Analyzing Typical Characteristics of Central Zagros Potteries during the Chalcolithic Period

Abstract

Some 152 Chalcolithic sites were identified by the means of an archaeological surface survey in the Cen-tral Zagros mountainous region. As a whole, the analysis of data shows that the majority volume of find-ing pottery groups is classified as Red-Slipped Wares belonging to the Late Chalcolithic period. Beside this, the Black on Buff Wares and also the Impress Dalma Wares (Middle Chalcolithic) are the two types dominating the samples. The altitude of the settlements has risen by transition from the Early to the Late Chalcolithic periods. By Middle Chalcolithic we confronted different kinds of potteries indicating an im-provement in the pottery making techniques or communicating with the neighboring regions. The Late Chalcolithic societies have witnessed a decline in the pottery types produced, but dramatic increases in the production rates. All factors show that in the Late Chalcolithic, population has been increased and a category of settlement systems have been propagated in the region which includes agricultural vil-lage-based pastoralism and nomadism.