Sassanid pottery of Vigol, Aran and Bidgol : study of surface materials

Vigol Archaeological Site is one of the largest historic-Islamic sites in Isfahan province with an area of about 450 hectares. In addition to the existence of immovable structures such as architectural structures, a significant volume of pottery that scattered on surface of this ancient site can be seen in this area. The present study, while being aware of the importance of the site and its pottery data, especially in the early and middle centuries of Islam, only considers the study of Sassanid pottery in this area. Accordingly, at first, the question arises as to the typological status and classification of Sassanid pottery in the Vigol area and to how its pottery forms can be compared with other Sassanid sites? Also, what is the variety of decorations used in the pottery of this area? For this purpose, from the total amount of pottery collected in the systematical study and networking of the site in 2007, 98 pieces of Sassanid Vigol pottery were selected in order to answer the above questions and studied in detail. The research method of this paper is descriptive-analytical. Thus, first the description of the site is explained and then the typology, classification and chronology are given. The results of this study showed that the mentioned data only included of simple and unglazed species. Formally, these potteries includes a variety of bowls, bins, jars, vats, pots, flat, trays, lids, and handles, which with other Sassanid areas of the west, northeast, south and center of the plateau Iran is comparable. In terms of decorations, the pottery of this area shows various examples such as additional decoration, excised, engraved decoration, impressed decoration, and combined decoration types. However, what is very significant in the decorations of Sassanid Vigol pottery is the variety of decorative stamped designs, which indicates the prevalence of a local tradition in creating such designs.