Ismeo activities 1976

Shahr-i Sokhta

The southern extension of the phase 3 building happens to be supported by older structures, probably from phase 5.

The eighth excavation campaign at Shahr-i Sokhta was carried out under the auspices of IsMEO and of the Ligabue Foundation in Venice from 2nd October to 5th December 1976. The mission was composed of Dr Marcello Pipemo and Dr Sandro Salvatori who, at different stages, led the missioni Mr M. Ismail Bayiini, who represented the Iranian Centre for Archaeological Research; Mr Massimo Vidale, ceramologist; ProÂŁ.

Edoardo Pardini, anthropologist.

The primary aims of the present campaign were to continue the excavation of the graveyard and to extend the dig in the S and N sectors which was begun last year for the purpose of unearthing a large building found by analysis of aerial photos and by direct prospecting on the ground.

The settlement. Excavation activity continued with the parti al deepening of the 50 x 20 m. trench begun last year. It was thus possible to detect two successive building phases of the foundation structures discovered during the last year's campaign (squares SCK, SCL, SCM, SCN, SCP, SCQ, SCR, SCS).

The whole area appears to have undergone a process of erosion which has wom away the structures of this building in practically every part, even below fIoor level, so that almost everywhere, we find scattered over the surface materials from phase 5 (Period II), Le. older than the structures of the large building itself.

The first building phase of this construction, which has a square ground-plan and well-distributed intemal spaces, can be assigned to phase 4 (Period 111). The building seems to have been later levelled to the ground and a second construction built on top of it. The latter coincided with the first except for very slight differences in orientation and was also extended on the south side by means of a construction composed of small regular rooms, perhaps used as stores (fig. 16).

This second construction phase seems to date back to phase 3, Period 111, as here it was possible to discover fIoor levels covered with potsherds that could be assigned to phase 3 (a phase that is known above all through the material from Tepe Rud-i Biyaban 2, a pottery production centre tested in 1972 by Dr M. Tosi, the materials of which are now being studied systematically by Mr M. Vidale). Typical of this phase are vase forms such as plates, bottles, small truncate-conical thin-walled bowls made on the wheel and a decorative repertory consisting of no more than a dozen painted motifs, usually extremely repetitive.

Less extensive but more interesting from the structural standpoint is the originaI phase 4 construction, probably having a square ground-plan (the east side has not yet been explored) whose foundations are unfortunately alI that has been preserved. The perimeter walls are up to 1.80 m. thick, an unusual size for Shahr-i Sokhta archi tecture as we know it today. It was also possible to unearth and follow in critical points, such as comers and wall junctions, the foundation trench, which varied in depth from 1.50 m. to 1.80 m. and to darify the construction details of the comers of the building.

In the southwestem corner it was possible to see how the foundation trench widens towards the inside and also discem a later organic filling after the masonry work had been completed. This particular method was revealed by an excavation of the section CDXXII and of the area outside the southwestem corner of the building. The foundation trench cuts through the preceding levels down to the phase 7 ones (beginning of Period II) as was found in square SCS to the north and in square SCK to the south.

At other places in the excavation structural levels ranging from phase 3 to phase 7 (Periods 111 and II) have been unearthed. This is the case for squares SCP and SCK where at least four successive structural levels with architectural elements and fIoor levels have been found, even though virgin soil has not been reached.

Of some significance is the discovery in the southeast portion of SCP at a depth of 80 cm. below ground level of a water pipe consisting of ceramic tubes, each 1 m. long, fitting into one another and buried in a small canal the walls of which had been lined with a day mortar mixed with straw (kĂ hgel) (fig. 17). This type of piping had already been found at Shahr-i Sokhta; a few connecting tubes were found 15 m. south of SCP in a test trench dug by Dr M. Pipemo in 1969.

The pipes found this year are probably part of a large main joining the one found in 1969.

To the north only square SCS has been completely excavated. Rere a few structural phases have been unearthed ranging from phase 5 to phase 8 (end of Period I) (fig. 18) although it is not actually possible to distinguish any consistent architectural plano In fact, the building process in this area seems to have taken pIace through successive demolitions and reconstructions, unlike other excavation areas where the filling technique has made it easier to identify the structures. The most interesting result in this sector is the discovery in a phase 5 level

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of an area where semi-precious stones were worked.

In the excavation of N, for reasons of time, it was possible to proceed only to the completion of a single square (NXP) measuring 10 x lO m.

This square was opened last year in order to test the perimeter wall of the large Period III complex. This aim had already been achieved last year but a further fact had come to our attention, Le. that the Period III structures had been built on a phase 5 garbage dump. It was thus our intention in the present campaign to examine the whole depth of this deposito The soil, which was particular1y rich in organic remains, wood, vegetable fibres, seeds, animaI dung, insect larvae, as well as potsherds and other material, was systematically passed through 2 and 1 cm. mesh sieves and a very large part of the deposit was subjected to flotation.

It was also possible, within the limits set by the small size of the dig, to determine the way the deposit was formed and this will be used in the future for the purpose of obtaining a better chronological determination of the deposit itself in a horizontal sense. Under the layer of accumulated refuse a level was found consisting of the collapse of a dwelling we shall call "The House of the Jars".

Removal of the cave-in material revealed part of the structures of the house (fig. 19) and a preliminary examination of the pottery indicates that it belongs to phase 6 of the sequence set up in the East Residential Area. These structures consist of the main entrance, one complete room (CDLXX) and part of another two rooms. The house is assumed to have extended towards the north and the west. In the area in front of the main entrance, to the south, there is a paved open space with a large fireplace that lies only partly within the limits of the trench.

Also this year one of the main research aspects was the collection of palaeobotanical and osteological matèrial (macrofauna and microfauna) for the program of correlated studies, laid down in previous years and now well on its way to being completed, for a knowledge of the environment and economy of Shahr-i Sokhta.

Interdisciplinary studies can now count also on more accurate geomorphological determinations on the state of the territory in the 3rd millennium B.C. and on the dynamics of the shifts in the Hilmand Delta. In addition to this, there was the existence of yet another delta which spread out to the east of Shahr-i Sokhta, active during the city's life and quite independent of the Rud-i Biyaban.

These data on the territorial conditions make it all the more likely that the hypothesis that the position of Shahr-i Sokhta was the same as that of the present regional capital, Zabol, is correct, i.e. that also the ancient city lay not on the terminallakes but some distance away, in a deltaic rather than a lakeside environment.

The graveyard.

From 10th October to 10th November 1976 the fourth excavation campaign was carried out at the Shahr-i Sokhta graveyard.

The area of the excavation, taking into account the new squares dug in IUQ and INK and the extensions in the old squares due to the excavation of graves located in section, is about 250 sq.m. 31 graves have been located and excavated. After the fourth excavation campaign the total number of excavated graves is about 200 and the explored area covers more than 2,200 sq.m.

In square HNE, which was partially explored last year, a new type of tomb has been found, a cist (HNE 604) the only one of its kind so far found in the Shahr-i Sokhta graveyard. The (rectangular) cist, made of mud bricks and about one metre in height, contained the burial of a female individuaI about 30 years of age. The burial can be assigned to phase 5-6.

In area IRD, which was explored during the 1973 campaign, excavation work was completed on three tombs discovered that year (IRD 304, 310 and 311).

The most interesting of these is IRD 311.

It is of the catacomb type and can be assigned to phase 5. The tomb was a particular1y large one and contained 6 skeletons.

The rather rich furnishings are characterized by the association, aIready found in similar catacomb graves, of polychrome vases with bone stamp seals accompanied by alabaster bowls, pear-shaped beakers and buff ware bowls. A basket placed inside the cave contained, among other things, colouring substances (limonite, lapis lazuli pow-

On this paved floor, and directly in contact with it, lay a large mass of ceramic material, most of which was complete although crushed by the cave-in. Among the objects found is a green chlorite cylinder seal with a geometric motif (figs.

20, 21), a rectangular stamp seal also with a geometric motif and numerous alabaster objects including a truncate-conical lamp with a corresponding disk cover.

Numerous jars were found inside room CDLXX, one of which is very large and partially buried.

The most significant aspect, however, is the state of preservation of this building which rises in places to a height of 1.70 m. and is entirely covered by a well-preserved layer of plaster which, in some cases, shows signs of subsequent repair work.

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The skeleton, in a crouched position on the right side with arms folded and hands near the face, is completely surrounded by more than 40 vases (mostly bowls and ogival jars).

Particularly interesting is the association of three flask type jars, a smalI polychrome jar containing two smaller jars, also polychrome and two decorated dome-shapedbowls (fig. 23).

Most of the vases had been filled with grapes, of which the seeds are left and sometimes even the dried fruit itself, as welI as other fruit or edible substances as yet unidentified. The particular richness of some of the graves found in area IUQ was confirmed by another tomb, again from phase 3, i.e. the IUQ 712, a catacomb grave, provided with a deep rectangular entrance shaft and a brick wall built at the base of the shaft which partly closes the cavity opening in the east walI of the shaft itself.

The grave belongs to a young male individual and the furnishings are further enriched by a large bucket-shaped jar with green, yelIow, black and white polychrome geometric decoration placed before the entrance to the cavity itself. The jar was closed by a bowl also decorated with the same colour range and with a metope decoration repeating the metope divisions of the jar and an undecorated bui! ware bowl.

Of particular interest are the grave goods placed inside the jar - three small jars and a buff ware ogival beaker, a cylindrical alabaster beaker, two bronze pins, a bronze bIade with a tang and remains of the haft, a bronze disk and a truncate-pyramidal lamp made of calcite with a lid and a wick consisting of a thin twig immersed in a resinous substance that probably retarded the combustion.

The furnishings were completed by a bracelet made of lapis lazuli, turquoise, and two perforated shelIs and by a stamp seal made of bronze, alI arranged near the right forearm.

This brief survey of the more important furnishings found in the 1976 campaign is enough to give a first indication of the existence of a clear-cut social differentiation in the Shahr-i Sokhta population; up to now this diiIerentiation had been barely perceptible on the basis of the furnishings previously unearthed.

In the second pIace the discovery of the embossed bIade in grave IUQ 710, because of the complexity of the scenes depicted on it, is one of the most important documents found so far at Shahr-i Sokhta and may welI shed some light on the reIigious conceptions prevalent in southern Iran during the 3rd tni1lenniumB.C. (fig. 24).

During the 1976 campaign work was also continued by ProÂŁ. E. Pardini of the Institute of Anthropology of the University of Florence on

der, bronze dross and ochre) used in painting polychrome ware. A further three seals, two of lapis lazuli and one of bronze, were scattered among the various skeletons. IRD 311 thus provides further data on the existence of specialized classes of craftsmen as had already been indicated in previous discoveries in IRR 12 (the grave of the lapis lazuli cutter) and in IWD 77 (the grave containing the drills used for making stamp seals and calcite beads.

On the two new squares opened in area lP-IV, IUQ and IPQ, the one with the highest grave density is square IUQ (ooly partially tested owing to the thick salt crust encountered) in which 12 graves have so far been located and excavated, most of which can be assigned to phases 7 and 8.

Of exceptional interest is IUQ 710, a pit type grave divided in two by a particularly high mud-brick wali (more than one metre) running east-west. The skeleton, of a male about 23 years old, was buried in an extended position and the right arm and skulI are no longer anatomically connected with the rest of the skeleton.

To the left of the skulI (above the remains of a kid) lay an item of grave furnishing that was certainly the most interesting found so far in ali the tombs explored. It is a thin lanceolate sheet of silver or an alIoy containing silver with a long haft. At the centre there is an embossed scene of mythical significance depicting a naked male figure facing an animal with a feline body and a head bearing horns below which lies a snake. The space to the left of the human figure is occupied by a bird with spread wings.

Numerous beads of lapis lazuli, agate and calcite were found lying between the object and the skull. An alabaster cup on a foot was found in pieces to the left of the skull beside a long bone spout.

On the basis of the pottery furnishings the burial can be assigned to phase 7-8 (about 2,700 B.C.). In the same square, IUQ 708, a bipartite pit grave assignable to phase 8, contains particularly rich furnishings consisting of 6 truncate-conical alabaster bowls, 4 ceratnic bowls (two burnished, one gray and one buff), two small jars (burnished), a necklace of lapis lazuli, agate and calcite beads together with 5 cylindrical beads made of gold foil (or an alioy containing gold).

Also found in no. 708 was a repetition of the offering of the kid, which was placed near the skull as found in numerous other burials.

Also exceptionally rich is the grave IUQ 711 from phase 3 (2,300 2,200 B.C.) of the bipartite pit type with a walI running N/S belonging to an individual of female sex aged about 70 (fig. 22).

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the anthropological analysis of the skeletons found, thus bringing to about 50 the number of individuals whose state of preservation has permitted an accurate. measurement to be made of the remains. The data on the age and sex of the inhumed individuals in the graves described in this report were supplied by Prof. Pardini, whom we warmly thank for his active cooperation.

Archaeological Mission in Afghanistan The 1976 campaign of the Italian Archaeological Mission in Afghanistan (IsMEO) took pIace between theend of August and the beginning of November. Its main purposes were, firstly, to continue and extend research by means of excavations in the sanctuary of Tapa Sardar, between the town of Ghazni and the vilIage of Rauza, and secondly, to resume reconnaissance of the territories of Gaguri and Gagutii, to the west and southwest of the town of Ghazni, together with a preliminary reconnaissance of the zone of Ab-e Estada, in Katawaz to the south of Ghazni.

In addition to the director Pro£. Maurizio Taddei, participants in the Tapa Sardar excavations were Prof. Chiara Silvi Antonini and Dr Giovanni Verardi, archaeologists, Mr Manlio Valentini, excavation assistant, Mr Nicola Labianca, draughtsman, Messrs Enzo Pagliani and Elio Paparatti, restorers, Mr Giuseppe De Marco, a student at the Istituto Universitario Orientale of Naples.

Taking part in the reconnaissance were Prof. Umberto Scerrato, Dr Giovanni Verardi and Messrs Elio Paparatti and Giuseppe De Marco. The Direction of the Mghan Institute of Archaeology seconded to the Mission Mr M. Daud Kawaian, who collaborated both in the excavations and during the reconnaissance. As in previous years, the post of foreman was filIed by Mr Ghulam Naqshband Rajabi, from Ghazni, who also took part in the reconnaissances.

Tapa Sardar

Excavations

were carried

upper part of the

tepe

out

both

on the

and in. the eastern section

where, during previous campaigns, a complex of structures had been discovered, alI (or nearly all) of them belonging to the earliest period of Tapa Sardar, Excavation work was carried out also in the area in the immediate vicinity' of niche 76 (see «IsMEO Activities» reports for the years 1972, 1973, 1974 and 1975: EW, XXII; XXIII; XXIV; XXV).

Although they can only be brie£Iy outlined here, extremely significant results were obtained

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in all three areas. In the upper one, complete excavation down to the day £Ioor was achieved in rooms 41 and 75. Not only did this allow two magnificent red-day statues of a Buddha and a Bodhisattva to be completely unearthed in room 75, but also the discovery of two new, almost intact (in their lower parts) unbaked day stupas, one in room 75, the other in room 41, of a pattern hitherto unknown.

The group of stupas and images (a third image in room 75 is stilI preserved, although it lies face downwards on the £Iocr and wilI thus have to be removed and restored) in these two rooms is an extremely precious addition to our knowledge of Buddhist ritual of the 7th-8th century A.D. When the excavation work has been completed, the late Tapa Sardar period wilI be one of the most valuable "texts" for our knowledge of Buddhism in the Iranian environment, in which the interest of numerous scholars is now being aroused.

Much is expected from the completion, scheduled for the forthcoming campaign, of excavation work in room 49, which probably resembles room 36 (EW, XIX, 1969, p. 545, fig. 9), and of the passages and various rooms surrounding it. The excavation is made particularly difficult by the damage done by water even in the very core of the pagsa and mud-brick masonry. In this connection, it can also be added that the Mission restorers have completed the delicate task of removing the fragments of wall paintings from room 52, a small room given over to worship, the image of which has unfortunately not been recovered. Also this room has been seriously damaged by water. Nevertheless, the bulk of the wall paintings from Tapa Sardar have been recovered here and are now being recomposed.

The wall paintings collected at Tapa Sardar form quite a large group, one of the largest in Afghanistan outside Bamiyan.

Another very significant discovery is the large number of manuscript fragments found in room 41. The manuscripts were probably laid inside the a1J4a of stupa 41 and were then scattered all over the room by the same water that dissolved the upper part of the stupa. In the years to come a considerable effort wilI have to be made to recover and read these fragments as they seem to be actually untransportable.

The presence of manuscripts inside stupas is qui te a normal occurrence, but manuscripts could also be placed inside images (we have found evidence for this at Tapa Sardar). It is thus quite conceivable that the manuscript fragments found in room 41 come, at least in part, from the almost completely ruined image in the niche on the north wall (the few remaining traces

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Fig. 16 - Shahr-i Sokhta (Iran).

GeneraI view of the excavation in the CentraI Quarters, sector S (Neg. no. Dep. CS 12398/8; S. Salvatori).

Fig. 17 - Shahr-i Sokhta (Iran). Portion of the waterpipe found in square SCP (phase 4) (Neg. no. Dep. CS 12522/7; S. Salvatori).

Fig. 18 - Shahr-i Sokhta (Iran). Pear-shaped beaker with painted geometric decoration fram room CDXLIV, cut 6, square SCR (phase 6) (Neg. no. Dep. CS 12416/18; S. Salvatori).

Fig. 20 - Shahr-i Sokhta (Iran). Chlorite cylinder-seal from the courtyard of the House of Jars in square NXP (phase 6). Scale approx. 3: 2 (Neg. no. Dep. CS 12418/3; S. Salvatori).

Fig. 19 - Shahr-i Sokhta (Iran). GeneraI view of square NXP. In the foreground can be seen the remains of a house belonging to phase 6 and ja:s in situ (Neg. no. Dep. CS 12418/12a; S. Salvatori) .

Fig. 21 - Shahr-i Sokhta (Iran). Impression of the cylinder-seal shown in fig. 20. Slightly larger than actual size (Neg. no. Dep. CS 12416/7; S. Salvatori).

Fig. 23 - Shahr-i Sokhta (Iran). Pottery fram grave 711 (phase 3, about 23002200 B.C.) (Neg. no. Dep. CS 12453/29a; M. Piperno) .

Fig. 22 - Shahr-i Sokhta (Iran). Furniture with grapes (Neg. no. Dep. CS 12171/15;

of grave 711.

M. Piperno).

A large number of vases had been filled

Fig. 24 - Shahr-i Sokhta (Iran).

Close-up of the silver object found in grave 710 (phase 7-8, c. 2700 B.C.) (Neg. no. Dep. CS 12451; M. Piperno).

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New Series. Vol. 26 - Nos. 3 4 (September - December 1916)