The Achaemenid and post-Achaemenid ceramics of Qaleh Kali, Iran

Abstract

The archaeology of Achaemenid (c. 550 – 330 BCE) Iran has, until quite recently, been dominated by the excavations of the royal capitals: Persepolis, Pasargadae and Susa. While these sites provide invaluable information regarding aspects of Achaemenid culture, particularly monumental (palatial) architecture and sculpture, there are comparatively few studies concerning ceramic chronology or technology. This is, inherently, a direct reflection of the lack of any well-stratified sequence of Achaemenid ceramics. Identifying and characterising Achaemenid period ceramics is, however, further compounded by the seemingly long-lived types, found in both Late-Achaemenid and early Hellenistic/Post-Achaemenid deposits. The recent excavations (2007 – 2009) at Qaleh Kali in the Fars province, Iran, have provided a well-stratified sequence of Achaemenid and Post-Achaemenid occupation spanning a period of c. 500 to 50 BCE. The site (excavated as part of an ARC-funded, collaborative research project between the Iranian Centre for Archaeological Research and the University of Sydney) may be identified as an Achaemenid royal way-station, or storehouse, situated along the royal road linking Sardis to the Persian heartland, and provides a unique opportunity to study the ceramics of this period. The current examination is primarily an analysis of the morphological and technological aspects of the Qaleh Kali ceramic assemblage, presented through an illustrated typology. Using an integrated methodology of elemental (INAA) and stylistic/morphological analysis this study has enabled a finite examination of the evidence for change and continuity in the Achaemenid and Post-Achaemenid heartland. The Qaleh Kali assemblage demonstrates certain elements which may be considered local in character, although observable parallels with the known Achaemenid/Post-Achaemenid assemblages of the Persian heartland are evident. The current investigation suggests there is little evidence for dramatic change in the Qaleh Kali assemblage between these historically discrete periods, which conforms with an observed trend in the Persian heartland.