Ismeo activities 1969

IsMEO ACTIVITIES

well as in the metallurgical traditions. The plan of the building is a series of square and rectangular rooms, peripheral corridors, straight-sided doors with well-marked sills and two staircases, leading to an upper terrace-store, whose steps have the edges strengthened by t,imbet frames: ,a technique destined to last for long in the architecture of Iran.

The end of the palace was certainlya violent one as the whole of the building shows evident traces of an extensive fire: collapsed beams, wall-plasters and £1oorsfuHy burnt, broken jars still in situ and a burnt human skeleton lying on the floor of the most northern, isolated room.

The body fell among Period IV buff pottery, and the right hand was still holding a stone pestle. The Palace shows only a single building phase, because direct1y underneath the burnt floor level, the setting of the foundatiom cut the deposits of Period II, characterized by buff painted ware.

The archaeological excavations and restorations of IsMEO in Asia, of which a brief survey is given below, were carried out thanks to thecooperation of and a gran t from the Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche (CNR).

The Italian Archaeological Mission to Iran has been operating of the months of SeptemberNovember 1969 under the direction of Dr M. Tosi, with the following staff: Mrs F. Bonardi, photographer; Mr G. Graziani, assistant; Mr G. Regoli, restorer; Dr V. Labianca, architect and draftsmani Mr M. Piperno and Mr M. Bonelli, students.

The Iranian Archaeological Service was ,represented

by Mr A. Darbani.

The researches on the earliest cultures of SIstan have been continued this year, by enlarging excavations on the main Bronze Age site of the .region, Shahr-i Sokhta (figs. 1-3), on an area of over 1200 square metres. The main aims this year were to explorea wider surface of the dense inhabitation area (Periods I-IIl), to study in alI details one more building beside the «House of Staircases », conduded in the past season (Period Il-IlI), to increase documentation on the Late Chalcolithic layers (Period I), and to start excavations on the highest point of the mound.

The discovery of a fourth period of occupation, to which can be related the « Burnt Palace », completes the cultural sequence of Shahr-i Sokhta. It can now be divided in the following way: Period I: Late Chalcolithic, with bichrome buff and red/b1ack on gray ware, painted with geometric designs. The generaI picture is very dose to thar of the Geoksjur Culture (Namazga III of the South Turkmenian Sequence). Among the finds, three sealings of cylindrical seals of a type apparently very dose to late Uruk or Jemdet Nasr. Periods II and IlI: Early and Middle Bronze Age: they show a slow but continuous development of the earlier Chalcolithic models into highly standardized pottery types. Bichrome wares disappear and th;: pottery classes are limited to black on buff and black on gray wares, with. the exception of a polychrome pottery, usually limited toa relatively small number of specimens.

Stamp-seals of a compartmented type are widely employed, and frequently occur: day anthropomorphic and theriomorphic figurines, various types of metal, tlmber and stone tools and a wonderful bronze figurine, 29 cm. high, representing a woman carrying a jar on her head, with striking Mesopotamian features (figs. 4, 5). It was discovered on the surface, but is most likely to relate to these periods, which in terms of absolute chronology could mean the second half of the 3rd millennium.

This period has connections with Namazga IV and Bampiir I.IV. Period IV: Late Bronze' Age. As already stated, this period sees the end of the painted tradition, the introduction of the fast wheel, new types of stamp seals and anthropomorphic figurines and, apparently, a great increase. of architectural skill. On the basis of the pottery found in the destruction level (Level 4), we might associate this period with

With the 1ast aim we intended to uncover a main, well-preserved building, which could provide us with extensive information on the ,large-scale architecture.

Our hypothesis turned out to be correct, as at the end of the season we had com. pletely isolateda building, extendingfor at least 500 square metres, with massive mud-brick walls, rising to a height of over 3 m. Three sides of the building's perimeter had unfortunately been washed ofI by erosion, but we were able to isolate the fourth one and thesouth-east corner. This large building represents a new period in the cultural sequence (Shahr-i Sokhta IV), completely undocu. mented in past campaigns. Period IV marks the introduction of the fast wheel in pottery manufacture; the pottery types are characterized by articulated shapes with straight corners, buff or brkk-red in colour, rarely painted, but frequently red-slipped or burnished in parallel lines; a much smaller percentage are of black-burnished grayware and buff jars decorated in Late Bampfu style, carrying padnted and moulded elements.

Period IVappears to be datable to the first quarter of the 2nd millennium and the genera! evidence shows, notwithstanding the sharp changes, a rematkable cultural continuity in the pottery, as 544

Bampur V-VI and even with the Umm an-Nar Culture of the Oman peninsula.

pilasters with moulded hases, entirely made up of smal1 pieces of schist; the upper section of the Great Stupa and one of the minor stupas were made using this technique.

Tape Rud-i Biyaban. This mound lies approximately 25 km. south of Shahr-i Sokhta in the middle of the ancient Delta system of the Hilmand.

It is covered with pottery slugs and wasters, and on the surface at least forty-two large and small pottery kiIns can be recognized.

In a preIiminary excavation four of these were c1eaned out.

The pottery associated with them and covering the mound can be recognized as of Shahr-i Sokhta III and IV types. KiIns Nos. 1and 3 have one chamber, vitrified waIls, vaulted roofs and their bases are Iined with a vertical row of bricks. An identical technique appears to have been employed for kiIns 2 and 4 with the difference that the latter two have two fife chambers divided by a vitrified earth piIlar and average 5.50 m. in length, twice as Iargeas the other two.

Excavation of this unique Bronze Age pottery mill wiII be resumed on a much bigger scale in the following season .and wiII be used for palaeomagnetic studies for the region on the basis of the wal1 vitrification.

2) Technique with smal1 but thicker slabs of schist, notas welI joined together, enc10sing blocks of stone smooth on the outer face; use of rough and friable sandstone appears both in these blocks and in the shafts of the pilasters, which are squauier than the earlier ones; the lower section of the Great Stupa and various minor stupas were made using this technique(fig. 11).

This succession, confirmed by stratigraphic elements and by the relative position of the monuments, involves the singular fact that the lower section of the Great Stupa is more recent than the upper; that means a later facing that fol1owed the replanning of the terrace on which the most ancient stupas must have stood free and isolated.

The last phase of the sacred area shows intense buiIding activity with unbaked bricks and a fIowering of clay statues and decorations, at times of colossal proportions.

Documentation of this phase, already quite thorough after previom campaigns, was further enriched by the excavation of Vihara 23 (fig. 6) and the large square room No. 36 (fig. 9), with the remains of four large cult images. Fragments of various sizes of the draperyand heads of the latter have been

.

The ltaIian Archaeological Mission to Afghanistan began again - from September to November, 1969 - its work at Tapa Sardar, near GaznI. The excavation was directed by Pro£. M. Taddei, with the fol1owing staff: Mr M. Valentini, assistant; Mr N. Labianca, draftsman; Mrs F. Bonardi, photographer; Mr E. Pagliani and Mr E. Crisanti, restorers;and Mr P. Puddinu, a student who participared in the Miss.ion's work thanks to an agreement with the Istituto Univer. sitario Orientale, Naples. Mr M. Tahir, a 'restorer fmm the Afghan Institute of Archaeology, was kindIy appointed as official assiS1:ant.

Not only was the area of excavation extended, but a more thorough examination of the structures found in past campaigns wascarried out. Furthermore, some stratigraphic tests in the zone immediately adjacent to the Great Stupa (and carried

down

to the live

rock)

offered

-

.

preserved;

two of them

-

in good

condition

-

must be Iisted among the most suggestive documents of Buddhist art in Afghanistan.

Some decorative fragments from the same room, confirm. ing the already proposed connection between Tapa Sardar and CentraI Asia (Adzina Tepe, Tumsuq), suggest resemblances to works recently found at PjandZikent.

The study of the problem of the spread of Siva cults in Afghanistan in the Shahi period has been enriched with anextremeIy irnportant el, ement at Tapa Sardar: in Vihara 23, a statue of the Buddha (of the paré type)stood opposi te one of the Saiva goddess Durga Mahi~asuramardini.

There ,remain the base, the dead body and severed head of the buffalo demon (fig. 7), along with the goddess' head (fig. 8) and various detached fragments of her arms; the head is one of the finest masterpieces ever found in Afghanistan.

Aipart from the beauty of the clay statuary, which must of course be taken into consideration, the Italian Mission is encouraged to continue its program of total excavation at Tapa Sardar by the opportunity to possess a complete vision of an important cult center, especial1y since Tapa Sardar also offers us the exçeptional chance of being able to grasp the moments of a succession

along

with an examination of the structures a c1arification of the chronological succession of the buiIding techniques utilizing stone, that are in a.ny case earIier than the brick constructions; these tests substantially modified the conc1usions reached after previous campaigns (cf. EW, XVIII, 1968, pp. 109-24, 444).

The succession may be schematical1y fixed in this way: 1) Technique with smaIl, carefuIly joined slabs of schist, enc10sing schist and limestone blocks smooth on the outer face; wal1s divided up by 545

Fig. 1 - Shahr-i Sokhta (SIstan).

View of the «Burnt

Fig. 2 - Shahr-i Sokhta (SIstan). The« House of Foundations ». Deep foundation built around shaved wall of lower bu11ding (photo G. Graziani)

Palace» £rom west (photo M. Piperno).

Fig. 3 - Shahr-i Sokhta (SIstan). The« Burnt Palace ».

Timb~r-framed staircase (photo M. Piperno).

Figs. 4, 5 - Shahr-i Sokhta (SIstan). Bronze f,igurine of a potcarrying maid (photos F. Bonardi).

EAST AND WEST

l

IsMEO New Series, VoI. 19 - Nos. 3-4 (September- December 1969)