Shimashki Potteries of the Saymarreh Valley Based on the Ghale Zinal and Gharatmalghah Findings

The goal of this article is to study the Shimashki potteries in the Saymarreh valley. Archaeological surveys conducted in the Saymarreh valley shows that the painted pottery tradition of Godin III has become prevalent in the valley during the Bronze Age and only once، development of this pottery tradition had cracked. This event took place in the phase of Godin III4، which we relate it to the influence of pottery traditions penetrating from Susiana plain to the Saymarreh valley. Contemporary with phase of Godin III4، there have been no potteries of such tradition، but the ceramics by the Shimashki styles appeared in Saymarreh valley. Diagnostic ceramics of Shimashki phase has been gathered in the archaeological surveys of Saymarreh valley at Ghale Zinal and Gharatmalghah. It seems that development of Shimashki period pottery as far as the Saymarreh valley، took place because of Ur III conflicts with polities at northern regions of Susiana plain. Saymarreh valley again joined to the distribution area of painted pottery tradition of Godin III and after the Shimashki period، diagnostic ceramics of Godin III2 phase have been wide-spread in the Saymarreh valley. Development process of painted pottery tradition of Godin III at Saymarreh valley support the view that Shimashki may was located in the highlands، somewhere in the northern parts of Susiana plain، although we cannot prove this in the absence of non textual data.