cultural approach based on field data and library resources. 
Keywords: Establishment of the Islamic Period, Archaeological Excavation, Sarbisheh City, Kahnek Site.

Introduction
Regarding the archeology of the east of the country, especially South Khorasan, no studies have been conducted in this region, and the knowledge of researchers from the mentioned areas is more limited to the information contained in historical sources and texts and so far few articles and books about Archeology of this area has been published. One of the important sites of the Islamic Middle Ages in this region is the Kahnek site in Sarbisheh city. This site was selected in 2014 by the General Directorate of Cultural Heritage, Tourism and Handicrafts of South Khorasan and in collaboration with Birjand University as an internship site for archeology students of the Faculty of Arts - Birjand University and archaeological activities continuously until 2019, In this, it has continued. In the past, the Kahnek area was located as a settlement on an important communication route, which according to the cultural data obtained, it was determined that the establishment of Kahanek continued its life from the third and fourth centuries AH to the late Islamic (Safavid) centuries. In this study, the findings of the fourth chapter of the site are introduced. The cultural data obtained from the excavation of this site, in addition to architecture and pottery, have been other materials such as animal bone remains, decorative and functional metals, glassware pieces, metal and pottery ornaments, etc. This research tries to address these questions: 1- What is the plan of the explored architectural spaces of the ancient castle? 2- Can the influence of neighboring cultures be seen in the pottery of the Kahnek area? The research hypotheses are as follows: 1- According to the excavations, the old castle has a relatively circular plan and limited architectural spaces with square rooms. 2- Kahnek site is affected by neighboring areas due to its location in an important communication route that extends from north to south so that Neishabour-style pottery is one of the leading pottery styles of this area in the first centuries.

Geographical Location and Description of Excavation in Kahnek Site
Kahnek area is located in South Khorasan province, Sarbisheh city, in Mo’menabad rural district of the central part of this city and 50 meters east of Kahanek village and is located at 764602 longitudes and 3603433 latitudes. Architectural spaces in the fourth season of excavating the old area in 2015 are related to rooms with dimensions of 2×3 meters, which are related to the space of the castle tower. The potteries obtained in this excavation season are divided into two glazed and unglazed groups belonging to the early to late Islamic centuries. In addition to the potteries, an oil lamp, a metal scrap (possibly a coin), parts of quern-stones, a saw, pieces of glass, a chunk of glazed brick, a sharpening knife, and remnants of animals bones were found. According to the excavations and cultural materials and architectural evidence, three stages can be considered for this site. In the first and new stage of the site, it has been used as a temporary settlement in connection with livestock and agriculture. The second stage is related to the Islamic Middle Ages and at the same time with the Seljuk, Ilkhanid, and Timurid eras in which the site is at the greatest prosperity and development. The third stage of the area and the oldest one is related to the early Islamic centuries and the formation of the area, which shows the extensive connections of this area with northern Khorasan. At this stage, the architectural structures are built of clay with a wide foundation and thinner upperparts.

Conclusion
Archaeological excavation of the Kahnek site was carried out in 2016 with the cooperation of the General Directorate of Cultural Heritage, Tourism and Handicrafts of South Khorasan and Birjand University. The findings in this season of the excavation are the architectural works of several interconnected rooms with different dimensions. The walls of these architectural spaces are mostly made of clay; adobe and stone are rarely used in their foundations. Since most of the architectural spaces are detrital and in some spaces the adobes are placed diagonally next to each other, the roof of the residential spaces was probably made of rough-arch adobe. The pottery samples of the Kahnak area, which are the most important documents for the chronology of this area, can be compared with the samples and potteries of different regions in South Khorasan, particularly in North Khorasan and Kerman. The results of studies of samples and their comparisons show that the pottery in this area is related to the early Islamic centuries to the late Timurid and early Safavid periods. It can be said that trade routes played a key role in the process of communication and cultural similarities between different regions. Moreover, the Greater Khorasan Road is not only important for east-west connections but also it has been important for connecting the north and south of the Iranian plateau. Main routes have been an important factor in the location of human groups throughout history, which is more effective in areas where their ecosystems are adjacent to major trade routes and communication roads. However, it can be said that the climate has the most important impact on the process of leaving the inhabitants of this area, and agriculture, which is the main economic pillar of the region, has caused it to be abandoned due to climate change.

Abstract
According to historical and archaeological sources, the ancient city of Esfarayen was one of the important settlement centers of the Islamic era. During its existence and prosperity, this city was a link between the two famous and big cities of Nishapur and Jurjan, but from the end of the Safavid period onwards, due to various reasons, it declined and its inhabitants gradually moved to the new city. So far, parts of the ancient city of Esfarayen have been excavated by archaeologists during several different seasons. In the meantime, choosing a suitable place for archaeological excavations in this area has always been one of the most important issues for its explorers, because due to the limitation of financial resources and the large area of the area, it was necessary to determine suitable places for excavation in advance. so that its archaeological exploration can be done with more certainty. For this purpose, at the beginning of the third season of excavations, six hectares of the city were investigated with the help of magnetometric method. Then, based on the results of magnetometry, the excavations of this season were carried out. According to these explanations, the main goal of the current research is to present the results of magnetometry and compare it with the findings of the archaeological exploration of the ancient city of Esfarayen. In the current research, the descriptive-analytical method has been used using the results of field and library studies. As a result of these studies, many evidences of industrial activities were identified in the site, including architectural remains of a pottery kiln and many evidences of pottery production, which are important in the archaeological studies of the Islamic era.
Keywords: Magnetometry, The Ancient city of Esfarayen (Balqis), Esfarayen.

Introduction
The ancient city of Esfarayen, which today is known as the city of Belqis, is located in a vast plain, three kilometers southwest of Esfarayen, with an area of nearly 200 hectares. Currently, this city consists of different parts such as Arg, Sharistan, Rabz, Hesar and Khandaq. According to the documents obtained in the archaeological excavations, the city of Balqis had a settlement from the first centuries of the Islamic era to the beginning of the Qajar period (Vahdati and Nik-Govtar, 2016: 98). Due to the importance of this city in the past, several seasons of archaeological excavations have been carried out in it (Vahdati, 2016, Vahdati and Nik-Govtar, 2018 A and B, Farjami and Sotoudeh, 2019). But Balqis has a large area and the excavations that have been carried out so far do not even cover a small part of the city. For this reason, it was necessary to use remote sensing methods to identify at least a significant part of the city’s landscape and buried bodies. One of these methods, which is considered one of the branches of geophysics, is magnetometry. According to these cases, in 2009, and with the aim of identifying part of the layers buried under the soil and choosing better places for exploration, first a part of the area was surveyed for magnetometry (Aminpour, 2010). In this investigation, about six hectares of the area in a place called Tepe-Minar and also the northern part around the citadel in the southwest side of the city were surveyed by geomagnetism. By carrying out this investigation, results were obtained, based on which the third season of archaeological excavations of the site was carried out. According to the aforementioned, the main purpose of the current research is to investigate and analyze the results of the magnetometric survey of the area and the exploration that was carried out based on it. The most important question that we are trying to answer in this research is to determine the effect of the magnetometric method on choosing a better place for the purposeful exploration of the Balqis area. The method and approach of the current research is descriptive-analytical, and the method of gathering information is based on field studies from magnetometry and archeological excavations of the site, as well as library studies.

Discussion
A- The area known as Tepe Manar The results of magnetometry survey: This section included 36 grids of 10 x 10 meters. In some parts of this section, confused and jumbled magnetic anomalies were recorded, which probably indicate the transformation and destruction of its subsurface artifacts. But in other parts, the magnetic gradient anomaly map showed evidence of architectural structures and other buried ancient phenomena. Accordingly, in the part marked with the letter F, anomalies were revealed that could be related to heated masses such as brick structures or terracotta masses. The results of archaeological excavations: In order to measure the investigated parts of Tepe Manar with magnetometric method, three test boreholes were dug in the discussed area. In the first borehole, all the piles of clay and ash were encountered. In the second borehole, layers were identified, the surface and subsurface layers are sand, sand and soil, respectively, and there is a mixture of ash and soil in the lower layers. Inside the texture of soil and ash, a large amount of welding furnace and pottery was obtained. Borehole No. 3 also did not find any architectural works and only a pile of clay and ash was identified in a hole. B- The north-eastern area of the citadel the results of the magnetometric survey: In the magnetometric survey of this part of the city, several anomalies were identified. In this range, anomalies have been revealed in the form of light-colored extensions and in some cases perpendicular to each other, which can be related to the buried clay architectural structure. The results of archaeological excavations: In the scope of the second part of the geophysical survey, three boreholes and trenches were opened and explored. Borehole number one hit a pile of glazed pottery from the 6th century AH. It seemed that there was a pottery workshop around this place, because most of these pots were covered by the wastes from the pottery activity. For this purpose, a trench was excavated near borehole 1, measuring 6 x 6 meters. After removing the surface layer, a pile of pottery shards and pottery kiln debris was encountered, which were scattered on the surface of the trench at different depths. For this purpose, another borehole with dimensions of 2 x 2 meters was created at a distance in the southern part of trench 2, and after removing the surface layers at a depth of 30 cm, the remains of a pottery kiln were identified. The reason for the large amount of strong magnetic anomalies in this area is the presence of many pottery pits in this area, in addition to the pottery kiln. The date that can be determined based on the pottery obtained from this kiln is the second half of the 12th century A.D.

Conclusion
Today, in the world, magnetometry is widely used by archaeologists to identify architectural structures and buried structures. By using these methods, it is possible to examine and study many parts of an ancient site without destruction in a limited time. For this reason, in the archeology project of the old city of Esfarayen, the magnetometric method was also used during a period. Because not only the area was large, but also the limitation of resources prevented it from being able to explore a large part of it. About six hectares of the area were studied in the magnetometric survey of the area, which was carried out with the Fluxgate device. After investigating and preparing the related map, anomalies were observed in some parts of the map, which were probably related to industrial activities. Based on these anomalies, six boreholes and trenches were dug in two parts of the area to measure the results of the magnetometric survey. In almost all boreholes and trenches obtained from the excavation, evidences of industrial activities such as pottery production or pits of potter’s pits were identified. The existence of these convincing evidences is a clear proof of the magnetometric anomalies of the area. In a trench, very clear evidence of an Islamic era pottery kiln was found, around which there were several waste places. Considering these cases, it can be said that the results of the archaeological excavations of this site are a confirmation of its magnetometry project. If these studies continue and boreholes or trenches are created in other parts, we can gain more knowledge about the different spaces of the ancient city of Esfarayen.

Abstract
Belqeis site or Old Esfarayen is considered one of the important urban centers in the Islamic era and in the North Khorasan province. Based on historical sources and archaeological excavations, this city has been inhabited since the early Islamic centuries until the Safavid period. So far, many books and articles have been published about this city and some of its archaeological evidence; But parts of its findings have not been published yet. Pottery from the 11th to the 14th century is among the archeological findings of this site, which have not been introduced and investigated in any independent research. These works include various decorative groups, some of which are less known. These factors show the necessity of conducting independent research in this field. The current research was based on two essential and main questions, which are as follows: How many groups were the pottery from the 11th to 14th centuries, what decorative features do they have, and which regions are they comparable to? What are the production centers of this pottery? According to these questions, the main goal of the current research is to investigate, analyze, and compare the pottery of the 11th to 14th centuries in the vicinity of the Belqeis site and to identify their possible production center or centers. The descriptive-analytical method was used to conduct the present research and the method of collecting information is based on field and library studies. As a result of the present research, various types of unglazed and glazed pottery from the 11th to 14th centuries of the area were investigated, described, and compared. In the meantime, some decorative techniques such as drop-drop glazing were also presented in the research for the first time. Much of the studied pottery was probably produced on the site itself, whose production evidence was also shown in the article. Still, some pottery, such as lusterware and celadon, was probably exported to this city from other centers such as Jurjan, Jiroft, Kashan and China.
Keywords: Pottery, Esfarayen, Belqeis Site, 11th to 14th Century, Islamic Era.

Introduction
Esfarayen is one of the ancient cities of North Khorasan province, which has been subject to calamities, looting, and attacks many times throughout history. Historians have called Esfarayen the border of Nishapur or Jurjan. Most of the transformations of this city are related to the 9 to 11 centuries; However, in the period of 12th and 13th centuries, it faced decline and was attacked twice by the Ghoz and then by the Mongols. In the 14 century and with the establishment of Sarbedars rule in the region, the city became relatively prosperous for a while, and this process continued until the Safavid period. According to these cases, it is clear that the life of the ancient city of Esfarayen continued continuously from the beginning of Islam to the Safavid period; This is despite the fact that our awareness regarding the archaeological findings of this city, especially its pottery, includes most of the early Islamic centuries. On the other hand, our knowledge about the pottery of the Islamic era of Greater Khorasan also includes the periods before the Mongol attack and after the Timurids came to power; While our knowledge about the pottery of the 13-14 centuries in the region is relatively small. Considering that the social life of the city of Esfarayen spanned the entire 11th to 14th centuries, it was necessary to investigate the pottery of this period in independent research. A subject that has not been independently addressed in any research so far. According to these cases, the current research is based on two essential and main questions, which are as follows: How many groups were the pottery from the 11th to 14th centuries, what decorative features do they have and which regions are they comparable to? What are the production centers of this pottery? According to these questions, the main goal of the current research is to investigate, analyze, and compare the pottery of the 11th to 14th centuries at the Belqeis site and identify their possible production center or centers.
Descriptive-analytical method was used to conduct the present research and the method of collecting information is based on field and library studies. Based on this, the pottery studied in this article is related to the archaeological excavations of the third and fourth seasons of the Belqeis site. After the initial documentation and description of these pottery, they have been classified and their comparative study with other sites has been done.

Discussion
In the present study, only the pottery was examined and studied, which included the 11th to 14th centuries according to the comparative dates. These potteries were divided into two groups, unglazed and glazed, and each group was examined separately. The unglazed pottery of the area has a clay paste in the color range of pea, red, green, and black, and various motifs are used on some pieces. Some unglazed pottery from the area, such as red paste samples, probably from Jurjan or Jiroft, were exported to this area. But other decorative pottery, such as molded and stamped samples, were produced in the area itself.
The glazed pottery of the area also has various clay pastes, frit-ware, and porcelain. The single-colored glazed examples of the area generally have a frit paste, and most of them are turquoise-green in color. Most of these production pieces were probably from the Belqis site. Among the single-colored glazed pottery of the area, scattered pieces of Celadon pottery were also identified, which imported from China in the 14th century. Pottery with the underglaze painting technique has a lot of variety and is generally frit-ware. Some of this pottery, such as the blue and white samples, was probably the production of the area itself, but the pottery, such as the Silhouette and Sultanabad samples, was exported to this area from other centers such as Jurjan, Nishapur, and Kashan. have been Lusterware pottery, which all belong to the 13th century, are exported from other regions such as Jurjan or Kashan.
It should be noted that in the excavations of the site, in addition to the pottery kiln, many slags were also found inside the kiln and its surrounding areas. Among the evidence of pottery production in the area, we can mention the following: scattered pieces of clay molds, three, four, or multi-faceted clay stamps, and many pieces of clay balls that sometimes have glazes on them. It can be seen, many pieces of pottery tripods, clay chines, unglazed or glazed pottery, deformed or stuck together, crudely carved pottery, and objects Cone-shaped pottery that was obtained along with other findings related to pottery production.
According to the existence of this solid evidence as well as petrographic studies conducted on some terracotta pieces, it can be assumed that many of the studied terracotta pieces were produced in the area itself; But some pieces, such as examples of lusterware, Celadon, Sultanabad, and some painted red paste pottery, were imported from other centers such as Jurjan, Nishapur, Jiroft, Kashan, and China.

Conclusion
The present research was carried out with the aim of examining, comparing, and dating the pottery of the 11th to 14th centuries of the Belqeis site and also identifying the possible centers or centers of their production. As a result of the present research, various types of unglazed pottery of this period were investigated, analyzed, and compared. As an example, pottery with drop glaze decoration was introduced and it was checked that this decorative method was used in combination with other motifs on the unglazed pottery of the area. Due to the fact that in addition to unglazed pottery, evidence of pottery production was also obtained in the excavations of the area, it can be said that most of the unglazed samples were probably produced in the area itself; But pottery such as unglazed embossed red paste with stumpy decoration and sphero-conical vessel pieces were probably exported to this area from the two centers of Jurjan and Jiroft. Because the production evidence of this pottery was obtained in these two centers and the form and patterns of the pottery in the area are somewhat similar to the production samples of these two centers.
Many of the glazed pottery of the middle Islamic ages of the area, despite the great variety, were probably produced in the area itself; As an example, we can refer to the single-color turquoise glazed pottery of ferritic paste, the examples of single-color oil-lamps of frit-ware, and the blue and white pottery with a striped pattern. Apart from these cases, in the excavations of the area, scattered fragments of other pottery groups of this time period were found, which were probably imported from other centers due to less dispersion and lack of identification of proof of their production in the area. are as an example, we can mention the obtained luster-ware, Sultan-Abad, Celadon, and Silhouette pottery, which may have been imported from centers such as Kashan, Jurjan, and Nishapur.