Maritime Trade between China and the West: An Archaeological Study of the Ceramics from Siraf (Persian Gulf), 8th to 15th centuries A.D. 9780860547020, 9781407348513

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Maritime Trade between China and the West An Archaeological Study of the Ceralllics from Siraf (Persian Gulf), 8th to 15th centuries A.D.

Moira T arnpoe

BAR International Series 555 1989

B.A.R. 5, Centremead, Osney Mead, Oxford OX2 ODQ, England.

GENERAL EDITORS A.R. Hands, B.Sc., M.A., D.Phil. D.R. Walker, M.A.

BAR -S555, 1989: 'Maritime Trade between China and the West'

© Moira Tampoe, 1989 The author’s moral rights under the 1988 UK Copyright, Designs and Patents Act are hereby expressly asserted. All rights reserved. No part of this work may be copied, reproduced, stored, sold, distributed, scanned, saved in any form of digital format or transmitted in any form digitally, without the written permission of the Publisher. ISBN 9780860547020 paperback ISBN 9781407348513 e-book DOI https://doi.org/10.30861/9780860547020 A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library This book is available at www.barpublishing.com

To my dear parents

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Acknowledgements This initial venture into the world of Indian Ocean archaeology is based on a D.Phil. thesis submitted to Oxford University in 1989, made possible by the guidance and mediation provided by a number of individuals and organisations. My sincerest thanks goes to them all. To both my supervisors, that is, to Miss. Mary Tregear, Keeper of Eastern Art, Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, and to Dr. Mark Horton, Pitt Rivers Museum, Oxford; to Dr. David Whitehouse and his team, sponsored by the British Institute of Persian Studies, without whose excellent excavation this study would not have been possible; to Dr. Michael Rogers of the Oriental Department, the British Museum; to all other members of staff at the Ashmolean Museum and British Museum, who have helped me in numerous ways. To St.Cross College, Oxford, and the Fondation Cultureile Mahvi, Geneva. To John Carswell, now Director of the Islamic Department at Sotheby's; to Professors P.L. Prematilleke and Senake Bandaranayake, of the Universities of Peradeniya and Kelaniya, Sri Lanka. To my parents and friends, especially, Arthur and Mary Pimm, Jenny Martin, Joseph Poon, Alan Young and Catherine Mortimer. Finally, I wish to express my deep gratitude to the President's Fund and Mahapola Higher Education Scholarship Trust Fund of Sri Lanka, whose higher education policy and financial assistance made these post-graduate studies possible.

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Contents

Acknowledgements Contents List of Figures Chapter 1: Introduction Introduction 1.1 The Location of Siraf 1.2 Exploration of the Site 1.3 The Excavation 1.4 The Ceramic Record 1.5 Methodology 1.6 Examination of Issues on the Nature and Structure of the Medieval Sea Trade 1.7 Typological Chart for the Ceramics of Siraf Chapter 2: Unglazed Earthenwares Introduction 2.1 Ware Descriptions 2.2 The Provenance of the Earthenwares Found at Siraf Chapter 3: Islamic Glazed Earthenwares Introduction 3.1 Ware Descriptions 3.2 The Provenance of the Islamic Glazed Earthenwares Found at Siraf 3.3 Ceramic Distribution Patterns in the Persian Gulf Chapter 4: Chinese Gla zed Wares Introduction 4.1 Ware Descriptions 4.2 The Provenance of the Chinese Glazed Wares Found at Siraf Chapter 5: Ceramics and Stratigraphy: The Periodisation of Siraf Introduction 5.1 Methodology 5.2 Archaeological Sequences 5.3 The Ceramic Assemblages 5.4 The Periodisation of Siraf on the Basis of the Ceramic Assemblage Models from Sites B,C and F 5.5 Quantification of Glazed Ceramics Traded in Siraf 5.6 Patterns of Ceramic Usage in Siraf

111 V -

vi

Vil - X

1-9 1 2 2 2 3 3 4 6

11- 30 11 11 29 31- 45

31 31 44 45 47- 68 47 47

63

69- 86 69 69 70 71

77

82 84

vi Chapter 6: The Dynamics of Early Islamic Glazed Ware Development: The Contribution of Siraf to its Evaluation

87 - 95 87 87

6.1 The Re-opening of the Samarra Horizon Issue 6.2 Siraf and the Beginnings of the Samarra Horizon 6.3 The Phasing of the Samarra Horizon 6.4 The End of the Samarra Horizon 6.5 The Samarra Horizon and the Ceramic Evidence from Susa 6.6 The Origins of the Technique of Lead-splashed Glazes and the Question of the Non-existence of Painted Stoneware Imitations 6.7 The Emergence of Early Islamic Glazed Wares: Final Conclusions

Chapter 7: The Port of Siraf and the Maritime Trade Between China and the West

89 90 91

92 94

97 - 116

Introduction 7.1 The Nascent Phase of Trade with the West 7.2 Development of Trade in the Early Islamic Era 7.3 The Period of Maximum Participation of the Ports of the Persian Gulf 7.4 Trading Partners of Siraf in the Western Indian Ocean 7.5 The Shift in the Focus of Trade to the Red Sea Area and the Lower Gulf Ports Chapter 8: The Mastery of the Indian Ocean Trade Network: Its Voyage Systems. Mariners. Ships. Merchants. Ports. Commodities and Currencies

97

98 100

102 105 112

117 - 153

Introduction 8.1 The Seas of the Indian Ocean 8.2 The Monsoon Wind Systems 8.3 Ocean Voyage Systems:Long-haul Voyages and Segmented Sea Traffic 8.4 The Sailors and the Routes 8.5 The Ships 8.6 The Merchants 8.7 The Ports, Commercial Transactions and Taxation 8.8 The Commodities: Sources, Transit and Destinations 8.9 Precious Metal Flows Bibliography Appendix A: A Catalogue of the Sherd Collection from Siraf at the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford Appendix B: Siraf Pottery Registration Numbers in Typological Sequence Appendix C: Regional Sites with Siraf-type Ceramics Figures

117 117 117

118 122

123 124 127

129 151 155 - 159 162 - 34 7 348

367 369

371

425

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List of Figures

Chapter 2 - Unglazed Earthenwares: 1. Red Earthenware

Figs. 1-6; Ashmolean Collection Figs. 7-8~pottery cards 2. Brittle Ware Fig. 9; pottery cards 3. Orange Earthenware Figs.10-11; pottery cards 4. Red and Orange Earthenware: Terracotta Objects Figs.12-14; pottery cards 5. Fine Pink Earthenware Fig.15; Ashmolean Collection Fig.16; pottery cards 6. White-Slipped Coarse Pink Earthenware Figs.17-22; Ashmolean Collection Figs.23-24; pottery cards 7. Pale Green Earthenware Figs.25-27; Ashmolean Collection Figs.28-30; pottery cards Two Objects of Pale Green Earthenware or White-Slipped Coarse Pink Earthenware Fig.31; pottery cards 8. Fine Creamware Figs.32-36; pottery cards 9. Eggshe ll Ware Fig.37; Ashmolean Collection Figs.38-39; pottery cards

10. Painted Earthenware Fig.40; Ashmolean Collection Fig.41; pottery cards 11. Earthenware Sherds with Inscriptions Figs.42-44; pottery cards

Vlll

Chapter 3 - Glared Earthenwares

12. Blue-Glazed Ware (Sasanian-Islamic) Figs.45-48; Ashmolean Collection Figs.49-50; pottery cards 13. White-Glazed Wares Figs.51-54; Ashmolean Collection Figs.55-58; pottery cards 14. Lustre Ware Fig.59; Ashmolean Collection Fig.60; pottery cards 15. Lead-Splashed Wares with and without Sgraffiato Figs.61-62; Ashmolean Collection Figs.63-67; pottery cards 16. Yellow Glazed Earthenware Fig.68; pottery cards 17. Green Glazed Ware with Moulded Decoration Fig 68; pottery cards 18. White-Splashed Black Glazed Ware Fig.68; pottery cards 19. Geometrical Designs under Colourless Glaze Fig.68; pottery cards 20. Black Painted Decoration on a Yellow Ground Fig 69; pottery cards 21. Underglaze Painted Wares Fig.69, pottery cards 22. Saljuq Monochrome Blue-Glazed ware Fig.69; pottery cards 23. Minai Overglaze Enamel Ware No illustrations available 24. Late Overglaze Enamel Ware Fig.69; pottery cards

Chapter 4 - Chinese Glared Wares

25. Coarse Grey Stonewares Figs.70-71; Ashmolean Coll ction Figs.72-74; pottery cards 26. Fine Grey Stonewares Figs.75-76; Ashmolean Collection Figs.77-79; pottery cards

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27. Painted and Relief Stoneware Fig.80; Ashmolean Collection Figs.81 -82; pottery cards 28. Canary Glazed Ware Fig.93; pottery cards 29. Green and White Splashed Ware Fig.92; Ashmolean Collection Fig.83; pottery cards 30. Polychrome Splashed Ware Fig.92; Ashmolean Museum Fig.93; pottery cards · 31. Cream Stoneware Fig.84; Ashmolean collection Fig.85; pottery cards 32. Fine White Wares Fig.86; Ashmolean Collection Figs.87-89; pottery cards 33. Fine Grey Wares Fig.90; Ashmolean Collection Fig.91; pottery cards 34. Blue and White Ware Fig.92; Ashmolean Collection Fig. 93; pottery cards Modem Ware

35. Japanese Overglaze Painted Ware Fig.92; Ashmolean Collection

Chapter 5 - Stratigraphical Charts and Bar Charts

Stratigraphical Charts Site B; Fig.94 Site C; Fig. 95 Site F, House N; Fig.96 Site F, House E; Fig.97 Key to Bar Charts Fig. 98 Proportionate Occurence of Islamic/Chinese Glazed Ware in Total Assemblage, through Phases of Site: Site B: Fig.99 Site C: Fig.102 Site F, House N: Fig.105 Site F, House E: Fig.107

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Proportionate Occurence of Types in the Islamic/Chinese Glazed Ware Assemblage Site B: Fig.100 Site C: Fig.103 Site F, House N; Fig.106 Site F, House E; Fig.108

Unglazed Earthenware, Islamic Glazed Earthenware and Chinese Glazed Ware Percentages through Phases of Site Site B; Fig.101 Site C; Fig. 104 Site F, House N; Fig. 109 Site F, House E; Fig. 109 Correlated Stratigraphical Phases/Ceramic Assemblage Models Chart for Sites B, C, and F:N and E Fig.110 Glazed Ceramic Occurence Chart for the Two Platform Fills of the Great Mosque Fig.111 Chronological Chart of Dynasties Fig.112 Periodised Occurence of Chinese Glazed Ware at Siraf Fig.113 Sequential Occurence of Islamic White-glazed wares and Lead-splashed wares at Siraf Fig.113 A Chronological Chart of the Islamic Ceramics at Susa Fig.113 B

Maps:

Medieval Maritime Routes of the Indian Ocean Fig.114 Location Map of Siraf Fig.115 Siraf Site-Plan Fig.116 Chinese Kiln Site Locations Fig.117

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Chapter 1 Introduction The Indian Ocean is the expanse of ocean which stretches from the coast of East Africa up to the Pacific Ocean in the east, and to the Southern Ocean which borders Antarctica. It is a complex of six different seas: the Red Sea, Persian Gulf, Arabian Sea, Bay of Bengal, the Java Sea and the China Sea. The Indian Ocean region, is primarily the physical unit composed of the landmasses of the Eurasian and African continents, which border the northern limits of the Ocean. However, the geo-cultural influence of the Ocean extends to the outlying central zone of Eurasia, which comprises the greater Indian Oceanic region. The physical nature of the Indian Ocean and its region is ambivalent. It is composed of six seas, but is also one oceanic unit. The different seas have their own variations in wind and current systems, yet the Ocean functions under an overriding system of monsoon winds. Physical diversity within the landmasses surrounding the ocean has resulted in a number of production patterns, but the larger influence of monsoonal climate in the greater Indian Ocean region has engendered similarities in its economic system. This interaction between diversity and unity in the region has resulted in a number of zones of geo-cultural entities, with cohesion between them through movements of people: migrations, travel, trade and regional historical forces. Contact over land is more natural to man, but it involves surmounting man-made political and cultural barriers, in addition to physical obstacles. The vast expanse of ocean is a more unfamiliar medium, and therefore comparatively free of human obstacles. This was an important factor in favour of those who were enterprising enough to bridge the distance between the landmasses by sea, providing they mastered the physical functioning of the oceans, and developed systems of interaction between the populated landmasses, and seaborne transport and commerce. It was this which was achieved by sea trade, whether in the Indian, Atlantic or Pacific Oceans. The production, transport and exchange systems of the land, were co-ordinated with the transport and exchange systems developed by mariners and merchants familiar with the sea. This relationship was very clear in the Indian Ocean region in the Classical, and particularly the Medieval, periods. It had a well-developed network of land routes, which carried goods and people within the region stretching from China up to Europe, dominated by the Silk Route which traversed the upper boundary of the greater Indian Ocean region. The land routes were linked at a number of points to the sea lanes, which linked the landmass from the south, and also served the islands and southern areas of the oceanic region. Patterns of settlement associated with foraging subsistence strategies are visible in the archaeological record of the lands fringing the northern shores of the Indian Ocean from around 7000 BC, in the Early Holocene. By the mid-Holocene period (5000-4000 BC), these had developed into hinterland and coastland systems, with the hinterland pastoral and agrarian economies determined by regional resources. The presence of the interlinking ocean-mass provided the coastal populations with another, more economically diversified option of subsistence, providing they acquired the techniques of ocean navigation. This resulted in more adaptive coastal populations, and the development of complex patterns of labour division, with sizeable fractions of labour engaged in the extraction and transport of locally available resources. These were in turn, exchanged for goods extracted from other areas along the Ocean littoral, leading to interaction between the diverse cultural groups along the Ocean circuit. To cite but a single instance of such exchange routed via the Gulf, the shell-beads (Cypraea Vitellis) found in 5th millenium BC levels at the village settlement of Chagar Bazar in North Syria, would have been imported from the Indian Ocean via the Persian Gulf. The period of the great urban civilisations witnessed the transformation of previous exchange systems into more regular trade, with greater bearing on the regional economies. The archaeological and documentary evidence also indicates the segmentation of Indian Ocean trade into three main trading regions, demarcated primarily by the natural limitations of maximum sailing distances. The three zones developed as distinct geo-cultural entities in the western, central and eastern blocks of the Indian Ocean. The westernmost trading/sailing region was the Red Sea

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centric zone extending from the east coast of Africa up to the Persian Gulf. The central zone was the Persian Gulf region of interaction extending to the western coast of South Asia. The third zone stretched from South Asia eastwards to insular and mainland South-east Asia, and up to southern China. However, the sea trade of the period appears to have been mainly internalis ed within the seperat e trading zones, with some increment of goods from the other zones, probably exchanged at the points of intersection of the three trading systems. Sumerian and Akkadian texts of the 3rd millenium BC, as well as later Assyrian records of the 1st millenium BC, list Persian Gulf imports of copper, hardwood, ivory and precious stones for the Mesopotamian region. Despite the great increase in the Indian Ocean trade in the Classical period, spurred by the demand from Rome, the centuries abutting the Christian era did not witness the routing of all eastern trade to the Red Sea. The overland silk-rout e linking China to the Mediterranean, as well as the sea-and-land route via the Persian Gulf and Iraq, to Palmyra and the Mediterranean flourished, carrying a fair quantum of the trade, especially under the aegis of the Parthians. This was followed by the the gradual expansion of the Gulf sea-trade by the Sasanians during the 3rd-5th centuries AD, resulting in virtual Gulf hegemony of the western Indian Ocean participation by the 6th century. This rapid expansion of the Persian Gulf maritim e trad e in the immediate pre-Islamic era facilitated the great increase in sea trade between China and the West , in the succeeding Medieval period, during the 8th-15th centuries . Economic and cultural expansion under Islam, resulted in the establishment of a powerful zone of economic consumption around the Persian Gulf in the 8th-15th centuries, ensuring the importance of the Gulf ports in the Medieval Asian trade. The port of Siraf, situated in the middle of the Persian Gulf coast on the Iranian side, was one of the most important Persian Gulf entrepots in the early phase of Islamic trade, reaching its apogee in the late 9th-10th centuries. This study is based on the excavation of this port, and examines the nature of its involvement in the medieval sea trade, predominantly through the medium of its excavated ceramics. 1.1 The Location of Siraf The site of Siraf, now dwindled to the modern village of Taheri, lies on the Iranian coast of the Persian Gulf, 220 km. south-east of the Bushire peninsula, 210 km. north-west of the island of Qais, and 220 km. south-south-west of Shiraz, which is the chief city in this region of Fars. The site spreads across a narrow habitable triangle of land bounded by a shallow bay, 4 km. across. It is defined on the west by the dry Kunarak wadi or valley, and the first of a number of sandstone ridges runs parallel to the coast, beginning less than 500 metres from the beach. Outlying ruins lie to the west, on the plain of Bagh-i-Shaikh. The whole of this triangle is covered by building debris, with much of the area used for cultivation by the villagers of Taheri. Taheri itself is situated at the southernmo st extremity of the triangle . 1.2 Exploration of the Site The existence of a ruined site at Taheri was first reported by James Morier in 1812 (Mori er 1812:51), and it was subsequently visited by a number of British admini strative and military officers during the 19th century. The first to identify the site as the prosperou s port of Siraf docum ented by the Arab geographers was Captain G.B. Kempthorne who examined the site in 1835 (Kempthorn e 18567:125-40). Among the more professional visits it began to receive in the 20th century was that by members of a French expedition to the prehistoric site of Subzabad near Bushire , and by Sir Aurel Stein in 1933 (Pezard 1914:36). Stein's account contains the fullest description of the site published prior to the excavation (Stein 1937:202-12). The archaeological potential of Siraf was r ported by Alastair Lamb in 1962 (Lamb 1962), followed four years later by an organised archaeological expedition to Siraf. 13 The Excavation

The excavation of Siraf was accomplish ed in six seasons of excavation between Octob er-D ecember 1966 and November-March 1972-73. It was an excavation of considerabl e magnitud e, and a pioneering project in Indian Ocean port-sit e archaeology. Direct ed by Dr.David Whit ehouse, the excavation was sponsored by the British Institut e of Persian Studies , and financed by the Galouste Gulbekian Foundation of Lisbon, the British Academy, the British Museum, the British Institite of Persian Studi es, the Royal Ontario Museum, and a munificent anonymous trust , and received the full co-operation of the Archaeological Survey of Iran . The results of the excavation have be en published so far, in a series of six Int erim R eport s (Whitehous e 1.-6. 1968;1969;1970;1971;1972;1974) and two Fascicles, the latter being on

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the Congregational Mosque and Smaller Mosques (Whitehouse n.d.), and on the Coins and Monumental Inscriptions of Siraf (Lowick 1985). The site was dug in a number of units or sub-sites listed below, and located on map fig.115. Sites A - The Sounding B - The Great Mosque and Sasanian Fort C - The Bazaar D - The Pottery E - Fifteenth-Century Buildings F - The Residential Quarter G - The Shrine H - The Imamzadeh (Mausoleum) J - Naval Defence and Hamaam (Bath) K - A Palatial Residence L - The West Gate M and P - Mosques, a Defensive Wall and Other Buildings near the shore N - A Basilica-like Building 0 - A Monumental Cemetery 1.4 The Ceramic Record

Ceramics are the most prolific and durable type of artefact excavated from Siraf. They are both actively involved in the Indian Ocean trade, as containers for traded goods and exported kitchen and tableware, and are also found in the domestic context of the site. The ceramics from Siraf are therefore a substantial source for the study of the domestic economy and external trade relations of the port, and are an indicator of the trends of Persian Gulf involvement in the Medieval trade of Asia. They also provide a key to building up the greater jigsaw-puzzle of Indian Ocean trade. The detailed classification and documentation provided by the pottery typology for the earthenwares, Islamic glazedearthenwares and Chinese high-fired glazed wares found at Siraf (Chapters 2,3,4), has expanded and particularised the preliminary pottery typology for the site (Whitehouse 1.1968:14-18).It is also a further step in the establishment of pottery typologies for Indian Ocean trade during the Medieval period as a whole (8th-15th centuries AD), and is especially valid for the early phase of this period, from the 8th-12th centuries. 1.5 Methodology 1. The study incorporates a visual examination of the large body of Siraf ceramics stored at the British Museum, a detailed study of the sample sherd collection from Siraf at the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, and a scrutiny of the pottery data-cards for the entire excavated pottery corpus, filled in during the course of the excavation. The latter incorporated sherd counts, as well as descriptions and drawings of special pottery finds. The examination of the sherds stored outside Britain was therefore limited to their appearance in the pottery cards. 2. The sherds, which had been recorded according to their archaeological context, were sorted by type, initially into broad categories, and finally into sub-categories, using the visual criteria of fabric and decoration. This was followed by further sorting within these divisions by shape, the sherds falling into the following vessel forms: 1.cup 2.bowl 3.dish 4.vase 5.jar 6.pot 7.bottle 8.ewer 9.oil lamp 10.lamp holder 11.mortarium as well as rarer miscellaneous items. The sherds which fell within these classes were grouped further by variations in rim, body and base forms. It must be noted here, that the restrictions of working mainly with sherds, with only a few complete or nearly complete vessels, prevented absolute shape classification in some examples. The possible alternatives have been listed in such instances.

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3. This typology by fabric, decoration and shape, has been visually presented in figs.1-93. All the sherds of the Ashmolean collection, which present typological information have been drawn ( catalogue nos. 1-435), including bodysherds which provided an idea of the shape of the vessel, or represented a mode of ornamentation. The drawings have been sequentially numbered, on the basis of the typology worked out for the whole of the Siraf pottery corpus. The scale-drawings for the Ashmolean material, which present dimensions, cross-sections, interior and exterior elevation, and when necessary a perspective from above or below, are presented in the scale of 1:4. 4. This typological information has been complemented with that recorded in the special pottery-cards of the excavation. This has been incorporated in the description of the individual types, and illustrated by drawings derived from the sketches on the pottery cards (figs.1-93). 5. The serial catalogue-numbers given to the ceramics in this study, are related to their original sherd registration-numbers in Appendix B. The latter have been collated according to the typological sequence. The ceramics therefore remain securely within their archaeological contexts. The breakdown of a typical sherd registration number from Siraf, is given below. Variations to the norm, to be observed in a few sherds, have arisen due to the necessities of the excavation, and can only be understood in the context of the detailed stratigraphical charts. Sherd registration number: S 70/l[F 15](512) 1016 is, S = Siraf; 70/1 = 1970/71 season of excavation; < B > =Site B; F15] =grid F 15; (512) = deposit 512; 1016 = finds number 1016. The term U /S =unstratified, and often indicates surface collection. A very few sherds have been left unnumbered or partially numbered in the data cards. 6. The types are presented in a summarised form in the Typological Chart. The codes used to refer to the wares during the course of the study are also given in this chart. 7. Quantificative and periodised ceramic assemblage studies, based on sherd counts from the cards, are presented as bar charts (figs.99-109), and in Chapter 5. They have been related to the Periodisation scheme for Siraf developed during the course of this study, using the ceramic data in conjunction with stratigraphical and numismatic evidence from the site, and the historic documentation. 1.6 Examination of Issues on the Nature and Structure of the Medieval Sea-Trade The ceramic evidence from Siraf has been recorded, classified and provenanced in Chapters 2-4 and Appendices A-C. This processed data has been utilised to clarify several issues on traded ceramics and the maritime trade of Asia during the Medieval period. The statistical and typological study of the ceramics, in relation to site-stratigraphy, has been used in conjunction with literary, numismatic and other archaeological evidence to construct a Periodisation for the port of Siraf (Chapter 5) and its involvement in the Indian Ocean trade (Chapter 7). The trading partners of Siraf - all participants in the Early Islamic maritime trading system - have been traced in the archaeological record of the Indian Ocean region, identified primarily by the manifestation of the diagnostic trade-ceramic assemblage.

The Siraf Periodisation has been related, by time-space correlation, to the historical framework of the Medieval sea-trade between China and the West as a whole, with special emphasis on the role of the Persian Gulf in this commerce during the Early, Middle and Late Islamic periods (8th-15th centuries AD). In this context, the archaeological evidence has facilitated the delineation of the outlines of the inception of this trade in the U mayyad era, breaking the silence of the Arabic texts which start documenting the sea trade only from c.800-850 AD. The status of the Persian Gulf ports and merchants in the Middle and Later Islamic periods (11th-15th centuries) is redefined, in terms of the supposed shift of the main focus of trade to the Red Sea region (Chapter 7).

5 The association between Chinese export ceramics and the production of early Islamic glazed earthenwares, an issue of interest and importance in ceramic history, in the cultural interaction between China and the Islamic world and in determining the chronology of the initiation of regular sea trade between the two regions, is re-examined, using the stratified ceramic finds from the controlled excavations at Siraf and Susa (Chapter 6). Finally, the mechanics of the Medieval Indian Ocean trading/sailing system have been discussed (Chapter 8), in an attempt at piecing together the manifold institutions which sustained the trade of ports such as Siraf. This includes an analysis of the voyage systems which operated during this period, the identification of carriers, comments on merchants, ports, commercial codes and taxation procedures, mediums of exchange, and the inventorising of the commodities traded to and fro across the Ocean, pinpointing their sources, transit and destinations.

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1.7 Typological Chart for the Ceramics from Siraf

Unglazed Earthenwares 1. Coarse red earthenware (RE): a - unblackened b - blackened c - handpotted d - red slipped over a white underslip e - with inscriptions Fine red earthenware: f - with openwork decoration 2. Brittle ware (BE) 3. Orange earthenware (OE): a - with small air holes b - soft fine dirty orange; fine grits c - coarse; with chalk grits d - with white grits e - with white grits (Nagi pots) f - with white purple slip Orange-red earthenware: g - with glossy red slip (Indian Red Polished ware) h - with orange slip 4. Red and Orange earthenware; Terracotta objects (TO) a - drainpipes b - ovens c - coin-casting moulds d - crucibles e - mercury pots f - animal figurines and elephant and rider spout g - leg of an object h - part of two stands i - beads j - fish-net weight and weight k - spindle whorl 5. Fine pink earthenware (FPE) a - with no grits b - with inscription c - with small dark grits d - white slipped e - red slipped 6. White-slipped coarse pink earthenware (WPE)

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7. Pale green earthenware (PGE): a - with vegetable temper b - without temper 8. Fine creamware (FCE): a - cream fabric; ungritted b - pale pink fabric; lightly gritted 9. Eggshell ware (ESE) 10. Painted earthenware(PE): a - coarse red fabric; red and black pottery temper b - coarse cream fabric; sand temp er c - buff fabric 11. Earthenware sherds with inscriptions (IE): a - pale green earthenware b - fine creamware c - coarse red earthenware d - orange earthenware e - fine pink earthenware

Islamic Glazed Earthenwares 12. Blue-glazed ware (Sasanian-Islamic) (SI) 13. White-glazed ware (WG): a - plain (WGa) b - cobalt splashed (WGb) c - turquoise splashed (WGc) d - bichrome splashed: 1.turquoise and brown (WGd) 2.turquoise and black 3.turquoise and cobalt e - polychrome splashed (WGf) 1.turquoise, green and plack 2.turquoise, green and brown; of superior quality 3.olive, blue and black decoration f - with dark brown geometric decoration (WGe) Saljuq frit body (SWG) g - plain (SWGa) h - with inscriptions (SWGb) 14. Lustre ware (LW) a - Early lustre; buff fabric (LWa) b - Saljuq lustre; frit fabric (LWb) 15. Lead-splashed wares, with and without sgraffiato (LSW) Coarse buff fabric: a - monochrome green glazed (LG) b - lead splashed decoration (LSW)

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c - style 1 sgraffiato (LSWa) (also comprises much of unspecified 'sgraffiato' in cards - (LSW c) Fine buff fabric: d - sketchy incised decoration under green glaze Fine red fabric e - lead splashed decoration (LSW) f - style 2 sgraffiato (LSWb) g - style 3 sgraffiato (LSW d) h - champleve decoration (LSWe) i - miscellaneous sgraffiato 16. Yellow glazed earthenware (YG) 17. Green-glazed ware with moulded decoration (MGW) 18. White-splashed black-glazed ware (BGW) 19. Geometric designs painted on white slip (GDW) under a colourless glaze: 1.purple and olive green scroll decoration; fine pink fabric 2.black and red pseudo-epigraphic decoration; light pink fabric 3.triangular pattern; creamware fabric 4.incised and painted triangular motif 5.radial rows of black spots and green stripes 6.large grey scroll motif 20. Black painted decoration on a yellow ground (BYW) 21. Underglaze painted wares (OBGc): a - black decoration under turquoise glaze b - blue and black decoration under a colourless glaze c - black decoration under colourless glaze 22. Saljuq monochrome blue-glazed ware (OBG) a - turquoise glaze; coarse pink frit fabric (OBGa) b - turquoise or cobalt glaze; fine white frit fabric (OBGb) 23. Minai overglaze-enamel ware (MEW) 24. Late overglaze-enamel ware (LEW)

Chinese Glazed Wares 25. Coarse grey stonewares (CGS): Coarse grey stoneware; green glazed (CGSa) a - buff or charcoal-grey fabric; grey green glaze b - mid-grey fabric; thick layer of crackled glaze c - pale grey fabric; decorated with white slip, and moulded and incised dot and line design d - mid-grey fabric; crackled watery silvery green glaze e - iron-specked grey fabric and green-grey glaze

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f - pale grey fabric; iron-brown slip decoration under a clear pale green glaze g - grey fabric; dull grey green glaze; pseudo-calligraphic incised band on shoulder h - oily brown-olive glaze i - yellow-brown glaze Coarse pink-buff stoneware; green glazed(CGSc) j - granular body; pale olive green glaze;'scraped-base'bowls k - similar to above; different shapes and no scraped marks 1- similar to above; olive green glaze m - greyer fabric; matt uneven green-grey glaze Coarse cream stoneware; green glaze: n - granular fabric; pale green glaze Coarse grey stoneware; black or dark brown glaze (CGSb) o - grey purple fabric; shiny black glaze p - dark purple fabric; chocolate brown glaze Coarse buff stoneware ; bubbled purple glaze (CGSd) 26. Yue ware (Y) a - 'provincial' Yue . b - developed Yue 27. Painted Stoneware (Changsha) (PS): a - painted stoneware; buff or grey fabric (PSa) b - variant of brown decoration on green glaze; grey fabric (PSb) c - shiny glaze; smooth whitish fabric (PSd) d - relief stoneware; buff or grey fabric (PSc) 28. Canary glazed ware (CGW) 29. Green and white splashed-ware (GWS) 30. Polychrome Splashed Ware (TCW) 31. Cream stoneware (CWa) 32. Fine white wares: a - coarser fabric; colourless glaze (CWb) b - coarser fabric; greyish glaze (CWb) c - fine fabric; colourless and off-white glazes (FWe) d - fine fabric; blue-tinged or qingbai glaze (FWd) 33. Fine grey wares (FG): a - colourless glaze (FGb) b - blue-tinged or qingbai glaze (FGa) c - green or blue glaze (celadon) (FGc) d - a yellowish glaze (celadon) 34. Blue and white ware (BW) 35. Japanese overglaze-painted ware (JOP)

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Chapter 2 The Unglazed Earthenwares The bulk of the ceramics from Siraf, amounting to about 90 percent of the ceramic assemblage, belong to a variety of earthenwares. With the exception of a little Indian Red Polished ware of the first 3 centuries AD, the earthenwares found at Siraf are of regional and local manufacture. Excavation at the eastern extremity of Siraf uncovered 32 kiln sites, whose main products were many of these earthenwares.The earthenware was both used in the domestic context of the city, and functioned as storage containers for the export of local produce, and the re-export of divided cargoes. The wares range from those with lightly fired pale green or cream fabrics, to pots of higher fired pink wares, quick fired brittle grey ware, and finally to well fired orange and red earthenwares. Siraf-type earthenwares have been found at sites from the East African coast and up to South Asia, emerging at Bambhore in Pakistan and Mantai in Sri Lanka. A characteristic of earthenware, is its resistance to change once it is adapted to regional requirements. It is therefore not as useful as glazed wares in dating, but its appearance helps to identify the regional complexities of trade.

2.1 Ware Descriptions

1. Red Earthenware

The red earthenware has been divided by appearance, fabric and decoration into the following sub-categories. Coarse red earthenware: a - unblackened b - blackened c - hand potted d - red slipped over a white underslip e - with inscriptions Fine red earthenware: f - with openwork decoration Fabric. Potting and Firing The majority of red earthenware sherds are of a typically coarse fabric with sand and pottery temper, resulting in a fairly porous ware. Differences in firing have resulted in variations in the colour of the fabric. Underfired pots are often buff on the surface with a red core (nos.635,651) or a pale orange brown with reddish surfaces (620). The pottery grog is often a paler orange red in such instances and the fabric is softer. The fabric of vessels which have been more reduced in firing tends to an orange brown or red brown colour, edged in dark red to grey hard-fired surfaces (622,627), the range ending in a crumbly grey fabric (634). The red grog is partially or wholly fired black. Well fired vessels are a red grogged brick red colour (641,661). The fabric of a few of the pots is chalk flecked(624). A larger proportion of sherds are soot blackened, revealing their use as cooking pots, while the unblackened examples may have been used for food preparation, storage, and in the case of the bowls, perhaps as rough tableware. The coating of bitumen inside sherds 437 and 438 makes the vessel more suitable for liquid storage.

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A few sherds are of a fine, dense bright terracotta red fabric with no visible sand intrusions (sherds 1,6,7,665), and may be from a different pottery, especially in the light of the unusual decoration of sherds 6 and 665. The majority of the vessels are fairly thin walled, in marked contrast to the thick potting of some of the other earthenware vessel forms found at Siraf. This is in keeping with the function of the red earthenware vessels as cooking pots, rough tableware and small storage jars, with only a few storage jars requiring more massive potting. The exterior of the vessels is invariably smooth, while potter's wheel marks are generally visible on the inner surface of the vessels. These, along with the nail marks visible inside sherd 38, and the line of nail marks left on the rough interior while pushing out the rim of sherd 14, are a pointer to the efficiency of the potter when turning out the mass-produced common earthenware. The handful of hand potted vessels which emerge from among the vast body of wheel thrown wares found at Siraf seem to belong mainly to the coarse red earthenware category, with two cooking pots detected amongst the brittle ware. Most of the examples are of the grogged type, with one pot (645) made of the chalk flecked fabric. Shapes The red earthenware collection has fewer bowls in proportion to the very large number of jar and pot sherds, an indicator of its greater standing as kitchenware. The bowls in the wheel-thrown category belong to the 1-flared, 2-round sided and 3-slightly incurved types found in the rest of the Islamic and Chinese ceramic repertoire of Siraf. Bowl 620 is an exception to this norm, with its deep rather heavy sides curving into a shallow everted base. Its rim is slightly everted. The jars also follow the standard types and are divided into the two basic categories of necked and neckless jars. The necked jars are mainly of the ribbed straight-neck type, while a few are slightly curved. A handful are plain short-necked jars. The neckless jars have outcurved or slightly overhanging rims. The jars come in various sizes ranging from the miniature (sherd 36) to the very large (sherd 44). From the vestiges remaining, the handles appear to be mainly of the looped type, one on either profile of the jar, usually curving from the upper shoulder to the point of maximum diameter of the body, on the lower shoulder. Sherd 27 bears a curious loop handle with a thumb-stop at the bottom rather than at the top, in the manner more usual in the jars of the pale green earthenware, creamware and eggshell ware types. It may have been an original design to aid the lifting up of a fairly large jar. No jar bodies or bases appear in the Ashmolean collection, but the curvature of the jar necks and the proximity of the types to other jar types from Siraf, seem to indicate round sided or sloping sided shapes with a flat base. This is corroborated by the jars described in the pottery cards: No.621 is an example of a round bellied jar, with a short neck and slightly everted rim and two strap handles on the shoulder. Nos.622 and 623 belong to the slender, sloping-sided family of jars, with a plain rather than a ribbed neck and a thick rounded rim. Jar 622 was found with seven little cream ware vessels of different shapes ensconced within it. The neckles!i storage jar with lozenge decoration on its shoulder (626) has an unusual turned lipped rim. The difference in the decoration of no.624 is matched by its unusual shape. It has a globular body, probably flat based, a high narrow neck and no handles. The drawings of the two vast storage jars (443 and 444) are not available. They have been wheel made in sections, with the usual grooved decoration on the shoulder, and no.444 has been equipped with five handles placed just below the neck. Both are of a heavily fired coarse red fabric. Among the pots a few examples correspond to the cooking pot with a shallow rounded base found in South Asia, sherd 45 being an excellent example. Another form is the more usual cooking pot shape with an everted rim and round bellied body, the round base knocked out after wheel-potting (631,632). No.632 is decorated with a thin raised cordon at the shoulder, while 631 sports a carinated shoulder, and was found sunk into a cement plaster floor with its rim just below floor level. Fragments of two large water pots were found similarly sunk into the floor of the extension of the Great Mosque. Heavily potted, they are decorated with broad flat grooves (631a,b). No.631 is grossly underfired to a greenish buff colour with patches of orange buff, with air pockets and blisters in the fabric. Its companion has a coarse light red fabric and is cream slipped on the exterior. Another such large water pot, found in the

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tumble on the beach (631c) has been misfired to a hard brittle texture and purple grey colour; its flaking buff exterior may be the remnants of similar slip.The pot is decorated with broad flat grooves and a band of wavy line decoration. Pot no.629 has a jar shaped upper body with a constricted neck, but ends in a wide sack like flat base. Among the hand made vessels, a common form appears to be a pot with deep rounded sides, a flat base and a squared rim (644,645). These, as well as a more round bellied pot (646), are fitted with a small triangular lug handle - placed in the middle of the belly in the former, and near the rim in the latter examples. No.647 is a variation of the former shape; it has no handles, but is decorated with a series of vertically applied clay strips which rise above the rim edge. The distinction between the larger bowls, neck.less jars and pots is rather tenuous at times, due to the dearth of body and base sherds, but some of the largest rimsherds such as nos.15 and 16, seem to definitely belong to the pot category. Amongst these, the ogee-pointed pot rimsherd (50) is rather cunous. The pot shaped ewer with an applied spout on the shoulder and a corresponding hole pushed through the wall, is a well known form in the Siraf earthenware corpus. A partly centred vessel of this kind is represented by no.633 which has a slightly everted rim, while the waster no.634 presents the more evolved form of ewer. Possibly an ablution jug, its flat based globular body ends in an elongated neck with a rounded rim. A long tubular spout is attached to the shoulder, with a strap handle which curves horizontally from the neck to the shoulder on the opposite side. The variety of rim types, with diverse grooves, seems to indicate a high predominance of lids or the facility for the use of lids, on the jars and pots of most of the wares found at Siraf. This would be in accordance with the predominant use of the red ware for cooking purposes. The grooves appear as narrow grooves on the outer, more usually the inner edge of the rim top, and are sometimes incised on the inner rim. Some take the form of shallow indentation along the top of the rim, while the inner angling of certain rims may be designed to hold a lid fitting within the rim. The rather basic looking conical and circular mushroom like lids with a central knop (651,652) seem to fit in rather ill with the sophistication of the vessel forms. They are probably hand potted stoppers for jars, while some of the wheel-thrown vessel lids may have been misidentified as bowl rims. No.2 in the Ashmolean collection may be one such example. The hand potted lid (653) has a central oval knob and two applied radial strips on its upper surface and basket ware impressions underneath. Among the other vessels of red earthenware found at Siraf are small saucer lamps. The wheel thrown examples are similar to the white glazed lamps but of a rounder form. They are furnished with a tiny blob handle on the rim in most, if not every, instance, and a small pulled lip. The saucer lamps in the hand potted category are different in shape, with a rim pinched into a trefoil contour, and a substantial handle, probably curved in form, attached to the rim. No. 648 is additionally decorated in red slip, with lines radiating from a central inner dot to the rim. A curious object with a flat bottom, central aperture and four circles of crudely gouged holes may be something in the nature of a hand potted steamer base, while nos.640 and 640a are carefully thrown pedestal bases of unidentified vessels. Decoration The most common type of ornamentation in this type of ceramic is the skilled use of ribbing (grooving) in different thicknesses on jar necks and the shoulders of pots, to obtain the quick but effective decorative effect so compatible with the wheel-thrown technique. This is occasionally augmented by shallowly incised bands of wave pattern (sherds 8,36). An unusual instance of ribbing and shallow incised decoration combined in a different way is seen in sherd 11. Wavy lines bordered by double lines of grooves and topped by a band of short oblique cuts gives jar 624 a more elaborately decorative appearance, achieved in no.626 by the introduction of a border of lozenges in the shoulder decoration. Pot 629 is ornamented with a simple design which seems more compatible with the hand potted vessels rather than the wheel thrown forms: a band of diagonally impressed lozenge shapes at base and shoulder. The moulded and open-work decoration on base sherds 6 and 665, of a diamond motif openwork lattice, bordered by a gouged zone of triangles formed by a raised zigzag line, is rare at Siraf, and this, along with their fine red fabric and potting, may indicate a more refined red

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earthenware from another source. Incised thumb-nail decoration is found along the rim of sherd 34, diagonal incised lines along the top of the rim in 33 and thumb nail impressing used in applied decoration on sherd 52. A definite attempt at copying the shape and vertical ribbed (lotus petal) decoration of Tang ware, in red earthenware, is seen in bowl 1. The use of red slip, usually on the outside and sometimes on both sides, reduced to a maroon colour in many instances, enhances the appearance of the ware not only by its burnished colour but also by providing a smooth finish to the coarse red fabric of the earthenware (type Id), simultaneously decreasing the permeability of the ware. The slip on type Id is of an orange-red colour and appears to be coated over a white under slip. The slipped vessels seem to be noticeably smaller vessels; bowls and jars of small to medium size. A few of the large vessels were white slipped, such as the large water pots (631a,b,c). Sherds 59 and 1018 which bear inscriptions are discussed in the section dealing with inscribed earthenware sherds. The hand formed pots are enlivened with modes of decoration which do not appear in the wheel thrown category. There are two variations of pinched cordon ornamentation round the belly of pots 664 and 645, and a rod pressed rim and cordon effect on no.643. This pot also has a fabric impression in a wide groove in its side. This may be a deliberate effect, or merely the result of a rod being pressed into the side over a piece of fabric, to prevent its adherence to the clay.

2. Brittle ware

Although similar to the coarse red earthenware type, a few consistent dissimilarities in fabric, firing and decoration has led to the separation of this ware from the red earthenware group. Fabric. Potting and Firing Two better fired examples (666,667) indicate that the basic fabric of the brittle ware is close to the coarse red earthenware with pottery grog. It is however, usually fired to a hard brittle red grey to grey colour, the result of too quick a firing, with the pottery temper appearing as angular small black grits. The surface is left unburnished, except possibly in no.672, which has a very slightly shiny exterior. The wheel-thrown vessels are thinly and neatly potted as in the red earthenware, with one exception in jar 669, which appears to have thicker walls and base.The two flat bottomed cooking pots (676,677) are probably coil built in the hand potted tradition. Shapes The vessels - bowls, jars, pots and ewers - are all of small to medium size, with the pots the largest in the range. The bowl (666) is of the flat based, flared sided type, with a grooved rim top. The jars tend more to the globular flat based variety; of the four, two are furnished with a single small strap handle on the shoulder, one is handleless, while the jug shaped no.671 is of a shape more usual in the creamware, with a flared neck, trefoil mouth and a handle curving from rim to shoulder. The thick walled small jar (669) has an unusually high domed base, and is of the slender bodied variety. The pots are many shaped; no.674 is a totally globular pot with a constricted neck and overhanging rim; 673 is an unusual form with a sharply angled side and flared neck; 676 and 677 are of the deep, flat based, handpotted cooking pot type fitted with small lug handles on the middle. But they are slightly different to those extant in the red earthenware corpus in the curve of the sides, greater depth and the very low placed lug handles in no.677. Pot 675 is barrel shaped with two lug handles fixed near the rim. Th e small strap handle and flared mouthed spout of the slightly domed based pot shaped ewer (672) have been reconstructed in the drawing. Although conforming in general to the vessel shapes of the red earthenware, differences in shape and decoration place the brittle ware in its own genre.

the slight

Decoration The decoration ranges between the totally plain, the simple, and the elaborate. Vessels such as

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nos.666,676a and possibly 668 and 669 have no decoration. The ewer 672 is decorated with a single simple wavy line. Pot 674 has a thin band of bordered wave decoration on the neck, and a single line of small hoops standing on an incised line around the middle. Jar 676 is decorated with a widely spaced wavy line, a thin cordon, a line with short vertical cuts depending from it and a double incised line. A single applied slashed cordon is applied round the belly of pot 675. In contrast to this sparsely elegant use of decoration, jars 667 and 671 present an elaborate use of grooves and wavy lines, combined in the brittle ware with cordons, indented dots and multiple line zigzag hatching.The total effect of the decoration is different to that of the red earthenware corpus. The shape as well as the decoration of the deep sided flat based cooking pots 676a and 677 conforms to that of the hand potted corpus. No.677 is ornamented with eight vertically applied ridged bands round the body. Miscellaneous : Fine brown grey micaceous ware: thin chocolate black gloss A single small sherd (678) of a very fine ware, with mica in the fabric and an abraded thin brown black gloss, may be a piece of poor quality Hellenistic ware.

3. Orange Earthenware

Far less common than the red earthenware, the orange earthenware joins the fine red and fine pink earthenware vessels to form part of the small but distinctive and varied group of oxidised fired fine earthenwares found at Siraf. As in the case of the others, the group diverges into several entities, on the basis of fabric, form and decoration: Orange earthenware: a - with small air holes b - Soft fine dirty orange; fine grits c - coars e; with chalk grits d - with white grits e - with white grits (Nagi pots) f - with white purple slip Orange -red earthenware: g - with glossy red slip (Indian red polished ware) h - with orange-red slip Fabric. Potting and Firing The classification above outlines the main characteristics of fabric variation. Only one example of type 3f! is recorded (679) and it is not known if the small air holes were left by burnt out v getab le temper. No. 680, category b, has some mica in the fabric. Type3h appears to be the most prolific in the group; it is soft and lightly fired with slightly darker orange or buff surfaces. In fact all the orange earthe nwares are less fired than the red earthenware, with the orange-red ware comparatively higher fired. The orange-red earthenware vessels are finely potted and finished, but the quality of the potting varies in the orange fabrics. Most of the vessels are somewhat roughly potted, a point at variance with their comparat ively fine fabrics. The four small bowls 685-688 are remarkably so, while lids 689 and 690, and bowl 681 are carefully potted versions. String pull-marks can be seen on the untrimmed bas es of flagons 682,683 and 684, while the four small bowls present untrimmed bases, asymmetrical sprung sides and rough interiors.

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Shapes The shapes in the orange earthenware are limited to jars, pots and a few bowls, and the pedestal base and moulds.The four roughly potted almost identical small bowls (685-688) have slightly rounded rims, untrimmed flat bases and somewhat asymmetrical straight sides. In contrast, 681 presents both a different shape and finish - its sides curve gently from a flat base, the top edge shaped into a pie crust rim with two grooves below it. The base and lower sides are knife trimmed. Bowl 707 in the red slipped type is also round sided, with a slightly incurved squarish rim; both this and the more flared bowl with a narrow base (706) are definite Sirafi types, found commonly in the white slipped pink earthenware corpus. Among the jars, the two of type 3c fabric are barrel shaped with a wide inverted flange rim. No. 694 has ten small strap handles set in a row in alternating vertical and horizontal postions just below the rim, while no.696 is fitted with just three handles below the rim. The missing bases were probably flat. The squat, flat based flagon type jar (682) has a narrow tubular neck and thick rounded rim. Two small strap handles sit on the shoulder and the base is slightly everted. No.698 is fairly similar in shape but less squat, with a wider neck and a plain rather than a slightly everted base. No.708 in the red slipped category is a jar fragment of more than usually globular shape, very thin walls, two strap handles low down on the shoulder and a fairly wide straight neck. The handles are placed further down on the shoulder. The high shouldered slender bodied jar form in type 3g, (697) is related to the white slipped coarse pink earthenware jar type; the surviving examples of the latter do not show any fitted with a multi grooved neck, but such multiple grooving on the neck and the wavy line ornament on the shoulder are both common in that category. Both the Nagi amphora and the Nagi pQ1 (type 3~)present Indian vessel shapes - the pot (699) has a carinated body and round base. Its curved overhanging rim is designed for safe lifting of the cooking pot. The amphora has elongated straight sides narrowing into a tall neck with a thick round rim. the base is knocked out into a round shape and a single thick handle curves from rim to shoulder. The handle is attached securely to both the rim and the neck at its upper end. A similar somewhat elongated shape and thick round rim can be seen on another Indian pot, no.704, while the rounded pot with an everted squared rim probably also belongs to the red polished ware category. The spout is not the usual straight tubular spout type common at Siraf, but one with a slightly curved form and a squared base possibly ideal for good pouring. The hollow pedestal base is wide flared and ends in a large bulbous rim. The lids (689,690) present too rare survivals of wheel thrown pot cov rs from Siraf. Flat topped, they have gently curved flared sides, ending, in the case of no.689, in a double grooved curved rim designed to fit exactly over a pot rim, and a rim edge which would slightly overhang the vessel mouth in no.690. Both have a central inner knob, burnt black, but since this is not hollow it is not an aid to lifting the lid by its top; its only practical purpose would seem to be the collecting of condensation during cooking, thereby preventing the moisture dripping down the side of the lid into the fire. Decoration Ornamentation is noticeably scarce in the orange earthenware, perhaps in keeping with its roughly potted nature. In category 3Q, bowl 681 has an ornamental pie-crust rim; the only other decorated vessel is the ewer spout 691. It has a semi circular double groove at its base and a border of radiating grooves at the junction of the spout to the body, but this seems to be more an expediency designed to press the spout firmly onto the vesel body. The three fragments of moulds made out of this fabric, for use in moulding vessels possibly of the creamware type, are in marked contrast, and highlight the highly utilitarian nature of this ware - no.692 is an internal mould meant for a square vessel with elaborate curvilinear geometric decoration, while no.693 would mould a large flat rimmed concave sided dish with grooved and fluted decoration. No.693a, a mould for a similar dish, is stamped with a thick border filled with five repeating motifs. The two jars of type 3c appear to rely on the elaborate arrangement of a plethora of handles for ornamental effect. Category 3g, with its groove and wavy line decoration is the only type which conforms to the popular form of earthenware decoration at Siraf. The (type 3~) Nagi pot 699 is incised

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with a double line swastika flanked on either side by two single line swastikas, while the Nagi amphora (700) bears a red ochre swastika on one side and a red ochre diagonal line on the other side of the base of its handle. No.699 is burnished on the upper half of its exterior, while no.700 has a border of grooves on its shoulder. The Indian red polished ware (type g) bears the moulded decoration and glossy red slip characteristic of the ware; jar sherd 703 has a double collar band round the shoulder and moulded decoration beneath, and no.704 has a double line of sun motifs incised on the body, below a double band of short incised dashes on the shoulder. A similar fabric and motif can be seen on sherd 58 of the Ashmolean collection. Although possibly invariably without the moulded or stamped decoration, type 3h, which duplicates the orange-red body and red slip, may be a local copy of the Indian ware.

4. Red and Orange Earthenware Terracotta Objects

The collection of objects, other than vessels, in red and orange earthenware comprises of: a - drainpipes b - ovens c - coin casting moulds d - crucibles e - mercury pots f - animal figurines and elephant and rider spout g - leg of an object h - part of two stands i - beads j - fish-net weight and weight k - spindle whorl The drain pipes are mainly of a hard brick red well-fired fabric with dark grey surfaces. No.713 has a softer brown fabric heavily filled with large grits, and a plaster plug filling a hole in the side. No. 714 is of the same fabric but fired red brown at the core and orange on the surface. Most are cylindrical in shape, tapering slightly at the end, with a ridge to fit into the next section at one edge (711,712). The large quantity of lime adhering to 712 suggests that it drained a gabled roof, and not one simply with a mud finish. Nos.714a and b are slightly flared in shape and are the top parts of two pipes, and show no ridge; this holds true for 715 as well. The cylindrical pipe with a ridged rim, with a narrow opening at the bottom (716a) is probably some form of drainage pipe. It has a coarse buff fabric. The two oval shaped funnels (716 b,c) are attachments for channelling rain water into the column of drain pipes. One of them is fired orange while the other (7166) is of the coarse brick red fabric, but cream slipped in this instance. The spherical pot of immense size (713a), is probably an oven. Very burnt, a small portion of its base is missing. No. 7136 is an oven probably made of very underfired coarse red earthenware. In fact most of the 'qanat hoops' mentioned in the pottery cards are clearly ovens. The third example (713c) is a nearly complete oven. Fabricated out of a gritted coarse orange fabric, it has incised decoration on the top and a slightly inverted rim. Most of the fragments of coin casting moulds have no shaped edge; they may have been made so, or might be pieces from the middle of moulds. No.721 shows an example with a shaped curved edge, with a groove running within it. The indentations stamped into the clay are designed for circular or squarish coins, which would have been punched with a stamp after casting. Two of the depressions in no.722 have some adhering bronze. The fabric is burnt a brittle grey often with a brownish surface. The crucibles, of a hard grey often vitrified fabric, divided into friable layers in no.730, have

l8

straight deep sides with a slightly rounded rim and a rounded base. No.730 alone is a wide oval shap e with a slightly lower narrower end forming a vestigial lip. The inner surface has a slightly glazed appearance in patches. There is a possibility that this may b e a saucer lamp of sort s, since unlike in many of the other examples there is no mention of copper or bron ze slag adh ering to it. The spherical mercury pots are of a coarse buff and grey brown fabric with grey pott ery grog. They end in a very small narrow neck. No.730a is composed of the parts of thr ee such pot s while 730b is a single pot. The stylised pottery figurines are of a lightly fired coarse orange red fabric with buff surfaces. They are probably crudely potted toys. The rectangular bodied figurines with peg legs (731) or better defined limbs (733) may be horses or mules. One of them is fitted with a stylised saddle (736), while a better potted cream fabric head fragment (738) has trappings painted in grey paint. No. 734 is a heavy rounded shape, more like that of an elephant, while 737 is part of a pottery vessel with a spout in the form of an elephant's head. No drawing is available, but it is described as bearing a now headless rider seated astride its neck, with his left hand resting just above the left ear of the elephant, a ban gle on the wrist, an applied belt with indented decoration spanning the waist and a right leg complete with foot, with indented diamond motifs down the leg. The elephant has appli ed dot eyes with central indentations. The round kg attached to a flat surface is coarse brown in colour with a brown grey surfac e. Stand 740 has two bench legs, and scars of attachment of some vessel on its flat upper surface. The fabric is a hard gritted grey. The beads of coarse orange or orange red earthenware, are cylindrical (742,743), or spherical (744,745). The cylindrical perforation goes right through beads 742 and 744, but is a partial conical indentation in either side in no.743, and is bored only part way through in 745. No. 746 is identified as a fragment of a hexagonal prayer bead. Of a fine buff grey fabric it has a dark er burnished surface. The oval shaped fragment of a fish-net weight (747) has a pierced hole and is of coarse red grogged orange fabric. No.747a may be another fish net weight. Weight 747b is circular in shape with a pierced central hole. The spindle whorl of red buff fabric is spherical with flattened surfaces at top and bottom and a perforation through the centre.

5. Fine Pink Earthenware

A few vessels and other objects found at Siraf are of a fine pink earthenwar e. These can be separated by fabric and decoration into the following categories: Fine pink earthenware: a - with no grits b - with inscription c - with small dark grits d - white slipped e - red slipped Fabric. Potting and Firing The fabric is a hard dense coral pink earth enware, except in the case of no.749 which is softer, perhaps slightly underfir ed. Only one example, belonging to cate gory Sc, is gritt ed (753). The vessels are quite finely potted. Shapes Bowl, jar, pot and ewer shapes are found in the fine pink fabrics. No.61 is a round sided bowl with a somewhat rolled rim, while no.62 is a deeper incurved bowl with a numb er of grooves on the shoulder. The jars (63-70) are of neckless or short necked types with noticeably overhanging grooved rims ; some of them may be Indian in origin or imitation . No.65 has a different rim form ; its outflared

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neck ends in a squared rim. The small two handled jar with a white slip belongs to a more usual Siraf type but shows certain variations: it has two proportionately large loop handles flanking its narrow neck, and a very thick base. The tiny QQ.t (749) has a squared rim and ends in ither a pointed or a very narrow base. No.71 is an exampe of the usual pot shaped ewer with a round spout on the shoulder, and the vessel stand, perhaps a cup stand, would have been square or rectangular in shape, with arched legs and a round apperture to hold a vessel in the centre of its top surface. The ten stylised chess pieces are potted solid. They are flat based with a large rectangular hole in the base of _no.758. They can be broadly divided into major and minor chess pieces, and tentatively identified as follows: nos.755 and 756 may be two viziers; 757 and 758 knights; the six faceted piece (759) with a flat stepped top possibly a king; 761 a castle, and 760 a horse shaped pawn. Nos. 762,763 and 764 seem to be 'pawns' of a domed shape. the circular hole in the top of 763 and the four vertical grooves on its side may be thumbholds for picking up and moving the piece. A similar purpose may be ascribed to the grooves flanking the large indentation in the 'knight' pieces. Decoration The most common form of decoration is slipping. This is a more orange tinted red slip than that found on the orange red wares. This can be seen on vessels 61-73 in the Ashmolean collection and on the stylised chess pieces (758-764). The slip has abraded to a rather patchy condition. The inscriptions on sherd 750 and 753 are discussed in the section on inscribed earthenware sherds. The vessel stand (752) has stamped or impressed geometric motifs on its spandrels. Bodysherd 72 has a line of wavy decoration on it and the small jar 754 is slipped in a creamy white.

6. White-slipped Coarse Pink Earthenware

The largest assemblage of earthenware in the collection, both in terms of numb ers and in the sheer volume of material, is the white-slipped coarse pink earthenware. This can be sub-divided by fabric into those with: a - pottery tern per; b - sand tern per Fabric. Potting and Firing The fabric of type.!!, to which the majority of the sherds belong, gives the general impression of a hard, coarse (grainy) texture, fired pink, while closer examination reveals a gradation in colour from buff pink to coral pink, and even red (sherds 184, 186), and in texture from coarser (with sand grains) to finer, while the pottery temper varies in both the size of the fragments and their density in the fabric. The majority of sherds of type.!! are tempered with ground-up red pottery.The few instanc es of black grog are concomitant with a more buff coloured (ie., more reduced) fabric (sherds 161, 167, 173), indicating probably not the addition of charred pottery fragments to the clay, but their reduction to a black colour in firing. An unusual appearance of both red and black pottery grog is found in sherd 178, which has a buff fabric. None of the vessels are particularly overfired, as in the case of the red and orange earthenware. Type h (nos.181-187) shows a similar variation in the texture of the fabric, the difference lying in the use of sand as temper, the grain size again varying from fine to medium. The vessels are generally finished smoothly on both sides. Wide wheel marks are found on the inside of a very few examples (eg., 135,827), while bowl 142 presents an unusual anamolous example of a smooth interior and a wheel ribbed exterior, perhaps with deliberate decorative intent. Shapes The sherds are equally divided between 1-large bowl/pot and 2-jar shapes. This along with the use of white slip, and its application on both sides, is indicative of the use of this ware for storage and

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perhaps for common tableware purposes, rath r than for cooking. The lack of staining on the interior, while the white slip remains fairly intact, is rather puzzling, especially since the sherds have been dug up not only from Site E with its pottery kilns, but from all contexts within the site. The bowls fall into five broad forms, each with slight variations. (1) The most common is the somewhat roughly potted 'kiln bowl' shape from the Siraf kilns, with slightly concave sides flaring out from a flat base, ending in a rounded rim (nos.765-777, as well as 823 in the red slipped category and possibly rims 131,132,151 and 152). (2) Rather crudely made small bowls with more rounded sides and a squared rim are also found in this ware (769, and 810 in the brown slipped class). (3) A third more sophisticated bowl shape is the broader round sided bowl, i.e., with a broader base, rounded sides curving in at the top to a rounded rim, with a single or double groove below (811 and 812), both in the brown slipped category. (4) The 'pie dish' bowl shapes are larger and more evolved versions of the flared kiln bowl form, sometimes combined with the more sophisticated round bowl form. They are also better potted. Of these, no.781 with its straight flared sides and broad everted rim is an angular version based on the kiln bowl, while no.780 is a slightly more rounded version of 781. The series from 782-788 shows a combination of both flared and curved shapes, with a thick band of multiple grooving at the top, and two vestigial handles below the rim in 783. No. 787 and 788 have more functional handles (two ach) similarly placed, as well as a small pouring spout in line with the handles. No. 785 is a little broader in shape and has an unusual everted and folded over rim. It also lacks the grooves but presents the smooth interior and undulating exterior surface also seen in no.142 of the Ashmolean collection. At the end of the range, with the curved shape dominating the form, is a deeper bowl (786). It has the usual two small strap handles on the rim and grooved band below. (5) A series of rims belonging to totally round sided large bowl/pots are found in the Ashmolean collection (140,144-147,159). Most of the bowls and pots are more heavily potted, and of the round sided type. They do not end in pointed rims, but in a variety of flat topped rims, perhaps designed to offer a resting surface for the rim of lids. In fact sherd 133, when inverted, may present part of such a lid. The long outwards angled rim of certain pots and jars (such as 190, 167, 168) may also allow the fitting of lids within the rim, while bowl 186 offers a shallow indentation at the top of its rim. Many of the small to medium sized jars are of the ribbed neck type, with the usual straight or slightly curved neck forms. The ribbed necked jars have pointed, flattened and overhanging rim types. No.806 presents a classic example of a narrow convex sided collar-necked jar top. Many of the ribbed necked jars have a tall globular body, tapering to a narrow base often with a slightly everted edge. Some of these jars are fluted on the lower body (791-796). They are fitted with two handl s, often missing. The shoulder is also sometimes ornamented with grooved decoration. On losing its neck, the neck edge of jar 792 has been smoothed down for reuse. An equally common but more squat form of these jars can be seen in nos.813 and 814. A jug like single handled jar form has a more slender body and a strong handle curving down from its firm attachment below the rim to the point of maximum diameter on the shoulder. No.797 is such ajar, with a flared neck. Jar 790, which is a little more rounded, may present a less flared-necked version. Grooved decoration again appears on the neck and shoulder of this category. The concave sided necked jar is also noticeably present, with its usual sharply angled rim forms. A large neckless jar which corresponds in every other respect with the globular shaped necked jars can be seen in no.789. The rest of the neckless jars are also large in size in this ware, the curved rim type being overidden by a type with a short or long flared rim attached to a squat body (803,804, 167-169). These jars are furnished with one or two strap handles from rim to shoulder. Of these, the two handled jar 804 is rather top heavy in shape. No.802 is a squat bodied jar with a straight rim. Sherd 183 presents this rim type attached to a rounded body. The large rim of neckless jar or pot 185, indented above and on the side, is shaped to bear a lid, and perhaps to carry a cord passed around the rim. Short necked jars are also in evidence, in an angled form in sherd 174, and in a rounded type in sherd 184. Sherd 170 presents the squat body and flat base probably associated with many of the neckless and short necked jar varieties.

21 The ewer like vessel (179), with a short circular spout stuck on a little below its rim, seems to be an adaptation of the pot shape to a pouring function. No.805 is a squat jar shaped ewer, with the usual wide flared neck and a curved spout on the shoulder. Decoration Creamy white slip is the typical mode of decoration on all these vessels, usually applied on both sides, while a handful are slipped from the top of the rim and on the outside only (eg., 131). It is usually a very thin application, with a few sherds dipped in a thicker slip. The matt grey slip in a few vessels ( eg.797) seems to indicate a few rare instances when these white slipped vessels were used for cooking or heating purposes. A rare application of red slip fired to a magenta hue is found on sherds 169 and 174 and bowls 807,808. Only the upper half of the vessel is red slipped in the latter. Jar 802 has dots of red slip around its neck and shoulder. There is a possibility that the handful of vessels described as decorated with a thin dark brown or brown grey slip may be overfired red slipped vessels (809-814) but they may also be coated in a brown slip, since such a slip can be seen in the neighbouring Kangan pottery at the present day. This brown slip is found on both surfaces of the bowls, and on the exterior and inner neck of the two jars 813 and 814. Horizontal ribbing is used again c:1.san effective means of decoration. This simple linear ornamentation is again both aesthetically suitable to the heavy nature of the ware and also tallies with the needs of mass production. The grooves are often wide as befits the bulky vessels. Ribbing is not confined to just below the rim of bowls in this ware, the grooves ranging from narrow to wide, appearing sometimes only under the rim and sometimes continuing down to the middle of the body. Ribbing, both fine (sherds 159, 161) and wide (154,181), again appears on the ribbed necked jars, with an interesting variation in jar neck 156, where grooves and wave pattern have been combined in alternate lines to provide a more dynamic neck ornamentation. The use of bands of shallowly incised wave pattern under the rim reappears in pot ( or jar neck) sherds 174 and 166, such wave decoration being combined with horizontal and diagonal grooves in sherd 166 to again create a more lively decoration. Sherds 186 and 187 present simpler variations of such themes. The use of ribbing as decoration is also found along the broad handlesherd (171). A more geometric ornamentation appears on the fine jar sherd 172, with its moulded decoration of dot and horizontal banding at the shoulder, and vertical panel divisions down the body.

7. Pale Green Earthenware

The earthenware body is fired a pale green colour through quick light firing, a handful of examples oxidised to a slightly pink tone (sherds 91, 114). The fabric is of two types: a - with vegetable tern per b - without temper Fabric. Potting and Firing The fabric of type ~, to which the majority, in fact almost the entirety of the sherds belong, is riddled with long horizontal air holes, where the vegetable temper has been burnt out in firing. Impressions of straw and grain on the surface of a number of sherds indicate the nature of the temper. Type Q has no additional temper other than the very fine sand already present in the clay fabic. Wheel marks can be seen on the inside of many of the vessels, often very wide in the case of the larger vessels, with thumb prints clearly visible on the inside of sherd 482. The outer surface is rough or smooth depending on the nature of the finish. The sherd with matting or basketware impression (860), is a unique example of handpotted pal green earthenware. The impression is stated to be on the inner surface. If this is correct, it would indicate potting round a matting covered object. If the sherd is a basesherd, it may be an example of the more usual habit of hand potting on a piece of fabric, matting or basketware.

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The most salient feature of the pale green earthenware is its almost total dedication to jar forms. The jars range from small neckless jars with wide loop handles curving out from the rim, small necked jars with a curved neck and a rim triangular in section, to medium sized jars with ribbed necks, to almost plain, heavily potted large storage jars. Some are covered in pitch from the rim to a certain point on the inside, such as jar No.94. Most of the jars are flat based with the flared base of the small jar, no.96, presenting a form rather uncommon in this ware. Most of the jars are of the single handled variety, in medium to large size, with a small group of very large three handled pitcher shapes. The single handled jars can be divided into four body shapes: a-the slender bodied (818-823), b-slightly concave slender body (824-831), c-globular shaped (832-837) and d-the broader bodied vessels (86,817). The majority of jars of the first three forms have a straight neck which is grooved throughout, the grooved decoration sometimes duplicated on the shoulder. The base is flat and the handle curves down from the rim to the widest point on the gently sloping shoulder. A slightly round based amphora like version with grooved decoration only on the neck is evident in the three examples 838-840. A single example of a very short necked handleless jar of type £, with a few grooves on the neck and a border of circular indentations is found in no.841. The fourth form has a wider slightly flared neck, either plain or grooved, with a similar handle and flat base. No.842 is a neckless jar between the squat and concave sided forms, with a wide neck and a very slightly everted foot. No.843 is another more thickly potted broad bodied jar with a wide neck, a turned rim, and a somewhat squat body. The outer surface is completely rilled and the base slighty domed. The bases of most of the three handled jars (845-850) are missing, but judging from the narrow sloping shoulders, they may have ended in a rounded pitcher base. They have tall grooved necks and three square-angled handles and are equally spaced around the body, running from the rim to the decorated upper shoulder.The handles of no.846 are fitted with a thumbstop at the top. The large jar 850a is different from the rest in possessing three handles on the shoulder, supplemented by a thick strap handle and an inner handle with a thumbstop. It also rests on a slightly everted base. The lid may be the converted remains of a potter's throwing bat. The neck is decorated with alternating bands of zigzag and arabesques, with radiating incised lines round the shoulder. Among the other shapes are a miniature gm (74) and a miniature l2Q.1(90), but these diversions from the jar theme are nominal. Sherd 75 presents a jar neck of unusual shape with thin straight sides. The jar rims vary from plain, to overhanging and club rim types, but the lack of grooves or indentations on the rims seems to indicate that they were not fitted with lids, while the shapes of the rims themselves ( overhanging, club rim or triangular rim), would provide the necessary protuberance to tie on some cover such as one of palm leaf or linen. An exception to this rule is sherd 89, which has two tiny grooves on the top of the rim for such a large vessel. No.851 is a rare survival of part of a water filter. With a globular body and a curved collar neck, it has a filter luted on halfway down the neck, and a short tubular spout on the shoulder. Two small fragments of filters can be seen in nos.112 and 852. No.853 is the curved spout of an ewer. Rim sherd 854 has a small spout which was excavated with a fine creamware stopper in situ. Another unusual vessel is the lamp holder with openwork decoration (860b ). It has a flat oval base with straight sides which curve in gently to a stepped domed top. The opening for the lamp is in the side. Two fragments of similar lamp holders are found potted in fine red earthenware (6,665). Nos.860c-860e are parts of three pitch torches with pointed bases. The first two have pitch lined interiors, with the impressions of leather thongs used to mend the torch left in the pitch in the second torch. The third seems to have been made in two layers, an inner and an outer, with the pitch held inbetween. Three examples of drain pipes indicate that this fabric was used along with the red earthenware to manufacture drainage components. Nos.860g and 860h are similar to the cylindrical and slightly flared shapes found in the red ware, while 860i exhibits a new form - the double barrelled drain pipe. The wedge (860j) has been made in that shape and not cut from a sherd; the beehive shaped small object with a cut in its top may be a whistle (860k). Both are described as potted in cream fabric,

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and could also belong to the fine creamware. Decoration The pale green earthenware is also decorated with grooves, but this technique is treated more perfunctorily than in the other earthenwares; with the accent more slanted towards the utility of the ware. Other decorative motifs, mainly incised, are also present, but these are mainly of a rudimentary nature, to match its primarily storage container function. The grooved decoration appears on the neck and occasionally on the shoulder of the vessels. Most of the smaller wide necked jars and some of the broader bodied jars are totally devoid of decoration, or provided with a single groove on the shoulder (74-76,83-89,815-816,818-819,842).Wavy line decoration has been combined with the grooves in the flared necked narrow based jar (91) and the water filter (851), and a band of incised depressions decorates the neckless jar (841), but these forms are outside the common forms of the ware. The three-handled jars present simple but more varied ornamentation. In addition to the usual grooves on the neck, the shoulder bears some form of embellishment. This takes the form of multipleline incised swirls in 845, three semicircular motifs filled with hatching in 848, two parallel scallops each filled with short oblique strokes and two twined strands below in 845, and two entwined scallop motifs with a central line of nail impressions in 850. In fact no.850 and perhaps 845 belong to the same family of incised decoration as sherd 97 of the Ashmolean collection. The large vessel, 849, has the most elaborate ornamentation in the group; successive bands of simple, rather rough repetitive geometric motifs arranged in an arch between each pair of handle stumps. Sherd 859 may depict a fragment with similar decoration. Among the other modes of simple decoration found in this type is a wide band of diagonal hatching along the rim of sherd 77. The writing in black ink on a number of sherds of the larger storage jars may be connected with trade, but these sherds are discussed separately in the section on all the inscribed sherds from Siraf. A very rudimentary thumb impression decoration appears on sherd 107, and a similarly simple design of rows of black dots ornaments sherd 108. The incised lotus petal decoration on the mortarium sherd (110) combines beauty with utility in a motif found on mortaria in other parts of the orient, noticeably South Asia. The two sherds with an impressed triangular motif of a stag within a ladder-like border (109,856) are more likely to be the seal of an individual, perhaps a merchant, than an attempt at decoration, due to their signet like nature and careful, skilled execution. No. 857 is a rosette-like stamp edged with a similar border, while sherd 858 is impressed with a series of criss cross stamps. Elaborate openwork of vertical and horizontal bands of triangle and oval motifs arranged in different geometric compositions ornaments the lamp holder 862, while the water filters (112,852) are carved with rougher openwork combined with simple line and dot ornamentation. Among the sherds of type Q, sherd 111 has a band of stamped rosette and floral decoration, while the roughly potted vessel, perhaps incorporating a filter (112), is embellished with a simple dot and line decoration.

Two objects of pale green earthenware or white slipped coarse pink earthenware:

The heavy vase like vessel with slightly concave cylindrical sides with deep grooves, and a flat shaped top and base may be of either fabric. It may also be some form of hand drum (861). The slightly curved storage .ifil neck with the scars of three handles below the rim, is decorated with alternate bands of grooves and wavy lines. It has been turned upside down, with the mouth convert d to a plaster base and reused. It was found with a small collection of mussel shells within it. The jar is potted in an 'orange cream fabric'(862).

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8. Fine Creamware

Of a fine fabric similar to that of eggshell ware, this fabric has been used to shape small bowls and jars to function as quite elegant tableware. Both fine creamware and eggshell ware can be considered as intermediate types between the coarse earthenware and the glazed ceramics. Fabric, Potting and Firing The lightly fired soft creamware fabric is virtually free of grit in most instances. It is different from the eggshell fabric only in being more thickly potted. A variation of the type can be seen in the group of small vessels (nos.895-900) found within the red earthenware container, jar 622, with jar 904 and basket 901 also of this style and fabric. These vessels are fired to a pale orange cream colour with a cream surface, and are lightly gritted. Shapes The vessel shapes are few; most are bowl and jar shapes, with some 'boat shaped' vessels, a platter and a miniature basket shape. The semi-hemispherical bowls with the elaborate moulded decoration have a round rim and a small foot. The fragments of boat shaped vessels do not provide a clear idea of their shape, beyond the fact that they have slightly curved deep sides ending in a flat base. The two bowls of fine orange cream fabric have wide rounded sides with a high shoulder, and a slightly incurved top ending in a rounded rim. They end in a slightly everted foot (862,871). Many of the jars are of the globular bodied, tall flared necked type, with a slightly everted foot, also found in the eggshell ware (875-879). A long handle curves from the rim to the widest point on the shoulder. A jar of this type is also found among the collection of vessels in jar 622. A crudely potted one handled jug with a plain flat base, rounded sides and a straight neck is seen in 880. A similar jug with a raised cordon at the junction of neck and shoulder, has a very globular body ending in a shallow foot (881). it has a zone of rosette motifs on the shoulder. Two jugs of the slender bodied single handled type, with a few grooves on the neck, common in the pale green earthenware, are potted in a pale cream heavily gritted fabric, possibly a type of fine creamware. No.882 is a short necked jar of the slightly concave slender bodied type. The squat neckless jars are of two shapes, the round bellied shape of 900 with a squared rim, and the slightly concave sided jar with an everted pointed rim (904). Both have flat bases and grooves below the rim. To these can be added a concave sided jar with a wide flared neck and a trefoil shaped mouth, and handle scars on rim and shoulder (886). Like 880 it is crudely potted. Sherd 885 is from the shoulder of a small angle shouldered flask. The curious little elliptical QQ! (or globular bodied jar) has a hollow foot and a very flattened body (887). No.888 is a circular platter with a raised semi circular edge and flat surface. The long spout (889) must indicate an ewer form. The spout is grooved at intervals along its neck and ends in a trumpet shaped mouth. An openwork water filter fragment can be seen in 890, and 891 may be a stopper for an ewer (see no.854 in the pale green earthenware section). No.892 is a solid cone with ribbed sides and 893 is a creamware sherd smoothed into a counter. No.894 appears to be part of mould made out of this fabric. The two little fan shaped baskets are furnished with a loop handle (895,901). One of them was found in jar 622. These baskets, the little bowls and jars found in the same jar, and the little creamware bells with a ring handle may be playthings, perhaps a cache of toys stored away in a large jar in the Site D pottery. Decoration Four styles of decoration can be seen on the fine creamware: moulded decoration, incised decoration, incised and applied ornamentation and the ubiquitous grooved decoration. Of these, the

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beautifully ornate mould ed decoration is peculiar to this ware, th e few examples of moulded ornamentation in the pale green earthenware fading by comparison. This decoration covers the exterior of the semi hemispherical bowls which are themselves limited to this ware type. The outer base of the bowls is similarly ornamented. The geometric repetitive motifs are disposed over the outer surface of the bowls in the effortlessly concentrated mode inbred in the Islamic art repertoire. No.862 has a thick band of scroll work composed of ring and dot motifs and curvilinear line, bounded at either edge by contrasting bands of more static oval and diaper shapes. No.863 is similarly decorated, excepting that the wide band is divided into several radiating panels, and the scroll motif is more floral. Alternating bands of different geometric motifs appear in 865; alternate bands of more flowing motif can be seen in 869. The star and ring shaped repetitive ornamentation in 864 is arranged within a series of overlapping arch ed boundari es. The floral devices used on no.867 are much larger and more widely spaced, the decoration app earing within curvilinear panels. In contrast to the above, bowl 866 is ornamented in a more restricted fashion, with only widely spaced radiating bands of ovals and ring and dot motif bound ed at top and bottom by similar borders. The bases of the bowls are similarly ornamented with a central symmetrically placed floral device (870a and b; 871 a and b ). When left bare, the base is surrounded by a ring of oval motifs in 863 and 864, and a band of chevron s in 867. The series of fragments from boat shap ed vessels have similar , if slightly more sketchy, moulded decoration, with a Kufic inscription below the rim (872a-j; 873a-c). A band of mould ed floral scroll decoration is found on the shoulder of th e flatten ed globular pot (or jar) 887. Th e upp er surfac e of th e circular platter (888) is covered in concise bands of moulded geometric orn amentation separat ed by ridges. The purely incised decoration is limited to four examples. One , on the neck of a small flask (885) is remarkable in pr esenting a mode unusual in the earthenware; the sketchy incised linework generally seen on sgraffiato vessels. The second is the intricate floral motif on sherd 908. Th e third is a zone of striking rosettes with an eight petalled gouged flower augmented with incised dot decoration on j ar 881, while jar 879 is decorated with a number of bands of incised floral and geometric ornam entation on th e shoulder. The incised and applied style is comparatively simple; bands of applied barbotin e and ros ett e decoration combined with oblique incised strokes in nos.906 and 907, and an appliqu e leaf motif on 905. The third type , grooved decoration, appears mainly on the neck and occasionally on th e belly of jars. The squat jars have a single groove below the rim (900,904). Nos.876 and 886 are bare of decoration.

9. Eggshell Ware

Fabric. Potting and Firing Eggshell ware may be designated the aristocrat among the Islamic earthenwares found at Siraf. Of a fine, powdery, cream earthenware fabric, with virtually no sand temper, it is potted, at its most typical, to a thickness of 0.2-0.3cm., into fine wares of elegant shape and decoration. The fabric tends to be brittle, both due to the thinness of the walls and the light firing. Still, many examples have ironically survived almost intact , to provide a clear picture of the form of the miniature eggshell ware jars. The jars have often been knife trimmed, especially on the lower body, to obtain a smooth finish. Shapes The maJonty of eggshell ware vessels are jars. Most of these have globular bodies, a loop handle curving from slightly above the rim to the middle of the belly, a flared neck and a flat, slightly

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everted base - but the length of the neck varies from very short necked jars (9337,938), fairly short necked jars (939,941), to the usual fairly tall flared necked version, to a jar with a disproportionately long neck (924). The width of the base also vacillates from the norm, veering to the very narrow footed (926-931,939) at one end, and to wide based examples at the other (933-936). A rare square body shape with a carinated lower body is found in jar 925. The loop handle is not attached to the short necked type, while 116,122 and 922 are examples of two handled jars. Jar no.940 is the slender bodied type, with a handle and a few grooves encircling the narrow short neck. These jar shapes, barring the very long necked jar and the square bodied jar, are duplicated in the fine creamware. Among the very few other vessel forms in the eggshell ware group, is a tall narrow ewer neck with a flared quatrefoil mouth, and a handle with a diminished thumbstop curving above the rim (961), and part of a cylindrical vessel, perhaps a vase, with a carinated lower body ending in a shallow foot (962); a shape allied to that of the square jar 925, and unusual in the earthenware assemblage at Siraf. Decoration The decorative technique of bands of ribbing at neck and shoulder have been utilised again, very neatly executed in the eggshell ware. Its mode of use varies however, with some jars devoid of grooved ornament (909,913,939), others with a single groove at the shoulder (926-932), and yet others with a ridge round the neck combined with a few bands of grooves on the upper neck (917-919). At the other end of the scale, are jars generously grooved from rim to shoulder (920-922), and a rare jar with wide grooves running three quarters of the way down its body as well (923). The handles are provided with an ornamental thumbstop at the top, which takes the form of a stylised animal head (122,943) which is sometimes simplified to an abstract form (941,942). No.941 is unique in its band of impressed hatching running down its length. The tops of a few jars, or other form of vessel, may also have been ornamented with applied loop handles complete with a ring (944-946). Nos.947-949 are three examples of moulded handles with elaborate floral devices. Two of these handles are plain on the reverse, while the third has incised scratch marks (947). Such ribbing is combined with plain incised cartouches and vertically incised wave pattern decoration in sherd 115, to form a thick band of casually ornate ornamentation under the rim. Similar cartouche decoration, achieved in this instance by applied and incised motifs, is found around the body of vessel 949, bordered by a band of interlaced decoration. The use of blue glaze (of the alkaline Sasanian-Islamic type) on jar 122 shows a combination of techniques of the two ware types. The glaze fits badly on the surface of the smooth eggshell ware pots however, and has virtually disappeared. The double band of shallow rouletted decoration on the belly of the jar would have been hardly visible under the glaze; it may have been a device to enable the glaze to obtain a better hold on the body, and prevent or retard its flaking.

10. Painted Earthenware

The painted earthenware from Siraf can be divided into three groups on the basis of fabric, shape and decoration. Fabric. Potting and Firing One category of painted earthenware is of the red earthenware type grogged with red and black pottery temper. The fabric is often fired orange. The vessels are quite thinly if clumsily potted. The second mode of decoration appears on a sand gritted coarse fabric, which is lightly fired to a coarse cream colour in nos.968 and 969, and often reduced to a brittle buff grey (192-194,971-972). The vessels, though large, are thinly potted, smooth on the outside and a little uneven on the inside. The_necks are separately potted. The fabric of the third type (973) is perfunctorily recorded in the pottery cards as buff earthenware.

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Decoration The first two varieties are slipped in creamy white, which provides the ground for the painted decoration. The only exception is no.964 which has an overall design of large zigzag decoration painted directly onto the earthenware body. The decoration on nos.966 and 967 takes the form of a series of red lines drawn vertically over the body and horizontally or diagonally on the neck. Jar 963 has a simple design of blobs of red ochre on the outer surface. No.965 is ornamented with a collar of brown hatching around the neck and shoulder. The geometric decoration on the second type is again in red slip (968), fired to brown, brown black or maroon colour in the other examples which have been more reduced in the firing. Judging from no.968, the decoration is divided into two main blocks, one on the upper neck and the other starting on the shoulder and spreading three quarters of the way down the body. The handles are free of decoration. The design of carefully executed juxtaposed panels and bands of zigzag, cross hatching, diapers and whorls, forms an attractive overall pattern. Although both the decoration and the shapes of the latter are more sophisticated than those of the former type, both groups of painted decoration are allied to the prehistoric design traditions of the region. This observation also applies to the third type which is represented by only one example (973). There is no mention of a background slip, but the body of the vessel is decorated with a procession of naively painted animals in red and dark brown, perhaps two cheetahs and a horse or deer, with traces of a border above. Shapes The painted red earthenware vessels present a range of shapes. No.963 is a squat bodied .ifil:with a short straight neck and a loop handle from rim to shoulder, while 964 is a pot shaped ewer of the type with a slightly everted rim and a spout on the shoulder. The jar with the collar of hatched decoration is of the globular single handled jar type, with sloping shoulder and cylindrical neck (965). The two vessels decorated with red lines (966,967) present a new form: a sloping bodied ablution ewer with a long narrow slightly flared neck, a handle running from the shoulder to the middle of the belly, and a long spout, similarly placed, on the opposite side, attached by a cross piece to the neck of the jar. The base of the vessel is flat. The vessels of the second category are all ablution jars of a different shape. The globular body has a sharp angle in the middle, and is attached to a separately potted slightly flared tall neck with a plain rim. A cordon of clay with vertical cuts is placed around the join in 968. The jar is flat based. Three loop handles with conical thumbstops have been applied round the body from lower neck to upper shoulder. No.971 is a fragment from a corresponding stand with arched legs. This is also embellished with painted decoration. Yet another new shape, a bell shaped vessel with a flat base, can be seen in the vessel with the painted animal procession. The neck of the vessel is lost, but was probably tall and flared, the complete vessel presenting a survival of the tall flared necked bell shaped jar form found in the prehistoric pottery assemblage of Iran.

11. Earthenware Sherds with Inscriptions

A number of earthenware sherds of different fabrics bear inscriptions, both written and incised. They belong to the pale green earthenware, fine creamware and coarse red and orange and fine pink fabrics. These sherds have been all presented under one section in the interests of comparison. Of these, the inscriptions on sherds of pale green earthenware and fine creamware are the most prolific. Written mainly in black ink, a few sherds bear inscriptions in red ink (1008-1012) and one in red and black ink (1013). The language is Arabic and the script a cursive Kufic. Some sherds of

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red/orange and fine pink earthenware also bear Kufic inscriptions (1015-1020). The Kufic inscriptions are recorded as appearing on either the outer (101-106) or the inner (983986,1015) surface of sherds, and occasionally on both sides (987,988). Those on the inner surface may come from near the rim of jars and pots. The surface is not specified in a number of examples (9891007), and some of the sherds have not been drawn (998-1007). Two handlesherds also bear inscriptions; the letter at the top of no.99 may be part of a blessing or name. Handle 999 has a line of writing along its surface. A very interesing pottery seal (fabric unspecified) has fourteen round seals with inscriptions crowded upon its surface (1014). The back of the seal has two long pierced holes which cross one another, designed to bear the strings which would pull up the seal after use. Sherd 1018, with a buff pink fabric, bears a six line inscription in Taliq script. The inscription below the band of grooves in 1020 is either angular Kufic or an Indian script, and has been cut after firing and filled with red ochre. A pseudo-Kufic or other form of script appears in 1021 and 1022, while an Early Kufic script is found on 1023 and 1024. All four sherds (1021-1024) are of creamware, and those in the Early Kufic script appear on the boat shaped vessels. A few letters of Pahlavi script can be recognised on 1025 and 1026. The letters 'b' and 'a' appear on 1025, and the letter 'a' on 1027. Another group of sherds, both of pale green earthenware and coarse orange fabric, bear roughly scratched angular graffiti(59,1028-1035), similar to that noted on some of the bricks found at Siraf. No.1027 shows an incised house-like motif, perhaps a potter's mark. The meaning of some of the Kufic inscriptions is obscure; but a fair number have been read, either completely or in part. These are as follows, and present a combination of the usual Islamic blessings and names of individuals or groups of individuals. The numbers within brackets indicate the relevant lines deciphered: 974. "Glory to God", inscribed twice over. 975. "this..." 978.(1) "Ali" (2) "Ahmed ibn Muhammed" 983.(1) "...Allah" 986.(1) "...Khurasan ..." (3) "...Yazid al-Jurjani ..." (6) "...Sabzvar ..." 987. The inscription on the outside is very faint. The reverse is signed in six different hands: (1) "Muhammed ibn Ibrahim ..." (2) "and Abdullah ibn al-Mubarak" (3) "Muhammed ibn ..." (4) "Muslim ibn Ibrahim" (5) "Umar ibn Muhammed" (6) "and Asad ibn ..." 988.(1) "...ibn Muhammed (or Ahmed)" 989. "...with ..." 992. Possibly part of "blessing" 993. "...la..." 995. "blessing" 997. This sherd is dated is dated to the year 661 A.H./1263 A.O.: "six hundred and sixty one" 1019. "...ibn .." 1023.In Early Kufic: "..Da'vid ..."

29 1014.0f the fourteen signatures on the seal, ten are wholly or partly legibleAt least two are duplicated. (1) "Sulaiman ibn Harbuyah" (2) "Ziyad ibn Y azid" (3) "Mihr ibn M ..." (4) "Mughith ibn Ali Sa'id" (5) "Izz ibn Mahar" (6) "...ibn Mahar" (7) "Zaid ibn ..." (8) "Khumar ..." (9) "Zaid ibn ..." (lO)"Khalid ibn Sa'id" At least two of the signatures have been duplicated (5 and 6, 7 and 9), unless the missing part of the name happened to be different in each instance.

2.2 The Provenance of the Earthenwares found at Siraf Built at the height of Siraf's prosperity, in Period 3, the large Pottery was sited at the eastern extremity of the city at its optimum spread, close to the sea, and therefore accessible to ships plying the coast. It produced a large quantity of coarse pottery, for domestic consumption and as a supply of containers for goods exported or re-exported by Siraf, some of which was perhaps exported for its own value. The Pottery covered an area at least 45 x 42 metres square. The complex included a large building with certain features bearing affinity to the houses in the residential quarter, but converted in this case to use as a workshop, and at least four yards, with workshops bearing potters' wheels, wells, water tanks and surfaces for preparing clay. The excavated remains of at least 30 kilns belonged to two types: the more common type being one with a pit for the fire and an upper chamber for the pots, the other being the single-chamber type designed to hold both fire and pots in the same chamber. The Pottery produced a wide range of the earthenwares found at Siraf, as evidenced by large quantities of certain types of unglazed pottery found at Site D, alongside kiln-wasters. As suggested above, the kilns produced wares for the domestic market and foreign marts, perhaps including some of the neighbouring coastal areas. The ware types potted in the kilns can be broadly divided into two groups: a large component of heavy-duty pottery (storage jars, flagons, large pots, as well as some bowls) and finer tableware types with jars, jugs, a few platters and bowls. Notable in the first category are the White-slipped Coarse Pink earthenware, including a redder bricky version and a few brownslipped bowls, Pale Green earthenware and Orange earthenware. In the second group are Fine Creamware, including the slightly orange tinted version with light gritting, and Eggshell ware. The manufacture was not totally confined to utilitarian vessels. Chess-pieces of red-slipped Fine Pink ware are present, along with childrens' playthings such as the Fine Creamware cache of a miniature basket, pots and bowls found in a storage jar at Site D, and toy bells. The marked lack of Coarse Red earthenware and Brittle ware, clearly reflects the importation of some of the ware from outside Siraf. The greater region around Siraf is dotted with ancient sites bearing ceramics, sometimes going back to the Sasanian and Islamic periods, a few, such as Shirinu and Dorak, being ruined kiln sites. Many of these were sherded (surface collections) by Whitehouse and others (Appendix C). The similarity between many of the earthenware types from these sites, and those found at Siraf, and the emergence from some of these sites, of types such as Coarse Red ware and Brittle ware not manufactured in Siraf but found in its deposits, indicates both the widespread dispersal of the local pottery traditions, as well as regional trade in coarse earthenwares. In fact the Site D pottery shows a remarkable similarity in many of its features to potteries of present-day Iran, such as the nearest modern pottery at Kangan, a small town 30 km. north of Siraf (Whitehouse 1977:41-64). Since the Pottery at Site D is considered to have functioned only for a short period during irafs history, there must have been a well-established network which provided Siraf with earthenware from the outlying region. For example, some, though not all of Siraf's Brittle ware is matched by the

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Brittle ware produced in the Shirinu kilns, indicating that Shirinu was one of many sources supplying Siraf with this ware. The Fine Red ware chip-carved lantern-holders, so unusual in the Siraf corpu s also has equivalents at Shirinu, and there are other wares held in common. In addition to supplying the domestic demand both in Siraf and the immediate region, these ware s may have also been exported to more distant areas via Siraf, or used to supplement her own coars e pottery output in the 10th and early 11th centuries, both as containers for export goods, or as saleabl e pottery destined for neighbouring markets. It is even possible that some of the pottery made in the Siraf kilns found its way into the hinterland, although this may have been at most a short term supply, due to the comparatively brief existence of the Siraf Pottery, and the presence of other local potteri es. However, some of the Islamic and Chinese glazed ware imported into Siraf would certainly have been dispersed into these areas, and is probably represented by the small quantities of both categories of glazed wares found at these sites. Venturing a little further afield, the Pale Green earthenware ewer sherd with incised decoration of floral scrolls and thumb-nail imprints (no.97) is alien to the rest of the Pale Green earthenwar e group at Siraf, but has abundant parallels in the kilns at Sirjan, and may indicate a vessel which arriv ed in Siraf from Sirjan (Morgan and Leatherby 1988:fig.39;Williamson 1988:11-12. See also Hughes-St anton and Kerr 1980:fig.167). Proceeding further, it is interesting to note that the Orange earthenware type with an orange-red slip (type 3h), is not unlike a coarser imitation of the Indian Red Polished ware, which is found in Sasanian sites of the region (Whitehouse and Williamsom 1973:38-39), and may have resulted in a local imitation. This ware, produced in the north-western part of the Indian subcontinent, during the 1st-3rd centuries AD, is found in a number of contemporary Indian Ocean port sites in the western Indian Ocean, and is diffused as far as the Comoros Islands off the East African coast. The Indian Red Polished Ware is itself perhaps an imitation of the Italian Arretine ware. The similarity between the wide mouthed shallow Coarse Red earthenware pot No. 45, and possibly Nos. 46 and 47, and other South Asian Red earthenware forms is very marked, as is their difference from the forms of the rest of the Islamic earthenware corpus. These pots may have therefore been containers which arrived in Siraf from the Indian sub-continent, during the course of trade. However, both the above theories are conjectural , and require deeper delving into the earthenware forms of the Persian Gulf region for verification.

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Chapter 3 Islamic Glazed Earthenwares A fair component of glazed earthenwares manufactured in the Islamic regions, appear alongside the earthenwares and Chinese export ceramics in the Indian Ocean port sites. Their distribution is limited mainly to the western Indian Ocean, from East Africa to South Asia. The quantity of Glazed earthenwares at Siraf is one tenth of the earthenware component, (that is 9% ), and tenfold that of the Chinese glazed wares. The dearth of these wares in the eastern Indian Ocean is related to regional production of Chinese glazed ware parallels in Indo-China and parts of south-east Asia, and the proximity of the Chinese ceramic sources. Although still less useful than the Chinese wares as a chronological marker, research into the chronology and provenance of Islamic glazed wares, is increasing its utility in reconstructing the structure of the Medieval Asian trade.

3.1 Ware descriptions

12. Blue-Glazed Ware (Sasanian-Islamic)

With a very widespread use, this ware was perhaps the commonest glazed ware in the Islamic world during most of the Medieval period. Its distinctive alkaline glaze of blue or blue-green colour led to the name 'alkaline glazed ware ', while its origin in Sasanian times and continued use throughout the Islamic era resulted in the coining of the name 'Sasanian-Islamic ware' by the ceramic historian Arthur Lane. The archaeological evidence indicates that the Sasanian-Islamic jars were used to transport commodities such as dates, which was an important commodity in the maritim e trade of the Gulf. Fabric. Potting and Firing The body is of a very soft, yellowish buff fabric, with fine sand intrusions, or, in some instances, with virtually no sand in the fabric. It is occasionally fired to a biscuit colour (sherd 213), and incorporates some fine marble like chips in this instance. The soft fabric and perhaps the mass produced nature of the ware has prevented fine potting. This has resulted in a rather rough surface finish not masked even by the reasonably thick layer of glaze. The wheel marks left on the inner surface of many of the sherds is visible in examples with a thinner glaze (eg.,244). The evidence of three spur marks on the foot ring of jar 209 indicates upright firing. A similar spur mark on the rim of jar sherd 223, and on jar 1043, may indicate inverte d firing, or the stacking of vessels, one upon the other, in the kiln - as in bowl 1040, which has three large spurmarks within, and three on the exterior of the base. Such spur marks do not appear on all the other sherds and vessels, and since many of the bases are glazed all over, barring the base of the footring, it is possible that the glaze was wiped off the base to prevent adherance to the kiln floor, that is, that the vessels were fired ranged on the kiln floor in many instances. A scar of attachm ent on the body of jar 1043 indicates close packing of vessels in the kiln. Shapes The blue glazed vessels belong to bowl, dish, jar, pot and saucer lamp forms. The bowls follow Chinese bowl shapes, with round or flaring sides, delicate rims (sherds 195-198,201,1036), flat topped rims, and even foliate rims (195). They have wide ring bases (sherds 198-200,1037-1041).The small bowls have deeper sides, rounded (1037) or slightly angled near the base (1038), and narrower ring bases. The wider, larger bowls are fitted out with correspondingly wider bases. All the bowls present a base with a curved central groove on the exterior, except 1038 which has a square grooved base. The wider bowls

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are carinated on the upper shoulder; quite sharply in 1041 and more mildly in 1040. The three shallow dishes, angular sided (204) and round sided (202,203), also follow Chines e dish shapes, while the deep straight sided dish (205) is typically Islamic. Among the jars, the straight-necked, round-bellied type, provided with (usually purely ornamental) lug handles at the junction of neck and shoulder is also copied from Chinese stoneware types, but the ribbed straight and curved necked jar types, both large (210,211) and small (225-227), belong to the Islamic ceramic corpus. The sloping sided jar with narrow neck and three handles (1042) is similar to the pitcher shaped jar in the fine creamware group, while the double handled jar with the slightly evcrted base is also found in the earthenware corpus, although its dish shaped mouth is uncommon (1043). Another sloping sided jar presents a different form: it ends in a narrow straight foot, and the tall very slightly flared neck is rilled and has a thickened rim. It has a thrown, not applied, cordon at the base of the neck (1045). The prominently ribbed neck sherd 228 may belong to a very tall necked jar or bottle. Sherds 212 and 213 are interesting; their very wide, flat topped rims seem to indicate that they were not jar necks but perhaps the base of a vessel like a steamer. The neckless and short necked jar /pot category with sloping sides is potted in a large size in the blue glazed ware. No.208 furnishes a small version of this type and 1046 presents another example with a slightly everted base. Wide necked jar 1044 is fitted with horizontal lug handles. Jar 1047 with its wide neck may be a similar form but with a flat base. It was found with its broken neck covered with a circular stone serving as a lid. No.1048 is a bulbous bodied, flat based jar with a short straight neck. No.1049 is an intersting square shaped neckless jar with an angled lower base, with a sharply ridged shoulder and a straight rim. The sherd from the tall narrow necked jar type with flared trefoil neck and a handle curving high above the rim, appears in the Sasanian-Islamic ware as well (1050), and may have b en furnished with a tall flared base similar to 1051. The large necked jars and pots have either a flat top or a rim angled on the inside to take a fitted lid. The conical lid (1059) is for such a jar. It has a projecting rim, grooved underneath to fit the jar neck, and a ring knop at the top. A large number of circular saucer lamps are extant, with blackened glaze on their inner surfaces, a high shoulder, thin rim, small pulled lip (231) and a small flat base. In contrast to the rest, no.1056 is of the rarer, more oval type. The saucer lamps present considerable variety in one small detail, the small blob handle. This is pulled into different shapes, while no.1055 which has the prow like handle seen in the turquoise splashed white-glazed lamps, has a ring of indentations round the flat handle top. The flared candlestick has a pointed rim and a flat base, and is fixed to a wide circular base (1058). A handful of beads completes the picture of the Sasanian-Islamic assemblage at Siraf. The beads are varied in shape: cylindrical (1060); barrel shaped with alternate line and circle decoration (1061); and two disc beads, one with a central pierced hole (1062),and the other with seven holes bored in a rosette shape (1063). Decoration The blue alkaline based copper glaze, the most characteristic feature of this ware, is its most striking form of decoration. It is generally turquoise blue in colour in these Iranian examples, with an occasional sea green sherd. Their long burial in the saline soil of Siraf has resulted in the bleaching of the glaze to a pale blue or whitish colour, with the glaze noticeably more bleached on the more thinly coated inside. Both sides of the vessel are glazed, the glaze being reasonably even, with just a few instances where it has crawled down from the inner rim (sherd 243). The softness of the body and its dissimilarity to the composition of the glaze has also led to a different rate of shrinkage for glaze and body, resulting in a rather ill fitting glaze, which is therefore often highly crackled and flaked (244,245). Instances of bubbled and pitted glaze can also be seen, as in sherds 523,524. Two exceptions to this rule can be seen in the dish sherds 202 and 204, which have a harder, smoother body, and consequently a smooth glaze adhering well to the fabric.

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The smaller vessels (bowls, dishes, oil lamps) rely almost entirely on the decorative effects of glaze and form, while many of the larger pots stretch to a double band of ribbing under the rim, supplemented, in the case of pot 221, by incised wave decoration, and by a band of wave and chevron decoration topped by an inscription in Early Kufic in jar 1044. The inscription states: 'May God prosper him; made by Hatim [ibn Hamza].' The deep, straight sided bowls (205) seem to b the one example of partial glazing, with the glaze stopping at the bands of chip-carved decoration below the rim. This method of semi-glazing this type of dish is also seen in its appearance in Tang mottled ware imitations (321). The ribbed necked jars are again decorated by multiple bands of plain (210), ridged (216) or grooved (225) ribbing. Many of the larger vessels were ornamented on the body by different modes of incised and applied decoration as witnessed by the bodysherds. The simplest amongst these is the geometric punctate decoration (239, 240). Other modes are slashed decoration in bands (1042) and patterns (1064), plain ribbing (sherds 531-541), plain ribbing combined with simple incised linear ornamentation (241,242, 542-544), and grooved ribbing (247), grooved ribbing combined with bands of wave pattern decoration (248), and criss-crossed grooved decoration (249). The applied decoration takes many forms: piped-on barbotine decoration of lines, wavy lines and dots on plain or plain ribbed sherds (250,251,255,1042), applied moulded rosettes (252,254), and even applied decoration with finger impression ornamentation (253). At least one mode of disposal of barbotine decoration over the body surfac e of a large jar can be seen in 1046. The forms, glaze and general lack of soot blackening indicates that the blue-gla zed ware was not used for cooking. The finely potted bowls and dishes are obviously tableware, and the larger pot/jar types used for storage, perhaps of solids and definitely of liquids, while the lamps provided domestic and possibly ritual illumination.

13. White-Glazed Wares

Fabric. Potting and Firing Most of the white-glazed wares are fashioned from the same soft, coarse sandy fabric as the blue-glazed type, consistently fired to a yellowish colour. A very few exceptions to this rule have been fired slightly pink, such as sherd 270 (plain glazed) and two of the thr ee sherds decorated with dark brown geometric design. The soft fabric has cracked on the surfaces in firing, revealed in instances where the glaze has flaked (281,283). The vessels are rather clumsily potted, although they are of small size and more refined in fashioning than most of the blue-glazed ware. The surface is smooth on both sides, with no interior wheel ribbing visible through the glaze in any of the examples. A few of the white-glazed examples have a hard Saljuq frit body ( categories g and h), both white and pink. These vessels are extremely finely potted. Shapes Bowl shapes predominate in the white glazed ware, with just a few dishes, a couple of jars, saucer lamps and candlesticks. The evidence of shape therefore unhesitatingly points to the function of this glazed ware as tableware with rather a limited range of shapes, even the jars and bottles probably part of a 'tab le' rather than a 'kitchen' service.The white-glazed ware with its striking ornamentation must hav been 'classier' than the blue-glazed type, which was also used for more utilitarian storage purposes. Although still a far cry from the Chinese glazed stoneware, the bowl shapes are clearly imitative of the heavy shapes of Chinese Tang wares. They have similar plain or slightly pointed gently everted rims, and flared, rounded or slightly bulbous sides, sloping down to a wide ring base. The foot is often of the narrow, slightly everted type, with a squared or angled central groove. A broader foot is seen in

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nos.1101 and 1102, while a flat base with a slightly everted edge is found in a number of examples (1110a and b,1103,1120). No. 1065 is a miniature bowl in this category. Two of the plain glazed bowls have vertical ribs on the body (1078,1079), with a matching notched rim in the former. Some of the bowls have a rim running around the inner base. Bowl 1077 presents a foliate form slightly different from the rest; the rounded side is slightly carinated in the middle, with a pointed rim and a taller ring base than usual , with a squar ed centr al groove . The rim is strongly foliated. Bowl 1066 presents a thick walled flared, flat based 'kiln bowl' shape, covered in white glaze. Two bowls have concave sides sloping down to the base from an angle low on the side (286,287), and bowl sherd 270 has a thick indented club rim. It is interesting to note that the bowls are often glazed all over, ie., including the flat of the footring (eg.,276), while the glaze spreads over the footring and stops a little way across the central groove in many instances (277,279,280). Among the Saljuq frit sherds, all from bowls, nos.307-310 present the straight or very slightly everted fine rim types characteristic of this ware, while 306 and 307 are slightly mor e thickly pott ed larger bowls of a flared shape. The restored bowl 1131 is a fme example of one of the most typical Seljut frit bowl forms, with its flared sides ending in a plain rim and a narrow tall footring. An interesting form which is halfway between the main white glazed bowl form and the flat platter shape is defined in 1081. The angular sided dish (268) also conforms to the Far Eastern repertoire, but a few shapes retain their allegiance to Islamic forms: the finely potted deep straight sided dishes 267 and 281, and a dish (293) with slightly curved heavy sides, bulbous rim and ornamental grooving at rim and base.

Jar shapes are comparatively scarce; a squat slightly square shaped jar manifests itself in the white-glazed ware in a slightly everted rimmed neckless form with a thick everted base (1085). No.1105 is a fragment from another straight sided jar. Two short necked small jars (1123,1126) are obviously allied to the bulbous bodied Chinese ewer type, fitted with the typical vertically grooved handle curving from rim to shoulder in 1126. Jar or bottle neck 301, with a wide loop handle high up on its neck, and the long sinuous bottle neck 302, are also related to the necked jar, bottle and flask shapes of the Middle Eastern tradition , and not to the dished mouth or neckless jar shapes of the Chinese. A spouted ewer of the more evolved slender bodied long spouted category, with a slightly everted base,appears in vessel 1086. Five of the six white-glazed candlesticks, both plain and turquois e splashed (1087,1104), belong to the usual flared type set in the centre of a wide circular pedestal. The sixth is slightly different in possessing a wide cordon around its body (1114). The numerous saucer lamp s are again mainly of the round shape, with 1119 the only one of a more oval shap e. Th e little blob handles are again varied, ranging from the square flat shape (1092) to the winged (1089) and prow shapes(1091). Lamp 1090 has a circle of indented dots around its handle top, like one of the Sasanian Islamic examples. The ring handle on no.1098 is a slight innovation. Decoration The potter has been fascinated by the decorative possibilities of glaze to the almost total exclusion of the usual technique of ribbed ornamentation. With about the same variation in the thickness of application as th e blue-gla ze (from thinly coated to about 0.5 to 0.8mm.), the white-glaze is often slightly blue tinged due to the presence of impurities in the glaze (eg.,265,272), and it is generally eroded to a matt chalky layer, often partially flaked due to the ill fit. This white glaze has served as a dramatic background for ornamentation in coloured pigments.The quality of this decoration , which is mainly splashed and sometimes painted , shows some variation. On the basis of fabric and decorati on the ware can be divided into th e following categori es:

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Coarse buff body: a - plain b - cobalt splashed c - turquoise splashed d - bichrome splashed: 1.turquoise and brown 2.turquoise and black 3.turqoise and cobalt e - polychrome splashed: 1.turquoise, green and black 2.turqoise green and brown; of superior quality 3.olive, blue and black decoration f - with dark brown geometric decoration Saljuq frit body: g - plain; on a frit body. h - with inscriptions a - The plain glazed wares depend on the impact of white glaze and form for any decorative effect. A few are enlivened with other forms of decoration. Some have vertical ribs, one with a matching notched rim (1078), while 1077 is a clearly foliate form. No.1080 is decorated with blobs of white glaze and 1081 has moulded decoration. A rare openwork motif is found on 1099; unfortunately the fragment is too small to provide much information on the mode of openwork decoration. b - The splashed cobalt decoration appears mainly on the inside of bowls. Often eroded along with the white glaze, it is generally slightly smudged and composed of leaf-like splash motifs loosely gathered into floriate motifs. Four of the vessels show a slightly different version of cobalt glazing: to begin with, the decoration is on the exterior of these vessels, but this may be due to their both being deep sided vessels rather than wide mouthed bowls, making exterior decoration more suitable. In addition, the decoration is of a more sophisticated, scroll-like painted type - one with leaf-like motifs (273), the others with stylised calligraphic ornamentation (281,1101,1102). The cobalt glaze has also not smudged in these examples. c - The turquoise coloured copper glaze decoration, sometimes eroded to an iridiscent green, is also of two types. The majority of the vessels are ornamented with broad vertical bands of turquoise glaze down the interior of the vessels, or by more irregular curved splashes (286,287), with sherd 286 being decorated on both sides. The turquoise glaze is thin enough to be softly absorbed into the white glaze in all these examples. Sherd 292 and bowls 1110a and b present a different type of ornamentation, with a thin white glaze which has flaked off almost totally, overlaid by thick loops of turquoise on the inside, the whole depending from a similar band around the rim of the bowl, except in 1110b in which the loops hang free. d - 1. The thick, looped glaze decoration of sherd 292 is allied to the similarly decorated vessels of the turquoise and brown splashed variety, such decoration presenting a cruder appearance than the previously described splashed ornamentation. The two pigments are alternated in thick sections of colour. Base sherd 294 p·resents perhaps a variation of the turquoise and brown splashed technique, with its combination of elementary brown splashing ··with a scroll-like design in turquoise and green, surrounded by a brown outline. The fabric of this vessel is biscuit coloured, and it is crudely potted. A few of the vessels may be decorated only in the brown manganese pigment. Brown splashed decoration is found in 1123, while the interior of 1121 is ornamented with large brown spots. 2. A deeper manganese shade leads to turquoise and black decoration (300-302). This follows the style of the irregularly splashed turquoise glazed type, the difference lying in the use of two pigments instead of one. 3. A few sherds are decorated in turquoise and cobalt decoration. The splashes tend to be less

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elongated than those above (1126-1126). e - 1. Only one bodysherd appears from this type, and it may belong to a band of decoration at the shoulder of a vessel. The double bands of green and blue enclose a zigzag motif, and a dotted splash decoration in black (303). 2. The fineness of quality in potting and glaze, and the tear drop motif band of decoration not apparent in the rest of the Siraf pottery wares, seems to indicate a different provenance for this sherd (304). 3. An unusual decoration of olive and blue borders, along with thin black stripes and dots, can be seen in bowlsherd 1128. f - This type seems to be a transposition of the simple single pigment geometric type of decoration executed on creamy white slip, to a glaze medium, the simple geometric designs of panels of dots and cross-hatched pattern and decorative line being also affiliated to the early decorative motifs used in the painted earthenware of the region. There is a soft absorption of the brown glaze into the thinly applied white glaze. g - Four finely potted sherds, although plain white glazed, are of a fine white frit fabric. The fifth example (1131), a plain glazed bowl, has the salmon pink body and corroded pearly glaze seen on the two sherds in category h. Sherd 1130 bears an inscription under its base. h - The two bowl sherds (305,306) which belong to this category are also strikingly different from the rest of the white glazed assemblage. The fabric is denser and finer, fired buff and pink, and the very thin layer of iridiscent white glaze is of a different composition. The inscriptions are neatly incised between fine bounding lines. Only a few examples of white-glazed ware have made use of decorative grooving. Bowl 258 has ribbing across the middle of the body and the heavy dish 293 has grooves round the rim and base.

14. Lustre Ware

No complete lustre ware vessels have survived at Siraf, and the small fragments are few and far between. Fabric. Potting and Firing The fabric of the lustred vessels found at Siraf belong to the two main stages of lustre production, the pre-frit bodied stage and the frit bodied lustre. The earlier lustre is of soft, yellowish earthenware, with finer sand intrusions than in the blue glazed and white glazed ware, the consequently smoother fabric enabling finer potting. The later is of fine white frit fabric. Shapes Most of the finely potted bowls belong to the round sided type with slightly everted rims and wide bases, derived from the Chinese repertoire, and they appear in both phases of lustre ware. The wide, curved necked .ifil:in the early lustre is Islamic in shape, this 'cultural' disparity in bowl/jar shapes tallying with that evident in the white-glazed wares. There is also one example of the shallow wide bowl with a foliate rim, with a very narrow ring base with a square central groove (1136) which appears to be an early Persian lustre piece by its form and decoration. A bowl with slightly concave sides angled in the middle is represented by sherd 1132b. This, along with the angular dish with a broad flange rim (1135), belong to the early lustre category.

37 Decoration The white glaze adheres more successfully to the smoother body than in the two previously discussed types, with flaked glaze only in one example (315). The glaze is applied fairly thinly, to a thickness of about 0.5 mm. The style of decoration on the earlier lustre belongs to the simple, geometric genre of monochrome, bichrome and polychrome Mesopotamian lustre. The lustre pigments in use on the white glaze are olive green, olive green and brown, and olive green with light and dark brown. Its linear descent from the decorative traditions of early painted earthenware in this region is also noticeable. The designs can be generally assigned to three modes: the abstract and primary design of panels and dotand-dash motif, alternated with vertical and diagonal splashing and chevron motif, is found in sherds 312,313,315,1132-1134. More formal spacing of geometric motifs is seen on sherds 313 and 316, and more developed floriate and calligraphic scroll design on sherd 311 and bowl 1135. The fragment of a shallow wide bowl with a foliated rim (1136) is decorated with a border of peacock eye motif under the rim, and a floral pattern interspersed with peacock eyes on the base. The back of the bowl is ornamented with large rings and dot-·and-dash motif. The lustre is an unusually well preserved dark green colour. The lustre decoration appears on both sides, the design on the two sides being different and usually contrasted, with a plain band of lustre around the rim, at least on the inner side, in all instances. The Saljuq lustre on a frit body, seems to be of three modes of decoration: reserv d in gold, brown or yellow lustre on the white background, gold lustre combined with a deep blue glaze, and maroon lustre. Of those painted in gold lustre, no.1137 shows a face painted against a background filled with odd shaped geometric motifs, while 1137a seems to be a bowl sherd with similar background decoration. No.1138 painted in an olive yellow lustre has a roundel on the outside with a pseudo-Kufic inscription. The glaze on the interior is corroded, but a decoration of small spots is visible. Bowl sherd 1139 bears a band of floriated Kufic inscription reserved in lustre along the rim on the interior. No.1140 is a fragment of brown and gold lustre. Bowl 1141 is glazed in white with an inscription painted in gold-lustred blue on the base, and with two groups of blue glaze blobs on the inner rim. The exterior is a plain white. A deep blue glaze coats the base of bowl 1142, excluding the exterior and underside of the foot ring. Its greenish yellow lustred decoration takes the form of formalised floral decoration. Another fragment (1143) is described in the cards as 'Saljuq green on blue lustre.' This may be a greenish lustre decoration on blue glaze.

15. Lead Splashed Wares with and without Sgraffiato

A very interesting genre of glazed ceramics among the sherds excavated from Siraf is the category broadly described as lead-splashed wares in this thesis, and as lead-splashed wares, and as Style 1 (early) sgraffiato, Style 2 and Style 3 (late) sgraffiato by the excavator (Whitehouse 1979:49-61). This group of wares can also be considered as Islamic imitations of the mottled Tang ware. Although the derivation of the Islamic sgraffiato wares from Tang splashed or mottled ware is is sometimes suggested, their gradual development is rarely traced. It is my belief that such an evolution can be established for the mottled ware from Siraf, taking into consideration both the mottled inscribed wares, and certain wares without sgraffiato but with similar pigmentation. If not always chronologically sequential, this progression at least provides a stylistic evolution, and this is outlined in the description of the decoration. Fabric. Potting and Firing The ware can be divided between two fabrics. The first is a fairly hard, somewhat porous pale pink or biscuit coloured earthenware, with fine sand temper. The second is a very fine, slightly more highly fired hard red fabric. The comparative hardness of the fabric has enabled relatively smooth, clear cut potting, especially in the case of the latter.

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Shapes The whole sequence again relates to the vessel shape demarcation noticeable in the Islamic glazed wares, which evolved with the first wave of Chinese ceramic influence c.800 A.D. Most of the bowls are of the rounded bowl shape close to those of the Chinese repertoire, with everted pointed rims, square grooved footrings (1150,1161) or flat bases (1214,1149,1162). Some belong to the more heavy, flared, low slung bowl category, with a flat or nearly flat base (1196,1212,1219). A combination of the low slung body and a squared rim is evident in bowls 1173 and 1176. The plain rimmed flared shape also emerges in nos.1198 and 1167, and the Islamic concave sided type with a sharp angle in the lower body. The late green ware presents two main bowl shapes. The first is the rounded bowl type, with slightly everted rim (1147-1150), with a square or angled central groove, and a very low slung base in 1147. The footring of 1149 is solid, and 1150 presents the bowl type with a slight angle in the lower body. No.1148 has a slightly everted rim. The second form is a very wide shallow bowl with an everted wide flange rim (1151). No.1152 is related to the the latter, but probably of the angular flat dish shape, with the wide flange rim. Nos.321,1153 and 1154 are deep straight sided dishes. The neck of .ifil 1155 is missing, but along with neck sherd 1156, it may present a small globular bodied late green jar, with a flat slightly everted base, similar to the jars in the Chinese stoneware group. A few rare jars can also be identified in the lead-splashed category. with the coarse buff fabric. No.1168 is again similar to the Chinese stoneware ewer, with even a small curved lug handle on the body. An uncommon jar shape is seen in 1193, with its very globular body and very narrow slightly flared neck, a shallow footring with an angled groove, and a single handle from rim to upper shoulder. A few wide mouthed pots similar in their heavy triangular rim shape to the deep straight sided dishes are found in the late green ware. The lead-splashed saucer lamp also appears in the coarse buff fabric (1194). The ones of the late green type (1157-1159) are of the same round shape, but very crudely potted. If the tall flared base 1160 is a lamp base, it would be the only example of a lamp with a pedestal base found in the glazed Islamic ware. Decoration The vessels depend on the decorative possibilities of mottled glaze, over a white slipped surface, with and without inscribed linear ornamentation. The prototype for the early development of the ware may be discovered in the handful of green and white mottled Chinese Tang wares with a hard pink fabric found at Siraf and other Indian Ocean port sites, represented by sherds 431,432,617 and 618 in the Ashmolean collection. The lead-splashed wares have been divided into the following sub groups on the basis of fabric and decoration: Coarse buff cream fabric: a - monochrome green glazed (Late Green) b - lead-splashed decoration in 1. yellow, brown and green 2. sometimes with painted motifs under the glaze and 3. an yet more polychrome effect with a deeper manganese brown added to the palette c - lead-splashed decoration in yellow and green, with sgraffiato (Style 1, Early, or Mesopotamian sgraffiato) Fine buff cream fabric: d - Sketchy incised floral decoration under green glaze Fine red fabric: e - with lead splashed decoration as in b f - patchy cream slip and rather abstract sgraffiato decoration, with green splashes, the whole yellow glazed (Style 2 sgraffiato)

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g - lead-splashed decoration in yellow, brown and green, over more ornate floral sgraffiato with a hatched background (style 3 or late sgaffiato) h - champleve decoration, or carved decoration on a white slipped body, which provides a contrast between the dark body and light-toned decoration when glazed. i - lead-splashed decoration in yellow, brown and green combined with other modes of sgraffiato:1.incised decoration in roundels; 2.haphazard incised and painted geometric motifs; sketchy inscription under green glaze. a - It is the usual practice to consider the Late Green ware as a later version of Sasanian-Islamic ware. This engenders a rather erroneous impression of its being a parallel, almost a twin, and even a replacement, of that most persistent and prolific Islamic glazed ceramic type. It is rather, a comparatively insignificant group, and has no share in shouldering any part of the storage container function borne by the Sasanian-Islamic ware, even in the later phase at Siraf. The only vessel form it shares in common with the Sasanian Islamic type is the deep, straight sided dish; its other forms are those held in common by the Islamic glazed ware at Siraf as a whole. On the basis of fabric and decoration, the late green ware at Siraf, can be compared more successfully with the lead-glazed ware tradition. Made of the close textured red earthenware of the later types, it is coated in an apple green lead glaze. This glaze stops below the band of decoration on the outside of the deep straight sided dishes. b - 1. The vessels are coated in a thin cream slip, and decorated with large splashes of yellow and green. The splashing is equally divided between the two pigments in some cases, with more weightage given to one colour in others. The base is often of one single colour, and the glaze sometimes drips in a swag like contour under the rim on the exterior. Glossy when in good condition , the glaze erodes to an irridiscent chalky white layer (Nos.1161-1168). 2. Some similarly splashed vessels are further ornamented with motifs under the glaze. Base 1169 is the only surviving example of this kind, with a fish motif covered in yellow brown lead-glaze. 3. A more polychrome effect is found in this category. The whole background is decorat ed in parallel lines and radiating rows of dots in dark green and yellow brown, with the decoration on the interior flange of the bowl rim in a charcoal brown (1170). The eight jar sherds (1171) are of a slightly hard er terracotta-like pink fabric, covered in yellow glaze. A horizontal band of Kufic inscription is paint ed in charcoal brown, bordered above and below in charcoal brown lines, filled in some instances with a zone of green. c - The Style 1 sgraffiato is white slipped, lead glazed and decorated on both surfaces with vertical bands of yellow and green glaze dribbled from the rim. The interior is scratched with simple sgraffiato designs. Bowl 1172 is incised with a series of overlapping circles, and 1173 in a pattern of vertical zigzag squiggles interspersed with triangular motifs. The abstract floriate sgraffiato on no.327 is almost calligraphic in its execution. d - A single rimsherd of a bowl is decorated in a sketchy floral motif very different from the rest of the sgraffiato decoration found at Siraf. Its fabric is also a fine cream colour (1174). e - The mode of lead-splashing without sgraffiato also appears in the red fabric, which is perhap~ a little softer than usual. Cream slipped, sometimes a little patchily (1192), a purely green glazing can be seen in bowl 1187, and in jar 1192 which is glazed on the outside and to a little way below the neck on the inside. Yellow and green splashes can be seen in nos.1193 and 1194, and yellow glaze with three groups of four green glazed lines each, trailed from the rim to the beginning of the base in bowl 1190. Basesherd 1191 shows another variation, with green, yellow and black radiating lines intersecting at the centre on the base of the pale yellow glazed sherd. f - The body is partially slipped in white and glazed with green splashes and the usual yellowish clear glaze overcoat, resulting in a mottled brown, cream and green effect, combined in this instance with a

40

more dominant use of sgraffiato. This is either a medley of abstract lines (sherds 337, 338), combined in 337 with an extension of the idea of ribbing, this time on the inside of the rim, or a design composed of contour like concentric circles (339?,340). Sherd 340 is also interesting in its employment of the Chinese technique of chatter mark decoration on the base at the back of the bowl. These chatter marks date the sherd and its closest correspondents to influence from the Song dynastic period, rather than to the Tang influence seen on many of the earlier sherds in this genre. The chatter marks also provide a clue to the fact that at least some of this ware was moulded. Bowls 1175-1184 seem to belong to this category. A border of stylised pseudo-Kufic is the main decoration in many of the bowls. It is found round the bowls under the rim in most of the examples. The inscriptions are meaningless; no.1179 for example, seems to be a repetition of the letter 'ka'. A more curvilinear foliate scrollwork can be seen in 1183, and this is combined with an inscription in no.1184. g - Style 3 sgraffiato (nos.1195-1216) is mainly characterised by a more elaborate floriate and calligraphic decoration, always executed against a hatched background . The calligraphic decoration takes the form of pseudo-Kufic borders, usually around the body, and sometimes on the base of bowls (1210). The base is often decorated in the form of a roundel. It bears simple scratched linework in 1214, a basketwork motif in 1213, a rather abstract design of two fish in 1212, and a rosette in 1215. Sherd 1216 is a small fragment with a band of cable motif. The roundel on bowl 1195 has treskele and leaves at its ends. A border of plant scroll is often inserted between the calligraphic zone and the base roundel (1211). An overall floral scroll can be seen in no .1207. Cream slipped on the interior, sometimes a little irregularly towards the base, the bowls are generally mottled in the usual green, yellow and dark brown shades. Both slip and glaze are patchy on the exterior. A few sherds seem to be totally glazed in green however (1201a,1207,1209), unless the missing sections bore splashed decoration. h - Simple champleve decoration of broad stripes, including radial stripes, and narrow incised lines, can be seen in bowl sherds 1217-1219. The first two have no additional colour splashing, only the cream slip with its gouged design, and a colourless glaze stained brown from the iron emanations from the exposed surfaces. No.1219 however, has a zone of yellow brown treacly glaze around the rim and over the incised circle at the centre of the base. i - A few sherds potted in fine red fabric are decorated in other modes: sherd 1185 bears a woman's face painted in black. Bowl 1186 has four roundels on its inner surface and possibly one on its base. They are filled with cross hatching and surrounded by a double circle filled with a row of dots. The roundels are glazed in yellow brown. Another basesherd has an incised and gouged rather haphazard decoration of whorls and geometric shapes, mottled in pale green, green and yellow glaze, further embellished with dark brown strips and spots of glaze. Bodysherd 1188 is of another type, perhaps from a monochrome pale olive green glazed bowl, with some form of inscription beneath. The triplicate evidence from white glazed, lustre and lead splashed wares indicate that it was mainly the prized Chinese bowls, and a few small jar and dishes which were imported as luxury tableware and consequently copied. The large Chinese stoneware jars for example, which are found in large quantities from port site excavations, both at Siraf and elsewhere in the Indian Ocean, were merely vessels imported as containers carrying goods, and they did not replace the jars in the Islamic corpus.

16. Yellow Glazed Earthenware

Only found in the Congregational Mosque infill, this is a type of very early Islamic glazed ware.

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Fabric. Potting and Firing The fabric is coarse and bricky with small dark grits. It is fired to a dull red colour. Shapes The type is quite rare and the finds are mainly of small fragments. A sherd belonging to the upper part of a jar survives however (1220). The jar has a short straight neck ending in an indented rim. The curvature of the shoulder indicates a fairly globular body. Decoration The sherds are glazed on both surfaces in a rich yellow brown glaze with a greenish tinge. The glaze is thin and crackled.

17. Green Glazed Ware with Moulded Decoration

Fabric.Potting and Firing The fabric of the five sherds in this group belong to two types: nos.1221 and 1222 are of a fine orange fired fabric, while 1223-1225 are potted in a fine hard cream earthenware. Decoration The oval shaped ring and dot decoration in both sherds of orange fabric is pierced and arranged in successive panels. A leaf shaped finial like projection in the corner of no.1222 is decorated with a floral device. The green glaze, applied throughout, has deteriorated to a powdery yellow colour in both instances. The moulded decoration on the three sherds of fine creamware is distinct from t.he above, and also different from one another. Rimsherd 1223 has a band of four petalled flowers below the inner rim, while the small bodysherd 1224 is decorated in a freer curvilinear floral design, including a fan shaped flower. Both are green glazed on both surfaces and the glaze colour has not degraded. Rimsherd 1225 appears to be divided into vertical panels bordered by a triangular chip ornamentation. The cream body is covered in a finely crazed colourless glaze, splashed in green.

18. White-Splashed Black-Glazed Ware

Fabric. Potting and Firing and Shapes The fabric is a fine creamware and the bowls are carefully potted. Three of the bowls are typical of the rounded Chinese bowl shape, with a ring base with an angled central groove and a slightly verted rim. The footring of 1226 bears a series of notched grooves. The rim of 1228 is inverted. A few fragments of black glazed fine creamware (nos.1229-1231) may also belong to this category. Decoration The bowls (1225-1228) are totally covered in a thick opaque brown black glaze, barring the flat of the footring. Between two to four wide creamy white bands of glaze have been trailed down the inner sides to meet in the centre of the base. The black glaze, which is possibly an alkaline glaze stained with manganese pigment, is mottled and irridiscent in 1225, and the white glaze has irridisced to a pearly white in 1226.

19. Geometric Designs Painted On White Slip Under a Colourless Glaze

A number of sherds from vessels of different fabric, white slipped, painted with different types of

42 geometric decoration, and covered in a colourless glaze are described in this section. Fabric. Potting. Firing. Decoration and Shape 1. The two sherds are neatly potted in a fine pink fired earthenware with fine sand intrusions. They are slipped on both sides in a thin creamy white slip. Bowl 191 is decorated in sketchy scroll patterns arranged in bands and painted in purple and olive green pigment on the inside, the outside being ornamented with ribbing. The purple pigment may be manganese based and the olive green composed with chromium oxide. A similar decoration is found on bowl 1232, with the motifs layed out in square panels. The very faint incised lines visible under the paint are probably guidelines for the painted design. The motif on the back seems almost a dribble of glaze. Both surfaces are covered in a colourless lead glaze which has degraded to a matt chalky layer. Both sherds belong to a bowl shape with deep curved sides. The rim of 191 is everted into a flange, while that of 1232 is only gently everted. The inner surface of both bowls is smooth, the outside ribbed. 2. Sherd 1233 is of a soft light pink fabric. This bowl, with rounded sides, has an everted rim, and is thinly potted. Cream slipped, a band of black and dull red pseudo-epigraphic decoration is found under the rim. No trace of glaze has survived. 3. The creamware sherd 1234 is painted with four opposing triangular motifs, each of which is trisected into three small triangles with a central dot. The sherd is covered in colourless glaze. 4. An unusual decoration is found on bowl sherd 12351 which belongs to a bowl with a footring, with a squared central groove. The sherd is white slipped and incised with a trellis filled with criss-cross motif, bounded by lines into a trianglular shape. The trellis pattern is painted over in dark brown, and a border of red runs around the footring on the exterior. The colourless glaze is eroded. 5. A bowl with rounded sides and slightly everted rim, no.1236 has a flat base with a vestigial footring. It is potted out of a fine light red fabric and decorated on the inside with three radial rows of black spots apparently separated by broad green stripes. A corroded thin colourless glaze coats the inside. 6. A large sloping bodied neckless ifil with a heavy overhanging rim, no.1237 has three strap handles with thumbstops curving from neck to shoulder. Bands of grooved decoration spread to low down on the shoulder. The vessel is cream slipped and painted with large grey scroll motifs, the whole being glazed in a now degraded colourless glaze.

20.Black Painted-Decoration on a Yellow Ground

Fabric. Potting. Firing. Decoration and Shape The heavy fabric is a pinkish brown. The decoration consists of a pressed cordon above, followed by a black scrollwork design with black dot filling, painted on a yellow background (1238). The single bodysherd provides no indication of shape.

21. U nderglaze Painted Wares

Underglaze painted wares, typified especially by the black under turquoise glaze mode, are found in a small quantity. Since many of the sherds are very fragmentary details of the vessels are not always available. The glaze is alkaline. The variants of this type found at Siraf are:

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a - black decoration under a turquoise glaze b - blue and black decoration under a colourless glaze c - black decoration under colourless glaze Fabric. Potting. Firing. Decoration and Shape a - The fabric of the four bowls is a soft friable sandy cream frit, with a rough granular surface. The vessels are fairly finely potted. All the bowls are decorated in black pigment under a clear turquoise glaze. The glaze tends to a green shade in some of the other bodysherds. The bowls are glazed on the interior and over most of the exterior, with the bottom of the side and the base free of glaze. The painted decoration protrudes below the glaze in one place on the back of bowl 1240. The ornamentation takes the form of a roundel on the base, with a band of foliate decoration running round the side of the bowl, and ending in a border round the rim. The band of foliate decoration on no.1240 (Pl.Vlb, second interim report) is fitted into a lattice pattern. The roundel is rather indistinct but may be interlace decoration of some kind, with a double border of thin line. The rim border is a band of repetitive units of multiple wavy line scrollwork. The roundel in 1241 has a star with twenty nine points and a stylised plant border. The zone of decoration round the sides is of scrolled stylised leaf decoration. No. 1242 is very similar with an eighteen petalled rosette in the centre surrounded by interlaced hoop decoration. The stylised interlaced scrollwork round the side is simpler than in the other two, with dots placed above and below the border at intervals. The rim band is similar to that on 1240 (Pl.Vlc, second interim report). All three bowls have a very rudimentary ornamentation of four-stroke stars in square panels executed in double line on the exterior. The details of the painted decoration in bowl 1244 is not available, but it belongs to the class of underglaze painted bowls combined with a border of pierced transparency below the rim. All four bowls belong to the type with a ring base and rounded sides ending in an everted rim. b - A sherd with underglaze decoration in a soft blurred blue, with sharp strokes of black, 1245 is covered in a colourless glaze, now rather degraded. The fabric is a buff close textured frit. c - A few sherds (1246,1247) seem to be of underglaze decoration in black paint covered in a colourless glaze.

22. Saljuq Monochrome Blue-Glazed Ware

Fabric. Potting. Firing. Decoration and Shape Four bodysherds of bowls, two of a slightly overfired hard frit with a biscuit coloured fabric with fine sand intrusions, the other two, as well as a rimsherd, in a near white frit, again with fine sand intrusions, are present. The sherds are finely potted. The sherds are glazed in blue, withthe pink frit examples in mid-blue glaze (574,1239b and c) and the white frit sherds in turquoise (575,1139).

23. Minai Overglaze Enamel Ware

Fabric. Potting. Firing. Decoration and Shape The fabric is a hard grey white sandy frit. The decoration is in the overglaze enamel Minai style, using the colours brown/black, olive, light blue, red and salmon pink. The motif on the base is of a standing or seated lute player facing right. The single sherd (1248) is from the base of a bowl with a footring.

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24. Late Overglaze Enamel Fabric. Potting. Firing. Decoration and Shape The body is potted out of a hard coarse pink frit. The bowl (1249) is finely potted. A colourless finely crackled alkaline glaze covers the interior and upper exterior of the bowl. Traces of reddish gold overglaze-enamel is found in a band around the rim and around the sides. The bowl is wide and shallow, with flaring sides, a flat base and a lobed rim.

3.2

The Provenance of the Islamic Glazed Wares found at Siraf

Detailed investigation into the provenance of Islamic glazed earthenwares has not been attempted in this study. Research into the associated kilns is still at a preliminary stage, and it is not yet possible to provide a close and complete provenance for most of the unglazed earthenwares. However, a few aspects of Islamic glazed ware production, as related to Siraf, are briefly discussed below. Neutron activation, X-ray diffraction and other techniques of scientific analysis applied to samples of both Sasanian-Islamic and White-glazed sherds from Siraf, pointed to southern Iraq as the main source of Sasanian-Islamic vessels, and of some of the White-glazed pieces, with no absolute evidence for manufacture of any of the White-glazed samples at Siraf (Whitehouse 1979;45-61). If this holds good for the entirety of White-glazed sherds from Siraf, the Pottery at Site D has to be viewed primarily as the producer of unglazed wares, found in large quantities in all the Sites in Siraf, and therefore providing a large component of the coarse pottery for domestic consumption. The siting of the Pottery by the sea, is equally related to the export of the Siraf coarse wares to other ports along the Persian Gulf and Indian Ocean littoral. SiraPs own needs of luxury glazed wares would therefore seem to have been supplied mainly by Iraq during most of the course of its history, with Southern Iranian equivalents also coming into play by the middle phase, followed by a slant to Iranian Saljuq glazed wares in the late medieval and post-Medieval period. However, the occurence of the few unglazed sherds of White-glazed type found at the Site still remains, as well as glass slag from the kilns, which points to either glass production on the site and/ or the melting down of glass to obtain glaze components. It may be worthwhile studying a larger sample of the White-glazed wares from Siraf ( only 13 sherds were analysed), to find proof for or evidence against the manufacture of some of the White-glazed ware within Siraf. The date of the establishment and function of the Pottery (the 10th and early 11th centuries) displays general contemporaneity with the chronology of increasing glazed ware manufacture within Iran, of types such as, for example, the Style 3 Sgraffiato and possibly even Style 2 Sgraffiato found at Siraf. Siraf, with its role as a great port dealing with the import and export of Iraqi glazed wares was certainly in an advantageous position to act as a manufacturer of an Iranian complement of White-glazed wares. This argument does of course cut both ways, since the proximity of Siraf to the Iraqi ports exporting White-glazed wares via Siraf, would also have made it quite easy and economical for the city to always obtain the Iraqi wares, to supply the obviously high internal demand for White-glazed wares within Siraf.

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3.3

Ceramic Destribution Patterns in the Persian Gulf

Andrew Williamson's survey of the southern Iranian region demonstrates that despite a competent inland communication network, ceramics were not, under normal circumstances, transported overland for great distances, leading to his remark: 'Thus to find the major determinant of pottery distribution, we should not look to transport facilities, except by sea, but rather to the cultural spread of demand for individual types, that is, the spread of fashion' (Williamson 1988:22). This cultural spread by demand was obviously operative in the case of the more popular Islamic glazed wares, since there are close parallels within the glazed wares of the Islamic region from North Africa to south-eastern Iran, as well as actual transport of the glazed wares within this region. Highly specialised wares such as lustre have achieved the broadest distribution from a limited number of centres, with more widespread techniques such as the White-glazed and Lead-splashed wares achieving a lesser regional spread. Williamson also deduces a localised distribution of most wares, particularly unglazed wares (Williamson 1988:22). While attributing the exclusiveness of finer details of decoration to regional pockets of production, this study advocates the prevalence of a common Middle Eastern pottery corpus, since many of the designs and pottery shapes of the various production centres - as widely apart as Nishapur, Merv, Susa, Siraf, Raqqa and Kirbat - are reminiscent of one another. A diffusion of even fabric types can be discerned in certain special instances, witness the popular and extensive creamware category. In addition to the cultural separation accompanying the geographical 'garmsir / sardsir' ( coastal/plateau) division in the lands fringing the Persian Gulf, it is also possible to discern the added cohesion given to the littorals of the Persian Gulf by their common cultural contacts through coastal and sea trade. This has resulted in the coastal regions of Fars and Kirman forming a ceramic distribution unit with Khuzistan and Mesopotamia, rather than with the inland area, a pattern visible not only in the distribution of Islamic glazed and unglazed earthenwares but also in the dispersal of the traded Chinese wares.

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Chapter 4 Chinese Glazed Wares Chinese ceramics differ from the unglazed and glazed earthenwares, in their fine clay bodies fired to temperatures above 1250. C, resulting in hard, vitrified stoneware and porcelain bodies, and a wellfused glaze. The durability and aesthetic appeal of these wares, resulted in its export as storage containers and tableware, and they are found in the entire gamut of excavated port sites from China to East Africa. The quantity is small in comparison to the entire ceramic assemblage of the sites, generally about 1%, including at Siraf, with the large Coarse Grey Stoneware storage jars comprising a major proportion of the Chinese ceramic component. However, the durability, widespread diffusion, and better-developed chronological framework of Chinese traded ceramics, makes it extremely useful for cross-dating purposes in the Indian Ocean sites, and in following the patterns of the distribution of the maritime trade.

4.1 Ware Descriptions 25. Coarse Grey Stonewares

The pottery with the coarsest fabric and glaze among the Chinese glazed wares is the coarse grey stoneware, which was popular as storage jars, both large and small, in the Indian Ocean trade. The prevalence of bowl shapes also indicates some demand for the ware as glazed tableware, although some of the larger bowls may have fuctioned as storage containers. Fabric. Potting and Firing The fabric is consistently coarse with considerable sand temper, but hard and durable due to firing to a stoneware range. The stoneware can be divided into three broad categories on the basis of the fabric, the typical reduced grey wares ranging from mid to charcoal grey, and a coarser buff pink fabric with granular sand intrusions, belonging to a series of more provincial roughly potted wares. To these can be added darker glazed wares with a dark grey fabric, also more primitive in shape though not in the quality of the potting, sometimes rilled with small rills on the interior - a characteristic not found on the common olive green glazed grey stoneware category. The vessels are usually smooth on both sides but the marks of wheel ribbing remain on a few, bowl 342 being ribbed on both surfaces, while jar 345 is not smoothed on the interior. The thickness of vessels especially in the olive glazed grey stoneware type, often results in uneven firing, with a more reduced darker layer on the surfaces of the fracture. Variations within the fabrics outlined above, coupled with differences in glaze and shape, enable the isolation of a number of sub-types within the coarse grey stoneware group, described in the discussion on the decoration. Shapes The coarse grey stoneware vessels can be divided into two main forms: 1. bowl and 2. jar, with a few ewer jars with circular spouts and a couple of lids. The bowls are of two types; the usual round sided Chinese bowl shape with slightly everted rim and some form of ring base, or large deep rounded bowls with a club rim, probably serving a storage function. A rare example of a large bowl with a carinated shoulder can be seen in no.341. The majority of bowls in type _gbelong to the large bowl type. The angle of curvature of the

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bowls varies from the nearly straight (1252-3) to the almost flared (1265-6), with most of the bowls midway betwe en the two shapes. The club rim is more bulbous on the inside, and ranges from a slightly rounded (1252-3) to a pronounced club rim (1261,1264). Most of the vessels of the provincial buff stonewares (types i ton) are bowls. Although coarsely potted, the bowls belong to the ubiquitous rounded type with a ring base. The rim is slightly everted in most instances, with a sharper outwards angle in a few vessels. A single groove running well below the rim on the inner wall is found in both types Land_m_(nos.1345-6,and 1348-9 respectively). The wide footring shows a number of variations, the most unusual of which may be the thick, completely flat base with a shaved outer edge in a bowl of this genre in type g (1250). Among the scraped base bowls (type i) the heavy footring varies from a curved central groove (1338-9), to a wide square footring with the central groove only partially gouged out, so that it protrudes quite markedly, with either a notched (1340-1) or square (1343) groove running around it. A probable base with a vestigial foot can be seen in 1347. The ringbase of the 1340-1 type appears again on bowl 1352 of type 1, as well as a bowl with a quite different shape, a large squat round sided bowl with a somewhat rolled rim and a small round cordon running around mid-body (1354). A few bowls allied to those of the scraped base tradition but with neater wide footrings and a square groove are found in both types .4 (1359) and l! (1380). The fine rim of the former is slightly everted while that of the latter is a square rim. The glaze has collected in the incised circle on the foot of no.1359. The tall thin foot with an angled central groove, and rounded sides with a slight angle low down on the base, seen in 1360 (type .4)is a facsimile of a Yue ware shape. Taken all in all, this type approximates more closely in both shape and fine potting to the evolved Yue type, while the heavy based round sided bowls of the scraped base and other types is similar in shape to those of the provincial Yue tradition. The jars of type g can be divided on the grounds of neck and body shape into two main groups: a short necked more straight bodied to slightly globular type, and a neckless spherical type. A ' few vessels of intermediate shape link the two. All the jars have flat bases (eg.1296,1304), usually plain, with a very slightly everted flat base in no.1305. Although no bases of the spherical jars have survived, they are likely to have ended in small flat bases. All shapes of jars are furnished with horizontal lug handles placed high on the shoulder. The jars seem to be fitted with between two to four such handles. The handles are slightly bulbous at the two ends; a primitive version of the above with insufficiently rounded ends is seen on jar 1351, in one of the provincial categories. The short necked jars have wide mouths, and many have a straight neck with a squared rim. A few of the rims are squashed a little broader at the top, with rilled neck profiles. Slightly flared square topped rims are found in 1296-1300. Marginally inverted ones of the same basic type can be seen in nos.1301-2. Jar 1303 has a rim, altogether square in shape. Belonging to the transitional more globular body forms , jar 1314 has a straight rimmed short neck, while nos.1306-9 have a club rimmed short neck, with 1309 possessing unusual loop handles placed close together on its shoulder. The everted rounded rim combined with a neckless jar, so popular in the spherical shape appears in nos.1310-1313. The neckless spherical jar is combined with a straight, round or square topped rim in nos.1315-20. The rim is curved outwards in varying degrees in 1321-27, while an incurved club rim is found in 1328-9. One jar (1330) has a globular body combined with a small neck and short flanged rim, while an ewer shaped jar sports the usual piriform body and flared rim(1331). An octagonal ewer spout is also found among the coarse grey stonewares (1335). The two main jar shapes are duplicated in the provincial examples. In the spherical shape, nos.1350-1 have a flared neck and square rim. The loop handle on 1351 is rather interesting. The ends of the loop have not been press ed upon one another to give the added strength more usual in the

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evolved wares. No. 1363 (type g) has a flared pointed rim, while jar 1369 is tipped in a bulbous topp ed flared rim. Of the slightly rounded body type 1367 has a slightly everted straight rim, duplicated in 1388 of the purple slipped buff earthenware and in 1370-1 (type Q), while 1372 (type Q) has a round topped rim. Jar 1381 (type n) has a slightly elongated body with small rills on the inner surface.The scar of a vertically placed handle is found on its shoulder. The uncommon bowl shape 1354 in type 1is matched by a new jar shape in the same ware. This is a squat round sided jar with slightly everted rim and base. Jar 1373, also of the black glazed variety has a unique rim, curved outwards, then upwards, with an inner groove to accomodate a lid. The occurence of lids is as rare among the coarse grey stonewares as it is in the Islamic glazed wares. It is possible that most of the jars were provided with a temporary covering tied round their mouths, but two lids of two different shapes have survived. Of these, 1358 is of the granular buff pink fabric. The top of a rounded lid, it has a broad and round knob on its upper surface, and a flat top with a shaved edge. Lid 1392 belongs to the type f! fabric. It has an angled side and no groove on the flat of the rim. Two saggars can be recognised in nos.1267 and 1268. Both are flat based, with almost straight deep sides, ending in a slightly upwards angled club rim. The latter has one small horizontal lug handle left on its shoulder. The saggars are glazed in the usual coarse stoneware manner. These saggars would have reached Siraf from China by accident or design, and are not an indication of stoneware manufacture at Siraf. Decoration The highly utilitarian coarse grey stoneware looks to neither shape nor potting nor glaze for its decoration. It is instead very simply glazed in a usually uneven glaze. This glaze ranges through a series of shades of green, with olive green predominating, to the rarer purple, brown and black glazed vessels. The green glazed ware is iron glazed, while larger concentrations of iron in the glaze coupled with very reduced firing, provides the brown and black glazed vessels. Manganese compounds in the glaze composition produces the magenta purple glaze in the purple glazed category. The bowls and jars and few spoute d 'ewer' jars are glazed on the inside and three quarters of the way down the outside, ending in an irregular boundary , and excluding the lower body, lower base and rim. The glaze on the interior is often a little patchy and only the handful of vessels belonging to type g are almost totally glazed. It is obvious that the potter has held the vessels by the base and dipped them in the glaze, wiping the lip rim free of glaze afterwards, to enable stacking in the kiln. The reddish brown band along these rims is the result of the custom of firing most of the vessels rim to rim in the kiln, the iron in the clay of the exposed rim surfaces oxidising to this colour. A number of jars are incised with a sign, either pseudo-calligraphic or pictographic, on the shoulder. Among the olive glazed grey stoneware type, no.1284 is marked with a cross, while 1281, 1306, 1316 and 1317 seem to bear pseudo-calligraphic signs, probably made by illiterate potters to distinguish their wares from that of others in the kiln. A sign like a bird's claw is found on the black glazed vessel 1370, and the fish motif on sherd 346 possibly serves the same function. What appears to be the extension of such pseudo -calligraphic motifs into a decoration can be seen on the shoulder of jar 1367. An unusual curved leaf decoration in brown slip is found under the glaze in bowls 1364-5 of type n, and line and dot decoration appears on jars of type c. The only instance of elaborat e ornamentation in the coarse grey ~toneware category is in the later martabani type jar (1330). This large spherical jar has two bands of decoration on the shoulder, the first 11cm, and the second 16cm wide. The bands are bounded by zigzag decoration borders. The decoration consists of a series of animate and inanimate motifs: birds both simply drawn and more elaborate phoenix-like creatures, birds on trees, mountains, clouds and roses.

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Coarse grey stonewares: green glazed a - The coarse grey stoneware found most commonly in excavations around the Indian Ocean, including Siraf, is of type i!, with a buff or charcoal grey fabric and grey green glaze. This type is covered in a thinly applied, finely crackled glaze, generally with a flaked bubbled surface. The glaze is sometim es evenly and sometimes unevenly applied. It is predominantly of an olive green colour with a few excursions into a glaze fired a darker olive green. The glaze is speckled in black and brown in vessels which have been potted in a clay very rich in iron, the iron often ringing the edge of flaked bubbles in a russet brown. The thick band of dark brown slip on the upper exterior surface of jar 345 is however intentional decoration, although its blackened interior is the result of its container function. b - The thick layer of crackled grey green glaze differentiates sherd 347 (type 12) from type g. The body is of a mid-grey colour. c - The body, glaze and decoration of sherds of type £ is unusual. It is possible that these sherds came from either South China or South-east Asia. The fabric is a pale grey colour, the moulded decoration of the jar a simple geometric design of dots, lines and criss-crossed lines. These indentations have been daubed with a white slip, the opacifier in the slip leaving white streaks in the glaze. The glaze over the pale body colour beneath, is of a pale green hue. d - This category is again different in the fine potting of its vessels, shapes closer to the Yue than the rest of the coarse grey stonewares, and also in being totally glazed, excepting for the patches of spurmarks left on the flat of the footring. It is coated in a well preserved, crackled, watery, silvery green glaze. Although reasonably similar, slight differences in fabric and glaze may indicate a different provenance for jar base 352. It is important to note that the striking rust coloured leaf-like motif on the interior of this base is not a deliberate attempt at decoration, but a result of kiln oxidisation. e - The grey fabric has innumerable grey and brown inclusions, and a dull greenish grey glaze with iron specks. f - The fabric is a pale grey, and the curvilinear leaf decoration in brown slip shows through the clear pale green glaze. g - The grey stoneware is glazed in a dull grey green glaze not at all typical of the usual glaze types. A band of sketchy, perhaps pseudo-calligraphic decoration, bounded by incised lines, runs around the upper shoulder. h - Sherd 1368 is covered in an oily brown olive glaze. i - Sherd 1369 is glazed in yellow brown. Coarse pink buff stoneware: green glaz d j - Coarse granular buff pink stoneware with air spaces in fabric, fired a creamy colour on the surfaces. Pale olive green glaze with darker streaks where the glaze has dripped in an uneven manner. A ring of rectangular patches are free of glaze on the inner base stretching partway up the sides. This has led to the name 'scraped base bowls' for this type. If the patches are the result of a firing technique, with the stacked bowls separated from one another by oblong strips of clay, it would seem to be an unusually large and obvious form of spur.The bowls are roughly potted. k - Very similar in fabric and glaze to the above, but with different bowl and jar shapes and sans the scraped bases. 1 - The coarse granular fabric is mainly a buff pink, and occasionally fired pink grey. The main difference between this type and type j is its use of the olive green glaze typical of the 'mainstream' coarse stoneware jars. m - The bowl rim type with a single groove on the interior is similar to one of the bowl types in

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type i . The coarse fabric is often fired a greyer colour and the glaze shows a matt uneven greenish grey. Coarse cream stoneware: green glaze n - A few fugitive sherds in a granular cream stoneware are covered in a thin, watery, pale green glaze. This may be intentional, or due to misfiring of a granular buff pink ware. The martabani jar 1330, is also of a fine cream fabric, but covered in the typical olive green glaze. Coarse grey stoneware: black or dark brown glazed o - Grey to dark grey stoneware, sometimes with a tinge of purple, with white inclusions. The fracture shows many white striations. There is a rough shiny black varnish like glaze on exterior, and a matt black glaze on the interior. p - Grey, mainly dark grey, harsh dense stoneware fabric, with some purple specks. Rich lustrous chocolate brown glaze on interior, showing black where it is thicker and purple where thin. Dull on the interior. Buff stoneware: purple glaze q - Coarse sandy buff stoneware. Poor quality bubbled majenta purple glaze. It is possible that two sherds are either Chinese or Islamic imitations of brown and purple glazed stonewa re. Jar 1388 is a buff pink earthenware with a purple black slip while jar 1389 is of orange eart henware with a shiny chocolate brown glaze. The purple slipped jar bear s the usual horizontal lug handle on its shoulder, while the brown slipped jar has the customary matt glaze on the interior, and glaze on the upper three quarters of the exterior.

26. Fine Grey Stoneware (Yue)

The Yue tableware, one of the finest and most popular manifestations of the green glaz d stoneware tradition, is generously represented among the Chinese wares at Siraf. Fabric, Potting and Firing Yue ware is of a uniformly fine dense stoneware fabric, with no visible sand intrusions, lending itself to very fine potting at need. The vessels are fired from a buff colour to light grey, mid-grey to an occasional dark grey colour. More thickly potted vessels often tend to be fired to the lighter shades, while the finely potted Yue is generally a mid-grey colour. This phenomenon can be seen simultaneously in bowls with fine rims and a thick lower body, the upper body being more quickly fired and grey in colour and the lower section more slowly baked to a buff or pinkish tone (1504-1516). The spurmarks and stacking scars on the footring and the interior of the bowls varies in occurence and shape; this will be discussed in the section on shapes. Shapes The majority of the Yue vessels are bowls, with a few jars and ewers, and matching lids. Few whole vessels survive, and the bases and rims have to be matched together with the help of a few complete vessels, complete profiles and the curvature of the sherds, to envisage the forms of the Yue vessels. The bowls can be divided by the shapes thus achieved, into three broad styles : a-the provincial Yue, the forms of which are earlier, although the shapes continued to be made to some extent even at a later stage; b-hybrid shapes with characteristics of the provincial and more developed Yue and c-the sophisticated Yuezhou ware. Although possibly imbued with broad chronological implications, it is necessary to emphasise that the divisions should be considered in a morphological rath er than a chronological sense, since rates of development of styles differed in different kilns, with the more basic styles co-existing with the sophisticated ones in many of the kilns.

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The provincial Yue bowls seem to have been of two main shapes: 1. More flared bowls, heavy at the base and ending in a slightly everted, occasinally straight, fine pointed rims and 2. deep round sided bowls with straight, sometimes everted, pointed rims. The shapes of the later or Yuezhou ware are many, and will emerge in the description of rim types later on in this section. A number of variations can be observed in the shape of the base and footring in Yue. These are discussed in morphological sequence, along with details of stacking scars: Provincial Yue: 1482-83 - Vestigial pointed footring with a shallow curved central groove; the foot of no.1483 is quite broad in comparison. They bear round stacking scars. 1484-90 - Vestigial foot with slightly angled shallow central groove. Foot shaved on the outside. Round stacking scars on interior of base and on footring. 1491-94 - Short foot with angled shallow central groove. Shaved on outside of foot and under the foot, resulting in a slanting edge to the flat of the footring. Round scars on all except 1491, which has the long oval scars usually associated with the Yuezhou vessels. In addition, there is a slight angle at the junction of body and base in all the bowls described above. The bowls belong to both the flared and round forms. 1495-1503 - Short foot, but shaved at an angle only on the flat of the footring. Slightly angled central groove. The foot varies between less broad and broad. No.1502 bears a notch around the central groove in a manner reminiscent of some of the coarse grey stoneware bowls (eg.,1340-1). There is a slight angle between body and base. All the bowls are of the more flared type. Round stacking scars; a few bear no scars on the interior (1495,1501), while 1503 also has a groove at the junction of body and base. 1504-1510 - Short not very broad foot, not shaved at all (ie., flat). Slightly angled shallow central groove. Squarish rough white stacking scars. Flared bowls falling sheer to the bottom of the footring. No. 1504 only has a shallow curved groove. 1511 - 1521 - Different from above only in the slight angle where body meets base, and the more usual round stacking scars. Hybrid shapes: 1522 - Of the same shape as above, but the stacking scars are of the long oval Yuezhou type. 1523 - Similar short flat foot and shape, but the Yuezhou shape is visible in the slight groove at the junction of body and base. There is another groove running round the central groove in this case. Developed ware: 1524-25 - The later tall thin foot, straight in this instance, and with a high square central groove. No.1524 has scars only on the footring, while 1525 has them on the inside only. 1526-33 - Tall thin slightly everted foot, flat in nos.1526-31 and pointed in 1532 and especially in 1533. Angled central groove. Long oval scars on interior of 1526-29. No internal scars on 1530-33, where they are limited to the footring. Nos.1526-29 show the slight angle in the lower body typical of the later Yue. No.1533 is a lobed bowl. 1534-38 - The tall thin foot is pointed and curved outwards. Fairly thick curved feet are found on nos.1536-38, narrowing to a very slim foot in 1536-38, the outwards curve of the last two b ing very pronounced.

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The Yue bowl rims can be broadly separated into plain and foliate types. The thickn ess of both types varies, but the majority are finely potted. The plain rims belong to the following bowl shapes: Straight rims with: a-straight flared sides (1393-1416), b-slightly concave flared sides (1417-1425); c-more curved sides (1426-1431) and d-deep rounded sides (1432-36). e-A slightly everted rim is combined with the more curved form (1439-52), while f-has a slightly bulbous everted rim joined to bowls with flared sides (1453-55). The strongly angled bowls would have been fitted with narrow ring bases as in 1438, thos e of a shallower slant, with wider bases. The bowls with foliate rims range between the nominally foliate examples with faintly notched rims and corresponding slight grooves on the body (1456-7), and the foliate and strongly foliate rims with grooved or lobed sides. The number of lobes vary from four (1456), to five (1457-8), to upto twelve in 1459. Most have finely everted rims, matched with fine straight or angled footrings, with correspondingly square or angled central grooves. The base of 1456 has a deep notch running around the central groove, while some of the lobed bowls sit on a slightly domed flat base (370-1,1459). The occasional absolutely flat base is represented in 372. The majority of the lobed bowls are of the more curved body shape. A rare Oared bowl combined with a straight foliate rim is seen in 1469, while two examples present the lobed form with a sharply carinated side (1470-1). Among the handful of bowl shapes outside these categories are three with a broad flange rim which straighten at the top (1472-4), and three rims with a horizontal flange and carinated body shape (1475-77). No. 1475 is lobed while the other two may be plain rimmed. No. 1478 is a wide mouthed flared dish or bowl with the rim straightening out at the top. A rolled rim and flared sides is found in 1479, and the deep rounded bowl 1480 ends in a flattened rolled rim with a cordon running round a little way below. A bevelled rim appears on 1481. The deeper Yue bowls and the ewers are sometimes furnished with lids. No.1543 presents a shallow curved rim shape which may be part of a bowl or a lid. The strongly carinated rimsherd 1544 is foliated, and ends in a square rim, and seems to be a foliated lid. Nos.1545-6 are typical Yu box-shaped lids, with the edge a little recessed to fit into the mouth of the vessel. Nos.1547-8 are parts of more domical lids ending in a pointed finial-like knob. Three straight octagonal ewer spouts can be seen in nos.1549-51. No.1552 is a curved round spout, while 1553 is the base of a triple grooved ewer handle. No.381 is a four grooved handlesherd. The sides of three flat bases (1553-55) are too straight to belong to bowl shapes. They appear to be jar or ewer bases. The first two have slightly curved sides, while no.1555 belongs to a straight sided ewer. A bodysherd from a straight or partly straight vessel is seen in 1556. Four jar or ewer tops in the assemblage have a fairly tall straight neck ending in a horizontal flange rim, and appear to slope down to a rounded body shape (1557-60). No.1560a is different from the others in the slight curvature of the neck and slightly curved rim. It has part of a tripartite handle which curves up along the neck. No.1561 is part of a slightly flared necked straight rimmed jar. Decoration Yue depends mainly on the beauty of glaze and form for its visual impact. The green glaze utilised in this ware is a refinement of that appearing on earlier green glazed stonewares, including the coarse grey stonewares. It is applied very thinly to a thickness of about 0.1mm. The smooth and shiny glaze is a grey green at its most typical tone over a mid grey fabric, but a pale green is achieved on slightly underfired pale grey bodies, and an occasional brown (1520-1), locally brown, brown green, or green speckled with brown, can be seen in instanc es where there has been more iron in the glaze. Generally smooth, it is occasionally minutely bubbled, resulting in pinhole blemishes in the glaze, or a slighly crackled glaze (1498,1537). The saline nature of the soil at Siraf has often degraded the glaze to a matt dull green grey appearance. A somewhat glossier glaze is found in some of the later examples . The vessels, mainly bowls, are almost completely glazed. The base is often more patchily coated, and lacks glaze in the grey fired patches left by the spurs. The outer edge of the footring is sometimes left clear of glaze and bears the spurmarks. The glaze stops close to the bottom of the outer base in a

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very few examples, leaving the footring and inner groove bare. A few vessels have fine grooves at the rim (362,364) or at the junction of body and base (373,377,1503). The handles of Yue ewers are vertically grooved, and the lids are sometimes sculpted to an elaborate shape (1547-8). The classic shapes of the finely potted plain bowls are themselves beautiful, but a large number of vessels are lobed in a stylised lotus form. The foliation of the rims in such bowls, matched by corresponding grooves on the outer body and ribs on the inside, is described in the section on shapes. Many of the later Yue bowls also bear incised combed decoration on the inner base. Nos.1534-5 show feathery sketchily drawn plant scrollwork, while 1536 is carved with a lotus on the interior and a band of ring and dot motif around the outside. More flowing multiple line floral decoration is found on the base of 1538 and on sherd 1539. Bodysherd 1540, possibly from the lower body of a ewer, has combed lotus petal decoration also in multiple line. The rather stiff looking moulded Yue lobed bowl (1541) is unusual. It bears thin vertical panels of dot motif, and short oblique hatching, running down its inner wall. Rimsherd 1542 belongs to a deep sided curved bowl with an everted rim, and incised decoration on both sides. Only a band of simple scrollwork under the rim, each tendril ending in a trefoil, survives on the interior. Part of a finely etched hexagonal motif is seen on the outside. The motif is bounded by cloud scroll, with perhaps a dragon or a phoenix above a conventional landscape.

27. Painted Stoneware (Changsha)

Painted stoneware with a more colourful use of glaze than in the green glazed stonewares, captured the imagination of the buyers of the overseas market, especially in the Islamic world. The Changsha stoneware found at Siraf belongs to both the type with moulded applied decoration, as well as the painted variety. Fabric, Potting and Firing The fabric of all these wares is hard stoneware, but coarser than in the Yue, and with some sand inclusion. Some of the sherds exhibit a coarser texture than others. Differences in firing combin d with variations in the iron content of the clay, has resulted in diverse fabric tones of pale grey, pale buff and pinkish colour. The bowls, especially the base, are rather heavily and clumsily thrown. In contrast the ewers with applied decoration are thinly potted.The bowls are smooth on both surfaces but the stoneware ewers with applied decoration are finely rilled on the interior (1633-36).

In addition to the 'authentic' Changsha painted ware (sherds 382-389), two categories of sherds, allied in fabric, motifs and glaze to the Changsha, can be identified in the assemblage. The finer fabric and especially the better, smoother quality of the glaze in these examples, seems to indicate that they may be the products of different kilns. While one category has the same pale grey, buff and pink buff body as Changsha ware (type b), the other type has a near white fine stoneware fabric (type c). Shapes Most of the painted vessels &re bowls, with a few jar and ewer shapes, while the type with moulded applied decoration are invariably ewers. The Changsha ware is another offshoot of the southern stoneware tradition, and as such, many of its bowl shapes bear an affinity to the 'scraped base' bowls and the provincial Yue in particular. But the bases, although often similar in general to the short footed variety in the early Yue, show some individual characteristics. Some of the bases belong to the heavy somewhat flared bowl type with an everted (1609) or straight rim (1610), but the majority seem to belong to rounded bowls, more consistently deep sided than the Yue, with a small number of slightly curved and more sharp angled vessels.

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Straight rimmed deep, rounded vessels are represented by nos.1562-73. An uncommon shallow sided wide mouthed vessel can be seen in 1574. The flared bowls are generally straight sided (1575-80), with a single concave shape (1581). An unusual type where the flared shape ends in a triangular rim is found in 1581a. The more curved category of bowls with slightly everted rims appear in nos.1582-98. Foliated forms are rarer and generally of the earlier slightly everted notched form, with gentle ribs in the side (1599-1603). No.1604 is a single example of a bowl with a strongly foliated rim teamed with a carinated side. As in Yue, the rims are pointed. The bases are thicker and more clumsily potted than in the Yue, and barring a handful of examples, all fall into the short footed type, with none of the later tall slim footed ring bases. A few have a short straight foot combined with a straightforward square angled groove (1605-8), this foot being combined with flared and rounded body shapes in 1609 and 1610. The majority end in everted feet, and of these 1611 rests on a flat foot, while 1612-1622 are slightly shaved on the outside. Both body shapes are again found combined with the latter base in 1622 and 1623. Nos.1612-15 in this category have a plain angled central groove but the rest have the heavy clumsy looking curved (386,1616-7) or pointed central groove (1611,1618-21) often found on the painted stoneware. A slightly everted flat base appears in 1624, and this is very simply adapted to a footed type in 1625-7, by cutting a small notch in the centre of the base. Among the few more evolved types of ring base found in the Changsha ware are nos.1628-9, with a taller everted foot very slightly shaved on the outside but an angled central groove again of the curved type. An unusual tall slightly everted, mildly curved foot is found in 1630; the flat of the foot has been shaved into a rounded shape on the outside. Both the decoration and the basering of 1631 are very unusual. The tall slim foot has a rounded ridge at its base and the square angled groove is repeatedly notched. The rim of a Changsha .ifil has a constricted short neck which ends in an everted curved rim (1632). Judging by the curvature of the shoulder, the body is rounded. Another jar (388) has a similar rim but is neckless and attached to a gently curved body. Most of the ewers belong to the type with moulded appled decoration luted onto the shoulder, often just below the handles. These ewers are squat, with very wide necks ending in a very slightly everted pointed rim. The sides of the ewers are almost straight, and they nd in either a plain flat base (1634, possibly 1633) or slightly everted flat bases (1635-6). No. 1634 has two, and 1633 three, tripartite handles, curving from the base of the neck to the upper shoulder. Four long vertical ribs decorate the body of 1634. Ewer 1637, of the painted type, has a sloping sided curved shape. Also ribbed, it ends in an everted foot. The smaller neck is flared. A wide octagonal spout sits on the shoulder matched by a handle on the other side, curving upto the rim. A small vertically placed lug handle is found on the shoulder. Sections of ewer lids point to domed covers, with a ridged surface and a broad but vestigial knob on the top (1638-9). The base of the lids is missing. The little animal figurine, paw raised up to scratch its ear, may have been attached to such lids, perhaps to the top of the knob, thereby providing a better handhold. Decoration a - In the usual Changsha painted stoneware, the vessels are white slipped on the inside, the white slip stopping partway down the back in an uneven swag like contour, followed by the glaze which ends a little further down. The glaze is a transparent yellow glaze, which, depending on its iron content and the firing conditions, results in a grey green (reduced and with more iron) or cream (slightly oxidised and with less iron) colour over the white slipped area. These are usually, but not invariably, matched by grey or buff body colours respectively. In addition to the style, the painted decoration used in the Changsha stoneware is distinctive on

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two counts: the pigments in use and the technique of decoration. The green pigment is copper but it incorporates some cobalt, which gives it an intriguing blue tinge, and sometimes a blue core to the green painted elements. The brown pigment is iron mixed with some manganese. The use of manganese is rare in Chinese glazes except in isolated instances such as this, until the 15th century. Both pigments have blurred into the glaze at the edges. It is also noticeable that the painted decoration seems to be etched into the body in some of these examples. This is very clear in sherd 386. Examination of Changsha sherds has revealed that this is due to the use of both underglaze and overglaze techniques of painting in the ware, the overglaze pigments sinking through the glaze to give an etched appearance to the decoration. It is not always possible to tell the two apart since underglaze pigments sometimes move up towards the surface of the glaze. This technique is generally known as 'in glaze decoration'.

Although most of the painted stoneware is painted in a combination of green and brown, a few are decorated in either one or the other pigment. Amongst the latter, the largest group of green painted vessels are the curved bowls with notched everted rims (1599-1603), decorated with leaf-like motifs on the rim. The heavy flared bowl 1622 is also decorated in rather simple green motifs, as well as bowls 1591, 1588 and 1614 and 1629, and combined with swags of brown glaze, the latter on the exterior in 1624. The background glaze colour is both green grey and cream. Brown decoration appears on 1574, 1613 and 1641 and is again found on the heavy flared bowl 1609 on the interior, with a swag of brown glaze on the outer rim. There seems to be no chronological sequence leading from monochrome painted to bichrome decoration or vice versa, since both types appear indiscriminately on various bowl forms in the same strata. The modes of decoration are many. Spear-like leaf motifs in green and brown hanging down from the rim, with a denser spread of leaf and multi-petalled flowers arranged round a central dot, is perhaps the commonest. This can be light, abstract and sketchy (387,1570,1605,1610,1593,1577 and all the monochrome brown painted examples), or in a heavier floral style (386,1614,1642). A few examples have more curvilinear florets outlined in brown and filled in green (eg., 1579). A somewhat different design element of two or three concentric circles is found in 389 and 1591. A very unusual motif on the unique tall footed bowl 1631 shows carefully executed trefoil leaves on long stalks, the leaves oulined in thick green and filled in with fine brown veins. The covering glaze is grey green. b - Sherds 390-394 and 1564 present in addition to a better glaze and fabric, a slightly different decorative technique. The spear-like leaf motifs can be again seen on the interior, but only in brown pigment in this type. The iron glaze is consistently fired to a pale grey green over the white slip, which again ends in a swag like contour on the back, the glaze being enlivened by an innovation large patches of brown glaze starting from just within the rim, or from the top of the rim on the exterior. Probably allied to this type, but with a less sketchy type of design, is bowl 395, which has a band of blue running under the rim on both sides, and a vestige of a squarish motif which may be derived from the leaf motif. The blue pigment in the painted decoration may be the result of the use of copper with more cobalt in it, and the brown shade in the lower half of the leaf-like motif may be iron pigment. The glaze, coated over the white slip, starts as an olive green at the rim and shades down to a yellower tone; this may either be a deliberate effect or due to the vagaries of firing. c - This the high splashed splashed

type is characterised by the smoothness of the near white fabric, fineness of the potting and quality of the glossy glaze over a white slip. Of the two bowls, no.396 is decorated with brown pigment on the outer rim over the white slip and yellow glaze, while 397 omits the brown decoration.

The moulded applied decoration is always covered in a thick patch of brown glaze. The theme is often of feathery foliage interspersed with bunches of berries (1643-49). A bird is often introduced to this setting (1650-51). A very stylised lotus backed by another popular motif in the theme, a long pointed leaf with hatched veins, is seen in 1652. No.1653 depicts the hindquarters of an animal such as a

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buffalo, with a curled tail.

28. Canary Glazed Ware

Fabric, Potting, Firing, Decoration and Shape The spouted ewer of a light buff pink ware is coated in a canary glaze. The glaze is thinner on the interior. The ewer is thin walled, with a globular body and a straight neck ending in a slightly everted rim. A round spout sits on the shoulder (1938).

29. Green and White Splashed Ware

The green and white splashed ware along with the polychrome splashed ware, are particularly important as the possible precursors of the numerous Islamic lead-splashed wares also found at Siraf, and which are described in the chapter on Islamic glazed ceramics. Fabric. Potting and Firing The vessels are of a fairly hard fine cream or pink fired fabric, bordering on the verge between earthenware and stoneware, but probably a low fired stoneware. A harsher grey stoneware is found in bowls belonging to one category of decoration (1662-66). Shapes The shapes range equally between bowls and dishes, and even an occasional jar. One of the bowls is of the rounded type with a slightly everted pointed rim (1654). A deep rounded bowl with an cvcrted pointed rim and short foot, with a heavily curved central groove is seen in 1662. No.1656 is a bulbous everted rim possibly combined with a rounded shape. Flared bowls with slightly pointed rims, are either straight (431,1665) or concave sided (432,1664). No.1669 is a rimsherd from a shallow curved bowl, while a similar shape is combined with a carination in the lower body in bowl or dish sherd 1668. Two dish forms emerge. One of them is a wide flared shape with a plain round rim which is slightly notched (1657), with a groove running around mid-body. The complete form of this type of dish can be seen in 1674 in the three colour ware. The four lobed oval dish 1667 stands on a thick slightly undulating footring. A bodysherd from a fairly small round sided .ifilis seen in no.1666. Decoration The reason for the comparatively low firing of this ware can be recognised in the decoration. The bright copper green in the green splashed decoration would change in colour if fired to a higher more oxidised temperature. The decoration is splashed over a white slip which covers both surfaces of the vessel. A minutely crackled colourless glaze has been finally applied to the vessel. Small variations can be seen in the mode of the splashed decora tion. The almost complete bowl 1654, along with rimsherds 431-32 and 1655-6 provides evidence for one mode, that of green spots on the interior and more irregular green splashes on the exterior. The spots are nearly round on the inner rim, and get larger as they proceed downwards, with ever increasing drip trails towards the centre. Splashes of green glaze on both surfaces can be seen on nos.1657-8. Nos.1659-1661 bear green splashes on the inside and an overall green glaze on the outer wall. A decoration of vertical shapes of green merging in a pool at the base is seen on 1662-66. The slightly more reduced firing of these vessels has resulted in a greenish tinge in the glaze, due to the reaction of the iron particles in the colourless glaze. This green splashed decoration is combined with moulded ornamentation in nos.1667-69. Of these no.1667 is a four lobed dish, two of which survive. The upper border consists of an ogival arch per lobe, with zoomorphic decoration below; a buffalo like animal in one and a flying bird in the other.

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Radial ribs between the lobes extend from the rim to the lower, now missing, border around the base. No. 1668 has feathery moulded decoration below the incised line. The honeycomb decoration on 1669 has a small cross in the centre of each cell, and a yellow brown splash over the rib on the inside. The moulded decoration in all these examples is on the inside, and both surfaces arc splashed in green.

30. Polychrome Splashed Ware

Fabric, Potting and Firing The fabric is a hard orange red earthenware with small purplish specks in nos.1674-75. Although not of the usual red fabric but of a fine cream earthenware as in the green and white splashed type, nos.1676-77 also decorated in the same manner are included in this description. Shapes A deep rounded bowl with a plain round rim is seen in 1675. In the creamware, no.1676 is a flared bowl with a plain round rim, while bowl base 1677 has a fairly tall foot and a curved central groove. No.1674 is a wide flared dish in red earthenware, with a pointed notched rim, and a short square base with a shallow square central groove. A groove runs around the middle of the body on the inside, with two groups of triple grooves below, one around the centre and the other a little above it on the base. Decoration The white slip stops a little short of the bottom of the footring in the two red earthenware vessels, and the glaze stops just above the slip boundary. The glaze is a very pale green with darker blobs in 1674, while the bright green and yellow brown splashes on the interior of no.1675 are more or less radially disposed, and those on the exterior more irregular. The vessel has been coated in a glossy colourless glaze. In the fine cream earthenware category, rimsherd 1676 is glazed overall in a fairly vivid greenish yellow crackled glaze, brown streaked on the lower surface. Base 1677 has yellow brown spots on the interior, and green splashes on the exterior.

31. Cream Stoneware

Often thrown in with the white wares, the ceramic type described as cream stoneware in this catalogue has been so designated both to distinguish it from the true white wares, and to acknowledge the individuality of this ware, which coheres as a distinctive early type in form, cream stoneware fabric and cream glaze. Fabric, Potting and Firing The fabric is a dense, somewhat granular and opaque cream coloured stoneware, with fine black iron spots visible in the clay. The vessels are smoothly but heavily potted. The fabric has sometimes been reduced to a pale grey colour. Shapes The cream stoneware vessels are all large bowls, belonging to two basic shapes, the rounded and the more flared, with two variations in rim types, the pointed and everted rim and the plain rounded rim. The bowls can also be divided into three sub types, the plain, the ribbed, and the ribbed and notched forms. Both types of rim are found in conjunction with the rounded and more flared forms, whether plain, ribbed, or of the ribbed and notched form.

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Among these, the ever ted rim type has the greatest occurence, and is found in bowls 1678-85 (plain rounded), 398-99, 1687-94 (plain flared), 1698-9 (ribbed and rounded), 400,1697,1701 (ribb d and flared), 1702-4,1706,1708 (rounded, ribbed and notched) and 1703,1705 (flared, ribbed and notched). The round rim is seen in these categories in 1686, 1695, (none in the ribbed and round ed category), 1701, 1707, and 1709-10 respectively. No.1696 is different in being a very wide and shallow flared bowl shape with an everted rim. Most of the bases are of the short slightly angled footed type, with just four exam pies with a straight foot, but the shape of the angled foot presents many slight variations which tally with thos e found in other contemporary Chinese glazed wares. Accordingly, nos.1714-12 are shaved on the outside, and 1713 shaved at an angle on the flat of the foot. Nos.1714-17 are square in section, with the last named presenting a very broad square foot. No.1718 is slightly rounded. A tapering taller foot is seen in bases 1719-25. The central groove is flat or gently curved in the cream stoneware. Decoration The decoration consists of glaze, combined in many instances with faint vertical ribs in the body, sometimes in conjunction with a slightly notched, more rarely lobed rim. This simple foliate decoration suits the heavy nature of the bowls, which would look incongrous with more elaborate foliate or other decoration. The glaze is a shiny cream colour, often crackled. The glaze interface at the point of fusion with the body gives it an opaque appearance. A white slip has been used to smoothen the surface of the vessels in some instances. This is particularly noticeable in bowl sherd 1679. The glaze has turned a slightly dirty cream grey colour in instances where the vessels have been more reduced in the firing. The iron in the clay and glaze has occasionally introduced a brown cream appearance. A single sherd presents a different mode of decoration. Corresponding absolutely in fabric and overall glaze to the usual type, it is painted on the inside with cobalt blue tear-shaped spots (1726). The cream stoneware bowls are glazed on all surfaces excepting the flat of the footring, which has been wiped free of the glaze.

32. Fine White Wares

The distinction between the quality of the fabric, whether fine stoneware, porcellanous stonewar or porcelain, is often rather tenuous. This holds true for many of the nuances of fabric and glaze tone, which are generally due to slight differences of firing and/or chemical composition. In this context, and since both fine stoneware and porcelain bodies are found in all the categori s, the term 'fine wares ' has been used to describe the fabric, and slight differences in glaze tone are incorporated into the prevalent tone, in the categorisation of both the fine white and the non-Yue, fine grey, Chinese ceramics from Siraf. The variations of fabric and glaze have been, however, noted in the general descriptions of fabric and decoration. Fine white wares with colorless. and off white glazes: Fabric. Potting and Firing The fabric ranges between an opaque porcellanous stoneware with a harsh fracture, of better quality than the coarse cream stoneware, and translucent porcelain wares with a smooth conchoidal fracture. No inclusions are found in the clay which is a pure kaolin. The vessels are generally fired a dead white, sometimes a slightly greyish white colour. Most of the vessels are finely potted with a few thicker, heavier examples. Shapes Most of the forms are bowls, with the occasional jar fragment (1770), a jar lid (1779), bowl lid (1783) and dish sherd (1780). The bowls range over a number of forms. Some have very deep rounded sides, with a slightly everted pointed rim in 1815a and b, an incurved straight rim in 1794 and a plain straight rim in 1740-1.

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Such a straight rim appears to be combined with a carinated body in 1775 and 1795. A similar shape is fitted with a long horizontal flange rim, which fans out like a collar someway below the rim in 1728. Deep rounded bowls without carination are provided with upwards angled flanges in 1734,1737 and 1750. All the Oared bowl forms end in pointed rims. The somewhat flared form with an cvertcd rim appears in a more thickly potted form in the white ware (11801,1762,1742,1789,1797,1755,1767and 1777). Nos. 1818,1799,1776,1763,1810,1732,1758and 1753 are slightly curved flared bowls with a plain pointed rim, followed by straight flared bowl rims in 1768,1766,1745,1800and 1782. Some of the concave sided flared bowl rims (1747,1811,1751,1781,1759and 1760) may have progressed to a carination in the lower body, in the manner seen in 1773 and 1749 in the foliated rim categories. The foliated white wares range between the slightly notched, more foliate, strongly foliate and scalloped rims. Bowl 1749 with a notched rim and 1773 with a scalloped rim are of a concave flared shape on the upper half and carinated below. Slight carination coupled with ribbed bodies is found in 1817,1787,1736and 1774. Strongly curved foliation appears in 1808, 1808a, and 1790, coupled with flared sides, and a scalloped rim in 1778. The thicker bases with short early type footrings all belong to stoneware and porcellanous stoneware vessels. No.1816 is angled and shaved on the outside, no.1802 is shaved at an angle on the flat of the footring, while 1786,1814,1733 and 1813 are flat footed, the last two particularly broad. An unusually coarse shape is found in the stoneware bowl with incised decoration (1764), with thickly potted flared sides ending in a thick rim, and a vestigial foot with a very shallow curved groove. The thick base of 1750 has a very uneven, shallow central groove. The handful of more robust bowls may have been furnished with these bases, but the majority of thinly potted bowls end in the tall straight or slightly tapered later foot, sometimes very slightly angled. These forms appear in the fine stoneware and porcellanous stoneware (1809,1746,1729) and in porcelain (1761,1791,1769,1781,1771,1798,1742and 1773). An even later shape is found in 1785.The bowl is very deep with a straight rim and a tall tapering foot on its narrow footring. Lid 1783 is domed with the top broken off. A slight carination on its upper surface marks the point which is the beginning of its border of lotus petal decoration. The curved edge is slightly flattened at the point where it would sit on the mouth of a deep bowl. The shape of the jgr fragment, jar lid and dish base have not been described. Decoration The colourless glaze shows as a shiny, occasionally weathered, white in 1728-33, and a particularly glossy white over the fine porcelain bowls (1734-8)2. The slightly grey fired vessels have combined with the colourless glaze to produce a greyish white (1783-85) or off white (1786-1801) colour. A glossy ivory glaze is found with white porcellanous stoneware and porcelain bodies in 1802-9. The vessels have been occasionally slipped, probably to smoothen uneven surfaces. No.1741 has been slipped on the interior only, with the slip boundary visible just below the outer rim. Bowl 1748 has a grey body but a clear white glaze, and may have been similarly slipped, this time to achieve a white rather than a grey glazed effect. The glaze generally ends in a rather untidy contour at the bottom of the footring on the outside, leaving the rest of the base unglazed. Other than the ornamental element provided by foliated rims, incised decoration, so common in the qingbai glazed ware, is almost missing in the white glazed. Incised cloud scroll decoration is found on the exterior of 1784 above a double line, and a border of rather crudely gouged lotus petals appears around lid 1783. A similar row of petals is found in a continuous zone around the exterior of the roughly potted stoneware bowl 1764. A greyish white porcelain bowl, no.1785, has incised decoration of a soft floral design on the interior, with combed details of petals and leaves, and a carved border of lotus petals stretching from base to rim on the exterior. A curious design of an octopus within a pentagonal central motif, surrounded by floral design, is seen on base 1733. Another fairly uncommon motif is found on 1814-15 - large cross motifs are disposed over the outer surface.

61 No.1810 is a white porcelain bowl with brown edged decoration, while a suggestion of bronze binding is seen around the rim of 1811. Sherd 1812 presents a novel use of glaze in ornamentation . The fabric is white stoneware, glazed in the usual colourless glaze, and then spotted with pale gr en glaze blobs which merge together to give an overall appearance of undulating pale green glaze. The inner surface has moulded lattice decoration. Although with a slightly bluish or blue . green tint in the glaze, and therefore related to the qingbai glazed wares, bowls 1813-18 have been included in the white-glazed category since their shapes and decoration seem to align them more heavily on the side of the white-glazed wares.

33. Fine Grey Wares

Fine grey wares with colourless. qingbai. or celadon glaze: Fabric. Potting and Firing The hard dense translucent porcellanous stonewares which have been grouped under this category are reduction fired to various shades of grey, ranging from the very pale, to mid-grey and grey. The body tone affects the overall appearance of the vessel since the transparent glaze picks up the body tone and transmutes it in its colour. The vessels are finely potted, the sides smooth under the glaze, with rimsherd 419 and basesherd 425 exhibiting the most delicate potting in this category. The exception is the celadon ware, which presents more massive potting. The outer edges of the footring of the heavy celadon bowl 427 has been hacked away, possibly to remove the bowl from the surface to which it had adhered in the kiln. The exposed footring of both 427 and 426 have oxidised to a russet colour. Shapes Again, the vessels are bowls without exception. The shapes of the colourless and qingbai glazed fine grey stonewares, both rim and base, although more limited in range, are similar to those of the fine white wares . Accordingly, the fine rims can be divided into straight flared rims (1840,1818,1819,1841,1852,1842),with a thicker flared shape in 1821 and 1822 and a more concave flare in 1841 and 1820. The somewhat flared shape with an everted rim is found in 1819a, 1843,1823,1824 and 1826. The fine shallower curved shape with a rolled rim is again expansively represented in 1825, 1824, 1828-33,1857,1842a and 1834, some of the rolled rims slightly flatter than the others. A strongly foliate bowl with combination flared and carinated sides is found in 1844. A few of the bases are of the earlier types. Nos.1845 and 1846 have a vestigial foot with a shallow curved central groove. A broader foot shaved on the outside is visible in 1835-36, and a flat foot in 1847. The later slightly angled tall narrow footed bowls are both tapered (1837,1850,1853,1854) and of even width (1838,1849,1848).The unglazed lower base of no.1839 bears a zone of chattermarks (a band of fluting at the base of the mould, which enabled easy removal of the bowls) on the outside, the lines veering to the left. More regular straight chattermarks are found on base 416. Such chattermarks indicate moulded fine grey ware. The celadon shapes are different from the other fine white and fine grey wares, with a few exceptions: Nos.1870-1 are deep rounded bowls with slightly everted rims, but the rims are not pointed as in the other types, but rounded. A deep round sided bowl with a straight rounded rim is seen in 1864, and shallower, smaller and finer versions in 1873a and band in 1869. Nearly straight sided bowls with a slightly upwards angled rim is another shape (1866,1868 and 1865). More flared bowls with a wide horizontal undulating flange rim is a hallmark shape in celadon ware, and appears in a number of examples from Siraf (1873-81). Some of these are plain and others ornamented with fluted decoration on the interior. No.1883 is a beautifully foliated flange rimmed bowl of the same form. Very few celadon bowl base have survived. Bases 427 and 428 belong to a heavily flared bowl type,

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with the sides sloping down to the footring with only a nominal break in shape at the point of transition. A finer tall square footed base from a small bowl is seen in no.1884. Decoration The decoration depends primarily on the use of glaze. Three main glazes can be distinguished in the fine grey wares: colourless, qingbai and celadon. Both surfaces of the vessels are glazed upto the bottom of the footring, leaving the base bare, with perhaps a patchy crawled excursion to the base interior. The first is a thin shiny watery colourless glaze, rarely crackled. This appears over a pale grey fabric in 1818-39, and over a mid-grey fabric in 421, 1840-51. The glaze is crackled in 422,433,1819 and 1851. The second is the blue tinted qingbai glaze similar to the colourless glaze in its other attributes. The qingbai glaze is a powder blue colour over the pale grey fabric of 415-18, and the more usual blue tinged glaze in nos.424, 1852-54, over a grey white fabric. Subsidiary to these are two more thin glazes, a slightly green tone which may be related to the qingbai (419,420), and a glaze with more iron which has oxidised to a yellowish colour, the effect over the grey body resulting in an oatmeal tone (1855-57). The glossy blue (425,616), more often sea-green celadon glaze which is layed on thickly in a number of applications is the third type, pitted with fine bubbles which gives it its characteristically misty appearance (425-29,614-17,1864-86). A paler grey green 'celadon glaze' is occasionally found in a few sherds (1858-9). Technically the glaze is just a refinement of the usual greenware glaze, but its layered application over a pale grey body presents a different appearance. The method of celadon glazing leaving an unglazed circle around the base is found in a few sherds (nos.1860-63). Of these 1860 and 1861 have the usual shiny sea green glaze over a pale grey stoneware fabric, while bowl 1862 has underglaze brush painted decoration in grey under the grey green glaze. Both this and 1863 with its mushroom coloured glaze are over a creamy fabric. The fabric and glaze of all these examples are of celadon type, and they represent a later variation of celadon ware. In addition to the glaze, and the brush painted decoration of 1862, the celadon bowls are ornamented with other techniques. Elaborate carved and impressed decoration of what appears to be a phoenix is seen in 1859. The carved and incised lotus petal design on the exterior of bowlsherd 429, showing faintly through the sea green glaze, is another typical mode of celadon decoration. This is also found on the interior of 1873a. A band of deep fluted decoration around the interior, sometimes bordered above by an incised line, is found on flanged rim bowls 1879-82. A single groove on the outer upper body and another on the inner mid-body of the deep bowl 1864, provides a simple but elegant decoration, matched by the foliated rim of bowl 1883. Among the colourless glazed stoneware, angular lotus petal decoration in at least two tiers appears on rimsherd 1818. Fluted decoration ending in a boomerang edge shows through the thicker layer of glaze in 1821. This style is closely allied to the fluted decoration on the green celadon bowls. The qingbai glazed bowls 1852-54 are decorated in the usual combed and incised mode on the base. Vague decoration is also found on the body in a very faint blue in rimsherd 1852. Fluted decoration is found on the exterior of the oatmeal glazed bowl sherd 1855.

34. Blue and White Ware

Fabric. Potting. and Firing The fabric is a high fired white porcelain, enabling very smooth and very fine potting. Shapes The bowls range between medium to small size. No.433 is a round medium sized bowl with an everted pointed rim, while straighter deep sides and more gently everted rims are visible in 1919 and 1920. No.1921 is a shallow wide mouthed dish or bowl with an everted rim.

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Among the fine small bowls, rounded shapes are found in 434 and 1922, with a slightly everted pointed rim in 434, and a fine rolled rim in the latt er. A rather straight fine rim is seen in 1923, and a flared fine rim in no.1924. Of two fine bases, no.1925 has a vestigial foot, while that of 1926 is a taller fine foot, both with a slightly angled central groove. Decoration The underglaze painting is in various shades of cobalt blue, with a greyish blue predominating. The vessels are coated in a colourless glaze with a bluish tinge, allied to the earlier qingbai. The bowls are painted in a sketchy style in all-over floral motif, with bands of floriate scroll or geometric decoration under the rim (433-4,1927-9). Most of the fragments are too small to give a clear indication of the design or the extent of glazing. Dull blue and blue-black spots are found on no.1930. Base 1932 is decorated with two parallel lines at the top of the footring on the exterior, with a concentric unglazed zone on the interior.

Modern Ware

35. Japanese Overglaze Painted Ware

Fabric, Potting, Firing, Decoration and Shape A few small sherds of Japanese 1920's export ware were found on the surface of the site (1939-44). The fabric is a pale buff stoneware like fabric. The sherds bear polychrome floral decoration. No.435, from the base of a saucer, has a flower motif of blue with a green leaf on a white slipped background, the whole covered in a colourless glaze. Sherd 1927 is ornamented in pink, purple and green floral decoration.

4.2

The Provenance of the Chinese Glazed Wares found at Siraf

The gathering body of information on kiln sites producing Chinese pottery, has provided the basis for the following type by type provenancing of the Chinese export ceramics found at Siraf, and indeed, at many other contemporary port sites of the Indian Ocean. A collated guide to the periods during which the various wares appeared at Siraf is provided in fig.113. 1. Coarse Grey Stonewares One of the most prominent ceramic markers of the trade between China and the Indian Ocean world, this ware (CGS) is found in large quantities at Siraf from Period 2. The Coarse Grey Stoneware has obvious predecessors in the ancient greenware tradition of China, and was adopted as the primary container vessel of commodities in the sea trade. Although homogeneously derived from the iron-glazed coarse grey stoneware tradition, the differences noticeable in body colour, texture, glaze tone, and shape, indicate that this ware was widely produced in several areas of China. Many kilns have been fully recorded. Jars and bowls of this type have been found in Fujian and Guangdong provinces, with similar vessels located in Zhejiang. indicating the primary areas of production (Tregear 1976:47). Many of the bowls, including some the 'scraped base' bowls from Siraf, have the nicked Zhejiang foot (eg.1340, 1350), with other bases ranging from a wide Tang foot (351) to early Song versions of the Tang foot (1340, 1359), to the straight Song foot (1360), rather Yue-like foot of a possibly Zhejiang version (347), to the tall Song foot of no.352. Among the handles on the jars, are some with archaic handle types, such as the vestigial lug on no.1353, and a 6th century type handle on no.1351, which does

64 not double up upon itself as in the later stronger version. The two Coarse Grey Stoneware saggars (1267,1268 ) may have been packed with other wares or exported as saleable bowls. Although the similarity to certain styles does not necessarily indicate production within that period (there tends to be a great deal of stylistic overlap, especially among the coarser Chinese glazed wares), the general picture is of a Tang and Song period range, of the 8th-12th centuries. However, it is interesting to note that this ware was traded by sea to 8th-10th century sites in Indonesia (Adhyatman 1983:1-10), where they were known as 'D usun' jars, with a less well marked continuation until around the 12th century, when it was replaced by the later Martabani jars. Martabani jars were produced from as far north as Yi Xing, to as far south as Guangdong. The black glazed ware (type Q), is the grey bodied ware manufactured in Guangdong and Guangxi in southern China, as well as in Zhejiang and at Jingdezhen in Jiangxi in the central-east. It is distinct from the northern black-glazed coarse ware, which has a shinier glaze on a pale cream body. The purple glazed ware (type g) appears from the kilns of Deqing on the border between Zhejiang and Anhui. Some of the buff and cream coloured coarse ware may originate from Inda-Chinese sources, especially Vietnam, around the 12th-13th centuries. Among these are bowls such as No.1364, decorated in iron brown slip under the glaze, made in Khmer. Cham and Viet kilns in the 10th-13th centuries (Harrison 1978:8). Similar bowls were made in the kilns of Zhejiang and Jiangxi in in the 8th-10th centuries. The base of No.1364 is similar to that on many of the 'scraped base' bowls, and it is perhaps a Cizhou-Temmoku type. 2. Yue ware The Yue ware found at Siraf is of two basic categories. The more heavily potted 'Provincial Yue' has very a slightly pointed everted rim, a wide ring base, thicker foot and small round spur marks. The foot ranges from an earlier wider version (374,376,1493,1502-3,1523,1531), to a narrow foot similar to the majority of wares from the Yuezhou kilns ( eg.379). The second type is the Developed Yue type, with a fine pointed rim. The plain bowls are combined with the curved Yuezhou foot (1535,1538), while the foliated rims are fitted with the arched Yuezhou base (371). The glaze is a thin matt grey-green over the grey fabric, and some pieces bear finely incised and combed floral motifs. Much of the ware is of the slightly lower quality shiny glazed type, associated with mass-producion at the Shang-lin-hu kilns. The Developed Yue bears the typical elongated spur marks associated with the kilns at Yu-yao, Yu-wang Miao and Shang-lin-hu, and those further east at Ningbo and Yin-xian by the Yangze river mouth in northern Zhejiang (Tregear 1970:43-47). Although they seem to indicate a prior form in the Yue stylistic sequence, it is possible that the 'Provinc ial Yue' was made as a lower quality ware in the Yuezhou area, contemporary to the Developed Yue production. With a possible prior development which is still masked, the Yuezhou kilns had begun large-scale production by the 9th century (Late Tang period). This escalated into the main period of production in the 10th century (Five Dynasties - locally Wu-Yue - period, and early Northern Song period). The ware disappears somewhere in the 11th century, with the rise, in the 11th-12th centuries, of the Longquan greenwares. This sequence coincides with the scheme of Yue manifestation at Siraf. It appears in small quantities in Period 2, and is found in the assemblages of both Period 3 and Period 4. With allowance made for the post-deposition of ceramics, it would seem that some Yue ware still entered the port in the early phase of Period 4, during the second half of the 11th century, and perhaps even in the early 12th century. 3. Longquan Celadons The dark olive green glazed Yaozhou ware or Northern Celadon, with deep carving and a dark grey Yue like stoneware body, has not been recovered from Siraf. The southern Longquan wares of two main types appear in small quantities at Siraf in Periods 4 and 5. Siraf itself was in its period of gradual decline at this stage, with the emphasis shifted to ports lower down the Persian Gulf, so that very few sherds of Longquan ware were found. However, it was a very popular export item, and many examples have been found in the Gulf, South India, Sri Lanka, the Maldives and East Africa.

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The first variety belongs to to the first true Longquan celadons of the early Southern Song. They have the typical pale grey, fine, hard porcellanous paste and the thick, layered, blue green bubbled glaze. Very few pieces are found at Siraf, but they comprise not only the rather mechanised shape of the mass-produced lower quality Longquan (427,428), but also the higher quality wares with delicate lotus petal decoration (429), not found in South-east Asia, but shipped to Korea, Japan, South Asia, and the Islamic world further west. More examples appear of the sturdier, larger Yuan and early Ming period wares. Belonging to Period 5, these deep sided bowls bear the moulded fluted decoration, and the everted and upturned flanged rim of the Yuan bowls, very characteristic of the late Longquan export production (eg.1881) (Harrison 1978:10-23).These bowls were stamped with a peony spray on the inner base. The early Longquan production took place in about 53 kiln sites in the Longquan area, along the Ou river in southern Zhejiang. Some kilns were situated around the central market for the wares at Longquan itself (eg. Dingcun, Anrenkou, Wangshu, Anchiao, Lishui). Others were sited further west at Jincun, Dayao and Qikou, and in the southern reaches of the river at Jukou. The production had expanded to more than 150 kilns by the 14th century, although many earlier kilns such as those at Dayao and Qikou remained important, new kilns were opened up even further up the river, at Longquan xian, Yunho xian and Lishui xian. Some of the ware may have been shipped through the nearest port of Wenzhou, but most of it was finally shipped via the more southerly port of Quanzhou in neighbouring Fujian. This was the main port of the Late Song and Yuan periods, and of relatively easy access to the Longquan area (Tregear 1982:168-70). The Longquan-type wares from Puchang in Fujian, with very distinctive impressed decoration and a reddish body, which was exported via the Fujian ports, and the wares of the Tongan area, with unglazed applique decoration, are found in the Phillipines and Indonesia. They do not appear at Siraf, but No.1821 may be a rare occurence of the crackled grey glazed celadon, with appliques and moulded decoration and a reddish body, exported from Quanzhou, at Siraf. The yellow-glazed celadon, with an unglazed ring round the inner base (No 1860,1861), is also a late ware, provenance unknown. The unglazed ring is found in the Puchang ware, and it may be possible that the yellow-glazed bowls was also from Fujian. Alternatively they may be of Vietnamese production. 4. Splashed Wares

The provenance and chronology of the Green and White splashed wares (GWS) and the Polychrome Splashed Wares (TCW), found in Period 2, and later in Periods 4/early Period 5 at Siraf, has been discussed in detail in section 6.4.

5. Moulded Monochrome Green-Glazed Ware The single sherd has bird and cloud decoration around its interior (1672), and relates stratigraphically and stylistically to an early 9th century date (Middle or Late Tang). It may be a predecessor of the tradition which produced the green glazed, buff pink, hard fired earthenware bowls and pillows, with somewhat more sophisticated moulded design, in the Song period. Such wares are found at Jizhou, Jiangxi province (Hughes-Stanton and Kerr 1980:53, and figs.265,267). 6. Painted Stoneware and Relief Stoneware

A rather exotic subsidiary development of the greenware tradition, the Painted (PSa) and Relief (PSb) Stonewares seem to have been produced primarily for the export market. The iron glaze has been fired by the usual reduction process to produce the normal grey body and green glazed combination in some of this ware. In others, it has been oxidised to produce a buff body and yellow glaze. Production began in the early 9th century (Middle to Late Tang). Painted stoneware bowls and little jars disappear from port sites by 1000 AD, and the Relief Stoneware a little later by 1025 A.D. They are found at Siraf in Periods 2 and 3. The wares were produced primarily in the Dongguan kilns, and secondarily at the Y ou-chou kilns,

66

both in the Changsha area in Jiangxi. The Painted Stoneware tradition is also found in Sidman in western China, but this ware does not seem to have reached the maritime market. Relief Stoneware production was not restricted to the Changsha kilns. It appears from the Jingdezhen kilns further north in Jianxi, and at the kilns of Dehua in Fujian during the early Song period. The shinier crazed yellow-glazed ware on a finer white body (PSd), is a better quality product contemporary to the rest (396,397). The ewer (1938) with a more canary coloured glaze, is either some type of Changsha ware, or a lone traveller from the more northerly yellow glazed wares, from the Kaifeng area in Henan. Most of the Painted Stoneware bowls have the characteristic curved gouged foot; a southern foot type also found in the 'scraped base' bowls. The foot of no.1629 is a Song foot, while 1631, with its unique painted decoration, has a similarly unusual foot, with a tall chair-leg like profile. 7. White Wares The Cream Stoneware (CW a) and Coarse White wares ( CWb,c) which provided the prototype for the early Islamic White-glazed ware, appear in the Siraf deposits in Period 2. Fine White wares (PW d,e) are found from Period 3. The fabric, glaze and shapes are varied, indicating the export of the popular Whit e wares from a number of producing kilns in many areas. This is further complicated by the manufacture of wares of different qualities and appearance in the same kilns, but an effort has been made to pinpoint possible areas of production for the group of Chinese White wares found at Siraf. ( a) Cream Stoneware This ware (CWa), the origins of which has generated considerable controversy, appears at an early date at Siraf and other Indian Ocean port sites. The Cream Stoneware, with its heavy Middle and Late Tang shapes and distinctive foot (with an uncharacteristic wide Tang foot only in no.1717, and a taller slanted early Song type foot in Nos. 1713 and 1725), seems to be stylistically and stratigraphically related to Late Tang and early Northern Song times. Its closest parallels are wares which also exist only during this period, at Ding kilns such as those at Jianxicun and Yanzan in Hebei, before the Ding kilns produced the finer white porcellanous ware for which they are famed. Some of this early Ding ware has a hard fine ivory-toned stoneware body and ivory tinged glaze. The yellowish body tint is due to incomplete control of firing. Other wares are fired to a greyer tint, which was then camouflaged with white slip and glazed (Hasebe; Sekiguchi). Both these groups are found at Siraf. They appear in Period 2, and disappear in Period 3, which also agrees with the Hebei chronology. The early Ding shapes also equate with the range of bowls and few dishes found at the Indian Ocean sites, with thick bodies,. wide unglazed footring, and either thick rolled rims, or thinner rims combined with vertical-rib foliation. It is possible that this northern ware was traded via the port of Yanzhou, which participated prominently in the Indian Ocean trade in this period, and was not too far from the Ding kilns. It has been suggested that this early Ding ware may have had a southern cousin, but if so, it has not yet been located. Cream bodied stoneware is noticeably missing in the early Jingdezhen ware in Jiangxi. A not dissimilar yellowish bodied ware appears in Fujian in the the 13th-14th centuries, as well as the Blanc-de-Chine tradition, but no trace of earlier cream stoneware has been found in Fujian to date. The single sherd of cobalt-splashed Cream Stoneware (No.1726) is similar to Chinese ware of this later period (13th-14th centuries), found in the Phillipines. It may possibly be from Fujian. (b) Coarse White Wares Some of the coarser porcellanous ware, with a white body, slightly blue-tinted glaze, and a shallow cut-back footring (1813-1818) may correspond to the early White ware from Jingdezhen, Jiangxi. of the Late Tang and Five Dynasties periods (late 9th-10th centuries). Among these are two bowls with an unusual incised cross motif (1813,1815). Also possibly from Jingdezhen, are the slightly greyish bodied plain wares of finer shape, sometimes with early incised decoration on the interior. Covered in a co]ourless or off-white glaze, they have a rolled rim and taller 11th century early Song foot (1783,1784).

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There is another group which may present an unusual early 9th century Whit e ware group from Zhejiang. Rather Yue-like in shape, one bowl bears an incised motif of an octopus in a frame (1733), which is paralleled in Yue ware. (c) Fine White Wares with coloureless or off-white glaze The fine white porcelain with a glossy white glaze was probably produced in the kilns around the port of Guanzhou in Guandong province, or around Quanzhou in Fujian province (1734-1782). The fabric of the group covered in a glossy ivory glaze is more translucent than the Ding versions. It is possibly from the Fujian area, and of the late 11th or 12th centuries (Nos.1802-1809). (d) Fine White Wares with a qinbai glaze Most of the qingbai glazed fine White ware from Siraf has the iron-flecked fabric and slightly blue-tinged glaze of the Jingdhezhen manufacture, in Jiangxi. This glaze is also found in the best quality qingbai of the Dehua kilns in Fujian, but this category was not generally exported. The Dehua ware also has a pure white body. These factors allow the pinning down of much of the Siraf qingbai to the kilns of Jingdezhen (405-411,1887-1917). Any of a very white fabric would be from the Dehua kilns. The slightly grey ware with a qingbai glaze (424,1852-1854) is probably also from Jingdezhen. Of either fine stoneware or porcelain, some of the bowls are of plain or foliate form, while others bear combined carved and incised decoration on the interior. The short small footring appeared with bowls being stacked for firing, with the beginning of mass-scale production in the Jingdezhen kilns (Tregear 1982:143-168). All these characteristics point to a 11th-12th century date for much of the Siraf ware. The coarser quality ware with a tiny footring, harsher glassy blue glaze and moulded decoration, which was exported from Jingdezhen in the 13th century, is missing from Siraf. A rare instance of the Shufu (official) ware, manufactured in the very late Song period at Jingdezhen, is seen in No.1903. Made mainly for official use within China, a few pieces seem to have been exported in the sea trade. There are no records combing style characteristic Fujian white bodied qinbai double lotus-petal moulded also a rare example from manufacture.

of sherds with the white body and distinctive incised decoration and dotted of the Dehua qingbai of the Late Song period. In fact the only noticeably piece at Siraf is possibly bowl sherd No.1895. It has the cheaper quality decoration found in the 14th century exports of the region. As such, it is Siraf, of the latest and most prolific export-oriented phase of qingbai

(e) Ding-type Southern Ware Among the rare later White wares found at Siraf, are two white bowls, one with the remnants of bronze binding at the edge (1811), the other with such an edging imitated by a band of brown glaze round the rim (1810). Both are Jingdezhen versions of a Ding type, and belong to the 13th-14th century (Yuan period).

(f) Blue and White Ware The very few sherds of early Blue and White which appear in the upper levels at Siraf, can be dated to between the 13th-14th centuries. Nos.433 and 434 seem to be of the more transparent fabric and glassier glaze of the Jingdezhen, Jianxi type, but any more opaque tougher bodied versions would be the Xhufu type from Jingdezhen. 8. Fine Grey Wares (a)Fine Grey Wares with a gingbai glaze Some of the fine grey bodied ware has the distinct powder-blue qingbai glaze and moulded form found in the production around the Guanzhou area in the far south. In this category are Nos. 415-418. The chattermarks characteristic of much of the moulded ware is seen on no.416. Similar bluer glazed ware with chattermarks also appears from Fujian (Hughes-Stanton and Kerr:fig.105). An interesting variant of the square-cut foot is found in No.415, which has a round footring, matched by an incised square-cut line around the interior of the base. This type may have been exported from the kilns of

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Bijishan at Chozhou, or Xicun near Guanzhou (Tregear 1982:159). (b) Fine Grey Wares with a colourless glaze The few sherds of fine Whit e ware with a distinctly grey glaze, includin g the elab ora tely decorated bowl No.1785, and the slightly larger quantity of fine grey bowls, covered in a colourless glaze, are probably from the Dehua kilns in Fujian, and export ed via Quanzhou. Som e of them may have been made at the Nanchang kilns in Jiangxi. Thes e wares ar e usually small bowls with a rolled rim , and date to the 11th-12th centuries. The general picture of the fine White and Grey wares from Siraf is therefor e of a pr edominantly Song manifestation. Some of the coarser White war e dates from the Late Tan g and Five Dynasties periods. A very few wares are of the 13th-14th century Yuan period . Although outlying kilns such as the Changsha kilns, and possibly the Ding kilns, also played a part in the manufacture of some of the wares exported in the Medieval maritime trad e, most of the wares exported to ports of the Indian Ocean, were produced in south-eastern and south ern China. Th e plentiful wood supply in the south had always been more suitable than coal in fitting China's predominantly reduction fired ceramic technology, with a finer grained clay also fre ely available in the south. Southern kilns were also relatively independent and efficient coop erativ e family ventur es. These factors, along with the proximity of southern China to the sea route, resulted in a boom in ceramic production in the south during the Medieval period. The greater mobility of pott er families in this region, allowed continuous interaction with the Indo-Chinese and South-east Asian ceramic tradition s, leading to the development of high-fired ceramic technologies in these regions. By th e end of the first millenium AD, and especially by around the 11th-14th centuries, the kilns of especially Vietnam , and also of Thailand and Korea , under Dai Viet, Cham, Khmer and Thai sponsorship, began to serve the needs of the regional South-east Asian market, competing with Chinese wares within this region. Althou gh offering no competition to the highly developed Chinese export ware market out side the home region, some of these wares also reached the port sites of South Asia, the Persian Gulf and Ea st Afric a in small quantities, during this later period. Large dragon kilns could fire up to 20-25,000 pots per session by the Southern Song period . In the late Southern Song (13th century), the Longquan potters of southern Zhejiang had modified this simpler dragon kiln to the multi-chambered climbing kiln, which allowed simultan eous firing of different grades of low and high fired wares. Widespread adoption of these kilns in southern Chin a, coupled with a highly sophisticated division of labour, and the employm ent of techniques of mass production , such as the jigger and the jolly, engineered an enormous output of rather standardised but good quality lowrange ceramic wares for the export market (Tregear 1982:202-220). Although all the main ports of Zhejiang, Fujian and Guangdong participated in this ceramic trad e boom, a shift in the main focus of the maritime trade can be seen at the Chin ese end. Gu anzhou (Canton) , which had been the most important port in the Tang period , gave way to south- eastern ports, such as Yanzhou , Ningbo, Wenzhou, Fuzhou and Quanzhou, the last named being the greatest Chinese port in the Song period. This shift of the trade outlets seems to be connected primarily to a ceramic production factor. There was great emphasis on the production and export of Longquan and qingbai wares in the kilns situated in the south-eastern areas. Each of the major ports of the Song period was connected by a river system to the producing kilns. Ningbo (Minchow) was the port for the wares of northern Zhejiang, especially the Yue, which were the primary export wares of the Late Tang and E arly Song period. With the shift to the Longquan wares of southern Zheziang, Wenzhou became an important port , but it is possible that the later Longquan wares of the late Yuan and early Ming period were taken down to Quanzhou for final export. Fuzhou at the head of the Min river was the outlet of the Cizhou (Temmoku) wares, and the greenwares produced in the kilns around the port. Quan zhou , in addition to being the principal entrepot for coastal trade in this period , was also the outlet for the traded ceramics from the kilns of Dehua, Anxi and Tongan.

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Chapter 5 Ceramics and Stratigraphy - the Periodisation of Siraf A typological analysis of the ceramics that were found in the excavation of Siraf, has been presented above. This analysis observes differences in fabric, form, firing and decoration of the assemblage and places the material in distinct groups. From these groupings it is possible to suggest location of manufacture on the basis of excavated kiln finds, and to a more limited extent from thin section analysis. Of course, this typology does not provide dating evidence in itself. Neither is there much dating evidence from excavated Islamic and Chinese kiln-sites. Chronology suggested by Chinese ceramicists is often closely linked to dynastic history, and therefore fairly broad. Scientific dating of Chinese kiln-sites, by archaeomagnetic and thermoluminiscence methods, although technologically advanced, is still infrequent. Therefore the stratigraphy of Siraf is particularly important in providing chronological evidence. Significant quantities of both Chinese and Islamic pottery were found. Coin finds provide a guide to absolute dating , while the careful excavation gives relatively secure contexts to reconstruct a relative chronology. In addition, analysis of the range of pottery finds from stratified contexts, provides some indication of what types were occuring together, and thus in use by the community at the same time. This is important, since art-historical groups have argued that, at certain times, Chinese and Islamic ceramics influenced each other, either in form, technology or decoration. The archaeological evidence from Siraf can provide some indication of the feasibility of this contact and its direction, whether east-west or west-east. 5.1 Methodology

1. The stratigraphy at Siraf was summarised by the excavator for each site or area, using a stratigraphical matrix. Finds from each layer were kept distict by the excavator, and can be immediately identified in the matrix. Coin finds have also been tied into these matrices, to provide 'terminus post quern' dates. Nine hundred and forty nine coins were dug up from Siraf, comprising 4 gold, 74 silver, 436 bronze and 435 lead coins (Lowick 1985:1). There are inevitably a number of problems and uncertainties in the use of these matrices. A number of contexts were contaminated, and not recognised as such during excavation. Where this is clearly the case, I have not used this material in my analysis. On a general level, the city experienced continual architectural activity, resulting in a succession of building phases in each site, which phenomenon is in turn reflected in the confusing number of levels in the site record. While th se have been separated on architectural grounds, there is inevitably scope for error, as this is a subjective interpretation of the site's history. Although the unravelling of associations between such a plethora of structural levels and their amalgamation into more meaningful site phases is arduous, the superimposition of architectural levels at urban sites provides the archaeologist with a useful chronological criterion'terminus post quern' dates. At Siraf, every building reconstruction is associated with new paved or mortar floors laid on a bed of make-up 20-60 cm. thick. Where necessary, old walls had been d molished down to floor level, and new walls constructed directly on the floors without foundations. This method of construction has provided a series of stratified deposits separated by mortar floors, and although each layer of make-up may contain residual finds, the chance of contamination with later material is minimal, providing accurate, if broad, upper dating limits for the ceramics and other artefacts within the deposit (Whitehouse 1968:7). Finally the definitive excavation report on the site has not yet been prepared, and I have had to rely upon preliminary analysis of the stratigraphy, supplemented by general observations published in a series of six interim reports published after each season of excavation (Whitehouse 1968; 1969; 1970; 1971; 1972; 1974) .These limitations have forced a broader approach to be adopted, and a finer analysis

70

could well be possible after the final publication of the site. However, it was possible to isolate a number of useful references providing linked coin/ ceramic/ strata evidence from the six interim reports, which have been used in conjunction with the analysed primary ceramic data, to keep this analysis within the bounds of as carefully controlled a chronology as possible. During the excavation a very wide range of sites were excavated - indeed a total of 16 differer.t locations ( see Chapter 1 and fig.116). The sequences of ceramics in these sites is largely repetitive. This periodisation therefore concentrates upon three locations: (1) the Sasanian Fort and Great Mosque (Congregational Mosque) - Site < B > (2) the Bazaar - Site < C > (3) a Residential Quarter - Site 2. The 3 sites chosen are large sites, whose occupation covered long spans of time, and which represented different and important facets of Siraf's occupation. The quality and quantity of the ceramic data retrieved from these three sites, is representative of the overall ceramic corpus of Siraf, and approximates to just over half of the ceramic data from all the excavations put together. 3. The main source of information about the occurence of stratified ceramics were a series of pottery cards compiled during the excavations, on a day-by-day basis. These cards recorded the types of pottery found, and the total number of sherds. In some cases, unusual pottery finds were presented separately. Only a part of this pottery is now in Britain, so that it was impossible to check the accuracy of all the identifications. Inevitably, the field identification is much cruder than the detailed typology that I have developed in the previous three chapters. In most cases, it was possible to collate the pottery cards with broad categories of pottery, and it is these that have been used in the stratigraphical analysis. The different counts of pottery for each type, have been amalgamated for each phase, at each of the three sites. The changing patterns of ceramic proportions were found to be consistent across the town. This has led to the definition of a sequence of Ceramic Assemblages, each of which presents the range of ceramics in use at Siraf in a broadly co-terminous phase. Correlation between excavations is possible by comparing the ceramic patterns. A synthesis of these correlations suggests a five period framework for Siraf. These three sites were considered in order. The Great Mosque sequence has the greatest range of pottery and perhaps the clearest stratigraphy, along with a number of coin finds, and has been used as the basis to define the main ceramic assemblages. 5.2 Archaeological Sequences (a) Site B: the Sasanian Fort and Great Mosque The excavation of Site B revealed a complex sequence of a Sasanian Fort, with the Great Mosque of several phases built over it, and replaced in the Shilau period of occupation by the Recent Mosque. The Great Mosque was also excavated as two units, the main building, and the added extension and ablution area . On the basis of the study of the interim reports, the fascicle on the Great Mosque, the stratigraphical matrices, and the published plans and sections, the following sequence can be suggested:

Mosque Phases A-D - Earliest Sasanian structures to latest pre-Mosque structures

Extension and Ablution Area Phase A - Earlier than Extension

Phase E - Construction of Mosque 1 Phase F - Construction of Mosque 2

Phase B - Construction of Extension and Ablution Area

Phase G - Period 2 or later

Phase C - Use of Extension

Phase H - Final reconstruction of Mosque

Phase D - Reconstruction of Extension

Phase I - Post-medieval or Shilau Phase

Phase E - Collapse of Extension

53 The Ceramic Assemblages Using pottery counts recorded in the Siraf pottery cards, it was possible to build up quantitat:ve typological charts for the changes in the proportions of each type of Islamic and Chinese glazed ware. The type by type quantification of the unglazed earthenwares has been omitted, although the total quanthies per phase have been recorded, since the tremendous complexity of the earthenware types, with their various sub-types, has often resulted in inconsistencies in recording terminology in the cards. In addition, the changes takirg phce within an earthenware group over a period of time is often minimal, and therefore of limited chronological use, or difficult to pinpoint and therefore missed in pottery records. The Islamic and Chinese glazed wares on the other hand, are often provided with clear cut typological markers, with the chronology of some of the wares fairly developed, and therefore of use.

The quantitative typological charts were then converted into accurate bar charts (figs.99-109) and finally broken down into a quick scheme of quantitative reference as: Qu antity Represented VL - Very large L - Large F - ~air S - Some 1 - Little T -Tiny These have been fitted into the phase framework for the Sites, accompanied by any numismatic data available for the phases (fig.110). The codes used for the different wares in the bar charts and ceramic assemblages is given in the typological chart. Comparison of the ceramic patterns for all the location phases of Site B (Pre -Mosque, Mosque and Extension Sequences) revealed similarities and dissimilarities amongst them, leading to the isolation of five groups of Ceramic Assemblages, defined as [CA] 1,2,3,4 and 5.

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Ceramic Assemblage 1 - [ CA 1 ] Located in < B > main Mosque sequence, Phase A, this is a Sasanian Period assemblage with only Sasanian-Islamic blue glazed ware in addition to the coarse pottry. The turquoise splashed white-glazed ware category mentioned in certain pottery cards is almost certainly a mistaken identification of bleached sherds of Sasanian-Islamic ware.

Islamic Glaz.ed: SI-F

Chinese Glaz.ed: None [CA 1 = Sasanian Period, c 4th to mid-7th centuries A.D.]

Ceramic Assemblage 2 - [ CA 2 ] This is found in phases B-F of the main Mosque sequence, that is, the occupational levels between the Sasanian Fort and the Great Mosque, and the platform fills of Mosque 1 and Mosque 2; also in phases A-B in the Extension sequence, equated to the period earlier than the extension, and its initial construction.

Islamic Glaz.ed: SI-F/L WGa-S WG b,c (possibly a little d) - T LSW, LSWa-1

[Yellow glaz.edware - S] Chinese Glaz.ed: CGSa-F CGS c-T PS a,c-T Y-T CW a,c-T TCW - T

[ CA 2 = 8th-early 9th centuries A.D.]

Ceramic Assemblage 3 [ CA 3] The next conglomeration of ceramics visible in the site sequence, in Phase G of the main Mosque sequence (use of the second Mosque) and Phase C of the Extension (use of extension) is the [CA 3] group. Islamic Glazed: SI - L WGa-F WGb-1 WGc-F WGd-S [CA 3] LWa-S LSW a- F/L LSW b -1 LSW c (probably including some LSW d) - F

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LG-F BGW-1 LWb-S SWG a-L OBG a - S OBG b- P

[CA 4]

Chinese Glazed: CGS a,b,c,d - S PS a,b,c -1 Y -P [CA 3] CW b,c -1/S PW d,e -1 PG b,c -1 GWS-1 TCW-S BW-F

[CA4]

Ceramic assemblage [CA 3] incorporates larger quantities of the SI, WG and LSW wares present in [CA 2], with the addition of Early Lustre (LW a), Style II and Style III Sgraffiato (LSW b, d) and possibly Late Green ware (LG) towards the end of this phase. The appearance of this monochrome greenware at Site J (Naval Defence and Hamaam), both of which were abandoned before the appearance of Style 3 sgraffiato (Whitehouse 1972:74-78), gives a pre-977 AD date to the initial appearance of the ware at Siraf. With regard to the Chinese glazed wares, there is some although not a large increase in CGS, and this is the only phase of a considerable showing of Yue (Y). PS, both painted and relief, lingers on through [CA 3], to disappear from the assemblage in [CA 4]. [ CA 3 = early 9th-10th centuries A.D]

Ceramic Assemblage 4 - [CA 4] The assemblage is associated with phase H of the main Mosque sequenc e and phase D of the Extension sequence. Both represent the final phase of reconstruction. The lack of clear archaeological thresholds left in the site sequences, between the gradual build-up of Sirafs trade up to its period of maximum prosperity and its period of decline, has resulted in the fourth ceramic assemblage repr senting both these stages. It is however, possible to extract certain ware types, which are more likely to belong to the latter stage, as opposed to the earlier continued ceramic agglomeration found in [CA 3]. This latter phase probably begins after the introduction of LSW d (Style III Sgraffiato) and BGW (Black Glazed ware), followed, in the mid-12th century by the introduction of the frit family members SWG a, OBG a,b and LW b (North Persian lustre). By the end of the period no PS a or LW a is visible in the assemblage. The appearance and slight increase in the FW wares ( d,e) probably takes place in both phases, but the introduction of FG wares (b,c) can be assigned to the later phase, with PG c denoting early Longquan celadon wares of the Southern Song period. Later versions of Chinese splashed-wares also appear in the assemblage (GWS, TCW), as well as early Blue and White (BW). [ CA 4 == 11th-13th centuries A.D.]

Ceramic Assemblage 5 - [ CA 5 ] The ceramics found in Phase I of the main Mosque (post-Medieval or Shilau phase, with the collapse of the Great Mosque and the construction of the Recent Mosque above it), and Phase E of the Extension (its collapse) are:

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Islamic Glazed: S1-S/F LG-F/L WGa-F/L LWb-F l.SWa-F l.SW c,d - L/VL BGW-L OBGa-F OBGb-VL OBCc-F/L Chinese Glazed:

CW-I FWd-F FGa-1 FGc-1 The assemblage shows a fair similarity to [CA 4], especially as seen in its latest form in Phase H. This may be partly the result of the presence of earlier fill in the deposits associated with the Recent Mosque from tilling and digging activities in the post-Medieval or Shilau phase, and partly due to a fairly early date for the beginning of the Shilau phase of occupation in Siraf. The difference lies in their being less SI, less diversity in WG wares, and a greater quantity of Saljuq blue glazed wares appearing in CA 5, with the OBG c (Underglaze Painted wares) present on the floor of the Recent Mosque perhaps the latest dated glazed ware to appear in the assemblage. A few sherds of the later Chinese splashed wares appear in these deposits. Although still a very small quantity, more blue and white is found, especially in the 15th century buildings in Site E. [ CA 5 = mid 14th-15th centuries AD. ]

The Application of the Ceramic Assemblage Model to Sites C and F Site C - The Bazaar As the hive of commercial activity in Siraf, the Bazaar, stretching around three sides of the Great Mosque and along the sea front, provides the most complex stratigraphy of all the sub-sites in Siraf. The area is a maze of phases and different bazaar units, due to the constant laying and relaying of streets in conjunction with a number of reconstructions of the various bazaar units, and capped by an attendant complex of buildings - a warehouse, block of shops, bath house and mosque - each built, rebuilt and added to at a number of different stages in the history of the Bazaar. The unravelling of the Bazaar stratigraphy is further complicated by its excavation as 7 different soundings. Five of these soundings have been dug as parts of Site C, with two adjacent bazaar soundings from Site B. This requires the dovetailing of the diffr.rent levels in the various soundings to achieve an overall :view of the structure and chronology of the site. Of the total of 85 coins which could be fitted into the Bazaar deposits (as compared to 345 in the Site B sequences) ( see fig.110), very few coins provide specific dates of any help to chronology, with many coins subject to post-deposition, and extreme wear, and therefore of limited use.

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The seven soundings with their attendant phases are as follows:

Bazaar Soundings

Phases

1. Bazaar sounding near Great Mosque - < B > 0100 A-G 2. Bazaar sounding - < B > A -D 3a.Possibly part of warehouse - < C > 1 A -D 3b.Warehouse A -E 4. Block of shops - 2 A- F 5. Bath-house and Building E of bath A -E 6. Mosque A -G

The ceramic assemblages of the 34 phases were then examined, with a view to seeing if they would broadly match the ceramic pattern obtained from Site B. In fact, the Bazaar assemblages showed a remarkable homogeneity to Site B (fig.110), enabling the narrowing down of the 34 site phases to a broader framework equivalent to the 5-stage periodisation model. The outcome is tabulated in fig.110. Site F - The Residential Quarter Ten houses in all were excavated in Site F. Of these, the history of five of the houses (Houses N,R,W,E and S) are discussed at some length in the interim reports. With very little numismatical evidence emerging from these houses, the five have been divided into two chronolo gical groups on the basis of the ceramics found in the deposits, and especially from the fill resting on the floors of the houses when they were left untenanted after their primary occupation. The abandonment of some of the large houses in the residential quarter (eg.N,R,W) before many of the merchant s of Siraf moved to the port of Qais with the decline of the port's importance in the early 11th century, ha s caused confusion. The re-dating of their desertion to c.977 AD, rather than the given date of 1050 AD, on the basis of the date of possible appearance of Style 3 sgraffiato in Siraf ( seee Chapter 6) provides a new persp ective on this matter. The event may well have followed the damaging or collapse of some of the houses in the earthquake of 977 AD .

Houses N,R,W - abandoned 977 AD (no Style III Sgraffiato in fill) Houses E,S - abandoned before c.1150 (no Saljuq frit in fill)

Ceramic analysis on a house from each group has been carried out in this study (Houses N and E), followed by a similar application of the [CA] models. The results are fitted into fig. and summarised below:

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HouseN

Ceramic Assemblage

HouseE

Site Phases

Site Phases

CA 2

[A] Pre -house

[A] Earliest structures Backfilling of well - no cards -

CA 3

[B]Make-up, construction and use of house

[B] Make-up and construction of house

[C](Street surfaces + use of N) Earliest fill reresting on floors

[C] Between original and later floors Use of House

CA4

[D] Squatter occupation of house Collapse of House

CA5

[E] Shilau phase up to recent times

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5.4 The Periodisation of Siraf on the basis of the Ceramic

Assemblage Models from Sites B.C and F The ceramic evidence suggests five distinct periods, m terms of the range of the stratified ceramic assemblages. Period 1 The earliest levels found amongst the three sites are those associated with Sasanian structures. This is matched by the first substantial group of coin finds at Siraf being Sasanian: 33-36 silver and bronze coins from eight widely separated locations (Lowick 1985:2). These structures were found at three points. The first are the substantial Sasanian fortress remains underlying the Great Mosque (i.e.,Phase [A], main Mosque sequence). The fort was 62 x 57 metres square, with the buildings of the outer enclosure covering an extent of at least 10 x 55 metres (Whitehouse 1972:70-71; 1974:7). The second is the Sasanian ditch related to the fort found under the Bazaar (Phase [A], Bazaar sounding < B > 0100). Finally, the earliest building levels at Building E in the Palatial Residential Complex at Site J have been identified by the excavator as Sasanian, on the basis of the excavated pottery. Along with the coins found in the earliest levels beneath House Wat Site F, matched by another three at Site Lon the City Wall associated with a massive triangular bastion, the evidence indicates a Sasanian occupation of Siraf in an area about 1 km. across. One suggestion is that this military complex may have been built by the Sasanian ruler Shahpur II after 360 AD, as part of the scheme of coastal defences constructed in the Fars region as a preventive measure against Arab raids from across the Gulf (Whitehouse 1973:29-35).It seems probable that the Fort was manned until the fall of Sasanian power in 636 AD, but the ceramics found in the extensive fortress deposits and in the ditch [CA 1] are limited to some quantity of Sasanian-Jslamic ware, sherds of Indian Red Polished Ware and the regional Orange ware with Painted Decoration, both types belonging to the first four centuries AD, a fair quantity of coarse pottery and two rare sherds of Chinese Coarse Grey Stoneware (Whitehouse 1971 (1):3; 1974:7). The Sasanian occupation of Siraf appears to have been primarily military in nature. Period 2 Although the interim reports were quite firm in locating the Sasanian fortress and Great Mosque levels, there was some doubt about the character of the intervening levels of building surrounding the Fort, that is, whether they should be attributed to a mainly Sasanian date or a predominantly Early Islamic one, pre-dating the construction of the Great Mosque. This more irregularly planned complex hugging the walls of the Fort in the later levels had a long history, associated with at least four phases of construction of the curtain wall. All four levels contained a few Sasanian coins, also found in the two later Mosque platform fills. The third level from the bottom also contained a gold solidus of Constans I, struck in Byzantium between 651-659 AD. The uppermost level yielded lead coinage of the very early Islamic period, these being lead fals of the Umayyad Period, circulated in the 8th and early 9th century. The excavator mentions only a single sherd of Chinese ware found in the uppermost level, prior to the appearance of a considerable amount of Chinese ceramics in the two Mosque fills. However, detailed sherd counts show that both Chinese and Islamic glazed wares of the [CA 2] assemblage appear in the last two levels immediately preceding the Mosque fill (fig.111). Both the proportions and types of glazed ceramics found in these phases are identical to those found in the fill of both mosque platforms, albeit in much smaller quantities. This in turn points to the logical conclusion that the building of the Mosque does not coincide with the initiation of Sirafs participation in the international trade, but lies well into this phase, and was probably a beneficiary of the growing trade. This suggests that sea trade bringing ceramics from China to Siraf had begun before c.800 AD. Two platforms and platform fills are associated with the earliest phase of the Great Mosque at Siraf. The first platform was of drystone construction, free-standing and earth-filled. The second platform is of mortared stone, trench-built after the platform was completed (Whitehouse 1970 (2):146). The dates assigned to Mosque platforms 1 and 2 in the revised chronology presented for Site B (Whitehouse 1979:56), that is, c.800-825AD for platform 1, and c.825-850 for platform 2, also appear to provide too wide a margin. Turning to the coin evidence, the large number of coins found in the fill of the platform has provided very secure dating for construction of the Great Mosque at Siraf, as well as

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an upper date limit for the levels immediately beneath it. The fill of platform 1 contained a couple of Sasanian coins, a bronze coin of Theodosius I (376-394 AD), a Chinese coin of 621 AD, an intrusive Buyid coin of 974-5 AD, as well as a series of early Islamic coins. These fall into two groups: small pieces, 16-18 mm. across, with neat inscriptions in the style of the late Umayyad and very early Abbasid period (c.700-760 AD) and larger coins with clumsy legends of the full Abbasid period. The earliest is a single post-reform Umayyad coin, an anonymous dinar struck for Abd al-Malik in 78 AH/697-8 AD, mounted as a pendant. This is followed by a hoard of 17 dirhams struck between 80 AH/699-700 AD and 121 AH/738-9 AD. Out of several bronze and silver coins, the latest minted belongs to c.780 AD. Finally, in a hoard of 18 lead pieces, the latest coins were Abbasid fals of 188 AH/803-4 AD. Since lead coinage wears down very soon, the well preserved nature of the latter hoard indicates that it must have been laid down shortly after issue, dating the initial construction of the Mosque to fairly soon after 804 AD (Whitehouse 1973 (1):243; 1970 (1):6; 1971 (1):3; Lowick 1985:4). The coin assemblage for the second fill suggests an image contemporary with that of the first fill, with the latest coins being Abbasid fals of 814-15 AD. A similar coin of 814-15 AD was excavated from the rubble core of the footing of a set of steps associated with the Mosque platform. The stone footing had been bonded to the earliest minaret, but laid down after the minaret (Whitehouse 1972:71). The construction of the steps is therfore a secondary feature, and it may be possible to suggest that they were contemporaneous to the second construction of the Mosque; if this is so, the second Mosque construction may be dated to around 815 AD. A narrower estimate of c.804 and c.815 AD for the construction of the original and enlarged Mosque is preferred in this study, in lieu of the earlier dates of c.825-850 A.D It is possible that either a structural fault in the construction of the first Mosque, or the need for a larger and better proportioned mosque (with a perfectly square ground plan) (Whitehouse n.d .:9),or both, resulted in the reconstruction of the Mosque very soon, or even during, its initial founding. The two Mosque fills present sherds of earthenware and Islamic and Chinese glazed ware of the [CA 2] assemblage. A full discussion of the ceramics from the Mosque fills is presented in section 6.2. The burgeoning of commercial activity in the early Islamic rather than the Sasanian phase of Siraf, as seen in Site B, is seconded by the lack of evidence for a Sasanian commercial phase in the seven Bazaar soundings as well. The origins of the blacksmith's workshop mentioned in Sounding 3a (Phase A, pre-building) may be in Sasanian times, in which case it was probably connected with the requirements of the Fortress. However, its origins may equally well belong to the very early Islamic stage found in the complex immediately below the Mosque, and its ceramic assemblage is definitely allied to the (CA 2] assemblage. A minimum of 8 phases, with a possible maximum of 13 phases (no pottery cards for the last 5) in the Bazaar soundings belong to early and later manifestations of the [CA 2] assemblage, and it is fairly evident that the Bazaar at Siraf was originally built at the time of the spate of activity which engineered the building and rebuilding of the Great Mosque, and perhaps the latest pre-Mosque levels - around c.750-815AD. These early Bazaar levels again reflect the beginnings of the importation of the various new Islamic glazed wares and the early Chinese export wares, with quantities fairly limited but already diversified. The latest excavation at Site F revealed a fairly well-layed out sequence of wells, streets and remnants of structures with less solidly built walls than in the later houses in this quarter, in strata underlying the large houses. Such walls, and a well each, exists beneath the houses N and E examined in this study. The excavator has equated this phase with the complex of early buildings beneath the Great Mosque. Additional numismatic evidence providing a date of c.750-815AD for the initial construction of the Bazaar and the earliest houses at Site F is presented in section 6.2, prompting the excavator to remark that the evidence from the Bazaar sounding, along with previous evidence: 'suggests strongly that the bazaar was built at the same time as the Great Mosque. This combined venture was an ambitious piece of redevelopment, planned within a decade of c.800 and well advanced by c.803-4' (Whitehouse 1974:8). No pottery cards are available for this phase from the site of House E, but the interim reports indicate finds of White-glazed sherds and Painted Stoneware in the fill of the contemporary well at the site, and Sasanian-Islamic ware and scraps of Dusun are generally present in the earliest deposits at

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Site F. Three Sasanian coins found beneath the early structure at House W may indicate that the earliest Islamic structures in Siraf were built fairly soon after the Sasanian period at Siraf. The contemporary level at House N (Phase A, pre-House), if it denotes occupation rather than fill, provided not only Sasanian-Islamic and Coarse Grey Stonewares but a comprehensive collection of [CA 2] ceramics. This possibly indicates habitation of the site from the very early Islamic phase well into the early Islamic phase, before the construction of the solidly built mansions of the next period. Again, the indication is of Early Islamic economic expansion in the city, resulting in the gradual growth of a prosperous residential quarter.

Period 3 According to the assessment of the interim reports, Siraf reached its apogee of prosperity in the 10th and early 11th century. During this period, the city had a mint and reached its greatest size, stretching upto Taheri Bay. The ceramic sequence indicates that this chronology should be refined. The initial phase of building activity at Siraf had achieved a considerable impetus by c.804-815 AD. and under the present periodisation, it is possible to allow a time span of about two centuries for the development of the accompanying impetus of trade in the early Islamic period, from c.750 AD up to its peak in the 10th and early 11th century. This is in contrast to the century or so, from the time of the founding of the Great Mosque to the peak of the port's prosperity, allowed for this development in the earlier periodisation. It appears that the trade with China developed over a longer period than has been claimed. The heyday of Sirafs trade is represented in ceramic assemblage [CA 3] (early 9th-10th centuries AD), accompanied by the highest proportions of Islamic and Chinese pottery from the three sites in the Total Ceramic Assemblage graphs. The ceramics also enable us to rectify an error regarding the date of collapse of many of the large houses at Siraf at the end of this period. On the basis of Gardin's date for the appearance of Style 3 sgraffiato in north-eastern Iran and southern Afghanistan, its manifestation at Siraf was placed at 1075 AD. Since Houses N, Rand Wat Site F had no Late Sgraffiato in the fill, their abandonment was dated to c.1075 AD. Houses E and S showed a longer occupation, with Late Sgraffiato but no Saljuq fritware in the fill, leading to a date between 1075-1150 AD for their disuse. Neither Late Sgraffiato nor Saljuq frit is present in the post-collapse deposits of the upper building at the palatial residence at Site K. A few sherds of Late Sgraffiato appear in the latest precollapse deposits in the large building in Sounding A, although the majority date to the following period. The associated ceramic and coin evidence from Mtambwe Mkuu, on the island of Pemba in East Africa, suggests that Style 3 sgraffiato can be dated to c.1000 AD (see section 6.4). The proximity of this date to the recorded date for the serious earthquake at Siraf in 977 AD, which caused severe damage and resulted in the migration of many leading merchants to the port of Qais, may well indicate that the collapse of many of the large houses at Site F, the large house at Site A, and the mansioncomplex at Site K can be firmly dated to 977 AD. In addition, the presence of a few sherds of Style 3 sgraffiato in the latest pre-collapse deposits at Sounding A, gives an immediately pre-977 AD date for the introduction of Late Sgraffiato at Siraf. Following the same thread of deduction, Houses E and S could have been abandoned at any time between c.977-1150 AD. Period 4 The literary evidence presents a picture of unqualified decline during Period 4 ( c.1000-1300 AD): the migration of many of the merchants of Siraf to Qais, following the damage caused by a severe earthquake lasting seven days in 977 AD as chronicled by Muqaddasi (Aubin 1959:295-301), the annexation of Siraf as a dependancy of Qais in c.1170 AD (Lamb; Aubin 1959:295-301) and early 13th century eyewitness testimonials by Yaqut (1218 AD) and Ibn Balkhi, of a Siraf dwindled to a ghost town with a small impoverished population and only one major building, and that too a mosque with wooden columns - indicating a rapid decline of Siraf from the end of the 10th century, with its virtual demise as an important settlement by the early 13th century.

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It is interesting to note that the ceramic evidence presents a more moderate perspective. To summarise the ceramic record, although the total quantity of glazed ceramics in this period is about half that of the relatively vast amount accumulated in the preceding peak phase, glazed wares are still present in considerable quantity and variety. This can be seen in the final Phase H associated with the last renovation and use of both the Great Mosque and its Extension (CA 4), in the latest Bazaar phases (mixed CA 3 and CA 4), in the refuse layers accumulated in the fill of House N and in the secondary occupation and collapse of House E [CA 3 and CA 4 assemblages], with the sequences from all three sites assignable to dates between c.977-1264/1300 AD. Further archaeological corroboration for a more gently graded decline is provided in the interim reports: Although no coins dated between 1161-1237 AD were dug up from the site, and the kiln-site at Site D was in ruins by c.1050 AD, the latest elaborate grave cover at Siraf is dated to 1144 AD. The style of the grave covers indicates that Site G was already a cemetery in the 12th century, with the little Mosque at the site built sometime during the 13th or 14th century, according to the coin and pottery evidence (Whitehouse 1970 (2):154). Style 3 sgraffiato is associated with the latest phase of construction of the bazaar (Whitehouse 1970 (1):8; 1974:7), and the latest use of the bazaaris definitely assignable to a date in the mid-12th century, and perhaps even later, due to the presence of Saljuq Frit and Saljuq Lustre pottery (initially produced c.1150 AD) : Saljuq Lustre and other Fritware was found resting on the latest floors of the Site C house (Whitehouse 1968:21), with a Late Sgraffiato bowl at the bottom of a well, and Saljuq frit and Saljuq lustre in the rubble above the boiler and caldarium, in the Bathhouse at Site C (Whitehouse 1971 (1):12). Finally sherds of Saljuq whiteware appeared in deposits in a floor of Period 4 at the Site C Mosque (1971 (1):12). The elaborate grave-covers and expensive Saljuq lustre indicates the presence of some fairly well to do residents at Siraf in the mid-12th century, possibly living in houses such as E and S at Site F. A potsherd painted with an inscription dated 662 AH/ 1263/4 AD, found beneath the floor of Bay 15 in the Great Mosque relaid in Period 4, indicates sufficient wealth and interest in Siraf as late as the mid- 13th century to undertake extensive renovations of the Great Mosque and Extension. The mosque with wooden columns referred to by Yaqut in 1218 AD was probably a reference to the Great Mosque, rather than to a minor mosque, for the stone bases found in arcades 2 and 3 show that part of the sanctuary stood on wooden columns resting on solid stone-bases (Whitehouse 1969:43). It is possible to surmise that the excessive severity of Yaqut's and Ibn Balkhi's descriptions of Siraf may be due to their closer temporal association with, and comparison of, the town they saw with the magnificent city of Period 3, extolled in the works of earlier Arabic sources. As the archaeological evidence has proved, many of the large houses at Sites F and A, as well as the palatial residences at Site K had been destroyed in the earthquake of 977 AD·, with many a merchant long since departed to try his fortunes at Qais or elsewhere. Although in comparatively reduced circumstances, the Siraf of Period 4 probably still supported a fair urban population at least until the latter half of the 12th century and possibly up to the mid-13th century, as witnessed by the archaeological evidence - a population which probably survived in the wake of the trade-based economic impetus generated in the period of its great prosperity. This conclusion is supported by a few later literary references: some commercial advantage must have attended the annexation of Siraf by Qais in 1170 AD; pearl-fishing at Siraf is mentioned by Tusi (d.1274) and Persian Gulf traders continued to stop at Siraf to refit their ships and seek shelter, on their way from Kirman to Mahruban (Lamb; Aubin 1959:295-301). Period 5 Real paucity of glazed ceramics, in fact of ceramics as a whole, is evident only by the Shilau period [CA 5]. This does not reveal itself in the quantity of ceramics in found in the deposits of this phase, but in the reduction of contemporary ceramics, since a fair amount of digging, filling and levelling of the site seems to have taken place in the Shilau phase. This has artificially increased the quantity of all three branches of ceramics, as reflected in the upwards (rather than downwards) quantitative ceramic curves seen in the final phase at most of the Sites. The similarity between some of the [CA 4] assemblages, especially from the Site B final reconstruction phase of the Mosque and Extension, and the [CA 5] assemblage found in the earth units of the Recent Mosque (Phase I), may also be partly due to the fairly early date of the building of the Recent Mosque, possibly early in the 14th

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century, or definely at a date later on in the 14th century. The Underglaze Painted ware (OBG c) found on the floor of the Recent Mosque indicates its continued use in the 15th century. The construction and use of the modest Recent Mosque can therefore be definitely fitted into Period 5. The change to the agrarian socio-economic structure seen iri. Period 5 may have been gradual, with the diminishing of the urban life-style in Period 4 paralleled by a gradual growth or fall-back to an agricultural economy. The majority of post-Medieval 'Shilau' phase finds at Siraf were dug up from the residential Site E, and the upper levels of Site F. The Imamzadeh (Mausoleum) at Site H, and the mosque and tomb at Site G also belong to this period. Two types of dwellings are found in the archaeological record during the Shilau occupation. The more ordinary are a scatter of small drystone buildings over Houses W,E,S and R at Site F. The pottery is similar to that found at the large courtyard-house complex of this period at Site E, which represents the second more affluent type of residence. Three coins found in the layer of agricultural soil above House E, two minted by Abu Sa'id (1313-35 AD) and the other also struck in the early 14th century, indicate that the Shilau phase had begun by the early 14th century (Whitehouse 1970 (1):15). These coins of the Mongol Khans and their Salghurid vassals (nos.320-54) typify the 13th-14th century coinage of southern Iran. The two most prolific mints were those at Shiraz and Kaziran and a third may have been situated at Bahrain. A hoard of 60 copper cash found in the same level as the 3 coins at Site F date from the Tang period ( coin of Kao Tsu 618-26 AD) to the Late Sung ( coin of Tu Tsang 1265-75 AD). Deposited in the early 14th century, they are an indication from Siraf of continuing Gulf trade with China in the Late Medieval period. A group of Portuguese lead coins issued for Malacca, probably by Manuel I (1495-1521), found in the disturbed layer between the two 'qiblas' of the Great Mosque, tie the final knot in the numismatic record from the Late Medieval period. The coins probably arrived at Siraf from Bahrain or Hormuz (Lowick 1985:4). The pottery assemblage from the large courtyard-house provides a fair indication of the traded wares imported from China in the Late Medieval sea trade of the Gulf. It includes Coarse Grey Stoneware sherds with green or brown-black glaze, stoneware of the 'bare circle' type, a few fragments of stoneware with painted decoration in grey or greyish-green, and sherds of Blue and White porcelain dating up to the late 15th century (Whitehouse 1969:56-7). The date of the transfer of the small township of Shilau to the modern village of Taheri is not known, but later Arabic sources refer to the existence of Shilau until at least 1590 (Aubin 1969:21-38).

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The Historical Framework of Siraf, using its Ceramic Assemblage Models as a control, may therefore be presented as:

Contemporary Ceramic Assemblage

Periodisation Period

Dynastic (A.D)

Date

[CA 1] - Period 1- Mainly military - Sasanian - c.360-636 Sasanian occupation of Siraf

[CA 2] - Period 2 - Gradual build-up - Umayyad,- c.700-800 of the port's trade Abbasid, in the early Islamic era

[CA 3] - Period 3 - Period of optitimum - Abbasid, - c.800-1000 maritime trade Beyid and prosperity

[CA 4] - Period 4 - Very gradual decline - Mongol,- c.1000-1300 of trade-based socio Saljuq -economic lifestyle

[CA 5] - Period 5 - Post-medieval agrari - Ilkhanid - c.1300-1500 -an village occupation

5.5 Quantification of Glazed Ceramics Traded in Siraf

The preceding discussion on the periodisation of Siraf has already provided the main outline of this topic with its presentation of the types and quantities of ceramics in the five Ceramic Assemblages, and the relation of these Ceramic Assemblages to a 5-phased historical framework for the Port. It is however possible to clarify this quantification/periodisation a little further by examining the percentages of the Islamic and Chinese glazed wares in the ceramic assemblages of the different phases of Sites B, C and F, presented in the bar charts (figs.101,104,109,).

Total Quantities of Islamic and Chinese Glazed Wares in the Five Ceramic Assemblages /Periods of Siraf CA 1 Due to the lack of pottery data counts from Phase A of the Bazaar sounding < B > 0100 (the Sasanian ditch) quantification of this period is limited to Phase A of the Great Mosque sequence, which, with its substantial remains of a Sasanian Fort covering an area ten times that of the subsequent Great Mosque, would seem to provide a single but adequate sample.

Islamic Glazed < B > Great Mosque, Phase A - 2.1 % Chinese Glazed None

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CA 2 This phase represents the gradual build-up of trade in the Early Islamic era. Since the two Mosque platforms contain a large quantity of fill from outside, which distorts the picture, the immediately preceding level of Phase D (fill on latest pre-Mosque floors), dating to c.800, hasb een used from Site B. House E has no [CA 2] assemblage, with House N therefore represting this phase from Site F. House N has an unusually large quantity of Islamic Glazed ceramics (14.9% ), outside the general picture for this phase. Due to the distortion of proportions of Glazed Ware/Earthenware in many of the Bazaar soundings during this phase, by the sample being limited to a small number of pottery data cards, with the very large quantity of SI ware in the cards further confusing the issue (viz., 10-12% of Islamic Glazed), the quantification from the Bazaar soundings has been taken from the two most reliable sequences for this phase, that is, the two soundings from Site B. Islamic Glazed < B > Great Mosque, Phase D 6.1% Extension, Phases A+ B /2 6.3% Bazaar Sounding OlO0, Phase B 6.1% Bazaar sounding < B >, Phase B 14.9%} {House N, Phase A Chinese Glazed < B > Great Mosque, Phase D 0.95% Extension, Phases A+ B /2 1.0% Bazaar sounding OlO0, Phase B 0.9% Warehouse sounding, Phase A 0.5% House N, Phase A 1.25%

= 24.4%/4

6.1%

= 4.6%/5

0.92%

CA 3 The phases associated with this assemblage, which repr esent s the peak of ceramic deposition within Siraf, and the maximum period of prosperity of the port, are Great Mo sque, Ph ase G, and < B > Extension, Phase C (the latter is a smaller deposit). By this stage, the Bazaar sequences present a more consistent quantitative assemblage, enabling the use of data from all seven Soundin gs. Both hou ses from < F > also contribute to this stage. Islamic Glazed < B > Great Mosque, Phase G Extension, Phase C < C > 7 Bazaar Soundings = House N, Phase B House E, Phases A+ B /2

10.2% 5.1% 69/7% = 9.85% 13.1% 11.1%

Chinese Glazed < B > 'Great Mosque, Phase G Extension, Phase C < C > 7 Bazaar Soundings = < F > House N, Phase B House E, Phase A+ B/2

1.9% 1.92% 14.2%/7 2.5% 1.4%

= 49.35%/5

= 2.02%

9.74/5 %

9.87%

1.94%

CA 4 The period of very gradual decline exemplified by this assemblage is not found in House N, which was abandoned by the end of [CA 4]. The statistics from the Great Mosqu e (main sequence) are also distorted quite out of proportion due to the very few data cards available, but such as it is, it indicates a drop in quantity. Since the Bazaar sequences often provide more than one site phase associated with [CA 4] ceramics, and some with a combination of both [CA 3] and [CA 4], the mean of all these phases has been used to get the percentage from Site < C > .

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Islamic Glazed < B > {The Extension, Phase D < C > 7 Bazaar Soundings = < F > House E, Phase D

3.4%} 52.2%/7 7.45% = 13.65%/2 = 6.82%% 6.2%

* If the very low count from the Extension is left out, and reliance is placed on the larger sample from the 7 Bazaar soundings and that from House E, the mean is 6.82%

Chinese Glazed < B > The Extension, Phase D 1.0% < C > 7 Bazaar soundings = 9.1%/7 1.3% = 3.2%/3 = 1.06%6%2% < F > House E, Phase D 0.9% CA 5 After the drop in the bar curves from Sites B, C and F in the penultimate deposits belonging to [CA 4], there is a marked upwards trend in the final phase for both Islamic and Chinese glazed ware. This phase generally coincides with the abandonment/squatter occupation/collapse/general filling and levelling of the Sites prior to and during the post-medieval Shilau occupation, and therefore indicates artificially large deposits, and not a rejuvenation of the economy of Siraf, in this time of the greatest impoverishment of the various sites. The figures for phase [CA 5] have therefore not been present d. In conclusion the averages of the Islamic and Chinese glazed ware in the various sites can be presented as: Period 1 (CAl] < B > 2.1% none

Period 2 (CA2]

Period 3 (CA3]

Period4 (CA4]

Period 5 (CA5]

6.1% 0.92%

9.87% 1.94%

6.82% 1.06%

n.c. IG n.c. CG

Treb le 1G Double IG 3/4 IG and of and double 1/2 CG of Period 1 Period 3 CG of Period 2 Quantities of individual types of Islamic and Chinese glazed wares in the five Ceramic Assemblages/Periods of Siraf can be obtained from the Islamic and Chinese glazed ware Phase Charts (bar chart figs.99,102,105,107),and in broad quantitative proportions from the Ceramic Assemblages/Site Phase Chart (fig.110) and the five Ceramic Assemblage Models.

5.6 Patterns of Ceramic Usage in Siraf

As explained in the methodology dealing with the use of ceramics in the Periodisation of Siraf, Sites B, C and F were chosen out of the fifteen sub-sites of Siraf, not only due to the large span in both time and spatial dimensions covered by the Sites, but also with an eye to the inherent difference in their natures reflecting different characteristics of the personality of Siraf. This latter factor should have left its imprint on the ceramic history from each of these sites, and this section deals with the patterns of ceramic usage in the three sites, drawing the necessary information from (a) the bar charts for total proportions of all the pottery from each of the sites (figs.100,103,106)and (b) especially from those depicting the breakdown of total Islamic and Chinese glazed assemblages per site (figs.100,103,106,108).

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The total proportions of Islamic earthenware, Islamic glazed and Chinese glazed ware from Fort and Mosque / Bazaar / House sequences are:

Fort and Mosque Bazaar EW 88.1% 91.7% 86.9% IG 11.4% 7.4% 12.2% CG 0.5 0.9% 0.9%

Houses

( a) The Fort and Mosque Most of the ceramics from Site B are from the phases relating to the fills of the two Mosque platforms brought from some other part of the site, and from those of the pre-Mosque levels (fig.111), which probably reflect a primarily domestic occupation from the early complex surrounding, and later on encroaching, upon the Sasanian Fort. The Fort itself had a military function with only some SasanianIslamic ware and coarse pottery in its levels. The upper levels of the Great Mosque sequence presents the poorest ceramic assemblage of the three types of site. This picture fits the religious function of the Mosque, which would logically exclude any considerable accumulation of ceramics in its own right. The glazed assemblage from < B > is very high in SI, followed by large quantities of Coarse Grey Stoneware, Yueh and Painted Stoneware, and smaller components of Coarse White, Fine White and Fine Grey and other wares. Since most of the ceramics from < B > belong to Phases A-F ( c.360-815 and especially c.700-815 AD), this assemblage shows a predominantly [CA 2] assemblage very lucidly - high in Sasanian-Islamic and Coarse Grey Stoneware storage containers and tableware, followed by a considerable amount of the earlier Chinese glazed wares Yue and Painted Stoneware. The Great Mosque was built on a raised platform with 3,500 m of earth fill, much of which seems to have have been brought in from an area with dumps of early Chinese glazed ware. The high component of SasanianIslamic and Coarse Grey Stoneware jar sherds in the fill may indicate that the dumps were at least partly broken pottery from ships arriving from the eastern Indian Ocean and Iraq. In keeping with its later Mosque function, only small quantities of the later Islamic and Chinese glazed tablewares appear on Site B. The Bazaar and the Houses are high in all three types of ceramics, as befits the market-place and well-to do consumers' residences. (b) The Bazaar Much of the Islamic glazed ware from the Bazaar is Sasanian-Islamic and Late Green ware, equalled by a similar high proportion of Coarse Grey Stoneware in the Chinese glazed assemblage. Many of these jars were probably storage vessels containing local and foreign trade-goods, put up for sale at the Bazaar, the rest being new storage containers and tableware. Although only a fraction of the storage container types, the next highest range from the Bazaar are the Islamic White Glazed wares, especially the plain variety, Yue, and then Coarse and Fine White wares. These were probably the most popular tableware types used by the inhabitants. A fair quantity of Changsha Stonewares, with a dominance of the Painted over the Relief Stoneware, indicates the appeal of the Changsha tablewares above that of the Relief Stoneware container s. The proportion of Changsha wares (PS a,c) is matched by that found in the Houses. Other White Glazed Wares, Lead Splashed Wares, Fine White Wares, and the rest of the glazed ware types are present in smaller quantities.

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(c) The Houses The amounts of Sasanian-Islamic and Late Green ware is outnumbered in the houses by the large quantities of all types of Islamic glazed wares (with plain and turquoise splashed White-glazed ware the most popular), with a varied Lead-splashed ware component coming second only to the White-glazed. The Lustre ware and Saljuq ware components are small in comparison, although they do appear towards the end of the sequence from the secondary occupation of the houses. It is interesting to note that Coarse Grey Stoneware containers and tableware (bowls) considerably outstrip other wares in the Chinese glazed group, with only half the amount of Yue as Coarse Grey Stoneware, followed by an imposing array of Coarse White and Fine White tablewares. The Painted Stoneware component is small in relation to the other tablewares (White-glazed, Lead-splashed, Yue, Coarse White), with the same pattern of more Painted Stoneware bowls than Relief Stoneware jars. This strengthens the assumption that the presence of the gaily pigmented Lead-splashed wares prevented the rise in demand for their more restrained Chinese equivalents, both the Tang Splashed wares of the early period, as well as the later Painted Stonewares. A small quantity of Fine Grey wares and Blue and White appear from the upper levels of Site F. The Islamic and Chinese glazed ware patterns from the houses shows the greater variety and greater balance of the various ware types, including the lack of domination by the storage container type ware groups over the tableware, as is to be expected in the domestic, and especially the affluent domestic, context of Site F. Since the total Islamic glazed and Chinese glazed assemblage charts show the relative proportions of the various ware types within their own assemblage, and not in relation to the ceramic assemblage of each site as a whole, it is necessary to point out that the relative quantities of Islamic glazed ware from the Sites is about tenfold that of the Chinese glazed ware, portraying the flooding of the market with the readily available, probably much cheaper, and relatively quite adequate Islamic glazed substitutes, with only a small component of Chinese glazed ware present. The Chinese glazed wares which do make a showing at Siraf, are dominated by a category which may have been deposited at Siraf mainly as containers of other import goods, or as very sturdy storage vessels (Coarse Grey Stoneware), followed by a preference for the elegant and enduring Yueh, and then for the coarser export wares - Coarse White ware and Painted Stoneware, with a smaller component of Fine White and later Fine Grey and Blue and White wares.

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Chapter 6 The Dynamics of Early Islamic Glazed Ware Development: the Contribution of Siraf to its Evaluation 6.1 The Re-opening of the 'Samarra Horizon' Issue This chapter re-opens a number of issues on the date of the arrival of the earliest Chinese glazed wares in West Asia, and the emergence of the earliest Islamic glazed wares, collectively dubbed as the debate on the 'Samarra Horizon'. These issues originate in the excavation of the city of Samarra in Iraq by Friedrich Sarre in the early 1920's (Sarre 1925; see also, Northedge and Falkner 1987:160-164), which, along with the known dates for the presence of the Abbasid court in Samarra between 836-883 AD, provided the dating for the first wave of Islamic glazed wares copied from, or influenced by, the earliest Chinese glazed wares to appear in West Asia (Lane 1947:10-16).

The Chinese wares found in Samarra were early Chinese White wares and Three-colour ware, which in turn, were considered to have influenced the two main groups of early Islamic glazed ware found at Samarra - the White-glazed branch and the colourless Lead-glazed wares, splashed in tones of green and yellow-brown. This was followed by the discovery that the Samarra mint had begun operating in 833 AD, and continued until 953, long after the Abbasid court had departed back to Baghdad (Miles 1954:187-91), and that parts of the city were still occupied in 978, as reported by Ibn Hawqal and Al-Maqdisi (Ibn Hawqal 988:trans.31-40); Al-Maqdisi (d.1000) trans.1901). Since Samarra had been arbitrarily excavated with no attention to stratigraphy, its ceramics could no longer be pinpointed to the earlier half century chronology, since the Chinese wares could have arrived, and the Islamic ware developed, at a later date during the 833-978 AD span, a period of a hundred and fifty years. The debate which ensued was fuelled by findings of Islamic glazed ware in diverse parts of West Asia by independent archaeologists, resulting in the formation of two schools on the date of the emergence of Islamic glazed wares. One school, pioneered by Robert Adams who dug at Tell Abu Sarifa in Central Iraq, advocates a 'high chronology', with a Sasanian derivation for Islamic White-glazed ware as well, with the general emergence of White-glazed, Early Lustre, and Lead-splashed wares relegated to the 7th and 8th century (Adams 1970:87-119). This theory had early support in the views of Florence Day, who pointed out that Lead-splashed wares had to be of Umayyad and not Abbasid date to be influenced by the Chinese Splashed wares (Tang Three-colour ware), which went out of use in the 8th century (Day 1941:17-48). A 'low chronology' was propounded by John Hansman who excavated in Khuzistan, with his school bringing the chronology for both White-glazed and Lead-splashed wares forward to a post-9th century date (Fehervari 1970:23-29). 6.2 Siraf and the Beginnings of the Samarra Horizon

David Whitehouse recognised the important contribution that Siraf could provide in solving this issue, with its record of unbroken existence as a military stronghold in Sasanian times, and its subsequent role in the ensuing period as an important entrepot linking the Islamic heartland (Iraq) with the Indian Ocean world, at the time when the dynamics of Chinese glazed ware introduction and initial Islamic glazed production were in full swing. As such, the port was likely to have handled both types of ceramics, which in turn should logically have left their imprint on the site record. In his contribution to the question Whitehouse relies primarily on the sequence and revised dating provided by the sealed platform fills of the Great Mosque, to investigate the dates when Samarra horizon ceramics first reached Siraf (Whitehouse 1979:45-61). On the basis of his preliminary investigation of the thousands of sherds in the 3,500 m. fill of the Mosque platforms 1 and 2, Whitehouse mentions the presence of Sasanian-Islamic, Coarse Grey Stoneware and Painted Stoneware in the fill, and no Islamic White-glazed or Lead-splashed wares and no Chinese White wares. On these grounds, he surmises that no Chinese White wares arrived in West Asia until after the mid-point of the 9th century, with the time-lag

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needed to develop Islamic imitations of Chinese White ware, this would inch the earliest Islamic glazed production towards the 10th century mark. Whitehouse therefore agrees with the necessity of pushing the Samarra horizon forward, joining the ranks of the 'low chronology' viewpoint. He also brings forward evidence refuting the contemporaneous manifestation of White-glazed, Lustre and Lead-splashed ware, as indicated by the initial publication of the Samarra excavation, using primarily the evidence of Sounding A, which was used to establish the initial periodisation for Siraf, to emphasise the introduction of various types of Islamic glazed ware as a gradual process. He divided the Samarra horizon into two initial phases on the basis of the evidence of the Sounding, with White Glazed Wares produced at an earlier stage, followed by the Splashed wares in a second horizon. Examination of the evidence from other sites (Sites P, M2 and the Site C Mosque), led to demarcation of further subdivisions, with the split-level horizon broken down to three broad divisions indicating the sequential introduction of: 1. Plain white-glazed followed shortly by cobalt-splashed wares 2. A broader range of White-glazed wares, and the earliest splashed wares without sgraffiato 3. Lustre ware and Lead-splashed wares with sgraffiato.

While acknowledging the lingering on of certain glazed ware types into later phases, Whitehouse also advocates a fairly clear-cut sequence in the manifestation of sub-types of wares, such as the disappearance of cobalt splashed White-glazed ware before the introduction of Lustre, and a chronological sequence of White-glazed plain ware, followed a little later by the cobalt splashed White-glazed then other monochrome splashed White-glazed (turquoise or brown) and finally bichrome splashed (turquoise and brown) White-glazed wares. Detailed investigation of the sherds recorded in the pottery data cards filled during the excavation of the two Mosque platform fills, suggests a modified conclusion. Chinese White-wares as well as Islamic White-glazed wares and Lead-splashed wares appear in both platform fills. Despite the appearance of a Buyid coin (974-5 A.D) and two 19th century coins of the Shahs of Iran in the fill, a total of 623 Islamic glazed-ware sherds (of non-Sasanian-Islamic types) cannot be considered totally accidental, unless there is a considerable intrusion of later deposits in the platform fills, unrecognised during the excavations. If the deposits making up the mosque platform are indeed largely undisturbed, as stated, this has major implications for the dating of the Samarra Horizon. Of the 623 Islamic glazed sherds in the fill, 322 were White-glazed sherds, both plain and decorated, 1 Early Lustre sherd, 173 sherds of various types of plain and some incised Lead-splashed ware, including the Lead-splashed glaze type found only in the fill of Mosque 1, as well as 128 sherds of accredited Yellow-glazed ware. Even if some of the 281 plain White-glazed sherds are corroded versions of the Yellow-glazed ware, some are recorded as definetely of White-glazed type, and there is no similar confusion with regard to the identification of the decorated White-glazed wares. Thirty-one sherds of Chinese White wares of various types were also recorded in the pottery cards, as coming from the fill of the Mosque platforms. There are also a few Chinese Splashed-ware sherds including a Tang Splashed-ware lid, and some Yue, in addition to the Painted Stoneware and Coarse Grey Stoneware mentioned by the excavator. A complete record of the types/quantities present can be seen in fig.111. In the face of the present state of evidence, it is necessary to shift the date for the beginning of the Samarra horizon back into the phase of the two Mosque fills. With the new estimate for a date of c.804 AD for Platform 1 and c.815 for Platform 2, and the knowledge that the fill most probably contains material introduced to Siraf from the previous phase, both the Chinese White and the new Islamic glazed wares in Siraf seem to have appeared prior to c.800 A.D. Seen in this new light, items of numismatic, ceramic and stratigraphical evidence from other excavated sites at Siraf presented in the interim reports, which seemed puzzlingly contradictory , and led the excavator to remark that 'it is highly improbable that tin-glazed (White-gla zed) war es were

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known at Siraf when the mosque was built. If this assumption is correct, it follows that all the eighth century coins mentioned above are residual' (Whitehouse 1970 (3):33) - fall into their proper perspective, and provide corroborative evidence for the presence of both Islamic and Chinese glazed wares during the latter half of the 8th century. These are as following: The Bazaar at Site B: The shops immediately outside the Great Mosque tie-in very neatly with its stratigraphy. A deposit associated with one of the earliest shops, which abuts the footing of the steps of the Mosque platform which contained lead fals of 814/5 AD, also yielded a small group of coins, most of which were lead fals struck no later than the early 9th century. Two plain White-glazed sherds were discovered in adjoining shops of the same period, indicating the presence of White-glazed sherds by the early 9th century (Whitehouse 1974:71). Of the five main periods of building in this part of the Bazaar, the floors of the earliest structures sealed two lead coins of c.188 AH/803-4 AD, the structures being obviously contemporary with the Mosque (Whitehouse 1972:7). The Mosque at Site C: The fill below the second construction of the Mosque in the Bazaar yielded three coins struck in 747-57, 763-64 and 764-65 or 766-67, that is, in the middle 8th century. The fill included White-glazed pottery and pottery splashed with green, which led the excavator to surmise that the coins were residual. This is ruled out by the floor sealing the fill containing a bronze coin of 750-58 AD (Whitehouse 1971 (1):12). House E at Site F: The fragmentary remains of the Early Islamic house contemporary to the levels under the Great Mosque, beneath the standing remains of the later residence at the site, consisted of a floor and a well. The well yielded large quantities of pottery, including White-glazed sherds and Painted Stoneware (Whitehouse 1971 (1):9-10). Sounding A: In period 2B of Sounding a, White-glazed wares, Lead-splashed ware, Yue and Chinese White wares were associated with a single coin possibly struck in 745 AD (Whitehouse 1970 (3):33). This study therefore joins ranks with the advocates of a 'high chronology' for the emergence of Islamic glazed wares. The evidence from Siraf, however, tends to point more to the 8th rather than the 7th century end of the spectrum provided by the high chronology school. Such a chronology also bridges the discrepancy between the recorded rise in the participation of Siraf in the Indian Ocean trad e during the latter half of the 8th century, and its supposed handling of Chinese ceramics only after the mid-9th century. Clearly, in the late 8th century, the full range of Tang export wares was reaching the West: Coarse Grey Stonewares, Painted Stoneware, some Splashed wares, Yue, as well as the White wares which the Islamic White-glazed wares apparently copied. The suggested new date also removes the necessity of treating the gift of porcelain to Hamn al-Rashid sometime before 806 AD as very special indeed, and makes the presentation no longer a premature contradiction, but a contemporary event. 6.3 The Phasing of the Samarra Horizon With regard to the clear three-phased division of the Samarra Horizon, the micro-division system of building-phase sequences in the stratigraphical charts was used to examine if such a stepped gradation is visible in the 11 sequences from Sites B,C and F. The lack of ceramic finds in certain phases in the sequences, notably in some of the Bazaar sequences, as well as insufficient differentiation between the Lead-splashed wares in some of the cards, has somewhat dimmed the clarity of the picture. Since much of the initial development of various White-glazed wares and Lead-splashed wares appears to have taken place prior to 900 AD, the two ceramic sequences from Site F were of no particular use in this analysis: these ceramics are mainly from the later houses in the Residential Quarter, and include fill from c.977 AD onwards. However, careful perusal of the ceramic sequences, with special reference to the Great Mosque and Bazaar sequences, does provide a fairly recurrent pattern which is summarised in fig.113A. A general pattern of plain and monochrome-splashed White-glazed wares (WG a-c) preceding Whiteglazed bichromes and polychromes, and of plain Lead-splashed and Style 1 Sgraffiato (LSW,LSWa,LSWc) preceeding Style 2 Sgraffiato (LSWb ), emerges. The data therefore generally corroborates Wbitehouse's 3phased Samarra Horizon, with the following exceptions:

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1. Monochrome turquoise-splashed White-glazed ware is contemporary to plain White-glazed ware, and not a type which followed after the introduction of both plain and cobalt-splashed versions.

2. Cobalt-splashed White-glazed sherds are few at Siraf, a11dalthough a limited number appear to have been imported contemporary to the early plain White-glazed ware, the majority appear a little later. 3. The main body of Lead-splashed ware is generally later than the plain and monochrome White-glazed ware corpus; it appears with White-glazed ware decorated with bichrome-splashing and Lustre. No marked chronological differentiation between the plain and incised variations of Lead-splashed ware are visible in the cards. However, a small quantity of Lead-splashed wares is present in Phase B of the Great Mosque sequence (Early Islamic levels beneath the Mosque) alongside some early White-glazed ware. It is also interesting to note some sherds of a rich coloured Lead-splashed ware with a coarser red fabric than the Iraqi Lead-splashed wares, recorded only from the fill of the Great Mosque. This is accompanied by one sherd decorated in a wide rather primitive Sgraffiato style, incised with a broader line. The predominance of plain Lead-splashed sherds in both Phase B and the platform fill, with only a single incised specimen, may indicate that the emergence of the plain Splashed-ware can be generally assigned to an earlier date than the incised versions, although this should no longer be attributed to as late a date as given in the original three-phased scheme, that is, to the 10th century. Also, although the Lead-splashed wares proliferated at Siraf well after the initial imports of plain and monochrome-splashed White-glazed wares, the appearance of the two types together in small quantities in the later levels beneath the Mosque and in the Mosque fill, indicates that the two glazing styles appeared together at the inception of Islamic glazed ware production in the Iraq-Iran or Gulf region. We can conjecture that this was followed by an initial preference for White-glazed varieties and a later shift to a fashion for Lead-glazed wares, leading to this contradiction between the earlier and later manifestations of Whiteglazed and Lead-splashed wares. 6.4 The End of the Samarra Horizon The conclusions reached by Whitehouse on the later ceramic development help to provide the cut-off point for the Samarra horizon at Siraf. This can be identified as the substituition of the Early Islamic glazed wares from Iraq, by Iranian glazed ceramics, exemplified especially by the arrival of Style 3, and possibly Style 2, Sgraffiato in Siraf.

Style 1 Sgraffiato, and the early Lead-splashed wares of similar fabric, are of distinctly Iraqi origin, on the basis of their fabric. The provenance of Style 2 Sgraffiato is still unknown. However, its finer red fabric is closer to the Style 3 fabric than to the buff coloured coarse-textured Style 1 Sgraffiato, and it may well turn out to be a ware type also manufactured in the Makran region. The Sgraffiato ware of Style 3 comes from southern Iran, and kilns with its wasters have been identified in Fez in the Makran (Stein 1937). This industry seems to have influenced the production of pottery in north-eastern Iran and southern Afghanistan, where its arrival has been dated by Gardin to c.1075 AD (Gardin 1967). We have no indication of the date for the beginning of the Southern Iranian industry but it clearly predates 1075 AD. The beginnings of production of Style 3 Sgraffiato may be tentatively dated to 1000 AD, on the basis of its appearance at Mtambwe Mkuu in East Africa, where it was found sitting under a hoard of silver and gold coins, the latest of which date to 1066 AD (Horton, Brown and Oddy 1986:116-17). At Kilwa, Style 3 Sgraffiato is present in Period lB, dated to c.1000-1100 (Chittick 1984:303). Clearer indication of date comes from the ceramic and stratigraphical sequences at Siraf. The dating of Style 3 Sgraffiato to a pre-977 AD date, on the basis of its appearance in East Africa, and at Sites F,K and A at Siraf, is detailed in section 5.4. Houses N, R and W in Site F, abandoned before the introduction of Style 3 ware to Siraf, had abundant Lead-splashed ware fragments including Style 2 Sgraffiato, in the debris accumulated upon their latest floors. Style 2 Sgraffiato was therefore present prior to 977 AD, and may have been introduced around or before c.900 AD. This idea is supported by the data from the Ceramic Assemblages. Style 2 ware (LSW b) does not appear in the [CA 2] assemblage, but in [CA 3], at the

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peak of the glazed ceramic deposition at Siraf in Period 3 (10th-early 11th c.) (fig.110). Therefore the latest stage of the predominant influence of the early Iraqi glazed ware, also found at Samarra, may be fixed to around the middle to late 10th century. However, as Whitehouse remarks, both White-glazed and Lead-splashed wares remained in use well into the 11th century (Whitehouse 1979:59). In fact they appear in both [CA 3] and [CA 4] assemblages right upto the [CA 4] assemblage, and therefore seem to have been still brought into Siraf up to the end of the Medieval period. To summarise these conclusions, it would seem that a 'high chronology' for the Samarra horizon is indicated by the evidence from Siraf, with the date of the introduction of Chinese White wares, both coarse as well as some of finer quality, going back to the later 8th century. The emergence of the early Islamic glazed ware took place within this period, with no initial gap between the manufacture of Whiteglazed and Lead-splashed wares in the phase preceding 800 AD. This was, however, followed by a preference for White-glazed wares, and a later fashion for Lead-splashed wares within the subsequent period, with only a marginal difference in date between the plain and sgraffiato Lead-splashed wares of the Iraqi period. A fairly clear sequence of early White-glazed wares, over a span of 100-150 years is indicated by the stratigraphical record, as discussed above. The early Islamic glazed ware imports from Iraq seem to have been gradually superceded by the later or Iranian phase of glazed ceramics from the 10th century, with a similar succession of Style 2 and Style 3 Sgraffiato. However, the import of the Iraqi ceramics, or indeed any possible Iranian imitations of the White-glazed wares continued into this second era, probably ending only with the final dwindling of the Port's Medieval affluence around 1200AD.

65 The Samarra Horizon and the Ceramic Evidence from Susa

Of great interest in relation to the chronology for Early Islamic glazed wares proposed in this study, is that derived from the controlled excavation of the eastern sector of the Apadana mound at Susa, excavated by Monique Ke1vran in 1972 (Kervran 1977:75-93). This sequence has been superimposed on previous chronologies for Susa by Lacam (Lacam 1950:207-209) and Rosen-Ayalon (Rosen-Ayalon 1974:12),presenting ,vith maximum certitude, the technological, morphological and decorative evolution of ceramics at Susa, from the 7th - end 10th/early 11th centuries AD. Only about 1% of the Islamic ceramics at Susa are imported wares; the rest presenting a basically homogeneous nature, have been produced at the pottery workshops at Susa itself. Susa also provided irrevocable evidence for the production of all the Samarra-type glazed ceramics - White-glazed, Leadglazed and Lustre wares - well in advance of the Samarra chronology. Judging by the production of versions of these ceramics at a number of centres, amongst them, Rayy, Susa, Samarra and Fostat, it would appear that a single centre did not originate the glazing techniques, but that an analogous style prevailed in the whole of the Orient; an opinion initially advanced by Koechlin in 1928 (Koechlin 1928:58), prior to the availability of verification from stratified excavations such as those of Susa and Siraf. Very few Chinese pieces were found at Susa, and this is probably due to this capital of Khuzistan not being rich enough a centre, with large enough an affluent clientale to buy the comparatively expensive Chinese wares. The absolute resemblance of a white porcelain dish found at Susa to another unearthed from Siraf (Whitehouse 1974:Pl.XIIC), and several imitations in White-glaze discovered at Susa, may signal that the Chinese ware arrived at Susa via the principal Gulf port of the time, Siraf. The chronological sequence evolved by Kervran (Kervran 1977:78-90,Table II), has been presented in this study in a more cohesive periodised format in fig.113 B. To summarise the main points of the chronology arrived at for Susa: Period 1 in the second and third quarters of the 7th century, shows the perseverance of ancient forms of the Sasanian period, including Sasanian-Islamic ware. Archaic Islamic ceramics appear in Period 2 at the end of the 7th-beginning of the 8th centuries, with no new glazed ware introductions.

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Islamic glazed ceramics not yet quite of the Samarra type, but clearly its precursor, appear in Period 3, at the time of the first Islamic invasion around the mid-8th century. This includes a ware painted in copper-oxide and lead-glazed to a bright green colour (which disappears, 3rd quarter 9th c.), and cobaltsplashed White-glazed ware which soon deteriorates in quality and disappears by the second half of the 9th century. Samarran-type glazed ceramics of Period 4 coincide with the period of ceramic apogee at Susa, from the beginning of the 9th century to the end of the century. This includes various types of Whiteglazed ware and a related Greyish-glazed ware, both plain and with splashed decoration, and early Lead-splashed wares without sgraffiato. Post-Samarran Susa ceramics, evolved from the Samarran-type appear from the end of the 9th-end of the 10th centuries. They include versions of the White-glazed and Lead-glazed types above, as well as Sgraffiato wares with monochrome and polychrome splashing.

It is noticeable that the 9th century ceramics of the 'Samarran' type are of good quality but little originality, indicating an initial period of close-knit glazed ware production in contemporary Syria-Mesopotamian workshops. More independent but cruder variations of these types are found in the 10th century. Artistic trends from the potteries of north-eastern Iran, such as those of Nishapur and Samarkand, influence the Susa ceramic production by the end of the 10th century. The similarity between the chronological pattern of ceramics at Susa and Siraf is irrefutable. Arrived at quite independantly from two well-stratified contexts, they cross-check one another, and resolve the problems related to the dating and sequence of the broad framework of Early Islamic glazed pottery production.

6.6 The Origins of the Technique of Lead Splashed Glazing and the Question of the Non-existence of Painted Stoneware Imitations The emergence of early Islamic polychrome Lead-splashed wares was originally simply attributed to the direct influence of the Chinese polychrome lead-splashed ware called Tang Sancai or Threecolour ware, which arrived in small quantities in the Islamic world, along with Chinese White wares and other early Chinese export ceramics (Lane 1947:10-16). However,this rich polychrome splashed-ware was manifestly not an integral part of the Chinese ceramic tradition, and there has been much debate on both the complex cultural aesthetic trends involved in its creation, and on the chronology and dynamics involved in the emergence of its Islamic parallels. Although away from the mainstream of the green, white and blackware ceramic traditions, China did develop a lesser lead-splashed earthenware, with an initial manifestation just visible in Han times, the earliest clear lead-glaze evolving towards the end of the Sui period (581-618 A.D), and the clear lead-glaze coupled with a new bright polychrome effect emerging only in the High Tang period (Watson 1970:35-40). This splurge of colour and the varied decorative styles in which it manifests itself, seems to have been borrowed from the textiles and metalware of Central Asia and Iran, which wended their way to China along the Silk Route, and were important commodities in the Central Asian trade with China in the Sui and Tang periods. The Tang Three-colour ware made a bold but brief stay in the Chinese ceramic tradition, appearing and disappearing between c.700-750 AD, according to dated tomb evidence. This transient manifestation is generally attributed to its status as a funerary ware made for the Tang aristocracy of the day, who were based in the Chang-an and Loyang areas. With the disintegration of the power of the Tang nobility, especially with the An-Lushan rebellion of 755 AD, it is supposed that the kilns lost their patronage and that the ware died out. This seems plausible, since the Three-color ware seems to embody an aristocratic taste for the new western exotica, (with its origins in the luxury textiles and metalware imported for their benefit via the Silk Route), which would have had no place in the subsequent rise of

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the merchant class in Late Tang China, with the ceramic tradition limiting itself to the evolution of the three main ware traditions, culminating in the ceramics of the subsequent Song Period. The paucity, in fact, with a few exceptions the actual lack, of vessels of the typical Threecolour ware in the Islamic world, is answered by this scenario. As a funerary ware made for an exclusively aristocratic clientale limited to the High Tang period, such vessels would not have arrived among the ceramics traded to the Islamic centres. In fact, the limited quantity of Chinese polychrome splashed-ware which arrived in the Persian Gulf region, including Siraf, cannot be described as true Tang Sancai, with the exception of the odd example. It is not of the juxtaposed-splash type often combined with metalware-derived relief motifs, the variety brushed on in thick streaks, or of the spotted or patterned wax-resist mode, all found in the tombs (Sato 1981:60-72). Instead it appears to be a less luxurious, more mundane version, on a grey rather than a cream bodied earthenware, in which a large expanse of the white-slipped background remains, decorated with simple florettes, short thick lines and simple curvilinear patterns in a more muted copper green or iron brown fritted glaze, these motifs painted on a clear alkaline glaze which has sometimes been underfired to an opaque white layer. The copper is occasionally fritted with a little lead to ensure the green in the alkaline glaze, resulting in an almost cobalt blue. The shapes are all bowls, mostly wide mouthed shallow bowls with a flared or everted lip which is sometimes lobed, as well as cup shaped smaller bowls (Medley 1976:87-88). This ware has been found in one kiln in Sichuan in West China, but is better known from the kilns of Wajiaping and Tungguan-xian in the southern province of Hunan, some distance north of Changsha (Medley 1976:87-88). It is interesting to note that the only kilns found in the survey of the areas of Chang-an in Shaanxi and Loyang in Henan, undertaken to locate the kiln sites of Tang Sancai, were a group found in Kung-hsien to the east of Loyang. The wares found at these kilns were again not the luxury Tang Sancai of the tombs, but jugs and small bowls closer in type to the ware traded to the Islamic world, and described above (Watson 1970:35-40). In one instance the splashed glaze is executed over an incised design (Watson 1970:35-40). The florette-splashing seems much more akin to elements in the Islamic decorativ e tradition, and the inspiration in the decoration of the southern Chinese (Hunan) splashed wares may have even been absorbed from the ceramic or glass traditions of West Asia by Chinese potters, in the same way that the typical Tang Sancai ware borrowed its aesthetic inspiration from West Asian and Iranian motifs. However this may be, the splashed motifs in the Islamic White-glazed ware, and in much of the Lead-splashed ware, is allied to this lesser mode. A very late phase of Chinese splashed glazed-ware imports is also found in the Siraf ceramic scheme. Emerging from primarily 14th-15th century levels at Sites E and K, this ware appears in the deeper bowl shape of 14th century Yuan style, with bands of green glaze trailed over the white background to the inner base, and a high fired grey earthenware fabric seen in Nos. 1662, 1654. A few other vessels are possibly Late Tang in date, or later copies of Tang shapes, such as the dish mottled in orange and green which seems almost too elegant to be genuinely Tang, and bowl sherd 166 which is moulded in an overall trellis pattern and splashed mainly in green, with a single brown streak in one corner. The first category, and perhaps some of the second group, can be interpreted as a deliberate reproduction by Chinese potters, of the earlier green and brown splashed wares which caught the fancy of the Indian Ocean market. Whether of archaistic imitation or lingering tradition, the similarity of the first group to the more modest green and brown splashed wares from Hunan is unmistakeable , in its grey body fabric, the use of the same colours and the basic mode of simple linear splashed decoration.

The Date of Sgraffiato Production in Iran There is a growing tendency to relegate the Islamic Lead-splashed wares, both the plain splashed and especially the sgraffiato wares, to a much later date than the original 9th century horizon provided by Samarra. The evidence from many sites from Iraq to Khizistan seems to point to an initial late 10th and 11th century date for much of this ware (Fehervari 1970:23-28; Schnydcr 1978:69-78). However, the

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presence of some quantity of Lead-splashed ware, both plain and a few incised, at both Samarra and Siraf, cannot be denied. At Siraf it appears in the Great Mosque platform-fill bearing deposits of the late 8th century, and in parallel deposits from the Bazaar site and in the early levels beneath House N. The quantities of Lead-splashed ware are small, and the types quite varied even at this early stage. They are found in two types of body, the coarse buff-bodied Iraqi splashed-ware, both plain splashed and some incised ware of Style 1, and a red bodied rich-toned splash glazed version, including a few sherds with some form of elementary rather broad incised decoration, rather similar in body paste to the later Style 3 Sgraffiato. The early Lead-splashed wares found at Siraf seems to have come from more than one source, and it is therefore possible that it is not totally of Iraqi origin, or if so, that Iraq produced an early red-bodied type as well as the usual buff-bodied plain and incised ware. Alternatively, the red bodied Lead-splashed ware may be of an early Iranian type. With its large expanse of white ground and general awkwardness of the sgraffiato decoration, the buff-bodied Style 1 ware (and its plain splashed brother) seem to be the closest equivalents to the South Chinese splashed-ware (TCW) which arrived at Siraf and other Indian Ocean sites during this period. The red bodied more richly coloured splashed-glaze may have been more firmly rooted in the white-slipped and painted decorative technique of the Persian Gulf region, with its transmission to a polychrome lead-glazed medium facilitated by the appearance of the Chinese wares. The further development and widespread diffusion, of the Lead-splashed polychrome wares, with a gradually maturing sgraffiato technique, seems to have taken place somewhat later, and it is possible to equate this with the 10th, and especially the later 10th and 11th century dates, given to the appearance of a well-established sgraffiato tradition by recent Islamic ceramicists and archaeologists. This seems firmly entrenched in the primarily Iranian development of sgraffiato wares from around c.900-1000AD, and it is tempting, in this light, to assign the elusive red bodied Style 2 sgraffiato to this phase and provenance ; prior to the emergence of Style 3 wares around c.1000 AD. These Iranian sgraffiato developments were part of the general Iranian takeover of Islamic glazed ware evolutionary trends, which resulted, a little later, in the emergence of the frit wares of the Saljuq period. Independent development continued, sometimes with parallel trends, in the two great ceramic traditions of the Chinese and Islamic worlds, with some elements of aesthetic exchange, the amalgam leading, for example, to the hatched background mode of Style 3 Sgraffiato, the champleve style of the Garrus wares, and the cut away and hatched decoration of the Cizhou ware, all emerging in the 11th century.

The Lack of Islamic Imitations of the Painted Stoneware The presence of the White-glazed and Lead-splashed glazed wares may also be juxtaposed to the question of the non-existence of obvious imitations of Chinese Painted Stoneware vessels, which, unlike the Three-colour ware, appear in substantial quantities in the contemporary Indian Ocean world. Although the decoration on the Painted Stoneware may have had a hidden influence on the techniques of splashed and painted decoration on the Islamic glazed wares, the multitude of colourful monochrome, bichrome and polychrome splashed White-glaze~ wares, as well as the plain, incised, carved, painted, and combined decorative technique Lead-splashed wares of the Islamic ceramic tradition, might well have overidden any necessity for closer copying of the relatively muted colour schemes and brushwork technique of the Painted Stoneware.

6.7

The Emergence of Early Islamic Glazed Wares: Final Conclusions

The well-stratified ceramic evidence from Siraf and Susa proves that although the bulk of the Islamic and Chinese glazed wares dates from the 9th century, a lesser number of sherds of both categories are present in earlier levels of the mid-8th century. This indicates an early arrival of Chinese ceramics by sea via the port of Basra-Ubulla or by the overland route, between the early to mid-8th century.

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Chinese and Islamic glazed wares were found together in the early mid-8th century levels at both sites. Islamic White and Yellow-glazed sherds appeared together in the latest levels beneath the Mosque at Siraf, with early Lead-glazed sherds in the fill of the first platform. At Susa, bright green Leadglazed pottery and early cobalt-splashed White-glazed ware were recorded. This leads to the necessity of re -evaluating the role of the influence of Chinese ceramics versus that of early regional glazed and unglazed pottery traditions, in the production of Early Islamic glazed wares. It is necessary to emphasise the presence of pre-Islamic glazing traditions in the Egypt-Syrio-Mesopotamian-Persian Gulf region, which probably prepared the ground for the speedy acceptance and adaptation of Chinese glazing techniques and ware shapes. Glazing technology was present in both China and the Near East from the early centuries of the Christian era, with a long history of stimulating one others decorative traditions. For example, the Tang splashed and Islamic Lead-splashed techniques are both basically derived from the Central Asian decorative convention, and Partho-Sasanian silverware influenced the green-glazed imitation-bronze Chinese vases. The dense floral-designs of the Blue and White porcelain which achieved such popularity in the Indian Ocean world and Europe from the late medieval period were derived from the Middle Eastern decorative repertoire. Notable among the regional influences which can be detected in Early Islamic glazed pottery are the motifs and glaze traditions of the Byzantine and Partho-Sasanian traditions, as well as decorative influences from the unglazed painted-pottery of the region. To cite but a few instanc es of this mingling of traditions remarked upon by Koechlin as early as 1928, the early cobalt-splashed Whit e-glazed ware at Susa, dating to the mid-8th century, shows a blending of the new art of Islam with classical motifs, in combining the poppy motif and decorative Kufic inscriptions with classical garlands of foliage. The Leadsplashed wares at Susa show Byzantine influence in the circles tracing the imbrications of the field, where vinceaux of great crested birds appear in relief on a creamy background, and arcades frame a sort of conventionalised cypress. In the lustred Lead -glazed relief-ware, the demi-palmett e is a Sasanid motif, and the stippled ribands with dots in the centre is found in Byzantine art (Koechlin 1928:6-12). The Tarsus pilgrim bottle in Lead-glazed relief ware has an early prototype in the Nabatean pottery from Petra dating to c.150 BC (Horsfield and Horsfield 1941:Pl.XXVI,No. 202). Geza Fehervari is among the more recent scholars to stress the importance of regional influence in the Early Islamic glazed ware production. He points out that neither the earliest White-glazed nor Lead-splashed vessels are the experimental pieces to be expected in a new-born glazing tradition. Nor are the decorative patterns novel, but present in the painted-pottery traditions of the region. Among the Petra excavation material, many painted vessels bear identical designs to those on polychromepainted Lustre vessels, while others echo the decoration on splashed Lead-gla zed wares and cobaltsplashed White-glazed pottery (Fehervari 1970:28). Both Koechlin, formulating his remarkable deductions on the basis of style alone, in a period when controlled excavations could provide him with no corroborative evidence of sequence or date, and Fehervari, basing his conclusions on the growing body of archaeological evidence emerging from numerous sites in the Middle East, therefore put us on guard against any such over-simplification as the emergence of the Islamic glazed ware tradition purely as a result of exposure to Chinese ceramics, stressing instead the equal impact of complex and continuous regional ceramic traditions. To quote both authors, Fehervari remarks: 'From the above it would follow that there was a continuity in patterns in the Near East; only the techniques, the glazes, have changed. It does not mean that any eastern influence is denied, but only its extent is questioned. Koechlin states that: ' ...it is precisely this mingling of entirely diverse influences that constitutes the interest of the pottery made in the first centuries after the Hegira, that of Susa even as that of Samarra, and it remains, in one way or another, the character of all Musulman art during the entire course of its development' (Fehervari 1970:28; Koechlin 1928:12).

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Chapter 7 The Port of Siraf and the Maritime Trade Between China and the West The Historical Background The period from the 8th to the 15th centuries AD, marked the unfolding of a new order of commerce and civilisation in the Indian Ocean region, with an impact on the lifestyles of its continental margins in Asia, Europe and Africa. During this time, there is a transition from the primarily agrarian, more self-sufficient and leisurely society of the Ancient and Classical Period, with some elements of internal and external trade, to the inception of the Modern Period, with its stress on large-scale mechanised production, and a worldwide fiscal and trade system covering the five continents. The socio-economic trends, processes, and general prosperity of this transitional M edieval Period, with its more urban trade-oriented society, and supportive primary production, evolved to hold the greater Indian Ocean region in a gently encompassing and gradually interlinking grasp, providing the basis for the era of European motivated expansion and industrial development. The primary agents and catalysts in this transitional period were the mobile and dynamic forces of Islamic expansion in the western Indian Ocean, and a more passive but equally weighty Chinese expansion in its eastern block. The interaction and complement of the two forces resulted in the formulation of the socio-economic structure of the Indian Ocean world in the Medieval period. The administrative unification of China in the Tang Period (681-907 AD), coupled with military, political and cultural expansion over a large part of neighbouring East Asia, resulted in a general widening of China's boundaries ( Grousset 1952:152-171). The accompanying cultural-economic expansion of Tan g China was responsible for the creation of new consumer demands and the necessary wealth, or the means of finding the necessary wealth, to indulge in them. This was accomplished by a rise in domestic production for the home market as well as for export, the latter supply facilitating the import of a wide range of goods, ranging from luxury goods to simpler commodities. The demand for such goods accelerated in the Late Tang period, with an ensuing boom in production and trade in the subsequent Song, Yuan, and Ming periods (960-1644 AD.), despite cyclical periods of civil war, political disintegration and foreign invasion. These developments in East Asia were paralleled by the rise of the powerful force of Islam in Arabia, and its expansion, resulting in the political integration, partial demographic diffusion, and broader Islamic acculturalisation of Iraq, Egypt, Syria, Iran, North and East Africa and southern Spain. This block was soon firmly linked to a subsidiary Islamicised zone in parts of Central Asia, South Asia and South-east Asia. It also drew upon the economic demand of the Mediterranean and extended European market, the whole creating an enormously powerful zone of economic consumption (Chauduri 1985:34-62). The Arab cultural -eco nomic success was achieved with the aid of the skills of the people of the ancient Middle East, combined with the commercial and fiscal structure inherited from the Mediterranean economy of the prec eding period. The latter was rejuvenated and refashioned, and fed by a greater quantum of resources from the lands of the Indian Ocean. The growth of great urban centres, a universal feature of Islam, nurtured the expanding demand for local and foreign commodities of all kinds, paralleling, perhaps even outstripping that of China and the outlying regions of East Asia. Two routes brought Chinese and other Asian goods to the west, and bor e western and middle eastern goods to China and the rest of Asia: a northern overland route and a southern sea route. The northern route or the Silk Route, via central Asia, was initially the quicker route, and the medium for exchange of more exotic luxury goods, as well as less tangible religious and other cultural contacts. Although some ceramics reached the west along the Silk Route, this bulky commodity was specifically a component of the long er southern Spice Island Route across the Indian Ocean, which carried more essential, heavy and mundane commodities, as well as some luxury goods. Often functioning as storage containers for other goods transported by sea, and also exported for its own value, ceramics could be

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more safely, easily and cheaply transported in bulk by sea.

7.1 The Nascent Phase of Trade with the West (Period 1 of SiraQ The earliest period of contact between China and the countries of middle and western Asia in the historical period, goes back to the centuries immediately preceding the Christian era, with Chinese goods which had travelled the overland route found in the Altai mountains in the 4th-3rd centuries BC. This trade began to expand by the turn of the Christian era, with Chinese diplomatic intervention and trade involvement with the oasis city-states of Central Asia, which provided the intermediate zone and the intermediaries, in this overland trade between Near and Far East. The Tang period marks the first and most successful period of actual Chinese control of these areas, with the city-states of Turfan, Kucha, Yarkand, Khotan, Kashgar and Karashahar brought under Chinese suzerainty between 635-648 AD, in the Early Tang period (see chronological chart of Iranian and Chinese Dynasties, fig.112). Both ambassadors and tribute from Iran and Central Asia began to appear in considerable quantities at the Chinese court, culminating in the arrival of Firuz, son of Yazdgard III, who sought refuge in the Tang court in 708 AD. Persian fire-temples were built for him and his entourage in China. This arrival was the result of the ousting of the last Sasanian emperor, Yazdgard III, by the Arabs in 635, heralding the beginning of Arab expansion in the western world. The overland route passed through the western extremity of the Great Wall at the Jade Gate, and turned north to Turfan, and then proceeded westwards along the foothills of the Tian Shan. Alternatively it left the wall at the Sun Gate, and travelled south-west along the edge of the Tibetan plateau, before turning west to go by Miran, Niya, Khotan and Yarkand. At Kashgar the roads joined, but soon divided with one branch going to Samarkand and Antioch via the Terek Pass. The other reached Antioch by crossing the Parmirs at Tuan-Murun Pass via Balkh. A route from north-west India joined the sub-continent to the main route. The latter proceeded westwards to Antioch, through the Parthian capital of Hecatompylos, and on to Ecbatana (Ramadan), to Seleucia-Ctesiphon on the Tigris, where two routes from the Persian Gulf connected with it, and on to Syria, with Syrian ports connecting the route to Rome. The overland route brought horses, various textiles including Persian brocade and gold-thread weaves, glass from Syrian and Sasanian factories, precious stones, ostrich eggs, aromatic herbs, coral, jade, storax, byssus, mail-armour, ivories. entertainers and a host of other luxury items to China (Chauduri 1985:169-175; Grousset 1952:68-80; Watson 1984:10-19). Chinese silks formed a large part of the return trade, as well as worked articles of jade and lacquer, and Chinese silk paintings. It is in fact this trade, regulated by the Tang court and aristocracy at this stage, which resulted, for example, in the emergence of the short lived exotic Tang Sancai ware, manufactured primarily as a funerary ware for the Chinese nobility. Some Chinese coins of the early period are found in West Asia, such as the Tang dynasty 'kai yuan' cash of 621 AD, deposited in Phase E of the Great Mosque sequence, and the hoard of 60 bronze cash and double cash of Tang and Late Song date found in Site F. A few hoards of Sasanian coins have also been discovered in China. Although currency and bullion were involved in this exchange, barter also played a considerable role in the Medieval trade of the Indian Ocean. Muchants and travellers of many countries traversed the Silk Route, but the trade was handled mainly by Sogdian merchants, with the Uighur Turks of the oases-states maintaining peace and safety along the routes. This initial stage corresponds to Period 1, or the Sasanian phase of Siraf. However, the archaeological evidence, bolstered by literary records points to a city in the Bushire peinisula, 150 km. north of Siraf, as the main trading port of the Gulf throughout much of the Sasanian period . The Bushire peninsula was the site of an ancient settlement dating from the Ubaid period, with an important Elamite town known as Liyan (Pezard 1914). A number of Greek and Roman references alude to the peninsula and its city, with Hieratis at its southern end the only settlement in the Persian Gulf to be

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distinguished by the status of 'polis' or city by Nearchus. Hieratis was probably the port of the Achaemenid palace near Taoki, the precursor of Medieval Tawaj (Arrian XXXIX; Strabo XV,3,3). The settlement at Bushire is identified by some historians as Rev Ardashir, founded on the coast of Fars by the Sasanian ruler Ardashir I in the early 3rd century. Two large mounds at the western and southern extremities bear remains of settlement, including harbour works. The string of smaller mounds are probably the remains of the residential quarter of the city, strung out between the fort and jetty (northern mound) and the inner port (southern mound) (Whitehouse and Williamson 1973:35-42).The location of the site on a peninsular jutting out into the Gulf, and provided with natural anchorage, makes it a suitable site for a trading port. In addition, it is the largest archaeological site of any period in the Gulf, barring Basra, spreading over 450 hectares, an amazing fact pointing perhaps to the handling of the bulk of the Sasanian trade by this entrepot. Among the Partho-Sasanian pottery scattered over much of the peninsula, are a large number of Iraqi types, some forms from Baluchistan including Black Painted Orange Ware, Indian Red Polished Ware, and the bowl-type with a bifurcated rim which Williamson uses to distinguish sites of the Later Sasanian period, which is absent from Siraf (Williamson 1973:32). The peninsula is linked by 2-3 days journey to Bishapur, the royal city of Shahpur, and to Farashband, and the population of the vast city must have been supported by supplementing the peninsula's food-production with supplies imported from these hinterland areas. The lack of Islamic and Chinese pottery at Bushire, and finds of Late Sasanian-type pottery on the floors of buildings, and generally on the surface, gives a pre-Islamic Sasanian date to the site. The subsequent dramatic retraction of the settlement from a city of 450 ha. to a village of 20 ha., which is the extent which could be supported by the food production of the peninsula itself, indicates its total dependence on the revenues brought in by sea trade, and the collapse of the city with the shift of trade to another port, Ubulla, towards the end of the Sasanian period. The ceramic evidence suggests that the involvement of Siraf in the Sasanian sea-trade was comparatively limited. Very little pre-Islamic traded ceramics were found from the site. Those that have emerged are limited to the Fort, and the earliest levels at Building E, Site J. The finds at Site J are not detailed in the report (Whitehouse 1974:9-12), but those at the Fort comprise sherds of IRPW (type 3g), a possible Hellenistic sherd (No.678), some SI ware, and an interesting find of two sherds of coarse black-glazed Chinese stoneware. The latter were found in the later of the two periods of construction identified at the Fort, associated with a Sasanian copper coin (Whitehouse 1974:7). The other archaeological evidence from Siraf also refutes any marked Sasanian commercial presence at the port. There are no signs of a Sasanian period bazaar, although there was a considerable Sasanian presence of a military, administrative and possibly civil nature: Sasanian ossuaries, several stamp-seals from ossuaries at the Site O cemetery and from the lowest level in the outer enclosure of the Fort, a pair of gold earrings embellished with pearls, a cache of 31 stone seals, thirty of Sasanian-type and one in the Roman-style found near Siraf in 1971, and 33-36 Sasanian bronze and silver coins from eight areas of the site (Whitehouse 1972:70-71,87; 1973 (1):243; Lowick 1985:1-2). The possibility of a Sasanian mint situated at Siraf, issuing bronze coins for local use, mooted by Lowick on the grounds that the mint name on the reverse of some of the coins could be either Shiraz (an accredited mint) (SHYL'C) or Siraf (SHYL'P), the fmal decisive letter being obliterated, recedes with these conclusions on the commercial unimportance of Sasanian Siraf, unless it was a sufficiently important administrative post to merit a mint. The Alexandrian coin of Theodosius (No.2) dated 376-94 AD, found in the Mosque platform fill is one of the few Roman coins discovered from the Persian Gulf. While this paucity indicates the general distancing of the Roman Red Sea trade from the Gulf sea trade in the last stages of the Classical period, the coin may be a relic of the Axumite mediation in the Roman sea-trade in the post-3rd century period. These Roman-Byzantine artefacts are too scanty to postulate any degree of trade contacts with Siraf; they appear to be merely incidental arrivals by land or sea to the Gulf. Finally it has been argued that Siraf may have been abandoned between the Sasanian and Islamic occupations. This theory is based on the assumption that at least three of the five levels in the outer

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enclosure of the Fort are Sasanian, with the two uppermost levels of Early Abbasid date, and associated with the spate of architectural activity which initiated the constuction of the Great Mosque situated immediately above. This deduction is tied in to the erosion level of the small structure in level five being too great to allow a smooth transition from the Sasanian to the Umayyad period (Whitehouse 1970 (1):8), and is also motivated by the very few signs of Umayyad occupation at Siraf, in comparison to the generous Early Abbasid evidence. Stratigraphic and numismatic evidence from levels 1-5 in the Outer Enclosure (Whitehous e 1972:70-71; Lowick 1985:1), as well as from other deposits at Site B contradict this theory, and offer an unbroken transition from Sasanian to Umayyad to Abbasid periods at Siraf, presented below: Level 1 - bronze coins, gold earrings and a chalcedony seal of the Sasanian period Level 2 - no Islamic coins Level 3 - Byzantine lightweight gold solidus of Constans II (No.3), imported sometime between 651-750 AD (Umayyad period) Level 4 - large numbers of lead fals of late 8th-early 9th century type (Early Abbasid period) Level 5 - small structure immediately beneath the Great Mosque (Early Abbasid) The lack of early traded pottery in the Sasanian levels at Siraf is explained by evidence for the chanelling of at least part of the Sasanian sea-trade to the port at Bushire. Siraf appears to have functioned primarily as a military base, generally strengthening the coastal defences of Fars, guarding Sasanian interests in the Gulf, and officiating as an outlying defence for the inland city of Gur. The siting of Siraf for a primarily military purpose is substantiated by Shahpur II's launching his naval expedition against the Arabian coast from Siraf, after raiders from Bahrain and Hajar had plundered Rishahr and the coast of Fars (Tabari as quoted in Whitehouse 1972:87).

7.2 Development of Trade in the Early Islamic Era (Period 2 of SiraO Both internal and external trade had escalated to sufficient proportions by the High Tang period (684-756 AD), for the growth of merchant interests powerful enough to oppose those of the less entrepreneurial-minded landed nobility, the clash ending in the ousting of the Tang aristocracy and its hold over the trade to the west, with the An-Lushan rebellion of 755 AD. A net of merchants associations (hang), covered the country in the subsequent Middle Tang period (756-827 AD), achieving the regular form which was to last in essence until late in the medieval period. There were still controls over trade, but these were now imposed by the cities, with urban administrators requiring and guaranteeing commercial contracts, and laying down the terms for retail trade. The court had acceded to the benefits of independent merchant growth, which enabled the raking in of truces, generating greater revenue than when the state kept the main monopoly of trade. Tea, salt and ceramics were among the primary goods traded within the country, with ceramics becoming more important in China's trade towards the 9th century. This was mainly due to the exploitation by the merchant class of the new markets opening up along the Indian Ocean, via the gradually developing links of the sea route. The ships plying the Indian Ocean traded with two main Chinese ports during this early period, Guanzhou (Canton) on the southern coast and Yangzhou (Shanghai) on the eastern coast, by the mouth of the Yantze river. In 748 AD, the priest Jiangzhou, returning from a journey to Japan and the southern islands, noted the presence of ships from Persia (Possu ships), India and Kunlun (in South-east Asia) at Guanzhou. As the southern terminus of the Great Canal, and the chief exit for merchandise from the highly populous region of Central China, Yangzhou was a gathering place for foreign merchants, and it was here that thousands were reputed to have been killed in an outbreak of fighting involving the Persians and other foreign merchants (Bivar 1970:1-8; Watson 1984:12-19).

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The ceramic evidence from Level 3 in the outer enclosure, the only deposit which could be securely dated to the Umayyad period, presents a continued deposition of earthenwares and Sasanian Islamic ware. The total lack of any evidence of Umayyad coinage in these levels is counteracted by finds of Umayyad lead fals in other parts of the site, notably from the fill of the Mosque platform. Pre -Reform Umayyad coins are certainly rare, with only one coin (No.74) identified. This coin is from the mint at Bishapur, the most prolific mint in Fars before the coinage reforms of Caliph 'Abd alMalik in 696 AD. A dinar of 78 AH/700 AD, mounted as a pendant is the earliest of the post-Reform coins in the Mosque platform fill, followed by a group of 24 dirhams, the latest of which dates to 121 AH/743 AD. Siraf also provided a few other Umayyad silver and bronze coins, as well as a Spanish-Umayyad dirham from Cordoba. The Byzantine solidus of Constans II in level 3 of the outer enclosure is also firmly slotted to an Umayyad date between 651-750 AD. This moderate deposition of Umayyad phase coins and ceramics, in comparison to the increasing deposition of both in the Early Abbasid deposits, agrees with the general level of U mayyad period seatrade noticeable at other sites, and to the contemporary trade-status of Siraf. The re-alignment of political power in the region with Arab conquest, drastic reduction of Byzantine power and the collapse of the Sasanians, would have created political instability and a temporary upset of the carefully natured patterns of trade. Judging from the numismatic evidence at Siraf, the recovery of the Gulf region began around 700 AD, in the mid-Umayyad period, with the circulation of some quantity of Umayyad coins at Siraf. The skeletal coin evidence from the site points to contacts as far-flung as the Byzantine world and southern Spain, indicating a grafting of this very early Islamic trade onto the framework of trading contacts of the Byzantine-Sasanian world. Despite the Umayyad coin finds at Siraf, considerable deposition of both coins and ceramics takes place only around 750-800 AD, in the early Abbasid period, matched by a spate of building activity by the turn of the 9th century. Neither is the mint of Siraf yet established, with the post-Reform Umayyad coins struck at the mints of Basra, Dimishq, Kirman, Herat and Wasit (Lowick 1985:2). This corroborates the continuing commercial insignificance of Siraf while the port of Basra -Ubulla took its turn as the main entrepot of the Gulf. The resumption of the Gulf trade, this time under Islam, is generally attribut ed to the late 8th and early 9th century, tacitly fixed to the period after 762 AD, the date of the establishment of th e Abbasid Caliphate in Baghdad, at the head of the Gulf. Yet the Arabic sources refer to ships trading to Ubulla at the time of the Muslim conquest, and the port was obviously well established in Sasanian times. On the basis of the numismatic evidence discussed above, it may be possible to lean towards a resumption of sea trade by the mid-Umayyad period, from c.700 AD onwards. Unfortunately no excavation has been attempted at Basra-Ubulla, preventing confirmation of this hypothesis. However, this earlier date would provide more of a run-up to the considerable increase of trade witnessed by c.800, as opposed to a virtual stoppage of the Gulf trade from 632-780 AD, followed by evidence for very far-flung and organised trade contacts by the turn of the century. The archaeological evidence points to the participation of Siraf in the trade with China in the latter half of the 8th century, bringing a fair amount of Islamic glazed ceramics as well as some Chinese wares to Siraf in the course of trade. This is accompanied by a tremendous burst of architectural activity including the construction of the Great Mosque and attendant commercial complex around 800 AD. In addition to the ceramics, further artefactual evidence from the fill of the Great Mosque testifies to this early participation in the international trade. Bone and ivory objects point to trade with India: numerous buttons or amulets, a spatula perhaps used for cosmetics, and a small rectangular panel decorated with a crouching hare (Whitehouse 1971 (1):3). A bronze mirror comes from China, along with a Tang coin of 621 AD. The first personalised indicator of the container trade with southern China also appears from the fill of platform 1. A stoneware fragment bearing the two Arabic names 'Yusuf and 'Mansur' or 'Maymun', incised before glazing the vessel, belongs to a jar probably sent by a Muslim merchant resident in China. The black-glazed coarse stoneware jars, as well as the scraped-base Dusun bowls found in the Mosque fill rarely appear in later levels. These stoneware jars were prized in Early Islamic

102 society; the writer Tanukhi mentions thirty Chinese jars (hubb sini) containing 'ghaliya' perfume, the best of which was made during the Caliphate of al-Wathik (842-47 AD). One of the jars was so heavy that it had to be carried by several slaves. A piece from a Sasanian-Islamic jar with incised decoration, also from the Mosque fill, bears the maker's name 'Hatim', and the fine creamware jars also imported from Iraq compare with the finest from Susa (Whitehouse 1970 (1):5).

7.3 The Period of Maximum -Participation of the Ports of the Persian Gulf in the Indian Ocean Trade (Period 3 of SiraO Period 3 of Siraf, is matched by successive changes of Chinese dynasties from Late Tang (827-907), the Five Dynasties period (907-60), up to 1000 AD, relating to the early part of the Northern Song (960-1127) period. Siraf had become the main port of the Persian Gulf by the second half of the 9th century, superceding its rivals, with both Siraf and Persian Gulf seafaring as a whole, reaching its apogee in the 10th century.

The literary evidence There is ample textual evidence for the trade of Siraf and the prosperity of the city between c.850-950 AD, in the Arabic sources, with the earliest records referring mainly to trade with China and India, followed by mention of trade with the Red Sea and African region from c.900 AD. The earliest reference to Siraf occurs in the writing of Ibn al-Faqih ( c.850 AD) who noted that Sirafi ships sailed to India and China (Le Strange 1905:258-9,293,296).At about the same time, Suleiman the Merchant recorded that Middle Eastern goods bound for China were forwarded from Basra to Siraf, and then dispatched via Muscat to Quilon, an important entrepot on the Malabar coast (Stein 1937:202212; Wilson 1942:94). Gaston Wiet mentions a merchant of Siraf who travelled to India, and from there, sent his agents to China, with merchandise worth 500,000 dinars (Wiet:84). Another merchant of Siraf, Muhammad ibn Mulwiya al-Marwani (908 AD) is reported to have lost 30,000 dinars worth of merchandise from India in a shipwreck (Wilson 1942:95).The involvement of Jewish merchants from the Mediterranean in the India trade, seems to have been from a Persian Gulf base at this time, in contrast to their later trade via the Yemen, for lbn Khurdadhbih (mid-9th c.) mentions Jewish merchants based at Siraf trading in both the Mediterranean and the Indian Ocean with increasing frequency (Ibn Khurdadhbih trans. 1967:41). A much later mention from the Chinese end, in the 12th century account by Chou-ju-kua (the Chu-fan-chi) repeatedly mentions the Possu and Tashi (Persian and Arab) merchant community at Canton, noting particularly the port of Siraf as their port of registry (Chau Ju-kua trans. 1911:133). Mention of Sirafi sailing and trading to the Red Sea and Africa begins in the 10th century, strengthening the view that the earlier contact with East Africa in the earlier Islamic period was by Omani rather than Sirafi sailors. Abu Zaid (c.877-915 AD) was a merchant of Siraf who visited Jidda and the Zanzibar coast, obviously following the earlier coasting itinery. Hamza bin al-Hasan al-Isfahani (893-970) writes of Hasan bin 'Amr al-Sirafi, a merchant from Siraf, who visited the land of Kanam in Sudan (Marvazi trans. 1942:54). Istakhri (writing shortly before 950) states that the mainstay of Jidda's commerce was Persia, and that Persians formed the ruling class in the city, living in splendid palaces at the port (Istakhri trans. 1967:127). Masudi found ships from Siraf and Oman at the port, when he visited Kanbalu (probably in the Lamu archipelago) between 916-926 AD. He also noted the presence of Siraf vessels at the head of the Persian Gulf, at the ports of Ubulla and Abbadan (Wilson 1942:94 f.n.). Masudi's itinery indicates use of the second route to Africa, direct sailing across the ocean from the Persian Gulf to Kanbalu. He adds that the increased demand for luxury goods at the Buyid court of Shiraz, led Siraf 'nakhudas' to undertake more and more journeys to Sufala and Madagascar (Al-Masudi trans. 1962:94). lbn Hawqal (961 AD) met a wealthy Basra merchant, Ahmad ibn 'Umar, at Siraf. His ships traded along the East African coast, particularly to Zanzibar, carrying spices, precious stones and perfumes (Ibn Hawqal trans. 1938-9:291-92).

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The fullest surviving account of the city of Siraf is given by Istakhri, writing shortly before 950 AD. H e records that in the district of Ardashir (south-west Fars) Siraf was second in importance only to Shiraz, and was almost as large as the latter. Despite its position in the hottest part of the coast and the scarcity of drinking water, fruit and vegetables, all of which were fetched from the plain of Jamm, Siraf was a prosperous city with imposing buildings . The multi-storey houses were built with wood imported from East Africa and a merchant might spend as much as 30,000 dinars on building a house. Ibn Hauqal, another tenth-century writer who derived much of his account from Ishtakhri, added that the city possessed three places of worship. According to Istakhri, the merchandise which passed through Siraf included aloes, ambergris, camphor, gemstones, bamboo, ivory, ebony, paper, sandalwood and other perfumes, drugs and spices. The city was an important market for pearls and among its own products were linen napkins and veils (lstakhri trans. 1967:129). Writing of the period 908-932, the twelth-century writer Ibn al-Balkhi recorded that the value of goods handled at Siraf amounted to no less than 2,530,000 dinars per annum (lbn al-Balkhi trans. 1962:136-37). However, by the time that Maqdisi wrote a description of Siraf in the late 10th century decline had begun. The city was still an important entrepot with remarkable houses, but a severe earthquake had damaged the city in 977 and many of the merchants had moved elsewhere (Maqdisi trans. 1906:96). After the fall of the Buyid Dynasty ( c.1055) and the consequent disruption of trade routes in Fars, much of the overseas traffic was diverted from Siraf to Qais, an offshore island some 110 km. farther south. Thus, when Ibn al-Balkhi wrote the 'Farsnama' in the twelfth century, Siraf had greatly declined. Wh en Yaqut (writing in 1218) visited the site, the city was in ruins and supported only a few impoverish ed inhabitants. The only large building still intact was a mosque with wooden columns. The place-name Siraf had become corrupted to Shilau, a name still attached to part of the site. (Whitehouse 1968:2-3). The Archaeological evidence Th e archaeological evidence - architectural, numismatic and ceramic - provides mat erial confirmation of the textual descriptions of the prosperity of Siraf at the peak of the early Islamic period, and slots in many further details. The total area of Islamic Siraf within the defensive walls was 250 hectares. In the western sector, 110 ha. was densely occupied with substantial structures, but stone buildings were rare in the eastern sector, which was probably covered in the 'barasti' housing of the large working population (Whitehous e 1977 (2):869-70). The infrastructure needed to maintain a city of this magnitud e would have needed vast inputs of organisation, capital and labour . This is most spectacularly illustrated by the system of wells, cisterns and aqueducts connected with several systems of catchment designed to supply Siraf with much of its water requirements, as well as conserve storm water for irrigation and prevent flooding (Whitehouse 1972:65,78). While Siraf was probably supplied with most of its food requirements from the surrounding countryside and outlying plains of Jamm and Galadhar, further consignments of food may have been shipped from other areas of the Gulf, notably Sohar with its vast agricultural hinterland. The suburbs of Siraf stretched several kilometres to the west, east and north, with traces of extra-mural settlement and medieval field-systems in both the coastal plain and the Doband valley to the north. Survey indicates that some 700 ha. in the vicinity of Siraf was cultivated. The frequent association of the fields with conduits indicates that 72-80% of the 700 ha. was probably irrigated, with the rest dryfarmed (Whitehouse 1971 (1):67; 1974:4-5). The gradual growth of Siraf and most of the contemporary Indian Ocean port sites is illustrated by the organic spread of these cities, with some inherent, general organisation focused around the main functional areas - the Mosque and attendant Bazaar. At Siraf, there is no unitary grid of stre ets, with the clearest street-planning visible in the residential quarter of the wealthy merchant population, with its grid of streets studded with wells. While the main residential area (Site F) occupied level ground to the west of the Bazaar , other residential quarters spread upwards from the 15m. contour, with the palatial residences at Site K occupying the highest and coolest ground , at the 45 m. contour (Whitehouse 1970 (2):143) . Whil e Hou se W, one of the larger houses at Site F, had an area of 540 m.sq. even the smallest of the five resid ential compl exes at Site K covered at least 900 m.sq., with the palatial-complex K

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spreading over at least a hectare. These buildings may have been the 30,000 dinar mansions mentioned by Istakhri - palatial residences of leading merchants, and/or those of important officials. The lack of Style 3 Sgraffiato in the pre-collapse deposits of Site K may indicate that this was the residence of a wealthy merchant who moved to Qais or elsewhere, following the destruction of his house in the earthquake of 977 AD. The graffiti of a three-masted boat, an ocean-going vessel of considerable size, on the wall of a room in the upper building at Site K, scratched prior to its collapse in the late 10th century, epitomises the connection between the fortunes of the port and maritime trade (Whitehouse 1972:72-73; fig.7). Nothing remains of a quay or harbour wall at Siraf. Ocean-going vessels must have been anchored offshore, with merchandise loaded and landed by lighter. The commercial quarter (Site C) extended along this water front from the Great Mosque to the edge of the modern village (Whitehouse 1972:72-73). The houses at Site F (Houses E,N,S,R,Y,W) are of various sizes. Some are better built than others, with a number of phases of building visible in each house. These factors indicate their construction by private individuals rather than according to pre-planned urban development. There is little difference in the basic plan of the courtyard houses of the early Islamic phase and the later houses above, excepting increased size, pointing to the growth of prosperity of the merchant population between c.800-1000 AD. The room widths are a standard of 2.8-3.1 m. in all the houses at Sites F, Site A and in the 15th century courtyard-house at Site E, indicating a long tradition of standardised roomsize to fit the mangrove pole lengths. Istakhri records that this timber was imported from East Africa (Whitehouse 1969:48-49; 1970 (1):9-14). The expansion of the city with the peak period of its trade in the 10th century, can be seen at a number of points in the site. The city expanded eastwards in the 10th century, with numismatic evidence indicating that the potteries and general industrial complex at Site D was built after 913 AD (Whitehouse 1971 (1):12-13). This industrial complex at least partly utilised a previous residential area, with the pottery adapting an earlier house to industrial use. The kilns obviously provided the containers needed for the increased export and especially re-export function of Siraf in this phase. While the literary sources stress mainly the trade in luxury goods, the deposition of a vast number of container sherds inilicates the outline of the bulk-goods trade of the Medieval maritime commerce. The archaeological evidence also indicates the presence of a large number of artisans at Siraf - among them builders, decorators, shipwrights, weavers, metalworkers,jewellers and potters (Whitehouse 1970 (2):143). An extension of the commercial buildings can be seen at Site Ml, where the streets and buildings have the same alignment as Site F, and are probably office-blocks related to the merchant houses at Site F. With the expansion of the city, the pressure for space resulted in even small mosques being demolished to give way to industrial structures. At Site Pl, a whaling factory processing blubber to oil for caulking boats was built over a demolished mosque (Whitehouse 1974:14-18). Secondary features were pushed out to the outskirts of the city, with several of the largest cemeteries occupying the floors of abandoned quarries (Whitehouse 1974:12-18; 1972:65). The security which prevailed in the Gulf under Abbasid and Buyid control, supporting the rise in the trade-based fortunes of Siraf, is reflected in the waterfront remaining totally unprotected until the late 10th century, when hasty naval defences were constructed at Sites M2 and J to counteract the Omani and Carmathian naval threat from across the Gulf (Whitehouse 1977 (2):869-70). A final instance of the commercial importance of the port in this period can be seen in the permission to mint silver extended to the Siraf mint in the 10th century, with an almost unbroken series of dirhams from 323-382 AH/945 -1004 AD (Lowick 1985:2-4).

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7.4

Trading Partners of Siraf in the Wes tern Indian Ocean

Recent excavation has identified a number of Indian Ocean port sites, with ceramic finds which indicate close contacts with Siraf. The location of these ports accords well with the known Early Islamic model of at least one main entrepot per sailing/trading zone, excepting in East Africa where a cluster of smaller ports situate d in the Lamu archipelage replaced the larger trading emporia of the other regions. Since the piecing-together of the archaeological evidence from the South-east Asian entrepot is still incomplete, Palembang has not been discussed, limiting this review to Sirafs trading links within the western Indian Ocean.

Sohar A trading partner and one time rival of Siraf, the importance of Sohar was based to a great degree on the natural advantages of its location. Situated close to the mouth of the Gulf on the Oman side, Sohar and the Gulf of Oman were located at the edge of the region of monsoon winds and also shared the same wind system as the Gulf, ideally located for both the east-west trade passing across the Ocean and as a natural stopover for ships entering and leaving the Gulf. The significance of Siraf, on the other hand, was based more on its proximity to the hinterland of the Gulf. In addition to harbour and victualling facilities, Sohar was in a particularly good position to develop control of the trade with Africa during the Early Islamic period, and developed an int eresting connection with the merchants and ships from Siraf and other Iranian ports such as Basra, by supplying African goods shipped to Sohar to the Gulf merchants passing by on their way to India, as goods which had a rea dy market in the east. Much of the business in the 'suq' was therefore carried out in Persian, with a large community of Jews engaged in trade and money-lending, but the dominant commercial force was that of the enterprising Ibadi traders of Oman. Ibadi communities were to be found along the Ocean littorals, East Africa Aden, Shihr, Basra, the Makran, and Daybul (Williamson 1974:80-82). With the gradual increase of trade Sohar was already sending the Caliph 300,000 dinars tribut e in th e 9th century, explaining the interest of the Abbasids, and later the Qarmathians and the Buyids, in gaining control of Sohar and Oman. With the weakening of Abbasid authority by the early 10th century, Oman made a determined bid to not merely share but to gain a monopoly of the trade of the Gulf. Th e hasty erection of defences on the seaward side of Siraf in the 10th century visible in the arc ha eological record (Whitehouse 1974:18-21; 1977 (2):869-70), preceded the launching of a drastically successful attack on Sohar by the Buyids between 965-971, resulting in the devastation of Suhar. Seventy-nine ocean-going ships were destroyed, the city sacked and the inhabitants put to the sword (Williamson 1974:93-96). The height of Sohar's prosperity had been brief, lasting for about half a century, but very splendid, with the literary descriptions of the port by the same band of authors who documented Siraf, matching, in fact virtually echoing, those eulogising Siraf. Al-Maqdisi described it as 'the hallway to China, the storehouse of the East and Iraq, and the stay of the Yemen.' Istakhri stated that: 'The capital is Sohar which is on the sea. Here reside many sea merchants who trade in ships with other countries. It is the most populous and wealthy town in Oman and it is not possible to find on the shore of all th e Persian Sea nor in all the land of Islam a city more rich in buildings and foreign wares than Sohar' (Istakhri ed. 1967). Ibn al-Mujawir, writing in the mid-13th century, describes Sohar in its prime:' There were 12,000 hous es and every sea-captain lived in a separate house. The inhabitants used to draw th eir drinking water from the falaj. Some said that there were 192 steelyards for the weighing of merchandise between vendors and purchasers ....The town was built of bricks, mortar and teakwood '(Williamson 1974:85). Stripped of much of its importance Sohar served as a stopping point for ships from Siraf, until the erup tion of the Saljuqs into Iraq and Iran in the mid-11th century destroyed Buyid power and regional stability. Both Siraf and Sohar slowly decayed to agrarian and fishing villages, with the ruin of the city complete by the time of Ibn Mujawir's description, when it had 'become ruined and the Jinn

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haunted the castles around' (Williamson 1974:85). The archaeological evidence from Siraf, collected by surface survey and excavation, closely corroborates the historical documentation. Islamic glazed ceramics of the 9th-10th century covers the entire mounded area of 73 ha. of substantial urban remains, testifying to the rapid growth of Sohar during this period, to which should be added a sizeable area of temporary 'barasti' housing as at Siraf. There are remains of brick kilns and evidence for glass making at Sohar, and signs of copper working in a large surrounding area. This integration of the coast and hinterland into a single economic unit during the 9th-10th centuries is very clear in the archaeological record, with more than 6000 ha. of gardens and orchards watered by the 'falaj'system, suggesting an agrarian hinterland eight times that estimated for Siraf. This highlights Sohar's importance as a victualling station for ships engaged in the oceanic trade. The port also exported food - dates, bananas, figs and sub-tropical fruit, including exotic Indian citrus varieties - and may have also supplied other cities in the Gulf region such as Siraf. Less than a third of the fields and a quarter of the city bears a scatter of Late sgraffiato and other late 10th-11th century ceramics, delineating a city dwindled to a mere 18 hectares following the Buyid attack. By the mid-12th century, when frit-bodied pottery was introduced, the agricultural area had shrunk to about the same size as that of the present day village (Williamson 1974:87-91;Costa and Wilkinson 1987:80-82,87-91,231). The glazed ceramics from Sohar, excavated from the tells around Sohar, Arja site 1, the watermill, the city and the fortress of Suhar, presents the expected predominantly Early Islamic assemblage (9th-11th c.), accompanied by some earlier ceramics, a handful of Late Medieval Chinese sherds and a considerable showing of post-Medieval Chinese traded ceramics: Islamic Glazed Wares: Archetypal White-glazed ware ( and Eggshell ware) of pre-Islamic date; SasanianIslamic ware; White-glazed wares: plain, monochrome-splashed in turquoise, green, yellowish-brown and brown splashed, bichrome green and cobalt splashed; Early Lead-splashed ware, Style 1 and Style 3 Sgraffiato; Early Lustre and Monochrome Greenware; Frit-bodied ware. Chinese Glazed Wares: Green to brown glazed Dusun (CGS) jars; Changsha Painted Stoneware; good quality Yue, both plain, and with carved and incised ornament; Plain Qinghai ware; Fine White Wares of northern Chinese Hebei types and southern Chinese types; a Xicun fragment; a Guangdong stoneware fragment. The 14th-15th century wares are a few sherds each of Qinghai, including a brown-spotted Qinghai sherd and Longquan celadon, followed by a large quantity of 17th century Blue and White 'k.raaksporselein', and 18th-19th century Enamelled wares.

(Costa and Wilkinson 1987:184-189,203-4; Pirazzoli 1988:88-90;Williamson 1974:91).

Bambhore Situated in Pakistan, at the mouth of the Indus and 65 kms from Karachi, Bambhore has been identified as Debal or Daybul, the port given as dowry to the Sasanian king Bahram V in the 5th century AD. The entrepot functioned as the main emporium for the Indus region through three sequential historical phases, these being the Scytho-Parthian, Buddhist and Hindu and Islamic phases. The Islamic phase stretches from the capture of Daybul as the first city taken over in the Indus invasion of 711 AD, until its destruction by Jalaluddin Khawrezan Shah in the mid-13th century (Ghafur 1966:65-71). The port was the main early Islamic entrepot of western India until the 11th century AD, when silting and other causes resulted in Daybul losing its premier position, although it endured until the mid13th century. Its Siraf-type pottery corpus and peak of prosperity in the 9th-11th centuries attests to its participation in the same cycle that developed the fortunes of Siraf, and Mantai in Sri Lanka, supplying goods from the interior such as lapis lazuli, musk and indigo to the markets of the Indian Ocean (Anon. 1966:49-55;Ghafur 1966:65-70).Like Siraf and Mantai, Bambhore stands on a barren coast, and could not have supported a city without the wealth generated by trade. Maqdisi mentions that vessels of China, Hind, Oman, Basra and the Gulf came to Daybul (Muqaddasi 1906:479).When compared with the ceramic evidence from Mantai, it is possible to propose that the main reason for the decline of the port was the abandonment of the early Islamic Siraf-Daybul-Mantai trading system, with Qais and its

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contemporary entrepots forming a new chain of trading links in the Middle Islamic period. Excavation of Bambhore in the 1960's revealed that the city projects several of the architectural and urban-planning characteristics found at Siraf and other Indian Ocean emporia of the Early Islamic period. A fortified city enclosing 167 ha., it has been planned with an inner residential and commercial area, and an industrial sector outside the defences. The nucleus of the port was the Great Mosque, one of the earliest of its kind, with two dated Kufic inscriptions of 109 AH/727 AD and 294 AH/907 AD. The city seems to have had entrances at the four quarters, according to the traditional city-plan of South Asia, three of which have been discovered. The north-eastern gateway connected the palatial residence with the lake in the east, while the southern entrance connected the principal street of the city - probably the bazaar zone - with the anchorage. This imposing entrance was flanked by two of the massive semi-circular bastions familiar at Siraf. Traces of landing stages or 'ghats' are visible along the waterfront. The residential buildings within the city walls belong to the wealthy mercantile and administrative community, again displaying the hierarchical structure noticeable at Siraf: a palatial mansion of semicircular shape with a fine stepped entrance, large internal well and external soakage pits, a massive house with unusually thick walls and deep stone foundations, and the more usual courtyard-houses. The buildings are all of a mud-brick superstructure on stone foundations, with a few important structures of ashlar construction. Walls are coated with lime or fine mud-plaster, floors are plastered, and the roofs wooden beamed and tiled (Anon. 1966:51-53). The South Asian equivalent to the 'barasti' or perishable huts of the urban workers were probably situated in the industrial area outside the city defences. Four building phases, corresponding to four phases of construction of the city wall, are discernible within the Islamic period: Phase 1 - Umayyad. The origin of the imposing defence system of the citadel and conte'll.porary massive stone-buildings. Phase 2 - Primarily Abbasid. First major repairs to the defences. Mud brick houses of a less solid character on stone foundations. Phase 3 - Abbasid, Buyid and Saljuq. Rebuilding of the defensive wall on a slightly reduced scale. The city is well-planned, with a network of streets and narrow lanes between blocks of houses, mostly of mud-brick. The major part of the excavated remains dates to this phase, which lasts upto the beginning of the 13th century. Phase 4 - Weak uppermost defence wall encircling only the eastern half of the citadel, with the western half abandoned following a great upheaval in the mid-13th century (Anon.1966:50-53). The finer details of the glazed ceramic assemblage unearthed from Bambhore have not been published, but the general picture provided talli_es with that from Siraf. Among the Islamic glazed wares are Sasanian-Islamic ware, plain and splashed White-glazed ware, Early and Late Sgraffiato. Chinese stoneware jars, Yue ware, Painted Stoneware and White wares are listed as Chinese ceramic finds. The unglazed storage jar types common at Siraf - Pale Green earthenware, Cream.ware and White-slipped Coarse Pink ware - are found at Bambhore, along with a fair quantity of decorated Eggshell ware. Much of the traditional local earthenware is utility ware, along with Polychrome Painted pottery of the Buddhist and Hindu period, occasionally combined with a few Islamic motifs such as camel figures (Willetts1960:25-28;Khan 1963:32-37;Anon. 1966:53-54).

The coinage, a few thousand copper coins, 50 silver coins and a gold coin, show close links with the Abbasid Caliphate, with coins minted by Caliphs Wasiq Billah, Abdul Malik and Al-Mamun among others, those of the governor of Caliph al-Mansur and other governors, and coins of local rulers. With

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the exception of the western Indian Oceanic imported glassware, other categories of small finds carved ivory objects, terracotta figurines, copper ornaments and iron implements, shell bangles and beads, and an array of semi-precious stone beads of agate, carnelian, crystal, onyx and lapis lazuli - are more akin to those found at Mantai than at Siraf, reflecting the South Asian export assemblage (Khan 1963:46-49;Anon. 1966:54).

Mantai Mantai emporium, situated at the north-western tip of Sri Lanka, was strategically placed for the exchange of goods between the eastern and western blocks of the Indian Ocean, as well as the northsouth trade exchange between the Indian mainland and Sri Lanka. Located on the eastern side of the underwater reef barrier, Adam's Bridge, which prevented the sailing of any but small craft between India and Sri Lanka, the small Mantai channel allowed goods to be transhipped to the emporium - a fact remarked upon by Eratosthenes in the 3rd century BC. He mentions that the seas between India and Sri Lanka were very shallow, but that there were channels through which ships could navigate with two bows, so that they need not turn around (Erastothenes as quoted by Pliny, Carswell 1987:4). Mantai (ancient Mahatittha, Mantota, Matota, Tiruketiswaram, Greek: Modutti emporium) shows evidence of far-flung Indian Ocean trade from the last few centuries before the Christian era up to the 11th century, with a 10m. depth of occupational deposit in the mound. The port played an increasing role in the Indian Ocean commerce from Sasanian times, when it functioned as the central turntable of trade. In addition to a stone carved with a Nestorian cross now at Anuradhapura, a baked clay 'ubulla' with three seal impressions of an animal, a Nestorian cross and an old Persian inscription were excavated from Mantai in 1984, bearing witness to Sasanian presence at the port (Carswell 1987:5). Controlled excavation of the site between 1980-84, identified three archaeological periods at Mantai. These archaeological periods were defined by chronologically diagnostic artefacts, mainly imported ceramics, augmented by coins and other dateable artefacts (Carswell and Prickett 1984:57-59): 1. Early Historic Period:

Containing Rouletted ware and Black and Red ware, this period was dated from the 2nd century BC - 2nd century AD. 2. Intermediate Period: This had no other distinctive ceramic imports other than IRPW ware, generally dated from the 1st or 2nd century AD - 4th century AD. On the basis of the chronology for the following period, this phase is dated from the late 2nd century - mid-8th centuries AD. 3. Early Medieval Period: The five or six phases of this period coincide with the intensive occupation of all areas of the site, with Chinese and Islamic glazed ware occuring in nearly equal quantities in all phases. In this final period, the port was an impressive symmetrically-planned city, surrounded by a horseshoe-shaped double moat. Substantial remains of stone masonry and brick architecture were found : with the foundation of a palatial brick-building associated with a cistern discovered in an older excavation, along with indications of a street plan and a number of wells. The Early Medieval period is t:ypifiedby the introduction of Islamic and Chinese ceramics, with Sasanian-Islamic ware, Coarse Grey Stoneware jars and Changsha Painted Stoneware in the earliest levels. The 'Scraped Base' and Coarse Black Stoneware disappears by the beginning of the 9th century. This is followed by the whole gamut of Early Islamic glared ware in the succeeding levels: Islamic Glazed Ceramics: Sasanian-Islamic ware; plain and cobalt, brown,and turquoise splashed Whiteglazed wares; Early monochrome and polychrome Lustre; Lead-splashed wares and Late Sgraffiato. Chinese Glazed Ceramics: Coarse black stoneware jars; olive-green glazed 'Dusun' Stoneware jars;

109 monochrome and green and brown Painted Stoneware, Polychrome Splashed ware (Sancai-type); Yue; Northern Sung Celadon; Cream Stoneware; early southern White Wares; chocolate-brown glazed Stoneware jars and brown-glazed Stoneware jars. The glazed ware was accompanied by large quantities of Islamic earthenware storaje-jar fragments (Carswell and Prickett 1984:64; Carswell 1987:6; Wickremaratna 1986/7:81).

The Mantai ceramic assemblage of the Early Medieval period (mid-8th-early 11th century) is therefore a virtual twin to that of Siraf, with an added component of Sri Lankan, South Indian, and some North Indian earthenware (Carswell and Prickett 1980:57-64). Like Bambhore, the fortunes of Mantai seem to have been closely linked to those of Siraf. The other less perishable finds are similar to the small finds found at Bambhore, and indicate a large-scale luxury ornament production for the export trade. These include worked ivory, bone, horn, coral and tortoiseshell objects, chank bangles, terracotta figurines, copper and iron ornaments and implements, and a large bead industry using local green and blue glass, paste, malachite, marble, and the gems for which the island was renowned - agate, garnet, amethyst, quartz, carnelian, and blue sapphires. Other finds include Egyptian glass, pearls, mother-ofpearl and cowries. The location of Mantai at the mouth of the Malwatu river linking it to the island's ancient capital of Anuradhapura, indicates the supply route to the capital, matched by virtually the same ceramic assemblage excavated from Anuradhapura (Mikami 1984:1-4). The prosperity of the ancient Anuradhapura kingdom ( c.500 BC-1000 AD) seems to have been primarily dependent on the revenues derived from two sources: the irrigation-based agricultural economy and the entrepot trade via Mantai. As with the other Indian Ocean port sites, Mantai itself is sited on an arid stretch of coast, but is backed by a considerable supportive agricultural hinterland irrigated by a reservoir system linked to the Malwatu Oya. One of the largest reservoirs, the Giant's Tank covering an area of 7.75 sq.kms. is situated nearby. The decline of Mantai by the early 11th century, was probably partly due to the supplanting of many of the early Islamic trading emporia with new ports in the Middle Islamic period, and also related to the transfer of the island's political centre to Polonnaruva situated further east, following the destabilisation of the Anuradhapura kingdom by repeated Chola invasions in the 11th century. It is possible that the trade moved to Nagapattanam, a major port at the eastern tip of India, with the fall of Mantai, since the records show that the Cholas were interested in developing trade with the Far East, and sent no less than three trade missions to China in the 11th century. With the further shift of central power to the South of Sri Lanka in the 13th century, later ports developed on the south-western coast, notably Beruwala (Chinese: Pieh-lo-li), a Later Medieval port of call of the Chinese, visited by Zeng Ho in six of his seven voyages (Ma Huan trans. 1970:334). The southerly ports would have been bett er position ed to catch the accelerated trade from the 11th-12th centuries onwards, which could ply directly to the southern extremity of the island and across to Southeast Asia. Such locations would have also been close to the southerly route running horizontally across the ocean via the Maldives, from China and South-east Asia to Madagascar and the coast of East Africa.

Athar The Red Sea ports which loom large in the trade of the Medieval period - Aden, Aidhab, Suakinare predominant ly of the Middle and Late Islamic periods. However, although overshadowed by the great ports of the Persian Gulf, both literary and archaeological evidence points to a considerable involvement of the Red Sea region in the earlier commerce of the Islamic period. Istakhri indicates that Persian merchaµts played an important role in the trade of the Red Sea ports in the 10th century, forming the ruling class at Jedda, the satellite port of Mecca (Istakhri trans.1967:127). One large port site belonging to the Early Islamic period has been excavated in the Red Sea region to date, the port of Athar, facing the Farasan Islands and on the southern Tihama coastal plain, halfway up the Arabian coast of the Red Sea. Athar is different from the more easterly ports described above, in benefiting from the direct influence of both the Persian Gulf centred Abbasid, and Red Sea

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and Mediterranean centred Fatimid Caliphates, the two rival powers who contended for a greater share of the Indian Ocean trade at the end of the Early Islamic period. Athar is not among the ports mentioned in the Periplus, but may have participated in the ocean trade fairly soon afterwards, when the Tihama plain was drawn into the trading orbit of the Axumites between 350-750 AD, with the first mention of the port in 632 AD, under the control of a local Yemeni ruler (Zarins and Zahrani 1985:88-90; Baldry 1978:89; Munro-Hay 1982:114). Persian Gulf-Red Sea trade connections may have been established in the Umayyad period, with two Umayyad silver dirhams minted in Wasit and Rayy in 708 and 712 AD respectively, found 20 km. south of Athar. The port subsequently forged close ties with the Abbasids, with the first regional governor appointed by the Abbasids founding the Ziyadid dynasty (819-1018 AD), with the viceroy or Ibn Tarf of Athar allied to the Ziyadids. The Ziyadids were succeeded by the Sulyahid and Zuraid dynasties loyal to the Fatimids. Al-Hamdani (writing in the 13th c.) records that the port was prosperous until 1061 AD, when it was abandoned due to silting and lack of fresh water, with the emporium dwindling to a small village (Forrer 1942:48). The excavation of the site in 1984, revealed a settlement with a main occupation area covering 560 ha., with most of the area covered in the more ephemeral barasti-type habitation. The more substantial structures were located in Areas H and B, and were of the coral stone and brick construction technique of the Red Sea region. The large building-complex in Area H was a residential zone, with foundations of courtyard houses, while the abundant finds of glazed ceramics associated with the buildings of Site B pinpoint the bazaar and customs area. Site C was an industrial sector with evidence of ceramic and glass production (Zarins and Zahrani 1985:70-75). The Islamic glazed wares of Athar mirror the phases and trade alignments of the port, with 'Samarra' type Early Islamic ceramics of the 9th-10th centuries, followed by Middle Islamic Gulf-type ceramics associated with South Arabian ceramics of the Fatimid period. Early Islamic Gulf-type Ceramics: Sasanian-Islamic ware, olive-painted monochrome Lustre, White-glazed wares, buff-bodied early Lead-splashed wares. Middle Islamic Gulf-type Ceramics: Late Sgraffiato, Underglaze Painted wares. Middle Islamic South Arabian Ceramics: Late Lead-splashed wares with trailed blue glaze on the interior, complex Polychrome-splashed wares, Spinach or Mustard-green glazed wares. The Chinese ceramic assemblage found at Athar is ac; follows. White wares: plain and foliated wares, and moulded wares with lotus-petal design. Celadons: Yue and Northern Sung celadon. On the basis of style, the plain (rolled rim) and foliated (notched rim) White Stoneware and Porcelain can be assigned to the late 9th/10th century production of southern White wares in the kilns of Jingzheden and Fujian, with a similar date for the incised Yue bowls. The White wares with incised lotus-petal designs, and the Northern Sung Celadon is of a 11th-12th century date. No mention is made of earlier 'Dusun' t-ypestonewares or Changsha Painted Stoneware. If the latter are totally absent from the assemblage, the Chinese ceramics traded to Athar may be of later 9th/10thllth/12th century date. Earthenwares found at Athar are local Red Wares, a Palestinian-t-ype ware, African Paddlestamped wares, as well as the Gulf-type Eggshell wares and Creamwares (Zarins and Zahrani1985:7583).

The importance of Athar in the early Islamic trade from the 9th century is recorded by Ibn Hardabhbih (820-911), quoting Al-Bishari: He mentions that Athar was a large city and port for Sa'da and Sa'na (Porter n.d.). The port's role as an entrepot forwarding goods collected from the East African and Red Sea zone, and receiving wares from the China-India region is documented by Ibo Omarah (w.12th c.). Ibn Omarah states that the 10th century Ziyadid ruler Abu'l Djaish is reported to have levied duties on ships from India, carrying musk, camphor, ambergris and Chinese pottery. The Dahlak Islands provided him with pearls as tribute, with Nubian and Abyssinian slaves brought up from Africa (Kay 1982:8). His father, Ibrahim bin Mohammed (2nd half 9th c.) had ships trading continuously between Arabia and Abyssinia with merchants and goods, and even shipped a female zebra to Bahliyar in Iraq (Munro-Hay 1982:120). Other items recorded as traded at Athar are lapis lazuli, red coral, carnelian

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and asphalt. The facetted cut-glass found at Athar has been identified as East Persian (Whitehouse 1968:18-19;Pinder-Wilson 1963-64:91-93),while some of the glass from factories at the site was probably traded eastwards. The prosperity of the port is epitomised by its famed Athari or Maliki gold dinar minted by the Ziyadids, one of the gold currency standards of the period, and exchanged at the rate of 2.35 Athari to one Fatimid dinar (Lowick 1974:321; Goitien 1980:58,66). Ibn Omarah records that the Ibn Tarfs annual income exceeded 500,000 Athari dinars, with his nominal overlord at Zabid receiving revenues in excess of one million Athari dinars per annum (Kay 1982:8).

Excavations in the Lamu archipelago, at the sites of Manda, Shanga and Pate, have presented evidence for the extension of the Persian Gulf trading system to the East African coast during the Early Islamic period. This takes the form of a cluster of fairly modest coastal settlements of varying size, ranging from Shanga, spread over 7 acres, to Unguju Ukuu dispersed over 20 hectares further south in Zanzibar. These northern sites present evidence of trade from c.750 AD, according to the ceramic finds and revised literary evidence, pending further radiocarbon dates, with imported pottery and glass pointing to immediate maritime connections. The imported Chinese and Islamic ceramics at these sites provide an identical sequence with Sasanian-Islamic ware, Changsha Painted Stoneware, Dusun and Coarse Black Stoneware, Eggs;hellware and Unglazed storage jars from the earliest levels (dating c.750-850 AD), with White-glazed wares introduced a little later in the sequence (c.800 AD), and Lustre Pottery around 900 AD, but no Early Sgraffiato. The proportion of glazed ceramics averages 5% from these sites, of which 1% is Chinese ware, and the rest part of the Samarra-type glazed pottery assemblage found at Siraf and contemporary Indian Ocean sites, as well as Siraf-type unglazed storaje jars. The deposition rates of the 5% glazed pottery in the Lamu archipelago ports, is modest in comparison to those from the contemporary great emporiums at Siraf, Mantai and Bambhore, with the deposition rate over the whole site of Shanga ranging between 10 to 100 vessels per year (Horton 1986:204; 1989:2-7). The remaining 95% of the pottery belongs to the earliest pottery tradition found at the coastal sites and in the hinterland -- pottery of the Tana tradition - with the inland distribution in indigenous sites also dated to the 8th/9th century. The dispersal of Tana pottery 3000 km. down the East African coast to sites such as Chibuene in South Africa during the Early Islamic period, parallels the long line of trading settlements established by the Swahili traders to collect supplies for the export trade. Excavation at Chibuene, 2500 km. from Shanga, unearthed imported Islamic White-glazed ware including bowls splashed with turquoise (Horton 1987:93; Sinclair 1982:152).

The Early Islamic glazed ceramic assemblage at Shanga is associated with a succession of small wooden mosques dating from the late 8th - late 10th centuries. The mod est style of the mosques conforms most closely to the Ibadi tradition of Oman. The probability of a predominantly Omani association in the earliest Gulf contacts of this period is strengthened by the rules of Ibadi jurisprudence permitting the capture of ships and booty from polytheist areas (Wilkinson 1981:280), and by references to Omani traders trading up to Kanbalu during this period. Kanbalu, the place noted most by the Arab writers of the 9th-11th centuries as the principal contact point with the Gulf, may well be Lamu, since the archipelago is closest to the 500 'farsakh' (3100 km.) sailing distance from Oman given by Masudi, as well as to the sailing directions given by Buzurg (Horton 1989:11). This earliest Kanbalu-oriented trading cycle appears to have been primarily engaged in obtaining timber and slaves: mangrove poles from sites such as Manda were used in the vast buildingconstruction which accompanied the great urban growth of the Gulf region in the 8th-9th centuries. The roof width of many of the buildings of the Gulf, including thos e of Siraf, conform to the length of the East African mangroves (Whitehouse 1969:51-52;Wilson 1928:94). The immense importation of slaves, with an estimated 15,000 slaves settled in southern Iraq suggested byTabari (III,1742-1787,1834-2103)was channelled to the drainage of the Shatt al-Arab marshes.

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The Zanj revolt of 868 AD curtailed the size of the African slave market, with the subsequent diversification of African exports to include such high value items as ivory, gold, ambergris and rock crystal, in return for oils, dates and other foodstuffs and prestige imported ceramics . The Omani monopoly seems to have been reduced, with strong contacts with Siraf in the Buyid period, from around 900 AD. This is reflected in the projecting mihrab and stylistic parallels of the later mosqu es at Shanga, to those of the smaller mosques at Siraf (Whitehouse n.d.:30-57; Horton 1989:13). A continuation of this influence is seen in the floriated Kufic inscription extremely close in style to those from the workshops at Siraf, at another more southerly site, Kizimkazi (Chittick 1962:17-19). This early phase of settlements associated with the Persian Gulf to China trade, are of timber and mud construction, signs of which are visible in the earliest levels at Shanga, Manda and Pate . This was followed by a shift to porites-coral construction and baked-brick construction from around 950 AD, associated with 10th century White wares from the Ding kilns, and Style 3 and other later sgraffiato (Horton 1986: 202-211). This phase is related to the growth of a prosperous new ruling group among the Swahili, with a new central stone enclosure surrounding a stone-built mosque and associated building complex. The baked bricks are of similar type and dimension to those excavated from Sohar, Mantai and many other related sites, indicating the influence of the Gulf-centred trade of the Early Islamic era, while the porites coral construction is a Red Sea technique. This indicates dual regional influence by the 10th century, with the latter technique becoming the more traditional method in the period which followed the collapse of the Lamu archipelago port sites around 1050 AD. This was matched by a large number of island trading-settlements springing up further south, such as Mombasa, Pemba, Mtambwe, Kizimkazi and Kilwa, with a shift of trade-oriented economic fortunes from the north to further south. The introduction of the Red Sea type coral construction to East African coastal sites in the second half of the 10th century, is linked to a new additional alignment which brought the region within the orbit of Fatimid Egypt and the Renaissance Mediterranean trade, with a supply of East African ivory, gold and rock-crystal exported northwards via the Lamu archipelago and Red Sea ports. Egyptian glass and seven Fatimid coins from Mediterranean mints were found at Mtambwe Mkuu, an 11th century site on the island of Pemba, and five Fatimid coins from a Sicilian mint at Manda (Horton, Brown and Oddy 1986:115-122: Horton 1987:93). A second wave of Gulf ceramics accompanied the realignment of Gulf ports at the end of the Early Islamic period, with Qais succeeding Siraf in the mid11th century, with more Style 3 sgraffiato and other wares from southern Iran in the last phase of intensive occupation at Shanga (1050 AD), and in the new sites further south. The strong Red Sea-India trading circuit is also evident in the African sites from the 10th century, with Indian metalwork and merchant communities identified in East Africa by the 10th century, and small quantities of excavated Indian utility wares (Horton 1988:20).

7.5 The Shift in the Focus of Trade to the Red Sea Area and the lower Persian Gulf ports (Periods 4 and 5 of SiraQ The shift of the centre of Chinese power to the South, with the transfer of the Song court from Kaifeng to Hanzhou, at the beginning of the Southern Song era (1127 AD), reinforced South China's role as the focus of Chinese industrial and commercial interests. This included its lucrative rice and silk trade, with ceramic production reaching new heights. Periods 4 and 5 of Siraf (c.1000-1300 and 1300-1500 AD) correspond to a phase stretching between the early Northern Song to the early Ming period, paralleling this boom period of China's ceramic production. This peak is not represented in the ceramic record from Siraf in Periods 4 and 5, the decrease of traded ceramics from the port in these periods hinging upon the shift of the Gulf trade to two ports lower down the Persian Gulf, Oais followed by Hormuz. With the decline of the trade of Siraf and Sohar, the accent of documented trade shifted to the prosperous Mediterranean and Red Sea region , matching the shift of the Caliphate to Egypt and the rise of Fatimid power in 969 AD. This resulted in the belief that most of the Indian Ocean trade was channelled to the Red Sea nucleus from the 11th-12th centuries, with the Persian Gulf relegated to a

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backwater and its trade limited to 'a few isolated ventures' (Sauvaget 1948:19-20). Although less expansively documented, n ither the available historical nor archaeological evidence subscribes to a marked degeneration in the Gulf trade in the Middle and Later Islamic periods. During the Middle Islamic period (11th-13th centuries), the trade of the Persian Gulf was handled by the port of Kish or Qais, an island 110 kms. south of Siraf. This port obviously supplied the regional trade needs of the still very prosperous hinterland cities and was engaged in the exchange of goods across the Indian Ocean. The 12th-13th centuries does however mark a period of change which was to persist to the end of the Late Medieval period. The earlier ports of Basra, Siraf and Sohar, were situated on the mainland coast, and were dependent to a large extent on the political stability and commercial environment created by strong contemporary hinterland powers. By· the Middle Islamic period, political and commercial control had slipped out of their hands, and the trade was handled by a different system of independent island polities, first Qais and then Hormuz, where survival depended on maritime power and maritime trade-based economies - this specialisation in turn leading to their functioning under a more ruthlessly competitive commercial system than in the Early Islamic period. The shift of the main Gulf ports to defensible islands in the southern Gulf was also a politically wise strategem. It distanced the main trading centres from the influence of the continually changing political situation in the main landmass of the Iraq-Iran region, under the control of a succession of Central Asian invading dynasties - the Saljuqs, Mongols and Timurids. A role-reversal can also be detected in the mainland-port relationship, with the previous situation of a powerful land-power exercising some control over the port, giving way to the control of the hinterland area as well as the Gulf islands by the island polities. Both systems indicate that as much of the Gulf as possible needed to be under the control of the powers engaged in trade, for the successful functioning of the Gulf trade. In addition to providing the necessary regional stability, such port-hinterland symbiosis allowed the chanelling of trade to the dominant port, the provision of agricultural surplus for consumption and trade, the control of other regional tradeable resources, and the protection of the sea lanes from piracy. This gradual shift to ports closer to the main body of the Indian Ocean is also connected to the gradual growth of a speedier sailing/trading system in the later medieval sea trade. Such locations enabled ships plying across the ocean to engage in quick transactions at the ports and move on, thereby fostering a faster turnover of trade. M ustawfi relates that: 'In former time s, the rulers of Qais counted the greater part of the land of Iran and all the province of Fars, as forming part of the dependancies of Qais, which island they named 'daulatkhanin' (the palace)' (Mustawfi trans.1918:135). The island of Bahrain, sited strategically close to the entrance to the Gulf, also alternated between the rival powers of Qais and Hormuz. The rulers of Qais also took possession of Aden from the mid -12th century up to the rise of Rasulid supremacy in the Yemen, ruling both ports for the maintenance of their commercial n tworks (Yajima 1972:132-37,140-43). The extent of direct political control by Hormuz was even greater: On the Arabian coast of the Gulf, Ra's al-Khaima, Julfar, Bahrain, and intermittently, Qatif, as well as a string of fortified settlements on the coast north of Ra 's al-Hadd including Sur, Qalhat, Muscat, Sohar and Khor Fakhan. On the Persian coast Hormuzi rule extended from Machul in Khuzistan to Gwador in Pakistan. Around Hormuz itself, a tiny hinterland protected by a cordon of fortresses stretched 28 'farsaqs' inland, encircling a rich date-growing area (Williamson 1973:57). A large proportion of the goods unloaded at Qais and Hormuz was channelled via overland routes to feed the Gulf hinterland, the connection between land and sea routes persisting into the later Medieval period. The inland route travelled via Shiraz to Tabriz and thence to the rest of Iran. The route is lined with caravanserai, with many of the mosques and imamzadehs constructed by Hormuzi rulers in the towns along the route. To quote Ma-huan (15th c.): 'foreign ships come from every place and foreign merchants travelling by land all come to this country (Hormuz) to attend the market and trade; hence the people of the country are all rich' (Ma-Huan trans. 1970:92-93). The expensive urban tastes developed in the region with centuries of Indian Ocean trade, and the ability of the cities of the Persian Gulf to still indulge in them, is very evident in the literary descriptions. With the resurgence of

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Shiraz under th e Saljuqs in the 12th century, the wine-making, cultivation of flowers, of scented plant s for perfum es, cosmetic s, medicam ents, aromatic essences and sericulture in Fars brou ght much revenu e to the merchants at Qai s (Ricks 1970:353). In addition to Shiraz, other capital cities such as the Ilkh anid and Qara Qoyunlu capitals of Tabriz and Sultaniyeh, the Ghurid and Timurid capital of H era l, as well as oth er cities such as Ya zd and Kashan , were enormously prosperous. To cite but a few of the literary sources describing th eir enormous consumption of traded goods, Oderic of Pord enon e ( early 14th c.) wrot e of Tabriz that: 'It is a nobler city and better for trade than any other. For ther e is nowher e on earth where such a variety of provisions and merchandise is available in such larg e quantities as Tabriz .... and merchandise comes there from almost all over the world ' (Od eric of Pord enone tran s. 1866:Appendix 1,2-3). Ruy Gonzalez de Clavijo, who passed through Sultaniyeh betw een 1403-5 stat ed that: 'every year com e merchants from India with cloves, nutmegs, cinnamon , mann a, mace and other spices and precious goods which do not go to Alexandria' ( de Clavijo trans. 1859:9). The caravan trade from the head of the Gulf continued, with some of the eastern good s transhipped up the Gulf in regional sailing-craft under the protection of Hormuzi , probably pr eviously Qai s, maritime power, and traded overland from Basra to Aleppo. Other caravans trav elled to Tr ebizand and Damascus. Although the land routes were more open than ever under the Mongols and Ilkhanid s, th e major lines of communication were still by sea. When Abd al-Razzaq was sent as envoy from H crat to th e South Indian kingdom of Vijayanagar, he travelled not, as might be expect ed, by land, but by sea from Hormuz in the Persian Gulf (Abd al-Razzaq al-Samarqandi trans. 1857). The Persian Gulf obviously traded in the same commodities as before in the Middle Islamic period. Rabbi Benjamin of Tudela, writing c.1170, described Qais as a wealthy town, with Jewish and Indian communities. 'Kish is a considerable market, being the point to which the Indian merchants and tho se of the islands bring their commodities, while the traders of Iraq, Yemen and Fars import all kinds of silks and purple cloths, flax, cotton,, hemp, mash, wheat, barley, millet, rye and all other kinds of eatable s and pulses, which articles form objects of exchange; those from India export great quantities of spice s, and the inhabitants of this island live by what they gain in their capacity of brokers of both parti es' (Wilson 1928:98-99). Abu'l Fida (1273-1331) noted its educated citizens, pearl fisheries and gardens of exotic palms. The island's revenues at this period ranged between 400,000-700,000 dinars. Th e Geniza documents record the competition in the 12th century, between Aden and Qais - or the R ed Sea and Persian Gulf as it were - for the markets of East Africa, especially in slaves, a trade important enough to result in naval clashes between the two ports. East African ivory, gold, wood, skins and amb ergris were traded at Qais in exchange for pearls, piece-goods , dates and dried fruits from the Gulf (Rick s 1970:353). Kish was also a large supplier of horses to the kingdoms of the Deccan in western India , a fact known as far afield as China. Chao-ju-kua states that : 'The country of Ki-shi is on a small island in the sea , within sight of the Arabian ( coast), which is half a day's journey from it. ....This country produces pearls and fine horses (Chou Ju-kua trans. 1911:133-34). Although unexcavated , the surface remains at Qais, both architectural and ceramic , have bee n examined. The remain s of the medieval town spread over an area of at least 1 x 0.5 kms. Th e buildin gs are of rubble bonded with saruj, and several of the larger buildings have outer walls mor e than a metr e thick, and massive semi-circular buttresses, supporting Ibn Mujawir's ( d.1271) statem ent that the houses of Qais 'are very high ... and each has the appearance of a castle. ) The ceramics, collected under the supervision of Peter Farries, provide a range of Islamic and Chinese glazed wares from the 12th-14th centuries. They present a natural continuation of the ceramics found in small quantities in the later levels at Siraf, found in large numbers at Qais - Late Medieval Islamic glazed wares and Song/Yuan Chinese wares. Among the Islamic wares, the Late Sgraffiato lacks the pseudo-epigraphic decoration found at Siraf, and is possibly from another source; wares with a white . frit body; Underglaze Painted Ware of the type found at Siraf and Bahrain, with a greenish glaze over the black painted decoration mainly of radial panels filled with cross-hatching, chevrons and groups of dots; Sultanabad wares decorated in black under turquoise glaze or in black or blue on a white background; and a sherd each of Minai and Lajvardina ware, probably from northern Iran.

Far Eastern ceramics occur in a much higher proportion than at Siraf. They include Qinghai, a few sherds of White Porcelain including at least one sherd of high quality Dehua ware, green Celadon bowls, 'Bare Circle' stoneware bowls and Martabanijars (Whitehouse 1976:146).

The description of the traded commodities at Hormuz indicates a radical change in the Persian Gulf involvement in the Indian Ocean trade. Although still a feeder port to the Gulf hinterland, the Gulf involvement in the exchange of goods across the Ocean seems to be curtailed. There is no mention of East African goods and only a few imports from the Red Sea region, and increased references to trade with India. The list of imports to Hormuz can be guaged from the description given by Duarte Barbosa ( d.1515), comprising primarily of Indian, South-east Asian and Chinese goods: 'In this city are many merchants and many ships. It has a very good harbour where all sorts of goods are handled, which come from many lands, and which they barter with many parts of India. They bring there all sorts of spices, pepper, cloves, ginger, cardamoms, aloes wood, sandalwood, brazilwood, myrobalms, tamarinds, saffron, indigo, wax, iron, sugar, a great quantity of rice, coconuts, many precious stones, porcelain, benzoin, from all of which they make a great deal of money.' Several varieties of Indian textiles were also imported (Barbosa trans. 1918:92-93). The return trade to India included the export of horses on a very large scale, where they were in great demand for warfare. Barbosa estimates that 1000-2000 horses were exported from Hormuz every year, valued at upto 800,000 gold cruzados (one Mameluke dinar). The horses were obtained from the island's dominions: some were from Persia but the majority were Arab horses from Oman, obtained via Hormuzi settlements on the coast. Pearls were almost as important an export item to India, coming chiefly from Bahrain and Julfar. Teixara estimates an export of 600,000 ducats worth every year, roughly equivalent to a Mameluke dinar. Other commodities traded to India were silks, carpets, alum and raisins from Persia, dates from the Minab oasis or Mesopotamia, sulphur from the coast near Hormuz and salt from the island (Barbosa trans. 1918:63-95;Texeira trans. 1902:176). This vital exchange network with India was secured through commercial contacts and colonies in Cambay, Calicut, Malacca and Bengal, and it is recorded that the rulers of Qais owned trading settlements at Sumnat, Kanbaya, Kullam, Kayal and other ports of south-west India (Yajima 1976:4-26). The imports from Aden include copper, quicksilver, rose-water and more textiles. When this dwindled number of exports from the Red Sea region is compared with the mention of only a small quantity of eastern goods passed on by Hormuz to Aden, it is possible to surmise that the commercial rivalry betwee n the two Persian Gulf and Red Sea emporiums led to the reorganization of the previous trading-network in the western Indian Ocean. D'Albuquerques Portuguese fleet arrived in the Indian Ocean in 1507 AD, followed by the conquest of Hormuz and its subsequent decline in the 16th-17th centuries. The distribution of surface pottery mirrors this change, showing that the city had shrunk to half its previous size by the end of the 17th century. Texeira remarks that Hormuz 'began to decline by reason of the oppression and violence of the Portuguese captain and his officers' (Texeira trans.1902:162-69). In addition, although they gained the island itself, the Portuguese were not in possesion of that vital corollary to all successful Gulf entrepot trade - support from the agricultural and trading hinterland. Trade to Europe went increasingly direct from India via the Cape of Good Hope, following the sea-route pattern established in the Late Medieval period. The observations of the Portuguese writers confirm that the importance of Hormuz, and therefore of the Persian Gulf involvement in the Indian Ocean trade, was considerable in the Lat e Medieval Period, equalling and possibly later surpassing that of Aden and the Red Sea. Even in its period of decline the customs returns from Hormuz were remarkably high: in the 1540's for instance they exceeded the combined revenues from the other two major ports of the Portuguese Indies, Goa and Malacca. The author of D'Albuquerque's Commentaries states that: 'There are three places in India (the East) which serve as markets of all the commerce of merchantable wares in that part of the world, and the principle keys to it. The first is Malacca ..., the second is Aden ...., the third is Hurmuz at the entry and exit of the Persian Sea. This city of Hurmuz is according to my idea the most important of them all (D'Albuquerque trans. 1884: vol.4,185).

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To summarise the Persian Gulf involvement in the Indian Ocean trade in the post-Siraf period , although shifting closer to the main body of the Indian Ocean, and changing the previou s mainlandbased Gulf-port type to that of island polities, the Gulf trade of the Middle Islamic period was essentially a continuation of that of the Early Islamic period. The entrepot of Qais was of equal importance as a feeder port to the regional hinterland, as well as a port engag ed in prop elling the east-west trade across the Ocean under the previous double zone system of the western Indian Ocean , with a central break at the Persian Gulf. The Late Islamic period marks an important change in the zoning system, with the competition between the Red Sea and Persian Gulf resulting in the Red Sea traders ousting the Gulf's direct involvement in trading to the Red Sea and Africa region, until the decline of Aden allowed a resumption of Persian Gulf-Africa contacts for a brief period, prior to the European intervention in the Asian trade. During much of the Late Islamic period, the trad e between the African/Red Sea region and the western Indian ports was carried direct by Arab and Indian sailors. Much of the previous Persian Gulf interest in the Africa/Red Sea trade had been focused on obtaining two raw materials in demand in India - gold and ivory - to exchange for South Asian , South east Asian and Chinese luxury goods required in the Middle Eastern and Mediterranean regions. Th e limitation imposed upon its trading was successfully overcome by the Gulf merchants filling in the trad e vacuum left by the loss of its African trade, by developing the exchange of two substitute commoditi es available in the home region - thoroughbred horses and pearls - which were in great demand in India , obtaining in return the required eastern goods via the entrepot trade of India.

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Chapter 8 The Mastery of the Indian Ocean Trade Network: Its Voyage Systems. Mariners. Ships. Merchants. Ports Commodities and Currencies Both the overland and maritime trade systems between China and the West, were dependent on the interrelationship of three primary economic factors - production, transport and exchange. Both types of trade required the solving of specific problems, generated by the inherent nature of the system. In the case of the maritime trade, the factor of transport by sea, a medium not natural to mankind, posed the greatest challenge, with the attendant subsidiary organisation of suitable modes of land-based production and trade. The rewards of the resolution of the difficulties of seaborne trade were considerable . Examination of the nature of the pre-modern Indian Ocean maritime trade, from the 8th15th centuries, using archaeological source material from port sites such as Siraf, which dotted the Indian Ocean littorals, coupled with information in literary records, enables the gradual piecing together of the manner in which the participants in this trade, faced and solved its barriers, to reap economic, cultural and social rewards. Two geographical factors influenced sailing in the Indian Ocean - the physical nature of the Ocean, and the wind systems which propelled the trade.

8.1 The Seas of the Indian Ocean The Indian Ocean is not a broad expanse of unitary ocean. It is made up of six different seas: the Red Sea, Persian Gulf, Arabian Sea, Bay of Bengal, Java Sea and the China Sea, each linked to a distinctive regional economy, best understood and manipulated by its own people . Sailors needed to be conversant with the navigational hazhards of the different seas. The coral reefs of the Red Sea are an oft quoted point, resulting in the passage from J edda to Suez being handled by Red Sea coastal pilots; few Persian Gulf or Indian ship masters attempted passage to Egypt. The siting of the major Persian Gulf ports on the Iranian rather than the Arabian coast is connected to the pattern of reefs and shoals which obstruct the latter, while the Iranian side has deeper clearage. Any ships which did not break bulk at Muscat or Sohar at the very mouth of the Gulf, called at Iranian ports such as Siraf, Qais and Hormuz. Special regional boats transhipped the cargo from ports lower down the Gulf to Iraq, while entry to Basra via the Shatt-al Arab delta called for further local pilotry. Similar specialised boats and crews navigated the violent tidal sea in the Gulf of Cambay in western India, while the Swahili adapted the mtepe boat to sail the waters of the East African coast. In contrast to navigation in the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans, those sailing the Indian Ocean were fortunate in the siting of most of the populated areas of Asia north of the Equator, where the winds were both regular and predictable. Even in the south, landfalls along the East coast of Africa were made easily, following seasonal movements. The only area of extreme hazhard was the hurricane belt between latitudes 10-30.south, and longitudes 60-90 east. However, any ship sailing the southern Indian Ocean out of season faced extreme danger from storms and gales.

8.2 The Monsoon Wind-Systems The second geographical factor was the seasonal pattern of the wind system which determined the direction and time-profiles of the voyages. The two wind systems which propelled the trade backwards and forwards across the Indian Ocean, were the south-west monsoon (Arabic: mawsim al-kaws) and the north-east monsoon (rih al-saba), which divided the calendar year into two halves. The period of the south-west monsoon is from April to September. A low pressure zone is generated from the equator to the Himalayan region, with winds blowing from Antarctica in the

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direction of the equator or vertical sun. The time for sailing in an easterly direction was at the onset of the south-west monsoon (April-June). The three months from June to August were the period of the strongest winds, with the ports on the western and eastern coasts of India closed to shipping during this season. The north-east monsoon was from October to March, with high pressure zones in the Himalayas and Antarctica, with winds blowing towards the equator. Light winds and fine weather are associated with high pressure, and the period coincided with travel from east to west. The change over of the monsoons roughly coincides with the Equinoxes, when the sun crosses the equator. With their different alignments, each of the six seas had its own time table for correct departures and arrivals, ignored at peril (Hourani 1951).

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Ocean Voyage Systems - Long Haul Voyages and Segmented Sea-Traffic Indian Ocean voyaging during the Islamic period has been perceived as predominantly of Persian Gulf origin, handled mainly by Persian and Arab sailors and divided into two successive patterns of voyaging. The first is envisaged as a long-ha.ul voyage system from the Persian Gulf to China from the 8th century up to around 1000 AD. The second was a segmentalised system from 1000-1500 AD, with each region trading mainly within its own regional sailing-zone and exchanging goods with the neighbouring zones at the regional limits, with the goods passed in this hand-to-hand manner across the ocean to their various destinations (Chauduri 1985:34-62). The following discussion re-evaluates these conceptions on the sailing patterns of the Medieval Asian trade. This is undertaken on the basis of the Chinese, Arabic and European records of the sea trade, related to the framework of sailing-schedules possible within the monsoonal wind-systems of the Indian Ocean.

It is clear that western Indian Ocean sailing, whether from the Red Sea region or the Persian Gulf, generally ended at the west coast of the Indian sub-continent in the immediate pre-Islamic era. From this point, sailing to the eastern zone was undertaken mainly by Sri Lankan and Indian ships. The description by the 6th century Egyptian Nestorian sailor Cosmas Indicopleustus, of the trade of the port of Mahatittha (Mantai) in Sri Lanka, is particularly useful in this context: ' .....the island has also a church of Persian Christians who have settled there, and a Presbyter who is appointed from Persia, and a Deacon, and all the apparatus of public worship .....From all India, Persia and Ethiopia many ships come to this island, and it likewise sends out many of its own, occupying as it does, a kind of central position. And from the farther regions - I speak of Tzinista (China) and other places of export - the imports to Taprobane are silk, aloes, cloves, sandlewood, and so forth, according to the production of each place. These again are passed on ....to the entrepots on this side (that is, in India) ....to Persia, Homerite (in southern Yemen) and Adule (Zula in Ethiopia).' (Cosmas,trans.1987:337). Since a large number of Axumite and Persian ships seem to have plied the route upto the island from the western Indian Ocean, it seems likely that most of the Sri Lankan sailing was projected eastwards. Further verification of this pattern, with an additional accent on Indian part1c1pation in the eastwards trade, is provided by Procopius, also writing in the 6th century, who laments that it was impossible for the Ethiopians (Axumites) to buy (Chinese) silk from the Indians since the Per sian merchants always located themselves at the very harbours where Indian ships first put in (Procopius:1,20). These literary references to the conveying of Chinese silk from the eastern Indian Ocean by Sri Lankan and Indian ships is substantiated by archaeological and literary evidence for the increase of trade between ports on the east coast of India and South-east Asia, especially from the 3rd century AD, followed by the Indianisation of the South- east Asian region by the 7th-8th centuries (Ray 1988). Another group of mariners plying the eastern Indian Ocean emerge from contemporary Chines e

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records. In the 3rd century AD, a Chinese mission was sent under the command of K'ang T'ai to Tun-sun (Malaya) to obtain information on the sea route to the west. K'ang T'ai also mentions that Malayan princes obtained horses from the Indo-Scythians of the Indus region at this time (Xing Ta11gShu:Ch.43). Sixth century texts refer to foreign shipping at Canton, with Chinese merchants who sought foreign goods dealing with K'un-lun (Malaysian) rather than Chinese shipping (Wang:60). As recorded by I-tsing, numerous Chinese Buddhist pilgrims travelled to South-east Asia and thence to Sri Lanka in the 7th century, with none voyaging in Chinese boats (Wolters 1967:146). The documentation of Sasanian vessels in the Indian Ocean begins in the 4th century AD, increasing in the last century before Islam, that is, from the 6th century. The picture is one of frequent Sasanian trading and settlement in entrepots of India and Sri Lanka, where they had cornered the Indian Ocean trade-market, with even the actual acquisition of the port of Daybul (Bambhore) in the Sind, as well as other ports of the Sind and Makran, by Bahram V (471-438 AD) by a marriage contract with an Indian princess (Tabari:68). Sasanian religious and merchant enterprise had also penetrated South-east Asia and China on a more limited scale, with the 'Metropolitan of the Islands and seas and Interior of Dabag ( a South-east Asian island), Chin and Macin (ports of China)' among the Bishops attending the Nestorian synod of 410 A.D. (Synodicon Orientale :482). 'Possu' (Persian) merchants, possibly initially Sasanian, appear in Chinese records between the 4th-12th centuries AD. (Whitehouse 1973:46-47). The literary evidence therefore indicates that although Sasanian merchants did venture beyond South Asia, as far as South-east Asia and China, the bulk of the sailing was from the Persian Gulf to Sri Lanka. The records of 'Possu' ships in Chinese ports, and of large settlements of Possu and Tashi (Persian and Arab), as well as Buddhist and Hindu (Sri Lankan and Indian) merchants in the ports of China intensified in the 8th century, leading to the deduction that direct Persian Gulf sailing to China had become the norm by the 8th century. However, it is evident that prior to somewhere in the 9th century, Persian Gulf voyaging even in the stretch from the Gulf to India followt;d the more primitive coasting itinery recorded by Ibn Khurdadhbih, and repeated by Jia Dan in his itinery of the route from Canton to the Land of the Arabs, composed between 785-805 AD. In this context, it seems unlikely that the Persia11s had initiated regular sailing to South-east Asia and China by the 8th century, and the Possu merchants and merchandise at the Chinese ports must have been usually transported in South and South-east Asian ships from South Asia onwards. An 8th century Chinese source echoes that 'the sea-going junks are foreign ships. Every year they come to Canton and An-i. Those from Ceylon are the largest' (Needham 1971:4,3:453). The evidence from the records of the 3rd-8th centuries therefore indicate a predominantly South Asian sailing system from Mantai in Sri Lanka to K'un-lun in Malaysia, and a principally South-east Asian voyaging in the stretch between South-east Asia and China, with occasional voyaging by both groups in the longer stretch right across the eastern Indian Ocean. Rec'Jrds of the adventurous long-haul sailing from the Persian Gulf to China, especially from Siraf, begin during the first half of the 9th century, with the coasting itinery replaced by direct sailing from zone to zone using the monsoon winds. The route sailed by the ship-masters of Siraf is described in the anonymous work, the 'Re lation of China and India' (written in 851 AD) (Sauvaget 1948) and in the 'Book of Roads and Provinces' by Ibn Khurdadhbih (1.846-885A.D.) (Ibn Khurdadhbih, trans.:13-17). The ships sailed from Siraf to Muscat and Sohar at the mouth of the Gulf, and then to the west coast of India, to either Daybul or lower down to Kulam Mali on the Malabar coast. Those sailing to the western port may have hugged the coast from Daybul to the Malabar. Rounding Sri Lanka, with a possible call at Mantai, they travelled across the cyclone belt in the Bay of Bengal, to Kalah Bar (Malacca), and across the South China Sea to Hanoi (in Inda-China) and on to Khanfu (Canton). Most returned home from Canton, but some vessels sailed further up the Chinese coast to two other ports, possibly Zaiton (Quanzhou) and Quinsai (Hanchow). Masudi (w.947 AD), also refers to ships of China which previously sailed to Oman, Siraf, the coast of Fars, Bahrain, Ubulla and Basra, while the ships of these countries sailed direct to China (Masudi, trans.I:127). Both references show a gaining of confidence in Jong-haul sailing during the 9th century. It seems therefore more reasonable to assign fairly regular direct sailing from the Gulf to China to the 9th rather than the 8th century. The risks of the long haul system were considerable, the voyage long, but the rewards high for the successful. The Persian sea captain Buzurg ibn Shahriyah , who knew the maritime world of Siraf well, describes the skills of the

120 almost legendary figure of Al-rubban (Captain) 'Abharah, who made the China voyage seven times. He was supposed to be the first to have sailed to China with a fairly certain knowledge of returning hom e without accident, although he once suffered shipwreck at the entrance to the China Sea, and was rescued as the sole survivor of his ship. The reputation of those who succeeded in reaching Canton and returning safely home was very high among the seafarers of the Gulf (Buzurg Ibo Shahriyar trans.1928). The repeated references to 'Ch ina ships' at Ubulla and other ports in the Gulf by a succession of Arabic authorities of the 9th-11th centuries - Baladhuri, Dinewari, Tabari, Buzurg - resulted in speculation as to whether some part of the trading between China and the Gulf was in Chinese ships during the Sasanian and Early Islamic periods. The terms used were 'sufun min al-sin' (ships coming from China), 'marakib al-sin' and 'markad sini' (ships of China) and the even stronger possesive term 'al-sufu n al-siniyeh' (Chinese ships). However three factors argue against such a possibility. A general vagueness and ambiguity shroud references to oceanic sailing, especially beyond India, in the three texts referring to the subject: the Annals of the Liu-Sung Dynasty (written c.500 AD), Da'Honan's account of the battle of Talas in 751 AD, and in Jia Dan's itinery of the route from Canton to the Land of the Arabs (w. between 785-805 AD). This is matched by a notable lack, despite long discussion of Chinese customs, clothing, habits, products, ships and even of Chinese coins circulating at Siraf, of any references whatsoever to Chinese sailors or traders at any of the ports of the Gulf or elsewhere in the Indian Ocean world (Williamson n.d.:Ch.6:7). Finally, the Chinese references to large ocean-going junks (po), even as late as the 8th century, refer to the ships used by the sailors of K'un-lun (Malaya), the South-east Asian 'Kun-lun-;io'(Manguin 1980:274). The various terms for China ships in the Arabic texts are therefore patently colloquial parlance for any ships bringing goods from China, in much the same manner as the word 'China clipper' or 'East Indiaman' were used in the European period. Chinese sailing in the Indian Ocean, beyond the possible rare envoy mission such as those described by Yaqubi and Masudi, only began in the Sung period (11th-12th centuries), with Chinese ships trading up to the southern and western ports of India until 1433, when official intervention prohibited trading beyond Malacca (T'oung P'ao trans.1938-39:4.395-399). The direct sailing from port to port between zones, which evolved in the 9th-10th centuries, remained the more traditional route of ocean trading throughout the rest of the era of pre-modern Asian trade. This northerly route combined the advantages of closer links to the Indian Ocean landmass of the earlier coasting itinery, with greater speed than was previously possible, by touching at at least one emporium in each of the main trading zones of the Indian Ocean, where regional goods were collected for export, and from which imports could be dispersed over the region. With the passage of time from the 10th-15th centuries, these emporia shifted as close to the main body of the Indian Ocean as possible, enabling ships to choose the shortest route between zones in their voyaging to and fro across the ocean. The duration of the seasonal winds and the distances involved accentuated the use of the Persian Gulf and India as the general pivots of the sailing/trading interaction between the eastern and western blocks of the Indian Ocean, to the detriment of the Red Sea. As mentioned by Tome Pires (w.1515 AD), the merchants from Cairo, Mecca and Aden could not reach Malacca in a single monsoon. They had to sail in their own time to Gujerat and then embark in March to sail to Malacca (Tome Pires trans.1944:1.42-46). This is a major factor in the continued importance of the Persian Gulf in the Asian sea-trade, despite the efforts of the Fatimids and Mamelukes to channel most of the trade to the Red Sea ports from the Middle Islamic pe riod. The eastwards run from the Gulf was propelled by the winds of the south-west monsoon. The longer duration of these winds (April-September) enabled ships to sail from the Gulf via India to South-east Asia and China in one season. The journey westwards had to be stretched over two seasons, since the shorter north -easterlies could propel a ship from China or Malacca up to India, with a wait until the onset of the south-west monsoon to accomplish the last lap to the Gulf. The next trip eastwards could only take place with the next south-west monsoon, after the lapse of a year (Zang 1983:100).

121

Within the limits dictated by the monsoons, considerable variation in the duration of the voyage can be observed, depending on fluctuations of the wind-schedules and the skill of the navigator in utilising the winds to maximum benefit. Suleiman the Merchant describes perhaps the tightest sailingschedule from the Gulf to China, with one month sailing spans between the Gulf-India-Southeast AsiaChina (Muscat-Quilon-Kalah-Canton), the entire voyage taking a little over three months (Ferrand 1922; Hornell 1933:314). A more leisurely voyage, with basically the same breaks, is recorded in the 'Sung-Shih ', making use of the full south-west monsoonal season for the journey. This voyage from Mazun (Sohar)-Kullam (Quilon)-Saribuza (Palembang)-Khanfu (Canton), by the envoy from So-tan (Sultaniyeh) took 160 days or five and a half months, travelling on a favourable wind (Yajima 1977:203). A much faster itinery also came into use in the Middle Islamic period (11th-12th centuries). This new route can be pieced together from the descriptions of Chou-ku-fei (w.1178 AD), Al-Dimash (second half 13th c.), Ibn Majid (w.1489), Duarte Barbosa (1501-7 AD) and Tome Pires (w.1515 AD). It enabled an express carrying of trade between the two ends of the ocean, by a more southerly almost horizontal traverse across the Indian Ocean via the Maldives. The first part of the itinery followed the traditional westwards time-schedule, with ships sailing from Canton in November at the beginning of the northeasterly winds, taking 40 days to reach Lan-Ii (Aceh in Sumatra), and starting on the second leg of the journey at the beginning of the new year. This was a record 60 days run reaching Dhofar or Aden in the Red Sea, or the East African coast, by the tail-end of the north-east monsoon in February. With the turn of the winds in the middle of the year, the ships headed back to Aceh on the south-westerly winds, avoiding the equatorial storms in the 8-15 latitude region by sailing from the south of Socotra, reaching China by August or September (Zhang 1983:100). This streamlined itinery seems to have been evolved by the Indonesian 'Waq Waq' trade from China to East Africa. Ibn al-Mujawir (w.1233 AD), points to an earlier Indon esian route via India to a post in Aden and down the East African coast (Ferrand 1919:145-49), possibly related to archaeological finds of similar 8th century traded glass beads at Zimbabwe in South Africa and Tangal in South India, and again in a 9th century site in Malaya (Kubary 1889-1895:1-28; Caton-Thompson 1931:234). The 8th century date agrees with the first records of African slaves sent by Sumatra and Java to China. The southerly trans-oceanic route seems to have been developed by the Indonesians by the middle of the 10th century, tallying with the traditional 945 AD date of the great expedition from the Land of Waq Waq to the Great Island or Madagascar. The Indonesian trade still flourished in the mid-12th century, but petered out soon afterwards, probably coinciding with the disintegra tion of the powerful maritime Sumatran empire of Sri Vijaya in the 13th century (Hornell 1933:305-318). The main shortcoming of the southern route was its obvious disassociation from the trade of the Indian and Persian Gulf zones, but this seems to have been soon rectified. An early 16th century map, presumably based on Zeng Ho's voyages to the west in the 15th century, divulge the Maldives as a junction of routes. A route from Bengal joined the main route just east of Sri Lanka, with another running from the Maldives to Quilon and Cape Comorin, and a course to Hormuz passin g between the Maldives and the Indian coast (Ma-huan trans.1970:236-302). With obvious reference to this southern route, Duarte Barbosa states that ships from China, the Moluccas, Pegu, Sumatra, Bengal and Sri Lanka came to the Maldives in their passage to the Red Sea (Barbosa trans.1866:166). Analysis of the literary records clearly indicates that a straightforward division betwe en a purely long-haul voyage system in the Early Islamic period, followed by exclusively segmentalised sailing from c.1000 AD, presents a too simplified picture. Both patterns of sailing were in existence from the mid-9th century , with merchants, merchandise and mariners presented with the option of long or short stage porterage. However, the escalation in the volume and diversity of the trade, as well as the increase in the speed of transactions across the ocean in the final centuries of the medieval Indian Ocean trade, probably owed much to a greater use of the segmentalised sailing/trading system. A number of factors coalesced to realise this situation. Chief amongst these would have been the compulsive generation of large quantities of traded products, with the various inhabitants of an expanding Indian Ocean economic region participating in the lucrative network. With the gathering complexity of the links of the trade network, it would have been practical, in fact natural, to evolve smaller zonal units of sailing patterns and trade. Each of these would have been closely linked to supply and demand within the zone, with

122

some trade of a purely regional nature. But a surplus was generated for external trade~ to ensure buying power for return goods. The trade goods passing to and fro across the network were collected and passed on at specific points. These ranged from the small trade centres to the great emporia of this period, the latter generally established at the points of overlap of regional sailing zones. Use of the zonal sailing system would have increased the overall speed of transactions across the Ocean. There was less delay caused by ships travelling longer distances waiting at various points along the route, for the required change in the direction of the trade winds. The reduction of the risks posed by long haul voyages, by the easier, shorter sailing-schedules would have also increased the carrier participation, bringing in regional carriers. The benefits of their more specialised knowledge of regional sea environments, was a positive factor in the development of maritime trade in this period.

8.4 The Sailors and the Routes The genesis of zonal, segmented participation in the Indian Ocean trade, obviously lies in the regional networks developed by the maritime peoples of the region from the prehistoric period, the glimmerings of which are visble even in the Persian Gulf dominated picture of the early medieval trade. Nautical skills were not at all rare in the Indian Ocean, with social groups who lived off the sea in most communities. The cellular structure of these primarily feudal or nomadic societies, with land-oriented values, resulted in the lowly status of their maritime peoples, with the development of this group as useful maritime military or entrepreneurial forces only in certain areas during certain periods. The prominance given to the trader and sailor under Islam, with such dynamic results, is one such instance. For example, Buzurg remarks that Al-Rubban 'Abharah had learnt the art of seamanship as a fisherman in the Gulf, having first been a shepherd in the district of Kirman. He then became a sailor on a ship trading with India, and finally commanded the 'markab sini' or China ship itself (Ibn Majid,trans.:80). The skill of the mariner was therefore often the decisive factor in the profit or loss made o~ a voyage. An experienced pilot could sail out and bring home a ship within a strict time schedule, while another, less confident, would often remain in port until the next sailing season. A captain who left the west coast of India on the hundredth day of the year (2nd March), says Ibn Majid, was a sound man, but one who attempted the passage back to Arabia after the hundred and fortieth was either a merchant ignorant of the monsoon, a bankrupt, or a desperate man in dire need (Ibn Majid,trans.:232-33). The importance of specialised regional knowledge and regional segmentation of the voyage can be guaged from the nautical compilation of lbn Majid in the late 15th century, the 'al-Fawaid'. The book is based on the experience (tajriba) painstakingly acquired by Ibn Majid, obtained from contemporary sailors and inherited from his father and grandfather, both 'mu'allims' (pilot of an ocean going ship, as opposed to 'rubban' (Red Sea coastal pilots) in the Indian Ocean trade. However, he continuously mentions practice followed by navigators of Gujerat, Konkan, Coromandel and other places, especially in areas where one would expect their expertise to be greater than that of the Arabs. The second half of the 7th fa'ida or chapter, which deals with 'qiyas' or measurements, is taken almost literally from Chola pilots' sailing directions for the coasts of western India, and for the route from the coasts of Malabar and Coromandel to Indonesia and Malaysia. The visualisation of Medieval Indian Oceap. sailing and trade, should therefore no longer be one dominated solely by Persian and Arab master-mariners of legendary fame, crossing the entire width of the ocean from Africa and Arabia to China and back. It is one in which there was always a fair component, and in the late 10th-15th century, a large component, of mariners from diverse Indian Ocean sailing traditions. They would have plied the complex inter-linked regional routes, the best of them probably able, at need, to sail longer distances outside their own navigational zones. The Indonesians seem to have been adept in handling a number of different routes, sailing to South China and back, with a complex of regional routes weaving and interlinking the islands of Indonesia, the Phillipines, the South-east Asian and Indo-Chinese mainland, as well as trade to South Asia (Martin 1985:81-90). The considerable Indonesian and Malaysian connections with Sri Lanka in the later Medieval

123 period (13th-16th centuries) are recorded in the Island's annals. Capping it all, was a direct rout e acros s the Indian Ocean via the Maldivian archipelago, linking Malaysia and Indonesia with th e island of Madagascar and the east coast of Africa (Dewar 1988). This resulted in the Indonesian acculturalisation of the Malagasi speaking people of Madagascar, and a return trade, possibly in slaves. The coastal peoples of southern China were adept at sailing the shallow coastal and esturial waters of the long south-eastern and southern coast of China, and were also involved in the trade with the South-east Asian mainland and islands. Indian sailors had long standing trading and sailing connections with the Persian Gulf, and occasionally travelled further east to the East African coast (Digby 1982). An almost expre ss r egional coastal-service operated along the western and eastern littorals of the subcontinent, with ships travelling across to the ports of northern Sri Lanka and the Maldives at need. Chola ships from South India had strong maritime connections with South-east Asia, especially Indonesia, bearing Hindu culture to this region from around the 10th-11th centuries (Coedes 1968). A number of Tamil inscriptions of the 14th century (Yuan Period) have been found in Guangdong in South China. Both Buddhist culture introduced from Sri Lanka, and Hindu culture from South India, tran smitted by sea, are found in the Maldives (Maniku 1977; 1973). Sri Lankan ships on religiou s missions occasionally travelled to South-east Asia, especially to Burma, and there are records of eleph ants imported to Sri Lanka from Burma and Thailand. The sailors of the Maldivian archip elago also travelled the South Asian sea routes, with a well-established pattern of trading and sailing motivated by the Maldives, to Sri Lanka, and indirectly to South India, until the early 20th century. A similar regional sailing network was manned by the Swahili speaking peopl es of East africa, who traded the wares collected along 1000 miles of the East African coast to Arab , Persian Gulf and Indian traders (Horton 1987:86-93). These goods were in turn carried to the Mediterran ean world , and the Indian Ocean regions. The soecialist coastal-navigation communities of the Red Sea and Persian Gulf must have been the carriers of coastal trade in these areas.

8.5 The Ships A number of regional ship-building traditions, more varied than those of the M editerr anean and the Atlantic, were developed by the maritime peoples of the Indian Ocean, to suit their different coastal and deep-sea environments. However, techniques of ship building are innovativ e and adaptiv e, and in addition to traditional forms, the maritime traditions which made optimum use of the expan sion and diversification of the Indian Ocean exchange system, also built larger ships, adapted to carry greater cargoes over longer distances. The typology of Asian shipping is fairly stable from th e 12th century, probably reflecting a maximum adaptation of the Indian Ocean ship building technologie s to the needs of the diversified trade. Three key considerations determined the size and shape of Indian Ocean vessels. (1) Th e shape of the hull below the waterline was determined by the nature and depth of coastal waters, and the frequency of approaching harbours and roadsteads. The presence of coral reefs decided wheth er a ship should be fitted with quarter rudders ( enabling fast manipulation). (2) Ships drawing mor e than four fathoms of water were classified as deep-sea ships, and required the service of lighters and barges. Since such transhipment of cargo was expensive and time consuming, it was justified only if the duration of the voyage called for economies of such scale. (3) Coastal traders functioned under a different economic criterion - that of a fast, quick turnover. Small fast craft had to be able to cross sand bars and surfing waters, with each region of the Indian region developing specialised boats for coastal sailing. Within these requirements, the basic cargo vessel of the western Indian Ocean was the Arab boom or Indian dhangi . This was diversified into a plethora of sub-types such as the jalboot, vallam , boom, baghla, sambuk, shewe, kotia, ganja, gallivat, grab and pattamar. The ships were of the shell-built sewn-boat tradition , fitted with triangular lateen sail rigging. The keeled hull and great lateen sail

124

allowed the ships to sometimes sail as close to the wind as four points, but the large sail was also cumbersome to tack in headwinds, with the ships sailing best downwind (Moreland 1939:I,65-74.2,173-90). The boats used in the regional trade of Indonesia, Malaysia and Burma were the fast, light prahus and sampans. Their light construction made them unsuitable for bulk carrying of cargo. The cargocarrying prahus of South-east Asia, was therefore an adaptation of the shell-built In [N](1)334 - Sherd from a rounded bowl with incurved bulbous plain rim. Smooth externally, somewhat rough inside. 20. S 67/8[H 11](25)1152 - Sherd from bowl with flared sides ending in a slightly pointed rim. Smooth outside, fine wheel marks inside. 21. S 67/8 (161)1925 - Rounded bowl with high ribbed shoulder and a club rim with a shallow indentation on the top edge. Smooth outside and fairly smooth inside. 22. S 67/8 (104)1893 - [2 sherds pasted] Bowl fragment with slightly curved sides, with a flattened club rim and wide bands of ribbing under the rim. Wheel marks inside. 23. S 66(44)953 - [4 sherds pasted] Fragment of dish with straight sides and flat bottom. Coarse fabric. Smooth outside, a little rough inside. 24. S 66 (13)1085 - Slightly rounded jar neck with a club rim, grooved neck and a fairly sharp angle between the neck and shoulder. Smooth outside, a little rough inside. 25. S 66 (1)186 - Slightly rounded neck of jar, with a club rim with very shallow indentaion on the top edge, and two narrow ridges under the rim. 26. S 67/8 (151)1584 - Jar neck curving down to shoulder, with a thickened rim rounded on the outside. Two external ridges run around the neck. Smooth outside and somewhat rough inside. 27. S 67/8 [N](47)910 - [4 sherds pasted into a rimsherd, and 3 into a handle and bodysherd] Long sinuous jar neck ending in an everted cut off rim. Neck curves down to shoulder. A loop handle with a projecting point at its base curves down from the base of the neck to the shoulder. Fairly fine red fabric. Smooth outside, rough inside. 28. S 67/8 (161)1925 - Ribbed jar neck curving gradually down to shoulder, with a narrow overhanging rim with a groove towards the outer end of the upper edge. Smooth on both sides. 29. S 66[I](58)1816 - Ribbed jar neck flaring out to should er, with strongly out angled rim with a shallow indentation at the top and a deep groove inside. Smooth on both sides. 30. S 66(l)l86

- Necklessjar sherd with thickened verted rim cut off at the top.

31. S 67/8 (161)1925 - Fragment of very short necked jar with a pointed rim joining the bulbous sides of the jar at a sharp angle.

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168 Fig.4 : lb - Red earthenware: blackened 32. S 67/8 < F > (151) 1585 - Sherd of very short necked jar with everted pointed rim. 33. S 66(6)825 +828 - Fragment of curved jar neck (or of small pot) with an everted cut off rim which has a design of diagonal incisions along the top edge . 34. S 67/8[N](1)176 - Rounded neck of jar with a thickened rim rounded on the outside, with diagonal nail mark decoration along it. Smooth on both sides. 35. S 66< C>[3](17)993 - Fragment of rounded narrow jar neck (or bottle neck) with a thickened rim rounded on the outside and slightly pointed at the top edge. Smooth on both sides. 36. S 67/8 < F > (87) 1509 [16 sherds, some of which are pasted together] Fragments of a miniature jar with cut off everted rim, and a curved neck sloping down to the shoulder , sloping sides and flat bas e. Vertical loop handles stretch from base of neck to should er. Band s of incised zigzag and linear decoration around neck and shoulder . Fabric fired grey. 37. S 66< C > [l](58)1816 - Slightly curved wide jar neck with ribbing. Squar ed overhanging rim. Coarse grey fabric. 38. S 67/8(104)1893 - [2 sherds pasted] Necklessjar sherd with an everted cut off rim und erscored by shallow indentation. Rim joins globular body at sharp angle. Irregularly incised lines on body underneath double horizontal incised lines. Smooth outside, with nail marks inside. 39. S 72/3 < K> [100)(193)1062 - Fragment of neckless jar with globular sides and a sharply everted pointed rim. 40. S 66 < C> [1](58)1816 - Fragment of neck of jar ( or of small neckless jar) with rounded sides and thickened out everted rim pointed at the tip. 41. S 66 [1](58)1816 - Piece of rounded jar neck (or of small neckless jar) with rounded sides, and thickened everted rim pointed at the tip. Three lightly incised double lines decorate the shoulder. 42. S 67/8 < F> (151)1584 - Sherd of neckless jar (or pot) with narrow overhan ging rim with shallow indentation of the top edge. 43. S 66[1](55)1817 - Neckless jar (or pot) sherd with ribbed sides and an overhanging rim with shallow indentation of the top edge. 44. S 66< C > [1](43)589 - Wide neck of jar (or pot) with broad shallow external ribbin g on the round ed sides and smooth on the inside. The bulbous overhan ging rim is point ed at the end, with a ridge on its outside and a shallow indentation at the top.

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Fig.5 :lb - Red earthenware: blackened 45. S 66 [1](58)1816 - Large fragment of pot with shallow rounded base, slightly inwards angled neck with two grooves. An overhanging and somewhat pointed rim with a groove on the inner side of the top edge. Coarse fabric. 46. S 67/8 < F > (161) 1925 - Fragment of pot with an everted neck with a bulbous pointed rim and a groove on the inside of rim. The neck joins the sides of a pot probably of the shallow rounded base type, at a sharp angle. Smooth on both sides . 47. S 67/8 < F > (161) 1925 - Everted neck sherd of pot with a less bulbous pointed rim (than 46), probably joining the sides of a pot of shallow rounded base type, at a sharp angle . 48. S 66 < C > [1](43)589 - Everted neck sherd with bulbous rim, joining the sides of a less wide angled pot at an angle. 49. S 66[1](43)589 - Fragment of gently curved round sided pot with a bulbous overhanging rim rounded on the outside, and a wide shallow groove on the inside. 50. S 66 [1]186 - Thick rim of pot ending in a sharp ogee-point. Coarse fabric. 51. S 66 [1]186 - Fragment of pot. Thick rim with a downwards slant on the outside. Smooth on both sides. 52. S 67/8[N](47)910 - [1 of 11 small bodysherds] Bodysherd with decoration of vertically applied clay strip bearing horizontal nail impressions. Fairly fine fabric. Unillustrated Bodysherds : 439. S 69/70[C-E,7-9](369) outside.

- Hard charcoal grey fabric. Fine wheel marks on inside, smooth on

440. S 69/70 < B > [B6](411)1862 - As above. 441-443. S 66 (44)953 -A little rough inside, smooth on outside . 444. S 66 (44)953 - Grey fabric. Smooth on both sides and finely potted. 445-468. S 66[3](17)993 - Fairly coarse fabric, thinly potted. Sherds of one large pot, the inside of which is coated in bitumen.

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2.04 Fig.22: 6 - White-slipped coarse pink earthenware: a-with pottery temper: b - sand tempered b - sand tempered 181. S 67/8 (136)2508 - Straight sided jar neck with a plain rim slightly rounded on the outside and two wide grooves across the neck. Curves gently down to the shoulder. Fine sand grains in fabric. Fairly smooth but eroded, and coated in lime in patches . 182. S 67 /8 < F > (136)2508 - Slightly curved jar neck with a plain rim and gently ridged sides. The neck joins the shoulder at an angle. Fine sand temper. Smooth inside. 183. S 72/3 [A](67)1167 - [3 sherds] Fragments of neckless jar with sharply everted rim and globular sides, with double grooves on the shoulder.Fairly large sand grains used as temper. Both the body and the thin white slip have been fired a dirty buff colour and the slip has crackled all over. Fairly thinly potted. 184. S 67/8 25 08 - Fragment of very short necked jar with a cut off rim slightly rounded on the outside and rounded sides. Crudely potted with grooves only partially defined. Fabric fired red. Lime encrustation on both surfaces. 185. S 67/8(152)2499 - [2 sherds pasted] sherd of pot (or jar) with gently curved sides, with a squared rim indented above and on the outside. Fine sand temper. Thinly slipped and smooth. 186. S 66 < C > [3](17)993 - Sherd of pot, with gently curved sides ending in a thickened rim indented at the top and rounded on the outside. Two shallow grooves with triple ridging under the rim, and remnants of double line curvilinear decoration below. Fabric fired red, with sand temper. 187. S 66 < C > [3](17)993 - Bodysherd with a wide groove across the top and shallow wide diagonal lines incised below. Sand tempered. a - pottery tempered 188. S 66 (13)1085 - Rounded pot (or bowl) sherd with an angled cut off rim and a ridge and groove under the rim. Pottery temper. Smooth surfaces. 189. S 67/8 < B > (134)2767 - [2 sherds pasted] Sherd of pot (or large bowl) with rounded sides, and a squared rim with a neatly potted ridge and groove und erneat h. 190. S 66 < C > [2](5)555 - Fragment of pot (or large bowl) with a long pointed everted rim with a wide groove underneath, and a narrow groove in the middle of the body. Fairly smooth. Pottery temper. Smooth, with lime depo sits inside and on rim. Unillustrated Bodysherds: a - with pottery temper 495. S 67/8

- Pink fabric with red pott ery temper. White slip visible.

496-497. S 66 < C > [3](17)993 - From a thick large vessel with slightly uneven surfaces. Fabric discolour ed to a dirty buff colour with no white slip actually visible. Red pottery temper. 498-500. S 66 (44)953 - Fabric fired buff with no white slip visible. Small bits of black, sometimes red, pottery temper. Dens er fabric than above.

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Fig.25 :7a - Pale green earthenware: with vegetable temper 74. S 66[2](10)1665 - Fragment of cup with rounded sides, with everted rim constricted at the base into a wide groove. May be slight traces of whitish or yellowish glaze, or salt encrustation on both sides. Finely potted. 75. S 72/3 [A](29)1184 - Fragment of almost straight sided jar neck with a projecting squared rim, and a wide groove lower down on the side. Finely potted. 76. S 66< C> [2](33)1090 - [2 sherds pasted] Sherd of thick round sided bowl with a club rim rounded on the outside. Smooth on both sides with lime encrustation on both surfaces. 77. S 66[1](43)589 - Bowl (or pot) sherd with slightly curved sides and plain rim. Smooth on both sides with encrustation, probably of lime, on the inside. Incised hatched decoration on outer rim. Thickly potted. 78. S 67/8 < F > (152)2499 - Slightly incurved ribbed jar neck with overhanging rim. Smooth surfaces. 79. S 67/8 (104)1893 - As above, but with shallow ribbing . 80. S 67/8 (151)1584 - Slightly incurved wide jar neck with overhanging rim. Deep ribbing with each rib centering in a well demarcated ridge. Top of handle attached to rim. Smooth surfaces. 81. S 66 < C> [2](10)1665 - Fragment of jar with slightly everted ribbed neck and a slightly thickened pointed rim . Smooth on the outside, a little uneven inside. 82. S 67/8 (104)1885 - Fragment of neckless jar with thickened rim cut off at the top, under scored by a deep groove, and a slight ridge below. Smooth surfaces. Charred remnants of vegetable temper remain in the fabric. 83. S 67/8 < F> (104)1885 - Sherd of neckless jar with an everted plain rim and a vestige of handle attached just below the rin1. Wh el marks visible on both sides. 84. S 67/89104)1893 - Neckless jar fragment with everted plain rim and vestige of loop handle curving out from the top of the rim. Smooth surfaced. 85. S 67/8 < F> (136)2508 - Neckless jar sherd with slightly everted, slightly pointed rim. Fragment of loop handle attached to rim. Smooth on both sides. 86. S 67/8 < F> (104)1893 - Straight jar neck with incurved thickened rim and a deep groove at the bas of the rim. Fairly smooth on the outside, a little uneven inside. 87. S 66[1](43)589 - Curved jar neck with a rim almost triangular in section and a groove running across the shoulder. Smooth surfaces. 88. S 72/3[A](67)1167 - Fragment of neckless jar with everted rim cut off at the top. Smooth on both sides. 89. S 66 [1](20)763 - Straight jar neck with a thick squared rim with two lightly incised lines running along the middle of the rim top. Smooth surfaces with traces of lime encrustation on the body, now turned a brownish hue. Thickly potted. 90. S 66< C> ll ex](15)697 - Miniature jar with globular sides sloping to a narrow base, a ridge low down on the body, and a slightly out angled plain rim with a groove running beneath. Smooth on both sides.

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Fig.26: 7a - Pale green earthenware; with vegetable temper 91. S 66 < D > [DA]. .. - Large sherd of neckless jar with sharply evetred rim with a groove running across the middle of the rim tip. Squat rounded sides and a flat base. A band of wave pattern circumscribed by bordering lines is inscribed across the shoulder. The fabric is burnt slightly pink. Smooth on the outside, the pot is uneven on the inside, with large wheel marks. 92. S 66[2](33)1090 - Sherd of slightly splayed flat jar base. Smooth surfaced. 93. S 66 (44)953 - Flat base of large storage jar with sloping sides. Relatively smooth on both surfaces. 94. S 66(44)953 - [Rimsherd and 2 bodysherds] In curved thickened plain rim of perhaps the same jar. Relatively smooth on the outside, there is a coat of bitumen from the top of the rim to partway down the inside. 95. S 66 (53)976 - Fragment of rounded pot with a slight angle high up on the shoulder, and a downwards pointing overhanging rim with a cut off edge. Smooth on both sides. 96. S 66 < B > [1](43)760 - Very tall, slightly splayed hollow ringbase of small jar. Smooth surfaced and encrusted with lime. 97. S 66 (27)1754 - Bodysherd of jar with a long everted neck and sloping sides, with a ridge running across the junction of neck and body. The body is divided into diagonal panels bearing a simple entwined scroll motif with a central line of nail impressions, alternated with a fish scale motif composed of short diagonal lines and nail impressions. Smooth on both surfaces.

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-As above with a slightly downward s angled rim .

119. S 66 (13)1085 - As above but with a very pointed rim. 120. S 67/8(104)1893 - Slightly flared ribbed jar neck with a rim round don the outside. Ribbing somewhat unevenly executed. 121. S 67/8 < F> (104)1893 - Virtually straight ribbed jar neck with a very pointed rim. Fine ly potted. 122. S 67/8 (87)1519 - [6 bodysherds and a handlesherd; 2 sherds pasted] Fragments of a miniature jar, with wide slightly rounded neck making a fairly sharp angle with the shoulder. Two sharp ridges on neck. Globular sides decorated with overlapping bands of sharply point ed zigzag. Anim al headed handl e. Patches of turquoise glaze remain; the rest has flaked off. 123. S 67/8 < E > [S](40)497 - Gently curved jar neck with down angled overhanging rim, and a gently rounded ridge running under the rim. Fabric fired to a biscuit colour. smooth, barring wheel mark on interior. 124. S 66 (31)1619 - Gently curved jar neck with slightly thicken ed plain rim, and a ridge under the rim. Yellowish fabric with some sand, but quite fine in textur e. 125. S 66[2](21)1077 the top edge.

- Neckl ess jar sherd with strongly evert ed rim with a shallow indentation on

126. S 72/2 [A](67)1167 - Fragment of miniatur e neckless jar (or pot) with thin globular sides and strongly out curved point ed rim. Fabric fired a biscuit colour. Traces of either white slip or a thin layer of glaze inside the rim. Smooth outside, rough inside. 127. S 70/1 [F 15](512) 1016- Bodysherd of round ed jar . Moulded or stamped decoration in doubl e line on the outer surface, of two horizontal bands of four petalled flowers with diamond motifs inbetween, within a bord er of diamond pattern. A plain band with a central ridge sepera tes th e two bord ers. Fine yellowish fabric with no signs of sand tern per.

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128. S 66 (6)825 + 826 - Bodysherd of rounded jar with a sharp angle in the middle of the body. Fabric fired a biscuit colour. 129. S 72/3 [A](67)1167 - Sherd of unidentified vessel with a band of incised decoration, of repetitive triangles with a smaller triangle gouged out from each centre. Fabric fired a biscuit colour in places. 130. S 66 (39)1781 - Handle sherd with a finial at the top. Yellowish fabric with no signs of much sand tern per.

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(43) - Fragment of deep rounded bowl with a ledge rim with a pointed tip, and ribbed sides. Smooth on the inside. Pinkish fabric with fine sand intrusions. Cream slipped on both sides. Painted decoration in purple and olive green pigment on the inside, of alternate plain bands, and bands with opposed floriate scroll, or floral scroll. The ribbed bands on the exterior may have been outlined in purple. 192. S 67/8 [S](4)278- Jar sherd. Coarse buff earthenware with fine sand intrusions. Cream slipped on both sides and painted on the outside in a mid brown slip, in an overall geometric pattern of bands, panels, and triagular panels of cross-hatching, whorls, zigzag, and a combined four triangle motif with a central dot in each triangle. surface of pot uneven inside and smooth on outside. 193. S 67/8 < E > [S](4)278 - [2 sherds pasted] Handle-cum-bodysherd from jar or ewer. The loop handl e obviously curves upwards from the shoulder. Undecorated at this point but clearly of the same type, perhaps of same vessel, as 192. 194. S 67/8 < E > [S](14)278 - Bodysherd of large vessel. Coarse buff earthenware with fine sand intrusions. Cream slipped, and painted in deep maroon in an overall geometric pattern of panels and band s of zigzag, cross-hatching, diamonds and whorls. Outer surface smooth, inner surface uneven. Finely potted . Unillustrated Bodysherds : 505. Unnumbered. [5 sherds pasted] from same vessel as 192 and perhaps 193. 506. Unnumbered. [4 sherds pasted] As above. 507-509. Unnumbered. [3 sherds] As above.

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Fig.45 : 12 - Blue glazed ware (Sasanian-Islamic) 195. S 67 /8 (161)1925 - Fragment of rounded bowl with lobed sides. Very s1ightly everted rim. Glazed on both sides. Finely potted. 196. S 66 (46)915 + 916 - Fragment of slightly curved flared bowl with an angled cut off rim. Glazed on both sides. 197. S [2](9)1524 - Fragment offlared bowl with a pointed everted rim. Glaze somewhat blackened. Finely potted. 198. S 66 (14)105 - [2 sherds pasted] Wide short, fairly thick and low slung ring base of bowl ( curved central groove). Blue glazed on both sides barring flat of base. Bleached on outside and crackled. 199. S 66 (13)1639 - Wide short thick ring base of a thick sided bowl ( curved centra l groove). Wide grooves inside base of bowl. Blue glazed on both sides barring flat of base. Bleached on outside and crackled. 200. S 66 (14)105 - Wide short low slong ring base of bowl. Angled central groove. Blue glazed including flat of foot. Glaze bleached on outside. 201. S < B > [2](9)1524 - Fragment of cup with rounded sides . Out curved pointed rim. Finely potted. Bleached glaze. 202. S 67 /8 (136)2508 - Large fragment of shallow rounded dish with a plain in turned rim and a flat disc base. The harder body fabric has led to smoot her glazing. Bleached glaze. 203. S 67 /8(161)1925 - Fragment of shallow rounded dish with a slightly folded out rim and a groove underneath. Finer body paste. Fairly bleached glaze. 204. S 67/8 (98)1585 - Large fragment of shallow dish with flared sides and a ledge rim. Body harder and smoo ther than in most examples of this ware. Smooth thin glaze coat, bleached and crackled. 205. S 67/8 < E> [S](47)519 - Deep almo st straight sided dish shcrd with a rim gently angled on the outside and an indenta tion on the inside. A triple band of chip carved decoration on the rim and below it. Fabric fired to a more biscuit coloured and harder texture. Glazed on inside and upto the top of the band of triangular chip carving on the outside. 206. S 67/8(87)1509 - [5 sherds pasted] Straight necked jar shcrd and a club rim with a groove running beneath. Rounded sides. Three small handles applied horizontally at the well defined junction of neck and shou lder. These arc either deliberately or carelessly not functional, since they do not stand out from the body. Fairly corroded glaze. 207. S 67 /8 < F > (161)1925 - [3 sherds pasted] Basically as above, but larger. 208. S 67/8(l61)1925 sides.

- Nccklcss jar sherd with slightly evcrtcd plain nm. Bleached glaze on both

209. S 66 (45)970 - [2 sherds pasted J Small base and sloping sides of jar. Evcrtcd ring base with bevelled edge. Curved central groove. Three spur marks on the ring base show that the jar was fired upright. Potting marks on inside show that the jar was built up from a spiral base. The glaze is very bleached on the inside and less so on the outside .

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Figs.46 and 47 : 12 - Blue glazed ware (Sasanian-Islamic) 210. S 67/8 < F> (57)1547 - Fragment of jar with a wide straight ribbed neck and a bulbous rim. The neck forms a fairly sharp angle with the shoulder. Bleached thin glaze on both sides. 211. S 66(53)976 - Jar sherd with a wide straight with a slightly everted plain rim and two horizontal grooves on the neck. Reasonably well preserved thin glaze. 212. S 67/8[S](4 Rm.7)388 - Neckless jar, neck of jar or another open ended vessel such as a steamer. Flattened club rim rounded on both sides. Wide ribbing on the inside. Fabric fired a biscuit colour, hard, and with fine sand grains and white marble like chips in it. The grey hue which remains on the outer surface may be the interface of the flaked blue glaze. 213. S 67/8[S](4Rm.7)388-As nm.

above but without interior ribbing. Very slight external ridge under

214. S 66 < C > [1](55) 1817 - Sherd of neckless jar with flattened club rim with a raised inner edge and groove (to fit into a lid), and two grooves across the side of the rim, the deep indentation of the lower groove perhaps fashioned to hold a rope passing round the mouth of the jar. Flared sides. Glazed on both sides. 215. S 66 (12)843 - Neckless jar sherd .with flattened rim rounded on the outside, and two narrow grooves on the shoulder. The glaze on both sides is of the same shede and well preserved. 216. S 66(39)1781 - Neckless jar (or neck of jar) with a bulbous everted rim and gently ribbed shoulder. Smooth inside. Thin bleached shoulder. Thin bleached glaze. 217. S 66[2](21) 1077 - Necklessjar (or neck of jar) with bulbous everted rim. Thin bleached glaze on both sides, with a thick adherence of glaze under the rim curvature. 218. S 66[4](3)710 - Neckless jar (or pot) fragment with a pointed, bulbous everted rim, with an internal angle. Glazed. 219. S 66(12)843 - Fragment of necklessjar (or pot) with a squared off rim, with an internal angle. Fairly well preserved glaze. 220. S 67/8 [N](1)176 - Pot fragment with very slightly curved sides and a squared rim with grooves underneath . Bleached glaze. 221. S 67/8 [S](35)478 - Fragment of pot with very slightly curved sides and a pointed rim rounded on the outside. A groove and a lightly incised wave pattern band below the rim. Thin bleached glaze. 222. S 66 (44)953 - Neckless jar ( or pot) with a squared rim and a groove beneath. Glazed. 223. S 66< C> [1](25)573 - Small neckless jar with club rim.The spur mark on the top of the rim may indicate upsise down firing or another vessel standing on the mouth of the jar in the kiln. Glazed. 224. S 66 (14)105 - Small rim fragment of a neckless jar (or pot) with a plain rim. 225. S 67/8 < F> (136)2508 - Top of narrow necked jar (or bottle) with a small flattened club rim, rounded on the outside, with two grooves on the neck. Glazed. 226. S 66[4](3)710 - Top of narrow necked jar (or bottle) with a small flattened club rim, rounded on the outside, a slight ridge below the rim and a constriction at the base of the neck. Glazed. 227. S 66f41(3)710 - Ton of narrow necked iar (or bottle) with a thickened rim rounded on the outside and a slight constriction at the base of the neck. Glazed.

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228. S 67/8 (87)1509 - [2 sherds pasted] Top of narrow necked jar (or bottle) with an evcrtcd plain rim, and ribbed sides straightening out lower down the neck. Bleached glaze. 229. S 66 (39)1781 - Sherd of oil lamp with flared sides curving in at the shoulder to the rim. Shallow disc base. The sides curve gently down to the base in the interior. Glazed perhaps even on bas e. 230. S 67 /8 < F> (93)1585 - [2 sherds pasted] Lamp with high angled shoulder ending in an inwards angled rim. Surfaces undulate to the base on the inside. Bleached glaze on all surfac es, including flat disc bas e. 231. S 67/8 (136)2904 - As above. Eroded blackened glaze on surfaces barring flat of base is either bleached blue glaze or white glaze. 232. S 67/8 (98)1585 -As above. 233. S 67/8 (161)1961 - As above. Base encru sted with salt. 234. Unnumbered - [7 sherds, 6 of which have been past ed] As above, but definitely of blue glazed type. 235. Unnumbered - Handlesherd. 236. S 67/8 [S](58)744 - [2 sherds past ed] Absolute flatnes s of sherd and wheel mark direction seems to indicat e that these form part of the base of a vessel. A mending hole is punctur ed in each sherd. Tiny patch of glaze on one side reveals a v ry cracked clay body. 237. S 66 U?S( 4)239 - Bodysherd. Mended sherd with 3 nail ho1es with fragments of nail and corrosion fabric visible. Interior glaze very thin and bleached. 238. S 66(14)105 - Bodysherd. Incised line visible on sherd. Glaze bleached on both sides with two patches of glaze with much of original surface shine still left on the back. Th e glaze is also slightly iridiscent and rather streaky in effect. 239. S 66[3](17)993 - Bodysherd. Glaze mor e bl ached on inside. Punctate decoration placed in a roughly triangular patt ern across the sherd and mor e dots beneath . 240. S 66 (14)105 - Bodysherd. Glaze on interior totally worn away. Line of punctate decoration along sherd. 241. S 66 (14)105 - Ribb ed bodysherd with diagonal lines and curved lines forming part of some design on sherd. The glaze has bubbled along the incisions giving a pin dot effect. 242. S 66(14)105 -As above, but only two vertical lines on corner of sherd. 243. S 66[7](2)142 - Bodysherd with glaze fairly well pr eserved inside, and crawled glazed on the inside forming vertical bands.

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Fig.48: 12 - Blue glazed ware (Sasanian-Islamic) 244. S 66[1]32 - Bodysherd showing flaking off of ill fitting blue glaze and the wheel marks on the inner surface. 245. S 66 [1](32) - Bodysherd showing cracking of glaze prior to flaking. 246. S 66(14)105 - Bodysherd with wide curved indentation. 247. S 66(44)953 - Bodysherd. Ribbed decoration on the outside. The inner surface is plain and its glaze more bleached. Thin glaze. 248. S 66 (13)1639 - Bodysherd . Decoration of ribbing with a band of interspersed wave pattern. 249. S 67/8 [N](1)176 - Bodysherd from just above base of bowl. Unglazed exterior. Interior thinly glazed over a grid pattern of incised lines. 250. S 6630 - Bodysherd . Barbotine decoration of waves, lines and dots. Dark blue green glaze. 251. S 66 (39)1781- Bodysherd with barbotine decoration of waves, lines and dots. 252. S 66[1](25)577 - Barbotine decoration of rosettes composed of dots within a framework of considerably raised bands of clay also edged with dots. 253. S 66 (27)1754 - Bodysherd with barbotine decoration of scallop edged band with thumb impression oval motifs. 254. S 66(44)953 - Sherd with barbotine decoration of rosettes, each composed of a triple circle of dots. 255. S 66[1](25)577 - Sherd with curvilinear barbotine decoration on a ribbed surface. Unillustrated Bodysherds: Plain sherds : 510-518. S 66(14)105 - Plain sherds with partially bleached glaze on the outside and bleached glaze on the inside. 519. S 66[l](32) - As above. 520. S 66 < B > [1](32) - Glaze equally bleached on both sides. 521. S 67/8 [S](35)478 -As above. 522. S 66(14)105 -As above. 523-524. S 66 (14)105 - As above. Fine bubbling on glaze very obvious. 525. S 66 [1]186 - No traces of glaze left on outer surface. 526. S 66 (15)1648 - Glaze on inside very bleached. That on outside well preserved and more greeny blue than usual. Glaze slightly crackled. 527. S 66(44)953 - Dark greenyblue glaze with fine crackles on the outside. Milkier shade on inside. Iridisced glaze.

257

249

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Fig.48 Blu e- Gl aze d W are (Sasa n;an-Islamic)

258 528. S 66 < B > [1]32 - Quite well preserved glaze on both sides. Fairly crackled. 529. S 66 (27)1757 - Fairly well preserved dark blu glaze, slightly more bleached inside. Iridisced. Slight thumb marks left on interior surface. 530. S < B > [2](9)1524 - Either a plain sherd or one with very eroded decoration. Ribbed sherds 531-536. S 66(14)105 - Ribbed on the outside. Glaze more bleached inside, with crawled glaze. 537. S 66 [1](20)763 - As above. 538. S 66 (27)1753 -As above, but a green glaze. 539. S 66[1]32-As

above.

540. S 66 (14)105 - As above, but the thickness of the glaze has obscured the shallow ribbing. 541. S 66 [1]32 - As above and the glaze is a dark greeny blue. 542-544. S 66 (14)105 - Ribbed sherd with incised linear decoration, with the glaze bubbled along the incisions, giving a pin-dot effect. Sherds with barbotine decoration 545. S 66 (14)

- Barbotine decoration.

546. S 66(27)1753 - Barbotine decoration of irregular oval shapes with a line of dots placed down the centre of each. 547. S 66 (44)953 - Barbotine decoration of rosettes composed of dots . 548. S 66 (27)1754 - Wavy pattern barbotine decoration (as in sherd 55). 549-551. S 66 (14)105 - Barbotine decoration of scallop edged band with thumb impression oval motifs. 552. S 66 (20) 1630 - As above.

Sherds with ribbed lines and incised wavy pattern decoration 553. S 66 (14)105 - Ribbed lines and incised wavy pattern decoration. 554-555. S 66 [1](32) -As above. 556-559. S 66 (12)843 - As above. Similar thick glaze crawl on the inside seems to indicate that all four sherds are from the same pot.

259

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I3luc-Glazcd Ware (Sasanian-Islamic)

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2o2

Fig.51 : 13a - White glazed wares: plain 256. S 72/3[A](29)1184[6 she rds, 5 of which are pasted] Fragments of round cup with everted slightly pointed rim. Finely potted. Glaze although matt, adheres well to body . 257. S 67 /8 < F> (136)1508 - Fragment of rounded bowl with a pointed rim rounded on the outside. Irregularly potted. 258. S 67/8 < F > (136)2508 - Sherd of rounded bowl with an everted plain rim, and ribbing with triple horizontal ridges across the middle of the body. More glaze left on the exterior. 259. S 67/8 (30)1499 - [3 sherds pasted] Round bowl sherd with a slight out turned plain rim. Glaze well preserved on the inside, although matt and with large crackles. 260. S 66 (30) - Bowl sherd with rounded sides and well out turned pointed rim. 261. S 66 [DB](2)1604 - Sherd of bowl with flared sides and plain rim. Sheen on glaze still extant. 262. S 67/8 (161)1961- [2 sherds pastedj Sherd of bowl with flared sides and pointed rim. Worn glaze on outside. Well preserved but matt glaze on outside . 263. S 66< C> [3](17)993 - Shallow wide disc base of bowl. Glazed on all surfaces. 264. S 67/8 (136)2508 - Shallow wide disc base of bowl with remnant patches of yellowed glaze. 265. S 67/8 (136)2508 - Small fairly tall ring base of bowl or cup with a curved central groove. Completely glazed in a thin glaze with a slight bluish tinge. The glaze is in a good state of preservation, although with large crackles and fine pitting. 266. S 67/8< F> (161)1961 - Shallow wide ring base of bowl (angled shallow central groove). Completely glazed. Glaze crackled. 267. S 67/8 (136)2508 - [2 sherds] Fragments of deep almost straight Completely glazed . Wide crackles in glaze.

idcd dish, with a flat base.

268. S 67/8 (57)1547 - [2 sherds pasted] Large shcrd of shallow dish, with initially straight sides flaring out to a plain rim. Wide groove runs round side at point of change in shape. Completely glazed. 269. S 72/3 < M > [A](67)1167 ·· Necklcss jar with sharply everte [Sj( 40)497 - Jar or pot sherd with an everted club rim, with an indentation on the outside. Pink fabric. The glaze is mainly on the inside ending just over the edge of the rim on the exterior. Unillustrated Bodysherds : 560. S < B > [2](9)1524 - Glaze remains only on outside.

263

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264 Fig.52 : 13b - White glazed wares: cobalt splashed 271. S 67/8 (136)2904 - Fragment of flared bowl with an angle low down on the side and a ledge rim. Glazed on both sides and with cobalt splashed decoration on the inside. 272. S 66 (12)843 - Small fragment of bowl with a flattened club rim protruding and rounded on the outside. A slight ridge runs around the centre of the top edge. Traces of cobalt splashing on slightly blue tinged white glaze. 273. S 72/3 [A](2)1182 - Fragment of convex sided cup with a shallow wide ring base, with a curved central groove. Glazed on both sides. Two curling leaf motifs in cobalt remain on the exterior. The cobalt has not smudged. 274. S 67/8 < E > [S](9)273 - Fragment of bowl with thick rounded sides initialJy slightly angled out from the wide ring base. curved central groove. Thickly potted. Crackled glaze (perhaps even on ring base) , rather flaked and eroded to a matt chalky layer. Traces of cobalt splashing. 275. S 67/8 (161)1925 - Fragment of bowl with thick rounded sides initially slightly angled out from the wide ring base (curved central groove). Completely glazed. Cobalt splashed decoration on inside. 276. S 67/8 (87)1509 - [2 sherds pasted] Fragment of bowl with rounded sides slightly angled out from the wide ring base (angled central groove), with a ridge ruuning around the base. Exterior of ring base roughly potted. Traces of cobalt splashing on inside. 277. S 67/8(136)2904- Fragment of bowl with rounded sides slightly angled out from a wide narrow ring base (curved central groove). Finely potted. Cobalt splashing on inside. 278. S 67/8 (136)2904 - Fragment of bowl with rounded sides and a wide narrow ring base (angled central groove). Crackled glaze eroded to a matt chalky layer stops a little way from the bottom of the base. Cobalt splashed decoration on inside. 279. S 67/8 < F> (136)2508 - Bowl sherd with rounded sides and wide narrow ring base (curved central groove). The crackled glaze is eroded to a matt chalky layer and stops a little way from the bottom of the bas . One splash of eroded cobalt splashing left. 280. S 67/8 < F > (136)2904 - [2 sherds pasted] Bowl sherd with rounded sides and wide narrow ring base (curved central groove). Foot ring patchily glazed. Erod ed cobalt splashed decoration. 281. S 67/8 (161)1925 - Fragment of dish with deep gently flared sides rising from a flat base . Gla ze and body under glaze crackled on the inside. Cobalt decoration of stylised letter in cursive 'neskhi' style on the outsid e. UnilJustrated Bodysherd: 561. S 67/8 < F > (36)2508 - Glazed on both sides and with cobalt splashed decoration.

265

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266

Figs.53 and 54 : 13 - White glazed wares c - turquoise splashed 282. S 67/8 [S](9)273 - Rounded cup sherd with a shallow groove in the upper surface of the inwards angled rim. Touches of turquoise glaze splashing remains on the white glaze. 283. S 67 /8 < F > (84)1505 - Flared bowl with pointed rim. The body is crackled in places where it is exposed under flaked off areas of glaze. Broad vertical band of turquoise splash decoration on inside. 284. S 67 /8 < F> (98)1585 - Sherd of flared bowl with everted plain rim. Two parallel vertical lines of turquoise splashing on the inside, over the pale blue tinged white glaze. . 285. S 67/8 (57)1547 - [2 sherds] Fragment of flared bowl, the sides slightly bulbous towards the base and with a plain rim. White glaze flaked revealing cracked body . Eroded turquoise splash decoration. Clear demarcation of base. 286. S 67/8 (57)1547 - [2 sherds pasted] Fragment of flared bowl angled in mid body to slope down towards the base. Slightly everted plain rim. Pale blue tinged white glaze with broad vertical streaks of turquoise splashing evident on both sides. 287. S 67/8 (98)1585 - Fragment of bowl with convex sides flaring out from an angle lower down on body, below which the bowl slopes down to the base. Pointed rim. Vertical curved turquoise splash visible on interior. 292. S 67/8 (136)2904 - [9 sherds] Rounded bowl with slightly in curved plain rim and a wide shallow slightly out turned disc base. Completely glazed in an eroded blue tinged white glaze. Decorated on the inside with a design in very thick turquoise glaze, of vertical loops depending from a band running round the rim. 289. S 67/8 (98)1585 - Sherd of low round oil lamp with an angled out broad hood, probably at both ends. Blue tinged white glaze with turquoise splash decoration. 291. S 67/8 < E > [N](18)501 - Bodysherd with flaked thin white glaze and iridisce (10)1567 - Rounded bowl fragment with a pointed rim. White slipped and yellow glazed inside. Green glaze visible a little way down the outside of the rim with an olive green strip along the top edge of the rim. 330. S 67/8 < B > (10)1567 - Fragment of bowl with wide shallow disc base and slightly angled out rounded sides. White slipped, green splashed and yellow glazed. 331. S 67/8 < B > (10) 1567 - Fragment of rounded bowl with wide shallow ring base (with curved central groove). Yellowed slip on inside. Probably glazed on outside too. Coarsely potted. 332. S 67/8 (136)2904 - Rounded bowl sherd with a wide, shallow ring base (angled central groove). White slipped and yellow glazed with green glaze splashes visible on the inside, as well as curvilinear decoration in green glaze on the outside. 333. S 66 (11)98 - Fragment of large rounded bowl with wide, shallow ring base (with curved central groove) and a ridge running around the inside of the base. White slip, green and yellow glaze, visible, although very eroded and iridiscent. Finely potted vessel. 334. S 72/3 [A](19)1150 - Bodysherd with incised rather abstract floral design. Covered in white slip and yellowish glaze, with the incised section coated with a patch of green glaze. Unillustrated Bodysherds: 569-571. S 66 (11)98 - One sherd may show incised decoration under the glaze. 572. S 66 (13)1639 -As above.

f - style 2 sgraffiato. with patchy cream slip and green splashes. the whole yellow glazed: red fabric 335. S 72/3 (1042)1030 - Fragment of small rounded bowl or cup with a plain rim . Red fabric, but no evidence of glaze left. 336. S 67/8[H 11](25)1152 - Fragment of gently curved bowl with a pointed rim. No slip but green glaze around rim and touches of green inside, the whole being yellow glazed, resulting in a brown colour. 337. S 66 [4](3)710 - [2 sherds pasted] Rounded bowl fragment with a plain rim. Decorative ribbing on top section of interior and incised linear and curvilinear pattern. Patches of white slip and dark green glaze, the whole yellow glazed, on the inside, extending onto the exterior of the rim in an uneven edge. 338. S 66 (12)843 - Fragment of rounded bowl with a slight angle in the middle and a plain rim. Sketchy incised decoration on interior, with patches of white slip and green glaze, the whole being yellow glazed. 339. S 66 (12)843 - Fragment of rounded bowl with a slight angl in the middle of the sides, and an angled club rim. Curvilinear incised decoration on the inside. Patches of white slip and green glaze , the whole yellowish glazed on the inside, the glaze crawling a little way over the rim onto the outside. 340. S 66 (6)824 - [2 sherds pasted] Bodysherds with an incised design of concentric circles on the inside. Only yellow glazed. Lightly impressed design of chatter marks on the outside. Unillustrated Bodysherd: 573. S 66 (l)F.1

- Patches of white slip and green glaze on both sides, the whole yellowish glazed.

1 85

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Fig.62 Le ad- plashed Wares with and without Sgraffiato

,!86

22 - Saljuq monochrome blue glazed ware Unillustrated Bodysherds: 574. S 66 U /S (12) - Bodysherd with a thin layer of crackled, opaque mid blue glaze, applied on a hard, frit like buiscuit coloured fabric, with fine sand intrusions. 575. S 67/8 < B > (1)323 - Bodysherd with a thin layer of crackled transparent turquoise glaze, on a near white frit fabric with fine sand intrusions.

187

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1175

1174

Fig.64 Lead-Splashed Wares with and without Sgraffiato

191

1177

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11 87 fig.65 Lead-Splashed

Wares with and without Sgraffiato

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Fig.66 Lead -Splashed Wares with and without Sgraffiato

295

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Fig.67 Lea d-Splashed War es with and without Sgraffiato

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Pig.GS Yellow Glazed Earthenware;

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Green Glazed Ware with Moulded Decoration;

White-Splashed Black Glazed Ware; Geometric Designs under Colourless Glaze

199

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Fig.69 Black Painted Decoration on a Yellow Glaze; Underglaze Painted Ware; Saljuq Monochrome Blue-Glaz ed War e; Late Overgla ze-Ename l Ware

3.oo Figs.70 and 71: 25 - Coarse grey stonewares a - buff or charcoal grey stoneware; grey green glaze 341. S 72/3 < M > [A](67) 1167 - Sherd of a flared bowl with an angle high up on the shoulder and a slightly everted plain rim. Olive green, crackled and eroded glaze, perhaps applied over a white slip. The glaze stops partway down the body revealing the body fired a reddish brown. Dense charcoal grey fabric. 342. Unnumbered - Fragment of large rounded bowl. Very thin walled for its size and with ribbed sides. Club rim forming internal bevelled edge. The crackled olive green glaze is somewhat bubbled on the inside and stops partway down the exterior, with a horizontal boundary. Glaze oxidised a dark brown on the top and exte rior of the rim. Charcoal grey body with elongated small holes in th fabric. 343. S 67/8 [S](35)478 - Rounded bowl with a groove in the middle of the body and a club rim forming an internal bevelled edge. Crackled olive green glaze oxidised to a brown shade on the rim. Buff grey fabric. 344.S 66 (39)1781 - Fragment of neckless jar with rounded sides and an out curved plain rim. Lug handle fixed horizontally across on body on the shoulder. Finely crackled olive green glaze on both sides, stopping partway down the body on the inside. Top of rim oxidised brown. Stoneware fired biscuit on the inside and grey on the outer edges. Smooth on both sides. 345. S 70/1 [B 11](546)1043 - Jar sherd with a slightly everted short neck with a flattened plain rim. Dark grey green glaze eroded to a matt surface. Black band from top of rim to beginning of shoulder and a narrow incised groove on the shoulder. Two large patches of glaze have flaked off on the exterior. The inside is blackened. 346. S 72/3[A](67)1167 - Bodysherd probably from shoulder of jar. Incised fish motif on outer surfac e. Olive green glazed. Pinkish buff body showing orange in bare patches where the glaze has flaked off on the inside. Unillustrated Bodysherds: 576. S 66 U /S( 4)239 - Bubbled, flaked olive green glaze on both surfaces. 577. S 66 < C> [2](5)555 - Olive green glazed on both surfaces. Wheel marks visible on inside. 578. S 66 (13)1085 - [3 sherds pasted] Shiny green glaze on both surfaces. A lighter (mid-grey) body fabric, with wheel marks on the inner surface. 579-580. S 66 (13)1085 - Olive green glaze, with glaze only upto a certain level on the inner surface. 581. S 67/8 < E > [S](4)278 - Olive green glaze on both surfaces. 582. S 66 (41) - Crack led dark olive green glaze, highly bubbled on both sides and flaked on the interior. Charcoal grey fabric. 583. S 66 (15)1648 - Olive gre n glaze, crackled and flaked on the interior. Charcoal gr y fabric. 584. Unnumbered. - Glossy grey green glaze, crackled and applied on both sides of the grey body. 585. Unnumbered. - Bubbled and crackled pale olive green glaze ending partway down inner surface of sherd. Paler grey body.

301

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F 1.g.70 Coarse Gr ey Stonewares

b - mid grey stoneware, thick crackled grey green glaze 347. S 67/8 < E > [S](2)42 - Fragment of rounded bowl with a slightly flared, wide tall ring ba se ( curved central groove). Completely glazed in a thick layer of crackled grey green glaze. Fine mid grey stoneware fabric. c - pale grey stoneware, pale green glaze. with line and dot motif highlight ed by opacifier in slip 348. Unnumbered, perhaps from Site P. - Bodysherd. Impressed rows of dots below an incised line boundary and a large incisedc riss-cross pattern above. The lines and dots have been filled with slip. The opacifier mixed into the slip has smudged and run a little under the glaze, causing a streaky and smudged effect. Pale green glaze with fine crackles over a pale grey stoneware fabric. 349. Unnumbered, perhaps from Site P. - Bodysherd. As above, with rows of impressed dot s beneath an incised line. Unillustrated Bodysherds: 586-588. Unnumbered, perhaps from Site P. - As above. In fact all five sherds may belong to the same vessel, which is probably a jar. d - charcoal grey or grey stoneware, silvery green glaze 350. S 72/3 < P > (3)2050 - Fragment of small cup or bowl with rounded sides and a slightly everted rim pointed on the outer edge. Well preserved silvery green glaze, crackled. Somewhat coarse charcoal grey fabric. Finely potted. 351. S 72/3

(3)2050 - Wide shallow disc base with rounded sides. Well preserved crackled silvery green glaze, with a thick application over the curve of the foot obscuring its angle. Complet ely glazed with a patch of glaze removed from the base in firing. Somewhat coarse charcoal grey fabric. 352. S 67/8 < E > [S](2)42 - Fragment of jar with sloping sides and a tall thin base bevelled at th e outer edge (and angled central groove). rackled silvery green glaze on all surfaces excepting on central groove of base. The glaze has oxidised into an interesting brown leaf lik motif on the interior of the base. Somewhat coarse grey body different from the two examples above. Unillustrated Sherds : 589-595. S 72/3 < P > (3)2050 - Bodysherds of vessels 350, 351 type. Crackled silvery green glaze on somewhat coars e charcoal grey fabric. 596. S 72/3 < P > (3)2050 - Rimsherd. As above. k - Pale buff stoneware, pale green glaze 353. S 69/70 [B6](411)1862 - Fragment of small rounded bowl with a ledge rim. Crackled shiny palegreen glaze on pale buff stoneware. 354. S 69/70 < B > [B6](411)1862 - Rounded bowl sherd with a plain rim slightly rounded on the outside. Glazed inside and a little way down the exterior, ending in an uneven edge on the outside. Crackled shiny pale green glaze on the buff stoneware. 355. S 69/70 [C-E,7-9](369) - Rounded bowl sherd with a slight bulge in the middle and a thickened plain rim. Glazed as above. Similar fabric. 356. S 69/70 [C-E,7-9 ](369) - Ba se of bowl with wide rounded sides. Shallow very thick ring base

303

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Fig. 71 Coarse Grey Stonewares

304 ( curved central groove) ending in a slight ridge. Glaze and fabric as above, but the exterior 1s unglazed. 357. S 69/70 < B > [B6](411)1862 - Sherd of small neckless jar with rounded _sides with a slightly out curved plain rim . Glaz ed on both sides. Glaze and fabric as above. 358. S 69/70 < B > [B6](411) 1862 - Sherd of small neckless jar with a downwards angled rim pointed at the edge, forming an external bevel. Glazed on both sides . Glaze and fabric as above. Unillustrated Bodysherds: 597-598. S 66 41 - Pale buff body with crackled shiny pale green glaze. 599. S 67/8 < F > (98) 1585 - Fabric fired slighty greyer. Gla ze as above.

305

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Coarse Grey Stonewar es

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Fig.74 Coarse Gr ey Stonewares

1392

310

Fig.75:26 - Green ware (Yue) 359. S 67/8 (30)1499 - Sherd of slightly curved bowl with pointed rim. Finely crackled olive brown glaze on buff grey body. 360. S 67/8 < F > (30) 1499 - Sherd of flared bowl with pointed rim. Olive green glaze over charcoal grey fabric. 361. Unnumbered, perhaps from Site M - Fragment of flared bowl with pointed rim. Olive green glaze eroded to a matt surface. Grey fabric. 362. S 67/8 (30)1499 - Sherd of gently curved bowl with very slightly pointed rim. Slight groove under the rim. Finely crackled grey green glaze on buff grey body. Finely potted. 363. S 67/8 [1]1027 - Fragment of gently curved bowl with very slightly everted pointed rim. Grey green glaze over grey body. Very finely potted. 364. S 67/8 < F> (30)1499 - Fragment of gently curved bowl with a slightly cverted pointed rim and a groove running under the rim . Finely crackled olive brown glaze over buff body. 365. S 67/8 (84)1505 - [2 sherds] Fragment of slightly curved bowl with a more everted rim. Grey green glaze over a grey body. 366. S 67/8 (98)1585 - [2 sherds pasted] Round sided bowl with an everted rim. Finely crackled olive green glaze on buff grey body. 367. S 67/8 < F > (98) 1585 - Sherd of rounded bowl with an everted rim, and a vertical groove in the body (lotus peta l delineation), perhaps with a corresponding nick in the rim. Finely crackled o]ive green glaze on buff grey body. 368. S 67/8(84)1505 body.

- Rounded bowl with slightly out angled foliate rim. Grey green glaze on grey

369. S 67/8< F> (161)1925 - Round ed bowl sherd with slight ly out angled foliate rim. Grey green glaze on grey body. 370. S 67/8 < F> (161)1925 - [2 sherds pasted] Fragment of rounded bowl with a slight ly everted pointed foliate rim. Corresponding ribs on the exterior. The flat bas e is slightly convex on the inside. Six large spur marks along edge of base and marks of red oxidation. Grey green glaze. 371. S 70/1 < C> (713)2641 - [3 sherds pasted] Fragment of rounded bowl with slightly everted point ed, and deeply foliate rim, with corresponding ribs on the exterior. Base slightly concave at the bottom , with trac es of possible spur marks. 372. S 67/8 < F> (98) 1585 - Fragment of bowl with rounded sides and a flat base. Spur marks on base. Finely pitted olive green glaze. Thickly potted.

311

)

I

/

/

363

)

I

I

/

I

I

364

,'" ''

·"'\">

361

(

'\

'\ I

,~,

365

362

I

I

I

7 366

~-- ✓ ,,,,.---

-

...

3 71

I

I

368

I '-.

I

~

I

/ /

/

"\

,_,

- - -- __________ ____-----.._..--

11

'37 2

369 Fig.75 Fme Grcy Stoneware (Yue)

-- - ,_,,- -

312 Fig.76: 26 - Green ware (Yue) 373. S 72/3 [A](67)1167 - Shallow wide thick ring base of a bowl with rounded sides, an external ridge running around the base, and a deep groove at the junction of base to body (with a point in the centre of the angled central groove). Completely glazed, with the base oxidised red. Crackled grey green glaze. 374. S 67/8 < F > (161)1925 - Base of rounded bowl. Wide shallow ring base ( angled central groove). Glazed all over in grey green with red oxidation and long spur marks on base of foot ring, and raised spur marks (from stacking) inside the base. Fabric fired buff in centre and dark grey along the edges. 375. S 67/8 (161)1925 - As above, but the spur marks are only whitish patches and the base is very wide. Grey green glaze, and vertical ribs on sides. 376. S 67/8 < B > (10)1567 - As above in shape, but the base is of average width. Lightly incised petal decoration on inside of base beneath the crackled olive brown glaze. 377. S 67 /8 (1)1027 - Base of rounded bowl, with a wide tall thin ring base (angled central groove), and an external groove at the junction of base to body. Grey green glaze on grey fabric. 378. S 67/8 < F > (98) 1585 - [3 sherds pasted] Base of round bowl with a wide tall thin ring base ( angled central groove). Vertical ribbing on sides. Glazed in finely crackled olive green, barring the base of the foot ring. Fabric fired buff in the centre and grey at the edges. 379. S 67/8 (10)1567 - Base of rounded bowl with a wide tall very thin ring base (with angled central groove), and vertical ribbing on sides. Finely crackled olive green glaze. Fabric as above. 380. S 67/8(161)1925 - Base of rounded bowl with a wide tall very thin ring base. The ring base is somewhat everted, and with a rounded edge. A groove runs round the base on the inside. Long spur marks along base of footring. Crackled olive green glaze finely pitted under the base and along the bottom of the sides inside. 381. S 72/3 < K> [100](193)1062 - Handlesherd of jug or ewer. Thin flat handle with four parallel grooves running lengthwise on the exterior. Olive green glaze on grey body. Unillustrated Bodysherds : 600. S 67/8 (161)1925 - Grey green glaze on dark grey body. 601. S 67/8 (1)1027 - Curved line on interior, probably demarcating the beginning of the base. Crackled grey green glaze. Buff grey body. 602. S 67/8 (30)1499 - As above. Grey green glaze . 603. S 67 /8 < B > [H 11](25) 1152 - Olive green glaze on buff grey body. 604. S 66[DB](2)

- Grey green glaze on grey body .

605. S 67 /8 (161)1925 - Vertical rib on exterior. Grey green glaze. 606. S 67 /8 [S](9)273 - Vertical rib on exterior. Wheel marks on inside. Olive green crackled glaze on buff grey body.

313

\

\

/

I

375

373

3 76

-~ ~/

374

!__

_

3 77

/

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38 0

378

-~

111 I: I, II

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38 1 Fig.76 Fine Grey Stoneware (Yue)

-

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I /

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315

~

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\

1437

'([17

~ 1455

1450

1 422

14 27

~

1436

1433

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1399

1398

1397

~

1456

1 438

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1457

1462 14 58

(~

14 59

1

14 6()

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1470

c~

1473

~ }470

1471

'--

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147 8 1476

\ 1480

Fig.77 Fine Grey Stoneware (Yue)

] 4 P, ]

317

0

~

~

1482

0

D

L

. 1483

~

14 83a

0

--!?_

~ 1488

~

~ ~ 1

1502

1493

1503

1504

1498

15 0 5

u

~

~ 14 96

1507

a

0

~

0

~ l 5 19

1 522

1523

1 526

153 1

Fig.78 Fine Grey Stoneware (Yue)

k=3 1S24

1532

319

153E

1535 1533 15 3 8

1541

lS39

1543

1540

1.544

1s45

1552

1554

1555

_)

1556

I/ 15oUl>

Fig .79 Fmc . G rev- ,Stoncwarc

(Y uc)

1 5 () l

-

320

Fig.80 :III - Painted Stonewares ( Changsha) a - Changsha painted stoneware 382. S 69/70[C-E,7-9](364) - [2 sherds] Round sided bowl sherd with slightly everted plain rim. Brown and green leaf tip motifs on the inside of rim. White slipped on inside and partway down the outside with the yellowish transparent glaze ending a little below the slip boundary, also in a horizontal band. Fairly fine pinky buff fabric. 383. S 69/70[C-E,7-9](369) - Round sided bowl sherd with slightly everted plain rim. Alt ernat e brown and green leaf tip motifs along inner rim. White slipped and yellow glazed. Fairly fine pale buff fabric. 384. S 69/70 < B > [C-E,7-9](369) - Round sided bowl sherd with very slight everted plain rim. Green leaf tip motifs on inside of rim and a leaf motif low on the interior. Green pigment has smudged at the edges to yellow, and to white with a black patch at the centre.White slipped and pale grey green glazed, the glaze stopping low on the exterior of the sides in an uneven line. Fairly fine pale buff fabric. 385. S 67/8(10)1567 - Fragment of round sided bowl with a sharply angled pointed rim. Green leaf motifs with smudgy blue sections on interior. White slipped and glazed in pale grey green. Fairly fine pale buff fabric. 386. S 69/70 < B > (412)6914 - Wide, shallow, thick ring base of round sided bowl ( angled central groove), with green and brown floral design. The green pigment is blue tinged, both green and brown being slightly smudged around the edges. The design has sunk down into the glaze giving an etched effect. White slipped and yellow glazed on the inside of the base sherd only. Pale buff fabric, denser than in other examples. 387. S 69/70 < D > (138) + (139) 1382 - Wide tall thick ring base (with angled central groove) of round sided bowl. Sketchy green and brown floral motifs on the inside, with the brown pigment smudged. The interior of the base is white slipped but the slip does noi: extend to the base on the outside. Pale grey green glazed, with the glaze wiped off the base of the foot ring. Slightly coarse grey fabric. 388. S 72/3[A](2)1182 - Sherd of miniature neckless jar or pot with sharply everted pointed rim . White slipped and yellow glazed on both sides. No decoration visible. Pale buff fabric. Finely potted. 389. S 72/3

(3)2050 - Bodysherd. Circles of smudged brown and green. White slipped on interior and yellowish glazed on both sides. Glaze finely crackled. Slightly coarse pinkish fabric. b - Changsha type, perhaps later than above 390. S 66(41) - Sherd of round sided bowl with a very slightly out angled plain rim. Whit e slipped on inside and a little way past the exterior of the rim. Slightly crackled grey green glaze on both sides, with a large patch of brown glaze splashed from the rim downwards on the outside. Slightly coarse pale grey fabric. 391. S 66 (41) -As above, but the brown splash starts from a little way in&idcthe rim. 392. S 66 (41) - As above, but the brown splash starts in a band on the inside, and extends low down on back of bowl. Leaf motifs in brown glaze on interior. 393. S 66 (41) - As above. Patch of brown pigment from rim downwards on the outside. Brown leaf motif on inside.

321

~

}

390

382

I

V

J

391

383

38 4

\\

'

\\. A~

/

I

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385

386

39 6 38 7

I

\

,,, ,' I

\\

38 8 39 7

Fig.80 Painted Stoneware

322

394. S 66 (41) - As above in shape. White slipped, the slip ending a little way from the rim on the outside. Crackled yellow glaze, with a slanting narrow band of brown glaze on the inside continuing well down on the back. Pale buff fabric. 395. S 72/3[A](67)1167 - Fragment of round sided bowl with a slightly incurved plain rim. White slipped. The glaze looks shaded, starting in an olive green at the rim and yellower at the bottom of the sherd. It stops partway down the back in an uneven edge. A band of green, with the edges a smudged blue, runs around a little way from the top, on either side of the rim, and a rectangular leaf? motif of the same pigment, with some brown at the outwer edges is found on the interior. Pinky buff fabric.

c - Changsha type, later 396. Unnumbered. [2 sherds] Round sided bowl sherd with a very slightly everted plain rim. White slipped and covered in a crackled yellowish glaze. A band of teak brown glaze starts from the top of the rim and extends a little way below the rim, ending in an uneven smudged edge. Near white fabric. 397. Unnumbered, (may be from Site P) Slightly curved flared bowl sherd with an out angled plain rim with large scallops. White slipped and covered in a crackled yellowish glaze. Near white fabric.

323

1566

1570

1574

~ 1579

1577

1580

1597

1593

1591

~

1598

1606

1602

1 599

160 5

1609

1610

1611

1 t.J:~ U

1622 1613

J 61 4

Fig.81 Painted Stoneware

325

16 23

1625

1630

1629 1632

~l

1631

16J S

~~~~ ) \ fj=-

L..... U

1 639

1634 1637

1 638

1649

1646

1653 16 52 1650 Fig.82 Painted Stoneware; Relief Stoneware

327

1656

1655

1654

1657

1664 1662

1'668

1667

1669

1G72

1670

1674

1673

1G7G 16 7 5

Fig.83 Green and White Splashed Ware

1 G77

328

Fig.84 : IV - Cream stoneware with opaque or colourless glaze. and V - White stoneware with slightly blue tinged colourless glaze (qingbaj} 398. S 69/70 [C-E,7-9](369) Fragment of bowl with flared sides and slightly pointed rim. Crackled opaque or colourless glaze on both sides of the dense cream stoneware. 399. S 66(34)1685 - Round sided bowl fragment with out angled plain rim and a wide shallow ring base (low slung angled groove). Glazed barring base of foot ring. Slightly grey tinge of body fabric has given a grey tinge to the glaze. 400. S 69/70(179)1392 - [3 sherds pasted] Fragment of round sided bowl with slightly out curved plain rim. Vertical rib on interior. Body and glaze as above. 401. S 66 (6)824 - Fragment of round sided bowl with a wide base rounded at the edges (with angled central groove). Opaque flaked glaze on all surfaces barring base of footring. 406. S 66(41) - Base of round sided bowl, wide and with a curved central groove . Crackled glaze on all surfaces barring base of foot ring. 407. S 66 U/S(12) - Wide shallow base (with curved central groove) of round sided bowl. Glaze somewhat flaky with crackled lines around the perimeter of base . Unillustrated Bodysherd: 607. S 66(6)824-

Cream fabric and crackled glaze.

329

399

_/

I I

401

~---\

/ ,-_

_____

,,

407

Fig.84 Cream Stonew are

/

331

1680

1678

168 9

17 0 6

1711

1 686

1695

16 8 7

17 02

16 9 7

170 7

17 09

1 715

171 3

1 71 9 1 71 8

17 26

Fig.85 Cream Stoneware

1710

1 71 7

1725

332 Fig.86 : Fine white wares with slightly blue tinged colourless glaze (qingbai) 408. S 66 (6)824 - Fragment of cup or bowl with rounded sides and sharply everted pointed rim. Fine white fabric covered in qingbai glaze on both sides. Finely potted. 409. S 72/3 [A](67)1167 - [3 sherds] Bowl sherd with rounded sides and sharply everted pointed rim. Glaze and fabric as above. Very finely potted. 410. S 72/3 [A](67)1167 - Bowl with rounded sides and a slightly incurved plain rim. Glaze and fabric as above. 402. S 66 (6)824 - Fragment of small round bowl with a wide rounded ring base (with angled central groove), and a narrow groove at the junction of base to body. Wide groove runs around the base on the inside. Completely glazed barring the bottom of foot ring. Glaze and fabric as above. 403. S 66 (6)824 - Wide shallow ring base (with angled central groove) of round sided bowl. Glazed barring flat of foot ring, although the central groove is patchily glazed. Fabric and glaze as above. 404. S 72/3 [A](67)1167 - Fragment of round bowl with wide shallow ring base with a bevelled edge ( angled central groove), and a deep groove along the junction of base to body. Body and glaze as above with the footring patchily glazed on both sides. 405. S 67/8 < F> (161)1961 - Fragment of sided bowl with tall wide thin ring base. Glazed barring inside of ring base. Finely potted. 411. S 72/3 [A](2)1182 - Round bowl with shallow, small, thin ring base. A groove runs above the base on the interior. Scalloped rim. Glazed upto inside riser of foot ring, which is slightly glazed. 412. S 66(6)824 - [2 sherds pasted] Fragment of round bowl with plain rim slightly rounded on the outside. Foliate rim and lobed sides. Glaze and fabric as above. 413. S 69/70(125)1422 - Fragment of round bowl with a plain rim with a foliate edge and gentler vertical ribbing. Glaze and fabric as above. 414. S 67/8 < F> (98)1585 - Fragment of round bowl with a slightly everted pointed rim. Nicked rim with short vertical ribbing visible on the inside. Fabric and glaze as above. Unillustrated Bodysherds: 608. S 67/8 (16)1925 - Fabric and glaze as above. 609. S 67/8 < B > (10)1567 - Fabric and glaze as above.

333

408 '

/

7

J

409

( \ '

\

l

\ . '.

'·.' \

\

\ \

410

/

I

I I

I

I

/

I

I

40 2

I

403

7

I

I

/

/

I

I

I

I

I

404 --·-

····--

414 40 5

/

Fig.86 Fine White Wares

335

1 734

1728

1740

1750

~ 1754

1768

1773

17 49

1783

1775

1784

1790

Fig.87 Fine White Wares

1763

337

1791 1793

1794 1 796

1798

1799

..

'

1801 1803

18 02

:.J

1808

1804

18 15 1 8 14

181 7

Fig.88 Fine White Wares

180 8a

1 816

339

·.-.-~I

1890

1889

1892

1887

1894

1893

1901 1900

1896

1895

~

'--ir==

J_j__LJ

~

~

1903

1904

1906

~

'

~

1908

1907

1915

--

3

~

1910

1912

1917 1916

Fig.89 Fine White Wares

340

Fig.90 : 33 - Fine grey wares with colourless, qingbai or celadon glazes a - grey fabric: colourless glaze 419. S 66(6)824 - Cup sherd with gently curved sides and a pointed rim rounded on the outside. Very thinly applied glaze. Finely potted. 420. S 67/8 < F > [1]1027 - Bowl fragment with gently curved sides and a plain rim rounded on the outside. Glazed as above. Finely potted. 421. S 66[2](10)1665 - Fragment of round sided bowl with a wide shallow base (angled central groove), and a groove running a little above the base on the inside. Wheel marks visible on base. The glaze ends a little patchily just above the foot ring on the outside, with the inside of the foot ring also unglazed . 422. S 66[D6](2) - Round bowl fragment with a shallow thick ring base (angled central groove). Unglazed foot ring and possibly unglazed bottom of base too. 423. S 66 < D > [D6](2) - Round cup sherd with slightly out curved slightly pointed rim. Unillustrated Bodysherds : 610. S 66 (6)824 - Fabric and glaze as above. 611. S 66(1)824 - From near base of sherd; the incised groove around the interior of the base is visible. Exterior of body towards base unglazed, and fired a biscuit colour where exposed. 612. S 66 (39)1781 - Fabric and glaze as above. 613. S 66 (6)824 -As above. b - very pale grey fabric. slightly blue tinged colourless glaze 424. S 72/3 [A](29)1184 - Fragment of flared bowl with a plain rim. Fin dense fabric. Thinly glazed. c - greyish white fabric. with powder blue qinbbai glaze 415. S 67/8 [1]323 - Fragment of round bowl with wide shallow ring bas (angled central groove) and a groove running around the base on the interior. Finely crackled glaze. Inside of foot ring unglazed. 416. S 67/8 < F > [1]1027 - Fragment of round bowl with wide, shallow ring base (angled central groove) and a groove running around the base a little above the base in the interior. Chatter marks on lower base and foot ring on the outside show that the ware was moulded. Glaz d on insid and up to chatter marks on exterior. 417. S 66 U /S(12) - Fragment of round bowl slightly angled out from the base, and a wide shallow ring base (with angled central groove). Glazed on inside and outside, ending in patchy glazing of exterior of footring. 418. S 66 U /S(12) - Round bowl sherd with wide shallow ring base (with angled central groove) and glazed as above. Crackled glaze.

341

.::::;---------~--

/

421

~ l_/ ~----422 416

~ \_j \~--~r

423

/

417

/

-------1

\__,-~

.________, \ \

\ /

424

-

419

- --

4 25 :

,\

'

-----

.....______

,\ '\

)

I

\\

\\

\'0

---

.....____

i

,-----

/

420

427

4 28

Fig.90 Fine Grey Wares

/

342 d - grey fabric: green and blue celadon glaze 425. S 67/8(98)1585 - Fragment of round bowl, with a wide ring base (angled central groove). Pale blue glaze. Swag contour of glaze above footring on outside and patchy glazing on inside of footring. Body fired cream where exposed. Finely potted. 426. S 67/8[N](18)501- Round bowl fragment with a curved wide ring base (angled central groove bounded by a groove). Glazed upto base of foot ring (inclusive). Exposed inside of foot ring fir d to a reddish tint. Sea green glaze. Thickly potted. 427. S 67/8 < E > [N](l)l 76 - Fragment of bowl with thick flaring sides, the sides gradually sloping down to form the wide ring base, with a groove running round the point of transition. Outer edges of footring hacked away, possibly to remove the vessel from the surface it had adhered to in the kiln. Completely glazed in sea green with exposed foot ring oxidised red. Heavily potted. 428. S 66(6)824 - As above with thicker foot ring. No hacked edge to foot ring, the edge is again oxidised red. 429. S 67/8 < E > [N](1)334 - Bodysherd with carved and incised lotus petal design on the exterior, showing faintly through the thick sea green glaze. Unillustrated Bodysherds : 614. S 67/8 .. 519 - Grey fabric. Green glazed with large crackles. 615. S 67/8 < E > [S](47)519 - As above, and possibly from same vessel. 616. S 67/8 < E >.. - Possibly beginning of base of vessel, with dark brown slip inside, and the glaze ending and brown slip beginning in a horizontal line on the outside. Crackled blue glaze. 617. S 67/8[S](40)497

- Grey fabric. Crackled blue glaze.

343

~ 1820

1818

18 28

1823

¾:

\

,_/

~

1838

18 4 2a

183 3

18 32

~ ~ 1835

--

184 1

1 839

~ 18 4 5

~

'=

184 4 ~

~

~

18 4 8

7

18 76 '~

1 868

~

~?

188 4

\

~

1847

186 4

',

1877

::J

1881

18 70

1 88 3

..,,, ''~''"""' r //1

1~

~

1/ /

1852

\

/

/

'; ;,

'

.

----~ 1853

I

-:-71 t' r!

✓--- / 7

/ ~ 185 7

Fig.91 Fine Grey Wares

rn- s

Fig.92 : 29 - Green and white splashed ware: 30 - Three colour ware type (Sancai): 34 - Blue and white ware: 35 - Modern ware 29 - Green and white splashed ware 431. s 66 [4](3)633 - Fragment of flared bowl with a plain rim with a groove beneath. White slip splashed with green glaze, the whole covered in a colourless glaze. Well preserved finely crackled glaze. Fine pink stoneware fabric. 432. S 67/8 < F > (136)2508 - Fragment of flared bowl with slightly concave sides. Body and glaze as above. Unillustrated Bodysherds: 617. S 66[1](58) - Fabric and glaze as above. 618. S 66.. (4). - As above . Hole punched through sherd.

30 - Three colour ware type (Sancai) 430. S 67/8 [N](1)334 - Fragment of necklessjar with a rolled rim. Band of mid brown glaze on both sides of rim, with golden yellow glaze below . Coarse pink buff stoneware fabric. This seems to be related to Tang three colour ware.

34 - Blue and white ware 433. S 67/8 [S](4)278 - Fragment of bowl with an out curved pointed rim. Design in cobalt blue of a floral border below the rim on the inside, with a single bounding line above and a double line below in a lighter blue. A geometric design of double polygonal panels, each with four dots in the middle, bounded on either side by double bounding lines in a lighter blue, is painted below the rim on the outside, followed by a floral design underneath with feathery leaves and flowers on long stalks. Again glazed in a glaze somewhat allied to the qingbai. White porcelain fabric. 434. S 67/8 < E > [N](18)501 - Bowl sherd with rounded sides and slightly evcrted pointed rim. Floral motif of flowers on plain stalks, beautifully painted in sketchy brushwork in varying shades of cobalt blue under a double Fne below the rim. The whole is covered in a slightly blue tinged crackled colourles s glaze allied to the qingbai. White porcelain fabric. Very finely potted.

35 - Modern ware: Japanese overglaze painted ware 435. S 67/8 < E > [15](47)519 - Fragment of shallow wide base of saucer. Whit e slipped and painted with a cobalt blue flower and two green leaves, the whole covered in a colourless glaze with a bluish tinge. Pale buff stoneware like fabric.

345

4 30

I

4 31 4 33

'\

/ I

'\

4 32

/

4 34

4 35

Fig.92 Polychrome Splashed Ware; Green and White Splashed Ware ; Blue and White Ware; Japanese Overgl aze Painted Ware

347

F

r 1 919

~[

1 920

~

1 925

192 3

1922

19 2 1

.

1 926

~

Q

~

~

1927

l S 28

1929

1 938

Fig.93 Polychrome Gla zed Ware; Blue and White ware·

'

Canary Gla zed Ware

193 4

348

Appendix B Siraf Pottery Registration Numbers in Typological Sequence

Unglazed Earthenwares

1.Coarse red earthenware

644. S 67/8 < E> [N]18)555 645. S 67/8 [N](31)1032 646. S 68/9[U /S, Kunarak gorg e]6098

Bowl 620. S 67/8 [B](lO0)

647. S 69/70 (188)5330

Jars 621. S 72/3 < Q > [SC 11]3 622. S 69/70 [OF 30](220)5341 623. S 68/9[U /S,near the chaikhan eh]1467 624. S 67/ 8< E > [S](6 Rm 11)148 625. S 68/9F> [N](19)2500 626. S 68/9[F](18)1482 627. S 69/70 > (OF 4)5734 628. S 69/70(OF 5)6369 Pots 629. S 69/70 < B>[C-E 7-9](369)5381 630. S 68/9 < F> [S](Rm A,55)1486 631. S 69/70B> [I 4(OF 15)A7411 631a.S 67/8 < B>[H 7](1)1042 631b S 67/ 8B > [H 7](1)1046 631. S 67/8 < B > [H 7](1)1043 632. S < D > (66)2038 Ewers 633. S 67/ 8> (59)2413 634. S 72/ 3< O > [RCT l](F 11)5 Saucer lamp s 635. S 68/ 9< B > [F](230)592 636. S 70/ 1 < K > [12](147)646 637. S 72/3 [109](181)2097 638. S 69 /7 0 < D > (128)5352 639. S 72/ 3M > [A](16)2013 Pedesta l bases 640. S 70/ l< B > [D 4](563)602 640a.S 66[U / S]

Saucer Lamps 648. S 67/8 < E > [N](l Rm 15)310 649. S 67/8 [N](17 Rm 11)528 650. S 67/8 < E> [S](66)16 .. Lids 651. S 72/3 [112](190)2088 652. S 68/9 < B > (162)95 653. S 68/9> [N](1)29 Steamer 654. S 67/8 [N](45)2320 Sherds 655. S 67/8 [N](13)894 656. S 67/8 [N](1)216 657. S 67/8 [N](45)1669 658. S 68/9[N](1)30 659. S 68/9 lS](1)21 Coars e red earth enware; red and cream slipped: 660. S 68/9 < F > [E](35)2776

Jar 661. S 67/ 8 < F > (41)2023 Coarse red earth enwar e: inscribed sherd s: 662-664. In separat e inscribed sherds section Fine red earth enware: 665. S 68/9 [E ](101)586

Coarse red earthenware: hand potted

2.Brittle Ware:

Jars 641. S [B](11)3298 642. S 67/8 < E > (N](23)957

Bowl 666. S 70/1 < B > [F-H 14](551)635

Bowls 643. S 67 /8 < E > [N](28)707

Jars 667. S 70/1 < B > [F 4](570)647 668. S 70/1 < B > [F-H 14](551)3867

349

669. 670. 671. 672. 673. 674. 675. 676. 677.

S 70/1 < B > [F-H 14](551)3866 S 70/1 [11](141)2632 S 68/9 < B > (267)5693 S [A](71)2028 S 69 /70 < B > [I 3]( 400)5313 S 70/1 < B > [B 11](518)600 S .. (53)3534 S 69 /70 < 0 > 65)5363 S 69/700> (224)A7457

Miscellaneous: Brown grey micaceous ware: chocolate coloured glaze (Hellenistic?)

696. S 67 /8 < E > [S](1)69 d - with white grits Jars 697. S 72/3[T](3)2034 698. S ... < F > (98)3462 e - with white grits (Nagi pots) pot 699. S 67 /8 [N](18)712 700. S 67 /8 [B](100)3533

f - with white purple slip bowl 701. S 67 /8 (98)2175

678. S 69 /70 < B > [E 2](310)2002 3.Orange earthenware

Orang e red earthenware:

a - with fine air holes Pedestal base 679. S 70/l[F-G 2](544)601

f - with glossy red slip (Indian red

12- Soft

fine dirty orange fabric: with fine grits Bowl 680. S67 /8 (41)2208 681. S69 /70 < D > (66)5323 Jars 682. S 69/70(283)2030 683. S 69 /70 < 0 > (243)2058 684. S 69 /70 < D > (2432059 Pots 685. S 69 /70 686. S 69 /70 687. S 69 /70 688. S 69 /70

< D > (90)2003 < D > (90)2004 < D > (90)2005 < D > (90)2006

polished ware) sherds 702. S 72/3 > (1030)2011 703. S 72/3 [5](160)20 38 704. S .. (51)3461 g - with orange red slip bowls 705. S 69/70(74)5325 706. S 68/9 < B > [F](52)1497 707. S 69/70(189)5320

jars 708. S 69 /70 < D > (265)6364 709. S 69 /70 < D > (89)2056 4.Red and orange earthenware: terracotta objects:

Pottery moulds 692. S 69 /70(75)2062 693. S 70/1(1)633 693a. S 69/70 (224)2041

a - Drain pipes 710. S 67 /8 [S](1)2 711. S 68/9F> [S](147)5493 712. S 68/9 [S](147)3974 712a.S 72/3 [139](210)5112 714a.S 72/3 [139](210)5106 714b.S 72/3 [139](210)5106 715. S 68/9[N](41)1474 716. S 67/8[N](1)147 716a.S 68/9[F](17)94 716b.S 68/9(S](147)580 716c.S 69 /70 < 0 > (370)A 7424

c - with chalk grits (Bibby type 7) Jars 694. S 67 /8> [S](1)70 695. S 67 /8 < E > [S](1)62

b - Ovens 713a.S 69 /70 (OF 104)5730 713b.S 68/9 < B>[G](49)5458 713c.S 69 /70 < 0 > 5731

Lid 689. S 69 /70 < B > [H 10](367)2042 690. S 69/70[G 10](367)570. Ewer spout 691. S 69 /70 < B > [F 6] (3615303

350

c - Coin casting moulds 717. S 70/l(732)2646 718. S 69/70[ 15](341)5717 719. S 69/70[H-J,4](434)A7419 720. S 70/l[E-G, 1](624)606 721. S 70 /1 < C > (725)632 722. S 70 /1 < C > (725)634 d - Crucibles 723. S 68/9 [E](34)2797 724. S 68/9[E](34)598 725. S 68/9 [E](36)2763 726. S 68/9[E](34)1500 727. S 68/9 [E](26)2762 728. S 68/9F> [E](34) 729. S 68/9 [E](34) 730. S 72/3Q > [2](U /S)82 e - Mercury pots 730a.S 70/1[0 14](674)2628 730b.S 70/1[0 14](698)2625

f - Animal figurines 731. S 69 /70 < D > (159)5315 732. S 72/3[127](196)2073 733. S 69/70 < B > [A-C,3](313)5349 734. S 70/1 [A 9](532)2627 735. S 70/1 [48](81)2620 736. S 72/3 (1020)2032 737. S 67/8 (130)1828 738. S 69/70 < C > (209)57 .. g - Leg of a stand 739. S 68/9212)6042 h - Part of two stands 740. S 69/70(34/169)A6524 741. S 69/70(34/169)A6524 i - Beads 742. S 68/9 [E](5)1470 743. S 69/70[G 3](358)5310 744. S 70/1 [9](131)639 745. S 69/70 < D > (340)A6881 746. S 67/8 [N](1)31

j - fish net weights 747. S 67/8[S](1)126 747a.S 70/lB > [F 15](512)2614 k - weight 747b.S 69/70[E

12](369)2017

I - spindle whorl 748. S 68/9[S](42)1011 5.Fine pink earthenware:

a - without slip Pot 749. S 69/70(248)2040 Handlesherd 751. S 69/70 [R](l21)1573 Cup stand 752. S 66 [1](25) b - cream slipped Jar 754. S < F> [](34)590 Inscribed sherds 750,753. See inscribed sherds section c - red slipped chess pieces 755. S 69/70 < D > (90)2092 756. S 69/70 < D > (216)2094 757. S 69/70(90)2087 758. S 69/70 < D > (85)2088 759. S 69/70(351)2085 760. S 69/70 < D > (90)2093 761. S 69/70 < D > (90)2091 762. S 69/70 < D > (90)2090 763. S 69/70 < D > (90)2086 764. S 69/70 < D > (90)2089 6.White slipped coarse pink earth nware Bowls 765. S 67 /8 (87)208 .. 766. S 69/70(224)A7447 767. S 69/70(224)A7448 768. S 72/3 [A](24)2006 769. S 67/8B > [B](100)3374 770. S 69/70 < D > (215) 771. S 69/70 < F> (116)5369 772. S 69/70 < D > (13)5355 773. S 69/70[K 14](78)A6600 774. S 69/70(248)A7432 775. S 69/70 < D > 189)5367 776. S 70/l[12](129)2612 777. S 69/70 < D > [28](370)A6536 778. S 69/70(231)5345 779. S 69/70 < D > (OF 8)5343 780. S 69/70 < C > [cliff face 40m.west of ] 781. S 69/70 < D > (87)2043 782. S 69/70 < D > (189)5322 783. S 69/70 < D > (87)2036 784. S 69/70[E](105)5346 785. S 69/70(370)A7392 786. S ... (127)3471

351

787. S 69/70(248)A7427 788. S ... < F > (180)3458

Jars 789. S 69 /70 < D > (87)5338 790. S 69/70 < D > (217)A 7309 791. S 67/8 < B > [B](100)3098 792. S 67/8 < B > [B](79)3097 793. S 67/8 < B > [B](100)3548 794. S 67 /8 < B > [B](100)3549 795. S 67 /8B > [B](100)3099 796. S 67/8 < b > [B](100)3200 797. S 69/70(116)2031 798. S 69/70 < D > (248)7430 799. S 69 /70 < D > (89)2057 800. S 69/70(116)2055 801. S 69/70[K31](442)57 .. 803. S 70/l[E 3](549+550)6 24 804. S 70/l[O 13](543)641 805. S 67/8(54)3096 806. S 69/70 < D > (267)A 7251 Coarse pink earthenware: brown slipped Bowls 807.S 67 /8F> (1 Rm10)1033 808. S 67/8(87)1641 809. S 68/9[G](26)588 810. S 67 /8(U /S)977 811. S 69/70D>(66)5353 812. S 69 /70 < D > (189)5321

Jars 813. S 69 /70 < D > (280)5365 14. S 69/70D > (280)2029

7.Pale green earthenware: Jars 815. S 70/1 [63](182)4133 816. S 69 /70 < D > (53)2035 817. S 72/3(1012)2004 8J8. S 69/70 (66)2037 819. S 69/70(283)5333 820. S 69/70 (149)6363 821. S 69/70(147)A7446 822. S 70/1 [12)(129)3865 823. S 69 /70 < D > (55)A 7390 824. S 69 /70 < D > (248)A 7461 825. S 69 /70 < D > (255)A6601 826. S 69 /70 < D > (248)5332 827. S 68/9B > [Y]1496 828. S 68/9 < B > (147)65 829. S 72/3 < 0 > [T](8)5103

830. S 69 /70 < D > (280)A 7391 831. S 68/9[N](55)6078 832. S 68 /9F > [E] (47)5500 833. S 67 /8E > [S](45)88 .. 834. S 68/9[N](19)2493 835. S 69 /70 < D > (87)5339 836. S 69/70 (248)A7425 837. S 69/70 (248)A7426 838. S 69/70(147)A7445 839. S 68/9(l50)92 840. S 68/9(159)2785 841. S 72/3[L]1)3706 842. S 69 /70 < C > (118)2046 843. S 69/70 [F-E,12-13](447)A7456 844. S 68/9[F](175)2768 845. S 68/9[N](23)1478 846. S 68/9(147)1477 847. S 68/9[N](42)2783 848. S 68/9[S](8)2750 849. S 69/70 [OF 92](232)5721 850. S 70/1 < B > [M 14](floor)630 850a.S 68 /9 < B > ( 197) 1499 Water filters 851. S 69/70 (136)A6602 852. S 70/lK> [83](139)2617 Ewers 853. S 66D >[DA] 854. S 72/3[42](127)2057

Handlesherd 855. S 66[1](13) Stamped sherds 856. S69/70 [G 5](333)2077 857 ..... 4481 858. S 72/3[7](12)2058 Decorated sherd 859 .S 69 /70 < D > (245)2079 Basketwarc impression 860. S 69/70 < B > [B 12](315)94 Saucer lamp 860a. S 70/l[U /S]629 Lamp holder 8606. S 72/3

(13)2042 Pitch torches 860c. S 69 /70B > [G 8](367)A 7413 860d. S 69 /70 < B > [G 4] (2)5733 860e. 67 /8 < B > [on sea shore ]230

352

Stand 860f. S 67/8(30)1498

Platter 888. S 70/1 [34](89)620

Drain pipes 860g. S 72/3 [139](210)5104 860h. S 72/3 [139](210)5105 860i. S 69/70 (OF 112)6365

Ewer spout 889. S 69 /70 < D > (98)A6663

Wedge 860j. S 69/70

Water filter 890. 615

s....

(248)A7417

Stopper 891. _S 69 /70D > [IA]5382

Whistle 860k. S 69 /70 < D > (224)2063 White slipped coarse pink earthenware white-green earthenware: 861. S 69/70[OF 862. S 69/70(OF 8.Fine cream ware:

59,well](322)5334 3)639 ..

Cone 892. S 69 /70 < D > (248)5347 or Counter 893. S 69 /70 < B > [A 13](317)2000 Pottery mould 894. S 69 /70D > (75)5329

Bowls 862. S 68 /9 < B > (208,222)6081 863. S 68/9 < B > (208,222)6082 864. S 68/9(208,222)6085 865. S 68/9(208,222)6083 866. S 68/9 < B > (208,222)6084 867. S 68/9 (208,222)6088 868. S 68/9[208,222)6086 869. S 68/9(208,222)6087 870. S 68 /9 < B > (208,222)6080 871a +b.S 68/9 (208,222)6089

Slightly orange fine creamware: lighly gritted

Boat shaped vessels 872. S 68/9(B > 208,222)6089 873. S 68/9 (208,222)6090 874. S 68/79(208,222)6079

Jars 899. S 69/70[OF30](220)2052 900. S 69/70 [OF 30](220)2048

Jars 875. S 70/1D>(508)617 876. S 69 /70 < D > (224)A6608 877. S 66[1](2) 878. S 72/3[T](15)3717 878a.S 72/3M> [A](1)2002 879. S 69 /70 < B > [G 9] (360)5340 880. S 69 /70 < D > (224)A 7396 881. S 68/9B > (284)5982 · 882. S 67 /8 (87)2087 883. S 72/3 < 0 > [C 5](14)2089 884. S 69 /70 < D > ( 53)2045 885. S 68/9 [E](34)2796 886. S 69 /70 < D > (248)5328 Pot 887. S 68/9B > (147)1488

Toy cache: (nos.895-900) Basket 895. S 69/70 [OF 30](220)2054 Bowls 896. S 69/70[OF 30)(220)2049 897. S 69/70[OF30](220)2050 898. S 69 /70 < D > [OF 30](220)2051

Basket 901. S 69 /70 < D > (91)A6713 Bells 902. S 69 /70 < D > (255)A6607 903. S 69 /70D > (116)A6983 Jar 904. S 69 /70 < D > (259)2047 Fine creamware: Decorated sherds: 905. S 69/70 [I 3](409)A7047 906. S 69/70[D 6](379)5318 907. S 69/70[L 6)(318)5388 908. S 67 /8E> [S](l)

353 9 .Eggshell ware: Jars 909. S 69/70D> (248)5370 910. S 72/3 < 0 > [T](8)3718 911. S 72/3 < 0 > [T](8)2047 912. S 72/3< 0 > [JS](9)2093 913. S 68/9 (211)2787 914. S 72/3 [3](8)2098 915. S 72/3[C](37)3714 916. S 72/3[F](14)5100 917. S 72/3[Y](3)2094 918. S 69 /70 < D > (248)5387 919. S 69/70(224)A7410 920. S 69 /70 < D > (248)5371 921. S 69 /70D > (224)A 7393 922. S 69 /70 > (224)2028 923. S 72/3 [T](15)3715 924. S 70/l [F-H ,14](551)607 925. S 69/70[E](105)2044 925a.S 67 /8 (112)2291 926. S 69 /70 < D > (223)5385 927. S 69 /70 < D > (224)A 7394 928. S 70/1 (533)640 929. S 69 /70 < D > (224)A 7395 930. S 69 /70 < D > (248)5379 931. S 69 /70 < D > (215)2032 932. S 72/3[T](8)3716 933. S 72/3 < 0 > [U](11)5102 934. S 70/1 < K> [11](141)3862 935. S 70/1 < K> [11](141)3863 936. S 70/1 < K> [11](141)3861 937. S 69 /70 < D > (248)A 7458 938. S 69 /70D > (248)A 7455 939. S 69 /70 < B > [H 7](360)5312 940. S 69 /70 < D > (248)5378 941. S 69/70(108)1575 942. S .. [K3] 943 .... 944. S 69/70 < B > [F 3](313)2067 945. S 69 /70 < B > [E 4](332)2011 946. S 70/l[B 11](518)631 947. S 69 /70 < B > [E 11]( 446)5317 948. S 69 /70 < B > [J 4](320)5307 949. S 69/70 (65)5314 950. S 66[1](13) 951. S 67/8F> (98)1634 952. S 69/70 < D > (248)A 7431 953. S 69/70 < D > (215)2060 954. S 69/70 (263)5386 955. S 69/70 < D > (248)5377 956. S 69/70 > (248)5374 957. S 69/70(248)5372 958. S 69/70 < D > (248)5373 959. S 69/70 < D > (248)5376 960. S 69/70 < D > (248)5375

Ewer 961. S 69 /70 < D > (224)A 742) Vessel 962. S 67 /8> [N](35)711

10.Painted Earthenware Jars 963. S 72/3[A](17)2031 964. S 67 /8 [D](4)676 965. S 68/9F> [S](3a)2754 Ablution ewers 966. S 67 /8 [N](21)603 967. S 67 /8 [N](4 Rm 4]536 Ablution jars 968. S .. [N](4)3535 969. S .. [N](47)3545 970. S 67/8[N](4)2300 Jar stand 971. S 67 /8 [S](30)390 973. S 68/9 < F> [S](81)1483 Sherd 972. S 66[5](2)

11.Earthenware sherds with inscriptions Pale green,fine cream and eggshellwarc; Kufic inscriptions in black ink 974. S 69/70[G 11](377)5727 975. S 69/70[C-E , 10-11](456)A6532 976. S 68/9 (210)1491 977. S 69/70[J-K, 7-8](359)572 .. 978. S 68/9 [R](15)1489 979. S 69/70 < B > [G 15](329)5354 980. S 69/70 < B > [L, 6-81(302)2065 981. S 67 /8 [S](1)6 982. S 69/70 < B > [F 9]( 413)5729 983. S 69/70[F-H, 5](321)2010 984. S 68/9(210)1491 985. S 68/9 (201)1490 986. S 69/70 < B > (F-H, 7-8] (367)5309 987. S 69/70B>[H-I, 2)(368)2084 988. S 69/70[H-I, 3)(311)2099 989. S 69/70 > [C-E, 5](333)571 .. 990. S 69/70 < B > [H-1, 2)(368)2096 991. S 69/70[C-E, 6](361)5715

354 992. S 69/70 < B > [H-I, 2] (368)2081 993. S 68/9 < B > (234)2793 994. S 69/70B > [F-H, 6](361)5712 995. S 69/70 < B > [H 7](305)2068 996. S 69/70B> [F-H, 4] 997. S 69/70 < B > [B-E, 15](341)2018 998. S 69/70 < B > [C 5] (429)6351 999. S 67/8 < F> (24)1327 1000.S 67/8 (61)1458 1001.S 67/8 (87)2794 1002.S 67/8 (125)1772 1003.S 67/8 (125)2210 1004.S 70/1 [12](47)2609 1005.S 67/8(176)2951 1006.S 67/8(55)1768 1007.S 67/8 (86)2216 Fine cream ware; Kufic inscriptions in red ink 1008. S 69/70 < B > [E 2] (310)2001 1009. S 70/l[N](700)2629 1010. S 70/1 [11](132)609 1011. S 69/70 < B > [A-C, 3] (313)2070 Fine cream ware; Kufic inscriptions in red and black ink 1012. S 67/8F > (107)2484 1013. S 69/70 < B > [F, 9-11] (360)5723 Seal; with inscribed impressions 1014. S 69/70B > [G, 9-11](367)2008 Red and orange earthenware; inscribed Kufic inscriptions 1015. S 69/70[H-J, 5](333)5356 1016. S 69/70 < B > [F-H, 4] (320)2072 1017. S 66[1](33) 1018. S 68/9F>[N](46)2764 Fine pink earthenware; with Kufic? inscriptions 1019. S 69/70(l45)A6696 1020. S 68/9F> [R](76)600 Fine creamware; Early Kufic and pseudoKufic inscriptions 1021. S 67/8 102)2269 1022. S 69/70[J-K, 13](327)2022 1023. S 69/70[M, 7-8](305+314)5335 ( early Kufic)

1024. S 72/3 [A](88)2041 Brown pink sherd; Pahlavi inscription 1025. S 68/9 < B > [extension bay 5](150)41 Creamware sherd; Pahlavi inscription 1026. S ... < F > (70)2656 Red, orange and cream earthenware; inscribed graffiti 1027. S 69/70 [G 4](332)2009 1028. S 69/70[C-E, 5](333)5714 1029. S 69/70 [M 131(350)2023 1030. S 69/70 [B-E, 15](341)2021 1031. S 69/70 < B > [H-I, 2] (368)2095 1032. S 69/70 < B > [F-H, 12-13](367)5709 1033. S 69/70 [E 5](363)5713 1034. S 69/70[B 12](315)2076 1035. S 69/70[H-J, 4]332

355 Islamic Glazed Earthenwares Blue-glazed ware (Sasanian-Islamic) Bowls 1036. S 66[4](6) 1037. S 68/9 (293)6032 1038. S 67 /8 < E > [N](21 Rm 9]522 1039. S 69 /70 < B > [M 14](350)5366 1040. S 69 /70 < B > [D 15](393)2Q33 1041. S 70/1 [C-D, 3](616)604 Jars 1042. S 68 /9 < F > [N](19)2759 1043. S 69/70 < B > [G 3](358)2012 1044. S 68/9[11](208)2756 1045. S 68/9(284)591 1046. S 69/70[C 3](439)A7443 1047. S 69/70[J 5](405)5364 1048. S 67 /8 < B > [V 5] (7)222 .. 1049. S 69/70 < F> [E](105)5337 Ewers 1050. S ... (161)3341 1051. S 66[1](46)895 Saucer lamps 1052. S 69/70B > [B 15](390)A 7459 1053. S 69/70 < B > [C 10](342)5350 1054. S 68/9 < B > (277)585 1055. S 72/3[A](17)2021 1056. S 66 < B > [7](4)146 1057. S 69/70[H 12](368)5384 Candlestick 1058. S 69/70 < D > (90)5344 Lid 1059. S 68/9 (227)2775 Beads 1060. S 66[2](11) 1061. S 69/70[mosque area](101)5304 1062. S 72/3 [W](7)90 1063. S 69/70 < D > [K I] (306)5306 Decorated sherd 1064. .. < F> (155)1921

1068. S 72/3[O 100](1054)2009 1069. S 69/70 < D > (248)1786 1070. S 68/9[G](17)2781 1071. S 68/9[G](17)2781

1072. S 68/9(153)1476 1073. S 68/9 [S](10)96 1074. S 68/9 < F> [](2)2773 1075. S 68/9[N](28)2760 1076. S 67/8 ...1001 1077. S 66[1](19) 1078. S 70/1 < K> [83](144)2608 1079. S 69/70[E](105)2039 1080. S 67 /8 (7)2992 1081. S 70/1 < B > [ 15](506)2624 Dishes 1082. S 69/70D > (248)5711 1083. S 68/9 < F> [S](9)4043 1084.S 69/70 < D > (13)5348 Jar 1085. S 72/3[A](27)2010 Ewer 1086. S 69/70[OF

59,we11](332)5317

Candlestick 1087. S .. < F> (184)3519 Saucer lamps 1088. S 69 /70 < D > (176)2007 1089. S67/8 (126)2894 1090. S 70/1 < K> [62](102)2479 1091. S 72/3< K> [5](160)2015 1092. S 69 /70 < F > (19)5383 1093. S 72/3 < K> [114)(192)3702 1093a.S 72/31143703 1094. S 72/3[A](44)2014 1095. S 70/1 < K> [11](141)2606 1096. S 69/70 < D > (406)5351 1097. S 72/3[A]28)3704 1098. S 68/9[75m.east of the kilns]2751 Openwork sherd 1099. S 69/70[W]147)1597 White glazed ware: cobalt splashed

13.White-glazed wares Plain white glazed ware Bowls 1065. S 72/3 .... 1066. S 69/70 < B > [M 13](350)571 1067. S 69/70(218)5324

Bowls 1100. S 72/3 < 0 > [C 3](13)3711 1101. S 69 /70 < B > [H 15]341) 1166 1102. S 69 /70 < F > ( 106) 1572 1103. S 70/1 < K> [63](152)2643

356

Candlestick 1104. S 68/9F> [S](94)1495 Jar 1105. S70/1 < K> [63](152).835 Dish 1106.S 66[U /S]

White glazed Saljuq frit ware:

White glazed ware: turquoise splashed Bowls 1107. S 68/9 < F> [S](33)1492 1108. S 68/9 [N](19)1485 1109. S 72/3 < B > [0 100]2062 1110. S 68/9 [N](19)1472 lllOa.S 69/70[N](20)1766 lll0b.S 68/9( [S](141)583 Candlesticks 1111. S 70/1(11)(141)645 1112. S 69/70 < D > (271)A 7460 1113. S 70/1 < K> [85](150)2615 1114. S 68/9 [N](12)5984 Saucer lamps 1115. S 70/l[betweenand modern road]642 1116. S 70/1 < K> [12)(129)643 1117. S 68/9 [R](1)4492 1118. S 70/1...628 1119. S 66 [1](11) White glazed ware: turquoi se and manganese splashed Bowls 1120. S 66[U /S] 1121. S 66[l](l)

White glazed ware; polychrome splashed 1127. S 68/9 [R](76)587 1128. S 72/3[A](49)2061

manganese dots only

Bowls 1129. S 66[4](2) 1130. S 69/9 < B > (151 )42 (with inscription) 1131. S .. < B > (83)3473 14.Early lustre ware Bowls 1132. S 70/lK> [63](152)2642 1133. S 68/9(163)1475 1134. S 69/70[R](73)A7444 1136. S 72/3 < F> [3](1000)2036 Dish 1135. S 69/70[R](58)1574 Saljuq lustre Bowls 1137. S 69/70(265)2064 1137a.S 70/l[11]132)2611 1138. S 69/70> [R](75)1571 1139. S 66 [4](2) 1140. S ... ... 1141. S 70/1 < K> [11](132)622 1142. S ....1476 1143. S ....4208 1144. S ....1427 1145. S ....1018 1146. S 69/70(R](71)1711 1147. S 69/70(132)6248

Dish 1122. S 66A > [1](1)

15.Lead splashed wares:

Jar 1123. S ...F> [S]142 ,

Coarse buff pink fabric: a - monochrome or late green ware

White glazed ware: cobalt and turquoise splashed Bowls 1124. S 68/9 [S](142)6097 1125. S 69 /70 < F > [pre period I floor in [S]] ( 157) 1060

Bowls 1147. S 70/1 < B > [O 13](543)644 1148. S 67/8[N](54)1640 1149. S 67/8[H 7](1)1034 1150. S 68/9 < B > (153)5985 1151. S 68/9 [S](24 Rm C)1029 1152. S 66[1](3)

Jar 1126. S 72/3 [A](68)2055

Dishes 1153. S 67/8 [S](58)744

357

1154. S 68/9F> [N](14)1479 Bowl 1176a.S 69/70 [R]J77)1061

Jars 1155. S 68/9F> [S](1)2 1156. S 68/9(168)1019

Fine red fabric e - lead splashed decoration

Saucer lamps 1157. S 67 /8 [S](44)726 1158. S 68/9(159)1055 1159. S 68/9(159)93 Pedestal of lamp 1160. S 68/9(159)1053 b - (1) lead splashed decoration Bowls 1161. S 69 /70 < B > [K 7](359)5704 1162. S 69 /70 < D > (248)A 7434 1163. S 67/8[H 7](1)1035 Dishes 1164. S ... 1165. S ... 1166. S 69/70[C-E, 1167. S 69/70[C-E,

12-13)(342)481 9](342)1146

Jar 1168. S 72/3 ..[517543](U /S)5109 b - (2) with painted motif under the splashed glaze Bowl 1169. S 68/9(175)5551

Bowls 1189. S 69/70(130)5368 1190. S 72/3[98](186)3710 1191. S ... Jars 1192. S 69/70(159)A6676 1193. S 69 /70 < C > (116)5327 Lamp 1194. S 72/3[97](243)3700 f - patchy white slip.lead splashed glaze: sgraffiato (style 2) Bowls 1176a S 69/70(161)5336 1176b.S 69/70(148)5331 1177. S70/l[O 13](543)618 1178. S 68/9[S](8)1049 1179. S 68/9 [E](50)2792 1180. S 68/9[E](23)2771 1181. S 68/9[N](26)2765 1182. S 67 /8 > [B](100)3474 1183. S 70/l[O 13](571)603 1184. S 68/9 < B > [F](28)1052 g - lead splashed glaze: with more ornate sgraffiato (style 3)

b - (3) more polychrome splashed glaze Bowl 1170. S 66 [1](11) Jar 1171. S 68/9[R](8)4053 c - lead splashed: with sgraffiato (Style 1) Bowls 1172. S 72/3 [88](163)2096 1173. S 72/3B > [O 100](1041)2012 1174. S 67 /8[U /S]978 1175. S 72/3(A](92+125)2075 1176. S .. [A](33)2005 Fine buff cream fabric: d - green glazed: sketchy incised floral design

Bowls 1195. S 67/8[B](71)1883 1196. S 69/70(l61)1765 1197. S 66[U /S] 1198. S 66[U /S] 1199. S 66[U /S] 1200. S 66[U /S] 1201. S 66[U /S] 1201a.S 69 /70 < C > (130)1738 1202. S 72/3 < 0 > [T](8)2069 1203. S 69/70(186)1700 1204. S 69/70(191)1734 1205. S 69/70(l68)1712 1206a.S 68/9 [E](40)2788 1206b.S 68/9 [E](40)2788 1206c.S 68 /9 < F > [E] (40)2788 1207. S 69/70(168)1713 1208. S 66 [1](6) 1209. S 69/70 [U?S]A6605

358

1210. S 72/3[U /S]3705 1211. S 69 /70 < C > (159) 1703 1212. S 68/9[U /S]22 1213. S .. 1214. S 68/9(153)5983 1215. S 67/8[B](71)1548 1216. S 68/9 < F> [S](161564 h - other modes of sgraffiato Bowls 1185. S 68/9 [E](58)2795 1186. S 72/3[A](33)2005 1187. S 72/3[449536](O/S) 1188. S 67 /8 [N](1)127

i - with champlcve decoration Bowls 1217. S 69/70(148)1737 1218. S 69 /70 < C > (185) 1701 1219. S 69 /70 < C > (185) 1736

1233. S 68/9 [R](3) 599 1234. S ... < F> (25)3552 1235. S 69 /70C > (139)A6520 1236. S 70/l(125)A6596

Jar 1237. S 69 /70 < F> [R](82)5342 20.Black painted decoration on a yellow ground Shcrd 1238. S ... (171)1994 21.Undcrglaze painted wares:

a - black decoration under turquoise gla?C Bowls 1240. S 67/8[N](4Rm 14)1347 1241. S 67/8[N](4 Rm 14)1348 1242. S 67 /8E> [N](4 Rm 14)1349 1244. S 67/8lN](47)1384

17.Yellow glazed eart henware

Jar 1220. 69/70[E

14](331)14 23

b - blue and black decoration und er a colourless glaze

17.Green glazed ware wi1h moulded decoration

Bmvl

Screens? 1221. S 70/1 < B > [O 10](508)2631 1222. S 70/l[O 13](552+565)2630

c - Black decoral ion under a colourless glaze

Bowls 1223. S 72/3 [H](39)2064 1224. S 69 /70 < D > (l)A6727 1225. S 69/70 [dig house](U/S)496 18.White splashed black glazed ware 1225. S 70 /1 < K > [48] (81 )621 1226. S 72/3[A](35)2003 1227. S 68/9 [E](26)3702 1228. S 67 /8 (98)2055 1229. S 66[cliff,kiln 3] 1230. S 70/1 < B > [O 14)(573)3441 1231. S 70/l [O 14)(573)3439 19.Geomelric desi ns aintcd on white sli under a colourless glaze Bowls J232. S 72/3 < P > (3)2044

1245. S 68/9[H](l)1009

Bowls 1246. S 67/8[NJ(1)549 1247. S 67/8[NJ(2 Rm 11)505 22.Saljuq monochrome blue glc'lzcdwares

Bowls 1239a. S 69/70 (l3l)A6824 12396. S 69/70 (J17)1708 1239c. S 69/70< > (117)1708 23.Minai overglaz c cn (101)24

a - coarse grey stoneware: green glaze Bowls 1250. S 68/9[S](141+151)584 1251. S 66 [1](1) 1252. S 69/70(l21)1449 1253. S 69 /70 [R](90) 1254. S 69/70(121)1449 1255. S 69/70(121)1449 1256. S 69/70(21)1311 1257. S 69/70[D 4](397)1841 1258. S 6(/70 (14)1318 1259. S ... [H-I, 2](368)44 1260. S 69/70 (117)1347 1261. S 69 /70D > [kiln 24](351)1797 1262. S 69 /70 < C > (169)35 1263. S 67 /8 < E > [U /S]995 1264. S 69/70(118)1730 1265. S 66[U /S] 1266.. Saggars 1267. S 67 /8 (1 Rm 10)996 1268. S 72/3 [A](16)2053 Jars 1269. S 66[l](l) 1270. S 69/70 < D > (131)482 1271. S 69 /70 < C > (118)1473 1272. S 69 /70 < C > (116) 1466 1273. S 69/70[G, 9-11)(367)42 1274. 69/70[F-H, 6](361)30 1275. S 69/70[F-H, 6](361)30 1276. S 69/70[F-H, 6](361)30 1277. S 69/70[F-H, 7-8](367)1758 1278. S 69/70[F-H , 7-8](367)1758 1279. S 68/9(243+279)4480 1280. S 69/70[H-I, 2](368)43 1281. S 69 /70(between < D > and < F> ](U /S)1378 1282. S 69 /70 < B > [C-E, 5] (321) 1598 1283. S 69/70[C-E, 6](361)1435 1284. S 69/70[J 7](366)1383 1285. S 69 /70 (14)1318 1286. S 68 /9 < B > (245 + 279)4481 1287. S 69 /70 [C-E,7-9](369)1702 1288. S 69/70[C-E,7-9](369)1702 1289. S 66[1](6) 1290. S 69/70[B-E, 15](329)1491 1291. S 69/70[OF 59,well](332)1732 1292. S 69 /70 [D-E, 3](313)27 1293. S 69/70(l)A6727

1296. S 69/70[C-E,9-11](369)5380 1297. S 70/1 [O 10)(516)608 1298. S 69/70 < B > [D 4](397) 1840 1299. S 69/70[D 4](397)1841 1300... 1301... 1302. S 69/70[C-E, 5](333)25 1303. S 67/8 < E > [U /S]995 1304. S 69/70 < D > (62)6294 1305. S 69/701350 1306. S 69/70[F-H,4](320)1391 1307. S 69/70 < B > [M 14)(350)1415 1308. S .. < B > [C-E,6](360)1439 1309.... 1310. S 69/70 < D > (220)1417 1311.S .. 1312. S 70/l[U /S]1389 1313. S 70/l[U /S]1389 1314.... 1797 1315. S 69/70[F -H,7-8](367)17 58 1316. S 69/70(167)1472 1317. S 69/70[G 3](313)1499 1318. S 72/3 [109](181)3719 1319. S 69/70(136)20 1320. S 70/l[U /S]1389 1321. S 69/70[G,9-11](367)4 2 1322. S 67/8> (4)1031 1323. S 69/70[B-E, 15)(329)1493 1324. S 69/70[R](90) 1325. S .. < B > [M 13](350)1414 1326. S 69/70 [C-E,6](361)1435 1327. S .. < B > [C-E, 6](360)1439 1328. S .. < B > [C-E, 6](360)1439 1329. S 69/70.(1)1349 1330. S .. (180)3594 1331. S 68/9 < F> [S](151)579 1332. S 69/70[N](20)1310 1333. S 69/70(l24)1409 1334. S 67/8 < F> [U /S]2661 1335. S .. < F> [E](105)1351 1336. S 69/70 (148)1792 1337. S 69/70D>[U/S](1)1302

b - crackled grey green glaze No further examples . c - white slip and moulded geometric decoration

360

No further examples.

1347. S 69/70[A

d - coarse grev stoneware: crackled silvery green glaze

1 - olive green glaze Bowl 1352. s...

Jar 1359. S 68/9[GR506495](U /S)1493 1360. S .. < D > (231)6290 1361. S 69/70[C-E,7-9](369)1702 1362. S 69/70[OF 24](128)6293

Jar 1363. S 69 /70 < B > ...25

e - iron speckled grey stoneware fabric and glaze Jars 1350. S 66[U /S] 1351. S .. < C > (208) 1799

f - coarse pale grey stoneware: brown slip decoration under pale green glaze Bowls 1364. S 67/8[1](1)952 1365. S 70/l(714)1504 1366. S 67 /SE> [S](9 Rm 3)273 g - coarse grey stoneware: dull grey glaze and pseudo-calligraphic decoration Jar 1367. S ...lU /S]1389 h - oily brown olive glaze Sherd 1368. S 69/70 (167)1744 i - yellow brown glaze

Jar 1369. S 66A> [1](7)

12](317)1489

Jars 1353. S 69/70(67)1399 1354. S 69 /70 < B > [J-K,7-8](359)1407 1355. S 69/70[-I,2](368)44 1356. S 69/70[A, 12-14)317)494 1357. S 69/70[E](99)1451

Lid 1358.S 69 /70B > [C-E, 6] (361) 1439 m - as in j above. but without scraped patches Bowls 1348.S 69/70[M 14)(350)1415 1349. S 69 /70B > [F 5](313)1413 n - coarse cream stoneware: pale waterv green glaze Sherds 1390. S 69/70(165)1750 1391. S 69/70[C-E, 6](361)483 1392. s ... Coarse grey stoneware: black and dark brown glazed: o - black glazed Jars 1370. S 69/70[F 3](313)28 1371. S 69 /70 < B > [C-E, 6](361)1439 1372. S 69/70[J-K, 14](309)1487 1373. S .. [N]1318 1374. S 69/70[F-H,7-8l(367)1758 1375. S 69/70[H-I, 3](311)1494 1376. S 69 /70B > [C-E, 5](321)1598 1377. S 69/70--:B>[F 1](328)1420 1378. S 69/70[R](90)1441 1379. S .. [G, 9-11)(367)42

Coarse pink buff stoneware:

j - pale olive green glazed Bowls 1338. S 69/70[C-E, 6](361)1438 1339. S 69 /70 < B > [C-E,5](333)25 1340. S 69/70[M 13](350)1414 1341. S 69 /70 [C-E ,6](360)1439 1342. S 69/70[C-E,7-9](369)1702 1343. S 69/70B> [F 7](360)1405 1344. S 69 /70 < B > [F 9] (367) 1599 1345. S 69/70[G 3](313)1499 1346. S ... [D-E,4](332)90

p - dark brown glazed Bowl 1380. S 68/9F> [S](165)4450

Jars 1381. S 69/70F> (131)1353 1382 .... > (231) 1383. S 69/70[F-H,12-13](367)1773 1384. S 69/70[D-E, 4](332)90 1385. S .. [U/S]

g - buff stoneware: purple glaze Jars 1386. s ...1137 1387. S 69/70B>[C5 mixed with H-J 4](429 + 434)6466 Buff pink earthenware: purple black slip Jar 1388. S 69/70 [K 14)(351)1832 Orange earthenware; dark brown glaze Jar 1389. S 72/3[S](1000)2040

26.Fine grey stoneware (Yue) Bowls 1393. S 69/70 < D > (200) 1771 1394. S 679/70(98)1342 1395. S 70/l[U /S]1075 1396. S 69/70[U/S]1460 1397. S 69/70[E](105)1351 1398. S 69/70[E](105)1351 1399. 69/70[E](105)1351 1400. S 69/70 (110)1335 1401. S .. [N](36) 1402. S 69/70(62)6294 1403. Ibid 1404. S 69/70 < F> [N]14)1329 1405. S .. l349 1406. S 69/70 < F> [U /S]1371 1407. S 69/70 (125)1355 1408. S 69/70 (43)1316 1409. S 66 < C > [1](7) 1410. S 69/70 < D > [Kiln 14, stokehole fill](78)1307 1411. S 69/70(l0)1428 1412. S 69/70> (19)1325 14:!.3.S 69/70[N](20)1319 1414. S 69/70 < B > [B-E, 15](329)1493 1415. S 69/70 (128)1361 1416. S 69/70 [N](14)1318 1417. S 66[1](6) 1418. Ibid 1419. S 66[1](20) 1420. S 69/70(219)1385 1421. S 66[foot of madrasah](U /S)1931 1422. S 69/70 ...A1454 1423. Ibid 1424. S 69/70(71)1425 J425. S 69/70[R](85)1331 1426. S 69/70 < C > (169)39 1427. S 69/70(167)1472 1428. S 66 [1](20)

1430. S 70/l[U /S]1389 1431. S 69/70[N](14)1318 1432. S 69/70(157)32 1433. S 69/70(167)1474 1434. S ... (171)22 1435. S 69/70[C-E, 6](361)489 1436. S 69/70(105)1739 1437. S 66[U /S ] 1438. S 66 [1](4) 1439. S 69/70 ..14.56 1440. S 69/70(117)1476 1441. S 69/70(l)A67'27 1442. S 69/70 < D > [kiln 21]( 148)497 1443. S .. (171)22 1444. S 69/70(189)6470 1445. Ibid 1446. S 69/70 < D > (317)6287 1447. S 66 [1](7) 1448. S 70/1..[U /S]1075 1449. S 66[U /S] 1450. S 69/70 [kiln 24)(351)1797 1451. S 70/l[U /S]1076 1452. S 69/70[kiln 13](66)1300 1453. S 69/70(108)1741 1454. S 69/70(62)6294 1455. 69/70(U/S)1388 1456. S 72/3[A](31)2019 1457. S 72/3 [C](52)2090 1458. S 72/3[A](17)2018 1459. S 70/1 < C> (713)2641 1460. S 69/70[N](36)1309 1461. S 68/9 < F> [E](26)2972 1462. S 69/70(313)1787 1463. S 69/70[kiln 19)(111)1324 1464. S 69/70(265)1366 1465. S 69/70[OF 59, well](332) 1732 1466. S 69/70[kiln 26)(284)1401 1467. S 69/70(1)1367 1468. S 69/70 < D > (231)6290 1469. S 69/70(159)1843 1470. S ... 1471. 69/70 < D > (150)492 1472. S 66 [1](1) 1473. S 66[U /S] 1474. S 66[U /S] 1475. S 69/701349 1476. S 69/70(l01)1480 1477. S 69/70(139)1458 1478. S 69/70[N](20)1310 1479. S 67/8[U/S]995 1480. Ibid 1481. S 69/70 < D > (129)6292 1482. S [1](6) 1483. S 69/70[R](90)1441

362

1483a.S 69/70 < D > (129)6292 1484. S 69/70[E)(105)1351 1485. S 69/70[N)(20)1310 1486. S 69/70[OF 59, we11](330+332)1455 1487. S 69/70[K 14](351)1832 1488. S 69/70(231)6290 1489. S 70/l[U /S]1075 1490. S 69/70(101)24 1491. S 70/l[U /S)1075 1492.S 69/70 < C > (174)21 1493. S 69/70(136)1465 1494. S 69/70(211)1796 1495. S 69/70[E](105)1351 1496. S .. l71 1497. S 69/70 [R](118)1344 1498. S 69/70[R](162)1374 1499. S .. (171)22 1500. S 69/70(163)1464 1501. S 69/70[N](14)1318 1502. S 66[U /S] 1503. S .. [N)(36) 1504. S 70/l[U /S]1076 1505. S 72/3 < K> [5](160)3708 1506. S 69/70[N](14)1318 1507. S 69/70(155)1364 1508. S 69/70(110)1452 1509. S 69/70(l21)1372 1510. S 69/70 < D > (376)36 1511. S .. < D > (165)1747 1512. S 69/70(1)1350 1513. Ibid 1514. S .. (1)1349 1515. Ibid 1516. S 69/70 < D > (248)1368 1517. S .. 1518. S 70/l[U /S]1076 1519. S 69/70(117)1347 1520. S 70/l[U /S]1076 1521. S 69/70(19)1315 1522. S 69/70(139)1458 1523. S 69/70 (28)1313 1524. S 70/l[U /S]1075 1525. Ibid 1526. S 69/70 < D > 1349 1527. S 69/70 < D > (376)36 1528. S 69/70 [OF 63a](355)6288 1529. S .. (1)1349 1530. S 68/9 [S)(141)593 1531. S 72/3[A)(1)2001 1532. S .. < C> (167)1474 1533. S 69/70[U/S ]1460 1534. S 69/70(147)1794 1535. S 69/70(148)499

1536. S 70/l[U /5]1076 1537. S ... < C > (125)1422 1538. S 69/70(101)24 1539. S 69/70 < C > (208) 1799 1540. S 69/70 < C > (147)1794 1541. S .. (l72)1979 1542. S ...1744 Lids 1543. S 69/70 < D > (54)486 1544. S 69/70 < D > 1349 1545. S 69/70[U/S]1442 1546.S .. 1547. S 69/70[U/S]1743 1548. S 70/1 < B > [O 13](571)2649 Ewer spouts 1549. S 69/70[A-C, 3](313)1154 1550. s... 1551. S 69/70(1)1328 1552. S 69/70(l65)1750 Ewer handle 1553. S 69/70 < C> (131)1457 1560a.S ... (110)1334 Jar or ewer bases 1554. S .. < D>(1)1349 1554a.S 69/70 < F > (110) 1335 1555. S ... (171)22 Jar or ewer sherd 1556. S 69/70(l74)1431 Jar or ewer tops 1557. S 69/70 < F> (21)1448 1558. S 69/70 < F> [N](36)1309 1559. S .. (169)35 1560. Ibid 1561. S 69/70--: D > (129)6292

27.Painted Stoneware: Bowls 1562. S 69/7 0 (1)1395 1563. S 69/70 < F>[R](107)1323 1564. S 69/70 (115)1340 · 1565. S 69/70 (124)1409 1566. S 69/70(14)1318 1567. S 69/70[N](14)1329 1568. S 69/70 (21)1448 1569. S 69/70 (12)1471 1570. S 69/70 < C > (169)35 1571. S 69/70 < F> [N]( 43)1327

363 1572. .. < F > [N] (36) 1573. S 69/70 (110)1334 1574. s ... 1575. S 69/70[R](111)1339 1576. S ...30 1577. S 69/70 [A-C 2](310)1498 1578. S 69/7025 1579. S 69/70 < D > [kiln 14](77) 1320 1580. S..[U /S]1389 1581. S 69/70[N](14)1329 1581a.S 70/l[U /S]1075 1582. S 69 /70 < F > (21) 1305 1583. S 69/70 (128)45 1584. s ..1771 1585. S 69/70 < F > (77) 1332 1586. S 69/70 (81)89 1587. 69/70 [R](72)1303 1588. S 69/70[R](102)1406 1589. S 69 /70 < B > [FG 3] (357) 1380 1590. S 68/9[S](142)1328 1591. S 69 /70 < B > [F-H ,7-8](360)1495 1592. S .. (21)1311 1593. S 69/70 [R](170)1376 1594. S 66< C> [1](5) 1595. S 69/70[F3](313)28 1596. S 69/70(167)1474 1597. S 69/70 [D 14](331)1410 1598. 69 /70 < B > [J-K,14]1363 1599. 69 /70 < B > [E 7](342)1440 1600. S 69/70[A,12-14](317)1358 1601. 69 /70 < B > [C 10](369)1445 1602. 69 /70 < B > [E 14](331)1411 1603. S 69/70 < B > [A-C,2](310)1498 1604. S 69/70[C-E,7](369)17 1605. S 69/70(121)1356 1605a S 69/70[E](105)1351 1606. 69/70[J-K,14](309)1487 1607. S 69/70< > (169)39 1608. 70/l[U / ]1075 1609. S 69/70[R](66)1396 1610. S 69/70[E)(105)1397 1611. S 69/70 [E)(105)1351 1612. 69/70 < F> [R)(120)1343 1613. S 69/70 < F> [R)(111)1398 1614. S 69/70[R](107)1323 1615. 69/70(98)1342 1616. S 69/70[J-K,13](330)1485 1617. 69/70(1)1349 1618. Ibid 1619. S 69/70[N)(20)1319 1620. 69/70 [F-H ,7-8](367)1758 1621. S 69/70 < C > (129)485 1622. 69 /70 [C-E ,6)(361)1437 1623. 69 /70 < D > (l)A6604 1624. 69/70[R)(71)33

1625. S 69/70 < B > (439)A6543 1626. S .. [F 1](328) 1627.S 69 /70 < F > (21) 1305 1628. S 69/70 ..[beach, east of dig house](U /S)1475 1629. S 69/70 [H-1,2)(368)44 1630. S 69 /70 < D > (138 + 139)1382 1631. S 72/3[ < C >, near watchman's t nt](U /S)2099 Jar 1632. S 69 /70 < D > ( 1)A6604 Ewer 1637. S .. [S](151) Lid 1638. S 70/l[U /S)1075 1639. s..1389 Animal figurine 1640. 69/70 < B > [O 5,ablution area]( 421)1436 Sherds 1641. S .. [E)(105)1351 1642. S 70/l[U /S]1075

Stoneware with applied decoration Ewers 1633. S 72/3 [88](163)2084 1634. S 70/l[12)(47)625 1635. S 69/70[N](46)1447 1636. S ..[U / ]1389 Jar sherds 1643. S 69/70[R)(121)1346 1644. S 69/70[N)(23)1326 1645. S 69/70(101)24 1646. .. (74)1943 1647. S 69/70 (14)1318 1648. S 69/70< > (137)1461 1649. S 68/9(293)4493 1650. S 69/70 < D > (1)1349 1651. S 69/70 < D > (295)493 1652. S 69/70[B, 12-14](307)1308 1653. S 66[U /S] 29.Green and whites lashed ware Bowls 1654. S 72/3 < K> [98)(186)3709 1655. S.. [N)(20) 1656. S 69/70(l28)1352

364

1657. S 69/70 < D > (275) 1377 1658. S 67/8 < E > [N] (29)607 1659. S 69/70 [D-E,14](323)1412 1660. S.. [R](121) 1661. S.. < D > ..1349 1662. S 72/3[99](170)2020 1663. S 69/70 [N](43)1327 1664. S.. [R](170) 1665. S 70/l[63](152)2478

Jar 1666. S 72/3(94](218)2039 Dish 1667. S 70/1 [56]{147]627

Green splashed glaze over moulded decoration Dish 1668. S 69/70 (100)1706 Dish or bowl 1669. S 69/70(159)1370 1672. S 69/70 < B > [H 15](329) 1714 Dish or platter 1670. S 69/70 < C > (157)38 1671. S 69/70 < C > (103)5316 Sherd S 70/l[U /S]648 30. Polychrome splashed ware Bowls 1676. s...1308 1677. s.. Dish 1674. S 72/3[88](163)2095 1676. S 69/70 (57)1443

1687. S 69/70(53)1314 1688. S 69/70(G 15](341)1769 1689. S 69/70(19)1785 1690. S 69/70 < D > (1)A6727 1691. S 69/70[C-E,7-9](369)1702 1692. S 69/70 < F > [N] (20) 1312 1693. S 69/70 < P> [N](23)1326 1694. Ibid 1695. S 69/70 (21)1311 1696. S.[N]1318 1697. S 69/70(199)1791 1698. S 69/70 (21)1448 1699. S 69/70[kiln 24](351)1454 1700. S 69/70(200)1771 1701. Ibid 1702. S 72/3[5](160)3707 1703. S 69/70[R](179)1392 1704. S 69/70 < F > (216)46 1705. S 69/70(136)1465 1706. S 69/70[R](170)1376 1707. s .. 1708 Ibid 1709. S 69/70 [R](151)1470 1710. S 69/70[R](79)1453 1711. S 69/70(140)1468 1712. S 69/70 < F> [R](90)1330 1713. S ..1449 1714. S.. ..(19)1373 1715. S 69/70(19)1315 1716. S 69/70 (200)1771 1718. S 69/70< C> (171)22 1719. S 69/70(169)35 1720. S 69/70(176)1705 1721. S.. [N]1318 1722. S 69/70 (28)1313 1723. S.. [E](105)1351 1724. S 69/70 [C-E,10](369)1749 1725. S 69/70(167)1472 Cream stoneware with cobalt decoration 1726. S 69/70 (200)1770

31.Cream stoneware: Bowls 1678. S 72/3 [88](163)2076 1679. S 69/70 (21)1444 1679a.Ibid 1680. s... 1681. S 69/70(19)1373 1682. S .. < F> (21)1311 1683. S 69/70(19)1325 1684. S.. [N]l318 1685. Ibid 1686. S 69/70 < F> [N](43)1327

32.Fine white wares: with colourless and off white glazes a - colourless glaze over coarser white body Bowls 1728. S 67/SF> (98)2282 1729. S 69/70(1)1337 1730. S 70/lK> [73](111)2618 1731. S 69/70 < D > [fill of OF

42](265)1384 1733. S.. (l26)2828 b - glossy colourless glaze over fine white body Bowls 1732. S 70/l[U /S]1076 1734. S... 1735. S 66[U/S](23) 1736. S 70/1[/S]1075 1737. S ... [N](14)1318 1738. Ibid 1739. S 70 /l[U /S] 1389 1740. Ibid 1741. Ibid 1742. Ibid 1743. Ibid 1744. Ibid 1745. S 69/70F>[R](79)1453 1746. S 69/70[R](79)J453 1747. S 69/70l349 1748. S 69/70l349 1749. S 69/70l349 1750. S 72/3[5](166)2060 1751. S 69/70 (156)1761 1752. S 69?70 < D > (129)6282 1753. Ibid 1754. S 69/70 (387)1789 1754a.S 69/70 [N](42)1317 1755. S 69/70 (387)1789 1756. S ... .. 1756. Ibid 1757. Ibid 1758. Ibid J759. Ibid 1760. Ibid 1761. Ibid 1762. S 69/70[OF 59,well](330)1$62 1763. S 69/70 < D > [kiln @$](351)1454 1764. S 68/9 < B > [F](l.)57 1765. S 69/70(167)1472 1766. S .. (J67) 1767. S 69/70(l71)22 1768. S .. (208)1779 1769. S .. < C> (208)1779 1771. S 69/70(165)1747 1772. S 69/70101)1480 1773. S 66f1](20) 1774. S 66{U /S] 1775. S 66[kiln site](U /S) 1776. S 66[U /S] 1777. S .. [N](46) 1778. S 66C> [4](10a)640 1781. S 69/70 < F>(108)1333

1782. Ibid Jar 1770. S .. (208)1779 Jar lid 1779. S 67/8 (140)2061 Dish 1780. S 67/8 (174)2369 c - colourless glaze over slightly grey body Bowls 1784. S ...499 1785. S 68/9(154)1010 Lid 1783. S 70/l[U/S]1076 d - off white glaze over a white body Bowls 1786. S 69/70[kiln 14](77)1320 1787. S 69/70 (12)1471 1788. S 69/70[OF 24](128)6293 1789. S 66[U/S] 1790. S 66[U /S] 1791. S 69/70(125)1355 1792. S 69/70 [kiln 21](148)497 1793. S 69/70 [R](85)1434 1794. S .. (21)1.311 1795. S 69/70[kiln 241(351)1454 1796. S 69/70 < D > (270)6291 1797. S 66 [1]20) 1798. S 69/70 < D > ..6295 1799. S 69/70(118)1394 1800. S 68/9 [E](77)6039 1801. S .. < C> ..(118)1473 e - ivory glaze over a white body Bowls 1802. S 70/l[U /S]l.389 1803. S 66C> [1](7) 1804. S 66[U /S] 1805. S 66[U /S] 1806. S 66 < C > [2]32) 1807. S .. [N](44) 1808. S 69/70 < F > [N] (20) 1055 1808a.S 69/70(125)1422 1809. S 69/70F> (32)1469

366

f - brown edged white ware/bronze binding 1810. S 68/9 [S](92)2009 1811. S ..

g - colourless glaze overlaid with green blobs Bowl 1812. S 67/8 < F > (68)2370 h - slightly blue tinged glaze over a white body Bowls 1813. S 69/70(28)1313 1814. S 69/70(169)35 1815. S 69/70 (148)1596 1816. S 69/70[main baulk](101)480 1817. S ... 1818. S 69/70[spoil heap](101)1478

1849. S 69/70 < F > ( 128)1352 1850. S 69/70(159)1594 1851. S 67 /8 < E > [U /S] b - qingbai glazed Bowls 1852. S .. 1853. S 70/l[U/S]1075 1854. S ..[U /S]1389 c - oatmeal glazed Bowls 1855. S69/70 [O 8)(413)1740 1856. S 66[U /S]21 1857. Ibid d - pale green celadon glaze Bowls 1858. S 69/70 < D > ( 165)1369 1859. S 68/9 [N](5)3453

33.Fine grey wares: a - colourless glaze over a grey body Bowls 1818. S 69/70(117)1721 1819. S 66 [1](6) 1820. S 69/70F> (116)1341 1821. S 70/1 < B > [O 13](571)2649 1822. S 69/70[C-E,6](361)1742 1823. S 69/70 (225)1424 1824. S 69/70 [N](14)1318 1825. Ibid 1826. S 66A> [1)(6) ·1827. Ibid 1828. S 70/l[U /S]1075 1829. S 70/l[U /S]1076 1830. S 69/70(1)1371 1831. S 69/70(117)1476 1832. Ibid 1833. S 69/70(167)1744 1834. S 69/70C>(l01)34 1835. S .. < C> (167) 1836. S 69/70C>(168)1707 1837. S 69/70(161)1459 1838. S 69/70< C> (101)1480 1839. S .. 1840. S ..F> [N](20)1312 1841. S 68/9 [E](17)5466 1842. S ... 1842a.S ... 1843. S 66[U /S] 1844. S .. [E](105)1351 1845. S 66[/S](23) 1846. Ibid 1847. S 69/70[M, 7-8](303)1102 1848. S 66r1](4)

e - later celadon glazed ware Bowls 1860. S .. [C-E,7-9](369)1702 1861. S 69/70 [S](l Rm 9) 1862. S 67/8[N](1+5) 1863. S 66A> [1](3)814 f - sea green celadon glaze Bowls 1864. S..499 1865. S 67/8E>[ ](1,rubblc) 1866. S 67/8< E> [N](l) 1867. S 67/8 [S](1)546 1868. S 67/8 < B > [B](79) 1869. S ... 1870. S 70/l[A](3+6)623 1871. S 67/8[S](5 Rm 10) 1872. S 66[l](l) 1873. S 67/8 [U/S] 1874. S 67/8 < B > (1)976 1875. S 67/8 [N](l)

1876. S 68/9[F](14)70 1877. S 68/9 < B > [F](12)69 1878. S 67/8 > [S](48)684 1879. S 67/8 [S](20)617 1880. S .. . 1881. S 66[1](6) 1882. S 67/8 [S](l Rm 5)322 1883. S 70/l[U /S]l075 1884. S 70/l[U /S]l076 1885. S ..[U /S] 1886. S 67/8 [S](l Rm 13)

367

34.Blue and white ware: Bowls 1919. S 67/8> (S](5 Rm 10) 1920. S 67/8 < E > (S](4) 1921. S 67/8 < E > (N](47) 1922. S 67/8 < E > (U /S]995 1923. S 66(U /S] 1924. Ibid 1925. S 66[U /S]39 1926. S 67/8 < F > [test pit 2] (U /S)680 1927. S 66(l](l) 1928. S 66[U /S] 1929. S 66(U/S] 1930. S 69/70(1)1350 1931. S 66[U /S](38) 1932. Ibid 1933. 67/8(S](28)766 1934. S 66[madrasah] (U /S) 1935. S 69/70(101)24 1936. S 70/l(U /S]1075 1937. S 67/8 [S](l,rubble) 35.J apanese Overglaze Painted ware Sherds 1939. S 67/8(N](l) 1940. S 66 .. 1941. S 67/8 [N](l) 1942. S 67 /8 [S](l ,rubblc) 1943. S 67/8> [N](l Rm 2)375 1944. 67/8 < E > [S](47)519

369

Appendix C Regional Sites with Siraf-Type Ceramics

1. Bushire - a) The Portuguese Fort at Rishahr and (b) a site situated about 6 km. from the Taheri turn-off of the Bushire-Shiraz road, and 500 km. west of the road. A mud brick Tell site, sherds were obtained from (1) the caravanserai and (2) the largest of two nearby mounds.

2. Bidar Khar (Jamm) - Pottery collected from the Old Cemetery. 3. Bustanu. Chah-e-Mubarak - 17 km. east of Naband in the Rod-a-Garbandi from the mound and the scatter of houses at the foot of the mound. 4. Dorak - The site of an Early Islamic settlement, collection. Kiln debris and kiln wal1 also found.

valley. Pottery collected

1 km. north of the village of Dorak. Surface

5. Bibi Khatun - A larg e site 3 km. across, 6 km. north-west of Dayir. 6. Tal-i-Sabz - Site on summit of kopje, 2 km. north-north-west of Dayir. 7. Bardestan - Adjacent to modern village of Bardestan, near Dayir. Early Islamic site. Large area with rubble of houses. 8. Bid Khun (east oQ - Scatter of pottery collected from mod ern walled garden between Bid-Khun and Rajwal, 2-3 km. east of Bid Khun, on northern side of road. 9. Bid Khun (east oQ - Site 2 km. west of Bid Khun, on the new road. 10. Kahalu - Early Islamic or possibly earlier site, 4 km. west of Bid Khun, and 2 km. from I.he road to the north. Two mounds seperated by a wadi. 11. Parak - Pottery collected from slopes of hillside on which stands a small fort. Village of Parak. 12. Near Parak - (1) Site of sma ll fort 4 km. south-eas t of the village. Ruined turbek with surrounding cemetery. 13. Shirinu - Comp lex of ruined kilns and waster -dumps immediat elu north-west of Shirinu village. 14. Chah-Kaur - Site noted by Stein, 5-7 km. south-east of Shirinu. Nucleus approximately 100 m. south of road. Groups of foot rings of houses.

371 ig.94 Site B (The Congregational Mosque and Sasanian Fort) Phase

Deposit description

Deposit numbers

A

Earliest pre-mosque structures. (Sasanian) [Preplatform C 1-3]

Cl-1038; C2-1037; C3-1013, 1032, 1033, 1034, 1036, 1040, 1042, 1050, 1053

B

Sasanian and/ or Early Islamic occupation. [Pre-platform Bl-3, C4-5, Dl-2; El-2, F 1-3, G]

Bl-1020, 1044, 1063; Bl ot B2415, 461,532,610, 611 {Sasanian coin of Yazdigird I (399-420 AD-} 628, 681; B2-1007, 1014, 1015, 1024, 1025, 1045, 1046, 1047, 1062; B3-1006, 1019, C4-1008, 1016, 1049; C5-665, 1001, 1003, 1004, 1005, 1009, 1010, 1011, 1012, 1017, 1021, 1022, 1023, 1026, 1027, 1028, 1029, 1030, 1039; Dl-670; D2-540, 542, 545, 567, 584, 589,613,621,626, 627, 633, 634, 636, 641; El-391, 392; E2-386; Fl-402; F2-396; F3-395; G-338, 340, 349, 364,372, 385, 407, 408, 422, 424, 425, 426, 427, 615; Also- 236, 261, 276; Also 1966 [1] 51, 52, 65; [4] 7; [5] 11; [7] 9;

371

C

D

E

Latest major pre-mosque occupation begun before c.750/775 A.D. [Pre-platform D3]

D3-520,521,522,533, 535,563,537,538, 539,541,549,550, 554,558,568,569, 570,574,575,579, 585,586,587,588, 590,593,594,600, 604,605,609,612, 618,619,624,642, 643, 648, 662, 666, 673, 675, 704; Also 218,219.

Fill, etc., on latest pre-mosque floors, c.800 A.D. [Pre-platform A]

A-314, 318, 336, 346,356,357,375, 409,410,441,450, 451,456,458,459, 460, 465, 466, 536, 544,546,547,553, 559,603,606,616, 625, 688; Also 1002, 1018

Mosque 1 - Filling of original platform, c.803-4A.D. [Platform period 1]

[4] 4, 5, 6, 8; [7] 4, 7, 8;

201,205,208,212, 230,232,234,237, 238,240,274,275, 304,305,310,313, 315,316,317,319, 324, 325, 330, 331, 332,333,337,339, 341,343,345,347, 348,350,351,352, 353,354,355,358, 361, 363, 365, 366, 367, 368, 369, 371, 373,376,377,378, 379,380,381,382, 383,384,387,388 , 389, 390, 393, 394, 395, 397, 398, 399, 400, 404, 405, 406, 411, 413, 414, 420, 423,429,432,434, 436,438,439,440, 446,447,462,463, 464, 512, 517, 518, 529,548,551,564 , 576,599,623,630, 650

373

F

Mosque 2 - Filling of enlarged platform, c.804-850. [Platform period 2] { N.B. This is probably contemporary to the Site B-Extension PhaseB}

G

Period 2 or lat er (a) Filling of bay 1: (b) Upper platform or later: ( c) Strengthening of minaret foundation: ( d) Bay 1 make-up for existing floor: ( e) Certainly later than the upper platform: (f) Contents of well in courtyard: (g) Contents of drains:

[1] 23, 24, 25, 27, 28, 29, 30, 32, 33, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 50, 57, 59, 60, 61, 62a, 62d, 63, 64; [5] 12; Filling of bay 1-7, 210, 328, 335; Upper platform-198, 199, 200,202,203,207, 209, 211, 213, 229, 231,271,302,303, 307,308,309,311, 320, 321, 322, 323, 327, 342, 344, 359, 360, 362, 374, 401, 448, 500, 501, 506, 507,534,562,607, 657

5,8 [5] 8, 9; Also 228,306,312,329 445 6,273,326 334

370 761,214,272

H

Period 3 {Probably equates to Site B-Extension PhaseD}

98,99

I

Shilau phase (14-15th century)( a) Construction of mosque:

[1] 7, 41, 42, 43; [2] 3, 4, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 12a, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22; [8] 3, 4, 5, 5a; Also 4, 81, 123, 124,125,141

(b) On floor of mosque:

[1] 2, 6, 8, 9, 10, 14, 15, 16, 17, 19, 40; [2] 6; Also 51; [5] 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 94, 101

Site B - Extension Bay4

Bay5

Bay6

Phase

Deposit description

Bay3

A

Earlier than the Extension

53,54, 171,177, 178

B

Original paved floors [ = const ruction of Period 2]

185

189,190

176

C

Occupation

20,21, 22,23

28,48,

29,44, 45,46, 47,56, 57,58, 59,60, 61,129, 130,131, 136,140, 156,157

D

Constr uction of Period 3 [perhaps c.11501200]

E

Collapse

204

64,65, 67,84, 56,88, 89,110, 111,112, 113,114, 115,_116, 117,118, 119,138, 188 187

66

155,156

24,27

Bay7

Bay8

Bay9

BaylO

Bayll

173,180

162,168

150,150a, 160,165

167,183, 197,247, 254

183

154

196

132,133, 134,135, 139,152, 153

30,31, 32,35, 36,37, 38,39, 40,41, 42,49, 50,83, 181, 182

126

175

143,144, 145,146, 149,158, 161

142

169,170

163,164, 166,184

159,174

148, 172, 191, 193, 194

147

Fig.95

Site C - The Bazaar

1. Bazaar sounding(< B > 0 100) near mosque

Phase

Deposit description

Deposit numbers

A

Pre-bazaar Sasanian ditch

1057, 1060

B

Make-up for bazaar-phase 1

1056, 1059 {two coins of 803-4 A.O.}, 1061

C

Make-up for bazaar-phase 2

1054, 1058

D

Make-up for bazaar-phase 3

1052, 1055

E

Make-up for bazaar-phase 4a

1048, 1051

F

Make-up for bazaar-phase 4b and 5

1041, 1043

G

Rubble of collapse

1035

2. Bazaar sounding < B > A

Pre-bazaar stage [mainly pre-Site C mosque, with a few deposits from Site C mosque-phase

A]

01-(1)421, (2)412, 416; 02-(1)454,(2)452 (3)442,( 4)435, (5)430,(6)417, (7)419; 03-(1 )433,(2)428, (3)418; 08-(1)457,(2)453, (3)449,( 4)431 011-(1)527,528 (2)526,531, (3)524, 525, (4)523,(5)509, 510,(6)505

B

Original bazaar [including make-up and use][ equals period just prior to construction of Site C mosque-phase B]

014-557, 565, 572, 617, 620, 622, 671,674,677,678, 679,680,683,686, 693,698,700,703; 09-444, 614

C

Make-up for earlier bazaar

015-656, 676, 687, 691,694,697

D

Make-up for late bazaar upto collapse of latest bazaar

015-653, 664,668, 672; 013 etc.-689, 699,695,516,684; O13-Cl.644, 646, C2.685; 010-511, 513; 013-580 ) 514,560, 561

[Streets of bazaar, stratified but of uncertain date]

[443,663,552,556, 655,652,658,659, 690,692,701,515, 519,581,591,592, 598, 597, 573, 682]

3'/8

3a. Sounding < C> [1]. possibly part of warehouse excavation Phase

Deposit description

Deposit numbers

A

Pre-building stage

25, 30, 35, 36, 37, 41, 42, 43, 44, 48, 49, 52, 53, 54, 55, 58

B

Make-up for building 1

22, 33, 39, 40, 47, 48, 50, floor 25

C

Make-up for building 2

7, 9, 11, 12, 18, 23, 24, 29, 34, 48, 51

D

Make-up for latest building

3, 6, 8, 10, 15, 19, 20, 21, 26, 27, 28, 45,46

3b. Warehouse Phase

Deposit description

Deposit numbers

A

Of Period 2

15a, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21,22

B

Of Period 2

10, 11, 14, 15

C

Units sealed by latest building [Period 2]

[3] 8, 9, 12, 13a, 13b, 121, 122, 174, 176

D

Units on latest floors [Period 3]

[3] 4, 5, 6, 7, 106, 111, 112, 113, 126, 132, 133, 138, 143, 144, 146, 156, 158,172,173

E

Collapse

118, 123, 125, 128, 134,166,170

380

4. Block of shops? (Sounding < C > [2]) A

Make-up for and construction of the building-phase A

B

Make-up for and construction of the building-phase B

33,34

C

Make-up for and construction of the building-phase C

32

D

Make-up for and construction of the building-phase D

25, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, [6], [9]

E

Make-up for and construction of the building-phase E

14, 15, 20, 21, 24, 26, [2], [8], [12]

F

Latest floors

5, 6, 7, 11, 13, 16, 18, 19, 22, 23, [1], [3], [4], [10], 17

381

5. Bath-hous

and Building E of Bath

Phase

Deposit description

Deposit numbers

A

Under earlier floor of bath-house

152, 188

B

Under later floor of bath-house

153

C

Fill at bottom of well of bath-house

161

D

Trample of later floor in Building E

[721], 723

E

Wash in pre-collapse stage of bath-house:

186, 187, 190, 192, 197, 198

Wash in pre-collapse stage of building E:

715,718

382

6. Mosque Phase

Deposit description

Deposit numbers

A

Pre-mosque stage

196,212,213

B

Construction of mosque-phase A

F27, 194,2 05,F70, 744

C

Construction of mosque-phase B

184, 183, 182, 181, 179, 180, F22, 193, 204,210,743,745, 175,203, F69, 742, 724

D

Construction of mosque-phase B2

201, 731, F64, 760, 710

E

Construction of mosque-phase C

171, 200, 209, 727, 733,739,736,730, 707, 706, F68, F60,F23, F20, 169, 746

F

Construction of mosque-phase D

165, 167, 199, 208, 714,719,759,725, 704,F65,F25,F7

G

Pre-recent stage

139, 140, 157, 178, 206,702,703,726

383 Fig.96 Site F - House N Phase

Deposit description

Deposit numbers

A

Early pre-house: Late pre-house: Contemporary street surfaces:

26,27,43,45,46 25 47,48,49,50

B

Construction of house

12, 14, 20, 22, 23, 36

C

Street surfaces contemporary to the use of the house:

37, 38, 39, 40b, 41, 42,44

Earliest fill rer sting on floors:

7, 13, 19, 28, 29, 30,35

384 Fig.97 Site F - House E Phase

Deposit description

Deposit numbers

A

Earliest structures: Backfilling of well:

208,248,293 304,305

B

Make-up for construction

18, 31, 55, 57, 63, 65, 85, 86, 87, 90, 92, 97, 100, 103, 109,209,210,292, 295,297,298

C

Between original and later floors:

27, 30, 32, 34, 35, 43, 48, 53, 54, 66, 67, 73, 77, 78, 79, 81, 84, 86, 98, 99, 100, 102, 106,107, 300,301,409,410, FlO

Use of house:

D

Squatter occupation of house and collapse of house

12, 13, 16, 17, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 28, 29, 30, 32, 33, 36, 38, 40, 41, 42, 43, 45; 46, 47, 49, 50, 51, 56, 58, 59, 61, 64, 68, 70, 72, 74,83,96,97, 101, 104, 105, 108, 279

E

Shilau or post-medieval occupation

9, 10, 44, 52, 62, 69, 75, 76, 80, 82, 88,89,94,95

F

Recent

1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 11, 15, 19, 37, 60, 93

B

Sasanian

Fort, Great Extension

Mosque , and Sequences

Great

:1osque

(/)

rt C

I I1

0., I-'· (1)

0., (/)

f-'·

C

S e ven

Bazaar

gl

rt (D en

Seg~dings

Pl

1--'

trj!

:

I 12

X 0

I

Pl

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -- -

1-------------

F

Large

Houses

of

Residential

(uarter

~J I-'·

0 ::::i

~

en I-'·

rt

(D

1.

Proportionate Occurence of Islamic and Chinese Glazed ware Types in the Total Ceramic Assemblage,Through Phases of Site.

2.

Total Earthenware,Islamic Glazed and Chinese Glazed ware Percentages through Phases of Site.

3.

Proportionate Islamic/Chinese

4.

Percentages of Sslamic Earthenware, Islamic and Chinese Glazed Wires Total Ceramic Assemblage.

1...-

Fig.98 Key to Bar Charts

Occurence Glazed

of Types in the vare Assemblages.

in

and the

v.:

00 vi

386 Main Mosque

12.

fl

10

OC.w

06(,,

7

n

- c.

n '

OQG.--..

,a

n

L.SW-,.

B

C.

SI

Bazaar Sounding near Mosque: B 0100 Fig . 102 S IT E C Propor t iona t. " Occur i n To al Ass mblay

.o

E

\,JC,, - (.

f'

Q

A

B

c:.

.P

A

S

C:

C

□ I>

LS\J - "-

Sl

Bazaar Soundin g: B nee of Isl a mic/C hi ncse , TI r o ugh Phas s of Sit

Glazed

wan,

Typ

s

~;.

lj.•J,

If

.

n

aw

n

391

l

+D

'-

FW • .I., « ,\-

.....

lL C\.J-~, ..

1h

rs-o.. y

10

..."

r7l7

LG

,,c.

C:~v:; 1

staae

Pre-bal.3..3.r

R.ero rt s -Ma

SOUND ING POSSIBLY

~B ;..

5

LSW>-S LS Wc-F CGSa - S Y-1 PSc-1 CWa , b

s Floe - ! Reports - Deposit on floor bo re

wh1 te-g lazed

Clob-S

~

FWe-1 LGMW-1

~

res ting SalJuq

ware

~

23 Vi

SITE

F ,

HOUSE

A - Pre-house Remains of earlier

N

S ITE

F ,

D - Squat t.er

HOUS__I; _ __!;:_

A - t.arl

1est

Remains Reportsincluding

of ear11er Old ~•ell w:.;,PSa

Col lHpse S I- S LG- S

struct.1...res

house

l(; b - l 1-{;c-F 1-Gd-l L W.-1 LS wa-L

-

of

Y-1 PSa ,c-S

S I-5

F'W:l- 1 GW3-S CA

L

B ,: i

Const.ruct hous~

1.on ':lnd us~

S 1-5 LG-1 K;a-F l'Gb-l \ , ......

J 1...1'·

U

A

N G

X

A1Jtonomous ·Reg,on

, .,

,·

~\

ONANNING

a

Pro~1nc1al c a p1taf5

•

Kiln si t e s

E.G.H.

Fig.117 Chinese Kiln Sites. Courtesy: P. Hughes-Stanton

and R .Kcrr

425

50

6,5

es

eo

,-----------------~ Bagh i Shaikh

D POTTERY

~

Om

M2

I

P1

- 500

P2

'\ '

45

1

50

L- ow _ __

4.,L_ 5 _______

50L.._

5 5______

______

_..J...

_j__ 60

AQUEDUCT

______

EXTRA - MURAL

CEMETERY

SETTLEMENT CITY

WALL

Fi g.116 Siraf: Site Pl an. Courtesy:

David Whit ehou se

es

__.__--l