EXCAVATIONS AND MATERIALS FROM QALʽA-YE TEPE, SISTAN (IRAN): AN ARCHAEOLOGICAL PROJECT OF THE 60S OF THE LAST CENTURY

The paper addresses a particularly interesting and complex archaeological site, partially excavated in the 60s of the last century in Iran in the far eastern region of Sistan. The article proposes a preliminary study of Qalʽa-ye tepe, with particular reference to ceramic production. The author surveys the collections of unglazed and glazed pottery fragments at that time kept in Italy, providing a description of fabrics and shapes. The excavation led by the Italian Archaeological Mission of IsMEO (Istituto Italiano per il Medio ed Estremo Oriente), then IsIAO (Istituto Italiano per l’Africa e l’Oriente), now ISMEO (Associazione Internazionale di Studi per il Mediterraneo e l’Oriente), directed by the late Prof. Umberto Scerrato had, at the time, revealed interesting archaeological and chronological data, although they were never published. However, the excavations at Qalʽa-ye Tepe were particularly significant as they presented a very long chronological sequence with three main phases ranging from the 3rd century BCE to the beginning of the 11th-12th century CE. The archaeological area of the surrounding plain – ellipsoidal/oval in shape – with the longest west-east axis of 125 m and the shortest north-south one of 85 m, constitutes a kind of fortress with the characteristic shape of the ancient nomadic camps found throughout Asia. The site, formed by the decay of raw earth structures, is located about 20 km northeast of Zabol, near the village of Qazemabad, a few kilometers north of the ruins of the old Zahedan, the Zaranj of the Islamic era.