e study deals with the Islamic pottery from Termez (southern Uzbekistan), with a special focus on the wares dated to the 9th-12th centuries. e city was a major urban settlement, along one of the routes of the Silk Road. Ceramics, both glazed and unglazed, were produced in several workshops located in the lower city (shahristan) and its suburbs (rabad). Glazed and unglazed wares, including cooking pots, two pottery moulds and two sphero-conical vessels from two excavated areas at Termez are examined by X-ray Fluorescence, X-ray Diffraction, and petrographic thin section analysis. Clayey sediments from different areas of the site are incorporated as a local reference for comparison. e aim is to examine the provenance of the vessels and to determine the production techniques. e results reveal that all the vessels were produced by using calcareous clays and most of them exhibit similar geochemical composition; nevertheless, several chemical groups and petrographic fabrics were identified. XRD points that firing temperatures were generally between 800 and 1,000-1,100°C, being the latter prevalent. e results of this study are remarkable since archaeometric researches on Central Asian pottery are still few.Résumé : L'étude concerne la poterie islamique de Termez (sud de l'Ouzbékistan), et particulièrement celle datée du IX e au XII e siècle. La ville était un important centre urbain, le long de la Route de la Soie, et un centre de production céramique. Plusieurs ateliers ont été localisés dans la ville basse (shahristan) et dans ses faubourgs (rabad). Des céramiques glaçurées et non glaçurées, des pots, deux moules et deux vases sphéro-coniques ont été examinés par fluorescence de rayons X, diffraction de rayons X et du point de vue pétrographique. Des sédiments argileux provenant de différentes zones du site ont été aussi utilisés comme références locales pour comparaison. Notre objectif est de préciser la provenance des céramiques et de caractériser les techniques de production. Les résultats obtenus montrent que tous les échantillons ont été produits avec des argiles riches en CaO de composition similaire; cependant plusieurs groupes chimiques et pétrographiques ont été identifiés. La DRX indique que les températures de cuisson se situaient généralement entre 800 et 1000-1100 °C, cette dernière fourchette étant majoritaire. Les résultats de cette étude sont remarquables car les recherches archéométriques sur la poterie d'Asie centrale sont encore peu nombreuses.
The aim of this paper is to understand the ways of life for the inhabitants of Termez (Uzbekistan) and its surrounding environment through the analysis of the zooarchaeological, charcoal, and ceramic material found inside a domestic combustion structure (tannur) dated to the early Islamic period (8th and 9th centuries AD). The tannur was located in a manufacturing area outside the city walls of old Termez, discovered during the 2018–2019 archaeological campaigns of the Uzbek-Spanish team IPAEB. The analysis of the charcoal hints at an abundance of local floral taxa that was used as firewood. The faunal remains indicate the presence of birds, mammals and fish at the site. The zooarchaeological study reveals the exploitation of the fluvial resources through the presence of fish of the Cyprinidae family in the vicinity of the Amu Darya. The scarcity of cut marks on and thermoalteration of the mammalian remains inside the tannur lead us to believe that the presence of the bones inside the container is related to their disposal rather than the use of the oven for cooking. Finally, the ceramic items collected in the tannur belong to the same wares and types identified in the assemblages collected from a workshop area at the site and are typical of the early Islamic period.
The site of Banbhore is located in the western delta of the Indus river (Sindh, Pakistan), identified as the harbor town of Daybul mentioned in pre-Islamic and Early Islamic written sources. The archaeological activities conducted here since the beginning of the past century revealed a long and uninterrupted occupation and complex urban planning (1 st century BCE-early 13 th century CE). A systematic field survey was carried out for the first time around Banbhore within the Italian-Pakistani archaeological expedition. Investigation revealed the presence of a densely settled hinterland, with a clear strategy in land use and occupation. Surface artefacts suggest a very long period of frequentation, from at least the Sasanian period to the Modern era. Results find an interesting comparison with both the information available in written texts and the materials from the excavation of the fortified town.
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