Islamic Pottery from Ancient Termez (Uzbekistan): New Archaeological and Archaeometric Data

Abstract

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.

First Full‐Vector Archeomagnetic Data From Central Asia (3 BCE to 15 CE Centuries): Evidence for a Large Non‐Dipole Field Contribution Around the First Century BCE

“…According to archeological research, multiple pottery production centers (workshops n. 1, 2, 4, 8, 9, 10, 11) were active during the early Islamic period (approximately seventh to ninth centuries CE) both inside and outside the northern wall of the rabad. However, the pottery workshop located in the shahristan (workshop 5) dates to a latter period and reflects changes introduced in the city urban plan following the Mongol conquest led by Genghis Khan in 1220 (Fusaro et al, 2019(Fusaro et al, , 2022Lesguer, 2015;Martínez Ferreras et al, 2020;Portero et al, 2021). This date marks the end of Termez as a major urban center, although residual occupations persisted in some areas until at least the seventeenth century CE.…”

“…The IPAEB team also excavated two kilns in workshop 11, although archeomagnetic samples were taken only from kiln 11-1 (F1A8). Radiocarbon dating places kiln 11 (F1A8) between the second half of the eighth century and the end of the tenth century (Fusaro et al, 2019(Fusaro et al, , 2022Martínez Ferreras et al, 2020;Portero et al, 2021).…”

Neural Network-Based Classification of XRF Profiles Of Pottery Shards Using Synthetic Data

“…The XRF profiles of these samples have been marked as location I. Termez, an archeological site in present day Uzbekistan, was located on the Silk Road. [10] analyze pottery shards from this site dating back to 9 th to 12 th centuries CE. These XRF profiles have been marked as J.…”

Les céramiques anciennes sous le regard des archéosciences

“…Ainsi les travaux d' Inacio et al (2019) mettent en lumière les relations entre stratégies d'approvisionnement et les modes de peuplement. D'autre part, l'analyse du matériau céramique permet de rechercher la provenance des matières premières qui vise, elle, à mieux comprendre les processus d'approvisionnement et de fabrication (Bugoï et al, 2019 ;Fusaro et al, 2019 ;Cau Ontiveros et al, 2020). D'autres travaux sont eux focalisés sur des périodes charnières marquées par des transitions technologiques comme celle de la romanisation et sur l'utilisation dans l'architecture des matériaux céramiques (Raneri et al, 2019).…”

“…Thus the work of Inacio et al (2019) highlights the relations between supply strategies and settlement patterns. On the other hand, the analysis of the ceramic material allows to search for the origin of the raw materials which aims at better understanding the processes of supply and manufacturing (Bugoï et al, 2019;Fusaro et al, 2019;Cau Ontiveros et al, 2020). Other works focus on pivotal periods marked by technological transitions such as Romanization and the use of ceramic materials in architecture (Raneri et al, 2019).…”