An Overview of the Colors Used in the Decoration of Pottery Motifs of the Bronze Age in the Ancient Sites of Sistan and Balouchistan

Color in the ancient world is one of the most important things in human history because it has led to the creation of important works in the history of art. One of the important aspects of using paint during the prehistoric period has been the decoration of various types of pottery, which has led to a special style in the art of different regions of Iran. Identifying the type of colors used by prehistoric artists can be one of the most prominent archaeological questions in prehistoric time.In this research, the subject of recognizing the type of paints on the pottery of the Bronze Age sites of Sistan and Balouchistan has been studied. The results of this study, which is the result of recognizing color in the pottery of significant areas such as; Shahr-i Sokhta, Bampur, Chegerdak and Spidej and Keshik Cemetery demonstrated that the use of black and brown-red colors is common in pottery in the southeastern areas, and their main sources have been iron oxide and manganese oxides. Black and dark colors are composed of manganese oxide, as well as a combination of two iron-manganese oxides, and brown-red colors are composed of iron oxide.