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PENNSYLVANIALIBRARYTHEUNIVERSITY MUSEUMtrUNIVERSITYOFPENNSYLVANIAU t \ ~ .. ~ ~ i \ 1 1MU$f.Uw.uwftAll1Excavationsat Tepe Yahya, Iran1967-1969PROGRESS REPORT Ic. C. Lamberg - KarlovskyETIN27.UCANSCHOOLOF PREHISTORICRESEARCH . PEABODYMUSEUM. HARVARDUNIVERSITYAcurrent list of all publicationsavailable can be obtainedbywritingtothePublication DepartmentPeabodyMuseumHarvard University11 DivinityAvenueCambridge, Massachusetts02138Price of this volume is$4.50JOINT PUBLICATION OFAmericanSchool of PrehistoricResearchPEABODYMUSEUM HARVARD UNIVERSITYBUllETINNO. 27EditedbyHughHenckenANDTheAsiaInstituteof Pahlavi UniversitySHIRAZ, IRANMONOGRAPH NO.1EditedbyRichardN. FryeMUSEUM Y3L3i11' I Dl. UNIVERSITY1 OF rII 1 , ..,t J ' ''' , .1 . L18RAHIES JExcavationsat Tepe Yahya, Iran1967-1969PROGRESS REPORT IC. C. Lamberg - KarlovskyCAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS , 1970r v ~ ,'2 7COPYRIGHT1970BY THEPRESIDENT ANDFELLOWSO F HARVARDCOLLEGELIBRARYOFCONGRESS CATALOGCARDNUMBER 74-143902PRINTEDBYHARVARDUNIVERSITYPRINTINGOFFICECAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS, U. S.A." Hal lo !" said Piglet, " what are you doing?"" Hunt i ng," said Pooh." Hunt i ngwhat? "" Tracki ngsomething," said Winnie-the-Poohvery mysteriously." Tracki ngwhat? " saidPiglet, comingcloser." That' s just what I askmyself. I askmyself What?"Winnie-the-PoohA.A. MilneA C K NOWL ED GMEN TSMembers oftheproject whohavecontributedtoour work include Dr. Beno Rothenberg; Dr. Ron-ald Tylecote, undertakingmetallurgical analysesofcopper bronzes; Dr. Radomir Pleiner, analyses ofiron; Dr. Colin Renfrew, obsidian analyses; Dr.Fred Matson, ceramic studies. Anal yses of theabove and t he paleobotanical and zoologicalstudies wi ll be included in our final report. Ex-cavations were supervised by James Humphries,Richard Meadow, Philip Kohl, Peter Dane, Dr.E. C. L. DuringCaspers , Denise Schmandt, ArthurBankoff, JaneBritton, ThomasBeale, WilliamFitz,Ir. Donald Whitcombe, Martha Prickett, HenryAdams, David Biernoff, Elizabeth Stone, Dr. Naga-raja Rao, BarbaraCard, and AndrewWilliamsonatTepe Dasht-i-Deh. Alexander D. Kernan acted asStaff Photographer; AndreaBankoff, PaulineShank-man , and VictoriaTompkins were Registrars; AnnHechle and Barbara Westman undertook the artwork (al l pottery wasdrawn by the former; sec-tions,maps ,andarchitecturebythe latt er). Repre-sentatives of the Iranian Archaeological Serviceincluded Mr. CholamAli Shamlou , Mr. MahmoudKhordavany, and M r. Hu shang Azimzade. The co-operation of the Iranian Archaeological Service isgratefull y acknowledged. The assistance of HisExcellencyMehrdad Pahlbod, Mr. Abdol-Ali Pour-mand, and Mr. M. Khorramabadi has greatly fa-cilitatedour work, ashave theadviceand helpofDr. Ezat Negahban. Mr. Ali Hakemi , Director of theIran-Bastan Museum, hasallowed us to study thematerial fromhis relatedexcavationsand haspro-vided helpful advice. Mr. David Stronach, Direc-tor of the British Institute of Persian Studies, hasconsistent l y bee n of the utmost help; our debtto him is great. Mr. Richar d Arndt, U.S. Cult uralAttache, Mr. Bowen Kennedyof t he U.S. EmbassyCommissary, and the Scientific Attaches providedassistance in securi ng essential supplies withoutwhich our work could not have proceeded.My wife alternately took charge of the domesticduties for the expe dition, typed t he manuscript,and provided support in difficult moments, ac-ceptingtheunpleasant separationwhenshecouldnot joinme in thefield. Throughout our workatTepeYahya, both in thefield and in our researchat home, shehasbee noneof themost construc-tive of critics.At the Peabody Museum our Director, Profes-sor StephenWilliams, andDr.HughHenckenhavecon sistentl y offered support and encouragement.Toall theabove, mygratitudeanddebt aregreat.ContentsAcknowledgments viIntroduction 1ThePartho-SasanianSettlement :PeriodI 6TheAchaemenian(?) Settlement: PeriodII 22TheIronAge: PeriodIII 27TheElamite(?) Settlement: PeriodIV A 34TheProto-ElamiteSettlements: PeriodIVB, IVC 48The" Yahya"Period: V 83Chart I 84The" Neol it hic"Settlements: PeriodVI 111A MiddlePersianInscribed SherdfromTepeYahyabyRichardN. Frye 131Appendix: RadiocarbonDates 132ReferenceBibliography 133List of Plates1. Tang- i-Mordan rock art 22. Tang- i -Mord an rock ar t (not e peck ing technique)33. Vi ew of Tepe Yahya fromthe sout h 44. Subt erranean st orage rooms, Area A3E 115. Sasanian Gayomard seal, Area A4E-5. Domed,perf orat ed, roc k cr ystal 136. Per i od I i ron ob j ect s 167. Small finds - metal , Period I 188. Mi scellaneous smal l finds, Period I 209. Gla ssand ceramicjars 2310. Per iod II architecturevi ewed fromthe east 2411. Surface showi ng habitation debri s, st one founda-tions, and column (?) base, Per iod III 2812. Pottery, Period III 2913. Burni shed gray-ware, bridge-spouted sherd, Pe-riod III 3214. Architectureof PeriodIV. Central platformbetweenRooms I and II. Uppermost walls, Period IV A;lo wer wall sIV B 3715. Ceramics, Period IV AlB 5016. Ceramics, Period IV A 5117. Mi scellaneous beads 5218. Compartmented seal of agate , BI-12 5319. Steat ite objects 5420. Metal s, Period IVB(all objectsare copper-bronze)6821. Cylinder seal, diorite (?), surf ace 7022. Cylinder seal , glaz ed, serpenti ne, Period IV B 7023. Steat it e, Per iod IV B 5624. Steatite, Period IV B 5725. Steatite, Period IV B 6226. Steatite and ceramic objects, Period IV B 6427. Small finds 12928. Per iod V Barchitecture viewed f romabove 10429. Per i od V Carchitecture viewed from above 10530. Ston e pal ette, fromArea C-1 , Period V A 8631. Painted potter y, Period VA 8732. Painted pottery , Period VA-B 8833. Painted pottery, Period VA-B 9434. Painted Nal sherd, CTT6-6, and Amri sherd, sur-face 10135. Thumb- impressed bricksfrom Period VC; similarbrick i sused in Period VI A 10236. Metal impl ement s and honing stone all fromPe-riod VB, CTT1, 3-2 10337. Bone and shell , stone seal (E) 10838. Mother of pearl , turquoi se necklace, stone celt,bronzes, Per i od V 10939. Stonetools of Periods Vand VI 11040. Wall (?) confi guration of Period VI A, Area D.(See Fig. 54 for th e same con struction unraveled.)11641. Coarse ware pottery from Period VI B-C 12842. Flint, sto ne, and boneimplementsassociated withf emal ef iguri ne (PI. 43), Area D-8 (7) 12343. Front vi ew of female figur ine of steatite fromAr ea D-8 (7), Period VI D 13044. Peri od VI Cand Period VI D architecture viewedf rom th e sout heast 125List of FiguresMap showi ng l ocat i on of Tepe Yahya Faci ng page11. Map showi ng locat io n of cairn buri al s and canal62. Areas excavated, 1968, 1969 73-6. Cerami cs, Peri od I 9-12, 147. Area B, nor th face 258. Ceramics, Per iod II 269-11. Cerami cs, Peri od III , 30, 31, 3312. Tr ench BW, north section 3513. Third Mi lle nniumarchitecture 3614- 19. Cer ami cs, Per i od IVA 38, 40-42, 44-4720. Cer amics, Period IV B 4821. Steat it e, Peri od IVB 5822. Steat i te, Period IVB 5523- 32. Cerami cs, Per i od IV B 60, 72-79, 8233. Seal s, metal , and ceramics 7134. Ar eaC, east secti on 8535-38. Ceramics, Period V A 89-9239-41. Ceramics, Per iod V B 96-9842-43. Ceramics, PeriodVC 99-10044. Top ographi cal Ma pof Strat um7, Trench C 10645. Levell i ngarchitect ureC- 7 10746. Cer amics, Perio dVI A 11847-49. Ceramics, Peri od VI A- B 119-1 2150. Cer ami cs, Perio d VI B 12251. Cerami cs, Peri od VI C-E 12452. Area D, east sect io n 11453. Ar ea D, north secti on 11554. Area D, St rata 3, 4 11755. Ar ea D, St rata 6, 7, 8 12656. Area D, Strata 8, 9 127Excavations at Tepe YahyaOm;. ! 200 400200 4 0 0 ~ m .eM EDI N AR K IMAPSHOWINGLOCATIONOFTEPE YAHYAExcavationsat Tepe YahyaINTRODUCTIONIn the summer of 1967 while conducting an ar-chaeological survey in the southeastern reachesof the province of Kerman, Iran , we were fortu-nate in discoveringalargemound in theSoghunValley, approximately 225 km. directly south ofKermanand 30km. northeast of thepresent townof Dolatabad. Our research and excavations havebeen supported through grantsfromthe NationalScience Foundation in 1967, 1968, and 1969, andby the Ford Foundation in the latter twoseasons.The Peabody Museum, the Milton Fund of Har-vard University, and private benefactors, notablyMr. LandonT. Clay, have contributedfurther sup-port. The excavations wereundertaken under theauspicesoftheAmericanSchool of PrehistoricRe-search, PeabodyMuseum, and theArchaeologicalService of the Iran-Bastan Museum, Iran.The return of our museumto this area of Iranwas motivated by the earlier surveys and excava-tions undertaken by Sir Aurel Stein (1937). Thematerial gathered by himis in the collections ofthe Peabody Museum and the British Museum."The early pioneer work of this great explorer-archaeologist has been, until very recently, theonlyinformationknownfortheprehistoricperiodsof southeastern Iran . The past decade has seena renewed interest in this area - two sites ini-tially discovered and excavated by Stein havebeen reexcavated: Miss B. de Cardi (1967, 1968)at Bampur and Professor Joseph Caldwell at Tal-i-Iblis (1967). Their work has added fundamentallyto our appreciationof theimportanceof thisareain prehistory. " Both Bampur and Iblis evidencedifficulties inoutliningasequenceof major dura-tion. Tal-i-Iblis has had well over 80 percent ofthe mound carried away by villagers for the useof topsoil, while Bampur has avery considerablefort cappingthemound, which presentsan insur-mountable difficulty for horizontal excavations.1 My thanks to R. W. Barnett, Keeper of WesternAsian Antiquit ies, BritishMuseum, for permittingme tostudy their holdings.2Recent work has also revealed a " mesoli t hi c" inthe province of Kerman (Huckriede 1962 :25-42). It isstated that the flint industry at Kuhbanan, north ofKerman, is similar to Natufian. This, however, appearsdoubtful. The types illustrated and discussed all canreadily be paralleled at TepeYahya , Period VI , carbon-dated to the middle Fifth Millennium.It was considered profitableto return to south-eastern Iran in the hopeof locatingasite whichwould not only help place the Stein collectionsin afirmer stratigraphiccontext but further clarifythe nature and extent of settlement in this littleknown area. The possibility of shedding newlight on the economicexchangepatternsbetweenMesopotamia, Persian Baluchistan, the Indus, andthe Persian Gulf in theThirdMillenniumdidnotescape our more extravagant hopes. From ourown study of the Stein collections it becamereadilyapparent that this area had aconsiderablediversity and was far fromthecultural backwaterit was thought to be (Lamberg- Karlovsky 1969a:163-168).We didnot locateasinglesite on survey, withthe exception of Tepe Yahya, which promised toprovide sufficient time depth to outline the cul-ture history of this area. Our final report of theHarvard-Iran survey will detail and map the sitesrecorded and excavated. This report provides apreliminary statement of our excavations at TepeYahya. Such a progress report is written in thebelief that the presentation of preliminary evi-dence stimulates ideas and criticisms benefitingthefinal report. Detailedanalysisof faunal, floral,metallurgical, and geological data, together withceramicquantifications, must await thefinal report.The great number of sites surveyed indicateshort periods of occupation and scattered settle-ment. Wehadcometo sharetheideathat south-eastern Iran was sparsely occupied by semi-no-madic peoples throughout prehistoric times andcertainly was without major settlements of thedimension of Bampur, Iblis, or even Nurabad intheliroft plain, the previously known major sitesfor the area (St ei n1937, Meadow1968) .On August 17, 1967, our lowmorale was dra-maticallychangedwiththediscoveryof TepeYah-ya. In traveling westward from the village ofBulukwecrossedtheTang-i-Mordan, a formidablepass and today's major east-west route leadingfromtheliroft to Sirjanand Bandar-Abbas. Alongthe rock cliffs of the Tang-i-Mordan, extensiverock carvings were noted incorporatingscenes ofthe hunt, geometric symbols, man-beasts, bird-men, and ithyphallic figures (PI. 1, 2). Their dateremains enigmatic. No settlements could be 10-NWI--e....CI.PLATE3 Viewof TepeYahyafromsouthINTRODUCTION 5cat ed nearby. Therockart ext endedfor twokilo-meters on both si desof the pass, with avariabledensity throughout th is str etch. It had no doubtbeen l ong used as a major pass. Several cairnburials were noted around the area of th e pass(Lamberg-Karlovsky and Humphries1968). In our1970 season, Mr. WilliamFitz excavat ed over 25cai rn burials in t he Sogh un Valley. Parall els forthe complete vessels in the cairns are evidenc edthroughout our Periods I-III at TepeYahya.In descending theTang-i -Mordan, Tepe Yahya,locat ed i n the Soghun Valley, was immediatelysighted (PI. 3). The valley in which Yahya issit-uated is approximatel y 1200 meters above sealevel and slopes eastward toward Hajjiabad, pro-vi di ng ready access, without major geographicbarriers, to Fars, Khuzistan, and the eastern Iran-ian Plat eau3 (Fig. 1). The si t e is ideall y si tuat edfor east-west movement while being onl y a 5-6daywalkfromthecoast. (Several men in thevil-lageof Soghun havewa lked this distance in thatreported time.)~ Tepe Yahya stands at a height of 19.8 metersabovethe present-day valley floor and measures187 mete rs at its base; a nearly perfect circu larconformity. Promthe base of the mound, sherdsarescattered over adistance of almost 2 km. ineverydi rect io n. Directl ytotheeast of themound,approximat ely 75 met ers, f lows t he Kish-e-Shu rRiver (see Fig. 1), which, though normall y onl ymarshy i n the summer months, flowed for twodaysafter rains in the mountainsin August, 1969and 1970. To t he west of t he mound, approxi-matel y 50 meters, acanal encircles half the baseof the mound. This canal has evi dence of mudbricks lining its banks, and qanats parallel thecanal fo rsome200 met er sbeforeconti nui ngt heirrout e toward the Ashin Mountains (Fig. 1). Thedatefor the constructionof thiswater syst emmaybe indicated by the size of the bricks liningthecanal, a sizei dentical tothatof PeriodI: Sasanian.Further work on this water systemand the cairnburials as well at Tepe Dasht-i-Deh, the onlyother mound in thevalley, will be subjects of fu-tureseasons of research. Anattempt will bemadeto work out an understanding of the settlementhistory of the valley. Sherds fromthe surface ofTepe Dasht-i- Deh indicate parallels to the 9th -15th century A.D. ceramics known from Siraf t :'"Thematerial fromthis site is interestingfor the3For ageneral discussion of this area asan easternextension of the Zagros see Fi sher (1968 :3- 110).4I wouldliketo thankMr. An drewWilliamson, Fel -lowof the British Institute of Persian Studi es, for thi sidentification of sherds for thi ssit e.unusual combination of coastal pott ery of Meso-potamia and Chinese typ es found at Si raf withSi rj an typ epottery normall y restri ct ed to the pla-teau . Owing to its po sition on th e borders ofGarmsir and Sardsir , Soghun seems to beon thefringe of both di stribution areas"- a rol e TepeYahyaplayed in pr ehi stori c timesaswe ll. In our1970 season, Mr. Andrew Wi lli amson undertookasondage at Dasht -i -D eh, recovering acache of77compl et e andrestorabl e vessel s, associ atedwi t hcelad ron ware, painted and inci sed cerami cs ofthe 14thcenturyA.D. overlying earlier finemoldedwareof th e12th-1 3th centuries."We havecompleted threefull seasonsof exca-vationatTepeYahya, concent rat inginthefirst twoon recovery of the cult ure hi story of this littleknownarea of Iran. Inth efirst season, aseri es offive 1Ox1O-meter tr encheswereset f romthe topof the mound to the base (Fi g. 2) and letteredfromA-E. In the1969 season, excavations at thetopwere extended four squaresto the north andone square we st of B(Fig. 2). Work in the testtrench was continued and will continue until afull stratigraphicsequencecanbeestabli shed. The1970 season has been included here throughshort comment sintroduced in gal l ey proof s.Todate, the excavat ionsat TepeYahyareveal avirtuall y unbroken sequence of occupation ex-te nding fromthe middle of the Fifth Mi l lenniumto theend of th eThirdMillenniumB.C. Amajorgap in th e sequence is evident throughout thegreater duration of the Second Mill enn ium. Themound was reoccupied in the latter third of theSecondMillennium, when habitation isagain evi-dent, to early Sasanian times (Lamberg- Karl ovsky1968 , 1969, 1970). At thi s time we put forwarda tentative sequence - the major periods of oc-cupation and their duration. A complete list ofradiocarbondeterminations is giveninAppendi xI.Eachoftheseperiods is definedbynatural st rataPeriod I Sasanian pre 400 A.D.Period II Achaemenian(?) 300- 500 B.C.Period III Iron Ag e 500-1000 B.C.Period IV A Elamite? 2200-2500 B.C.IVB Proto-El amite 2500- 3000 B.C.IVC Proto-Elamite 3000-3400 B.C.Period V YahyaCulture 3400-3800 B.C.Period VI Coarse Ware-Neolithi c 3800-4500 B.C.;) Hi sreport on the excavati ons wi ll beincluded inour fi nal publicat i on; see Iran, IX, 19 71, fo r a pr e-limin ary stateme nt.EXCAVATIONS ATTEPE YAHYA"*r"JJ.*rrrrrrOOzrI;:rx 1\~rr A/'"=rnoder n cernet e ry*=cairnburialsO=qan a t------=--~ NNO TTOSCALEFIGURE1 MAP SHOWINGLOCATION OF CAIRN BURIALSAND CANALcontaining a greater pe rce ntage of shared ma-terial remains and co ntrasti ng i n l arge measur ewith the material sof a different pe riod. Al mostall per iods can be st rat ig raphicall y subdivi de di nto phases- by which ismeant : (1) anarchitec-tu ral reb ui ld and /or (2) ast ratigraphi cdivi sion inwhichan increaseor presence of anewwarebe-comes det ect abl e but is quantitatively minimal.Thus, whereas theAchaemenian i si n evide nce inonly onebui ld ingleve l without addit ional ph ases,t heearlierPeriodVI hadfour maj or, supe ri mpose darchi t ect ural rebu ildings. By period we simplymean a gro upi ng of the st rat i graphi c divisionswhich cont ai n th e great est percentage of sharedcult ural mat er ial s. By ph ase we mean a strati-graphic subdivisi on of aperiod, i. e., arebuildoft he same architecture or superi mposed architec-turewheret heassociated mat eri alsindicatedirectcul t ural conti nu ity. In summarizi ng t heresultsof-o ur excavations, the lat est sett lement on themound istreated first (Per iod I) and we concludewith th eearliest exposed sett lement (Peri odVI).PERIOD IThe latest period of occupat ionat Yahya i snoteasi lydefinedori solated. Ar eas excavatedi ncl udeten- meter squares: A, A1N, A:.! N, A3E, A-IE (Fi g. 2).Large scale architectural features includi ng wa l ls,platforms, or courtyar ds suggest a cit adel- l i kest ruct ure. At least two ph asesof co nst ruct ionareevide nt. Ceramic changes are difficult to detect,for wa resare domi nantlyof the t hick st oragejarvariety. Thevesselst he msel vesocc upyaseries ofst oragemagazi nes (PI. 4).TAL-I-YAHYA~ ~ ~ __~ ~ ~ i20 60 METER S Da t um Seco ndar y Datum1969RHM/S FI/ l KTHEPARTHO-SASANIANSETTLEMENTFIGURE2 AREASEXCAVATED (NOT INCLUDING1970)7Area A. The greater portion of th is 1Ox1 O-metertrench consisted of a brick platform(brick size:37x37x10 cm., 35x15x10 cm.) four courses thick.Toward the downward slope of the mound thisplatform extended down the contour of themound asasingle brick glacis. There is no evi-dence of a substantial wall enclosing the settle-ment; onlyasmall wall hasbeen isolated of 1.3-meter width and standing to a height of tencourses. Considerableorganic material rested onthefloor of theplatform, includi ng bonesof wildboar, camel , sheep, goat, and horse.Area A1N an dA2N. This areaevidencedanarchi--- - - - - - - - - -..,tectural complexof four partiallyexcavatedrooms3x2 meters square, constructed of variably sizedbrick (35-40x35-40x8-10). The size and construc-tion of these rooms is identical to those of A3Eand A4E, PI. 4. The roofing of these rooms wasprobablydomed; curved brickswereseen in sec-tion. .Of considerable interest is the presence of awater well in the southeast corner of one room.Thi s well , 1.45m. incircumference, has threeplas-terings on its inner face. The wel l is set into acorner of the roomwithcarefu lly mouldedbricksat the mouth of the well. The possibility of itsbeingconstructedat anearlierdateandcontinuedin useintolater times remainsviable.8 EXCAVATIONS ATTEPE YAHYAArea AaE, A.tE. This area revealed the mos t ex-t ensive architecture and cerami c materials (Fig.3, 2). Four sma ll squarerooms(2.3m.) w i t hwal ls1.14m. th ickwereuncoveredandfo undtobesur-ro unded by a larger wall (2.2 m. wide). Thepresence of f alle n curved brick suggests domedroofi ng over the rooms. The f lo or of the roomswas of bri ck (35x35x10 em.) either one or twoco ursest hick. Therooms co nta i neda con siderablenumber of large storage j ars, all broken in anti-qui t y, somef i nerwa res, includingpaintedvari eties(Fig. 4: L,G/D,E) and painted waresof bla ck overdeepred -plum(Fi g. 4: B,C) . In1970we recoveredthis ty pe wi t h painted ani ma ls: ram and horse.(Al t hough rare, we recovered fromthi s Period anumber of stamped sherds bear i ng geometricde-signs.) Th e presence of on e sherd wi t h inci sedPahl avi scri pt i s notable (Fi g. 4: M). Two larger-'storagejarshad thesame potter's marks asthoseillustrated in Figure3: Land Figure5: G. Alargevari ety of these we re recovered i n 1970. In onejar t wodaggerswere foundwi t hevidenceof red-pain ted woode n scabba rds. Thef ul l arch itecturalconfi guration mu st await further exposure.Of parti cul ar i nterest is the recovery of afinebla ck paint on li ght red-tan ware (Fi g. 4). Thispotter y i s remini scent of t he t ype identified as" LondoWare" in Paki stan(de Cardi 1951: 63-75) .At Yahya thi s ware, occurring predominantl y i nbeaker shapes, is a fine ware (in contrast to deCard i' s coarse Londo Ware) w it h black-paintedcurvi li nea r motifs, particu larly hangi ng spirals(Fig. 4: G-M). Thi st ype isthe onl y pai nt ed pot-teryfou nd inPeri od I context except foronesherdwhi ch is t ypologically identical to severalPeriodVI context (seeFig. 6: Jand comparewithFig. 46: I) and isobviously int rusive.Thi s t ype of ware, formerl y known only f romcairn burials (St ei n 1937; Rai kes1968;Karlovsky and Humphri es 1968) and t he siteofAnjira, south of Kalat, West ern Pakistan, (deCard i 1965) has bee n dat ed to the early part ofth e First Millennium B.C.0(de Cardi 1951). Afi rmdateand co ntext for this relat edvari etyhavebeen elusiveuntil now. Therecoveryof this warefromanumber of different areasand locali t ies atYahyasecures it s context insealedPart ho -Sasanianlevel s. A sma ll qu anti t y of bluish gr een glazedware was also recovered from this peri od (Fig.3: I,j ).,- 'Small finds from t his period include a hemi-spherical perforatedrockcr ystal " Gayomard"seal,dated by Bivar (1968) to the5t hcenturyA.D. (PI.5 and Fig. 33 : E); iron: tange d trilobate arrow-heads, shaft - hole axe, two daggers, and chisel(PI. 6); bro nze : trilobate ar row points, beltbuckles, and bosses (PI. 7, 8). Thecatalogofsmallfinds illustrates asamplingof t he pr osperous na-tureof thisstr ucture. Arel at ivel ylargequanti ty of(j Th e proposed dat e fo r th i s ware, ca. 1000 B.C.,based onun con vin cingparall el swit hSial kVI, has beenrecentl y al te red by de Card i (1964: 25) to a Hellenistichorizon.FIGU RE3 PERIOD IDescr ipti onGlazed war e, gree nis h bl ueGree ni sh glazePlain wa re, fi ne cha ff / sand, lightbrown-tanBrowni sh slip, medium grit tem-per , in scr ib edCoarse gr i t -te mpe red, plain red-di sh wa rePl ain buff ware; redu ced 1:2Co arse pl ain br own wareGra y gr i t- te mperedPlaincoa rse gri t- t empered, brown-i sh war eN A4E- 2 (2)o A4E- 2 (21)P A4E-1 (19)Q A4 ETT5- 3L A4 TT2- 2M A4 E- 1 (26)I A4E-1 (9)J A3ESurfaceK A4 ETT1- 2FigureNo. Locu s Descr i pt i onCoa rsegr i t, pl ain gray surfaceInci sed l in es, pl ain bu ff wa re,gr i t -te mpered; Sasania n.Coa rse grit-t em pered, pl ain bu ffwa reCoarse gr i t t emper , reddi sh tansurf acePl ain buff-brown ware, co arsetemperExtern al red plumsl i p, pl ain redin sid eCoa rse temper , mouth spout be-neath ri mRed wa shLocus= Fir st l ett er i sar eaof excavat i on. (see 2). TTstands fo r Test Tr ench often followed by the numberofthat t est t rench. Number foll owi ng th i sI Sst rat umand nu mber enclosed by parent hesesi safeaturewithint hat st rat um.Thus, A4Ei s th e Area, TT5t heoperat io nun it of excavat i on, 3th est rat umand 5,a feature= A4 E TT5-3(5).Figu reNo . LocusA A3 TT2- 2B A3TI2- 2C A3 TT3- 6D A3 T13"':-1E A3 TT3-1F A3 T13- 5G A3 T13- 7H A3E-1 (8)THEPARTHO-SASANIANSETTLEMENT 9MI\0\)~(I~ I -====---- ( F~(j),/- see PI. 22Sokhtainabundanceby Dr. M. Tosi, isalsoof thisperiod. Furtherparallelsareevident - toBampur:inFig. 25:5; pedestal vasesof Fig. 30 : N, Fig. 26:N,O,P; ringbases Fig. 25: B,C,D; toIblis: inFig. 30:B; Fig. 29: H,I; Fig. 28: D; and toMundigak: Fig.29: P,F,G. Amost remarkableparallel exists in Fig.32: Gand Fig. 24: H, theformer in raised reliefI the latter painted. Theformer isidenticallyparal-leledat Hill; in Abu Dhabi, though the painted, variety is not evident there(theparallel wasnotedonavisit by the author to Hilli).12 The " chain-ridged" ware (Fig. 27: C,D; Fig. 30 : P; Fig.26) ap-peared inconsiderablenumbers and hasgeneral-ized parallels to the Barbar Templeat Bahrein asdo theshapeson Fig. 27: J and Fig. 30: E. Further, connection to the Gulf may be indicated by theraisedsnakesheads (Fig. 38 : Q,R,S) also found intheBarbar Temple.Thus parallels to this pottery, at least thosewhichcan be drawn with some conviction, exist121 wouldliketo thankMiss Karen Frifelt for allow-ing meto study her excavated materials.at Bampur V-VI: caprids, gray streak burnishing,stylized palmtrees , ledge-handledjars; MundigakIV13; as well as toIblis. Two furtherparallelsmeritmentioning: Fig. 29 : 0 has raised knobs whichappearedinless thana dozenexamples. Inshapeand decoration it isprecisely likethose in Meso-potamia (Tell Asmar) which appear in the Indusand have been used as evidence for connection(Delougaz1952:144). Fig. 24: J,Mdepictsthe onlytwo sherds found of this type which in designmotif and paint are reminiscent of SusaDpaint-ed pottery. Unillustratedand not discussedinthetext is the presence of alimited number of per-forated wares which have been used as a typesuggesting Harappan influence in Baluchistan.Theyalsoappear inIranat HissarIII A,B,CandTu-rengTepe(for adiscussionof this type seeKhan1955:60-63), as well as Bampur, Shahr-i-Sokhta,and other sites, and donot indicateHarappan in-fluence.13 My thanks to J. M. Casal and E. C. L. DuringCaspers for help in drawing parallel s to the wares ofPeriod IV Bin the above sites.G./ Tft" l o 5CMIww! ..... IeeezIFIGURE 24 PERIOD IV BFi gur e FigureNo. Locu s Descript ion No. LocusA C(5) Redd i sh brown sli pped ware, H BWTT5-5black paintB BWTT5- 5 Reddi sh brown sl i p, bl ack paint, I BWTT5-5coa rse wa reJBWTT5-5C BWTT5- 5 Redslip, black paint K BWTT5-5D BWTT5- 5&6 Black pain t on red wash L BWTT5-6E BWTT5-5 Blackonredwash M BWTT5-5F BWTT5- 5 Reddishorangesli p; redu ced 1 :2 N BWTT5-5G BWTT5- 5 Plai n buff ware 0 BWTT5-5P BWTT5-5Descript ionPlai nwa re, reddishbrown,brown-ish black pai ntBl ack on brown red slipRed slip, brown paintBl ack on red slipBlack on plain grayDark reddi sh brown, blackpaintRed and black paint on buff slipBlack buff slipBuff sl i p. l i ght brown paintTHEPROTO-ELAMITE SETTLEMENTS73IW J,( ~ lI I( II\.))o SCM... """"",. ""'e4rFigureNo. Locus DescriptionFIGURE25 PERIOD IV BFigureNo. Locus DescriptionA BWTI5-5B BWTT5-5C BWTT5-5D BWTT5-5E BWTT5-5F BWTT5-5-6G BWTT5-5-6H BWTT5-6I BWTI5-5-6Red/purple, stone bowlReddish brown slip over buffwarePlain red warePlain red wareBrown slipon plain buff wareReddish tan slipRed wash over plain buffBrownishtanwash over buffwareTan coarse ware, grit temperBWTT5-5K BWTT5-5L BWTT5-5-6M BWTT5-5-6N BWTT5-5-6o BWTT5-5-5P BWTT5-5-6Q BWTT5-5-6R BWTT5-65 BWTT5-6Chaff-temperedreddishslip, plainwareBuff plain ware, chaff temperPlain reddish slip, black paintPlain buffModeled untreated plain wareReddish orange burnishReddish tan, coarse grit temperPlain buff wareGray burnished wareBlack on reddish washo SCM........... ""-wIFIGURE 26 PERIOD IV BFigureNo . LocusA BWTTS-SAsurfaceB BWTIS-SC BWTTS-SD BWTTS- SE BWTTS-SF BWTTS- SG BWTIS-SH BWTIS-SI BWTTS-SJBWTTS-SDescri pt i onPlain brown coarse warePlain buff , gri t -te mpered; re-du ced 1: 2Plain tan wareRedd i shorange sl i p; reduced1:2Gr it -t empered, t an slipped warePlain bu ff wareReddi sh sl i p warePlain reddi sh sl i pped warePlain reddi sh sl i pped warePlain wa re, reddi sh tanFigureNo . LocusK BWTTS- SL BWTTS- SM BWTT5- 5N BWTT5- So BWTTS-S -6P BWTTS-6Q BWTTS-SR BWTT5- SS BWTIS-ST BWTTS-SU BWTTS-SV BWTTS-SDesc ri ptionRed slip over buff wa reSomekindof stoneReddi shbr own washRed/ orangesl i pPlain redd i sh wa reReddi sh bu ff plai n wa rePlain reddi sh wa rePlain red sl i pPlain red wa rePlai n red warePl ain brown warePl ain buff wareTHEPROTO-ELAMITESETTLEMENTS75()1I r\ Ij~ l\J ~~ 1H L Ieee! ....JCMFIGURE27 PERIOD IV BFigure FigureNo. Locus Description No . Locus DescriptionA BWTT6-1 Plain brown ware H BWTT6-3 Plain reddi sh brownB BWTT6-1 -2 Plain coarse ware I BWTT6-3 Burnished gray wareC BWTT6-1 Plain reddish ware, Bampur V;JBWTT6-3Coar se, brownish warereduced 1 :2 K BWTT6-3Plain brownware, red/brownslip0BWTI6- Plain reddish ware L BWTT6-4 Reddish tan slip, burni shed in-2(8)-3 {8)side, coarseE BWTI6-2A Buff sl ip, black paint M BWTT6-4 Red burnishedF BWTT6-2A Buff slip, coarse grit N BWTT6-2A Plain buffG BWTT6-3Plain gray ware 0 BWTT6-2A Buff slip,I/IIAo SCM""""'" IwwIFigureNo . locus DescriptionFI GURE 28 PERIOD IV BFigureNo. locus De scriptionA BWTTS-6B BWTTS-6C BWTIS-6D BWTTS-6E BWTTS-6F BWTTS- 6G BWTTS-6H BWTTS- 6I BWTTS- 7ABWTIS-7 (10)Plain gray wareRed /orange slipPlain red warePlain reddi sh orangeBlack on plain redBrown on plain buffPlai n brown, coarse grog temperCoa rse pl ain ware, tan-brownRedsl i p, vertical stre akburni shed;in sidehor izon t al st reak burn ishedPlain buff wa reK BWTTS-7l BWTTS- 7AM BWTTS- 7N BWTTS- 7o BWTTS- 7P BWTTS- 6A-7AQ BWTTS-7R BWTTS-7S BWTTS-7AT BWTTS-7Gray burni shed warePlain tannish ware, grit-temperedPlain brown coarse wa reBlack burni shed wareBlack burni shed wareBlack painted on red warePlai n brown CoarsewareReddi sh brown washPlai n reddish brownRed wash plain buff-i nc i sed goatQo 5CMhe" ......MDI ~ J I W l. / ~\ P I~ J/' I J ~ ~ ~FIGURE 29 PERIOD IV BFigureFigureNo.locusDescrip t io nNo . locus De scr iptionABWTTS-9-l0Black o n plain buffK BWTTS- Black o n plain buffBBWTTS-9-10Blac kon red/tan1OA-l 0CBWTTS- 9- 10 Pla in reddish brownl BTTS-l0 Red was hDBWTT5- l0 Coa rse grog temperM BWTTS-l0 Plain buff wa reEBWTTS- l 0Red plain, gr it and chaff temperN BWTTS- l0 Blackon bu ff slipFBWTT5-l0 Blac kon buff slip0 BWTT5-10 Grog temper, pl a in red/ta nGBWTTS- l 0 Black o n red slipP BWTTS-l0A Coarse wa reHBWTT5- l0 Black on buff slipQ BWTT5- 10 Ta n- bu ff coarse- temper edIBWTTS- l0 Black o n plai n buffR BWTTS-10 Gray burnished smoothedJ BWTT5- l0 Plain bu ffS BWTTS-10 Buff co ar se-tempered)FigureNo. Locus\DescriptionFIGURE 30 PERIOD IV BFigureNo . Locusoo SCM..........De scriptionA BWTT5-8A-9AB BWTI5-8C BWTT5-8AD BWTT5-9E BWTT5-9F BWTT5-9G BWTT5-8AH BWTT5-9APlain buffBlack on red wa shBro wn on plain red buffReddi sh washBrown grit temperPlain redd i sh brown gritFine buff, orange tinge slipPlain reddi sh brownI BWTT5-9J BWTI5-9K BWTT5-9L BWsurface- 5M BWTT5-9N BWTT5-9o BWTT5-9AP BWTT5-8A-~Plain gray reduced wa reRedwash, blackpaintCoarsewareReddish brown wa sh, plai n warePlain reddish br own wareGrit, red /orangeplainPlain brownPlain reddish brown wa reTHE PROTO-ELAMITESETTLEMENTSIF)~illCD79FigureNo. Locus DescriptionFIGURE32 PERIOD IV BFigureNo . LocusIwwiDescriptionGA D-8B BWTTSC BWTTSCoarse, chaff-tempered ware,Period VI DPlainware, coarsechaff-temperedPlain ware, coarsechaff-temperedD 8WTTc-3E BWsurfaceF 8-9 (2)G BWTTS-S-8Plain ware, fire temperPlain buff warePlain buff wareMediumgrit-tempered ware, redwash80 EXCAVATIONS AT TEPEYAHYAThe presence of red burnished (Fig. 28: I, Fig.27: M) andconsiderablefinegrayburnishedwares,sometimes though not always streak burnished(Fig. 27: I; Fig. 29: R; Fig. 28: K,N,O; Fig. 25: R),as well asplainand blackpaintedspouts (Fig. 29:E), areall rare. The burnished graywares can beparalleled on the onehand at Bampur IVaswellas moredistant Hissar, particularly in thepedestalvases. Thequantityof burnished graywareisnotgreat. The relationship, if any, of this gray warewith that of Hissar II, III and the burnished grayware tradition of Iran cannot be either assumedor negated (Young 1967), but it would certainlyseem to date earlier than the Hissar gray ware,perhaps morerelated to the Urukgray wares (seebelow). It isof some interest that the pottery atTepe Yahya IV A or IV B is generally withoutparallel to that of the important corpus beingex-cavatedbyDr. Tosi at Shahr-i-Sokhta. The paintedblack on gray ware noted above is quantitativelyour strongest Shahr-i-Sokhta parallel. The dis-coveryof a ceramicincisedhut-potthere(personalcommunication) suggests acontemporaneity, butagainwithitsowndistinctivepotterytradition. Wereiterate: ceramics are poor indicators here forestablishing chronological horizons, afactor per-haps of the diffuse, non-centralized settlementthroughout southeastern Iran and Baluchistan.Clearly, the presence of burnished gray ware,plain and paintedceramics, associatedwith ivory,steatite, turquoise, carnelian, obsidian (only fourbladefragments)," :' stampandcylindersealspointsto aperiod of external contacts at Yahya. This ismoreevident duringPeriod IVBthan IVAor theearlier Period V. A certain picture emerges: theluxury goods suggesting trade are all found as-sociated with a ceramic industry, which, for themost part , finds few external parallels. It wouldappear fromthe data at Yahya that evidence forthe direct control of this trade by "merchant tra-ders" fromeither east or west cannot besupport-ed. It isdoubtful that the network of trade wascommanded by an outside single power. Theunfinished steatite objects argue for local pro-duction and there is no specific isolatable intru-sive element identifiable to a merchant-traderclassfromthe outside, which onecould attributeasresponsiblefor in itiatingor directingthe trade.The architecture of IVAand IVBis more im-pressive in size, however, than in earlier periods.14 Obsidian hasbeen sent to Dr. Colin Renfrewforanal ysis.This mayindicateaprosperityandthebeginningsof a morecentralizedpolitical andsocial organiza-tion. Briefly stated, Yahya is the first excavationin an area dealingwith acorpus of material sug-gestive of Third Millenniumtrade and involvinganareawhich hasbeen identifiedasMagan. Thefact remains, we haveno evidenceof direct Meso-potamianor Indus materials, onlyidentical shareddesign motifs on steatite bowls. Evidence for asingleunifiedcultureof merchantsresponsibleforthedirect disseminationof thegoods isnot clear.Our evidenceconflictswithattributingthis"inter-national trade" to theelusive Kulli merchant ven-tures(Dales1965:268-74). WeprefertoviewYah-ya as having an essentially indigenous culturewhich, under Elamite influence, supplies the re-sources it has available (steatite), while passingperishablegoodson farther both east and west ina trade mechanism not directly structured by asinglegroup but advantageous to several cultureslacking available resources. Rather than viewingasingleculture, i.e., Kulli, as middlemaninIndus-Mesopotamian-Gulf trade, weprefer to vieweachcultural area ashaving its own middlemen. Thuseach culture area (the Indus, Baluchistan, Meso-potamia, Elam, Persian Gulf) can be seen asaconfigurationof concentric circleswithoverlappingboundaries of cultural influence. While the Kullipeoples may have acted as middlemen in Ba-luchistan, the highland cultures of eastern Iranunder Elamite influence acted astheir own mer-chants between Kulli and the Indus or Mesopo-tamia, whileinbothlatter areastheirownmiddle-men carried out trade in bordering areas. Theexistence of Persian Gulf trade centers, i.e., Bah-rein (Dilmun?) might have also enabled hostileneighbors tomeet onneutral territory,as suggestedin Polyani's concept, ports of call (Polyani 1963:30-45).Recapitulating, we believethat the presenceofsteatite vessels (incorporating carved motifs andshapes common to Mesopotamia), cylinder andstamp seals aswell as painted pottery and plainwares (essentially distinctive but clearly derivinginspiration from the East rather than the IranianPlateauor Mesopotamia) suggest that Tepe Yahyaplayed asignificant role in theeconomicandcul-tural relations between Mesopotamia, the Iran-ian Plateau, and the cultures lying to the east inBaluchistan. A full analysis of the materials, to-gether with continued excavation, promises toshed new light on the cultures of southeasternIran and elucidate the role thi s area playedTHE PROTO-ELAMITESETTLEMENTS 81throughout the Third Millennium in Iran andneighboringreglons.! eInour 1970 season, our suspicionsof theElam-iteidentityof Period IVBweredramaticallycon-firmed. We recoveredbeneathPeriodIVB alargearchitectural complex, of 24cm.-squaremudbrick,containing pottery known fromIV Band contin-uous fromVA. This structure, thelargest exposedat Yahya to date, contains a surface outline offive largerooms, of whichonlyonehasbeenpar-tially excavated.Ceramics in this buildingcan be readily paral-leledat Bampur I-IVand Shahr-i-Sokhta III. Thisnew periodwetermIVC. Onthefloorof the ex-cavated room, we recovered six unbaked claytablets with a total of 17 lines of proto-Elamitewriting, readily paralleled in shape and writingsigns to Susa Cb proto-Elamite tablets. In thecorner of the room, over fifty blank tablets werefound, indicatingtheir local production andwrit-ing! Thetablets are in anexcellent state of pres-ervation. Also on the floor of this room, we re-covered more than two dozen cylinder sealingsof superb execution. Processions of cattle, flyingfish, and rams dancing amidst vegetation are allreadilyparalleledin theSusa Cproto-Elamitecor-pus. It becomes clear that an earlier dating for15 We real ize that in stating that Yahya was part ofthe Elamite federation, we extend Elamite influencefarther to the east than previousl y accepted. The east-ern extensionof ElamfromSusaand alongthecoast ofthe'Persian Gulf is attested by the discovery of anElamitefragment, dated ca. 2400 B.C. on the island ofLiyan near present-day Bushire(Hi nz1963 :5). Thisdis-covery supports the exi stence of Elamat least this fareastof Susa, of the Sherikhum, equated to the " Sea-land," along the Persian Gulf (Cameron 1936:128).Evenshouldthe hypothesisof Elamitepresence toward,orpart of, the areaof Yahyabe refuted (andat presentwehave no grounds to do so) by additional or con-travening evidence, it isclear that theroleof Elamdur-ing ThirdMillenniumeconomicexpansioni smand tradedeservesfuller attention than the almost complete si-lence heretofore accorded it. In " The Proto-ElamiteSettlement at Tepe Yahya" (Iran , vol. 9, 1971), theauthor illustrates the cylinder and stamp seals, steatite,proto-Elamite tablets, and ceramics recovered in 1970.The role of the proto-Elamites in thisThirdMillenniumtradeis further elaborated in that article.Bampur, as well as an earlier date than E.D. IIfor our IVB, isforthcoming. The dateof 3280 170B.C. (GX 1734) for theearliest IVB occupationwouldseemto beacceptable. Theimplicationsofproto-Elamitetabletsat Yahyainexcellent associa-tionwith afull corpus of pottery and small finds(lapislazuli) forestablishingchronological andcul-tural historical relationsare enormous. We lookforward to excavating the remainder of this largecomplex. Weawait ourcarbon-datingresultsfromsamplescollectedon thefloorof this building.Before turning to Period V we must mentiona test trench operation in BW, the earliest ex-posedareainthistrenchequatingwiththe upperstrata of Area CTTl 2-8(Fig. 34). It isaminimal4x6-meter exposure establishing the stratigraphiccontinuityof AreasBWandC. Clearlythis paintedpotteryrelates morereadilyto the latest phaseofPeriodV(VA, Fig. 31: B-G). Inour1970season,we recognizedthis potteryas belongingin PeriodIVC,wherenot onlythe above-illustratedpaintedwareswerefoundinabundancebut alsoburnishedgray wareand Uruk-typebevel-rimmedbowls.The areaof test trench six (seeFig. 12) , atwo-meter trench fromthe west baulk, is badly dis-turbed by what appears to be an earthquakefis-sure (Fig. 12). Of considerable interest are twosherds depictingfaces, oneof ahighly burnishedgray ware, the other a buff slip, red-painted va-riety (see Fig. 31: K,L). Both sherds are withoutparallel in Iran . The idea of depicting aface inrelief on pottery is known onlyfromYanik Tepe(Burney 1961: PI. XLIII , No. 12) and Shah Tepe(Arne 1945 ; PI. XXXIX, 268 and S. 206, Abb. 412a-b.323). Bothareentirely different innature. Forparallels onemust reach over alongdistancebutof the sameThirdMillenniumdate: Anatoliaandsoutheastern Europe. An important recent study(Kalicz 1963:45) reviewingthe views of Frankfort,Bittel, Lamb, andMellaart withothers, presents thedistribution, age, cultural relations, and Indo-Eu-ropean identity of these face-pots. It is perhapsmorereasonableto seeinthemaninfluencefrom[erndet Nasr face-pots, which better fit the dateof their context at Yahya than the more distantAnatolian parallels.82EXCAVATIONS ATTEPEYAHYAY// /H"FIGURE31 PERIOD IV BFigure Fi gureNo. Locus Descr ipt i on No. Locus DescriptionA BWTT6 Pl ain reddish ware G BWTT6- 4 Black on pl ain bu ffsurface (A) H BWTT6-2A Thi ck dark brown sl ip ,spoutedB BWTI6-4 Brown, plain buff vesselC BW-5&TI6-4 Black on buff TT6- 2- Black on red sli pD BWTI6-2A Red slip, black paint 3(8)E BWTI6-3 Black on plain buffJBWTT C-3 Brown plain, grit temperF BWTI6-2A Black on pla in red K BWTT6-4-2A Facepot, black burnished wareL BWTT6-2A Facepot, buff slip, red paintTHE"YAHYA" PERIODPERIOD VV A: Fig. 35-38V B: Fig. 39-41VC: Fig. 42-43, 4783This periodis stratigraphically dividedintothreephases. The uppermost (Fig. 34: TTl 2-8, which.maybeequated to the lowest test-trench excava-tion, andthemiddlephase(Fig. 34: TT13-1,2) haveminimal structural remainsbut considerablequan-titiesof painted ceramics. The earliest phase haswell-preserved architecture (Fig. 34: TT13-3,4and(-7). Ceramicallythereisaclear quantitativedif-ferencein the occurrence of painted wares. Thelatest twophases, VAand VB,have Qhigher per-centageof painted wares (approximately 60 per-cent). This painted ware israrer in VC(approxi-mately 20percent) , wherea coarsechaff-temperedwarebecomesdominant. Inthelimitedexposureof VA, we uncovered three partial rooms con-structedof small bricks (25-27x25-27x15cm.),which formpart of adomestic complex. Severalanimal figurines of dog, sheep/goat, and asinglecopper-bronzedagger, aswell as carnelian beads,were found in VA.Thepaintedpotteryof theupper levelsof areaC(Fig. 34, above charcoal lens) have typological'parall els to the potteryof BWPeriod IVBand IVC. The stratigraphic articulation of area Cwitharea BWawaits further research. Completed in1970, it stronglysupportedourcontentionofcon-tinuityfromPeriod Vto Period IVB, C. It wouldappear, however, that thecharcoal lensseparatingstrata 4from5in areaCisthat sameburned lensevident in BWseparating IV A (charcoal lens ofnW3, Fig. 12) fromlower IV B. Should this betrue, and every indicationsupports it, thepotteryof Fig. 35shouldbeaddedtothecorpusof PeriodIV B andthat of Fig. 36(fromabovethecharcoallens) should be attributed to Period IV A (notethe occurrence of a similar bichrome sherd asillustratedin IVA, Fig. 36: J). This wasconfirmedin 1970.Continuityin thepaintedpotteryof VAand VB is stronglysupportedinourquantitativestudies.Paintedwares includeblackon buff and blackonredand share general similarities to Iblis III (Fig.37-38). It should be noted that the designs ofFig. 38and PI. 33 appear in this periodonlyandhaveno strong parallels beyond Yahya, saveforperhapsAliabadpaintedpotteryof Iblis. Asinglestone palette, perhaps ahoningstone, fromVCwasfound(PI. 30) andis without parallel. Thesur-face isclearlyworn fromgrinding. Asour PeriodVand VI arestrongest in their relation to Iblis, apreliminaryattempt to correlatethe sites iscalledfor (seeChart 1).Several strata (Fig. 34: TTl 2-8) of VB, suggest-ing only fragmentary remains of walls, were be-neath V A. In order to isolate this architectureprofitably, further vertical excavation in areas B,BWwill be necessary. Two walls were isolatedwith large-Sized brick (30-35 x 30-35 x15 cm.).Onewall had aplastered ditch on one side andstones backed up against the wall. We interpretthis to be adrainage ditch, further supported bythe presence of water-rolled sherds in the ditchand a single sluice: two stones interrupting thebrick wall and feeding into the plastered gully.The most dominant type of ceramic is apaintedblack on red (Fig. 39: A-C,F,}, PI. 44) principallyofabeakershape. Coarsewareidentical inshapeto that fromPeriodVI isalso in abundance. Thesurface treatment of this coarse ware includesburnishingand the application of ared wash. Itis of someimportance tostress thefact that shapesand manner of production of the coarse warecontinuefromPeriod VI into Period V; the con-tinuity isnoted in shape, ware; and surface treat-ments: differencesarequantitative. Thevarietyofpaintedpottery of PeriodVisnot foundinPeriodVI however, and the painted wares of Period VIare not continuous into Period V. At present wecan state with assurance that coarse ware dimin-ishesfromPeriodVI to PeriodVwiththeappear-ance of new types of painted wares. Paintedwares occur dominantlyin VA-Bon either blackon red or blackon buff. Intheblackon red thedominant motif isacontinuous multiplechevronbeneaththeriminblackpaint over redware(Fig.39: A-C). The basesof these distinctivecups andbeakers often have painted potter's marks; overseven different ones have been recorded. Anidentical potter'smarkon anidentical shapeisre-corded at Ib/is (Caldwell 1967:132, Fig. 15). Withthe distinctive nature of this ware and its nu-merical dominance, we have referred to this typeYAHYAIblis RelatedSites Influencesate4200380045005000 B.C.~ SialkII------ 1-2 ---. Bakun B1Ubaid-----,--------1r-------------: I Sialk III1_ 2.!.3 ---1 Chah HusseiniVABHassunanSialk I :I IVI C- E --- - - - - -- - - _...l- - - - - - - - -- --- - _..JIVIAS- 1IVCI_______________Uruk~ - - - - - ' T " - - - - - -I I --I SusaCIVC I 6 Shah-Dad (Early)Proto-Elamite Shahr-i-Sokhta111-- Jemdet NasrBampur I-IV 3200SteatiteIVBProto- ElamiteUmm-an-NarBarbar I (Bahrein)Bampur VIShahr-i-SokhtaIV2800?GAP?IVAShah - Dad(Late) 2300GAPIII -------------Iron1/11 1000IIAchaemenian (?) 400Partho-Sasanian 300 A.D.CHART IStrongCeramicParallelsTenuous Ceramic Parallels1(>:,;