The Susiana Legacy: A Discussion on the Ceramic Petrographic Analysis of Legacy Collections from Iran’s Susiana Plain

Summary

This is an abstract from the "Ceramics and Archaeological Sciences 2024" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

The Susiana Plain of southwestern Iran has a long history of archaeological investigation, perhaps most notably at sites such as Chogha Mish and Susa. Scholars have demonstrated the Susiana Plain as a place of interregional connection and distinctive material tradition. However, though interest in the broader region surrounding Susiana persists, the intensity of study has slowed considerably, and much of the material recovered from excavations in decades past remains largely untouched in museum storage. This paper specifically uses the archaeological material of previous excavations, now housed in museum storage, to assess the attributes of fifth and fourth millennium BCE pottery. Methods of ceramic petrography are used to examine and compare technological characteristics between sites and over time. This analysis aims to bring the Susiana communities into conversations of contemporaneous pottery practices in neighboring regions; furthermore, this paper offers discussion on the challenges, and rewards, regarding the use and study of legacy collections.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 89th Annual Meeting, New Orleans, LA (2024)   •
• Ceramics and Archaeological Sciences 2024

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 37763.0