آناهیتا پودات

Bashkard is a mountainous hinterland in south-eastern Iran where the two cultural regions -HalīlRūd and Jāzmūriyān-, make it outstanding. In addition to their location, surface finds around the village of Ahven in this county -in particular, the site numbered 044- indicate a chronicle of human settlements and the existence of cultural-trade interactions with HalīlRūd and Jāzmūriyān. The sampled surface potsherds and a few other cultural materials (decorative beads and shells and bronze objects -especially, round and quadrangle stamp seals) there belong to Chalcolithic and Bronze Ages. In terms of the paste colors, the potsherds represent two main groups: orange and gray. The other colors (buff, brown, and reddish gray) are less common. They are decorated with geometrical, plant, and animal motives as well as bold horizontal wavy and straight bands, and incised/scratched lines (perhaps with a sharp item such as a comb); often, one of these techniques and in some cases, both are applied on the potsherds. In terms of form (rim, neck, shoulder, handle, spout, wall/body, pedestal, and bottom) they are classified into commonly used vessels such as bowls, small jugs and jars, tumblers/beakers, and small pots. Exceptionally, a shallow tray and gray pottery of rectangular shape (probably a mold) have been recovered from the surface. Their comparison with well-known southeastern sites shows that Ahven could have predominantly acted as the trade-cultural route of between southeastern establishments and the northern and southern coasts of the Persian Gulf. The author’s archaeological survey of the region is the first attempt to ascertain Chalcolithic and the Bronze Age cultural materials as presented in this article.