Characterization of the Pottery Structure of the First Millennium BC in Pila Qala, Rudbar Based on Petrographic Results

In terms of archaeological studies, Gilan Province is considered as one of the most important and influential regions of the Iranian Plateau during the first millennium BC. One of the sites of this cultural area is Pila Qala (Pileh Qaleh) in Rudbar in the northeast of Nesfi Village, whose archaeological studies dates to the excavations of Negahban in 1961. During the excavation of this mound, which has been introduced as one of the mounds related to Marlik in the first millennium BC, 17 archaeological deposits dating from the second and first millennia BC to the newer periods were recorded. The site even covers the Sassanian and Islamic periods up to the 5th century AH. Even though the potteries of the first millennium BC documented in Pila Qala have previously been studied based on typology and classification, no laboratory studies like petrographic and mineralogical analysis have been done so far. This article is dedicated to the petrographic analysis of nine potsherds related to the first millennium BC in Pila Qala with the aim of examining construction technique and mineralogical composition. Petrographic results showed that, except in one case, all the potsherds had non-carbonate compounds (clay) and used igneous rocks and related minerals as temper. In terms of texture, two silty, or fine-grained and coarse-grained textures could be seen. Excessive use of igneous rocks for temper suggests that these types of rocks were readily available and that the potters were familiar with the properties of igneous rocks, such as their strength. In the case of pottery, the temperature was close to 800 degrees Celsius, and only the samples without calcite experienced a firing temperature slightly higher than 800 degrees Celsius.