Studies on the Production, Chronology, Structure and Provenance of Chlorite Objects of Jiroft Civilization using Accelerator Mass Spectrometry, Petrography and X-ray Diffraction

The early Bronze age of the southeastern Iran has been a major topic of discussion among scholars due to the discovery of Bronze Age urban centers in southeastern Iran, such as Shahr e Soukhte, Shahdad and Konar Sandal (Jiroft). Specialization is one of the main characteristics of urban societies. The manufacture and production of stone objects of different types such as chlorite, marble, travertine and lapis lazuli is one of the prominent features of the Southeast civilizations during the Bronze Age. The chlorite stone objects of the Jiroft civilization are considered the most significant archeological findings in the cultural basin of Halilrud. So far, many researches have been done on the iconography, production and distribution patterns of these vessels. Several interdisciplinary researches have been conducted on the origin and structure of some of these stone objects. Based on interdisciplinary studies, this article discusses the chronology of chlorite objects as well as their structure and their possible provenances in the south of Kerman province. Chlorite samples from two production workshops in Jiroft Plain - Konarsandal and Varamin – were analysed using thin section petrography and XRD methods.The different studies conducted on various samples from different sites and mines reveals that they used multiple sources such as the western mountainous areas (Esfandagheh) as well as southern regions.In addition, the results of the analysis on two samples using the Accelerator Mass Spectrometer suggests new dates for the chlorite vessels. it was previously believed that these objects date back to the second half of the third millennium B.C. (2500-2000 BC) but with the recent results it is revealed that the chlorite objects of Jiroft were produced at least in a span of a thousand year from the early third millennium to the early of the second millennium BC.