The Archaeology of Southwest Afghanistan, Volume 1: Survey and Excavation 9781399503730, 9781399503754, 9781399503761

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The Archaeology of Southwest Afghanistan

The Archaeology of Southwest Afghanistan Volume 1: Survey and Excavation

William B. Trousdale and Mitchell Allen

Edinburgh University Press is one of the leading university presses in the UK. We publish academic books and journals in our selected subject areas across the humanities and social sciences, combining cutting-edge scholarship with high editorial and production values to produce academic works of lasting importance. For more information visit our website: edinburghuniversitypress.com © William B. Trousdale and Mitchell Allen, 2022 Edinburgh University Press Ltd The Tun – Holyrood Road 12 (2f) Jackson’s Entry Edinburgh EH8 8PJ Typeset in Arno Pro 11 pt by Hannah Jennings Design and printed and bound in Malta by Melita Press A CIP record for this book is available from the British Library ISBN 978 1 3995 0373 0 (hardback) ISBN 978 1 3995 0375 4 (webready PDF) ISBN 978 1 3995 0376 1 (epub) The right of William B. Trousdale and Mitchell Allen to be identified as authors of this work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 and the Copyright and Related Rights Regulations 2003 (SI No. 2498).

Contents

List of Illustrations viii Preface, William B. Trousdale xxiii A Note on Transliteration, Names, and Maps xxiv Helmand Sistan Project Participants xxv About the Authors xxvi Acknowledgements xvii Chapter 1. Introduction 1 PART I: BACKGROUND Chapter 2. History of the Sistan Region 13 Chapter 3. History of Archaeological Research in Afghan Sistan 19 Chapter 4. Field Methodology 29 PART II: SURVEY SITES Chapter 5. Sar-o-Tar 49 5.1 Burj 1 49 5.2 Burj 19 50 5.3 Burj 20 52 5.4 Burj 183 53 5.5 Burj 344 54 5.6 Cemetery 143 54 5.7 Chehel Burj 55 5.8 Dam 198 61 5.9 Dam 205 62 5.10 Dam 351 63 5.11 Dam Kurdu A 63 5.12 Dam Kurdu B 64 5.13 Dik-i Dalil 66 5.14 Granary 307 67 5.15 Granary 330 68 5.16 Grave 153 68 5.17 House 20 69 5.18 House 49 70 5.19 House 145 72 5.20 House 159 73

5.21 House 214.5 74 5.22 House 218 74 5.23 House 239 78 5.24 House 240 80 5.25 House 271 80 5.26 House 310 81 5.27 House 311 82 5.28 House 311.5 83 5.29 House 323 85 5.30 House 352 90 5.31 Houses 210 91 5.32 Houses 338 95 5.33 Houses 353 118 5.34 Houses STC-5A 120 5.35 Jars Sites 120 5.36 Jars 142 121 5.37 Jars 172 122 5.38 Jars 176 122 5.39 Jars 185 122 5.40 Jars 197 122 5.41 Jars 198 122 5.42 Jars 207 122 5.43 Jars 218 123 5.44 Jars 219 123 5.45 Jars 220 124 5.46 Jars 238 124 5.47 Jars 249 124 5.48 Jars 333 125 5.49 Kiln 253 125 5.50 Kurdu 125 5.51 Mausoleum 4B 126 5.52 Mausoleum 165 128 5.53 Mausoleum 271 129 5.54 Mausoleum 327A 131 5.55 Mausoleum 338A 132 5.56 Mir Ali 134 5.57 Qala 0.5 135

the archaeology of southwest afghanistan 5.58 Qala 1 137 5.59 Qala 4 Village 140 5.60 Qala 4 143 5.61 Qala 4A 144 5.62 Qala 5.5A 145 5.63 Qala 5.5B 149 5.64 Qala 5.5C 150 5.65 Qala 5.5D 151 5.66 Qala 19A 152 5.67 Qala 19B 155 5.68 Qala 20 156 5.69 Qala 222 157 5.70 Qala 231 159 5.71 Qala 265 161 5.72 Qala 268 161 5.73 Qala 298 163 5.74 Qala 327 164 5.75 Qala 330 167 5.76 Qala 340 168 5.77 Qala 344 170 5.78 Qala 345 171 5.79 Qala 348.5 173 5.80 Qala 349 174 5.81 Qala 350 175 5.82 Qala 350A 176 5.83 Qala 351 178 5.84 Qala 352 179 5.85 Qala 352.5 181 5.86 Qala 352A 183 5.87 Qala 353 183 5.88 Qala 357 184 5.89 Qala 358 186 5.90 Qala 359 188 5.91 Qala 359.5 191 5.92 Qala STB-5 West 192 5.93 Qala STC-5B 194 5.94 Qala STC-5C 194 5.95 Qala STC-10A 195 5.96 Qala-i Amiran Sahib 195 5.97 Qala-i Nau 200 5.98 Qala-i Surkh (North) 203 5.99 Rustaq 3 207 5.100 Sangar 208 5.101 Square Qala II 209 5.102 Surburt 209 5.103 Ziyarat-i Amiran Sahib 211

Chapter 6. Helmand Valley Sites 223 6.1 Baghak 223 6.2 Bobo Qala 225 6.3 Chehel Miriz 227 6.4 Chigini 228 6.5 Dam-i Malik Khan 229 6.6 Diwalak Bala 233 6.7 Diwalak Pa’in 233 6.8 Hauz-i Palangi 234 6.9 Hauz Cistern 238 6.10 Jui Nau 239 6.11 Jui Nau Mosque 241 6.12 Karbasak 243 6.13 Khwaja Hasan 245 6.14 Khwaja Kanur 247 6.15 Koh-i Khan Neshin 248 6.16 Kona Qala I 249 6.17 Kurkoray I 250 6.18 Kurkoray II 254 6.19 Malakhan Plain Sites 255 6.20 Malakhan Plain II 257 6.21 Malakhan Plain III 257 6.22 Malakhan Plain IV 258 6.23 Malakhan Plain V 259 6.24 Malakhan Plain VI 260 6.25 Malakhan Plain VII 261 6.26 Malakhan Plain VIII 263 6.27 Malakhan Plain IX 264 6.28 Malakhan Plain X 265 6.29 Malakhan Plain XI 265 6.30 Malakhan Plain XII 266 6.31 Malakhan Plain XIII 266 6.32 Malakhan Plain XIV 267 6.33 Malakhan Plain XV 268 6.34 Malakhan Plain XVI 269 6.35 Malakhan Plain XVII 269 6.36 Murtaza 270 6.37 Palangi 271 6.38 Qala-i Fath 275 6.39 Qala-i Gawak 279 6.40 Qala-i Jan Beg 281 6.41 Qala-i Madar-i Padshah III 284 6.42 Qala-i Mullah Nasrullah 285 6.43 Qala-i Sirak 287 6.44 Qala-i Surkh South 313 6.45 Sheikh Mariz 315 6.46 Šna Qala 315 6.47 Tandorak 323 6.48 Tepe Daishu I 324 6.49 Tepe Daishu II 325 6.50 Tepe Rudbar I 326 vi

contents illustrations Chapter 7. Other Sites 327 7.1 Chor Gunbad 327 7.2 Dam 331 7.3 Gina Kuhna 335 7.4 Godar-i Shah 336 7.5 Jali Robat 341 7.6 Kusrutabad 345 7.7 Mukhtar 346 7.8 Trakhun 350

8.9 Qala 169 458 8.10 Qala 198 478 8.11 Temple 215 485 Chapter 9. Shahr-i Gholghola 511 9.1 History of Research 514 9.2 Wall Systems 515 9.3 The Citadel 540 9.4 The Circular Enclosure 575 9.5 The Outer Compound 639 9.6 Discussion 650 Appendix 1: Sites Identified by the Helmand Sistan Project 653

PART III: EXCAVATIONS Chapter 8. Excavated Sites 357 8.1 Cemetery 150 357 8.2 House 139 359 8.3 Houses 183 372 8.4 House 266 383 8.5 Khana Gauhar 388 8.6 Khwaja Ali Sehyaka 400 8.7 Lat Qala 433 8.8 Mausoleum 214 450

Appendix 2: Helmand Sistan Project Publications 671 Appendix 3: The Temple Inscription from Khwaja Ali Sehyaka/Sehyak 672 Lauren Morris, Rachel Mairs, and Michael Zellmann-Rohrer References 687 Index 695

vii

Illustrations All photographs by Robert K. Vincent, Jr., unless otherwise indicated.

Figures 1.1 Map of Afghan Sistan with key modern and ancient sites 1 1.2 View of the Helmand Valley 2 1.3 Reeds and shallow water comprise the edge of the Hamun Lakes 2 1.4 Shela Rud channel runs from the hamuns toward the Gaud-i Zirreh 2 1.5 Gaud-i Zirreh seen in the distance 3 1.6 Registan sands south of Kandahar 3 1.7 Edge of the Dasht-i Margo 3 1.8 A Sar-o-Tar wind storm 3 1.9 Well-built mudbrick compounds of the village khans and the simple tamarisk and mud homes of the Baluch villagers 4 1.10 The 1971 HSP field team 5 1.11 HSP geologist John Whitney examining formation processes of the Helmand Valley 5 1.12 Sites identified by the Helmand Sistan Project 6 1.13 Garage archaeology in California 7 1.14 HSP materials at the Smithsonian Museum Support Center 7 1.15 Afghan Heritage Mapping Program Staff 8 1.16 1975 camp at Lat Qala shredded by a violent windstorm 10 4.1 The survey team with local people at Kurkoray I 29 4.2 The Helmand Valley looking north from Koh-i Khan Neshin 29 4.3 Surveying Qala-i Sirak required boating across the Helmand 30 4.4 The dunes of Sar-o-Tar 30 4.5 Excavation at House 139 in 1974 with a large dune 30 4.6 Remains of a human burial and accompanying artifacts laid bare by wind action 31 4.7 Wood gatherers in Sar-o-Tar 31 4.8 Unloading the Land Rovers at our camp 31 4.9 Periodic trips to the river 32 4.10 The HSP camp at Shahr-i Gholghola 32

4.11 Workmen from nearby villages lived with us 32 4.12 Evenings consisted of writing field notes 33 4.13 The systematic random survey experiment at Kurkoray I 33 4.14 Some surveying in 1972 and 1973 was done by motorcycle 34 4.15 Temporary camp at Qala 357 during our 1974 survey 34 4.16 HSP photographer Chip Vincent setting up his shot on a modern kiln 34 4.17 Collecting objects at Qala 344 34 4.18 Bob Hamilton surveying the Circular Wall of Shahr-i Gholghola 34 4.19 Clearing sand out of the shrine room of Temple 215 35 4.20 Jim Knudstad and Baluch worker excavating a floor at House 139 35 4.21 Laying out excavation grid for Area A at Sehyak 36 4.22 Vertical trench at Qala 169 36 4.23 Excavating the Shahr-i Gholghola mosque 36 4.24 The excavation along the eastern terrace of the Circular Enclosure 37 4.25 Bob Hamilton attempting to reconstruct excavated ceramics 37 4.26 Morrison Knudsen 1952 aerial photo of Shahr-i Gholghola area 39 4.27 Field map created from the Morrison Knudsen aerial photo 39 4.28 Baked brick architectural decorations found at Khwaja Kanur 45 5.1.1 Satellite view of Burj 1 49 5.2.1 Satellite view of Burj 19 50 5.2.2 Burj 19 (rear R) from Qala 19a 50 5.2.3 Burj 19 east side entry 51 5.2.4 Burj 19 north and west sides 51 5.2.5 Interior mudbrick dome of Burj 19 51 5.3.1 Burj 20 52 viii

illustrations 5.4.1 Burj 183 53 5.4.2 Large tamarisk near Burj 183 53 5.6.1 Two stone rectangles of Cemetery 143 54 5.7.1 Satellite view of Chehel Burj 55 5.7.2 Spatial orientation of five structures at Chehel Burj 56 5.7.3 Chehel Burj Building 360A, Building D, Building E 56 5.7.4. Sketch plan of Building 360A at Chehel Burj 56 5.7.5 Sketch plan of Building 360B at Chehel Burj 57 5.7.6 Sketch plan of Building 360D at Chehel Burj 57 5.7.7 Chehel Burj Building 360D 57 5.7.8 Sketch plan of exterior wall tower configuration at Chehel Burj 360D 58 5.7.9 Interior of Chehel Burj Building 360D 58 5.7.10 Sketch plan of Building 360E at Chehel Burj 58 5.7.11 Chehel Burj Building 360E 59 5.7.12 Interior of Chehel Burj Building 360E 59 5.7.13 Interior of Chehel Burj Building 360E 59 5.7.14 Fluted baked brick scroll architectural fragment from Chehel Burj 360B 60 5.8.1 Dam 198 61 5.9.1 Dam 205 62 5.9.2 Dam 205 showing mudbrick layers 62 5.10.1 Satellite view of Dam 351 63 5.11.1 Satellite view of Dam Kurdu A/B 63 5.11.2 Dam Kurdu A/B 64 5.11.3 Tower at center of Dam Kurdu A 64 5.12.1 Dam Kurdu B from Dam Kurdu A 65 5.12.2 Sketch plan of Dam Kurdu B 65 5.12.3 Sketch of wall of Dam Kurdu B 65 5.12.4 Side doors of Dam Kurdu B 65 5.12.5 Holes to hold wooden beams of Dam Kurdu B 65 5.13.1 Satellite view of Dik-i Dalil 66 5.14.1 Satellite view of Granary 307 67 5.14.2 Granary 307 from south 67 5.14.3 Granary 307 from east 67 5.15.1 Satellite view of Granary 330 68 5.15.2 Granary 330 68 5.17.1 House 20 vaulted passage 69 5.17.2 House 20 69 5.18.1 House 49 plan 70 5.18.2 House 49 from southwest 70 5.18.3 South rooms of House 49 71 5.18.4 Southeast corner of House 49 71 5.18.5 North interior façade of House 49 71 5.18.6 Detail of north iwan of House 49 71 5.19.1 Satellite image of House 145 72 5.19.2 House 145 72 5.19.3 Storage jar inside House 145 72

5.20.1 Satellite image of House 159 73 5.20.2 House 159 73 5.21.1 Steatite oil lamp at House 214.5 74 5.22.1 Plan of House 218 75 5.22.2 Courtyard and iwan of House 1 of House 218 75 5.22.3 House 218 75 5.22.4 North side of north iwan of House 218 76 5.22.5 Decoration in northwest corner of north iwan of House 218 76 5.22.6 Western wall of courtyard and iwan of House 1 of House 218 76 5.22.7 Second story of northwest room of House 1 of House 218 77 5.22.8 Ruined southwestern building of House 218 77 5.22.9 Southern courtyard of House 218 from north 77 5.23.1 Sketch plan of House 239 78 5.23.2 House 239 78 5.23.3 Interior of House 239 79 5.23.4 Keyhole arch decoration in northeast room of House 239 79 5.23.5 Eroded Timurid house with canal running under it 79 5.24.1 Satellite view of House 240 80 5.24.2 House 240 80 5.26.1 Satellite view of House 310 81 5.26.2 House 310 from east 81 5.26.3 House 310 from north 81 5.26.4 Room along eastern side of House 310 81 5.27.1 West exterior of House 311 82 5.27.2 North iwan of House 311 82 5.28.1 North exterior façade of House 311.5 83 5.28.2 West exterior of House 311.5 83 5.28.3 Interior north iwan and rooms inside House 311.5 83 5.28.4 Southwest interior of House 311.5 84 5.28.5 Southeast interior of House 311.5 84 5.28.6 West rooms and northwest corner of House 311.5 84 5.29.1 Satellite view of House 323 85 5.29.2 North gateway entrance to House 323 85 5.29.3 Interior of north gatehouse 86 5.29.4 Baked brick walkway from gatehouse 86 5.29.5 Northwest corner of walled exterior compound 87 5.29.6 Interior of north iwan looking toward gatehouse 87 5.29.7 Northwest corner room 88 5.29.8 West side rooms at south end of House 323 88 5.29.9 Second floor of west side of House 323 88 5.29.10 Southeast exterior of House 323 89 5.29.11 East wall of House 323 89 5.29.12 Satellite building southwest of House 323 89 ix

the archaeology of southwest afghanistan 5.30.1 Satellite view of House 352 90 5.30.2 Sketch plan of House 352 90 5.30.3 House 352 north northwest façade of Room A 90 5.30.4 House 352 southeast façade of Room B 90 5.30.5 House 352 façade of upper courtyard walls 90 5.31.1 Satellite view of Houses 210 91 5.31.2 Cluster of Houses 210 92 5.31.3 Timurid house in Houses 210 92 5.31.4 Decorated façade in Houses 210 92 5.31.5 Eroded mausoleum in Houses 210 93 5.31.6 Decorated façade of an iwan in Houses 210 93 5.31.7 Decoration of a house east of House 218 93 5.31.8 Fake rows of mudbrick in Houses 210 94 5.31.9 Domed room of Houses 210 94 5.31.10 Corner room in Houses 210 94 5.32.1 Satellite view of Houses 338, 2016 95 5.32.2 Labeled satellite view of Houses 338, 2013 95 5.32.3 Plan of mosque and ziyarat at Houses 338 96 5.32.4 Cemetery west of mosque 96 5.32.5 Mihrab of mosque 96 5.32.6 Plan and elevation of north windmill 97 5.32.7 Windmill at northern end of Houses 338 98 5.32.8 Detail of north windmill 98 5.32.9 Plan of southern estate home 99 5.32.10 Overview of southern estate home 99 5.32.11 Standing walls of southern estate home 100 5.32.12 Plan of northern baked brick building 101 5.32.13 Baked brick building from west 101 5.32.14 Baked brick building from northeast 102 5.32.15 Collapsed dome of northeast room 102 5.32.16 Southeast courtyard of baked brick building 102 5.32.17 Baked brick building courtyard 103 5.32.18 Baked brick building northwest 103 5.32.19 House A from the west 103 5.32.20 House A from the east 103 5.32.21 North façade of House A 104 5.32.22 South façade of House A 104 5.32.23 Iwan in House A 104 5.32.24 House B north iwan 105 5.32.25 Interior of northern room in House B 105 5.32.26 Interior courtyard of House C 106 5.32.27 North façade of House D 106 5.32.28 House D, decorated northwest room 106 5.32.29 House D, round tower at southwest corner 107 5.32.30 Dovecote southeast of House D 107 5.32.31 Interior of dovecote at House D 107 5.32.32 North façade of House E 107 5.32.33 Southeast? interior of House E 107 5.32.34 West façade of House F 108 5.32.35 House F domed “Room 1” 108

5.32.36 House F vaulted “Room 2” 108 5.32.37 House F, detail of doming in “Room 3” 109 5.32.38 House G, north exterior 109 5.32.39 House G, northwest part of courtyard 109 5.32.40 House G, northeast corner of courtyard 110 5.32.41 House G, rooms south of courtyard 110 5.32.42 House G staircase 110 5.32.43 House G, interior of northwest room 111 5.32.44 Timurid house north iwan 111 5.32.45 Tower at northern Houses 338 111 5.32.46 Unidentified baked brick building at northern Houses 338 111 5.32.47 Field rows and adjoining canal in Houses 338 111 5.32.48 Canal diversion structure near Houses 338 112 5.32.49 Mausoleum 338 from southwest 112 5.32.50 Plan of first floor of Mausoleum 338 113 5.32.51 Plan of upper floor of Mausoleum 338 113 5.32.52 Mausoleum 338 north exterior 113 5.32.53 Mausoleum 338 south exterior 114 5.32.54 Mausoleum 338 west exterior 114 5.32.55 Mausoleum 338 east exterior 115 5.32.56 Stairwell at southwest exterior 115 5.32.57 Niche in north wall of mausoleum 115 5.32.58 East interior of mausoleum showing construction 115 5.32.59 South interior mausoleum elevation, east 116 5.32.60 East interior mausoleum elevation, south 116 5.32.61 East interior of mausoleum 117 5.32.62 South interior of mausoleum 117 5.32.63 Southeast corner showing dome construction 117 5.33.1 Satellite view of Houses 353 118 5.33.2 Façade of house in Houses 353 118 5.33.3 Qala 353 with Houses 353 119 5.33.4 Houses 353 buildings buried beneath high dunes 119 5.33.5 Canal takeoff for Houses 353 irrigation 119 5.35.1. Excavation of storage jar at Jars 249 121 5.35.2 Excavated storage jar from Jars 249 121 5.35.3 Decorated ceramic storage jar lid 121 5.35.4 Storage jar excavated at Jars 249 121 5.36.1 Four embedded jars at Jars 142 site 121 5.37.1 Volcanic stone pulley from Jars 172 122 5.43.1 Jars 218 site 123 5.44.1 Jars 219 site 123 5.44.2 Embedded storage jars at Jars 219 123 5.44.3 Islamic cemetery south of Jars 219 123 5.47.1 Jar configuration at Jars 249 124 5.47.2 Kiln at Jars 249 124 x

illustrations 5.48.1 Jars 333 site 125 5.51.1 Sketch plan of Mausoleum 4B 126 5.51.2 Mausoleum 4B from the west 126 5.51.3 Northeast room of Mausoleum 4B 127 5.51.4 Northwest room of Mausoleum 4B 127 5.51.5 North iwan of Mausoleum 4B 127 5.52.1 Mausoleum 165 from southwest 128 5.52.2 Larger mausoleum with double arches 128 5.52.3 Mudbrick tombs inside Mausoleum 165 129 5.52.4 Smaller mausoleum at Mausoleum 165 129 5.53.1 Mausoleum 271 from the east 129 5.53.2 Piers of Mausoleum 271 130 5.53.3 South pier of Mausoleum 271 130 5.53.4 Other sides of south pier of Mausoleum 271 130 5.53.5 Baked brick vaulting on grave east of Mausoleum 271 131 5.54.1 Mausoleum 327A with Qala 327 131 5.54.2 South and north building of Mausoleum 327A 132 5.55.1 Sketch plan of Mausoleum 338A 133 5.55.2 Baked brick foundations of Mausoleum 338A 133 5.56.1 Sketch plan of Mir Ali/House 351 134 5.56.2 Large house at Mir Ali/House 351 134 5.56.3 Walled gardens around Mir Ali/House 351 135 5.57.1 Satellite view of Qala 0.5 135 5.57.2 Southeast interior of Qala 0.5 136 5.57.3 Terrace south of walls of Qala 0.5 136 5.58.1 Satellite view of Qala 1 137 5.58.2 Field sketch of Qala 1 137 5.58.3 Qala 1 from west 137 5.58.4 Entrance of outer fortress of Qala 1 138 5.58.5 Wall lines of Qala 1138 5.58.6 Construction of southeast wall of Qala 1 139 5.58.7 Entrance to central tower of Qala 1 139 5.58.8 Central tower of Qala 1 139 5.58.9 Bastion of outer fortress of Qala 1 140 5.59.1 Satellite view of Qala 4 Village area 140 5.59.2 View looking south from Qala 4 141 5.59.3 Plan of Sasanian fortified house of Qala 4A 141 5.59.4 Eroded house in north part of Qala 4 Village 142 5.59.5 Round tower between Qala 4 and Qala 4A 142 5.60.1 Field sketch of Qala 4 143 5.60.2 Qala 4 from north 143 5.60.3 Central structure of Qala 4 looking west 144 5.60.4 Interior of east gate of Qala 4 144 5.62.1 Satellite view of Qala 5.5 area 145 5.62.2 Field sketch of Qala 5.5A 146 5.62.3 Qala 5.5A exterior from northwest 146 5.62.4 Northern interior of Qala 5.5A 147 5.62.5 Eastern interior of Qala 5.5A 147 5.62.6 Southern interior of Qala 5.5A 148

5.62.7 Large storage jar outside Qala 5.5A 148 5.63.1 Field sketch of Qala 5.5B 149 5.63.2 Qala 5.5B from south 149 5.64.1 Plan of Sasanian fire temple Qala 5.5C 150 5.65.1 Field sketch of Qala 5.5D 151 5.65.2 Qala 5.5D from Qala 5.5A 151 5.65.3 Qala 5.5D from southwest 151 5.66.1 Satellite view of Qala 19A 152 5.66.2 South and west exterior walls of Qala 19A 152 5.66.3 West interior of Qala 19A 153 5.66.4 Eastern interior of Qala 19A 153 5.66.5 Looking east from Qala 19A 154 5.66.6 Sherd containing symbol of King Gondophares 154 5.67.1 Satellite view of Qala 19B 155 5.67.2 South and west exterior of Qala 19B 155 5.67.3 North and east interior of Qala 19B 156 5.68.1 Satellite view of Qala 20 156 5.68.2 Qala 20 exterior from west 157 5.68.3 Qala 20 interior looking north 157 5.69.1 Plan of Qala 222 157 5.69.2 Qala 222 from east 158 5.69.3 Qala 222 from east 158 5.69.4 Qala 222 from west 159 5.70.1 Satellite view of Qala 231 159 5.70.2 Qala 231 from Jars 238 site 160 5.70.3 Qala 231 from west 160 5.70.4 Dense sherd and ceramic slag scatter at Qala 231 160 5.71.1 South and east sides of Qala 265 161 5.72.1 Field sketch of Qala 268 161 5.72.2 Qala 268 from southeast 162 5.72.3 Entry gate at Qala 268 162 5.72.4 Interior of Qala 268 162 5.73.1 Satellite view of Qala 298 163 5.73.2 Qala 298 from southeast 163 5.73.3 Ceramic kiln west of Qala 298 163 5.73.4 Interior of Qala 298 163 5.74.1 Satellite view of Qala 327 164 5.74.2 Qala 327 from west 164 5.74.3 Eastern interior of Qala 327 164 5.74.4 Western interior of Qala 327 165 5.74.5 Timurid tower at north end of Qala 327 165 5.74.6 Jars at Qala 327 165 5.74.7 Canals and Timurid houses northwest of Qala 327 166 5.74.8 Clay irrigation pipe near Qala 327 166 5.74.9 Charred mold for bricks outside Qala 327 166 5.75.1 Plan of Qala 330 167 5.75.2 Qala 330 from south 167 xi

the archaeology of southwest afghanistan 5.75.3 Gatepost socket at Qala 330 167 5.75.4 Foundation of entryway to Qala 330 168 5.76.1 Exterior of Qala 340 168 5.76.2 Interior of Qala 340 168 5.76.3 House atop tower of Qala 340 169 5.76.4 Southern wall of Qala 340 169 5.76.5 Tower southeast of Qala 340 169 5.77.1 Sketch plan of Qala 344 170 5.77.2 Qala 344 from east 170 5.77.3 Interior of Qala 344 170 5.77.4 Embedded storage jar at Qala 344 171 5.78.1 Satellite view of Qala 345 171 5.78.2 Eastern side of Qala 345 171 5.78.3 Qala 345 from southeast 172 5.78.4 Flexed burial with pot 172 5.79.1 Satellite view of Qala 348.5 173 5.79.2 Eastern façade of Qala 348.5 173 5.79.3 Interior of Qala 348.5 173 5.80.1 Sketch plan of Qala 349 174 5.80.2 Qala 349 from northeast 174 5.80.3 Interior of Qala 349 175 5.81.1 Satellite view of Qala 350 175 5.82.1 Satellite view of Qala 350A 176 5.82.2 Qala 350A from east 176 5.82.3 Large central mound of Qala 350A 177 5.82.4 North enclosure of Qala 350A 177 5.82.5 South enclosure of Qala 350A 177 5.83.1 Satellite view of Qala 351 178 5.83.2 Satellite view of Qala 351 region 178 5.84.1 Plan of Qala 352 179 5.84.2 Northeast exterior of Qala 352 180 5.84.3 Interior of Qala 352 180 5.84.4 Interior southwest wall of Qala 352 180 5.84.5 Sherd cover inside Qala 352 181 5.85.1 Satellite view of Qala 352.5 181 5.85.2 Qala 352.5 eastern exterior 182 5.85.3 Qala 352.5 inner qala 182 5.86.1 Satellite view of Qala 352A 183 5.87.1 Satellite view of Qala 353 183 5.87.2 Qala 353 from east 183 5.88.1 Satellite view of Qala 357 184 5.88.2 Qala 357 from the north 184 5.88.3 Satellite view of the Qala 355-Qala 357 area 185 5.88.4 Ruins of pre-Islamic house Q 357 185 5.89.1 Satellite view of Qala 358 186 5.89.2 Qala 358 from northwest 187 5.89.3 Qala 358 from west 187 5.89.4 Construction detail of wall fragment at Qala 358 188 5.90.1 Plan of Qala 359 188 5.90.2 Qala 359 from west 189

5.90.3 West exterior of Qala 359 189 5.90.4 East exterior of Qala 359 190 5.90.5 Interior east wall of Qala 359 190 5.90.6 Jars embedded in ground in Qala 359 190 5.91.1 Sketch plan of Qala 359.5 191 5.91.2 Qala 359.5 from the west 191 5.91.3 Southern interior of Qala 359.5 192 5.91.4 Ghaznavid house Q359.5A 192 5.92.1 Field sketch of Qala STB-5 West 192 5.92.2 Exterior walls of Qala STB-5 West 193 5.92.3 Interior of Qala STB-5 West 193 5.93.1 Field sketch of Qala STC-5B 194 5.94.1 Satellite view of Qala STC-5C 194 5.95.1 Satellite view of Qala STC-10A 195 5.96.1 Satellite view of Qala-i Amiran Sahib 195 5.96.2 Sketch Plan of Qala-i Amiran Sahib 196 5.96.3 South façade of Qala-i Amiran Sahib 196 5.96.4 East façade of Qala-i Amiran Sahib 197 5.96.5 West façade of Qala-i Amiran Sahib 197 5.96.6 Interior of Qala-i Amiran Sahib 198 5.96.7 North iwan and adjoining halls 198 5.96.8 North iwan with keyhole arches 199 5.96.9 Keyhole niche decoration 199 5.96.10 Detail of keyhole niche decoration 199 5.96.11 North façade of Qala-i Amiran Sahib 200 5.97.1 Qala-i Nau from south 200 5.97.2 East side of Qala-i Nau 201 5.97.3 Decorated walkway between qala and tower 201 5.97.4 Southwest side of interior 202 5.97.5 Northwest side of interior 202 5.98.1 Plan of Qala-i Surkh North, first floor 203 5.98.2 Plan of Qala-i Surkh North, second floor 203 5.98.3 Qala-i Surkh North from southwest 203 5.98.4 West façade of Qala-i Surkh North 204 5.98.5 Eastern gateway of Qala-i Surkh North 204 5.98.6 Interior courtyard from second floor 204 5.98.7 Interior of north tower 205 5.98.8 Northwest room on first floor 205 5.98.9 First floor vaulted room 205 5.98.10 Keyhole niches along wall on second floor 206 5.98.11 Detail of keyhole niche 206 5.98.12 Southwest room of second story 206 5.98.13 Vaulted room of second story 207 5.98.14 Corner tower of Qala-i Surkh North 207 5.100.1 Sangar Qala sketch plan 208 5.100.2 Sangar Qala from northwest 208 5.100.3 Interior of Sangar Qala 208 5.101.1 Satellite view of Square Qala II 209 5.102.1 Satellite view of Surburt 209 5.102.2 Surburt from south 210 xii

illustrations 5.102.3 Interior of Surburt 210 5.103.1 Satellite view of Ziyarat-i Amiran Sahib 211 5.103.2 Ziyarat-i Amiran Sahib from the northwest 212 5.103.3 Plan of the Ziyarat-i Amiran Sahib complex 212 5.103.4 Modern Amiran shrine from the southeast 213 5.103.5 Entrance to the modern shrine 213 5.103.6 Qibla hall of the modern shrine 214 5.103.7 Mihrab in qibla hall 214 5.103.8 Domes above qibla hall 214 5.103.9 Pillar inside the qibla hall 215 5.103.10 Tombs of Amiran Sahib and his siblings 215 5.103.11 Cemetery east of the modern shrine 215 5.103.12 Pile of goat horns from sacrifices 216 5.103.13 Plan of the 4-iwan mosque 216 5.103.14 The 4-iwan mosque courtyard 217 5.103.15 Northeast iwan of mosque 218 5.103.16 Southeast iwan of mosque 218 5.103.17 Southwest wall of the mosque courtyard 218 5.103.18 Southern end of the qibla hall 219 5.103.19 Repairs to roof of the qibla hall 219 5.103.20 Mihrab of the 4-iwan mosque 220 5.103.21 Minaret of the 4-iwan mosque 220 5.103.22 Minaret staircase 221 5.103.23 Building south of main complex 221 5.103.24 Caravanserai? building to the south 221 5.103.25 Building to southeast of shrine 222 5.103.26 Zarkan canal 222 6.1.1 Satellite view of Baghak 223 6.1.2 Plan of Baghak 223 6.1.3 Southern and western interior of Baghak 224 6.1.4 Northwest interior of Baghak 224 6.2.1 Plan and elevation of Bobo Qala 225 6.2.2 Bobo Qala 225 6.2.3 South exterior of Bobo Qala 225 6.2.4 North exterior of Bobo Qala 225 6.2.5 Interior of north vaulted room 226 6.2.6 Interior of central vaulted room 226 6.3.1 Satellite view of Chehel Miriz 227 6.3.2 Chehel Miriz from the north 227 6.3.3 Eastern interior of Chehel Miriz 227 6.3.4 Western interior of Chehel Miriz 228 6.4.1 Plan of Chigini II estate 228 6.5.1 Satellite view of Dam-i Malik Khan 229 6.5.2 Sketch plan of Dam-i Malik Khan area 230 6.5.3 Northern half of north fortress of Dam-i Malik Khan 230 6.5.4 Looking south from north fortress 230 6.5.5 Moat separating halves of Dam-i Malik Khan fortress 231 6.5.6 Southern fortress from the south 231

6.5.7 Southern fortress from north 231 6.5.8 Satellite view of Islamic cemetery south of Dam-i Malik Khan 232 6.5.9 Tomb group to the south of Dam-i Malik Khan 232 6.5.10 Mausoleum south of Dam-i Malik Khan 232 6.5.11 Detail of mausoleum 232 6.5.12 Abandoned village northwest of Dam-i Malik Khan 232 6.6.1 Diwalak Bala 233 6.7.1 Diwalak Pa’in 233 6.8.1 Satellite image of Hauz area 234 6.8.2 Hauz ruin field 234 6.8.3 Plan and elevation of Hauz windmill 235 6.8.4 Hauz windmill from the west 236 6.8.5 Hauz windmill from north 236 6.8.6 Interior of Hauz windmill 237 6.8.7 Wedge room in corner of Hauz windmill 237 6.9.1 Entrance to Hauz cistern 238 6.9.2 Stairwell and basin of the Hauz cistern 238 6.9.3 Wall decoration and inscription inside Hauz cistern 238 6.9.4a-f Decoration on dome of Hauz cistern 239 6.10.1 Satellite image of Jui Nau 239 6.10.2 Exterior of Jui Nau 240 6.10.3 Interior of Jui Nau 240 6.10.4 Canal system on north side of Jui Nau 240 6.10.5 Timurid house near Jui Nau 240 6.11.1 Satellite image of Jui Nau mosque 241 6.11.2 Eastern façade of Jui Nau mosque 241 6.11.3 Southern side of Jui Nau mosque 242 6.11.4 Mihrab and minbar of the Jui Nau mosque 242 6.11.5 Qibla hall of the Jui Nau mosque 242 6.12.1 Site plan of Karbasak 243 6.12.2 Exterior of Karbasak qala 243 6.12.3 Interior of Karbasak qala 244 6.12.4 Satellite enclosure to Karbasak 244 6.13.1 Sketch plan of Khwaja Hasan area 245 6.13.2 Sketch profile of remains at Khwaja Hasan 245 6.13.3 Khwaja Hasan viewed from the Helmand Valley 245 6.13.4 Caves in cliff beneath Khwaja Hasan 246 6.14.1 Topographic map of Khwaja Kanur 247 6.14.2 Khwaja Kanur from the north 247 6.14.3 Khwaja Kanur from the west 247 6.14.4 Summit of Khwaja Kanur 248 6.15.1 Koh-i Khan Neshin from the west 248 6.15.2 Native travertine bed at base of Koh-i Khan Neshin 248 6.15.3 View north from the summit of Koh-i Khan Neshin 249 6.16.1 View of eroded Kona Qala I mound 249 xiii

the archaeology of southwest afghanistan 6.16.2 Fragmentary wall of tower atop Kona Qala I 250 6.17.1 Map of the Helmand-Arghandab confluence 251 6.17.2 Surveying Kurkoray I 251 6.17.3 A ceramic kiln at Kurkoray I 251 6.17.4 Kurkoray I from the Arghandab/Helmand confluence 251 6.17.5 Topographical map of Kurkoray I 252 6.18.1 Kurkoray II from northwest 254 6.18.2 Brick alignments at the foot of Kurkoray II 254 6.19.1 Satellite view of Malakhan Plain 255 6.19.2 Eastern part of Malakhan Plain 256 6.20.1 Malakhan Plain II 257 6.21.1 Sketch plan of Malakhan Plain III 257 6.21.2 Inside enclosure of Malakhan Plain III 258 6.22.1 Sketch plan of Malakhan Plain IV 258 6.22.2 Malakhan Plain IV 258 6.23.1 Sketch plan of Malakhan Plain V 259 6.23.2 Malakhan Plain V 259 6.23.3 Tower on Malakhan Plain V 259 6.24.1 Sketch plan of Malakhan Plain VI 260 6.24.2 Malakhan Plain VI 260 6.25.1 Malakhan Plain VII plan 261 6.25.2 Plan of central qala and fortress at Malakhan Plain VII 262 6.25.3 Malakhan Plain VII 262 6.25.4 Room cluster of the outer enclosure of Malakhan Plain VII 263 6.25.5 Southwest cluster outside the outer enclosure of Malakhan Plain VII 263 6.26.1 Malakhan Plain VIII and Malakhan Plain VII 263 6.27.1 Plan and elevation of Malakhan Plain IX 264 6.27.2 Malakhan Plain IX tower 264 6.28.1a,b,c Sketch plan of eroded mounds of Malakhan Plain X 265 6.28.2 Malakhan Plain X mounds 265 6.29.1 Sketch plan of Malakhan Plain XI 265 6.30.1 Sketch plan of Malakhan Plain XII 266 6.31.1 Sketch plan of Malakhan Plain XIII 266 6.31.2 Malakhan Plain XIII 266 6.32.1a,b Sketch plan of the Malakhan Plain XIV components 267 6.32.2 Tower at eastern end of Malakhan Plain XIV 267 6.32.3 Westernmost building of Malakhan Plain XIV 268 6.33.1 Satellite view of Malakhan Plain XV 268 6.33.2 Malakhan Plain XV 268 6.35.1 Sketch plan of Malakhan Plain XVII 269 6.36.1 Murtaza from the southeast 270 6.36.2 Murtaza from the south 270 6.37.1 Satellite view of Palangi 271 6.37.2 Leopard design on the wall of Palangi 271

6.37.3 Sketch plan of Palangi 271 6.37.4 South and west sides of Palangi 272 6.37.5 North side of Palangi 272 6.37.6 South side of Palangi 273 6.37.7 Courtyard and second story of Palangi 273 6.37.8 Doorway above courtyard 274 6.37.9 Wall decoration on iwan façade 274 6.37.10 Wall decoration facing courtyard 274 6.37.11 Drawing of wall decoration at Palangi 274 6.37.12 Mill room of Palangi 274 6.37.13 Grooving in wall of mill room 275 6.37.14 Sockets for closing wind chute 275 6.38.1 Satellite view of Qala-i Fath 275 6.38.2 Northeast façade of Qala-i Fath 276 6.38.3 Gateway into Qala-i Fath 276 6.38.4 Gazelle decorating the walls of the citadel 276 6.38.5 Looking through citadel gateway 277 6.38.6 Gateway brickwork 277 6.38.7 Eastern interior of the citadel 277 6.38.8 Western interior of the citadel 278 6.38.9 Vaulted hall inside the citadel 278 6.38.10 Ice houses outside Qala-i Fath 278 6.38.11 Brickwork of the icehouse 279 6.38.12 Modern canal divider near Qala-i Fath 279 6.38.13 Dunes encroaching the Qala-i Fath area 279 6.39.1 Satellite view of Qala-i Gawak 279 6.39.2 Qala-i Gawak 280 6.39.3 Timurid estate near Qala-i Gawak 280 6.40.1 Satellite view of Qala-i Jan Beg 281 6.40.2 Sketch plan of Qala-i Jan Beg area 281 6.40.3 Qala-i Jan Beg from southeast 282 6.40.4 Southeast corner of outer qala 282 6.40.5 Interior of Qala-i Jan Beg 282 6.40.6 Building east of the main qala 283 6.40.7 Building near Qala-i Jan Beg 283 6.40.8 Mudbrick tower east of Qala-i Jan Beg 283 6.40.9 Second mudbrick tower east of Qala-i Jan Beg 284 6.40.10 Second mudbrick tower east of Qala-i Jan Beg 284 6.41.1 Satellite view of Qala-i Madar-i Padshah III 285 6.42.1 Interior of Qala-i Mullah Nasrullah 285 6.42.2 Qala on dasht 286 6.42.3 Qala-i Mullah Nasrullah from south 286 6.42.4 Unidentified tepe on dasht edge 287 6.43.1 Satellite view of Qala-i Sirak 288 6.43.2 Plan of Qala-i Sirak 289 6.43.3 Qala-i Sirak from the south 289 6.43.4 Qala-i Sirak from the west 290 6.43.5 Sandstone base of Qala-i Sirak 290 6.43.6 West corner inside Qala-i Sirak 290 6.43.7 Northwest wall of Qala-i Sirak 290 xiv

illustrations 6.43.8 Detail of canal cut through northwest wall 291 6.43.9 Parapet inside northwest wall 291 6.43.10 Tower on northwest defensive wall 292 6.43.11 North tower of Qala-i Sirak 292 6.43.12 Interior of eastern wall 293 6.43.13 East corner 293 6.43.14 East corner tower and northeast wall 294 6.43.15 Southeast wall from east corner 294 6.43.16 Southeast wall and protective wall 295 6.43.17 Gate in southeast wall 295 6.43.18 Interior of southeast gate 296 6.43.19 Southern corner of citadel 296 6.43.20 West tower 297 6.43.21 Portion of southwest wall 298 6.43.22 Exterior of west tower 299 6.43.23 Exterior of eastern gateway 300 6.43.24 Interior of eastern gateway 300 6.43.25 Eastern gateway 300 6.43.26 Exterior of high citadel 301 6.43.27 Plan of citadel of Qala-i Sirak 302 6.43.28 Citadel of Qala-i Sirak from east 302 6.43.29 Lower gateway into the citadel 303 6.43.30 Lower gateway into the citadel with buttressed tower 303 6.43.31 Upper gateway into citadel 303 6.43.32 Detail of lower gateway looking west 303 6.43.33 Detail of upper gateway 304 6.43.34 Hall and upper gateway looking east 304 6.43.35 Interior of the circular tower at south of citadel 304 6.43.36 Eastern end of the Qala-i Sirak citadel 304 6.43.37 Central vaulted room in “Ferrier building” 305 6.43.38 Vaulting on the western side of “Ferrier building” 305 6.43.39 Plan of the monumental building at the western edge of the citadel 305 6.43.40 Monumental citadel structure 306 6.43.41 Detail of the monumental citadel structure 306 6.43.42 Monumental citadel structure 306 6.43.43 Plan and elevation of northern towers 307 6.43.44 Citadel from west corner tower 308 6.43.45 Buttressed tower 308 6.43.46 Vaulted passageway into buttressed tower 308 6.43.47 Interior of buttressed tower 308 6.43.48 Detail of arched building against southeast wall 309 6.43.49 Arched building outside citadel 309 6.43.50 Islamic mausoleums south of Helmand from Qala-i Sirak 310 6.43.51 Tomb 1 311

6.43.52 Interior of Tomb 1 311 6.43.53 Tomb 2 311 6.43.54 Tomb 3 311 6.43.55 Tomb 4 311 6.43.56 Tomb 4 inside an earlier canal 311 6.43.57 Cemetery near Qala-i Sirak with miniature column 312 6.43.58 Detail of miniature column 312 6.44.1 Plan of interior buildings at Qala-i Surkh South 313 6.44.2 Exterior of Qala-i Surkh South 314 6.44.3 Northeast interior of Qala-i Surkh 314 6.46.1 Satellite view of Šna Qala 315 6.46.2 Site plan of Šna Qala 316 6.46.3 Šna Qala from the south 317 6.46.4 Terrace 1 317 6.46.5 View south from Terrace II 318 6.46.6 View north from Terrace V 318 6.46.7 Plan of gateway into Šna Qala 319 6.46.8 Steep ramp leading to gateway 319 6.46.9 Gateway arch into Šna Qala 320 6.46.10 Detail of gateway 320 6.46.11 Plan of chartaq on Terrace V 321 6.46.12 Chartaq of Terrace V from northwest 321 6.46.13 Interior of chartaq 322 6.46.14 Vaulted chamber on west slope 322 6.46.15 Repairs to wall protecting Terrace V 322 6.46.16 Circular baked brick tower 323 6.47.1 Square tower of Tandorak 323 6.48.1 Satellite view of Tepe Daishu I 324 6.48.2 Tepe Daishu I 324 6.49.1 Satellite view of Tepe Daishu II 325 6.49.2 Tepe Daishu II 325 6.50.1 Plan of Tepe Rudbar I 326 7.1.1 Satellite view of Chor Gunbad 327 7.1.2 Chor Gunbad mausoleums from northwest 327 7.1.3 Chor Gunbad mausoleums from east 328 7.1.4 Chor Gunbad Islamic cemetery 328 7.1.5 Mudbrick mausoleum at Chor Gunbad 329 7.1.6 Interior of mausoleum at Chor Gunbad 329 7.1.7 Corner squinch of a mausoleum interior 330 7.1.8 Two fragments of Bronze Age stone columns 330 7.2.1 Satellite view of Dam 331 7.2.2 General view of mound 331 7.2.3 Surveying the surface of the mound 332 7.2.4 Islamic graveyard of Dam 332 7.2.5 Shrine in the Dam graveyard 333 7.2.6 Travertine vessels at Dam 333 7.2.7 Bronze bird seal found at Dam 334 7.2.8 Segmented seals of bone/ivory 334 xv

the archaeology of southwest afghanistan 7.2.9 Inscribed sherd found on the mound 334 7.3.1 Satellite view of Gina Kuhna 335 7.3.2 Gina Kuhna from northwest 335 7.3.3 Gina Nau/New Gina 336 7.4.1 Satellite view of Godar-i Shah shrine 336 7.4.2 Godar-i Shah shrine 337 7.4.3 Dales’s sketch map of Shela Rud sites 338 7.4.4 Interior of Godar-i Shah shrine 339 7.4.5 Satellite view of Timurid/post-Timurid house 339 7.4.6 Large house from west 340 7.4.7 Southern iwan of house 340 7.4.8 Large house from east 340 7.4.9 Northern iwan of house 340 7.4.10 Plastered interior of northwest room of house 340 7.4.11 Copper smelting site of Komhauz 340 7.4.12 Miniature stone columns at Godar-i Shah 341 7.4.13 Additional miniature stone columns at Godar-i Shah 341 7.4.14 Travertine vessels at Godar-i Shah 341 7.5.1 Satellite view of Jali Robat 341 7.5.2 Panorama of copper smelting fields from village 342 7.5.3 Panorama of copper smelting fields from southwest 342 7.5.4 Rows of copper slag 343 7.5.5 Slag pile 344 7.5.6 Open air smelting pits 344 7.5.7 Mudbrick wall visible in wadi 345 7.5.8 Modern graves near the village 345 7.5.9 Detail of miniature column and travertine slabs 345 7.5.10 Another miniature column found in cemetery 345 7.6.1 Aerial view of Kusrutabad 345 7.7.1 Sketch plan of Mukhtar 346 7.7.2 Satellite view of Mukhtar346 7.7.3 Mukhtar from west 347 7.7.4 Mukhtar from north 347 7.7.5 Mukhtar from south 348 7.7.6 Rooms inside eastern wall of Mukhtar 348 7.7.7 Mukhtar mound completely infilled 348 7.7.8 Sculptural fragment 348 7.7.9 Baked brick column base 348 7.7.10a,b,c,d Architectural elements 349 7.7.11a,b Ionic column volutes 349 7.8.1 Satellite view of Trakhun 350 7.8.2Trakhun from the east 351 7.8.3 Trakhun from the southwest 351 7.8.4 Northeast side of the site 352 7.8.5 Buildings at the southeast corner 352 7.8.6 The well at Trakhun 352 7.8.7 Mausoleums west of site 353 7.8.8 Octagonal mausoleum 354

8.1.1 Cemetery 150 prior to excavation 357 8.1.2 Grave in Cemetery 150 357 8.1.3 Stone rectangle after excavation 358 8.1.4 Dense layers of silt above a carbonized stratum 358 8.2.1 Satellite view of House 139 359 8.2.2 Plan of House 139 359 8.2.3 Panoramic view of House 139 360 8.2.4 The iwan of the central courtyard 361 8.2.5 House 139 jars embedded in the ground 361 8.2.6 Main entrance to House 139 361 8.2.7 Room 1 after excavation 362 8.2.8 Doorway between Rooms 1 and 2 362 8.2.9 Basin 111 from south 363 8.2.10 Sump 114 363 8.2.11 Posthole dug from Floor 107 363 8.2.12 Room 2 baked brick reinforcements on walls 364 8.2.13 Sill 206 365 8.2.14 Southern half of central courtyard 365 8.2.15 Central courtyard from the west 366 8.2.16 Bench 303 366 8.2.17 Basin 307 366 8.2.18 C14 sample sealed beneath Floor 302 366 8.2.19 Basin 308 367 8.2.20 Room 4 excavation 367 8.2.21 Room 5 excavation 368 8.2.22 General view of excavated area of House 139 368 8.2.23 Excavated rooms of House 139, earlier stratum 371 8.2.24 Excavated rooms of House 139, later stratum 371 8.3.1 Satellite view of Houses 183 372 8.3.2 Houses 183 from northwest 373 8.3.3 Houses 183 cluster 373 8.3.4 Iwan in House 183 complex 373 8.3.5 Plan of House 183A 374 8.3.6 House 183A 374 8.3.7 Southeast corner of House 183A 375 8.3.8 East and north sides of House 183A 375 8.3.9 East and north sides of iwan of House 183A 376 8.3.10 West side of House 183A 376 8.3.11 Gazebo of House 183A garden 376 8.3.12 Mausoleum south of the House 183A 376 8.3.13 Plan of House 183B 377 8.3.14 House 183B 377 8.3.15 Schematic section of Room 1 in House 183A 378 8.3.16 Schematic section of Room 2 in House 183A 378 8.3.17 Stratigraphic section of House 183B 379 8.3.18 Vertical trench in House 183B 380 8.3.19 Stratigraphic section of House 183B 380 8.3.20 Plan of excavated room in House 183C 380 8.3.21 Excavated room from House 183C 380 8.3.22 Schematic section of House 183C 381 xvi

illustrations 8.4.1 Plan of House 266 383 8.4.2 House 266 384 8.4.3 Kiln at House 266 384 8.4.4 Schematic drawing of excavation of House 266 385 8.4.5 House 266 after excavation 385 8.4.6 Schematic section of Room 1 trench 385 8.4.7 West end of Room 1 excavation 386 8.4.8 Detail of west end of Room 1 excavation 386 8.4.9 Latest occupation of trench in Room 3 386 8.4.10 North end of trench in Room 3 386 8.4.11 Schematic section of Room 3 trench 387 8.4.12 Lowest excavated level of trench in Room 3 387 8.5.1 Plan of Khana Gauhar 388 8.5.2 Khana Gauhar from Qala-i Bist 389 8.5.3 Natural column containing the stupa and caves 389 8.5.4 Thick layer of silts comprising the cliff 389 8.5.5 Stupa prior to excavation 390 8.5.6 Stupa after excavation 390 8.5.7 Curved mudbrick wall of the stupa 391 8.5.8 Mudbricks of the interior of the stupa 391 8.5.9 Worn exterior of stupa 391 8.5.10 Mudbrick paving of the upper ambulatory 392 8.5.11 Ramp leading to upper ambulatory 392 8.5.12 Cliff face showing Caves A and B 393 8.5.13 Cave F and Cave D 394 8.5.14 Plan of Cave A 394 8.5.15 Cave A rock fall 384 8.5.16 Cave A, north chamber 395 8.5.17 Cave A, south chamber 395 8.5.18 Cave A, entry vestibule 395 8.5.19 Cave A, main hall 395 8.5.20 Cave A, niches in main hall 395 8.5.21 Cave A, back room 396 8.5.22 Interior of Cave B 396 8.5.23 Plan of Cave C 397 8.5.24 Interior of Cave C 397 8.5.25 Plan of Cave D 397 8.5.26 Entrance to Cave D 397 8.5.27 Interior of Cave D 398 8.5.28 Plan of Cave E 398 8.5.29 Entrance to Cave E 398 8.5.30 Horizontal passage near Cave D 399 8.5.31 Hole in cliff face below Cave B 399 8.6.1 Satellite view of Khwaja Ali Sehyaka/Sehyak 400 8.6.2 Site plan of Sehyak 401 8.6.3 Pre-excavation photograph of Sehyak 402 8.6.4 Plan of Sehyak Area A 403 8.6.5 Area A from west 404 8.6.6 Area A Rooms 1,2,3 404 8.6.7 West side of Area A 405

8.6.8 Room 1 from north 405 8.6.9 Room 3 from north 406 8.6.10 Rooms 5 and 6 from west 406 8.6.11 Room 6 407 8.6.12 Room 7 from west 408 8.6.13 Fire pit in Room 7 408 8.6.14 Room 9 from north 410 8.6.15 Installations in Room 9 411 8.6.16 Plan of Sehyak Area B 412 8.6.17 Sehyak Area B from north 413 8.6.18 Area B, Room 1 413 8.6.19 Room 1, earlier level 413 8.6.20 Gold ring found in Room 1 414 8.6.21 Ceramic juglet found in Room 1 414 8.6.22 Wax-covered sherd found in Room 1 414 8.6.23 Area B, Room 2 from north 415 8.6.24 Stone door socket in Room 2 415 8.6.25 Room 2 pits against west wall 415 8.6.26 Room 2 with storage jar in situ 415 8.6.27 Jabbed base ribbed storage jar 416 8.6.28 Jabbed base storage jar 416 8.6.29 Tamga on storage jar 416 8.6.30 Pit from early level of Room 2 416 8.6.31 Ceramic stylized ram from Room 2 417 8.6.32 Sherd with snake decoration from Room 3 417 8.6.33 Room 3 from east 417 8.6.34 Room 4 from north 418 8.6.35 Ceramic lion figurine from Room 4 418 8.6.36 Room 5 from the west 419 8.6.37 Horse figurine from Room 5 419 8.6.38 Horse? figurine from Room 5 419 8.6.39 Plan of Area C 420 8.6.40 Area C looking north 421 8.6.41 Section of long wall of Area C 421 8.6.42 Foundation of long wall 422 8.6.43 Decorated stucco fragment from Area C 422 8.6.44 Plan of the Area D shrine 423 8.6.45 Area D from east 424 8.6.46 Plan of Area E 424 8.6.47a,b,c Decorative stucco fragments found in Area E 425 8.6.48 Plan of Area F 425 8.6.49 Excavated pit from Area F 425 8.6.50 Mudbrick with human footprint 425 8.6.51 Well with mudbrick platform 426 8.6.52 Excavation of well 427 8.6.53 Jar stand in well 427 8.6.54 Handmade vessel in well 427 8.6.55 Lamp in the well 427 8.6.56 Tamga marks from Sehyak 428 xvii

the archaeology of southwest afghanistan 8.6.57 Sample column drum 428 8.6.58 Baked brick column base 429 8.6.59 Highly burnished black architectural decoration 429 8.6.60 Baked brick architectural decoration 430 8.6.61 Baked brick column decoration 430 8.6.62 Baked brick column decoration 430 8.6.63 Baked brick column decoration 430 8.6.64 Decoration with wave pattern 431 8.6.65 Stucco decoration with diamond inside triangle 431 8.6.66 Back side of stucco decoration 431 8.6.67 Stucco decoration covered with white plaster 431 8.6.68 Basalt quern 431 8.6.69 Basalt door socket 431 8.6.70 Polished travertine pounder 432 8.7.1 Plan of Lat Qala 433 8.7.2 Lat Qala from the south 434 8.7.3 Fortress on summit 434 8.7.4 East stratigraphic section of Trench A 435 8.7.5 Location of Trench A 435 8.7.6 Trench A in an erosion gulley 435 8.7.7 Flooring in east balk of Trench A 436 8.7.8 Massive mudbrick platform of Trench A 436 8.7.9 Wall fragment and adjacent floor in Trench A 437 8.7.10 Final section of southeast balk of Trench A 437 8.7.11 South stratigraphic section of upper Trench B 438 8.7.12 Lat Qala from east 439 8.7.13 Western part of Trench B 440 8.7.14 South section of western part of Area A 440 8.7.15 Trench B west end 440 8.7.16 South section of eastern part of Area A 441 8.7.17 Area B of Trench B 441 8.7.18 Wall B1 441 8.7.19 South stratigraphic section of lower Trench B 442 8.7.20 Areas D, E, F from east 443 8.7.21 Area D 443 8.7.22 Area F 444 8.7.23 Bronze juglet in Trench B 444 8.7.24 Base of ceramic object in Trench B 445 8.8.1 Plan of Mausoleum 214 450 8.8.2 Mausoleum 214 from northwest 451 8.8.3 Looking north through mausoleum 451 8.8.4 Arch at north end of mausoleum 452 8.8.5 Tomb at southwest corner of mausoleum 452 8.8.6 North side of southwest tomb 453 8.8.7 East side of southwest tomb 453 8.8.8 South side of southwest tomb 453 8.8.9 West wall of mausoleum 454 8.8.10 Entrance to niche at northwest corner of central room 454

8.8.11 Entrance to burial chamber in southwest corner 454 8.8.12 Small tombs in western mausoleum 455 8.8.13 East wall of central domed room 455 8.8.14 Baked brick tomb structures on south porch 456 8.8.15 Baked brick tomb structures on south porch 456 8.8.16 Well outside the mausoleum 457 8.8.17 Decorative brick wall tile 458 8.9.1 Satellite view of Qala 169 458 8.9.2 Qala 169 from the east 459 8.9.3 Tower at the northeast part of the mound 460 8.9.4 Bricks overlaying the possible gateway 460 8.9.5 Islamic period mudbrick burials 461 8.9.6 Later building in the lower enclosure 461 8.9.7 Qala 169 from west 462 8.9.8 Stratigraphic section of north balk of Trench A 463 8.9.9 Upper steps of Trench A 464 8.9.10 Level 1 of Trench A 464 8.9.11 Trench A, Step 6 465 8.9.12 Burned level at top of Level 3 Upper 465 8.9.13 Stratigraphic section of lowest step of Trench A 466 8.9.14 Basin and hearth in west balk of Trench A 467 8.9.15 Trench A level 4 467 8.9.16 Trench B 468 8.9.17 Trench B, step 3 468 8.9.18 Trench B, step 3 469 8.9.19 Trench C west balk stratigraphy 470 8.9.20 Trench D west balk stratigraphy 471 8.9.21 West balk of Trench D 472 8.9.22 North section of Trench D 473 8.9.23 Laminated sand layer of Trench E 473 8.9.24 Lower enclosure of Qala 169 473 8.9.25 Stratigraphic section of Trench F 474 8.9.26 Arrow-spearhead found in Level 3 Upper 474 8.9.27 Glass bottle found in Trench A 474 8.9.28 Carnelian seal found outside the Qala 169 474 8.9.29 Basalt macehead found near Qala 169 475 8.10.1 Qala 198 plan 478 8.10.2 Satellite view of Qala 198 479 8.10.3 Qala 198 from west wall 480 8.10.4 Central room of Qala 198 480 8.10.5 Northern room complex and exterior wall 481 8.10.6 Intact doorway in north room complex 481 8.10.7 Excavation in south ambulatory 482 8.10.8 Trench 2 excavation 482 8.10.9 Trench 1 completed excavation 483 8.10.10 Stratigraphy of Trench 1 483 8.11.1 Plan of Temple 215 485 8.11.2 Temple 215 elevation, looking southwest 486

xviii

illustrations 8.11.3 Temple 215 elevation, looking southeast 486 8.11.4 Temple 215 viewed from the south 486 8.11.5 East façade of Temple 215 487 8.11.6 Southern pier of iwan arch 488 8.11.7 Arch takeoff from south pillar 488 8.11.8 Foundation of south pier of iwan arch 488 8.11.9 Foundation of north pier of iwan arch 489 8.11.10 Late robbing for brick 489 8.11.11 Floor plaster against north iwan pier 489 8.11.12 Carved stucco fragment from iwan 489 8.11.13 Repairs to base of wall of iwan 490 8.11.14 Central shrine room of Temple 215 490 8.11.15 View from iwan into anteroom and shrine room 491 8.11.16 Excavated central shrine room 492 8.11.17 Southeast corner of shrine room 492 8.11.18 Detail of strata of sand and collapse 492 8.11.19 Sondage beneath last plastered floor of shrine room 493 8.11.20 Sondage in central shrine room 493 8.11.21 Section of sondage in central shrine room 494 8.11.22 West door of central shrine room 494 8.11.23 West door of central shrine room 495 8.11.24 Keyhole arch entry to west ambulatory 495 8.11.25 Entrance into north ambulatory 495 8.11.26 Southern ambulatory with blocking wall 496 8.11.27 Southern ambulatory with collapsed vault 496 8.11.28 Details of collapsed vault bricks 497 8.11.29 Plan of collapsed vault bricks 497 8.11.30 Room A from central shrine room 497 8.11.31 Room A from west 498 8.11.32 Room A from east 498 8.11.33 North block of rooms from south 499 8.11.34 North block of rooms from north 499 8.11.35 Hallways along south side 500 8.11.36 Closer view of hallways 500 8.11.37 Plan of West Building of Temple 215 500 8.11.38 West Building from north 501 8.11.39 West Building from south 501 8.11.40 Southeast room of West Building 503 8.11.41 Tandurs in West Building 503 8.11.42 Inverted pedestal goblet 503 8.11.43 Circle and lines graffiti on iwan wall 504 8.11.44 Phallus, testes, and vulva graffiti in iwan 505 8.11.45 Green glass bottle 505 8.11.46 Bronze spoon 505 8.11.47 Southwest corner of iwan after excavation 506 8.11.48 Waves of sand against plastered wall of iwan 506 8.11.49 Late burial in iwan 507 8.11.50 Central shrine room enveloped in sand 507

9.0.1 Satellite view of Shahr-i Gholghola 511 9.0.2 General site plan 512 9.0.3 Citadel and Circular Enclosure from north 513 9.2.1 Satellite view of Shahr-i Gholghola with major defensive features 516 9.2.2 General site plan with major features along Outer Wall 517 9.2.3 Eastern part of Outer Wall 518 9.2.4 Northwestern stretch of Outer Wall 518 9.2.5 Eastern side of Outer Wall 519 9.2.6 Intact section of eastern Outer Wall showing brick corbels 519 9.2.7a,b,c,d Sketch plans of the North, West, East, and South gates through the Outer Wall 520 9.2.8 Tower and chambers in the North Gate 521 9.2.9 Detail of North Gate arch 521 9.2.10 East gate of Outer Wall 522 9.2.11 South Gate of Outer Wall 523 9.2.12a Satellite view of Circular Wall and Circular Enclosure 524 9.2.12b Plan of the Circular Wall 525 9.2.13 Southeastern section of Circular Wall 526 9.2.14 Section of foundation of Circular Wall 527 9.2.15 Tower 17 527 9.2.16 Circular Wall just west of South Gate 530 9.2.17 Northwest exterior of Circular Wall 530 9.2.18 Exterior of Towers 5 and 6 531 9.2.19 Semicircular Tower 10 531 9.2.20 Semicircular Tower 11 532 9.2.21 Tower 12 532 9.2.22 Well-preserved section of Circular Wall 533 9.2.23 Oval Tower 30 533 9.2.24 Interior of tower along the Circular Wall 533 9.2.25 Interior of Circular Wall 534 9.2.26 Plan of the South Gate through the Circular Wall 534 9.2.27 Exterior of South Gate 535 9.2.28 South Gate from northeast 536 9.2.29 South Gate area from west 536 9.2.30 Second story rooms above South Gate 536 9.2.31 Room on north side of South Gate 536 9.2.32 Curved row of rooms at west end of South Gate 537 9.2.33 Decorative brickwork west of South Gate 537 9.2.34 Sketch plan of North Gate 538 9.2.35 Inner tower of North Gate 539 9.2.36 Dunes over North Gate 539 9.3.1 Sketch plan of the Citadel 540 9.3.2 Satellite view of Citadel 541 9.3.3 Citadel from the southeast 542 xix

the archaeology of southwest afghanistan 9.3.4 Citadel from west with Lower Palace 542 9.3.5 Plan of Lower North Gate to Citadel 543 9.3.6 Plan of Upper North Gate to Citadel 543 9.3.7 Lower North Gate to the Citadel from east 543 9.3.8 Upper gate into the Citadel 544 9.3.9 Upper gate into Citadel from the south 544 9.3.10 Upper gate showing hidden defensive compartment 545 9.3.11 Buried archway in upper gateway 545 9.3.12 Arched walkway in upper gateway 545 9.3.13 Parquet brickwork along western side of Palace 546 9.3.14 Plan of the second floor of the Citadel Palace 547 9.3.15 Serpentine brick wall of the Palace 548 9.3.16 South Gate leading into the Palace 548 9.3.17 Entryway Room 43 549 9.3.18 North wall of Room 43 549 9.3.19 Downward staircase from Room 43 549 9.3.20 Detail of staircase from Room 43 550 9.3.21 Courtyard B from southwest 550 9.3.22 Small rooms inside the east wall of Palace 551 9.3.23 Entry room leading to Audience Hall 551 9.3.24 Domed 4-pier Audience Hall 552 9.3.25 Detail of a mudbrick pier in Audience Hall 552 9.3.26 Piers on terrace of Audience Hall 553 9.3.27 Small doorway in south wall of Citadel 553 9.3.28 Third story traces 554 9.3.29 Exterior of east wall of Palace 554 9.3.30 Construction of slit windows 554 9.3.31 Baked brick downspout outside east wall 555 9.3.32 Downspout on west wall of Palace 555 9.3.33 Western part of the Citadel 556 9.3.34 Citadel trench excavation 1974 556 9.3.35 Citadel trench from the east 557 9.3.36 Stratigraphy of the north balk of Citadel Trench 558 9.3.37 Trench 1 with long east-west wall at base 559 9.3.38 Baked brick drain across Trenches 3 and 4 559 9.3.39 Deepest part of Trench 1 559 9.3.40 Flooring and wall of Trench 3, Level II 560 9.3.41 Detail of flooring and wall 560 9.3.42 Continuation of wall 561 9.3.43 Mudbrick east-west walls in Trench 4, Level III 561 9.3.44 Western edge of the Citadel trench 562 9.3.45 Plan of Level I of Trench 1 562 9.3.46 Plan of Level II in Trenches 1 and 3 564 9.3.47 Plan of Level III of Trenches 2 and 4 564 9.3.48 Plan of the Citadel bathhouse 566 9.3.49 Area of bath before excavation 566 9.3.50 Citadel bath under excavation 567

9.3.51 Earliest level of excavated bath 567 9.3.52a,b Entry into bath 568 9.3.53a,b Plan of bathhouse Room B, Levels 1 and 3 568 9.3.54 Main rooms of bath from east 569 9.3.55 Bench in northern niche of Room F 569 9.3.56 Flue channel of Room E 570 9.3.57 Western part of bath 570 9.3.58 Bath furnace 571 9.3.59 Cache of skulls found in bathhouse 573 9.4.1 Plan of the Lower Palace 574 9.4.2 View of the Lower Palace from Citadel 575 9.4.3 Lower Palace from northwest 575 9.4.4 Western wall of Lower Palace 576 9.4.5 Western wall of Lower Palace 576 9.4.6 Lower Palace Eastern Façade from east 577 9.4.7 Lower Palace Eastern Façade from northeast 577 9.4.8 Eastern Façade angling toward the east 578 9.4.9 North end of façade of east wall 579 9.4.10 Downspout on East Façade 579 9.4.11 Inner face of Eastern Façade 580 9.4.12 Construction of inner face of Eastern Façade 580 9.4.13 East entry into Lower Palace 581 9.4.14 Vertical brickwork in eastern entry 581 9.4.15 Lower Palace Octagonal Courtyard 582 9.4.16 Southern half of Octagonal Courtyard 582 9.4.17 South iwan of Octagonal Courtyard 583 9.4.18 Niches on outer face of south iwan 583 9.4.19 East iwan of Octagonal Courtyard 584 9.4.20 Northeast iwan of Octagonal Courtyard 585 9.4.21 The Domed Hall 585 9.4.22 Northeast wall of North Courtyard 586 9.4.23 North Courtyard looking southeast 586 9.4.24 East iwan of North Courtyard 587 9.4.25 South iwan of North Courtyard 587 9.4.26 Central niche of south iwan 588 9.4.27 Detail of decorated south iwan 588 9.4.28 The Arched Passageway 589 9.4.29 The last intact arch 590 9.4.30 Detail of construction of the arch 590 9.4.31 Detail of the passageway pier 591 9.4.32 Top of remaining arch 591 9.4.33 Corner squinch inside arch 591 9.4.34 Decorated wall on north side of standing arch 591 9.4.35 Arched Passageway looking south592 9.4.36 East side of the Arched Passageway 592 9.4.37 Pier foundations of Arched Passageway 593 9.4.38 The collapsed arch 593 9.4.39 The West Hall 594 9.4.40 Northeast corner of West Hall 594 9.4.41 Painted niche of West Hall 595 xx

illustrations 9.4.42 Eastern halls and standing arch 595 9.4.43 East Hall looking south 596 9.4.44 East Hall from south 596 9.4.45 North façade of East Hall 597 9.4.46 Niches on north wall of East Hall 597 9.4.47 Northeast corner of East Hall 598 9.4.48 Stairwell of East Transverse Hall 598 9.4.49 Niches in stairwell 598 9.4.50 Excavated room of Lower Palace 599 9.4.51 Excavation area 600 9.4.52 Level 2 of Lower Palace excavation 600 9.4.53 Level 4 floor 600 9.4.54 Irregular middle baked brick floor 601 9.4.55 Fragmentary middle baked brick Floor 5 602 9.4.56 Air channels below Floor 6 602 9.4.57 Final excavation shot 604 9.4.58 Plan of the Mosque, street, and caravanserai 605 9.4.59 Plan of the Mosque 606 9.4.60 Kite photo of Mosque 607 9.4.61 The Mosque prior to excavation 607 9.4.62 Excavated mihrab hall 608 9.4.63 The mihrab from the east 609 9.4.64 Detail of the mihrab 610 9.4.65 Southwest corner of the mihrab 610 9.4.66 Collapsed brick inside the mihrab 611 9.4.67 Plastered feature on entrance to the mihrab 611 9.4.68 Original south entrance to the mihrab 612 9.4.69 Wall construction of original entrance to mihrab 612 9.4.70 Qibla wall of the Mosque 613 9.4.71 Buttress attached to the qibla wall 613 9.4.72 Baked brick flooring in the mihrab hall 613 9.4.73 Plan and elevation of the minbar 614 9.4.74 The minbar 614 9.4.75 Baked brick steps leading up the minbar 615 9.4.76 Foundation of the minbar 616 9.4.77 The qibla wall behind the minbar 616 9.4.78 Rectangular piers leading east from qibla wall 617 9.4.79 Columns construction 617 9.4.80 Piers in qibla hall brick foundation 617 9.4.81 Detail of Column 8 617 9.4.82 West face of Column 13 618 9.4.83 Southern entry into Mosque 618 9.4.84 An arch in gateway into Mosque 619 9.4.85 Rooms in the southwest corner of the Mosque 619 9.4.86 Interior southwest corner of Mosque 620 9.4.87 Eastern wall of the Mosque 620 9.4.88 Exterior of east wall of Mosque 622 9.4.89 North pier of Mosque iwan 622 9.4.90 Keyhole arch window above iwan entrance 623

9.4.91 Angled northeast corner of Mosque 623 9.4.92 Section of street south of the Mosque 624 9.4.93 South side of the street 624 9.4.94 Construction of canal beneath street 624 9.4.95 Caravanserai 625 9.4.96 Fragments of the Mosque inscription 625 9.4.97 Excavating the coin hoard outside Mosque 625 9.4.98a,b Two fragments of the Mosque inscription 626 9.4.99a,b Two ornamented bricks found in Mosque 626 9.4.100 Sketch plan of Pavilion 627 9.4.101 Pillars of the Pavilion 627 9.4.102 Sketch plan of Mint 628 9.4.103 Mint from the east 628 9.4.104 Mint from north 629 9.4.105 Mint from the west 629 9.4.106 Decorated façade of east hallway 630 9.4.107 Detail of façade of the central hallway 630 9.4.108 Doorway leading to the east rooms 630 9.4.109 Blocked doorway in east rooms 630 9.4.110 Plan of the Circular Enclosure showing trench excavations 631 9.4.111 The Moat Trench from the south 632 9.4.112 The Moat Trench filled with sand and mud 633 9.4.113 The Southwest Trenches from the Citadel 633 9.4.114 Plan of the Eastern Trench 634 9.4.115 Eastern Trench at conclusion of excavation 635 9.4.116 Drain of Eastern Trench 635 9.4.117 Baked brick basin feature in Eastern Trench 636 9.4.118 Bowl inset into floor in Eastern Trench 636 9.4.119 Doorway to eastern room in Eastern Trench 637 9.5.1 View from outer North Gate toward the Citadel 639 9.5.2a,b Northern and southern map of the Outer Enclosure 640 9.5.3 Map of north quadrant of the Outer Compound 642 9.5.4 Sketch plan of House G 642 9.5.5 Kilns built into north Outer Wall 642 9.5.6 Sketch plan of House S 643 9.5.7 Sketch plan of House U 643 9.5.8 Sketch plan of House M 645 9.5.9 Bricks from the French camp at Shahr-i Gholghola 646 9.5.10 Lid of a tin can from the French camp 646 9.5.11 Northeast corner of Citadel looking toward Outer Wall 647 9.5.12 East Gate looking toward Citadel 648 9.5.13 Northern half of the Outer Compound from the East Gate 649 9.5.14 Sketch plan of House L 649 App 1.1 Map of Helmand Sistan Project Bronze Age sites 660 xxi

the archaeology of southwest afghanistan App 1.2 Map of Helmand Sistan Project Early Iron Age sites 661 App 1.3 Map of Helmand Sistan Project Early Iron Age sites in Sar-o-Tar 662 App 1.4 Map of Helmand Sistan Project Achaemenid and Hellenistic sites 663 App 1.5 Map of Helmand Sistan Project Parthian and Sasanian sites 664 App 1.6 Map of Helmand Sistan Project Parthian and Sasanian sites in Sar-o-Tar 665 App 1.7 Map of Helmand Sistan Project Parthian and Sasanian sites in Malakhan Plain-Daishu area 666 App 1.8 Map of Helmand Sistan Project Saffarid, Ghaznavid, and Ghorid sites 667 App 1.9 Map of Helmand Sistan Project Saffarid, Ghaznavid, and Ghorid sites in Sar-o-Tar 668 App 1.10 Map of Helmand Sistan Project Timurid and Post-Timurid sites 669 App 1.11 Map of Helmand Sistan Project Timurid and Post-Timurid sites in Sar-o-Tar 670 App 3.1 Fragments of the inscription found inside the Sehyak well 672

Tables

App 3.2 Iron bolts in pieces of the inscription 673 App 3.3 Hole drilled into piece of inscription 673 App 3.4 Fragment 1 of Greek inscription from Sehyak 674 App 3.5 Fractional letter at the edge of the inscription 675 App 3.6 Fragment 2 of the Sehyak Greek inscription 676 App 3.7 Aramaic text 1 679 App 3.8 Drawing of Aramaic text 1 679 App 3.9 Aramaic text 2 680 App 3.10 Drawing of Aramaic text 2 680 App 3.11 Aramaic text 3 681 App 3.12 Drawing of Aramaic text 3 681 App 3.13 Aramaic text 4 682 App 3.14 Drawing of Aramaic text 4 682 App 3.15 Aramaic text 5 683 App 3.16 Drawing of Aramaic text 5 683 App 3.17 Aramaic text 6 684 App 3.18 Drawing of Aramaic text 6 684 App 3.19 Graffito on foot of ceramic vessel from Area F 685 App 3.20 Drawing of Aramaic ceramic graffito 685  

Table 1.1 Afghan Sistan Timeline 6 Table 6.17.1 Kukoray 1 Ceramic Analysis 253 Table 8.9.1 Qala 169 C14 Samples 476 Table 9.1 Circular Wall Towers 528

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Preface William B. Trousdale

This book does not fit easily into a recognized category. It is a report of archaeological investigations conducted in the Helmand Valley and Afghan Sistan basin, but that is too narrow a definition. It is an incomplete encyclopedia of the sites we surveyed, excavated, or visited only briefly in the region and far beyond. It is a narrative of our years of living and traveling among the Greater Baluch people of this part of the world, in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Iran. It expresses, we hope, more of our deeper feelings for the Baluch people and this austere and compelling land than can be revealed by reports of the many travelers and researchers uncovering ancient cities, villages, and farmsteads within this land, all reflecting the history that

belongs to the Baluch and their predecessors in this landscape. It is a record of all we did there, as complete as we have been able to make it, of our understanding of the local recent imperatives, their economics, rituals, and activities of every sort, their community memory of all the places in the land and how the land came into being. It is an account of the unusual places we were honored to see because of the level of trust that grew between us and our hosts. It contains memories both of their thoughts and ours. It contains the knowledge we learned from them, and some we were able to return to them. It is one way of honoring the Baluch people to whom we wish to dedicate everything worthy we may have done.

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A Note on Transliteration, Names, and Maps

Transliteration of local names and words is made difficult by the fact that there are both several transliteration systems and numerous languages currently spoken in the region. We have generally followed the guidelines in our publisher’s previous major reference volume on Afghanistan, the 2019 edition of The Archaeology of Afghanistan. The reasoning behind their transliteration decisions are described in that book (Allchin, Ball, and Hammond 2019, xxxv). Like the book referenced, we decided to avoid using most diacritics. And, like that volume, we occasionally broke this rule in using the common spelling of a more familiar name or term. We have also chosen to italicize frequently used non-English terms used, like iwan, pakhsa, and ziyarat, but not terms that have been used repeatedly in English without reference to their non-western origin, such as bazaar, tepe, and qala. Some sites may have varying names depending on the language of our informant (e.g, Šna Qala in Baluch is Qala-i Sabz in Dari). European explorers and archaeological expeditions over the past two centuries also varied in their naming conventions for various sites. For consistency with a standard, we have chosen to use where available the names in the basic reference work on Afghan archaeological sites, the 2019 edition of Archaeological Gazetteer of Afghanistan (Ball 2019), though those entries often varied substantially from the names we were given by local informants or on old maps. In a few cases, the lack of information or incorrect information available to the editor in preparing the Gazetteer led to conflating numerous sites into a single entry or incorrectly identifying them. We list these using the

naming that we devised but cross-referenced those entries to the Gazetteer entry. A good example is the Gazetteer listing for Daishu (Gazetteer 224), a modern town name that is surrounded by five or more different sites noted by HSP, each of which is documented separately in this volume. These cross references can be found in the table of sites in Appendix 1. One of the key functions of survey work is to identify locations of archaeological sites for use by later researchers. At the time of our fieldwork, GPS was not available so our site location identifications were done triangulating to known locations using a hand compass. Thus, we were thrilled to have the assistance of the Afghan Heritage Mapping Project at the CAMEL lab of the University of Chicago Oriental Institute. With them, we have pinpointed site locations using their satellite images in conjunction with our hand-drawn maps, photos, and field notes. Some of these locations not visible from the sky are at best approximated. A more detailed description of our site location methods can be found in Chapter 4. Site coordinates are with each entry and are also listed in Appendix 1. The path of the lower Helmand River traces a large letter U in southwest Afghanistan; therefore, traditional cardinal directions do not adequately describe on which side of the river places are located. The early European visitors solved this by labeling the sides as right bank and left bank as one goes downstream toward the Hamun Lakes. Thus, the right bank would designate locations on the inside of the U, the left bank those on the outside of the U. We have followed this convention.

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Helmand Sistan Project Participants

Professional Field Staff

Logistics Staff

William B. Trousdale (director, archaeologist) Mitchell Allen (archaeologist) Terry Arden Allen (ceramicist) Ghulam Rahman Amiri (archaeologist) Orin J. Anderson (geologist) Howard Crane (ceramicist) Robert Hamilton (surveyor) James E. Knudstad (architect, archaeologist) James Trilling (archaeologist) Nicholas Vester (surveyor) Robert K. Vincent, Jr. (photographer) John W. Whitney (geologist)

Barak Ali Khan Zaman Niaz Muhammad Ramazan

Technical Specialists and Consultants Marc Abramiuk, California State University, Channel Islands, survey Arturo Annucci, Orientale University, Naples, numismatics Warwick Ball, independent scholar, sites and objects Pierfrancesco Callieri, University of Bologna, ceramics, figurines Luca Colliva, University of Bologna, ceramics, figurines Anna Filigenzi, University of Torino, ceramics, figurines Roberta Giunta, Orientale University, Naples, epigraphy Norman Hammond, Boston University, survey Raymond Hebert, Smithsonian Institution, numismatics Brian Hesse, University of Alabama, zooarchaeology Eric Hubbard, University of Pennsylvania, ceramics Rachel Mairs, University of Reading, epigraphy Margaret Medley, University of London, Chinese ceramics Lauren Morris, Freiburg University, epigraphy Alka Patel, University of California, Irvine, Islamic art Paula Wapnish, University of Alabama, zooarchaeology Michael Zellmann-Rohrer, Cambridge University, epigraphy Layah Ziaii-Bigdeli, University of California, Irvine, Islamic ceramics

Baluch Field Workers Our initial draft of this manuscript included the names and group photos of the villagers who worked with us during the 1972-1975 field seasons. At the time of this writing (Summer 2021), with the Taliban government recently established in Afghanistan, we were concerned that specifically identifying the workers might be dangerous to them, their descendants, or their families. So we have decided not to do so and, instead, offer heartfelt thanks to the 100 or so workers who assisted us in five seasons of survey and excavation. We could not have accomplished the project without them.

Institutional support Smithsonian Institution, Department of Anthropology, Department of Numismatics, Research Foundation, Museum Support Center Afghan Institute of Archaeology National Museum of Afghanistan, Kabul U.S. State Department, Afghanistan U.S. Information Agency, Afghanistan U.S. Agency for International Development, Afghanistan Shelby White and Leon Levy Program for Archaeological Publications U.C. Berkeley Archaeological Research Facility Peabody Museum, Cambridge MA University of Pennsylvania Museum University of Chicago Oriental Institute, CAMEL Program, Archaeological Heritage Mapping Project  

xxv

About the Authors

William B. Trousdale is retired Curator of Anthropology at the National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, where he worked for three decades. Prior to that, he was Associate Curator of Chinese Art at the Freer Gallery of the Smithsonian. Trousdale had visiting appointments at Columbia University, University of Michigan, and University of Oregon. His Ph.D. in Asian Art History and Archaeology came from the University of Michigan, and he received his masters from U.C. Berkeley in East Asian Studies. Trousdale’s field research was conducted primarily in Sistan and elsewhere in Afghanistan (1960-1979) but he also served as Assistant Director of the Qasr al-Hayr excavations in Syria for six seasons. He has published on the archaeology of Afghanistan and Syria, on nineteenth century British involvement in Afghanistan and Central Asia, and on military academies. Books and monographs include The Long Sword and Scabbard Slide in Asia (Smithsonian 1975), City in the Desert (coauthored, Harvard UP 1978), War in Afghanistan 1879-80 (Wayne State UP 1985), The Gordon Creeds in Afghanistan (British Association for Cemeteries in South Asia 1984), Military High Schools in America (Left Coast 2009), and Kandahar in the Nineteenth Century (Brill 2021). A previous volume from the Helmand Sistan Project, The Helmand Baluch by Ghulam Rahman Amiri, was edited and annotated by Trousdale and Allen and published by Berghahn Books (2020).

Mitchell Allen is retired after 40 years in scholarly publishing, two decades with Sage Publications, then as founder and president of AltaMira Press and Left Coast Press, two significant publishers of archaeology. Allen has a Ph.D. in Near Eastern archaeology from UCLA and did field work in Israel and California as well as for the Helmand Sistan Project. He taught archaeology part-time at Mills College, Santa Clara University, Diablo Valley College, Vancouver Island University, and University of Maryland. He is author of the book Essentials of Publishing Qualitative Research (2015), 40 articles on archaeology and scholarly publishing, and over 100 presentations and workshops on those subjects. Allen has received lifetime achievement awards from four scholarly organizations including the American Anthropological Association and World Archaeological Congress. All photographs are by Robert K. Vincent, Jr., unless otherwise indicated in the caption

xxvi

Acknowledgements

From William B. Trousdale Abdul Sami, driver USAID, who drove me on nearly every passable road/track in Afghanistan, in the years 1960 through 1968, and twice through Helmand and Nimruz provinces. When we began our ventures he was eighteen years old—a gentle, kind, and thoughtful young man. I last passed a day with him while I was serving as a tour guide for the Smithsonian Institution in 1969 when he treated me to a sumptuous banquet in his home, with his young wife and infant son. I will always remember his urging me when I could eat no more: “It’s a long time till dinner.” When I returned the next year, he had died, still in his twenties. Dr. Abdul Ghafour Rawan Farhadi, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Afghanistan, who cautioned me that the country we were to enter lacked government control, and that it was necessary for us to establish good relations with the local people to realize our goals. Dr. Robert W. Macdonald, Cultural Affairs Officer, USIA, principal HSP facilitator in Kabul. Mehria Rafiq/Mustamandy, USIA, guided my path through officialdom. Mohammad Khalad Roashan, Deputy Minister, Ministry of Information and Culture, Afghanistan, who helped propose a program acceptable both to the US and Afghan governments, and shepherded my Project proposal through the Council of Ministries. Robert G. Neumann, U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan and dean of the diplomatic corps, who took personal interest in our Project and in our safety. Samuel W. Lewis, U.S. interim ambassador to Afghanistan, who directed USAID to provide financial aid. Bartlett D. Harvey, Director, USAID; provided two four-wheel drive trucks, two drivers, and funds for workers the first two seasons. Mary Frances Stock, Manager, USAID staff house, Lashkar Gah, who yearly arranged for the Project members to have rooms and meals, and who saved one Project

member’s life by hastily arranging for the Ambassador’s plane to fly to Lashkar Gah’s primitive airport to pick up the patient and fly him to Kabul and be immediately transported to the U.S. Dispensary. Janet Fairbank and James E. Machlied drove a HSP vehicle from London to Kabul. Howard and Christy Crane drove a HSP vehicle from London to Kabul. Patrick Sales, employed at the U.S. Embassy Commissary in Kabul, arranged for our Project to have three months of food, even if it entailed shorting some items for the official American community. Charles Gurney, USAID financial liaison, Washington, D.C., directed USAID Kabul to assist us with some of their discretionary funds. Captain Tim Hunt, flew a Project member between Lashkar Gah and Kabul. Richard LeConte, Director, Smithsonian Research Foundation, who extended our Project by two years. S. Dillon Ripley, Secretary, Smithsonian Institution, who took great interest in the Project and was principal financial sponsor of our first field season. Francine Berkowitz, Director, Smithsonian foreign currency programs. William Murree Clevenger, U.S. Consul at Mashhad, who made it possible for two reconnaissance travels in both Sistan in Iran and in Afghanistan. Barkat Ali, mineralogist, guide to mining and smelting sites. Jamaldini, guide and translator. Dr. Franck Pettinga, Kabul Dispensary, for medical care of Project staff. Zemaryalai Tarzi, Director, Afghan Institute of Archaeology. Shahi Bai Mustamandi, Director, Afghan Institute of Archaeology.

xxvii

the archaeology of southwest afghanistan

From Mitchell Allen To properly thank the hundreds of people who were involved at some time or another with the Helmand Sistan Project and its publications is a fool’s errand. I was involved in the original fieldwork in the mid-1970s but only resumed work on publication of the project in 2016. I apologize to those who helped us during that 40 year gap whose contributions I am unaware of and therefore are not mentioned here. The oversight is out of ignorance. Of the staff members of that long-ago time included in the list of project participants, we appreciate the continued involvement of geologist John Whitney, whose invaluable contributions to the field report will appear in Volume 2. Since the resumption of work on this volume in the twentyfirst century, we owe many people for their effort and time. The process of finding, sorting, and digitizing thousands of pages of notes and images was made possible by a surprisingly small team of energetic people, including Joshua Allen, Carol Ellick, Callie Lopshire-Bratt, Andrey Markiv, Cyndi Maurer, Vincent Piccione, and Ariadne Prater. Several “pot” parties were assembled to photograph, draw, and describe some of the material taken to the U.S. at the time of the Soviet invasion. We thank Elena Allen, Rhett Bratt, Carol Braves, Becky Coulter, Lew Douglas, OJ Erickson, Diana Greenleaf, Lori Koch, Callie Lopshire-Bratt , David Marton, Mal Mead, Tony Phillips, Ann Ryan, Chris Russo, Ruth Suzuki, and Gary Zimmerman for their help. The staff at Afghanistan Heritage Mapping Project at the CAMEL Lab at the University of Chicago Oriental Institute and the Institute’s director Gil Stein have been crucial to the success of this survey project. They identified coordinates of sites that we could only roughly place using the primitive technology of the 1970s. Many thanks to Emily Hammer, Kate Franklin, Tony Lauricella, Becky Seifried, Eric Hubbard, Jennifer Feng, Gwynn Henderson, and several unidentified cartographers for that brilliant work. We also thank Julian Thibeau of AHMP, who prepared most of the final satellite photos and maps that appear in this volume. Staff members at the Smithsonian Institution were generous with their assistance over the years as we worked to compile the materials from the project located in Washington, including Laurie Burgess, Torben Rick, Jane Walsh, James Krakker, William Fitzhugh, and several unnamed map scanners. After 40 years in publishing, I knew I wanted the brother-sister team of Michael and Hannah Jennings to be responsible for production of my own work after they had produced for me dozens of books written by others. Michael sadly departed our world almost at the start,

but Hannah’s design expertise is visible on every page. The superb team of Lynn Thompson Baca (copyeditor), Sorayya Carr (proofreader), and Cyndi Maurer (indexer), all anthropologically trained and experts at editorial matters, corrected the errors I made in writing such a lengthy, complex work, suggested needed improvements, and went far beyond their assigned tasks to ensure that this book was as tight and useful as it can be. As a newcomer to the field, I have been aided in a quick course in Afghan archaeology and a thousand related topics by numerous scholars who generously shared their knowledge and materials. These include Mark Abramiuk, Henri-Paul Francfort, Giulio Maresca, Norman Hammond, Alka Patel, others included above in the list of technical specialists, plus several anonymous journal reviewers. Specifically, Warwick Ball has been a mentor guiding me through the voluminous literature on the subject and has been an active cheerleader toward our completion. While errors that remain are the responsibility of the authors, not of these distinguished scholars, the volume is far better for their assistance. Numerous other people and organizations had important impacts on my ability to bring this book to press. Director of the National Museum of Afghanistan, Mohammad Fahim Rahimi, has been a model of patience in waiting for us to return materials to his country, in addition to the many other challenges he has faced in the past few years. Babrak Amiri, and the rest of the Amiri family, were helpful in matters related to their father, the late Ghulam Rahman Amiri, Afghan archaeologist on our project. Ditto Fran Vincent, wife of our late photographer Chip Vincent. Research affiliations with the Archaeological Research Facility at U.C .Berkeley and the Department of Anthropology of the Smithsonian Institution have made access to research materials possible. Both Bill Trousdale and I would like to thank Randall Baer who negotiated Bill’s files for missing pieces of information, searched his garage for missing objects and documents, provided tech support, and worked with Bill to complete his part of the work on publication of the project. Harris Bayan, Luke Kelly, and Eric Mort, among others, also contributed in various ways to getting us to the point of a finished product. The staff at Edinburgh University Press and our editor Rachel Bridgewater have been exemplary in their flexibility and cooperation in producing a book by a former publisher. That’s not an easy task. My personal thanks go to my family, my wife Vida and children Alexis, Josh, and Elena, for the endless ways they supported, helped, and pushed me to get this to completion. It could not have happened without them.

xxviii

Chapter 1

Introduction

This extensive two volume set represents a summary of the work of the Helmand Sistan Project (HSP), a joint research project established by a national agreement between the U.S. Smithsonian Institution and the Institute of Archaeology of the Government of Afghanistan between 1971 and 1975, with additional study seasons extending to 1979. While focused on archaeology, the project also included extensive ethnographic (Amiri 2020) and

geological components (Whitney 2006) and several other lines of research that were never completed. The authorship in this volume is listed as Trousdale, the project Principal Investigator, and Allen, who wrote most of the final text, but it is the joint product of dozens of scholars over the half century between the project’s inception and its publication. Many of these scholars have been listed in the Acknowledgements of this volume. The Helmand

Figure 1.1 Map of Afghan Sistan with key modern and ancient sites. Modern sites are designated by gray circles, ancient sites by black squares, and geographical features in white. Courtesy CAMEL/AHMP

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the archaeology of southwest afghanistan Sistan Project was the first long-term systematic field research project launched in the lower Helmand Valley and accompanying areas. While not the earliest researchers in this area, nor the last (see Chapter 3), no other research team had ever invested as much time in studying this region as we did. Our findings, therefore, should have an important impact on future research in the archaeology of Afghanistan, Central and South Asia, and Iran. While they can be considered dated—our last visit to Afghanistan was in 1979—the political and military history of Afghanistan has prevented almost any recent research in this area. Thus, this represents the largest corpus of historical, archaeological, ethnographic, geographic, and geologic knowledge of this area, a claim that is sadly likely to stand for many years to come.

Figure 1.3 Reeds and shallow water comprise the edge of the Hamun Lakes. HSP73.S.35

What Is Sistan?

In rare years of superabundance, water from the hamuns overflows through a channel at the western edge of the basin, the Shela Rud, and into the region of the Gaud-i Zirreh, only 20 m below the hamun bed, where another lake 60 x 12 km may be formed. Despite this shallow gradient, the Gaud-i Zirreh has rarely held water in the present century, averaging once every 20–25 years (Whitney 2006, 23).

Sistan is a geographical region that lies at the southwestern corner of Afghanistan, northwest Pakistan, and southeastern Iran including the place where Iran, Afghanistan, and Pakistan meet near the summit of Koh-i Malik Siah, “Mountain of the Black Chieftain.” Sistan proper now includes only the delta lands of the Helmand River and the basin of the landlocked Hamun Lakes, 500 m above sea level, a land area divided between Iran and Afghanistan. The hamuns are fed by four rivers, but chief among them, and the only reasonably permanent stream, is the Helmand River, the longest river in Afghanistan. Until the completion of modern dams along the mid-Helmand in the 1950s, flooding covered the lower Helmand Valley annually. In years of extraordinary floods, the hamuns, with a maximum depth of 5.8–6.4 m, may spread over an area of the flat basin 90 x 90 km (Whitney 2006, 26, Figure 18).

Figure 1.4 Shela Rud channel runs from the hamuns toward the Gaud-i Zirreh. HSP76.13.14

Surprisingly for a lake system that has no outlet, the water of the hamuns is quite fresh and supports a variety of fish and other aquatic life. To the east of the lower Helmand Valley, separated from the main river valley by a slight plateau, lies a flat, broad basin, Sar-o-Tar, which we will discuss later. Sistan is a land of extremes. Apart from the narrow Helmand Valley, ranging from 2 km to 5 km in width, and the much broader river delta leading into the hamuns, greater Sistan in Afghanistan is divided by the Helmand River into two vast deserts. To the east and south is the

Figure 1.2 View of the Helmand Valley from the bluffs above. Photo M. Allen

2

introduction World) described the topography succinctly: “In this desert lie the sands which surround Sistan and are called the Sistan sands.” (Anonymous 2015, 80) The desolation of the region is not, however, restricted to the deserts that surround it and bisect it. As one descends the cliffs at the desert’s edge into the broad flat basin of the Hamun Lakes, one does not arrive under the green bowers of Rustam’s homeland described in the Shahnameh (the epic tale written by a Persian poet and known throughout the region), but embarks upon a salt-encrusted dry plain, as hard as concrete, deeply cracked by the heat, and over 1000 km square in extent. In the winter the temperature on this plain may fall far below freezing, and in the summer it rises as high as 55 degrees C or more. The evaporation rate of 14 feet (almost 5 m) a year is one of the highest rates measured around the globe (Whitney 2006). From late May until late September the region is held in the paralyzing grip of the bad-i sad-o bist roz, Wind of 120 Days, which ordinarily, day and night, blows at an unremitting 40 or 50 miles per hour (64–80 kph), raising the alluvial soil of the hamun basin in a perpetual dust storm. Extended periods of 90 mph velocity are known, and a high of 120 mph (193 kph) has been recorded by one traveler (McMahon 1906b, 336). When the winds abate, there may be plagues of stinging f lies, yellow-jackets, and mosquitos (McMahon 1906b, 334). Yet it is evident everywhere in Sistan that humans have not always found the region so hostile. From a point just to the south of where the Helmand enters the desert, to its delta at the Hamun Lakes, a distance of almost 500 km, one is scarcely ever out of sight of an imposing ruin. Scattered over the great clay plain of the hamun basin are hundreds of ruins that inform us of Sistan’s once flourishing state. One early twentieth century English visitor boasted that no such concentration of ruins existed

Figure 1.5 Gaud-i Zirreh seen in the distance at a rare moment with water in it. HSP76.1.33

Figure 1.6 Registan sands south of Kandahar. HSP76.15.26

Figure 1.7 Edge of the Dasht-i Margo where it drops off into the Helmand Valley. HSP74.2.25

Registan, or “place of sand,” and to the north the Dasht-i Margo, arbitrarily translated as “desert of death.” To the west, in Iran, the Dasht-i Lut completes the encirclement. In the tenth century an anonymous geographer, author of the Hudud al-’Alam (The Regions of the

Figure 1.8 A Sar-o-Tar wind storm obscures our view of nearby sites. HSP73.15.15

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the archaeology of southwest afghanistan anywhere else in the world (McMahon 1906b, 214), and G. P. Tate, who spent two years in Sistan with the Afghan Boundary Commission, estimated that in the heart of Sistan alone there are 500 square miles of ruins (Tate 1909, 107). While many of these ruins are those of villages, or single structures even, there are dozens of large palaces, forts, vast walled compounds, and at least three cities each over a square km in extent. Equally as impressive are the remains of the complex hydrological systems which controlled and distributed the waters of the Helmand River and are, of course, the foundation upon which all settlement and wealth in Sistan was based. The name Sistan comes from the Saka people. From the second century bce to the second century ce, Sistan was divided between the Parthians and the Saka, an IranoScythian tribe from the steppe of northern Central Asia who migrated into the region at that time. Under the Saka the region became known as Sakistan, the place of the Saka; it is this name, by way of Arabic and Persian Sijistan and Sigistan, that is preserved today in the toponym, Sistan, generally spelled by early English visitors as Seistan (McMahon 1906b, 211). Sistan is well known historically. In the epic literature of ancient Iranian peoples, which once extended from the Euphrates River in the west to the border of China, Sistan is the cultural heartland. Rustam, hero of the national epic, the Shahnameh, was born in Sistan. There is scarcely a vestige of antiquity in the region that does not bear a name from the Shahnameh and a romantic legend linking it with some event of this epic. Many other ancient sources from the Iranian, classical Greco-Roman, East Asian, and Islamic world also describe Sistan, including a lengthy medieval tract on the history of Sistan, Tarikh-i Sistan (Gold 1976). We include some of these historical sources relevant to our archaeological work in Chapter 2 and elsewhere in this report.

Figure 1.9 The contrast between the well-built mudbrick compounds of the village khans and the simple tamarisk branch and mud homes of the Baluch villagers is evident throughout Sistan. HSP75.A.29

Amiri describes the feudal nature of society in the lower Helmand Valley, largely in the Sistan basin, during the 1970s, with village khans controlling almost every aspect of life of the local farmers. Because of its remoteness, the region was under the most flimsy control of the central government of Afghanistan at that time, with the khans even assigned to guard the border for the government, which furthered their control and allowed for substantial cross-border smuggling. At the time of our presence in Sistan, the region had recently been subject to its first major international development project. The Helmand Valley Project, orchestrated by U.S. contractors, was designed to bring 300,000 acres of new and rehabilitated land under cultivation, largely unsuccessfully (Whitney 2006, 30–32). The major effort took place upriver of where the bulk of Amiri’s ethnographic research was conducted and so was not a major element of his study. A large dam controlling the flow of the Helmand, the Kajaki Dam, had recently been built near Kandahar. This too had affected the life of the Baluch population of the Sistan basin with largely negative consequences to the traditional farming system. These changes, while significant, seem inconsequential compared to those which have befallen Sistan since the Soviet invasion of 1979, a date which also marks the end of our visits to Afghanistan. Helmand Province became one of the most contested regions of the country, a stronghold of the Taliban and home to over 10,000 troops from the U.S. and its allies (Afghanistan International Security Assistance Force n.d.). While we have not returned to Sistan to assess the changes to the population with whom we lived for five field seasons, they were undoubtedly significant.

The People of Modern Sistan Sistan is inhabited by several of the peoples of Afghanistan—Baluch, Brahui, Pashtuns, and Tadjiks. Early European visitors to the region spent considerable time documenting these groups, their locations, and villages, though rarely their cultural world (Tate 1910–12, Part IV). HSP’s Ghulam Rahman Amiri, representative of the Afghan Institute of Archaeology for most of our field seasons, conducted extensive ethnographic studies during the course of the project. His findings, annotated by Trousdale, are the subject of a separate volume emanating from this project, The Helmand Baluch (Amiri 2020), summarized in an appendix to Volume 2. 4

introduction What we know about the life of the Sistanis of the 1970s is documented in Amiri’s volume, so will not be further discussed here.

Valley between Lashkar Gah and Chakansur, and our interest in multidisciplinary studies of ethnography, geology, climate, and hydrology (in addition to archaeology), distinguishes the work of the Helmand Sistan Project.

The Helmand Sistan Project

Resuscitating an Archaeological Project in the Twenty-First Century

Our interest in the Sistan region began with Trousdale’s first visit to Afghanistan in 1960. He returned to Afghanistan annually throughout the 1960s. Among his trips were a reconnaissance mission on the Iranian side of the border with U.S. consul in Mashhad, William Clevenger, and a similar tour down the Helmand River in Afghanistan in 1966. A proposal was drafted to the Smithsonian for a long-term research project in the region, the Helmand Sistan Project, with the following goals.

The obvious first question of any reader is why a project that ended its fieldwork in 1979 is only being published in the third decade of the twenty-first century. At the completion of the work in the field in the 1970s, Trousdale had the intent of publishing all the results of the Helmand Sistan Project in a single book or in a set of volumes at a single time. Most researchers know the frustration

The ultimate goal of the Project will be to conduct a complete study of the history and human ecology of the Helmand-Sistan region, to interpret the complex natural and imposed social, technological and historical factors which in antiquity permitted this now depopulated and seemingly sterile zone to support advanced civilizations, and to provide a comprehensive analytical report which will be of paramount value to the governments of the United States and Afghanistan in their continuing effort to rehabilitate portions of this region. It is anticipated that the results of this project may serve as a procedural model in the initial planning of similar rehabilitation projects in related areas of the world. Concrete specialized scientific reports on specific conditions, problems, and possible procedures for future development of the region will be issued during and at the conclusion of the project. (Trousdale 1970)

Figure 1.10 The 1971 HSP field team. HSP71.F.29

It was understood that the University of Pennsylvania had previously signed an agreement with the Government of Afghanistan in 1967 to undertake the archaeological exploration of the Iran-Afghanistan border region for prehistoric sites. Brief seasons of reconnaissance, under the leadership of George F. Dales, were conducted in 1968, 1969, and 1971, described further in Chapter 3. University of Bonn scholar Klaus Fischer had a commission from the Afghans to study the ruins in the northern part of Afghan Sistan with a particular interest in the standing Islamic ruins. He had worked for a full decade prior to our entry into the field. The three projects established mutually-agreed boundaries so as not to duplicate each other’s work and, as indicated in Chapter 3, produced largely complementary material that greatly expanded our knowledge of the region. Our interest in the full range of historical and protohistoric materials, our concentration on the Helmand

Figure 1.11 HSP geologist John Whitney examining formation processes of the Helmand Valley. HSP74.S.12

5

the archaeology of southwest afghanistan

Figure 1.12 Almost 200 sites were identified by the Helmand Sistan Project during our five field seasons. Courtesy CAMEL/AHMP

Table 1.1

of finding the results of major archaeological project scattered among journal articles and books in multiple languages, from different publishers, with varying availability. Take, for example, Dales’s work in Sistan, a fairly brief and simple project. His reporting of this work appears in four journal articles; seven chapters in books, yearbooks, collections, and festschriften; and a fugitive research monograph from a university-based research institute, published in three different countries over a span of a quarter of a century (Kenoyer 1994, xxvii–xxvix). Even this was not enough. To include Dales’s work relevant to HSP, we still needed to supplement his published material with what was deposited in Dales’s archive at the University of Pennsylvania and at the Peabody Museum at Harvard. The delays in publishing the Helmand Sistan Project final report, for which this volume will serve, were caused by numerous other factors. Trousdale had always hoped to return to Afghanistan to clarify key points that must

Afghan Sistan Timeline Early Bronze Age 3rd millennium bce Middle Bronze Age 20th to 18th century bce Iron Age 12th to 8th century bce Median 8th to 6th century bce Achaemenid 6th to 4th century bce Hellenistic 3rd to 2nd century bce Parthian 2nd century bce to 2nd century ce Sasanian 3rd to 7th century ce Early Islamic 8th century ce Saffarid 9th to 10th century ce Ghaznavid 11th century ce Ghorid 12th to 13th century ce Timurid 14th to 15th century ce Post-Timurid 16th century–present

6

introduction remain unresolved in the pages here, not knowing that the Soviet invasion would initiate over 40 years of uninterrupted warfare that made visiting Afghan Sistan impossible for an American scholar. Trousdale’s retirement in 1996 also limited the availability of resources for completion of the project. And, like most active scholars, he was engaged in multiple interests, which resulted in publication of full length works on topics generally but not directly related to the field report: on the Gordon Creed family in Afghanistan (Trousdale 1984b), the MacGregor diaries (Trousdale 1985), on British soldiers in the Second Afghan War (Trousdale 1987), on military academies (Trousdale 2007), and on the history of the city of Kandahar (Trousdale 2021), as well as numerous Afghanistan-related articles. Nor did the project go completely unpublished. A list of previously published work from the Helmand Sistan Project appears in this volume as Appendix 2. Trousdale had also done substantial analysis of our materials and had written scattered sections of the field report, which have been incorporated into this volume. Other project members had gone on to careers in the field and to other work. One field archaeologist in 1974 and 1975, Mitchell Allen, had declined to return to the project in 1976 because of accepting a job at a scholarly publishing house. After a 40 year career in publishing, Allen retired and contacted Trousdale in 2016 about helping to complete the project. Trousdale, by then 85 years old, welcomed the assistance. This partnership has made possible the document in your hands, which is largely a product of Trousdale’s intellectual framing and expertise and Allen’s organization and writing. Trousdale’s move to California upon retirement from the Smithsonian had relegated HSP materials to boxes piled high in a garage, intermixed with Trousdale’s substantial library and the papers and library of his spouse, Marion Trousdale, a noted Shakespeare scholar. Allen and Trousdale conducted “garage archaeology” and excavated this tepe of boxes to find most of the field notebooks, photographs, and slides related to HSP. Sadly, a small percentage of project photographs and several field notebooks of scholars who accompanied the project in early seasons were not located and are still missing at the time of our writing. The dangers of losing these materials for posterity was recognized by Allen who undertook to have all the original field materials scanned, including 42 notebooks, 10,000 black and white photos, 4000 color slides, 1600 note cards with sherd descriptions, and sheaves of related correspondence. Copies of these electronic files are to be deposited to the National Anthropological Archive at the

Figure 1.13 Garage archaeology in California. Photo M. Allen

Smithsonian along with Trousdale’s other professional papers to allow future scholars access to the raw data. The plans carefully drawn by James Knudstad, the project’s architect, had been left at the Smithsonian two decades earlier when Trousdale retired. They were located with the assistance of Trousdale’s National Museum of Natural History colleagues Jane Walsh and Laurie Burgess and were scanned for the project through the assistance of Burgess, anthropology department chair Torben Rick, and others at the Smithsonian. Project artifacts removed from Afghanistan had been left in Washington and were located with the assistance of James Krakker of the Smithsonian Museum Support Center. We are grateful to each of these people for their generous assistance.

Figure 1.14 HSP materials removed from Afghanistan at the time of the Soviet invasion were relocated to the Museum Support Center at the Smithsonian Institution. Photo M. Allen

7

the archaeology of southwest afghanistan Allen attempted to contact others previously involved with the project to gather additional field materials, ideas, and writings if possible. Sadly, project photographer Robert K. “Chip” Vincent, Jr., architect Robert Hamilton, and Afghan Institute of Archaeology representative Ghulam Rahman Amiri were all deceased, though we were able to contact their descendants. Other project members were not found almost half a century after the end of the project or did not respond to our overtures. Project geologist John W. Whitney was about to retire from a career at the U.S. Geological Survey and welcomed re-involvement in the project. His contributions include a separately published monograph (Whitney 2006) and a chapter in Volume 2. Several classes of objects—coins and inscriptions— were sent to specialists to analyze. Their results are included as Appendix 3 to this volume and in Volume 2. In attempting to make sense of our materials so many decades after the fieldwork, generous assistance from numerous scholars was invaluable. Many of those who helped us are listed in the Acknowledgements. We were fortunate to be able to begin our work simultaneously with the Afghan Heritage Mapping Project (AHMP) of the Center for Ancient Middle Eastern Landscapes (CAMEL) lab at the University of Chicago Oriental Institute (OI).

We were able to provide documentation on over 100 sites not in their database but only roughly located by us using compass triangulation settings and hand drawn maps in the 1970s. The scholars at the mapping project pinpointed these sites on recent satellite photos and gave us the detailed coordinates used in this report. We, in turn, were able to provide them with contextual information about sites that represented only dots on their map. The satellite images of sites and the regional maps that appear in this volume were provided by CAMEL/ AHMP staff. (https://oi.uchicago.edu/research/camel/ afghan-heritage-mapping-partnership) We have also been fortunate to be in contact with the National Museum of Afghanistan in Kabul to discuss the repatriation of the objects located in the United States. Sadly, at the time of writing in August of 2021, Afghanistan has been returned to Taliban control, and thus the fate of the museum, its personnel, and its interest in caring for the objects stored in the United States is unclear. We were also fortunate to receive a grant from the White-Levy Fund for Archaeological Publications to financially support completing this project, for which we are extremely grateful.

Dissemination Plans Being decades late on producing a useful set of information for other scholars has focused our attention on getting this volume out with all due speed. Breaking the field report into two volumes has allowed us to push out the material that was finalized sooner without having to wait for the rest. While this may be an inconvenience to some scholars, as much of the evidence for the dating of sites in Volume 1 appears in Volume 2, we felt it would be best to have the first half of the set out as soon as it was ready. But this is not our sole commitment to disseminating information on the work of the Helmand Sistan Project. Several articles were published simultaneously and shortly after the completion of the project (see Appendix 2). The revived project has produced additional articles, also listed in the appendix. More timely has been the number of presentations on the project made at various conferences in the four years since publication work was resumed. Presentations have been made at the Society for American Archaeology, American Schools of Oriental Research, European Association for South Asian Archaeology, and American Anthropological Association meetings, among others. During the 2020–2021 pandemic, presentations were made digitally to various global audiences. Additional papers are planned to highlight detailed pieces of the overall corpus.

Figure 1.15 Afghan Heritage Mapping Program Staff, R. Seifried, K. Franklin, E. Hammer, A. Lauricella, G. Parker, with HSP’s M. Allen, 2017. Courtesy CAMEL/AHMP

Receiving a US Department of State grant through the work of OI Director Gil Stein, CAMEL created a database of sites in Afghanistan to assist the Afghan government in identifying and monitoring its heritage sites and to train Afghan scholars in this kind of work. 8

introduction HSP has also approached a more general public. Early articles on the project appeared in Illustrated London News, Sunday Times Magazine, and in a popular book on foragers published by the Smithsonian (see Appendix 2 for full citations). Several of the recent presentations have been to university programs, college courses, and at bookstores. Allen’s blog Scholarly Roadkill has posted updates on the research in progress. The project is also developing a website at sistanarchaeology.org, which will be publicly available and will include highlights of our finds and findings. Through the impetus of the open data movement, we have also committed to submitting our original notes, photos, drawings, correspondence, and other relevant documents to the National Anthropological Archive at the Smithsonian for use by other scholars in reassessing our work. It is hoped that, in toto, we are able to reach all who might be interested in the data and our analysis of it, no matter how overdue that access is.

largest in our survey area. Our survey and excavation work there warrants its own lengthy chapter (Chapter 9). In additions to notes, references, and an index, Volume 1 contains three appendixes. The first contains a summary table of sites, their locations, types, and periods occupied for easier reference. Appendix 2 documents previous publications from our project. The third appendix provides epigraphic descriptions of possibly our most important written document, the Greek-Aramaic inscription found in the well at the temple at Sehyak, the chapter authored by epigraphers Lauren Morris, Rachel Mairs, and Michael Zellmann-Rohrer. Volume 2 fills out the material not appearing in Volume 1. A chapter by John Whitney, our team geologist, describes the human and natural processes that created the landscapes in which we worked. A second section describes the ceramics, site by site, then period by period, our attempt to establish the first ceramic chronology of the region. Several specialists were invited to contribute to add to our expertise in this. Part III does the same for other objects we collected by class of object. Finally, Part IV includes other studies, many by other scholars: inscriptions, coins, and a specialized collection of sculpture and figurines that we were asked to publish from the Hellenistic-Parthian site of Khwaja Kanur. Volume 2 ends with our analysis of the various historical and archaeological periods and our basic conclusions about the history and archaeology of Sistan, along with suggestions for future research when this again becomes possible. An appendix to Volume 2 summarizes Ghulam Rahman Amiri’s ethnographic work with the Helmand Baluch in the 1970s.

Plan of the Books Volume 1 contains an introductory section that traces a brief historical overview of the region (Chapter 2), a history of previous research in Afghan Sistan (Chapter 3), and a description of the methodology we used in the field and in our analyses (Chapter 4). The core of Volume 1 is in the following chapters in which we describe each of the sites we surveyed or excavated during our time in the field. We describe the results of sites identified in our surveys in Sar-o-Tar (Chapter 5), the Helmand Valley (Chapter 6), and other sites (Chapter 7). These descriptions include the name(s), location, type, and period of each site, a description based on our field notes, and the most useful photographs we have of the site. In many cases, there are plans of the site drawn by our architects. In some cases, only a rough sketch of the site was drawn in the field notebook. These sketches were digitized and redrawn by Josh Allen. And, in many cases, we have included a satellite photograph of the site obtained from the CAMEL/AHMP project, most prepared by Julian Thibeau. HSP excavated at 11 different sites and those are described in Chapter 8. These include general descriptions of the sites, stratigraphic sections where available, and photographs of key loci identified. We include brief descriptions of finds and their archaeological context, which are expanded upon in Volume 2. We spent over 35 weeks of our field project at a single site, Shahr-i Gholghola, conducting numerous excavations and plotting the standing ruins of a city over 1 km square, the

I Never Promised You a Rose Garden Living in Sistan was an adventure that few westerners experience and was memorable for all involved with the project. We had almost no contact with the industrialized world for three months each year in an area in which there was no electricity, running water, or telephones. We brought canned food with us, uncertain of our ability to purchase supplies from local farmers, and all our drinking water, uncertain of the safety of that coming out of the river or from wells dug nearby. There were days when ice covered our wash basin in the morning. The same day might generate daytime temperatures over 100 degrees F. Though we avoided the season of the Wind of 120 Days, the famed Sistan winds were constant, often made fieldwork difficult, and regularly made it unpleasant. We experienced some of the violent wind storms Sistan is known for, including the memorable night 9

the archaeology of southwest afghanistan in 1975 when the winds, which we recorded as being over 125 kph, blew down some of our tents, shredded others, scattered our notes for miles along the river valley, and left us attempting to sleep in rocking Land Rovers until it died down the following morning. One of our few lifelines was the radio connection that could usually reach the BBC World Service each night. Sarah Ward was the host of their music program Listeners Choice. Each year we sent her a homemade postcard of the Sistan desert and ruins. She acknowledged us each year and played our theme song on Listeners Choice: “I Beg Your Pardon, I Never Promised You a Rose Garden.” It was always one of the highlights of our field season, and we wish to thank Ms. Ward for remembering us.

Figure 1.16 Our 1975 camp at Lat Qala was shredded by a violent windstorm. Photo M. Allen

10

Part I Background

Chapter 2

History of the Sistan Region

The Sistan region has been mentioned in primary historical documents stretching back to the Bronze Age. Secondary writing about the region was conducted by Greek and Roman historians and by medieval Arab and Persian chroniclers. The region was the subject of European expeditions from the beginning of the nineteenth century. Modern scholarship on the ancient and medieval history of Sistan has also been robust. With this wealth of historical documents and the detailed analysis of them, this chapter attempts to break no new ground but merely strives to provide the reader with the basic historical outline with which our archaeological findings might intersect. For more detailed historical information, we would point you to some of the references listed here.

Bronze Age The Bronze Age in southwest Afghanistan is strategic in that it is at the center of the triangle formed by Mesopotamian/Iranian, Indus, and Oxus civilizations, each of which has been the object of intensive study for over a century. Its density of settlement and social complexity led to claims of a Helmand Civilization on a par with other developed areas of the Bronze Age (Lamberg-Karlovsky and Tosi 1973, 26). The increased success in translating proto-Elamite has contributed significantly to the historical understanding of Sistan as part of the broader Iranian Bronze Age (Dahl 2009, Desset 2016). This includes tablets found in nearby Shahr-i Sokhta and slightly more distant Konar Sandal (Heydari, Desset, and Vidale 2018). Sadly, HSP produced no texts to contribute to the large-scale regional history. The written documents of the Iranian Bronze Age are almost exclusively administrative tablets, concerned with the acquisition, storage, and distribution of agricultural and domestic animal products and the labor related to these activities (Dahl 2020). The Bronze Age tablets enrich our understanding of the social and economic practices of this era, though the implications for the sociocultural environment in Sistan are often inferential, as only a

slim number of texts have been found in eastern Iran itself. This means we are largely reliant on archaeology for an understanding of the Sistan Bronze Age. In this, we have the benefit of the half century long project at Shahr-i Sokhta in Iranian Sistan and the library of studies that have resulted from the Italian and Iranian projects there (UNESCO 2014, Saccone and Triggiani 2015). Other surveys and excavations have found additional Bronze Age sites in Iranian Sistan, beginning with the work of Aurel Stein (1928), continuing with recent Iranian work (Sajjadi 2004), and including excavation at other Sistan sites, such as Tappeh Graziani (Kavosh, Vidale, and Nashli 2019). In Afghan Sistan, Roman Ghirshman’s and George Dales’s excavations at Nad-i Ali were designed to find comparable material east of the modern border (Ghirshman 1939, Dales 1977a). While both researchers reported no success in extracting material predating the first millennium bce, the reanalysis by Besenval and Francfort (1994) has raised the reasonable suggestion that Sorkh Dagh was in fact a Bronze Age ziggurat. Their re-examination of Hammond’s 1966 survey added four more Bronze Age sites based on the existence of cord-impressed sherds (Besenval and Francfort 1994, 11). Surveys by Fairservis (1961) and Dales (1969) in the Rud-i Biyaban, Shela Rud, and Gardan Reg added a limited number of small sites. Otherwise, Bronze Age archaeological finds from southern Afghanistan are restricted to sites further to the east, such as Mundigak, Said Qala Tepe, and Deh Morasi Ghundai (Petrie and Schaffer 2019). While the Helmand Valley has been understudied, the habitable areas surrounding it have begun to turn up extensive Bronze Age occupations, areas such as in the Quetta Valley, the Bampur region, and the Jiroft watershed. This level of activity suggests that the Helmand Valley was equally well settled during the Bronze Age and the lack of sites noted by those who have worked along the Helmand may have more to do with site visibility and preservation than it does settlement pattern, this despite Fairservis’s claim that Sistan was a backwater in prehistory (Fairservis 13

the archaeology of southwest afghanistan 1961, 33–34). The existence of likely Bronze Age occupation at Lat Qala, our sole excavation of a tepe along the Helmand, supports this supposition (see Chapter 8). Thus, we suggest that the Helmand Valley was an integral part of the Helmand Civilization, despite our sparse corroborating archaeological information. Recent work by Biscione and Vahdati (2021) has suggested both an Early Bronze and a Middle Bronze occupation in Sistan, the latter being an immigration of groups from the Greater Khorasan Culture (GKC)/ BactriaMargiana Archaeological Complex (BMAC) in northeastern Iran and Turkmenistan to the area around Sistan after the demise of Shahr-i Sokhta. The publication by Dales of early second millennium miniature stone columns from Godar-i Shah, also known from Tepe Hissar IIIC, Gonur Tepe, and other sites along the Oxus, gives strength to this hypothesis (Dales 1977; Allen, Hubbard, and Trousdale forthcoming). Biscione and Vahdati have identified several other previously published Sistan sites that exhibit GKC ceramics. Our discovery of miniature columns at several additional Sistan sites and accompanying BMAC/GKC pottery (Vahdati, personal communication) described below support the hypothesis of a Middle Bronze Age occupation, thus shrinking the “gap” in regional occupation posited by Mortazavi (2007). Such a historical gap does still exist between the end of the BMAC/GKC period, around the seventeenth century bce, and the appearance of Early Iron Age sites in the Sistan basin, one of HSP’s key contributions to the historical arc of this region (Allen and Trousdale 2019, and this volume).

Other than the two epic works, there is no written evidence we can use to link our archaeological finds from the Early Iron Age to the historical narrative. Our archaeological work on the Early Iron Age, described in a previous article (Allen and Trousdale 2019) and below, is also localized, excluding occupation in the western part of the Sistan region. No sites or artifacts from this period have been identified in a century of archaeological work in Iranian Sistan. Nor are there close parallels to other archaeological cultures of the late second millennium, though the platform mound architecture and painted motifs on pottery show similarities to the Yaz I culture based in Turkmenistan (Buławka 2011). We date the Early Iron Age culture identified in Sar-o-Tar, discussed below and in our 2019 article, to the early first millennium or late second millennium bce so as not to interfere with one of the few chronological markers in Sistan, that of the “Median” period at Nad-i Ali. First suggested by Ghirshman (1939) and supported by Dales (1977a), the contention is based on painted bricks, a trilobate arrowhead, and some ceramics that resemble those of known Median sites further west, such as Baba Jan and Nush-i Jan (Dales 1977a, 106). The Medes are known primarily from Assyrian records as a threat to the eastern provinces of their empire and from references by Greek historians, especially in Herodotus’s description of the eastern part of the Achaemenid empire. They are characterized as a tribal confederacy that expanded into a political dynasty in the seventh and sixth centuries BCE. Their presence in Sistan is unattested historically (Dandamayev and Medvedskaya 2006). We have no position on the existence of the Medes in Sistan early in the first millennium—the relationship of Median political history and material culture has already been identified as problematic (Genito 1986). It would be more comfortable speaking of this as the Iron II period, which would reflect our growing knowledge of the Yaz II period in Turkmenistan as well as the early first millennium cultures in Iran. No known Iron II sites from these centuries have been identified in Iranian Sistan, nor can we add any additional evidence of this time period from our work in Afghan Sistan. The materials designated Median by Ghirshman/Dales, if their dating is accurate, seem exclusive to Sorkh Dagh. Other pre-Achaemenid mid-first millennium finds have been made at Herat that also bear little resemblance to the cultural materials in Sistan, which reinforces our contention that the culture we identified dates to the late second or early first millennium bce (Franke and Urban 2017, 744).

Early Iron Age Historical information about the Iron Age of Sistan is inconclusive. The region figures heavily in the historical geography of the two major classic Iranian texts, the Avesta and the Shahnameh. The stories of the Avesta are generally agreed to predate the Achaemenid period (Gnoli 1967), and occasional attempts are made to link locations in that document with natural features and archaeological sites in Sistan (Karvigh 2019). A similar problem exists with the Shahnameh, whose hero Rustam is from the ruling family of Sistan going back to legendary times, which the first part of the epic describes, though its historical context is more likely the Parthian period (Gazerani 2015, 45–46). Both of these epics suggest that Sistan was ruled as a kingdom in these early years. Numerous scholars have studied this, so we can best contribute by offering the additional archaeological evidence from our project to their analyses. 14

history of the sistan region

Achaemenid-Hellenistic Periods

to Isidore’s list of cities in Drangiana, including Parin, Coroe, Barda, Mihn, Palakenti, and the royal capital of Sigal (Fischer 1971b, 49–51). Biyt, which has been identified with Bust/Qala-i Bist (Fischer 1989), is mentioned as being further east in Arachosia, White India of the Parthians (Isidore of Charax 1914, 9). None of these cities can be clearly linked to the archaeological remains in contemporary Sistan. Fischer attempts to link Isidore’s Palakenti with modern Palangi, for example (Fischer 1973a, 50), but Palangi is today connected to only the large and recent manor house and windmill otherwise surrounded by the older town of Hauz (see Chapter 6). We did not find elaborate Parthian period remains around Hauz, but the Helmand Valley has many sites that could be identified as those mentioned by Isidore, since it was the period of densest occupation in the valley’s history. The Greek historians suggest that Alexander renamed the Drangiana capital city Phrada to Prophthasia. Most western scholars suggest this to be at or near Farah, but this too is disputed (Fraser 1996, 128). The political history of the area after the invasion by Alexander of Macedon is complex, particularly without clear linkages between names of ancient sites and the modern place names. As has been often noted, Seleucid control of this area did not equate with an influx of Greek population or even culture (Ball 2021) but continued much of the administrative and cultural infrastructure of the preceding Achaemenids (Strootman 2020), though inscriptions in Greek have been found in Afghanistan (Mairs 2021), including a Parthian period inscription from Sehyak described in this volume. Seleucid control of Drangiana vanished quickly as Seleucus I ceded it to the Mauryan king Chandragupta in 303 bce. Indo-Greek influence in southern Afghanistan is most vividly displayed through the bilingual Ashoka inscription found near Kandahar. According to Polybius (1889, section 11.34.13), Drangiana was back under Seleucid control after the campaigns of Antiochus III late in the third century bce, who had his troop winter in Drangiana on returning from the Indus. Dynastic wars among Seleucid factions led to the transfer of control of the region to the Parthians in the mid-second century during the reign of Mithridates I (Schmitt 2011).

Sistan comes into the realm of historical documentation with the Achaemenid period. The earliest historical mention of Sistan is from the Bisitun inscription of Darius I (Rawlinson 1847), where it is labeled Zranka, the name attributed to the region during the Achaemenid period and Hellenized to Drangiana in the subsequent Hellenistic period. Other mentions of the province come from the Old Persian part of a trilingual inscription from the tomb of Darius I at Naqsh-e Rustam and from a Xerxes I inscription at Persepolis (Allchin, Ball, and Hammond 2019, 216). Much of our historical information about Achaemenid Sistan comes from contemporary accounts of Alexander of Macedon’s campaigns by Arrian and Ptolemy or from later Greek writers such as Diodorus Siculus, Strabo, and Pliny, and therefore need to be used with caution (Schmitt 2011). While generally referring to a geographical location, Zranka could also be used as an ethnic designation (Maresca 2019, 124). The meaning of the name is disputed. Boundaries of the province are not completely clear, though we are told by Strabo that it was surrounded by Areia (now known as Herat), Arachosia (now known as Kandahar), Gedrosia (now known as Baluchistan), and Carmania to the west (Strabo 1924, Bk XV, Chapter 2). Sistan was a loyal province and supported the Achaemenid kings, including in their battles against Alexander of Macedon (Mehrafarin 2016, 3). It was rich enough in agricultural production to support Alexander’s armies for two full winter months (Mehrafarin 2016, 7). The Persian satrap of Zranka of that era, Barsaentes, participated in the murder of Darius III and fled Alexander’s oncoming armies but was later captured in India and put to death according to Arrian’s Anabasis (Arrian of Nicomedia 1884, Book 3, Chapter XXV). Archaeological evidence for Achaemenid rule in Sistan has been most notable in Iranian Sistan at what is presumed to be a provincial administrative center at Dahan-i Ghulaman (Scerrato 1966). Recent archaeological work in Iranian Sistan has identified an additional 110 Achaemenid sites, most in the southern part of the Shela Rud and further south (Mehrafarin and Mousavi Haji 2016, 4). In Afghan Sistan, the Achaemenid period was previously known only from Nad-i Ali (Dales 1977a) and eight sites reported by Hammond (1970, 448). The most detailed description of the area comes from the itinerary of Isidore of Charax’s Parthian Stations, in the first century ce. Isidore’s itinerary is thought to follow similarly structured documents from the Seleucids and possibly the Achaemenids (Daffina 1967, iv). Fischer has attempted to link archaeological sites along the Helmand

Parthian Period Parthian control of the lower Helmand Valley continued for almost four centuries, from the mid-second century bce until early in the third century ce. This much studied dynasty emerged from the area southeast of the Caspian Sea to control Mesopotamia, Iran, Central Asia, and parts 15

the archaeology of southwest afghanistan of the Levant and Anatolia over these centuries, becoming the chief rivals of the Romans for political control of West Asia. The period of Arsacid control has had an enormous impact on the future of the region; we demonstrate this archaeologically in this volume, particularly in the development of extensive canal systems throughout the region. Scholars (e.g., Keall 2008, 824) have noted the decentralization of the Parthian empire and its tolerance for multiple cultural and religious forms. This seems to be reflected in the tolerance of diverse religious sites such as Khana Gauhar and Khwaja Ali Sehyaka in addition to the Zoroastrian fire temples operating in Sistan during these centuries, described in Chapter 8. The earliest evidence for Parthian presence in Sistan may come from coins. Tate collected drachms of Mithradates II in Sistan, which, while insufficient evidence to demonstrate Parthian control of the region at that time, suggests a Parthian presence (Rapson 1904, 677). Coins of first century bce Parthian kings Phraates III and IV and Orodes I were also collected by Tate (Rapson 1904, 677). Parthian control over Sistan was firmly established only after meeting the challenge of the mobile Saka people who migrated into Sistan from the north soon after the Parthians established themselves sometime late in the second century. Sakastan, the name given to the land of the Saka, later mutated to Sistan, giving the region its medieval and modern name and implies strong Saka presence in the Helmand Valley. Battles with the Saka cost the lives of two Parthian kings, Phraates II and Artabanus II (Debevoise 1938, 58). While archaeological evidence is lacking, the Saka minted their own coinage or re-struck existing Parthian coins, suggesting a Saka kingdom in Sistan under Vonones and his successors under Parthian sovereignty (Callieri 2016, Mitchiner 1976, 401). Ball believes the Saka to have controlled southern Afghanistan based upon the first century bce levels at Kandahar, where the material culture is dramatically different from that both before and after (McNicoll and Ball 1996, 396). The Saka were finally dominated by a local Indo-Parthian dynasty founded in the first century ce by Gondopharnes I (20–46 ce), possibly a breakoff of the Surens, one of the five main Arsacid families and possibly the family of Rustam (Bivar 1983, 50–52). Gondopharnes I and his successors used Sistan as their base to control a much broader region, including parts of western and southern Afghanistan and much of the Indus Valley, for parts of the next two centuries.

Parthian dynasty in 224 ce, strongly supported by the Suren clan, which undergirded the Gondopharids in Sistan. There is a suggestion that Ardashir’s father and eponymous founder of the dynasty, Sasan, was from Sistan (Olbrycht 2016, 27). It is clear that Sistan offered no resistance to Sasanian control when Ardashir campaigned to the east in 224–225 ce. With this link to the Sasanian dynasty, and with the strong connection to Zoroastrianism, Sistan was given a position of privilege by the Sasanians (Olbrycht 2016, 29). Politically and economically, the region flourished under the Sasanians (Fairservis 1961, 34). Adoption of much of the Parthian administrative infrastructure, but highlighting Zoroastrianism as a state religion, were major features of the new dynasty (Wieshöfer 1986). But, as the first region-wide empire after the Achaemenids, the Sasanian bureaucracy was greatly expanded and subsumed the noble families that had limited the power of the Parthian court (Daryaee 2009, 10). Some succeeding Sasanian rulers were first given rule of Sistan before assuming control of the whole empire (Olbrycht 2016, 29). The Sasanians greatly expanded the economic infrastructure of Asia. Almost 2000 of their coins are found in China beginning in the fourth century, along with glass objects, probably handled by the Sogdians and other trade intermediaries. Sasanian ceramic vessels have been found in southern India and Sri Lanka (Farahani 2020). Their connection with the Byzantine Romans is well documented in ancient western literature. In Sistan, Shapur II established mints (Daryaee 2009, 18) and created a new capital city, probably Ram Shahristan (Mehrafarin and Mousavi Haji 2010). Society also developed a strong class system, creating a system of feudal agriculture that was continuous to the present (Amiri 2020, 37). Women had no more legal rights than slaves or children in this strictly patriarchal society (Daryaee 2009, 61). Like preceding rulers of middle Asia, the Sasanians had to deal with nomadic incursions from the steppes to the east, in this case as early as the mid-fourth century (Daryaee 2009, 17) but intensified in the fifth century with successful attacks by the Hephthalites (Daryaee 2009, 25). A revival of the state in the mid-sixth century included the construction of numerous defensive walls and fort systems along the borders to control external threats, one example of which may be shown in Sistan (see the description of a series of Sasanian qalas in Chapter 5). After the imperial expansion of Khusro II in the late sixth century, the royal house descended into internal conflict and fratricide, leading to decline and decentralization of power (Daryaee 2009, 36). Thus, they were no match for the invasion of the Arabs around 650 ce and the empire quickly fell. One of

Sasanian Period The rise of the Sasanian dynasty, based in Fars, is also tightly linked to Sistan. Ardashir I overthrew the western 16

history of the sistan region the sons of the last king Yazdegerd III briefly established a small Persian kingdom at Zaranj between 658 and 663 ce but could not sustain control (Daryaee 2009, 37), and Sistan fell to the Arabs.

as far as eastern Afghanistan and Oman over that span (Bosworth 1994, 10). As we will demonstrate later in this volume, this dynasty centered in Sistan was instrumental to the material expansion and wealth still visible today.

The Arabs and the Saffarids

The Saffarid Dynasties under the Ghaznavids and Ghorids

The Tarikh-i Sistan, composed in the eleventh century in Zaranj by an unknown author or authors and edited by Malik al-Shu’ara Bahar in the fifteenth century, describes regional events both in fanciful terms from pre-Islamic times and in great detail from the time of the Arab conquest to its date of final composition (Bosworth 2000, 34–36). This history has been translated (Gold 1976) and extensively mined by C.E. Bosworth (1968, 1994) among others. Thus, we have a great deal of historical detail about the early Islamic periods in Sistan and of the Saffarid dynasty who controlled it for most of the next half millennium. The Arabs invaded Sistan from Kirman in 652 ce under Ar-Rabi’, securing submission of the capital Zaranj and a substantial annual tribute before proceeding further east, eventually reaching as far as Kabul (Bosworth 1968). Tate (1910–12, 18–19) suggests that there was little cultural or social change imposed by the initial Umayyad conquest. Towns and villages continued undisturbed, the canal systems were kept in place, tax collectors made their rounds, and religious tolerance was practiced over the short term. Because of its distance from the center of the sprawling caliphate, Sistan may have housed an oversized number of political adversaries and religious schismatics. There are numerous reports of uprisings against the Umayyad caliphate in the first century of Arab rule (Spuler 2015, 23–24), largely in reaction to heavy taxation by the Arab governors (Bosworth 2000). Continued resistance occurred under the Abbasid caliphate, including a 30-year revolt led by Hamza b. Adharak that engulfed Khorasan and Afghan rural areas (Bosworth 2012). In Sistan, it took the form of numerous Kharijite groups who sought to disrupt the ruling Tahirid power structure. For protection, villages and towns in the eastern caliphate developed local militia groups, called ‘ayyars, who often were viewed (and operated) as brigands rather than protectors (Bosworth 1994, 68–69). It was in the context of this perpetual organized political unrest that two brothers, Yaqub al-Layth and ‘Amr al-Layth, one a coppersmith and the other a mule driver, emerged to lead the ‘ayyars to throw out the Tahirid governors in the midninth century and establish their own political dynasty in Sistan, known as the Saffarids (Bosworth 1994, 72–73). The Laythids and a related Khalafid clan controlled Sistan for the next century and a half, expanding their political empire

The conquests of Mahmud of Ghazni included Sistan in 1003, and an amir was appointed to rule the province in his name. After Mahmud’s death in 1030, rule of the province returned locally to the Nasrid branch of the Saffarid dynasty, though only through maintaining a delicate balance between the Ghaznavids and the Seljuk Turks (Bosworth 1994, 373–86). This jockeying continued into the next century when the newer political powers, the Ghorids and Khwarazm-Shahs, exerted their influence in the region (Bosworth 1994, 398). The Mongol invasion of the Persianate world includes their conquest of Sistan in 1222 and a return in 1233 (Bosworth 1994, 406, 410), though the wounded region remained under local rule in the interim. A fourth Saffarid dynasty, the Mihrabanids, emerged in 1236 and maintained local control of a much-reduced state for the succeeding three centuries, though under the oversight of the Il-Khanids and later the Kart maliks of Herat (Bosworth 1994, 412). Written documents for this period are scarce (Bosworth 1994, 424–5) and may reflect a diminished agricultural economic base mixed with a growth in pastoralist groups (Bosworth 1994, 423).

Timurid Period The re-emergence of the Mongols in Sistan under the banner of Timur is much better attested. Timur was wounded in a battle in an assault on Zahidan and received the appellation Timur-i Lang, “Timur the Lame,” as a result (Tate 1910–12, 59). Historical chronicles document his brutal conquest and the subsequent effective abandonment of Sistan, though the archaeological evidence included in this volume raises questions about that storyline. Herat was the primordial city of western Afghanistan under the Timurids. When the city finally fell to the Uzbeks in 1507, it had sustained over a century of wealth and expansion, including construction of new public buildings, bazaars, canals, religious shrines, large estates, and palaces (T. Allen 1983, 8). Timur conquered the city in 1380 and appointed his son Shah Rukh as its governor. Shah Rukh ascended the throne of the Timurid empire after his father’s death (T. Allen 1983, 15). Under the lengthy reign of Sultan Hussein (1469–1506), the city reached its apogee of size, wealth, and culture. Part of the 17

the archaeology of southwest afghanistan building program under Shah Rukh, intensified further under Sultan Hussein, was the private construction of large agricultural estates, including orchards, fields, and recreational buildings. T. Allen (1983, 21) suggests that the construction and funding of the many Timurid estates in Sistan that we document in this volume are an offshoot of the urban building program in Herat, summer estates for the wealthy, and sources of agricultural crops for sale in the Herat market. These estates would also have served as refuges for the wealthy from periodic plagues that swept the city, such as in 1470 (T. Allen 1983, 19). The most recent five centuries of political, economic, and cultural development would require many additional pages to summarize as they are documented by local sources such as Iskandar Munshi and Mahdi Khan

Astarabadi and are summarized in Tate’s work (Bosworth 2012, Tate 1910–12). The numerous publications of members of the various British boundary commissions in Afghanistan document the modern history of the late nineteenth to early twentieth centuries (Goldsmid 1876, Bellew 1874, McMahon 1906b, Tate 1911). As our cutoff for archaeological examination was the end of the Timurid period at the beginning of the sixteenth century ce, we will not attempt to summarize this more recent history. Instead, we will focus on the visits of European explorers, soldiers, surveyors, and scholars to the Helmand region in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries who created the first western geographical and archaeological descriptions of the region, descriptions upon much of which our work is based. Those stories are in the next chapter.

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Chapter 3

History of Archaeological Research in Afghan Sistan

Several commanding factors are responsible for the slim knowledge of this region possessed in the West. Foremost is the fact that until after the First World War Afghanistan discouraged involvement in world affairs, admitting only those few foreigners who came at the invitation of the government to assist in its gradual modernization. Those travelers who at an earlier date viewed parts of Sistan did so primarily during the three Anglo-Afghan wars (1838– 1842, 1878–1881, 1919) or entered the country without permission from the Afghan government. Of almost equal importance is the fact that beginning in the eighteenth century numbers of Baluch tribesmen moved north into this region, which was virtually uninhabited, and began their systematic depredation of the merchant caravans that passed along the northern edge of Sistan between Herat and Kandahar, a route supplanting a more ancient one which passed through Sistan (Tate 1910–12, 93–95). Finally, the forbidding aspect of the land, its notorious climate, and its lack of any known wealth or curiosity served to deter all but the most ardent seeker.

the climate so unhealthy the greater part of the year that horses could not live. (Rawlinson 1898, 94) In contrast, A.C. Yate, visiting the region a decade earlier with the Goldsmid boundary commission, focuses on the pacific river: The channel of the Helmund is the same throughout, a broad bed of tamarisk and poplar, intersected by one or more water-channels according to the sweet pleasure of that river, which at one time glories in rolling along in single grandeur and again delights to ripple away in two or three minor streams, which, as they bid each other adieu, may fondly murmur, ‘when shall we three meet again?’ (A.C. Yate 1887, 89) Lieut. Henry Pottinger, the earliest articulate European traveler to describe the region in 1809, expressed the exigencies of travel in a hostile land quite succinctly, though it was Captain Christie, and not himself, who actually traveled through Sistan: The disguise in which I chiefly travelled, and the avowed indifference that circumstance obliged me to assume, on the generality of subjects, together with the utter impossibility of taking detailed notes, will account for some omissions. (Pottinger 1816, xxv)

Early European Researchers While there are numerous writings about the Sistan region from ancient Persian and medieval Arab and Persian sources (see Chapter 2), the beginning of the systematic study of the ruins of Sistan can be ascribed to the first Enlightenment-influenced European scholars who visited Afghanistan beginning in the nineteenth century. Generally traveling for political, military, or economic reasons, these early visitors’ descriptions of the historical and archaeological sites in the region were spotty, though the number and visibility of ruined structures and large mounds would have made them impossible to miss. Nineteenth century European reports of the Helmand Valley were decidedly mixed in their tone. On one hand, in his memoirs Rawlinson describes his visit: Seistan, though perhaps better than the coast of Beluchistan, was not a nice country; the mosquitos popularly described as being as large as sparrows, and

The Helmand Valley was visited by Lieut. Thomas Francis Pattenson in 1841, during the First Anglo-Afghan War, but he was injured there and died soon after his return to the Kandahar area. If he reported his observations to anyone, it would have been to Maj. Henry Creswicke Rawlinson, who wrote an article on the region containing some data which could not have been derived from classical and medieval literary sources (Rawlinson 1873). Pattenson met his death while attending a fowling excursion on the Hamun-i Sabari. He was shot by a probablyderanged local khan whose guest he was on this excursion. Hence, the land lying between Rudbar and the Helmand delta was not, at this time, known to the British. In the autumn of 1845 the French officer J. P. Ferrier unexpectedly became the first Westerner to mention the 19

the archaeology of southwest afghanistan huge ruined fortress of Malakhan on the Helmand (Ferrier 1856, 407). Here, in a concealed room in the interior of the ruined castle, the exhausted Ferrier and the as yet unmurdered remnants of his party hid in fear from the Baluch marauders who passed Malakhan (Qala-i Sirak) several times during the night in search of them. Under these circumstances his failure to provide us with a detailed description of the site is excusable. In this same perilous journey Ferrier became the only Westerner on record to pass beneath the walls of the still larger fortress of Qala-i Sabz (Šna Qala), several miles upriver from Malakhan and directly opposite the only mountain bordering the river in Sistan, the Koh-i Khan Neshin (Ferrier 1856, 406). We extensively surveyed Šna Qala, the site atop this volcanic outcropping, and Qala-i Sirak, both of which are described in Chapter 6. Numerous reports and memoirs were generated by the first British boundary commission, the Sistan Arbitration Commission, which visited Sistan between 1870 and 1872, directed by Sir Frederic John Goldsmid. His report concerning Sistan, the relevant parts written by Major Euan Smith on his staff, includes reference to the variance in the channel of the Helmand, reporting that it flowed west, not north, in prehistoric times (Goldsmid 1876, 286), a subject still of controversy today. While there is a description of both Qala-i Fath (293) and Nad-i Ali (298–9), the more recent ruins of Zahidan are considered to be “utterly uninteresting” (301). The most observant of this group of British travelers was the surgeon H. W. Bellew (1874), who followed the Helmand River in 1872 south from Bust separate from the main boundary commission staff during a period of relative calm. He provided the most detailed list of sites and their descriptions yet available. He noted the significant Hellenistic site of Mukhattar/Mukhtar (Bellew 1874, 170), described below in Chapter 7. He describes how Goldsmid assembled a party of workmen to excavate at Qala-i Bist/ Bust and found glass, Chinese porcelain, its local imitations, and Sasanian coins (175). His description of a ziyarat atop one of the river bluffs with caves carved in the cliff beneath closely matches our knowledge of Khwaja Hasan/Khwaja Ghraib Baba (185), described in Chapter 6. He also notes Cala Sabz (Šna Qala) (194), Malakhan (Qala-i Sirak) (195), Lat Cala (201), and other sites described in this volume. A second boundary commission attempted to secure the line between British India, Czarist Russia, and Afghanistan from the mid-1880s and continuing into the 1890s, ultimately resulting in both settling Afghanistan’s northern border and establishing the Durand Line between India and Afghanistan in 1896 (Balland 2000).

British and Indian members of this commission spent considerable time in the Sistan region and their observations are included in the five volume report of the commission (Afghan Boundary Commission 1887–1892). P.J. Maitland recorded the travels of the commission, consisting of 32 Europeans and 1200 Indians, traversing Sistan in fall 1884 as part of their 27 month project (Maitland 1888 xi, xxvii). His descriptions of sites like Pusht-i Gao, Qala-i Madar-i Padshah, and Qala-i Fath are useful if incidental to his purpose (Maitland 1888, 59, 60, 67). Similar information is available in the reports of Merk (1888) and Peacocke (1887). Much of their work seemed to be in assessing the geography, distances, routes, and resources of the region for military action if required by the regular confrontations with the Russians as part of their decadeslong jockeying known as The Great Game (Balland 2000).

G.P. Tate’s Seistan In the early years of the twentieth century (1903 to 1905), Sistan was explored by members of another Afghan Boundary Commission led by A.H. McMahon, who traveled from India through Baluchistan and Sistan to reach their base camp in the Iranian portion of Sistan. Following the example of the previous commission, G. P. Tate wrote on various aspects of Afghan Sistan beyond his official duty as head surveyor. Published outside of the official reports, Tate produced by far the most thorough historical, geographical, archaeological, and ethnological study ever done on Afghan Sistan. It is an extraordinarily competent and exhaustive work by a man who had no formal education in archaeology or ethnology. No one since has studied the area so intelligently over so long a period of time. Tate grew up in a frontier cantonment in British India and had done survey work throughout British Northwest India as well as in China and Southeast Asia (Tate 1909), including participating in the earlier survey that defined the Durand Line between Afghanistan and British India in 1894–1896 (Tate 1909, 26). When the boundary commission of 1903 was established to formalize the border separating Afghanistan from Iran, Tate, a supervisor in the Survey of India, was selected to head the survey effort. His boss, Col. Henry McMahon, also labeled him “an archaeologist of no small experience” (McMahon 1906a, 228). His initial report (Tate 1906) describes the details of his survey activities but hints to his broader goals: In the southern sheets there are innumerable sites of prehistoric settlements, of which of course no names can now be obtained. These occupy the summits of mounds of various heights and are represented. These sites ought to appear on the fair maps. They are of 20

history of archaeological research in afghan sistan very great interest from an archaeological standpoint as palaeolithic implements have been obtained from them, accompanied by pottery. The mounds are also of very great interest to a geologist. (Tate 1906, 6)

be found covered with a smooth, hard, and pale olive coloured glaze, underneath which is a white vitreous biscuit. (Tate 1910–12, 203) There was little he could do with the tepes and other humped mounds he found because their architectural forms were not identifiable and the party was (fortunately) enjoined from excavation by the local authorities (Tate 1910–12, 181). Nonetheless, he went far beyond his role as a surveyor to provide us with detailed descriptions of some of the larger sites in the region, such as Trakhun (242–244), which he visited with T.R.J. Ward (Tate 1909, xx), Ziyarat-i Amiran (254–6), Chigini (254), Qala-i Fath (245–49) and neighboring sites such as Dik-i Dalil/Dam-i Delir (250), Palangi (250–253), Qala-i Gawak (254), Chehel Burj, Noken Kalat (Qala-i Nau) (239), Sohren Kalat (Qala-i Surkh) (239), each of which was revisited by HSP during our time in Sistan. Our report here incorporates and occasionally challenges Tate’s description of the sites we visited. Other key sites in northern Afghan Sistan and Iranian Sistan—Ram Shahristan, Nad-i Ali, Peshawaran—were also described in detail by Tate but are outside the scope of this field report. Much as we were, Tate was very impressed with the ruins of Shahr-i Gholghola, which he called Sar-o-Tar and identified with the medieval city of Taq based upon the historical descriptions of Istakhri-Ibn-i Haukal and Rauzatul-Jannat (Tate 1910–12, 224). Tate dates the origins of the site to Parthian or Indo-Parthian times based upon coinage found (232), a guess we were able to confirm in our 1974 excavations on the citadel (see Chapter 9). His detailed description of the walls, gates, moats, compounds within the walls, citadel, and palace are largely accurate and a testament both to his attention to detail and the amount of time he spent there. There are a few shortcomings in his analysis: he missed the curvature of the east outer wall in calling the wall system a rhomboid (226), stretches the geometry by describing the citadel as a hexagon (227), ignoring also the offset and serpentine shape of the citadel palace walls, and was unable to find the north and south gates to the circular wall (230), possibly covered with sand when he visited. He also relied on the historical record to declare the final demise of the site from the invasion of Tamerlane in 1384 ce (234). Our excavations have shown that the site was not a significant one in Tamerlane’s time and was reoccupied, largely in the Outer Compound outside the circular wall, for a century afterward. Tate identified several mausoleums outside the walls of Shahr-i Gholghola, which we documented as Mausoleum 165 (1910–12, 231). Tate’s map of Sistan also included the locations at least 25 other sites within

His Frontiers of Baluchistan (Tate 1909) was a popular account of the work of the boundary commission, followed by his Seistan: A Memoir on the History, Topography, Ruins, and People of the Country (Tate 1910–12), which contained comprehensive sections on each of those topics, the most complete study of the region ever made. His 28 months of survey work covered most parts of Sistan, and his attention to detailed descriptions of the standing ruins of Sistan made this volume the classic archaeological work from which all later writing, including ours, stems. He used two local elders, Arbab Seif-ud-din of Garmsir and Muhammad Dadi of Charburjak, for more recent historical context (Tate 1910–12, 180). Beyond that, Tate was forced to use translations of classical western and Arab sources to attach historical linkages and importance to many of the sites he visited. He speculated on the existence of Zoroastrian and Buddhist sites based upon the written records but was unable to identify any of these sites (Tate 1910–12, 185–6). Tate supplemented historical documents and traveler itineraries with the only other chronological tools available at the time: coins, seals, and inscriptions found by the expedition and, more often, those brought to him by dagal gardi, the antiquities procurers who found ancient artifacts washed onto the surface by the winter rains (Tate 1910–12, 185). The coins were shared with numismatic specialists and helped him to date various sites (Tate 1904; Rapson 1904; Codrington 1904, 1905). He is commended by Rapson for carefully documenting provenance of the coins as a method of dating sites (Rapson 1904, 673). Ceramics, the most common dating tool of later archaeologists, was in its infancy. Even so, Tate’s few descriptions were generally on the mark. In his description of Ram Shahristan, he noted the absence of glazed wares as one of his clues of the antiquity of the site, one that he attributed to Rustam from the seventh to sixth centuries bce (Tate 1910–12, 194). While he could not evaluate the age of various kinds of wares from the archaeological knowledge base of 1905, his detailed description of them helps us today: The fragments of pottery are of the most varied description. Among the ordinary kinds of glazed earthenware are to be found pieces of coarse porcelain and earthenware covered with a white glaze and bearing a floral or scroll design in blue of not a bad colour. Ordinary red earthenware is most abundant, and among those fragments of finer porcelain are to 21

the archaeology of southwest afghanistan until 1952) with the Afghan government to conduct archaeological research in the country. Sistan was chosen as a key area of the country to explore, given its connection to the origins of Zoroastrianism, its placement on the caravan routes that produced Buddhist sites, and its numerous frescoes discovered earlier by Aurel Stein. It was also an area amenable to fieldwork in winter (Meyer 2017, 58). Joseph Hackin, director of DAFA, established a plan for work in Sistan in 1934 (Meyer 2017, 153) and brought his team there to investigate in July 1936. Roman Ghirshman, a prehistory specialist, was convinced to conduct an excavation in fall 1936 at Sorkh Dagh, one of the three large mounds in the area of Nad-i Ali (Ghirshman 1939) that exhibited what looked to be prehistoric pottery during DAFA reconnaissance that summer. His 10 x 15 m trench excavation pierced through two occupation layers on the top of the mound then bogged down when he dug through 5 m of a solid mudbrick platform, cutting through only the top 12.5 m of the 31 m high mound. Based upon his experiences with similar assemblages in Iran, he attributed the lower level to the early first millennium bce and the top layer to the Achaemenid period in the mid-first millennium, examples of which were only sparsely illustrated in his 1939 article on the site (Ghirshman 1939). The site was later visited by Walter Fairservis and re-excavated by George Dales in 1968 (see below). HSP never visited this site, which was outside the research area given to us by the Afghan government. During October and November 1936, a preliminary survey of Sistan was conducted by six DAFA members led by Hackin. They visited a portion of the hamun basin and Sar-o-Tar, and trial trenches were executed at several sites during their 36 day expedition. A general plan of the inner compound of Shahr-i Gholghola was mapped by the project’s architects, as well as four of its gates. The team then moved north through the dunes toward Qala-i Nau/Chakansurak, much as we did in 1974, identifying three types of sites: tepe mounds, ruined fortresses, and more recent Islamic buildings with intact walls (Hackin 1959, 27). The lack of identifiable locational landmarks meant that the numerous sites they visited—many revisited by HSP—were not able to be relocated on a map prior to our visit. Photographs of sites to the north of Sar-o-Tar—Chakansurak, Chigini, Kol Marut, and Peshawaran—were included in the report of their survey. The project also traveled south and west of Sar-o-Tar into the Helmand Valley and visited several sites in the Qala-i-Fath area, including Palangi, Qala-i Fath, and possibly Jui Nau/Bad Shaō and Dik-i Dalil/Dam-i Delir, all further documented by HSP in this book.

Sar-o-Tar but they are not described in his book (Tate 1910–12, unpaginated map 3). Tate’s ethnographic descriptions (Tate 1910–12, Part IV; Tate 1909, Ch. 13) are also comprehensive and formed the basis for the work of our project’s ethnography, conducted by our Afghan partner Ghulam Rahman Amiri. His work (Amiri 2020, and an appendix in Volume 2 of this set) updates what Tate observed in his 28 month circumnavigation around Sistan and highlights and expands upon both the similarities and differences in the 70 years that separated these two major anthropological studies. The apathy shown by the present generation of Asiatic races for the past history of their country is a very curious feature in oriental character. It is the zeal of foreigners that has rescued the ancient history of Asia from oblivion, and the few remaining monuments at the present day from destruction, at the hands of those who might be regarded as having an interest in their preservation. (Tate 1910–12, 182) Tate was obviously a product of his generation, one of British colonial rule of India, but one whose archaeological observations we can still use profitably a century after his research was completed. While Tate’s work is the most important one for our studies today, his was not the only one reporting on the work of the boundary commission. Important photographs, only recently rediscovered, were taken by irrigation engineer T.R.J. Ward (1906), who also executed maps of ancient canals and drawings of ruins, now lost. Col. Henry MacMahon (later Sir Henry), who directed the survey project, made two presentations about Sistan shortly after the fieldwork to the Royal Geographical Society (1906a, b), highlighting the extent of the ruins to be studied: Wherever one looks in Seistan, whether in the desert tracts or in the now inhabited portions of the country, are ruins. No country in the world contains so many. They are to be seen in all stages of decay, from shapeless mounds to high imposing structures of great size. They stretch everywhere as far as the eye can reach. (McMahon 1906a, 214) McMahon was also offered artifacts by collectors and donated the coins he obtained to the numismatists in the name of archaeological science (Codrington 1911).

DAFA The Délégation Archéologique Française en Afghanistan (DAFA) held a 30 year exclusive agreement (from 1922 22

history of archaeological research in afghan sistan It was the intention of the French mission to continue their archaeological investigation in this region upon concluding their studies of the Buddhist site of Bamiyan, with seasons planned for 1937, 1940, and 1941 (Meyer 2017, 154), but the Second World War intervened and key members of the French mission staff were killed in Europe. The disappointingly brief reports of this survey were not published until 1959 by scholars not involved with the original research (Hackin 1959). Their publication included a plan of Qala-i Nau/Chakansurak as well as Shahr-i Gholghola and featured 138 photos of the 240 taken in the field (Meyer 2017, 51). An appendix by J.C. Gardin (1959) described four groups of Islamic period ceramics found, but none of the pre-Islamic wares. HSP attempted to revisit as many of the sites documented by DAFA as possible. We recreated many of the photographs published in the 1959 article to show changes in the sites and their environment over the 40 years between the two projects. A future article from our project will present these paired photos.

five sites (labeled “KF 1-5,” KF for Qala-i Fath) including one, KF-5, that had ridged rim jars and mat impressed ware of the Bronze and Early Iron ages, though not identified as such by him (Fairservis 1961, 53–56). He and his team then spent 11 days traversing the Rud-i Biyaban and the desert dashts to the north and south. Several days were spent walking on foot along a substantial part of the length of the wadi and the neighboring bluffs. (Fairservis 1951, 9, 15, 19, 28). His report documents 35 sites (Fairservis 1961, 59–67), which he correctly identified as a mix of Partho-Sasanian and Islamic sites. The substantial late Islamic site of Trakhun was noted but not visited. Only two, RB-1 and RB-4, both close to Stein’s sites at the Rud-i Biyaban intersection with the Shela Rud, contained possible Bronze Age occupation (Fairservis 1961, 52, 27).1 Disappointed by the apparent lack of Afghan evidence to mirror Stein’s finds a few kilometers away in Iran, the team moved south to the Gardan Reg (GR), a small dune-covered area near the point where the Shela Rud empties into the Gaud-i Zirreh. This area proved more productive and his report lists 11 GR sites, including one substantial mound, GR-6, with several dozen flexed burials nearby. None, though, exhibited any architecture; three test pits sunk into the site reached virgin soil within 40 cm of the surface (Fairservis 1961, 69–70). He also noted the extensive amount of copper and copper slag in the region (Fairservis 1961, 52, 30), an observation also made by Dales two decades later and by our project. On the return route, Fairservis surveyed the mounds at Nad-i Ali, excavated by DAFA in 1936 (Fairservis 1961, 45–47), and several sites toward Farah. Fairservis’s project was far more extensive than his fairly brief sojourns into Sistan (Fairservis 1952). He supervised graduate student Louis Dupree excavating at the cave of Shamshir Ghar and the site of Deh Morasi Ghundai near Kandahar. He and a team went across the border into Pakistan and, following Aurel Stein’s route and excavations of the 1920s, reanalyzed Stein’s sites and expanded survey work in the Zhob and Lorlai valleys and Quetta area of Pakistan. The monographs he and his colleagues published on this expedition (Fairservis 1956, 1959, 1961; Dupree 1957, 1963) are basic documents for all who study this border region. Key for our purposes was Fairservis’s attempt, the first, to provide a full ceramic chronology for Sistan. The 1936 DAFA expedition had attempted to classify the Islamic ceramics they had found (Gardin 1959), but Fairservis’s analysis of the pre-Islamic wares was instrumental for

Walter Fairservis The French had been interested primarily in sites belonging to historical periods. Aurel Stein’s work (1928) in Iranian Sistan had intrigued scholars interested in the Bronze Age and earlier in Central Asia, mostly because of its potential to establish links between Mesopotamia and the Indus Valley. While Mesopotamian societies had been studied for almost a century, the size and scope of Indus culture had only recently been exposed by excavations in British India in the 1920s and 1930s. Walter A. Fairservis, curator at the American Museum of Natural History in New York, created a privately funded research program to study southern Afghanistan and northwest Baluchistan to explore these interconnections. Fairservis visited Sistan twice, in 1949 and again in 1950–1951. A brief visit in 1949 was designed to test the feasibility of work in Sistan. Fairservis traveled across the desert from Lashkar Gah to Farah then south toward the northern end of the hamuns for four days in early September, still embraced by the Wind of 120 Days. His field journal records temperatures in the 50s C and winds gusting over 75 kph (Fairservis 1949, 176). In spite of that, he recorded 10 sites including several with painted pottery, and he spent a day reconnoitering at the large Islamic period site of Peshawaran. More important to Fairservis was the Rud-i Biyaban, where Stein had recorded 25 prehistoric Ramrud (RR) sites on the Iranian side of the border at the point where the dry waterway meets the Shela Rud. The team set up camp at Qala-i Amir, near Charburjak, where the Rud-i Biyaban turns west from the Helmand. There he surveyed

1 Raffaele Biscione has re-examined Fairservis’s ceramics at the Peabody Museum in Cambridge, Mass. and identified Bronze Age sherds from seven additional sites (Biscione, personal communication).

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the archaeology of southwest afghanistan understanding the chronology of occupation in southwest Afghanistan. Our ceramic chronology, presented in this volume, borrows extensively and appreciatively from Fairservis’s work.

on these locales in our site descriptions below. 2 Fischer was first to identify the communities of Timurid estates (rustaq) that are scattered around Sar-o-Tar and further north. We document them in this volume as Houses 338, Houses 4, and Houses 210 among others (see Chapter 5). Fischer’s description of these communities match our experience exactly: “groups of about 20 houses with an open central court and a large, barrel-vaulted ivan on the northwestern side; these settlements were situated near fields irrigated by canals branching off via brick constructions” (Fischer 1973a, 5). Fischer was also among the first to use aerial photographs to situate and assist in planning complex sites. He experimented with including a 3D image of Dewal-i Khodaydad and 3D glasses inserted into his book to better view this significant site (Fischer 1974–1976, Volume 2, Plate 50). Fischer expressed an intent to supplement his surveys with selected excavations but, to our knowledge, was never able to implement this goal (Fischer 1973a, 8). Like the work of many other scholars described here, Fischer’s research was complementary to ours. He had a strong interest in the architecture of standing Islamic monuments, which are extensively documented in his work. This, though, meant a lesser focus on the substantial pre-Islamic remains of Parthian and Sasanian times and the earlier Iron and Bronze Age occupations of Sistan. His interest in architecture also limited his documentation of ceramics and other material culture that helps us refine the dates and function of sites.

Norman Hammond The first modern archaeological survey within the lower Helmand Valley itself was directed by Norman Hammond, who was then a baccalaureate student at Cambridge. The survey covered the area from Lashkar Gah to Bandar-i Kamal Khan over the span of a month in 1966 (Hammond 1970, 438). Logistical issues and illness narrowed his work to the left (east) bank of the river. He and his student team identified 45 sites, ranging from a Bronze Age mound to multi-period tepes to more architecturally evident ruins of Islamic periods. With the assistance of the late David Stronach, Hammond created a typology of 21 styles of pottery and provided the first attempt to assess the historical settlement pattern of the river valley. Even with the limits of his early-career expertise and the sparse evidence—he averaged only 33 sherds per site collected (Hammond 1970, 442)—his article has been the foundation for settlement studies of the Helmand Valley in the absence of any more systematic work. With our more robust collection of ceramics, we made some changes to Hammond’s site chronology below. Nonetheless, his focus on sites in the river valley south of Lashkar Gah, an area we generally ignored after the beginning of the first season, makes Hammond’s work an important complement to our studies, as does Abramiuk’s work in largely the same region, described below.

George Dales The tantalizing finds by Stein, Ghirshman, and Fairservis led American archaeologist George Dales, also interested in the Bronze Age links between Mesopotamia and the Indus, to launch a University of Pennsylvania project in Sistan in 1968. He tackled Sorkh Dagh in the first season in hopes of finding the occupation layers below the brick structure that stymied Ghirshman thirty years earlier. Ghirshman (1939, 22) contended that the platform was a later level of the site and posited that a Bronze Age level lay beneath. Digging for two weeks in a freezing January, Dales discovered just the opposite, that the solid brick core of the site continued another 15 m in depth without stop. Test pits along the base of the site further confirmed that Sorkh Dagh was an enormous 35 m high mudbrick structure

Klaus Fischer The most extensive visits in Afghan Sistan were by the late German scholar Klaus Fischer (1919–1993) of the University of Bonn. His fieldwork spanned almost two decades from 1955 to 1973 and the results are summarized in his substantial two volume work entitled Nimruz and other publications (Fischer 1961, 1969, 1969–70, 1970, 1971a, 1971b, 1973a, 1973b, 1974–1976, 1983). He focused on the northern and eastern part of the hamun basin and the areas between the Khash Rud and the Farah Rud, generally avoiding sites below Chakansur, though some of the sites we document in northern Sar-o-Tar in this volume also appear in Fischer’s reports of his field seasons in 1960 and 1969, including Chehel Burj, Chigini, Pusht-i Gao, and Ziyarat-i Amiran (Fischer 1973a, Fig 10.4). His 1969 field season up the right bank from the delta to Charburjak included some of the valley sites we visited a few years later (Fischer 1971b). We include many of Fischer’s observations

2 Fischer was most open and cooperative in helping our new project get started, providing us with research materials, a positive word with the Afghan Institute of Archaeology and other foreign missions, and linking us with important resources to aid in our work. Our debt to him is enormous.

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history of archaeological research in afghan sistan (Dales 1992, 24). A further trench into the ground at the edge of the site showed that virgin soil rested 4 m below the current ground surface. A single anomaly, a row of baked bricks 7.75 m below the top of the platform, raises questions about the uniformity of the platform and the possibility of a more complex stratigraphy; but, given its location in the mass brick platform, the feature was not able to be fully explored (Dales 1977a, 27). His initial purpose thwarted, Dales decided to reexcavate Ghirshman’s cultural levels atop the platform to help in dating the site. With limited time, he elected to tunnel into Ghirshman’s Level II from the side (Operation D), which accomplished its goal but raised questions as to the stratigraphic associations of these materials (Dales 1977a, 34). This enlarged pool of ceramics was useful in re-dating Sorkh Dagh. In addition to his 1968 finds, he reanalyzed the material excavated by Ghirshman, located in the Kabul Museum but only sparsely covered in Ghirshman’s publication. Dales enlisted T. Cuyler-Young to assist him in analyzing the pottery, but Cuyler-Young’s expertise was in Western Iran and his response to Dales contained as many question marks as it did identifications (CuylerYoung 1968). Nonetheless, Cuyler-Young could find no evidence of anything earlier than the seventh century bce, which is what appears in Dale’s final report of the excavation. He retained Ghirshman’s assignment of two periods, but labeled Level II as Medean-Achaemenid and Level I as Hellenistic-Parthian (Dales 1977a, 101). There is no evidence from Dales’s report that he examined any of the other sites in the Nad-i Ali area, including the mound of Nad-i Ali itself, Sorkh Dagh’s neighboring mound of Sefid Dagh, or any of the scattered remains of ancient villages in the vicinity. The next season, Dales visited the area west and south of the Helmand River in order to expand on Fairservis’s identification of chalcolithic sites in that area. Beginning at Charburjak like Fairservis, Dales was disappointed to find no prehistoric sites in the Rud-i Biyaban (Dales 1977b, 25), though his notes indicate that Qala Karan, close to the Helmand River juncture with the wadi, had painted ware (Dales 1969). Passing through the Dasht-i Zirreh and Gardan Reg, where he noted copper smelting sites, he surveyed around an edge of the Gaud-i Zirreh, also without finding evidence of occupation (Dales 1992, 26). Abandoning that plan, he headed west up the Shela Rud, attempting to locate Godar-i Shah, visited by the British in the 1880s and said to house “large and curious cylindrical stones” (C.E. Yate 1900, 100). Godar-i Shah is a shrine to an

Islamic holy man surrounded by a group of Timurid-era houses. The shrine is attributed to Hazrat Ali, son-in-law of Mohammed, by McMahon (1897, 407). The 5 m high conical mound atop which the building sits was covered not only with modern ceramics and bullets, but by a set of stone objects—miniature columns, stones with handles, large discs—that were well known to Dales from Tepe Hissar IIIC warrior graves dating to the early second millennium and are known today to have a much wider distribution (Dales 1977b). No trace of a Hissar III site was found but the objects, some weighing 25 kg, had been brought from a presumed Bronze Age cemetery somewhere nearby. Dales posits that the stones come from the mountains of Pakistan to the south (Dales 1977b, 25), as the raw material from which the objects were carved exists in quantity there. A third season in 1971 led Dales back up the Shela Rud where he encountered the site of Dam (Dales 1977b, 27) on a low natural rise beside the river course. The site contains a modern cemetery of tumuli and one more elaborate burial surrounded by a mudbrick wall, with numerous Bronze Age sherds scattered across the low mound. But the deposition was very shallow, and Dales hypothesized that the ceramic cover was simply offerings brought to the graveyard by recent visitors. Among these offerings were painted wares that match well with those known from Iranian Sistan, including basket impressed wares, and a fine grayware that was identified by Fairservis as Emir Gray. HSP revisited both Dam (the local name is Khaima Barang) and Godar-i Shah, and our analysis of these two sites is reported below in Chapter 7. Dales’s surveys into the Sistan borderland also included visits to sites from later periods, though these do not appear in his publications. In the Rud-i Biyaban for example, he stopped at Trakhun, New Gina, and Old Gina (Dales 1971a, 3). His hand-drawn map shows five additional sites there (Dales 1971b). Fairservis’s Gardan Reg sites of the Bronze Age were visited, though no additional burials were found. Dales confirmed the extensive copper smelting activity in the region, about 200 km square. He also notes sites dating from the first millennium bce, though he never published them (Dales 1971a, 4). His hand-drawn map of the Shela Rud includes two additional sites and other structures that do not appear in his publications (Dales 1971b, Fig. 7.3.3 in this volume). His archives at University of Pennsylvania also indicate up to eight sites in the Gardan Reg and three “Shela Forts” but no descriptive material of these sites could be found in his archives, so it is unclear how many of these were revisits to sites found by Fairservis. Challenged by bad weather, 25

the archaeology of southwest afghanistan permit issues, treacherous terrain, and food and water limitations (Dales and Flam 1969), Dales cut his field season short and never returned to Sistan. Our entry into Sistan in 1971 just overlapped Dale’s exit, who drove past our camp at the end of his season. Dales also published a pair of unique objects purported to be from this area but shown to him in Kabul, a stone head with parallels from Mundigak and a steatite amulet (Dales 1985).

of ribbed wares, ring burnished wares, and other ParthoSasanian pottery styles, leads us to believe that the initial settlement of most of these sites dates to pre-Islamic times. Abramiuk responsibly recorded site dimensions, standing architecture, and collected artifacts from each site, a great boon for us and other archaeologists interested in the Helmand Basin. The one site visited by Abramiuk that HSP had also surveyed was CHCP-14, located on a high bluff on the left bank of the Helmand north of Darwishan (Abramiuk 2019, 22). Hammond had recorded this site as Khwaja Hasan. We had been told by locals that the site was called Khwaja Ghraib Baba. Hammond and Abramiuk both describe it as a mound atop a hill with Islamic burials. Our description of the same site is presented in Chapter 6 of this report. Abramiuk’s ceramic collection is important for us as our visit to the site was cut short by a local security guard preventing us from making our own collection. Thus, we have the benefit of Abramiuk’s ceramics to supplement our field notes to understand the chronology of the site. HSP spent a minimum of time working the area in which the bulk of Abramiuk’s and Hammond’s surveys took place. Their work, then, is an important complement to the material we present in this field report. 3

Marc Abramiuk The only fieldwork conducted in Afghan Sistan after the end of the Helmand Sistan Project was an unusual one. Marc Abramiuk, an American specialist in Mesoamerican archaeology, was attached to a U.S. army unit based near Lashkar Gah in 2011. He convinced his supervisors to allow him to survey the area from Lashkar Gah downriver to Khan Neshin, ostensibly to check for site damage and looting (Abramiuk 2017, 2019). His field team consisted of U.S. Marines who were assigned to protect him as much as help him as he surveyed sites. As he notes, “Time and resources that would have otherwise been dedicated to putting together a skilled survey team to create site plans were, instead, spent on preparations for defending against sniper attacks and detecting improvised explosive devices” (Abramiuk 2019, 4). Abramiuk’s work was guided by the use of the systematic inspection of satellite and aerial images to identify potential sites on the ground before entering the field. He also attempted to correlate his aerial images and later ground-truthing with reports of previous work done in the area—largely those of Hammond, the little he was able to learn of HSP’s unpublished work, and descriptions of several nineteenth century European visitors. Of the 14 sites he visited, nine had already been noted by previous researchers, though Abramiuk’s information was often more complete and certainly more current. The lack of knowledge of the ceramics of the region hindered his collection of significant material, but he had the assistance of Norman Hammond, Charles Kolb, and James Shaffer in identifying the material culture he collected (Abramiuk 2017, 6). The sites visited were in the vicinity of Darwishan or Khan Neshin and were located inside the flood plain of the Helmand. Extensive ceramic scatter of the type we were familiar with in Sar-o-Tar was not common, likely due to alluviation in the Helmand Basin. And, while he found standing middle or late Islamic remains atop most of those sites, the fact that these remains rise significantly above the current plain, in conjunction with regular appearance

Iranian Sistan Since the archaeology of Afghan Sistan is largely unknown to scholars, Iranian Sistan has been the source of almost all description of the entire region. Our study should help correct some of that imbalance, though the amount of archaeological work done in Iran still far outpaces that on the Afghan side. This unequal amount of research accelerated over the past two decades as Iran has developed its own cadre of professional archaeologists, many located at universities in the region, while southwest Afghanistan has been off-limits due to the political and military situation.4 As for most other areas of Central and East Asia, the initial footprint of academic archaeology was created by the famed Aurel Stein. Banned by the Afghans from studying inside its borders, he worked along the Iranian side of the border for two months between December 1915 3 Both Marc Abramiuk and Norman Hammond were very generous in sharing their unpublished photos and notes with us. We are indebted to both of them. Our descriptions of sites that were also visited by either of them includes our observations on their reports. 4 We recognize that this book underutilizes the work done over the past two decades by Iranian archaeologists as neither author reads Farsi. Our apologies to our Iranian colleagues for this oversight, though we have included as much relevant research in English as we found.

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history of archaeological research in afghan sistan and February 1916. During his time in Iranian Sistan, he identified the major archaeological sites the area is known for. He surveyed the volcanic hill of Kuh-i Khwaja, recording the architecture of Ghagha-Shahr in detail (Stein 1928, 909–913), then removed the wall frescoes from their source. Stein identified Shahr-i Sokhta, including the substantial “chalcolithic” pottery on its surface (Stein 1928, 946, 954; Andrews 1925). He surveyed two of the older historical capitals of Sistan, Ram Shahristan and Zahidan (Stein 1928, 926, 933). Important for our study, he found and published a string of early sites with painted pottery along the Shela Rud, including 15 sites near Ramrud (RR 1–15) where that watercourse intersects the Rud-i Biyaban (Stein 1928, 951–3). Further south, he traced a limes of watch stations established in Partho-Sasanian times (Stein 1928, 972–978) that paralleled the Iran-Afghan border. The plates in his Innermost Asia illustration volume were the first systematic presentation of archaeological sites and artifacts from Sistan (Stein 1928, Plates CXII– CXX, plans 52–59). Later researchers took Stein’s lead and further investigated these major sites. Ernest Herzfeld excavated at Kuh-i Khwaja in 1925 and 1929 (Herzfeld 1931–32). Kawami (1987) and Ghanimati (2001) have subsequently done significant work there, confirming it as a major Sasanian fire temple with an earlier Parthian component (Ghanimati 2015). Most recently, an Italian team has been conducting a complete laser-scanner survey of the standing remains with the aim of creating a 3D model of the monument (Biscione, Gabrielli, and Lazzari 2020). A major Italian project of the Istituto per il Medio ed Estremo Oriente (IsMEO) led by Maurizio Tosi was launched at Shahr-i Sokhta in 1967 (Tosi 1968) and was conducted throughout the 1970s, being reestablished after a pause during the Iranian Revolution (Tosi et al. 1984). A successor Iranian project began in 1997 (Sajjadi 2004) at the site’s cemetery, followed by another major excavation on the mound itself that contributed another decade of data collection (Sajjadi et al. 2008). The half century of almost uninterrupted work there has made it the best known pre-Islamic site in Sistan and one of the most studied in all of Iran. The site was added to the World Heritage List in 2014 (https://whc.unesco.org/ en/list/1456/). Shahr-i Sokhta’s occupation has been divided into four periods, dating from approximately 3200 bce to 1800 bce (Talebian 2014, 77–78), though there is still discussion over these dates (Biscione and Vahdati 2021). Italian work at Qala-i Sam, Qala Tepe, and Dahan-i Ghulaman in the 1960s (Scerrato 1963, 1966, 1970)

shaped our understanding of the Achaemenid, Hellenistic, and Parthian periods in Sistan, with greater nuance established by the reevaluation of this evidence in recent years (Maresca 2010, 2019; Mohammadkhani 2012). The development of an Iranian archaeological establishment has greatly expanded this work over the past decade with surveys conducted in Iranian Sistan recording over 1200 sites (Biscione and Vahdati 2021, 540). The sequence of archaeological sites differs substantially between the two halves of Sistan, even without the contemporary border separating them. The extensive Bronze Age settlement in western Sistan, centered on Shahr-i Sokhta but including numerous other smaller sites, was not found in equal quantity in the Helmand Valley as we expected it would be. Conversely, Iranian scholars have identified a chronological gap of over 1000 years in Iranian Sistan between the demise of Shahr-i Sokhta and the creation of Achaemenid sites like Dahan-i Ghulaman (Mortazavi 2007). This gap has been partially filled by our work in Afghan Sistan (Allen and Trousdale 2019, and this volume). Both sides of the basin were fully settled beginning with the Achaemenid period, as this volume demonstrates, though the location of the capital and population centers of the region often fluctuated. Additional publication by our Iranian colleagues will help fill out the settlement pattern in Iranian Sistan. We can only hope that future researchers will be able to do the same on the Afghan side.

Expanding the Scope The above is a brief description of the archaeological work done specifically in Sistan over the past two centuries. Needless to say, this work cannot be taken in a void. Archaeological work elsewhere in southern Afghanistan, like Dupree’s studies mentioned above, the work by DAFA at Lashkari Bazar (Schlumberger, Sourdel-Thomine, and Gardin 1963–1978), by the Italian team at Ghazni (Giunta 2005), and by the British around Kandahar are obviously critical for understanding Sistan (Helms 1997, McNicoll and Ball 1996). Archaeological work elsewhere in Afghanistan, especially the recent excavation and surveys in the Herat area (Franke and Urban 2017, and forthcoming), also place our work in Sistan in a broader context. Enormous strides have been made in research in Iran by foreign missions and Iranian scholars along the Makran coast, the Jiroft region at Konar Sandal, at Bampur, at Tepe Yahya, and in Khorasan. Indigenous and foreign teams have opened the entire region of Turkmenistan, first investigated by the Carnegie Institute simultaneous to Tate’s work in Sistan (Pumpelly 1908), 27

the archaeology of southwest afghanistan to expand conversation about cultural development of Central Asia, of which Sistan is a necessary part (Lyonnet and Dubova 2021). To fully document this wider world of archaeology of Iran, South Asia, and Central Asia, and its relevance to Sistan is well beyond the limited scope

of this book. We hope the data presented here will help other scholars create a more rounded picture of the ancient world of southwest Afghanistan in the context of the rest of Afghanistan, Iran, Central Asia, South Asia, and areas beyond.

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Chapter 4

Field Methodology

The task facing the Helmand Sistan Project was enormous. While there had been shorter research excursions into the lower reaches of the Helmand Valley and Sistan Basin (see Chapter 3), no project had ever been designed to undertake a full survey of the entire southwest quadrant of Afghanistan. This centered on the 500 km length of the Helmand River from Lashkar Gah to Chakansur “and in the adjoining regions,” including the deserts to the north of the U-shaped pattern inscribed by the river that included the Dasht-i Jehannum and Dasht-i Margo, the strip along the border with Pakistan from the Registan west, and the various dasht areas and dry waterways west of the Helmand to the Iranian border. In all, the territorial concession of the project was over 40,000 km square (see Figure 1.1).

Survey Priorities It was an area far exceeding the capabilities of this project, or any project, to systematically cover in the allocated five field seasons. Forced to choose areas to focus upon, several areas were selected. Because HSP began and ended at Lashkar Gah each season and the routes into the Sistan basin were few, the area immediately south of Lashkar Gah and Qala-i Bist was low-hanging fruit. We examined this area along the

Figure 4.1 The survey team with local people at Kurkoray I. Lashkar Gah is in the distance. HSP71.14.13

Figure 4.2 The Helmand Valley looking north from Koh-i Khan Neshin. The large site of Šna Qala is visible below across the Helmand. HSP71.J.5

Helmand Valley and on the bluffs above the valley in the initial season of 1971 and revisited pieces of it en route to the field in subsequent years. This is the area that had been surveyed by Hammond and was the most accessible for the archaeologists we presumed would come after us (as Marc Abramiuk did in 2011). Other than testing out our field methodologies in the initial season, this area did not become a significant focus of our work. A greater target of the survey in the river valley began at the visible landmark of Koh-i Khan Neshin on the left bank and carried through the turn westward then northward past Qala-i Fath. Difficult to access for any but the extended visitor, the area had been briefly visited by DAFA, Hammond, Fairservis, Fischer, and Dales, but no systematic work ever took place. HSP spent significant time here in 1971 and spent most of the 1975 season excavating sites near Daishu and Rudbar. Logistics were, as always, problematic. We ended up working the left bank of the river from Khan Neshin to Charburjak, but stayed mostly on the right bank from there to Qala-i Fath. North of this had already been included in Klaus Fischer’s research, so we avoided the Helmand delta region north of the Qala-i Fath area. 29

the archaeology of southwest afghanistan What ended up being our primary of area of focus was the Sar-o-Tar basin to the east of the northward stretch of the Helmand and into the Helmand delta. There were numerous reasons for this emphasis. Sar-o-Tar is a waterless basin created by aeolian scouring (Whitney 2006, and his chapter in Volume 2). It is bounded by the bluffs of the Dasht-i Margo on the east, the Dasht-i Jehannum on the south, and the low dasht areas on the west that separate it from the Helmand Valley. On the north, it merges into the eastern part of the hamun basin at the Dasht-i Amiran. The southern part of this area was covered with sand dunes during the years we visited. The sea of dunes ended toward the northern part of Sar-o-Tar, but the size of the dune field varies from decade to decade. Previous work by Tate in 1903–05 and by DAFA in 1936 had shown that the area was full of sites. Sand filled many of the sites and protected them, their architectural features, and artifactual remains from destruction by the winds. The mobility of sand dunes also meant that each season produced a different configuration of visible, partially visible, and invisible sites. For example, Temple 215 was chosen for excavation in 1973 primarily because a large dune looming right outside of it would have made work impossible the following season. While we cleared large swaths of the site in 1973, the rooms exposed had been covered with sand as much as 2–3 m in height by the time we returned in 1974 (see Figure 8.11.50). We did something similar at House 139. Not covered in sand, and therefore mapped in 1973, it was partially covered by a large dune in 1974, so we could only excavate the southern half of the site. Before the season ended, much of our excavation had been buried in sand. Nature did our backfilling for us. A downside of working in the dunes was the sand-blasting effect of the combination of strong Sistan

Figure 4.3 Surveying Qala-i Sirak required boating across the Helmand each day from our camp on the south bank. HSP7.F.3

Choosing a side of the river to host each field season was important because of the lack of bridges below Darwishan and the difficulty of crossing the river via fords or boats once a bank was selected. In 1971 we camped on the left bank below Koh-i Khan Neshin and took a pontoon that we carried with us across the river to map Qala-i Sirak and sites on the Malakhan Plain. But that was the only time we were on both sides of the river during one season. The western reaches of our survey area had been extensively covered by Fairservis and Dales, who were looking specifically for “prehistoric” sites, in 1951 and 1969–1971 respectively. Thus, while we wished to survey the dry watercourses to the south and west of the Helmand River, they were accorded only brief visits in 1975 and 1976.

Figure 4.4 The dunes of Sar-o-Tar with Shahr-i Gholghola in the distance. HSP74.B.3

Figure 4.5 Excavation at House 139 in 1974 with a large dune at left having covered half of the site since the 1973 season and moving to cover the rest. HSP74.G.7

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field methodology

Figure 4.8 Unloading the Land Rovers at our camp. We carried all our necessary materials with us, including canned food, gasoline, and drinking water. HSP75.A.26

Figure 4.6 Remains of a human burial and accompanying artifacts laid bare by wind action in Sar-o-Tar. Within a few years, this burial was wind blasted and disappeared. HSP72.40.9

indicator of the great impact of aeolian erosion over the past thousand years. Sar-o-Tar’s location away from the river meant that the sites hadn’t suffered extensive looting. Anyone visiting had to bring their own water and food and had to navigate a maze of sand dunes in order to do significant damage in Sar-o-Tar. Most common visitors were the dagal gardi, the casual looters who visited the region after the winter rains, searching for objects exposed by the runoff (Amiri 2020, 129). Previous researchers in Sistan had been accosted by these artifact hunters with items for sale. Both stories from Tate (1904, 663) and our own experience indicated that there had not been many significant finds on the surface made by these dagal gardi. More systematic looting either with shovels or mechanical equipment, as has been done elsewhere in the Middle East, was challenging due to the logistical difficulties of reaching Sar-o-Tar and living there for any extended period of time. Thus, Sar-o-Tar represented an area with comparatively little recent disturbance, though we found some evidence of looting in modern times and much evidence of robbing and reusing bricks in premodern times. As difficult as it was for looters, the location of Sar-o-Tar also created significant challenges for the excavators. We brought all our equipment, food, and drinking water into the field with us for a 2–3 month stay. One or two trips back to Lashkar Gah by our driver/ mechanic, Niaz Muhammed, were the only opportunities to restock, to send and receive messages, or to receive mail. Water for bathing, washing artifacts, clothes, and dishes all came from wells near the river, over 30 km away, gathered in 55-gallon oil drums on regular trips by Niaz.

Figure 4.7 Wood gatherers regularly pass through Sar-o-Tar, but few others do. HSP74.U.29

winds and the endless waves of sand. We would find burials exposed on the surface that had been dug centuries earlier. By the following year, the sand had fully shredded both the skeletal remains and any artifacts in the burial so that nothing remained. The sand, and the plain surrounding it, had a permanent red color, the color of ceramic dust created by year-round sand-blasting wind. Our most notable example of that is Cemetery 150 where we excavated what we thought to be a Parthian burial only to discover that we were already in virgin soil. The entire burial, framed by a rectangle of stone, had already been eroded by the wind to below the level of the skeleton. Only the heavy stones framing the burial remained (see section 8.1). In some locations, we could see small pillars of soil with a handful of tenth to eleventh century sherds on top, yet the current surface level lay a meter or more below. This was a clear 31

the archaeology of southwest afghanistan

Figure 4.10 The HSP camp outside the circular wall at Shahr-i Gholghola. HSP74.I.35

Figure 4.11 Workmen from nearby villages lived with us in the desert as we were 30 km or more from the nearest habitation. HSP74.W.26

Figure 4.9 Our driver/mechanic took periodic trips to the river to refill our large cans with water. HSP73.E.21

These trips allowed us to occasionally purchase eggs, chickens, and vegetables from neighboring villages. Because of our remote location, our workmen were obligated to camp in tents in the dunes near us. News from the outside world came from the occasional wood collector driving a camel past our camp and from nightly broadcasts on BBC. A seven-day work schedule was sensible as there were no reasons to claim leisure time (our workers got paid double time for working Friday). Illness or injury was always a concern. A member of our American team nearly died of a recurrence of malaria in the field in 1973. Only an immediate day-long journey back to Kabul followed by an airlift to Germany allowed him to survive. Our, our workmen’s, and other local villager injuries or illnesses were handled as best we could with the limited medical gear we carried (Amiri 2020, xvi–xvii). From a research perspective, Sar-o-Tar was a good choice. As we will describe at greater length elsewhere in this volume, the region was occupied only at specific times when the elaborate canal system from the Helmand River

was in operation. Occupation was episodic with long periods of abandonment between occupations. In attempting to understand the culture history of an entire region, the ability to identify the material culture of specific time periods in a field survey was a blessing. For example, we were able to isolate the culture of an Early Iron Age settlement not identified by any previous researchers in the region at sites like Qala 169 and Qala 350A. Containing ceramics that were similar to Bronze Age sherds and plain wares that continue into Achaemenid times, it is unlikely we would have been able to isolate this unique cultural signature in the Helmand Valley, where the modest Early 32

field methodology less than 10 km south of Lashkar Gah on the bluff east of the Helmand. It was so named because of the enormous scatter of sherds and ceramic slag along an irregular area approximately 200 x 460 m on the bluff. The project followed random survey protocols and gridded the site into 134 components of 20 x 20 m and a sample was taken within one 5 x 5 m area in 16 of the 134 squares, randomly selected. The sherds were separated into 21 different ware types (black ware with burnishing, buff ware with red slip, etc.). All sherds in the 16 areas were collected and counted, a 1% random sample of the site. The resulting collection was among the largest sets of ceramics we found in the survey, but no statistical analyses were done. Nor were we sure analyses were necessary as the spread of the material culture on the ground was easily visible without requiring a sophisticated computer analysis to tell us the areas of greatest density of different styles. The experiment was not repeated (see section 6.17). In Sar-o-Tar, where we spent the largest amount of time, the surveying was more intense. Team members took off on regular afternoon field trips in 1972 and 1973 to sites visible on the horizon in various directions, sometimes by motorcycle, stopping to document other sites seen along the way. Sites invisible beneath the dunes or too far out of the path of that day’s journey were skipped. While there was no systematic attempt to survey the entire landscape, the southern part of Sar-o-Tar was fairly well covered in this way. In 1974, the last two weeks in the field consisted of a pedestrian survey into the northern half of Sar-o-Tar as far as Chakansur and the Dasht-i Amiran. Base camps were established along the 40 km route at Houses 338 and Qala 357, and sites were visited as they were encountered. While this survey could not be claimed to be systematic, we did identify about 50 sites in that two-week span.

Figure 4.12 Evenings in the field consisted of writing field notes, developing film, drawing plans, and describing pottery. HSP74.G.12

Iron layer would have been intermixed with other strata at multi-period sites. But, with over 20 sites containing exclusively Early Iron material culture in Sar-o-Tar, we were able to create type fossils that helped us identify sites along the Helmand that contained Early Iron material.

Survey Methods The 1970s in archaeology was a period of intense change in archaeological fieldwork practices. Beginning with the “New Archaeology” theory posited by Binford and Flannery, duplicated by Adams and others in the Near East (see O’Brien, Lyman, and Schiffer 2005), full coverage surveys, settlement pattern analysis, and social scientific statistical methodologies became fashionable about the time we launched our survey. In contrast, many archaeological projects in Middle Asia were still using the “highway method” known to previous generations: drive along the highway, turn off when you see a site in the distance, photograph and collect material at the site, sketch and describe any architectural remains, then return to the highway. Our project was a mixture of the two methods and exhibited the strengths and weaknesses of each. The vast scope of the project and the restrictions on access—both manmade and natural—in the various areas in which we worked did not allow for full coverage survey work. Thus, sites were generally noted due to their visibility on the ground: the Islamic-era sites maintaining some type of above-surface architecture while the pre-Islamic ones were often identified by a large, slumped set of walls or a tepe emerging from the ground surface. In a single case during our 1971 season, we did experiment with a systematic random survey of a site (Hester, Shafer, and Feder 2009). Kurkoray, “slag” in Pashto, was

Figure 4.13 The systematic random survey experiment at Kurkoray I. HSP71.E.16

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the archaeology of southwest afghanistan

Figure 4.14 Some surveying in 1972 and 1973 was done by motorcycle. HSP72.F.15

Figure 4.16 HSP photographer Chip Vincent setting up his shot on a modern kiln. Photo M. Allen

Figure 4.17 Collecting objects at Qala 344. HSP74.39.29

Figure 4.15 Temporary camp at Qala 357 during our 1974 survey through northern Sar-o-Tar. HSP74.U.17

When sites were visited, they were documented by our photographer Robert K. “Chip” Vincent, Jr., notes were taken by one of the field team, and a collection of what we thought to be representative artifacts was bagged and taken to our base camp. When an architectural plan could be identified, a site map was sketched into someone’s notebook. Those sketches have been digitized and cleaned up for this volume by Josh Allen, but these are rough approximations at best. In some cases, where the architectural remains were notable, our architects James Knudstad and Robert Hamilton would create a more formal plan of a building or

Figure 4.18 Bob Hamilton surveying the Circular Wall of Shahr-i Gholghola. HSP73.I.26

site, though this was a time consuming endeavor and was done sparingly. There was no consistency of approach—it was determined by time, interest, and opportunity. 34

field methodology

Defining Sites

Excavation Methods

One problem encountered was in defining a “site.” This problem has bedeviled archaeologists and eventually led to the movement toward landscape archaeology and “siteless” surveys in the years after the completion of our work (Dunnell and Dancey 1983). A pre-Islamic qala, often a square mound of walls with a depression in the center, would have a Ghaznavid mausoleum or small cluster of Timurid houses located atop the earlier ruins, or possibly within 50–100 m. We would usually declare this to be a single site, though it is clear that the various elements were created independently of each other, sharing only the proximity to one of the canals, dug and re-dug in various periods. Occasionally, bricks were robbed from the older site in the service of the later one. In several cases in this report, where there is a geographical separation between one structure and another, we have broken our description of the site into multiple ones: site 101A, B, C. A related problem was where there were multiple buildings in a circumscribed area. For example, the name House 183 was given to a collection of five Timurid houses (three of which we excavated), just to the south of Shahr-i Gholghola. Most egregious was the label House 338 given to an area to the north of Shahr-i Gholghola, comprising several dozen different Timurid houses, two windmills, a mosque, two baked brick buildings that were likely mausoleums, a dovecote, and several towers. At its edge were some ruined Ghaznavid houses and other structures, which were also lumped into the single site number. The scatter of structures stretched for more than 1 km. Truly, this was a village, not a house, and one that was used and reused over several centuries. For this report, we have renamed several of them in the plural to show their multiple components, such as Houses 210, Houses 338, etc.

As our survey methods were an amalgam of archaeological traditions, so were our excavation methods. In many cases, we stuck to traditional archaeology in areas where standing architecture was predominant. Thus, Temple 215 on the southwestern part of Sar-o-Tar was largely excavated of accumulated sand down to the level of the last occupation level, an earth moving exercise. But changes in the 3–4 m of accumulated sand and wall collapse atop layers of sand were noted in each room to try to tell the post-occupation history of the site. With sand removed, we drew a detailed site plan of the final occupation level. Testing was then done beneath the ground surface in the western iwan and the central shrine room to establish a better stratigraphic history. The description of the site excavation below (see section 8.11) contains details. Qala 198, House 266, and Mausoleum 214 were also cleared in this fashion, largely to clarify architecture. Other horizontal excavations were done with greater attention to stratigraphic detail. These included the Parthian House 139, Timurid Houses 183A, B, C, and the Parthian temple Khwaja Ali Sehyaka/Sehyak (all excavated in 1974 and 1975). Parts of each site were excavated with attention to stratigraphic changes and the material culture associated with each change in the matrix.

Figure 4.20 Jim Knudstad and Baluch worker excavating a floor at House 139. HSP74.8.32

Figure 4.19 Clearing sand out of Temple 215 in 1973. HSP73.N.22

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the archaeology of southwest afghanistan

Figure 4.21 Laying out excavation grid for Area A at Sehyak. HSP75.8.12

Figure 4.22 Vertical trench at Qala 169. HSP74.E.4

The details of excavation strategy and results are in the description of each of these sites below in Chapter 8. Two sites were subject to vertical trench excavations— Qala 169 and Lat Qala. In each case, we were faced with

a tepe site with evidence of multiple levels of occupation. Qala 169 was excavated in three large trenches down the sides of the main mound, several smaller trenches through other structures, and a square through the center of the courtyard to assess its stratigraphy. Two trenches were placed in Lat Qala with the goal of creating a stratigraphic history of a multi-period site. While Trench A was of very limited utility due to water wash from the last occupation of the mound, Trench B produced a stratigraphic history for much of the pre-Islamic era of the Helmand Valley. These two excavations are also described in detail in Chapter 8. We conducted several excavations at the site of Shahr-i Gholghola. Our largest excavation, that of the mosque in 1972, covered significant portions of the building and allowed for a detailed plan and architectural history of the building. The 1974 excavation in the western half of the citadel outside the palace was conducted as a vertical trench to establish the stratigraphy below the standing ruins. A 1973 excavation of the bathhouse, also on the western side of the citadel, determined its architectural history. In the Lower Palace, a portion of one small room along the eastern edge of the large building was tested to create a tentative chronology for the palace. A trench through the terrace inside the Circular Wall in 1973 revealed that that part of the site contained substantial domestic buildings in the Saffarid and Ghaznavid periods. Additional test probes along the various city walls and gates helped to clarify their architectural details. Other than the mosque, the scale of the buildings of Shahr-i Gholghola and the limited time we had to conduct excavations there left our results more suggestive than definitive. It is clearly a major historical site that will require another large scale, multi-year excavation project to more fully understand its history and functioning.

Figure 4.23 Excavating the Shahr-i Gholghola mosque. HSP72.H.34

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field methodology

Figure 4.24 The excavation along the eastern terrace of the Circular Enclosure of Shahr-i Gholghola in 1973. HSP73.F.34

Field Processing

Most of the excavating was done by the teams of Baluch workmen hired from neighboring villages, usually 20 per season. Several individuals worked multiple seasons for us and were trained to identify stratigraphic changes and to collect ceramics within stratigraphic boundaries. However, for the most part, the labor used was not trained and largely moved sand and dirt from the site to the dump at its edge. The bulk of the archaeological expertise came from our experienced project surveyor, James Knudstad, who is responsible for most of the architectural plans and stratigraphic sections in this report. His field notebooks are the most detailed and complete for both architectural and stratigraphic detail. Looking back from the twenty-first century at our methods of the 1970s, we see the flaws in our work more than we see the strengths. Note keeping was rarely as detailed as we would have wished in retrospect. Both our own previous training and the limited experience of our workers meant that the nuanced correlation between excavated layers and the ceramics inside was less than ideal, making our current creation of a ceramic chronology weaker than it otherwise might have been. We note some of the specific uncertainties created by methodological flaws later in this report. Trousdale had always hoped to return to Sistan to rectify some of these shortcomings, but political events never allowed for that to happen.

With the rapid collection of site survey materials and the difficulty in transporting and storing them, it was imperative for us to process as many objects as possible in the field. Collections from each site were kept in cloth bags with the identifying site information on the outside of the bag. Each object was labeled with indelible ink whenever possible, using a labeling system that identified the site and year it was collected. Each artifact was hand drawn for its general shape and diameter and decoration when appropriate, then described in notebooks by the team in the field. Each sherd was photographed in black and white and identified by the sherd number in the season’s photolog. When possible, we tried to restore fragments of shattered vessels found together.

Figure 4.25 Bob Hamilton attempting to reconstruct excavated ceramics. HSP73.G.27

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Site Identification

At the end of each season, bags of material that had been fully documented were handed over to the Institute of Archaeology in Kabul. Unfinished material, and other objects requiring more analysis, were kept at the USAID base in Lashkar Gah in two large oil drums for further processing in later seasons. As in every other archaeological project, the collection of material rapidly outpaced the processing of the finds and, though the ceramic notes filled almost 25 full notebooks, only a modest fraction of field materials were fully documented in the five field seasons. The unfinished materials remained in the oil drums stored in Lashkar Gah. After the completion of the 1975 season, Trousdale returned annually and, with Terry Allen and photographer Chip Vincent, processed additional objects. At the moment of the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979, the oil drums in Lashkar Gah were still largely filled with bags of sherds, including some that had been processed. Other materials were in a warehouse of the National Museum in Kabul and in two footlockers of material “to be processed” stored with United States Information Agency (USIA) office in Kabul awaiting Trousdale’s next visit. At the time of writing our report in 2021, we have no information of the fate of the material left in Afghanistan. The National Museum was destroyed and its warehouses looted for salable objects (ours were generally not that valuable). Information given us from later US State Department visitors was that the Lashkar Gah USAID base was purportedly blown up by the Soviets worried about them being booby-trapped by the evacuating Americans, though we have no direct evidence of that. The two footlockers in Kabul were evacuated to the Smithsonian with the American personnel and are, at the time of writing, at the Smithsonian Museum Support Centre in Suitland, Maryland awaiting repatriation back to Afghanistan. These two footlockers contain some of the materials from 26 of our 170 sites, including substantial collections from Lat Qala, Khwaja Ali Sehyaka, and Shahr-i Gholghola, and are the only known cultural materials surviving from our fieldwork. We do not know whether any of the other materials will ever be recovered, thus the partial field documentation we did is crucial for being able to report from our decade of work. The incomplete nature of our documentation of field collections, the inability to recheck the documentation we do have for errors and omissions, and the limitations of black and white photography are all shortcomings in our ability to properly analyze and present our findings here.

As we conducted our fieldwork in the days prior to GIS devices, our ability to locate specific coordinates of sites was primitive. Trousdale had collected an enormous set of maps—Afghan, British, Russian, and US—generated for other purposes than archaeology but often containing site names that matched locales we found on the ground. This was particularly useful in the Helmand Valley, which had been traversed by the British Boundary Commissions several times in the latter nineteenth-early twentieth century and recorded numerous ruins in their work (Goldsmid 1876, Afghan Boundary Commission 1887–1892, Tate 1910–12). Naturally, the inherent incertitude of nineteenth century descriptions and a century of landscape changes before our project launched in the 1970s made those identifications useful only in some cases. In other cases, like in Sar-o-Tar, visits by Tate and DAFA had not produced identifiable site locations beyond obvious ones like Shahr-i Gholghola and Ziyarat-i Amiran due to the lack of fixed datum points. Their field photographs of sites, many unpublished, were useful in allowing us to match their descriptions with our observations on the ground. In fact, our project attempted to replicate as many of these photos as possible, showing changes in their level of preservation and surrounding landscape over the span of 35 or 70 years. We were also able to obtain a set of aerial photographs taken by the Morrison Knudsen Company in 1952 in conjunction with the Helmand Valley Development Project. These photos, a prehistoric version of Google Earth, allowed us to better identify the locations of highly visible sites and plot them on current maps. This became particularly crucial for Sar-o-Tar. The photos were meticulously transcribed to linear maps showing various visible ruins, canals, agricultural fields, and dune fields. This became our guidebook in surveying Sar-o-Tar in 1972–1974, plotting the sites as best as we could on these maps as we viewed them on the ground. To name sites in the nameless wastes of Sar-o-Tar, we created a system that centered around Shahr-i Gholghola, giving site names based upon their compass direction from that central, highly visible site. Thus House 183 was almost due south (183 degrees) from Gholghola and Qala 231 to the southwest. After having identified several other prominent geographical features or easily visible sites like Qala 352, we would try to provide three or more different compass readings from a newly discovered site to be able to triangulate a location from three known points to the new unknown one. This worked with an expected inaccuracy of compass readings. 38

field methodology

Figure 4.26 Morrison Knudsen 1952 aerial photo of Shahr-i Gholghola area.

The limitation of our naming system was discovered in 1974 when our fieldwork took us 40 km through the ruin fields north of Gholghola. All of the sites in those directions, and there were many, ranged from 330 to 10 degrees. Thus we ended up with multiple sites 352, all aligned along the same cardinal meridian from Gholghola, or House 348 and House 348.5 in close vectoral alignment from our base point. The aerial photo maps and compass-triangulated site locations became the foundation for the site locations in this report. But a 2017 paper at the American Schools of Overseas Research conference presented by Kate Franklin about the Afghan Heritage Mapping Project, part of the CAMEL laboratory at the University of Chicago Oriental Institute, brought us into contact with this group. They had been attempting to use a series of declassified satellite photographs to map all visible archaeological sites in the country for the government of Afghanistan, supported by the US State Department. Their work was limited by their inability to “ground truth” the dots they were placing on the map, and we had the photos, site descriptions, and dating from our work in Sistan to assist. Ultimately, they could more accurately pinpoint the sites that we

Figure 4.27 Field map created from the Morrison Knudsen aerial photo by John Whitney, with sites located as they were found.

could only roughly place in real space. We were also able to provide them with dozens of sites that would not have been visible through their computer searches. They were able to provide us with data that were not visible from the ground in the 1970s and could fill in site configurations and dimensions we neglected to record in our notes during brief visits or could not see because of sanding. The general maps in this volume are the result of our joint work with the CAMEL staff and were produced by them, as are all the satellite photos of specific sites included.

Material Analyses Coins HSP found over 400 coins during the five field seasons. A few were found in situ during excavations, the majority were found on or near sites during survey work by the archaeological team and local workers. These workers, the village khans, and other villagers also brought coins to the 39

the archaeology of southwest afghanistan field team, which were often purchased after gathering information on provenience of the finds. For analysis, the coins were given informally to Raymond Hebert of the Numismatics Department of the National Museum of American History, a specialist on coins of Central Asia, for preliminary analysis. Hebert provided a 30-page report to the HSP in 1989. Each of the 385 coins examined, including several seals and tokens, was identified by denomination, age, weight, diameter, description of the image on each side, related references, and provenience (where available). Sadly, Hebert passed away in 1990 and no further publication work on the coins was done. When the project was restarted in 2016, Allen secured the assistance of Roberta Giunta and Arturo Annucci of University Orientale in Naples for assistance in matching Hebert’s coin report with the photographs of 100 of the coins that we have. Their report is included in Volume 2.

the objects were left in Afghanistan with our ceramics and, unfortunately, are now presumed lost. Some were exported to the Smithsonian and may be available for other scholars to study in the future. With those exceptions, all we have are field descriptions and photographs of the pieces that were examined in the field in the 1970s. To do a complete job of analyzing these artifacts in this volume with proper comparanda would delay publication by additional years, even if we had the expertise to do so. So our approach here has been to present them with locational information, any descriptive notes made, and photographs taken on those we processed. Without the advantage of lab analyses or an ability to reexamine the originals, the descriptions may not be complete or accurate, but we include whatever data we have for specialists to provide the proper analyses in future work. The objects are organized by class of materials (stone, metal, wood, etc.) and are described in Volume 2.

Inscriptions

Ceramics

Possibly the most significant find of the project was the recovery of a bilingual inscription on stone from the bottom of the well at Parthian-period Khwaja Ali Sehyaka/ Sehyak. The site description was completed by Allen, the Greek characters were read by Lauren Morris (University of Freiburg) and Rachel Mairs (University of Reading), and the Aramaic was read by Michael Zellmann-Rohrer (Cambridge University). The details of its provenience and description of the object are included in Appendix 3 to Volume 1. In addition to this unique find, several other forms of inscriptional material were found. Two pre-Islamic ostraca were found and read by Zellmann-Rohrer. A much larger corpus of Islamic inscriptions was collected, including graffiti on the walls of sites, tomb tiles, ceramic inscriptions, and stamped bricks. These have been read by Giunta and Viola Allegranzi of Orientale, and their analysis, as well as Zellmann-Rohrer’s study, is included in Volume 2. Finally, there were numerous tamga found on the ceramics, the vast majority of them from the sites of Sehyak and Lat Qala. While most were clearly not designed as text, they too have a separate description in Volume 2 of this report.

As with the other classes of objects, some of the ceramics we collected were examined and photographs taken, profiles drawn, and descriptive notes written. The majority were still to be completed and were stored in Afghanistan at the time of the Soviet invasion and are presumably not recoverable. Thus, other than the sherds sent to the Smithsonian in 1979, we have only the information in our sherd notebooks, sketch drawings, and photographs done in the field as a record of our work. In some cases, there were general descriptions of the ceramics found at specific sites in our site notebooks, often in cases when sherds were not collected. This information is included in this report with the caveat as to the limited utility of field impressions. There is no general description of Afghan Sistan ceramics, thus no broad ceramic chronology that scholars can use in their work. Attempts have been made in that direction by previous researchers, the most extensive by Fairservis based on his survey of parts of the region in 1951 (Fairservis 1961). But Fairservis didn’t work in either the Helmand Valley or Sar-o-Tar, and his findings are skewed to the earliest periods. Gardin (1959) attempted to sort only the Islamic ceramics from the DAFA 1936 mission. Hammond (1970) made the only attempt to cover the larger region, but it is based upon a limited number of sherds collected at 45 sites in his brief survey. Fischer’s (1974–1976) ceramic descriptions are unfortunately very brief and heavily focused on Islamic glazed wares. Single site studies are limited to Dales’s (1977a) work at Nad-i Ali and Schlumberger et al.’s (1963–1978) work at Lashkari Bazar.

Other Objects Numerous objects made of various materials made over the course of a 5000-year span were found and documented by the project. Some are unique pieces, others more mundane. Unusual were those of perishable materials that we were able to uncover in the dry deserts of Sar-o-Tar. Most of 40

field methodology If we include the ceramic analyses done across the border in Iranian Sistan, the picture is more complete. The extensive work at Shahr-i Sokhta and other sites excavated by the Italians in the 1960s–1970s forms the basis for our work on earlier periods (e.g., Tosi 1983, Genito 1990). This work is being updated by Giulio Maresca (2010, 2019) including technical studies of the wares, their composition and firing. Recent Iranian work has also focused on ceramics, but much of it is in Farsi and inaccessible to the authors of this volume (e.g., Mehrafarin, Mousavi Haji, Sadegh Roustaei 2015–2016; Mehrafarin, Sadegh Roustaei, Alaei Moqaddam 2014). We had hoped to create the most comprehensive ceramic chronology for Afghan Sistan to date with our work in the 1970s. And, 40 years later, it is still likely to be the most extensive one in existence, whatever its shortcomings. As in the case of the other object classes above, a complete typology with full comparanda from Afghanistan, Iran, Central Asia, South Asia, and even wider zones would add considerable time to the presentation of what we have to share with other scholars. Thus, our ceramic presentation in Volume 2 will emphasize what we collected and will rely on the work of other scholars to help put our material in chronological and typological context. In addition to our own work, we acknowledge the enormous assistance provided by two junior scholars who assisted in analyzing these materials: Eric Hubbard (University of Pennsylvania) for the Bronze Age ceramics and Layah Ziaii-Bigdeli (University of California, Irvine) for the Islamic wares. Their contributions are included in Volume 2 and in some of the ceramics portions of site descriptions in Volume 1 (designated with EH or LZB).

the fact that we found only about 400 coins (many of them in two hoards) limited our ability to use this diagnostic tool for chronological definition. Even more surprising was the limited number of pre-Islamic coins we collected in an area we believe held its largest population ever during the Parthian and Sasanian periods. We have only 30 coins that predate the arrival of Islam and two-thirds of them came from a single fifth century ce hoard excavated from the spoil bank of a canal. No readable coins predate the second century ce, despite the find of numerous Hellenistic coins elsewhere in Afghanistan. The vast majority come from the late fourteenth and fifteenth centuries ce, found in Sar-o-Tar during the last occupation in the Timurid period. Despite the limited help provided by coins, we did have some dating successes with them. The discovery of a hoard of coins buried in a wall in the mosque at Shahr-i Gholghola that end with the year 1222 confirms the historical reports of the conquest of the area by the Mongols in that year. The sharp drop in coins after the fifteenth century supports the abandonment of Sar-o-Tar in that century. Most of the coins were found on the surface and not in excavation and thus provided limited assistance in dating sites. We include the implications of coins found at surveyed and excavated sites in the following sections of this volume and a general analysis of our corpus of coins in Volume 2.

Inscriptions The limited number of inscriptions also capped our use of written evidence as an absolute method in dating. A glazed mortuary tile found at Mausoleum 214 in Sar-o-Tar provided a date of death and age of one of its inhabitants. This specificity was exceptional. Epigraphic analysis of the Sehyak inscription gave us confidence of our date for the temple likely in the first century bce, though the inscription has no date on it. The inscriptional material we have appears in Appendix 3 of this volume and in Volume 2.

Chronological Indicators We have pointed out the limits in our ability to date sites, yet our presentation here provides suggested dates for each. These were often established at the time of our work in Sistan and may not incorporate some of the improvements in dating sites in this region since that time. We present here a summary of our key criteria for dating— absolute and relative—with more detailed analyses in Volume 2.

Radiocarbon dates We collected over 50 radiocarbon samples from 10 sites. Most were processed at the Smithsonian Institution C14 lab and all were done during the 1970s and early 1980s and recalibrated for this volume using current correction curves (www.CalPal-Online.de). In some cases, these only provided us with confirmatory information of sites or strata dated using other methods. In other cases, they were important to our analyses. For example, the consistent second and third century ce dates coming from the Sehyak well confirm that the site was deliberately dismantled and material thrown down the well in a brief time, rather than

Absolute Dating Methods Coins One of the most reliable absolute dating methods is with coins, which was used extensively in areas where there is limited historical information and no firm ceramic chronology. Given the length of time of our work in Sistan, 41

the archaeology of southwest afghanistan through centuries of natural decay. Our early third millennium carbon date from Dam/Khaima Barang supports its existence as a Bronze Age or earlier site, not a recent Muslim cemetery. And our tenth century ce radiocarbon dates from Jali Robat dashed cold water on the hypothesis that we had found a Bronze Age copper smelting site. We do have to acknowledge the limits of our C14 dates. Some were collected during surveys of sites, others in very shallow excavations beneath the modern surface, each of which presents the elevated possibility of contamination of the samples. The details of each sample are described in the site descriptions. The difficulty of collecting and keeping clean samples for months in rough field conditions also weakens our confidence in the dates we received, even after recalibration. And, of course, the great improvements in radiocarbon technology in the 40 years since our work argue for re-dating all of our sites with better methods. Unfortunately, most of our carbon samples were left in Afghanistan and are no longer available for reanalysis.



Qala 198 Temple 215 Sehyak Area B Karbasak

40 x 40 x 9 cm 42 x 42 x 10 cm 43–44 x 43–44 x 7–8 cm 41 x 41 x 7 cm

This is, of course, somewhat over-simplified. In Room 5 of Area A of Sehyak, for example, where three different periods of wall construction were identified—all dated by other means between the first century bce and third century ce—they varied from 28–29 x 28–29 x 7–8 cm for the earliest, to 40–42 x 40–42 x 9 cm for the intermediate period, to 37 x 37 x 7 cm for the latest construction. The boundary between Parthian and Sasanian construction materials is vague. The square bricks slightly over 40 cm appear to be a feature of the latter period in some cases. But, unlike the fairly consistent Parthian brick sizes, the Sasanians had considerable variety. For one, they used baked bricks unlike their predecessor. These showed up in wall foundations, like at Qala 168 (68 x 46 x 6.5 cm) or Qala 330 (65–75 x 35–40 x 6–7 cm), and in repairs of earlier walls at House 139 Room 2 (45–50 x 45–50 x (?) cm) and House 266 (66 x 43 x 8 cm). Large mudbricks were a general feature of Sasanian architecture as well. Thus, we used this as one of the criteria differentiating Parthian from Sasanian sites. The Islamic periods in Sar-o-Tar were generally distinguishable in their use of bricks smaller than those in the pre-Islamic periods. We find a consistency of brick use in the Saffarid and Ghaznavid periods, primarily through our work at Shahr-i Gholghola, the largest construction projects of those eras. The lower two floors of the excavated room in the Lower Palace, whose construction we can correlate to that of Lashkari Bazar, are made of baked bricks 33 x 33 x 6 cm, covered by flooring with 35 x 35 x 5.5 cm bricks. This is consistent with the mudbricks measured for the mudbrick outer wall of the Lower Palace, 33–35 x 33–35 x 6–7 cm, but differs from the last baked brick floor of the excavated room in the Lower Palace, 27–28 x 27–28 x 5 cm, which we suggest may date to the Ghorid period. The bricks of the mosque, ranging from 30 x 30 x 6 cm to 36 x 36 x 4–5 cm, either in mudbrick or baked brick, and those of the Mint, 33–35 x 33–35 x 3–5 cm are also in the same range. This is also true of the domestic structures excavated in the East trench in 1973: 32–33 x 32–33 x 5–6 cm and 33–35 x 33–35 x 5–8 cm. While we believe some of these buildings date to the Saffarid century and others to the Ghaznavid or Ghorid eras, the brick sizes seem similar. The substantial use of squared baked bricks is also a feature of these periods. Most easily identified were the brick sizes in Timurid houses, which had consistent architectural plans and were

Relative Dating Methods Bricks Brick sizes are used regularly in the Near East and Central Asia to date sites. We were not systematic in measuring bricks from all of our sites, though measurements were taken at numerous sites. There was enough consistency from site to site of the same age that the measurement often seemed unnecessary. Most of our brick measurements came from Sar-o-Tar, where it was easier to identify specific periods of occupation. We have no data on Bronze Age bricks as our few Bronze Age sites showed no architecture, though the brick sizes at Lat Qala are suggestive of its foundation in the Bronze Age (see section 8.7). The excavation of Early Iron Age platforms and walls at Qala 169 provided consistent results. In three places— Area A, Area B, and the northeast corner tower on the summit—mudbricks were consistently rectangular and large, ranging between 45–49 x 23–24 x 8–11 cm (Area A), 48–49 x 21–28 x 9–11 cm (Area B), and 57 x 28 x 9 cm (tower). Two other sites with Early Iron Age pottery (Dam 198, Dam 205) had mudbricks of similar size although these were square, 54 x 54 x 10 cm, and Dik-i Dalil had slightly smaller square mudbricks, 47 x 47 x 10 cm. Parthians worked generally in square mudbricks, with sizes generally ranging between 37 cm and 42 cm on a side and 8–10 cm in thickness. This is fairly consistent among sites we identify through pottery and other methods as being originally Parthian. For example: 42

field methodology therefore easy to date through other means. They are also typically smaller than bricks from the earlier Islamic periods. For example, House 239 had bricks 27 x 27 x 4.5–5.5 cm. Several different parts of Houses 338 were measured with bricks ranging in size from 26–27 x 26–27 x 4.5–5.5 cm to 28–29 x 28–29 x 4–5 cm. Mudbrick was the norm for Timurid construction. In cases where baked brick was used, many were likely robbed from earlier sites. Brick size shrinks further in post-Timurid times. Brick sizes were measured at several spots in Qala-i Sirak that were assumed to be the latest period of construction there. Those bricks ranged between 20 x 20 x 4 cm and 22 x 22 x 4 cm in size. While there were numerous anomalies from this overall pattern, it was one of the criteria we used for dating sites.

Sistan area (Biscione and Vahdati 2021), we were able to discern potential Middle Bronze ceramics at several of our sites with the assistance of those two scholars. Our discovery of Early Iron Age pottery is described in Volume 2 and elsewhere (Allen and Trousdale 2019). In addition to the specific overfired, sandy wares and specific types of painted geometric decorations that we used to identify this period, there was the consistent use of ridges on the exteriors of large basins and jars that were field identifiers. We identified no ceramics reflecting the “Median” era of Ghirshman and Dales at Nad-i Ali. Achaemenid ceramics are well known from Iranian Sistan, though uncommon in the eastern part of the basin. It was not until our excavation at Lat Qala that we found a substantial collection of what we believe to be Achaemenid wares—using buff wares and light colored slips, unlike later hard fired red wares. The sharply carinated tulip bowls were also field indicators for us. We also note that the ridged basins and jars appear elsewhere in Achaemenid levels, thus making those artifacts a weaker indicator of Early Iron Age ceramics than originally thought. Like the Achaemenid period, there were few Hellenistic sites identified in our survey and excavation. The Greek-style architectural decorations at Khwaja Kanur and Mukhtar were thought to be from this period, but the ceramics largely fit our Parthian styles. Lat Qala was again where we found our most Hellenistic wares, which are usually hard fired and red in color related to the robust Parthian period ceramics that follows. We found ring burnished carinated bowls, densely burnished red ware ceramics, and vertical burnished sherds as likely Hellenistic decorations. Shapes included fine cups with incurved rims and fish plates. DSS painted wares are likely from this era though possibly Achaemenid. We are appreciative of the assistance of Giulio Maresca, whose reanalysis of Achaemenid and Hellenistic pottery from earlier Italian projects in Sistan was invaluable (Maresca 2010, 2019, personal communication). We were awash in Parthian pottery as this seemed to be the densest occupation in the history of Afghan Sistan. The toolkit seemed consistent from site to site and included most of the sites surveyed in Sar-o-Tar, supported by our excavation of Parthian era sites such as House 139, Temple 215, and Sehyak. Hard fired red wares with buff, red, or black slips and often ring burnishing were ubiquitous at these sites. Shapes included vertical rim bowls, shallow bowls with simple vertical rims, and footed goblets. Slips and ring burnishing also appeared on larger forms. We found numerous sites with jars embedded in the ground,

Architectural style Architecture of both pre-Islamic and Islamic period sites in Central Asia is a field all unto itself, and we do not claim any special expertise here. Nor have we done the detailed comparanda to firmly link the plans, construction techniques, and architectural features of our sites to the broader literature. Yet, there were some features known during our studies in the 1970s and in later literature which have been incorporated here. The plan of stupas (as at Khana Gauhar), fire temples (Temple 215, Qala 198, and Šna Qala), and Ghaznavid public buildings (the Lower Palace of Shahr-i Gholghola) have long been known. The repetitive plan of large Timurid domestic estates has also been documented (Fischer 1970, 485). Our temple at Sehyak fits the model of the Mesopotamian-style temple of the time (Shenkar 2011). We hope other scholars will take our architectural data and include it in the broader architectural history of the region.

Ceramics While a more complete explanation of our ceramic indicators of chronology is in Volume 2, there were a few typical styles that we used in the field to help date sites, particularly those without architectural features. Bronze Age painted pottery was well known from other projects before we began our work and was used in identifying the few Bronze Age sites we found. It was only in the course of our work that we were able to separate historical period painted styles from the Bronze Age ones, like the Early Iron Age type and the dipinta storica sistana (DSS) Achaemenid/Hellenistic wares found at several sites (Haerinck 1983, 251). Islamic period unglazed painted wares were few and are documented in Volume 2. With the increased attention on Middle Bronze presence in the 43

the archaeology of southwest afghanistan all with ledge rims, which created another indicator. Regular use of ribbed ware begins with this period. Large jars are regularly decorated with incised wave decorations or incised wave combing. Applique bands around the shoulder, some with bands of punctures, were also common. Some jars had basket handles of oval shape having two to five ridges on them, sometimes more elaborately decorated. Coarser forms were also consistent. Simple handmade cooking wares had large grit tempers and occasionally were decorated with appliqued eyes and circles. Shallow flat bowls, “dog dishes,” in medium coarse ware were common. Jars often had stamped bands around the shoulder of simple lozenges or pine tree motifs. Sasanian pottery was less easily identifiable than Parthian pottery because we excavated few sites that had clear Sasanian layers and our sites surveyed in Sar-o-Tar often appeared to have both the familiar Parthian ceramic kit and others not in that corpus that we suggest are Sasanian ceramics. Our chief identifiers of Sasanian sites were negative—they did not contain the mass of red ring-burnished wares, goblet bases, and some of the other Parthian indicators mentioned above. The slips and wares in Sasanian times seemed to be of lighter colors than the preceding era, orange instead of red, buff to orange slips instead of red and black. Many of the shapes were shared by the two periods. The ledge rim jars of Parthian times seemed to have more of a lip when found in Sasanian contexts. The stamped pine tree motifs were coarser. One type that might be unique to this later period were the jabbed bases on ribbed jars. Because of the overlap of styles, we often identify sites as Partho-Sasanian, rather than trying to specify one or the other, though that represents an eight century range of dates. We identified no painted nor glazed wares from either Parthian or Sasanian sites. As there was no identifiable Early Islamic (eighth to ninth century) occupation in Sar-o-Tar, we could not readily identify pottery from this period. Some late Sasanian styles might in fact be from these centuries. With the appearance of Islamic glazed wares, many with comparative styles elsewhere in the Islamic world, dating became easier. Samanid style pottery was found at several sites and helped us define the Saffarid period. Ghaznavid sites typically contained wares with incised decorations beneath yellow, brown, and olive glazes. Molded wares, while more common in the twelfth to thirteenth centuries, appeared to some extent in Ghaznavid times as well. Separating Ghaznavid wares from those of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries was more complicated in the field but has been facilitated with the help of Layah Ziaii-Bigdeli.

Again from Sar-o-Tar, isolating Timurid wares coming from the numerous houses we surveyed helped provide an anchor for the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. Timurid style glazed fritware, with black painted design over turquoise glazes, were found at many sites and helped us isolate that period in other multi-period sites outside of Sar-o-Tar. Green Chinese imported celadon wares were also clear indicators of those centuries. And, over time, we saw enough of the plain wares to separate out water jars with incised geometric decoration as from this period. Details of these wares are in Volume 2, as analyzed by Ziaii-Bigdeli.

Other Objects Full analysis of the remaining objects we identified in the field will require the kind of detailed comparanda that we have deferred in attempting to get these volumes into the hands of other scholars with greater expertise in many of these types of objects. Our descriptions, organized by class of object, are in Volume 2. Further analysis may change some conclusions about individual sites and provide links to the broader material culture of the region.

The Khwaja Kanur Collection Just prior to the start of the project, Trousdale was contacted by a US engineer attached to the Helmand Valley Development Project in the Lashkar Gah area who was an amateur collector of antiquities. In 1970, the collector was shown a number of figurines, sculptures, and architectural fragments purported to be from a site near Lashkar Gah. After purchasing numerous of these pieces, he convinced the local residents who brought them to show him where the site was, which turned out to be Khwaja Kanur (see description of the site, section 6.13) The collector offered the finds to Trousdale to publish. At the same time, another friend who had accompanied the collector on his trip to this spot mentioned the material to Klaus Fischer, who had been working in the Chakansur area but had come to Laskhar Gah. One of Fischer’s staff, Manfred Klingott, visited the site, described as the shrine of Sultan Baba Ziyaret, sometime in 1970 or 1971 and published several architectural fragments in Fischer’s Nimruz volume (Fischer 1974–1976). Photographs of some of the objects circulated between the collector, Fischer, and Trousdale. Fischer also showed them to Mr. Mustamundi, head of the Afghanistan government’s Institute of Archaeology. We studied the materials prior to the 1971 and 1972 field seasons but were able to photograph and take notes on only a small percentage of the individual pieces. The collector, 44

field methodology have solved the mystery of the source of the figural and architectural objects. Mukhtar was a substantial mudbrick structure containing large quantities of Hellenistic pottery and more of the kinds of architectural fragments and figurines found at Khwaja Kanur. The site was revisited in 1976 and a sketch plan drawn, but it was not in our survey area and so was not thoroughly studied, though its relevance to our survey led us to include a brief description of the site in Chapter 7. When the project was resurrected in 2016, M. Allen sought to find the collector to confirm his continued interest in our publishing this work, the current location of his objects (at the time, Allen was not aware they had been confiscated by the Afghan government), and, if still in his possession, whether he would repatriate them to Afghanistan. Unfortunately, the collector was no longer alive, having passed on in 2012. After leaving Afghanistan, he worked on development projects elsewhere and collected many traditional cultural objects from his later stations which were donated to two American museums before his death. One of the two museums also received a small collection of approximately 20 figurines purportedly from Afghanistan which were confirmed to be from this collection when a photo of one of the museum objects matched a photo taken by us in 1971. We had qualms about publishing these looted materials, but the fact that almost all had been recovered by the Afghan government made it possible to adhere to ethical standards of the field while still making information about the materials available. A brief report of this collection can be found in Volume 2. The authors of that chapter will be publishing a more extensive study of them in a separate publication.

Figure 4.28 Baked brick architectural decorations found at Khwaja Kanur. HSP71.3.33

who had been reassigned to a different project outside of Afghanistan, then attempted to illegally ship the collection, numbering 4000 artifacts, to the US but was stopped by the Afghan government who confiscated the collection and, we believe, moved it to the National Museum. The collection consisted of animal and human ceramic figurines, stone and baked brick architectural fragments, and fired bricks dating to the Hellenistic and Parthian periods. During the course of our survey, we visited Khwaja Kanur in 1971, 1974, and 1976 and found a few similar objects near recent Islamic graves but no indication of a major Hellenistic site. A visit in 1974 to a site to the northeast of Laskhar Gah, known as Mukhtar, may

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Part II Survey Sites

Chapter 5

Sar-o-Tar

Our project spent a large majority of time in the field in the region of Sar-o-Tar, a barren, dune-covered plain to the east of the lower Helmand River and its delta. While the area had been visited previously by Tate and by the DAFA team, both visits had been brief due to the difficulties in working in terrain where all supplies, including water and food, had to be carried in by the researchers. Furthermore, the lack of clear landmarks made it difficult to map site locations. Both Tate and DAFA show a scattering of sites in the region but their publications were notoriously ambiguous on locations. Fischer visited the northern reaches of Sar-o-Tar, outside the dune fields, and we have connected our finds to his previously published ones as best we could. Yet, our work in Sar-o-Tar produced documentation on close to 100 previously unrecorded archaeological sites and should write an important new chapter in the history of Sistan. The sites surveyed are listed by their type (Burj, House, Qala) and by the cardinal direction there from the only consistently visible place on the landscape, Shahr-i Gholghola. Sites that were excavated in Sar-o-Tar and the massive site of Shahr-i Gholghola are described in Chapters 8 and 9.

5.1 Burj 1 Coordinates: 30°49'15.51" x 62°06'28.37" Type: Tower Date: Ghaznavid? A square tower approximately 4 m square in the area of continuous structures between House 1 and Qala 4 standing 4–5 m in height. It has a vertical baked brick facing on one of the walls, suggesting a Ghaznavid date. The area

around the tower has sherds from Sasanian-Timurid periods. No photos taken or sherds collected. See description of Qala 4 area in section 5.59 for more context. Figure 5.1.1 Satellite view of Burj 1. Courtesy J. Thibeau (CAMEL/AHMP)

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5.2 Burj 19 Coordinates: 30°40'37.65" x 62°8'28.39" Type: Tower Date: Timurid? A large, well-preserved tower 250 m southeast of Qala 19a about 6 x 7 m in dimensions. It has mudbrick walls preserved to 7 m in height in some places punctuated by a set of three slit windows 70 x 25 cm located at 3 m above ground surface. A second set of four windows of the same size is located at 6 m on one long side. There is one central domed room inside with corner sub-vaults. Entryway is 1.5 m tall and 1.5 m wide, arched with two or three large rectangular windows above, and framed in baked brick. There are engaged pillars on either side of the east entryway. That eastern side Figure 5.2.1 Satellite view of Burj 19. Courtesy J. Thibeau is also decorated with two merlon-shaped windows on (CAMEL/AHMP) either side of the doorway with arrows pointing up, each approximately 1 m in length. Despite the height of the walls, there is evidence of only a single story inside. Three storage jars are embedded in the ground 6 m from one corner. One illegible silver coin, a small ornamental copper bolt 1.5 cm square and 0.5 cm in thickness with waffling around the edges and a center perforation of 0.5 cm, and a fragment of a heavily oxidized iron knife blade 7.3 x 1.3 x 0.2 cm were all found near the tower. A wide mix of pottery styles were collected. Pre- Figure 5.2.2 Burj 19 (rear R) from Qala 19a, with canal system in foreground. HSP73.14.27 Islamic wares include a few Partho-Sasanian sherds with stamped merlon design and incised wavy lines, the club head of large bowl in hard Jingdezhen ware. The most interesting piece found was fired red ware with brown-red slip, and a ribbed rim of an unglazed, molded body sherd from the twelfth to a pitcher. A fragment of an Islamic slip-painted bowl thirteenth century with two registers of floral motif decbelongs to the tenth to eleventh century ce. Another orations. (LZB) glazed rim sherd of a Timurid dish is painted with No field notes were located; the description comes oblong leaf design over white slip and a turquoise glaze from existing photos. Based upon the degree of preservaon the exterior and the interior rim is bordered with tion and similar towers elsewhere in Sar-o-Tar, we project black painted lines. We also documented a body frag- a Timurid date for the tower, though there are sherds from ment of a small Chinese blue and white bowl, possibly multiple other periods nearby.

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Figure 5.2.3 Burj 19 east side entry with engaged pillars and merlon windows. HSP73.15.04

Figure 5.2.4 Burj 19 north and west sides. HSP73.14.30

Figure 5.2.5 Interior mudbrick dome of Burj 19. HSP73.14.35

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5.3 Burj 20 Coordinates: 30°37'42.54" x 62°07'13.26" Type: Tower, granary? Date: Timurid A rectangular tower 6 x 7 m in size southwest of Qala 20 is made of mudbrick. It stands approximately 5 m high. There is a hole on one of the long sides but it is unknown if that is architectural or due to looting. The site served either as a defensive tower or a granary. Though ceramics nearby represent numerous periods, the fourteenth century sherd recovered from the wall melt suggests the site was constructed in the Timurid period. Discovered nearby were glass fragments, one complete rim of a small ceramic juglet, and the body of another juglet with ring decorations on the exterior. Both juglets are likely pre-Islamic. Two fragments of Islamic unglazed

molded pottery jars from the twelfth to thirteenth century were found at the site. Both jars are decorated with a deeply cut angular motif. A small sherd that exemplifies Eastern slipware from the tenth to eleventh century was also found. On the sherd, a partial Kufic inscription is visible in white on a black background. Belonging to a later period (fourteenth century), a base of a fritware bowl was recovered in the melt of the wall. Its white walls are radially divided into strips of blue and turquoise outlined in black. Some of the strips are filled with black cross-hatchings and three dotted decorations. Two undiagnostic plain sherds are part of the assemblage. (LZB)

Figure 5.3.1 Burj 20. HSP73.14.23

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5.4 Burj 183 Coordinates: 30°29'50.62" x 62°04'59.61" Type: Badly eroded octagonal tower on earlier mound Date: Early Iron, Partho-Sasanian?, Timurid

Figure 5.4.1 Burj 183. HSP73.20.5

A large, badly eroded tower made of mudbrick, sitting on a low natural rise in the dasht, was likely constructed in octagonal shape approximately 10 m in diameter. The tower currently stands approximately 6 m above the plain. It is likely that the tower was built on an earlier site, probably from the Early Iron Age. Brick size could not be determined, nor could shape of walls or existence of rooms at the center. A large number of sherds were seen in the immediate vicinity but not many more than 15 m away. Most ceramics collected at the site were from the Early Iron Age, mostly fine small jars with simple painted bands, though it is unclear from our notes whether they comprised the bulk of those on the ground. A Partho-Sasanian small ribbed bowl rim was also collected. A fragmentary fritware rim was found with red and blue painted decoration on the white background, probably from the thirteenth to fourteenth century ce. (LZB) Located 1 km away is a rectangular shaped kiln with its firebox and vertical flues preserved. No pottery was found in the vicinity of the kiln but much fired flint. There is also a canal that passes to the south of the site heading eastwest, but no other houses or other visible cultural remains nearby. One large tamarisk tree, the largest seen in southern Sar-o-Tar, stands near the burj.

Figure 5.4.2 Large tamarisk near Burj 183. HSP73.20.13

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5.5. Burj 344 Coordinates: 30°43'02.43" x 62°03'17.34" Type: Tower Date: Timurid Located 2 km southeast of Houses 338, this is a high standing structure in the center of a residential or industrial building. The surrounding area is covered with black on turquoise Timurid glazed sherds and a sizeable quantity of ceramic molds. Size and plan of the burj were not recorded, nor photos taken.

5.6. Cemetery 143 Coordinates: 30°34'11.36" x 62°05'44.40" Type: Cemetery Date: Parthian Cemetery 143 is a long series of approximately 200 stone rectangles on the wind scour to the south-southwest of Shahr-i Gholghola, an area cleared of sand by the force of the winds circulating past the citadel of the fortress. The cemetery is approximately 100 m on a side with scattered items beyond this area. The more densely covered center is approximately 80 m square. The rectangles defined by rows of stones are more numerous and closer together than in neighboring Cemetery 150 (see Chapter 8). Many of the stones that defined these rectangles Figure 5.6.1 Two stone rectangles of Cemetery 143, looking east. HSP73.47.29 have been scattered so that an accurate estimate of their original number is impossible. sun, and water action in the exposed air. An examination Some lower dune ridges and reforming barchans passing by zooarchaeologists Brian Hesse and Paula Wapnish in beyond the wind scour cover part of the northeast edge of 1977 established that these fragments were entirely mamthe area so its extent in that direction is uncertain. The sur- malian. Their report concluded that the bones collected face stones seem to have retarded deflation within this area, consist of 154 bone fragments, substantially altered by which is presently elevated 10 cm to 20 cm above the level of their post-depositional environment. Of the sample, 118 fragments could not be identified. Of the remaining 36 the surface around it. The surface of Cemetery 143 is covered with many bones: 3 were Equid, 10 Bos (probably Bos taurus), 2 Suid, small fragments of bone, most already destroyed by wind, 19 Capra ovis, 1 other large ungulate. No human osteolog54

sar-o-tar ical remains were identified (Hesse and Wapnish 1977). The orientation of those lines of stone least disturbed is approximately 40 degrees toward the northeast. Along the northwest windward side there may have been a wall about 70 m long and 2.4 m wide, with a slight outward curve at the midpoint, as though to deflect the predominant wind or to add greater strength to the wall. There are no standing remains of this wall; its former presence is suggested only by a regular band of lighter-colored earth and a sparse sherd cover forming a boundary to the graves almost exclusively to the south-southeast of it. Ceramics collected on the surface of Cemetery 143 consist of approximately 30% Early Iron Age and 70% Parthian date. The Early Iron Age ceramics are more abraded. There are also more ribbed jar sherds found here

than at nearby Cemetery 150. Some Islamic wares were found on the perimeter, though not in the center of the site. Parthian ceramics predominated and were presumably included in the burials at this site. While the zooarchaeological analysis raises questions as to whether this was in fact a cemetery site, the configuration of stones on the surface leads to no other reasonable conclusion. This is supported by the deflated landscape uncovered in a test excavation at nearby Cemetery 150, described in Chapter 8. The preponderance of Parthian sherds in the vicinity argues for an early first millennium ce date for the cemetery. Its proximity to Qala 169 would account for the Early Iron Age sherds, possibly from one or more farmsteads that were associated with the large, but much earlier, site.

5.7 Chehel Burj Other names: Qala 360A-E, Fischer Sites 9, 10, 11 Gazetteer #: 190 Coordinates: 30°56'23.54" x 62°06'21.09" Type: Complex of five large pre-Islamic buildings, rebuilt in Islamic times Date: Parthian, Sasanian, Ghaznavid

Figure 5.7.1 Satellite view of Chehel Burj. Courtesy J. Thibeau (CAMEL/AHMP)

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the archaeology of southwest afghanistan This is a highly visible complex of interrelated buildings that have been studied by several scholars who have passed through Sistan. The five largest extant buildings are described here but there are probably numerous others that were once part of this complex. Most of the extant structures likely date to Ghaznavid times, but based on the sherd cover, they were likely built atop Parthian and Sasanian buildings.

Architecture Building 360A This building is located at the easternmost extent of the complex. The rectangular qala is 80 x 55 m and is oriented northeast-southwest with a probable entry on the northeast, though the entrance is not visible. The main structure inside the walls is rectangular and located at the southwest end but there are probably other rooms inside the enclosure walls, particularly in the northeast. Ceramic mix inside the qala includes both Parthian and Sasanian sherds.

Figure 5.7.2 Spatial orientation of five structures at Chehel Burj studied by HSP. W. Trousdale field sketch 1974, redrawn J. Allen

Figure 5.7.3 Chehel Burj Building 360A in foreground, Building D to left, Building E in rear. HSP74.52.7

Figure 5.7.4 Sketch plan of Building 360A at Chehel Burj. W. Trousdale 1974, redrawn J. Allen

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sar-o-tar Building 360B This building (aka Fischer Site 9) is located southwest of Building 360A. It is a square fortress 100 x 100 m with round towers on the corners and at the centers of each side. There is no evidence as to the location of the gate. The structure’s interior is highly ruinous and amorphous. Debris is thicker on the southwest part, possibly indicating the location of interior structures, but no architecture is evident. It is likely that there are rooms around the inside of the enclosing walls at the northeast, but they cannot be specifically defined.

Building 360C This building is a long, thin rectangular compound of several separate but probably related units measuring approximately 160 x 60 m in size.

Figure 5.7.5 Sketch plan of Building 360B at Chehel Burj. W. Trousdale 1974, redrawn J. Allen

Building 360D This building (aka Fischer Site 10) is a large square compound, approximately 170 x 170 m. The building that probably provided the name chehel burj “40 towers” actually contains 87 towers, which make up the exterior wall. There are 22 towers on each side, alternating between rounded and triangular (see Fig. 5.7.8), with 21 on the gate side because of the gate opening. The rounded towers surrounding the entry are slightly larger. Each tower has a chamber entered from the second story of vaulted rooms around the inside of the wall. There are 11 vaulted rooms on each side in two stories, one atop the other, making 88 in all. Each room is two towers wide with the vaulting running the full length of, and parallel to, the enclosure wall. The structure is made of pakhsa and mudbrick, with the

Figure 5.7.6 Sketch plan of Building 360D at Chehel Burj. W. Trousdale 1974, redrawn J. Allen

Figure 5.7.7 Chehel Burj Building 360D from Southwest. HSP74.52.9

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the archaeology of southwest afghanistan vaults made of mudbrick. The vast open space in the center is the largest of any the project examined. The largest interior structure is on the northwest side approximately 60 x 90 m in size. Additional structures were located on the inside but have been melted beyond the ability to discern any architecture. The function of this building is unknown, but its size and open interior argues for a military camp or a caravanserai.

Figure 5.7.8 Sketch plan of exterior wall tower configuration and exterior wall row of rooms at Chehel Burj 360D. W. Trousdale field sketch 1974, redrawn J. Allen

Figure 5.7.9 Interior of Chehel Burj Building 360D. HSP74.52.13

Building 360E

Figure 5.7.10 Sketch plan of Building 360E at Chehel Burj. W. Trousdale 1974, redrawn J. Allen

Th is building (aka Fischer Site 11) is a round structure 85 m in diameter with standing outer walls but with inner structures badly eroded. The outer wall is composed of alternating angular and rounded towers like structure 360D. Behind the towers along the interior of the walls are well-preserved vaulted chambers. There appear to have been interior square structures but their plans cannot be discerned. The corner of one of these structures intrudes into the round walls at the southeast. Entrance to the building is on the south-southwest. Construction and design similarities lead us to assume this building is contemporary with Building 360D. There is a tower 1 km to the south-southwest aligned to the entrance to this tower, but it is unclear if the two are related.

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Figure 5.7.11 Chehel Burj Building 360E. HSP74.52.10

Figure 5.7.12 Interior of Chehel Burj Building 360E. HSP74.52.14

Figure 5.7.13 Interior of Chehel Burj Building 360E. HSP74.52.15

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Artifacts and Ceramics Two carved seals and two Indo-Parthian coins were found here and given to Tate (1904, 667) during the Afghan Boundary Commission work. Ceramic coverage around this site and others on the Dasht-i Amiran is generally lighter than found elsewhere in Sar-o-Tar. We assume this is due to regular seasonal flooding of this area from the Helmand delta, which would place the sherd cover, easily visible on the wind deflated surface of Sar-o-Tar, under the last layers of silt here.

Building 360A This building has ribbed jars and bowls; fine thin red and orange red wares with dark red slips, some with ring burnishing; pine tree stamped designs; dog dishes; pedestal based vessels; and club rimmed bowls. Fine red bowls have vertical or everted rims, one has a carinated shoulder. Also found were jars with wavy lines and punctated dot bands around the shoulders, ledge rim storage jars, pitchers with everted rims and neck ridges, and at least six sherds with tamga marks. Numerous sherds were photographed and drawn but were not given registration numbers.

Figure 5.7.14 Fluted baked brick scroll architectural fragment from Chehel Burj 360B. HSP74.49.37

Building 360D Almost no ceramics were found inside or around the building. What was collected included hard fired red ware large bowls with club rims, jabbed bases, pine tree stamped shoulders, thin red and orange wares with red slips, some ring burnished fine wares, segmented handles with three or four ridges, flat and disc bases, and one jar with two rows of punctated dots on ridges around the shoulder above a wavy design band incised into the shoulder. In addition, a few glazed Ghaznavid and Timurid sherds were found.

Building 360B The ceramic inventory of Building 360B matches that of 360A. Simple vertical rim bowls hard fired with spiral burnishing, pitchers, and an S-shaped cooking pot rim of coarse ware. In addition to the sherds, we discovered a fluted baked brick scroll wound around a bent interior of hard fired coarse buff handmade ware 6.5 x 5 cm, either a jar handle or an architectural element.

Building 360E This building had almost no ceramics located in or around it.

Building 360C This building has an inventory similar to 360A and 360B but with more utilitarian wares. A greater number of ledge rim jars, pedestal bowl vessels, red and orange-red ring burnished bowls and goblets, fine thin bowls with simple vertical rims (some ring burnished) were collected, as well as brown ring burnished bowls and goblets with everted rims. Bases are flat, curved, or disc. Larger jars have triangular rims everted to flat. Jabbed bases were noted and some red wares have vitrified exteriors, indicative of a nearby ceramic kiln.

Analysis Based on the large collection of Parthian ceramics, this was the location of a substantial Parthian occupation, likely continued through the Sasanian period. Sites A and B are similar in configuration to many Parthian and Sasanian qalas in Sar-o-Tar and probably belong to that tradition, though their close proximity to each other requires explanation. Sites D and E, constructed in a fashion more like Shahr-i Gholghola, are likely Ghaznavid, reused in Timurid times, though they too may be based on Partho-Sasanian foundations given the prevalence of pre-Islamic sherds around them.

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5.8 Dam 198 Coordinates: 30°30'50.54" x 62°03'48.26" Type: Platform and enclosure, reused in later times Date: Early Iron, Sasanian passes to the east of the copper kilns and probably serviced it. Ceramics were found in the area around the canal. Artifacts include a horse figurine with broken legs and head, a turquoise stone bead, the tang of a bronze spearhead, a flat piece of bronze, and a broken bead of white stone (possibly quartz). Ceramics include numerous ridged jar rims in red and overfired ware and a small bowl with everted rim and manual shaving around its flat base, all typical of Early Iron ceramics. Large storage jar rims in red ware with thickened rims, two rims of fine red ware bowls and infolded rims, and a large storage jar rim and shoulder with incised wave decoration were collected. A body sherd was noted with a V-shaped tamga incised before firing. This matches the configuration of our Early Iron Age sites, with a high mound on the northwest and enclosure to the southeast. As with most of the others, the site was reused in Parthian or Sasanian times, likely the latter in this case based on the ceramics.

Located on a butte at the southwest edge of Sar-o-Tar, this is a small site of mudbrick approximately 25 x 60 m containing a mound on the northwest with steep sides (55 to 65 degrees) and an accompanying lower terrace to the southeast. The site commands a panoramic view of the Sar-o-Tar plain. The high mound has a flat top approximately 20 x 20 m in size. Remains of a wall are located on the west side of the main mound. There is a lower terrace at the southeast side surrounded by an eroded wall. The site sits on a low natural rise in the landscape of about 15 m. Mudbrick sizes range from 54 x 54 x 10 cm to 37 x 37 x 8 cm. There is a dense scatter of pottery at the base, though not on the top of the mound, all pre-Islamic. A small, badly ruined pakhsa building is located several meters to the east, surrounded by much pottery. This building was not examined. To the southeast of the site is an extensive area of copper kilns, 25 or more. The southeast slope of the site also has pieces of copper slag. A canal from the northwest

Figure 5.8.1 Dam 198 from west with high mound on northwest and lower enclosure to the southeast. Ruined building in foreground. HSP72.11.37

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5.9 Dam 205 Coordinates: 30°30'34.57" x 62°03'00.54" Type: Two eroded buildings, possibly built on an early platform mound Date: Sasanian, Early Iron?

Figure 5.9.1 Dam 205 from west. HSP73.12.25

Located on a slightly elevated butte at the southwest edge of Sar-o-Tar, this site is two steep-sided conical protrusions above the dasht joined by a saddle extending about 90 x 60 m. A low ridge runs further on toward the southwest. Each protrusion is likely a structure with significant layers of pakhsa capped by four courses of mudbrick, 54 x 54 x 10 cm. A layer of white plaster about 2 cm thick appears to lie between one of the pakhsa levels and the bricks. Elevations were not recorded. Local informants call this seh dik, “three mounds,” which may also refer to neighboring sites Qala 222 and Dam 198. Ceramic scatter around the site is extremely light and all pre-Islamic. Four rims, open bowl and coarse jar rims with ridged exteriors of Early Iron Age style, and two large coarse bowl rims with everted bulbs were recorded.

Figure 5.9.2 Dam 205 showing mudbrick layers above pakhsa base. HSP73.16.27

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5.10 Dam 351 Coordinates: 30°44'59.57" x 62°04'01.07" Type: Square qala Date: Sasanian A small square pre-Islamic structure of 55 x 55 m with exterior walls melted, wall and brick sizes not recorded. Site is densely littered with pottery and with baked brick fragments, either used as wall repair or for canals. Also labeled STB-6B in project notes. Ceramics consist of a collection of undecorated ribbed ware jars and bowls with club rims and external ribbing. No sherds were collected or photographed. Site was not photographed. Figure 5.10.1 Satellite view of Dam 351. Courtesy J. Thibeau (CAMEL/AHMP)

5.11 Dam Kurdu A Other names: Qala 348A, Fischer Site 1 Gazetteer #: 228 Coordinates: 30°54'59.75" x 62°00'54.13" Type: Pre-Islamic qala reused in Islamic times Date: Partho-Sasanian, Ghaznavid, Timurid A large square qala approximately 35 x 35 m sits atop a low mound, possibly an earlier structure. Parts of the exterior walls are still standing up to 6 m in height, though most walls are badly damaged. The building has an intact entrance on the northeast, which is offset from center. In the center of the courtyard is a square tower 7–8 m on each side which appears to have been vaulted, though the roof is no longer in place. Inside the building, wind erosion scars on the wall indicate it had been covered in sand of up to 2.5 m for a period in the past. To the north approximately 70 m is Dam Kurdu B/Qala 348B. Most ceramics in the qala are Partho-Sasanian, though in the area around it are a fair amount of eleventh through fifteenth century sherds. No sherds were collected.

Figure 5.11.1 Satellite view of Dam Kurdu A/Qala 348A (bottom) and Dam Kurdu B/Qala 348B. Courtesy J. Thibeau (CAMEL/AHMP)

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Figure 5.11.2 Dam Kurdu A (left) and Dam Kurdu B from north. HSP74.53.35

Figure 5.11.3 Tower at center of Dam Kurdu A with northeast gateway to right. HSP74.54.2

5.12 Dam Kurdu B Other names: Qala 348B, Fischer Site 2 Gazetteer #: 228 Coordinates: 30°54'59.75" x 62°00'54.13" Type: Rectangular vaulted building Date: Ghaznavid, Ghorid, Timurid A well-preserved structure 70 m northeast of Dam Kurdu A/Qala 348A, approximately 20 x 12 m in size, though the roof had collapsed above the base of its barrel vault. It is rectangular with six doors, a large one 8–9 m in width on the north side facing into the wind, a smaller one of 3.5 m width at the rear, and two each on the east and west

sides. Walls are constructed of pakhsa with alternating layers of three courses of mudbrick. Roof construction is all in brick. Square beam sockets approximately 0.5 m square in three courses are constructed into both the east and west walls, but the function of the supporting wood is unknown. Extant height is approximately 6 m. 64

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Figure 5.12.2 Sketch plan of Dam Kurdu B. W. Trousdale 1974, redrawn J. Allen Figure 5.12.1 Dam Kurdu B from Dam Kurdu A. HSP74.54.3

Figure 5.12.3 Sketch of wall of Dam Kurdu B. W. Trousdale 1974, redrawn J. Allen

Figure 5.12.5 Holes to hold wooden beams in side wall of Dam Kurdu B. Also visible is wall damage caused by sanding inside the building. HSP74.54.5

Figure 5.12.4 Looking through the side doors of Dam Kurdu B. HSP74.54.4

Most ceramics in the area of this and its accompanying qala (348A) are Partho-Sasanian, though in the area around this building are a fair amount of eleventh to fifteenth century ce sherds. No sherds were collected. This building probably dates to Ghaznavid times but its design suggests a specialized industrial purpose or that it was used for storage. 65

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5.13 Dik-i Dalil Other names: Dam-i Dalir Gazetteer #: 2061 Coordinates: 30°36'04.81" x 61°56'35.55" Type: Platform mound reused in later times, nearby houses Date: Early Iron, Partho-Sasanian, Ghaznavid Located on a 2 m high natural rise on the dasht to the west of Shahr-i Gholghola and 0.7 km out of the sanded area on dasht gravel, the site is a straight-sided squared upper platform of 20 x 30 m rising 10–12 m above the dasht. Visible architecture shows a mudbrick facing against a pakhsa core with much dasht gravel incorporated into the platform. A lower squared mound approximately 30 x 50 m is located to the southeast of the upper platform about 3 m above the dasht. It shows traces of walls, but they were not mapped. The upper terrace shows no architectural elements on its surface. The closest visible canal is a full 3 km north of the site. Baked bricks found on the site are 47 x 47 x 10 cm. Several small structures are visible a few hundred meters from the qala with dense Ghaznavid sherd cover around them.

Sherd coverage on the site is fairly light, mostly jars and heavier bowls with few of the finer pre-Islamic wares. Most evident is Early Iron Age pottery, including typical piriform-shaped bowls with painting on the rims and shoulders in horizontal and diagonal bands and waves. Large jars with squared everted rims also have painted bands. Numerous large bowls, jars, and basins with ridged rims were collected. Some Partho-Sasanian sherds were also found on the site as well as an overlay of glazed Ghaznavid pottery. Dalil/dalir in Baluch means courage, reason, or sense, according to various informants. Tate (1910–12, 249–50) visited the site and was told that it was used by the dagal gardi as a landmark guiding them into Sar-o-Tar.

Figure 5.13.1 Satellite view of Dik-i Dalil/Dam-i Dalir. Courtesy J. Thibeau (CAMEL/AHMP)

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5.14 Granary 307 Coordinates: 30°35'39.01" x 62°03'53.63" Type: Rectangular tower, possibly a granary Date: Timurid A rectangular building approximately 4 x 8 m in dimension constructed of pakhsa with intermittent layers of mudbrick. The walls stand as much as 6 m in height, though the roof has fallen. No door or windows noted. Main floor level has two rooms elevated from the surface with a narrow hallway between them. No entryway is apparent. Lower floor is raised above ground level by 1.5 m and is supported by vaults beneath the floor level to allow for air passage. A layer of mudbrick was constructed at the top of the vaults and beneath the floor level. No sherd collection was made. Construction of the building and its proximity to the cluster of Timurid houses just to the southwest suggest the possibility of a granary.

Figure 5.14.1 Satellite view of Granary 307. Courtesy J. Thibeau (CAMEL/AHMP)

Figure 5.14.3 View of Granary 307 from east. HSP73.23.3

Figure 5.14.2 View of Granary 307 from south. HSP73.23.2

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5.15 Granary 330 Coordinates: 30°35'30.22" x 62°05'00.31" Type: Granary Date: Timurid A rectangular building approximately 5 x 7 m in dimension made of pakhsa with intermittent layers of mudbrick. The well-preserved walls stand as much as 4 m in height, though the mudbrick roof has fallen. There is possibly a door—or a looter’s entrance—on one of the long walls. No windows were noted. The floor is raised above the current ground level by 1 m and supported by vaults beneath on each of the four corners that allow for air passage. A layer of mudbrick was constructed at the base of the vault and beneath floor level. No access is visible between main floor and substructure. Within close proximity to the northeast are seven Timurid houses noted by satellite photos but not visited by the project. No ceramics were collected at the site.

Figure 5.15.1 Satellite view of Granary 330. Courtesy J. Thibeau (CAMEL/AHMP)

Figure 5.15.2 View of Granary 330 from west. HSP73.7.29

5.16 Grave 153 Coordinates: 30°33'42.66" x 62°06'10.53" Type: Grave Date: Partho-Sasanian A low mound in the wind scour at the edge of Cemetery 150 shown by substantial coverage of pre-Islamic sherds and fragments of bone indicating a burial, but without the rectangle of stones that accompany the Cemetery 150 burial group.

One human long bone and several other bone fragments were noted. The burial mound is oriented northwest-southeast. One sherd with an incised tamga was collected. No photographs were taken. Location is approximate. 68

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5.17 House 20 Coordinates: 30°37'48.88" x 62°07'08.63" Type: Large pre-Islamic mudbrick house possibly reused in later times Date: Partho-Sasanian, Islamic? A well-preserved large structure of mudbrick southeast of Qala 20. It is approximately 16 m in north-south dimension, unknown dimensions east-west, standing as much as 6 m high in places. The western wall has as many as four arched entrances on that side. Evidence of arch of a high window above northern arch on west side indicates the building probably stood two stories high. A room on the northwest has a vault. A mudbrick wall closed up two windows on west side, likely indicating reuse of the structure in Islamic times. The narrower entrance at the center of the west wall has a well-preserved vault leading to the center of the building. No description was found in our field notes; description is from photos only. Ceramics are exclusively Partho-Sasanian, including a large ribbed bowl and numerous large basin sherds with club rims. Artifacts include the neck and rim of a roughly made juglet in yellowish olive glass with many bubbles and impurities, which may be Islamic.

Figure 5.17.2 House 20 vaulted passage. HSP73.14.21

Figure 5.17.1 House 20 from the west. HSP73.14.19

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5.18 House 49 Coordinates: 30°35'16.25" x 62°06'00.88" Type: Modest-sized house, part of a house cluster Date: Timurid This Timurid house is located just northeast of the walls of Shahr-i Gholghola. It is approximately 18 x 24 m in size with its north exterior walls still standing as much as 5 m in height, and its other exterior walls as much as 4 m above the plain. Ruined walls to the south and east of the main structure indicate there were outbuildings or a walled garden, but they were not mapped. The house uses the standard Timurid floor plan, built in mudbrick around a central courtyard 7 x 12 m in size. Entrance is on the southeast with its arch still preserved. The entry hall has a doorway leading north into side rooms on east side and a second doorway leading west into the central courtyard; this arch was also preserved. On the east side are two rooms facing into the central courtyard. The west side has four rooms, including a large rectangular room at the southeast corner. The south wall has three other chambers leading into the central courtyard, with the center room being a decorated iwan inset against the exterior wall. Outside the entrance against the east wall is a semicircular tower approximately 2 m in diameter. Existing height of the tower was not recorded. The north wall contains two large square side cham- Figure 5.18.1 House 49 plan. R. Hamilton 1973 bers and a decorated central iwan. A doorway leads out of the iwan northward, but it is unclear whether it was intended for access or just circulation of air. Doorways lead from the northern side chambers into the iwan. Uncertain whether there were doors from the northwest and northeast rooms into the rooms on the sides of the courtyard. Both corner rooms and the two side rooms south of them are roofed with squinch domes. There appears to be a second story above each of the corner rooms. A row of at least four slit windows look out the west wall from the Figure 5.18.2 House 49 from southwest. HSP73.10.33 northwest room. 70

sar-o-tar The north iwan has a pointed arch doorway out of the building with a row of eight keyhole arches above it. Two larger keyhole arches sit above these, framing a window also in keyhole shape. It stands as much as 5 m above the flooring. Decorating each of the buttresses at the south end of this iwan and facing the courtyard, there is a keyhole arch beneath three horizontal rows of checkerboard brick pattern beneath two vertical windows, blocked by mudbrick, and that design beneath a repeated motif of checkerboard mudbricks. The arch over the south end of the iwan launches from the lower checkerboard pattern but is preserved only against the southwest pier. The better-preserved west corner pier stands as much as 5 m in height. The south iwan is decorated but no details are provided in the notes and the walls of the iwan stand only 2 m in height. While only a single house was documented, it was part of an area of six Timurid houses running northwest-southeast just south of the main canal passing north of Shahr-i Gholghola. Another 2 km to the northeast along the canal is another cluster of Timurid houses, at least 13 with others probably obscured by sand dunes. Numerous pieces of glazed ware were found along this route. Between the two clusters and slightly further south are two pre-Islamic structures, represented only by mud melted walls but with pre-Islamic ceramics in the vicinity. Artifacts found include a fragment of a blue glazed ceramic tile, made of soft gray clay, heavily eroded. The top of the tile is pointed and there is a point on the left side. It is broken on the right side and bottom, so the original shape is unknown. There is a geometric design in black under the glaze, uncertain as to its pattern. No systematic sherd collection was made but we noted an Early Iron Age painted sherd and an imitation Chinese blue and white glazed sherd with blue flowers on a white glaze.

Figure 5.18.3 South rooms framing an iwan (left) and southwest corner of House 49. HSP73.10.30

Figure 5.18.4 Southeast corner of House 49, showing entrance with preserved arched doorways. HSP72.24.9

Figure 5.18.5 North interior façade of House 49 from south with elaborately decorated north iwan. HSP72.24.7

Figure 5.18.6 Detail of north iwan of House 49. HSP72.24.10

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5.19 House 145 Coordinates: 30°33'37.06" x 62°06'11.11" Type: Large house, likely reused in later times; possibly atop an early farmstead Date: Parthian, Sasanian, Early Iron? A badly eroded large house approximately 35 x 35 m just south of House 139 in the wind scour south of Shahr-i Gholghola. The surface level is slightly above that of the area around it, but the structure itself is so badly eroded that no wall is as much as 0.5 m above surface and no plan could be discerned. Several large storage jars (number not recorded) are inset into the ground both inside and outside the walls of the site. Just to the southeast of the site are the low mounds and square lines of stones of pre-Islamic Cemetery 150, though there are other graves on all sides of House 145. The location of this site surrounded by graves may indicate it predates House 139 and was used as the burial ground for that site. A silver drachm of Vashran I (272–275 ce) was found on surface of site. Baked bricks found on surface of the site were 34.5 x 55.2 x 8.3 cm, possibly reflecting a Sasanian rebuild/reuse as at House 139. Also found were fragments of carved travertine and white limestone, several stone cubes, a fragment of a horse figurine, two oblong fine basalt whetstones with holes drilled at one end, several pestle fragments of stone, and a rough basalt pounding stone. Ceramic surface finds are consistent with Parthian, and possibly Sasanian, wares and with neighboring House 139 and Cemeteries 143 and 150. They include trays with horizontal rims and numerous fine thin ware bowl and plate fragments with dark red slip and interior ring burnishing. Four complete small fine ware unguent bottles with buff slip were found on the surface, which we believe were

Figure 5.19.1 Satellite image of House 145. Courtesy CAMEL/AHMP

related to burials. Many fine red ware pedestal goblets with slightly inverted bases were identified, usually with dark red slip and some with ring burnish on the exterior. Larger pieces include some red ribbed jar ware, jars with jabbed bases, coarsely made cooking ware, and several footed bases of large storage jars in orange to gray wares. A small number of Early Iron Age sherds were found at this site, including a large basin rim with painted rim decoration, two flat based bowls with rounded shape and slightly everted rims, and an elaborate pedestal base of orange-buff ware. One rim of a yellow glazed Islamic jar with a sun decoration on the exterior was collected. The size, contents, and location of the house suggest it is contemporary with better-preserved House 139. Like House 139, it was likely reused in Sasanian times. Its location near Qala 169 suggests there might have been an earlier outpost related to that large Early Iron Age site here.

Figure 5.19.2 Badly eroded remains of house 145 on the wind scour. HSP73.47.17

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Figure 5.19.3 Storage jar embedded in the ground inside House 145. HSP73.47.14

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5.20 House 159 Coordinates: 30°33'09.10" x 62°05'59.39" Type: Large, badly eroded house Date: Parthian Located 2 km south-southeast of Shahr-i Gholghola, these are the ruins of a small house similar in construction to Houses 139 and 145. The house is partially covered by dunes, leaving a visible area approximately 15 x 12 m. Some walls are standing to some extent, most less than 30 cm above current surface. Only one section of wall 2 m wide stands as much as 1.5 m high. No plan was drawn or described, but there is evidence from photos of six to ten rooms in the building. One small stone cube was discovered at this site in addition to a four character Aramaic inscription on the shoulder of a ribbed storage jar. Sherd cover consists of pre-Islamic pottery, though not as dense as at House 139 or House 145 and with less variety of forms. Hard fired red fine wares including thin bowls, goblets, and footed cups. One large ledge rimmed storage jar is in situ in the ground. Some of the large jars have jabbed bases, incised wave decorations on the shoulder, and/or exterior ribbing. One piece of a fine ware bowl has dripped black paint on a red slip, with ring burnishing on interior.

Figure 5.20.1 Satellite image of House 159. Courtesy J. Thibeau (CAMEL/AHMP)

Figure 5.20.2 Remains of House 159 looking west, with Qala 169 in background. HSP74.3.14

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5.21 House 214.5 Coordinates: 30°30'51.20" x 62°02'06.75" Type: House Date: Saffarid, Ghaznavid, Ghorid This site was not noticed while excavating Temple 215, only 200 m to the west, in 1973 because it was covered with sand. On a 1974 visit, we noted very limited remains of a structure, probably a house, from Saffarid or Ghaznavid periods based upon dense scatter of that pottery in the area. Only one prominent wall remains, 1.5 m in height but length and width were not recorded. Baked bricks, possibly robbed from nearby Temple 215, are scattered in the area. A small kiln and other debris are also on the surface. No photographs were taken of the site, though artifacts were collected. Artifacts include an effaced Ghaznavid coin, a complete lamp of steatite, two broken glass bottles, three small oxidized iron plates (one with hole through center that may be chain mail), beads of dark green steatite and white travertine, a twisted grooved cylindrical bracelet of turquoise, and a disc of silver with three small feet, function unknown. Tenth to eleventh century ce Eastern slip-painted wares were found which included yellow staining with

Figure 5.21.1 Complete steatite oil lamp found at House 214.5. IMG0292

black decoration and polychrome decoration on white and red slip. A dog dish, possibly related to Temple 215, was found nearby. Fragments of twelfth to thirteenth century ce molded wares were also recovered. One molded sherd was green glazed and another molded jar with a stumped handle has an Arabic word, possibly a name, incised on the shoulder. (LZB)

5.22 House 218 Coordinates: 30°33'02.92" x 62°03'57.10" Type: Large house Date: Timurid with a central courtyard of 11 x 8 m. A vaulted iwan of 6 x 5.5 m opens into the courtyard from the center of the northern side. The iwan is highly decorated with keyhole niches and shows evidence of sand eroding the lower parts of its walls. The central part of its north wall has collapsed, but only recently. The iwan is framed on either side by a large, ornately decorated domed room 6 m square in size and two stories high. Rows of three small rooms are on the east and west side of the courtyard and a small chamber 4 x 8 m is against the south wall. The entrance is on the southeast into a domed entry room. A small rounded tower is attached to the southwest corner. A second f loor of this part of the house is largely preserved. A chamber is atop the iwan, with rows of rooms on the east and west sides of this second f loor and ornate keyhole wall decorations facing the central courtyard on the north, west, and east sides. In the central chamber on the east side of the second f loor block

A large, well-preserved house at the northwest edge of the Timurid village Houses 210; it is the largest in this house cluster (see Fig 5.31.1). The western half of the house is extremely well preserved, the eastern half almost completely eroded away. In some of the western rooms, walls are preserved two stories high with floors still intact. Walls are constructed on a pakhsa base with mudbrick layers above for roofing. In some parts, layers are separated by one, two, or three courses of mudbrick before the pakhsa returns. Niches and windows are framed in mudbrick. Rooms are small, generally about 4 x 4 m because of the need to roof them with mudbrick. Larger rooms may go up to 7 x 7 m. Rooms are generally covered with domes but some have vaults. The northwest room of the original building is domed supported by pendentives. The original section of H218 (House 1) is on the northwest portion of the compound. It consists of a rectangular building 22 x 26 m oriented toward the north-northwest 74

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Figure 5.22.1 Plan of House 218. J. Knudstad 1974

Figure 5.22.2 Courtyard and iwan of House 1 of House 218 looking north. Much of the center of the north wall has recently collapsed. HSP72.C.3

Figure 5.22.3 House 218 from northwest. HSP72.6.2

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the archaeology of southwest afghanistan of rooms, a lime-cemented basin of baked brick was built upon the f loor. To the west of this main section of the house are remains of a walled courtyard or garden 9 x 22 m and incorporating part of the corner tower in its southeast corner. To the east of the central building and attached to it is a second section of the building, 24 x 26 m in size (House 2). It contains a courtyard approximately 10 x 20 m surrounded by two rows of rooms on the west side and a single row on the east. On the south side are three chambers, one long one on the east, the other two square. North of this part of the house and attached to the northwest corner of it is an extension, 9 x 4 m, consisting of a small entry chamber and a larger one to the north. Roofing in this area was unrecorded. The large open courtyard to the south of House 1 is bracketed on the east by a single row of three vaulted rooms opening into the courtyard, each approximately 8 m in length, with a small square chamber at its southern end. South of this southern courtyard is a complex of six other rooms, 11 x 22 m in overall area and badly eroded. At the southwest corner of the southern courtyard is another complex of rooms approximately 18 x 11 m, also badly eroded, and oriented at an angle to the west from the rest

Figure 5.22.4 Remains of north side of north iwan of House 218, with four levels of keyhole arches. HSP72.6.7

Figure 5.22.6 Western wall of courtyard and iwan of House 1 of House 218, heavily decorated with recessed keyhole niches. HSP72.6.6

Figure 5.22.5 Detail of decoration in northwest corner of north iwan of House 1 in House 218. Note erosion caused by sand that once filled the lower part of building. HSP72.C.5

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sar-o-tar of the house complex. The northern and western parts of the southern courtyard and rooms were covered with sand during our visit. West of the southern courtyard is another attached section of the house (House 3) of a plan similar to that of House 1. It is approximately 24 x 15 m in size. It was built around a central courtyard 14 x 6 m in size, has a northern iwan bracketed by corner rooms, rows of rooms down the west and east sides, and several rooms along its southern wall. Entrance to this part of the building may be on the southwest, which is also the main entrance to the entire

house compound. It shares part of a wall with House 1 and its northern wall is an extension of the western wall of the open courtyard west of House 1. The tower at the southwest corner of House 1 protrudes into the iwan of House 3. South of the southern courtyard and its accompanying rooms is a walled outer garden, at least 39 x 22 m in size and probably extending further to the east but highly eroded. An entry to the garden is in the western wall. Mausoleum 214, 250 m to the southeast, is likely related to this house. No ceramic collection was made in House 218.

Figure 5.22.7 Second story of northwest room of House 1 of House 218. HSP72.6.10

Figure 5.22.8 Ruined southwestern building of House 218, House 3. HSP72.7.31

Figure 5.22.9 Southern courtyard of House 218 from north, largely covered with sand, with garden behind and Mausoleum 214 visible in center back. HSP72.6.9

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5.23 House 239 Coordinates: 30°34'11.24" x 62°04'35.13" Type: House, house cluster Date: Partho-Sasanian?, Timurid constructed of mudbricks 31 x 31 x 6.5 cm. The iwan and niches facing the courtyard are made of mudbrick with some baked brick decorative elements. Ceramics found in and around the house are fritware with a transparent turquoise glaze belonging to the fifteenth century. A single fragment of a shallow dish was collected. On the everted rim two lines are inscribed in dark gray on the greenish white background. (LZB) A second house in the cluster, just to the east, is badly eroded with the tallest remaining fragment less than 1 m high. It was not drawn or described. One canal goes beneath the structure, indicating it was from a previous settlement of the area and out of use by the time of the building of the house. The canal system in the vicinity of the house cluster stretches toward the northeast and was probably originally pre-Islamic. Several jar sites and kilns, not individually recorded, are nearby, and the dredged material from the canal was used as a graveyard in later periods. House 240, also a Timurid structure, is located 200 m to the northwest and is described separately below. The remaining houses in this cluster were not studied. No formal plan was drawn.

Located approximately 1 km southwest of Shahr-i Gholghola, this simple house of the standard Timurid plan is the best preserved of a cluster of similar houses, the number of which were not recorded, with elevated canals nearby. The ground surface in the area surrounding the house is deflated by as much as 0.7 m in some places, an indicator of the level of aeolian deflation over the past 500 years. Outside the back wall of the iwan are numerous red, yellow, and buff coarsely made and poorly fired baked bricks on the ground that likely comprised decorative elements of the iwan. Bricks vary enormously in size and thickness. Two measured bricks were 27 x 27 x 4.5–5.5 cm and 34 x 16.5 x 8 cm. Because of its proximity to our field camps, the house was visited in 1971, 1972, and 1973. The house sits on a platform 2 m high. It is approximately 10 x 18 m in size and as much as 5 m in preserved height. Two single-story rooms are located on both the east and west sides of a central courtyard with the house entrance possibly on the southeast. The iwan is built into the north wall. The larger corner rooms on the northwest and northeast are each two stories high. Walls are constructed primarily of pakhsa layers approximately 78 cm thick. The corner rooms and some of the side rooms are

Figure 5.23.1 Sketch plan of House 239. W. Trousdale 1972, redrawn J. Allen

Figure 5.23.2 House 239 from east. HSP72.12.14

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Figure 5.23.4 Keyhole arch decoration in northeast room of House 239. HSP72.12.17

Figure 5.23.3 Interior of House 239, looking at iwan and courtyard from south. HSP72.12.16

Figure 5.23.5 Badly eroded Timurid house to the east of House 239 with canal running under it. HSP72.12.11

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5.24 House 240 Coordinates: 30°34'15.92" x 62°04'29.25" Type: Eroded house built over earlier canal Date: Timurid A small Timurid house 200 m northwest of House 239 is part of the same house complex. The house appears to be elevated above the surface 1 m by a foundation of pakhsa. A canal from an earlier period passes beneath the house. Bases of the walls are made of pakhsa but upper levels, domes, and vaults are made of mudbrick. House is badly eroded and partially covered in sand, though one wall still stands 2 m in height. This house has a typical Timurid courtyard house plan with an iwan flanked by two large rooms at the north and rooms along the east and west walls. No plan was drawn nor dimensions taken. Artifacts found at the site include a glazed ceramic tile and the lug handle of a steatite bowl. Sherds collected were decorated in black under a turquoise glaze from the thirteenth to fourteenth century ce. A fragment of a sgraffito bowl glazed in green was found belonging to the tenth to eleventh century ce. Some fritware are painted in black, turquoise, and blue under a transparent glaze. One twelfth to thirteenth century ce unglazed molded ware with rosettes patterning was recovered. A small bottle neck is incised with holes, the other is decorated with incised cross-hatching. (LZB)

Figure 5.24.1 Satellite view of House 240. Note it is situated inside an old canal. Courtesy J. Thibeau (CAMEL/AHMP)

Figure 5.24.2 Badly eroded House 240. HSP73.2.10.

5.25 House 271 Coordinates: 30°34'46.88" x 62°01'38.56" Type: Large house Date: Timurid A large Timurid house approximately 30 x 75 m in size located 5 km west of Shahr-i Gholghola was visited by J. Whitney in 1973 but not systematically recorded. Notes indicate that this is one of five houses in this area, running northeast to southwest. A reasonably dense collection of pottery on the surface was seen in the vicinity of these houses. A major canal line runs 200 m to the west. Objects collected include a frit bead with turquoise glaze, a fragment of steatite jar rim, a bronze bar (possibly a jar handle), and three fragments of glass bracelets.

Ceramics collected include Islamic earthenware and fritware. An interesting fragment from a fourteenth to fifteenth century bowl is painted in black under a transparent turquoise glaze with a Persian poetic couplet in its cavetto. A rim of a sgraffito bowl covered in turquoise glaze from the tenth to eleventh century ce is among the assemblage. Two twelfth to thirteenth century ce unglazed molded ware pieces were recovered. There is also a cooking pot rim and lug handle of a very coarse handmade ware. (LZB) No photos of the site were taken.

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5.26 House 310 Coordinates: 30°36'11.05" x 62°03'10.55" Type: Small house Date: Timurid A small but well-preserved house of 20 x 20 m constructed of mudbrick. The plan is not clearly visible, but it likely has a plan similar to other Timurid houses known. Walls are standing as much as 6 m high on the north side. There is a door leading to the north from the iwan, framed by buttresses, and with three fragmentary windows above. Visible on the upper west side of the iwan are a single pointed large arch with a square window inset and numerous small arches above, but not in keyhole shape. The façades of the north corner rooms facing south each have two keyhole windows above the first floor. The northeast and northwest corner room stood two stories and were domed. The first room on the east side next to the corner room was also domed and stood 2.5 m high and approximately 5 x 5 m in size. This room has an entrance to the room to the south and likely one to the courtyard. Each of the three standing walls contains a thin rectangular window 0.5 m high. The entrance to the house is on the eastern edge of the south side. There is a house extension or external building on the southwest, only partially preserved. The house is one of as many as seven Timurid houses extending toward the northwest. No artifact collection was made. Description based primarily upon photos. No plan drawn nor detailed description made.

Figure 5.26.1 Satellite view of House 310. Courtesy J. Thibeau (CAMEL/AHMP)

Figure 5.26.2 House 310 from east. HSP73.29.3

Figure 5.26.4 Room along eastern side of House 310. HSP73.29.2

Figure 5.26.3 House 310 from north. HSP73.28.37

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5.27 House 311 Coordinates: 30°36'20.15" x 62°31'13.48" Type: Moderate sized house Date: Timurid The vaulted north iwan is approximately 5 m wide and 6 m in preserved height. There is a doorway to the north with three keyhole arches above it, the one in the center larger than the other two. Each arch is cut with a slit window. The façade of either side of the iwan facing south has two pairs of stacked keyhole arches with two small square windows above. The east and west façades of the courtyard continue these two rows of keyhole arches. No field notes were found. Description is based on photos. Ceramics include Islamic glazeware from the twelfth to fifteenth century ce. Only a neck of a turquoise glazed bottle with vertical grooves on the walls was recovered. (LZB)

A modest-sized house of typical Timurid plan and made of mudbrick, approximately 26 m in length and 22 m in width. The primary structure, 15 m long, has a north iwan between two large corner rooms and rooms along the sides as well as a round corner tower on the southeast. A rectangular extension of the house goes to the south, possibly a courtyard, with its entrance on the southeast. Some keyhole arch windows are visible along the east walls of this courtyard. The walls stand up to 6 m high. Side rooms on the west were two stories high with small square windows, presumably on the east as well, though those are not preserved. A single course of baked brick indicates the flooring of the side rooms.

Figure 5.27.1 West exterior of House 311. HSP73.24.28.

Figure 5.27.2 North iwan of House 311. HSP73.24.26

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5.28 House 311.5 Coordinates: 30°36'12.24" x 62°03'32.14" Type: Large, well-preserved house Date: Saffarid, Ghaznavid, Timurid A large, well-preserved house with a north iwan facing a central courtyard. Large square towers faced in baked brick are at each corner. Elaborate corner rooms adjoining the iwan lead to rows of smaller rooms on the east, west, and south sides. There is an entrance on the south part of the west side and another into the central iwan at the north. The walls are made of mudbrick, except the upper parts of the interior north façade which are baked brick. The interior façade of the north wall facing the courtyard is 5–6 m in preserved height and has its lower half in plastered mudbrick and its upper half faced in baked brick. The central iwan in the north wall is vaulted. Its upper brick decoration façade includes half columns of angled brick broken into upper and lower registers, separated by a course of horizontal baked brick sticking out from the walls. The north interior wall of the iwan has several arched niches above the door and square panels on either side, all faced in baked brick. There are arched doorways leading from the rooms beside the iwan into the courtyard, each standing 2 m high and 1.5 m wide.

Figure 5.28.1 North exterior façade of House 311.5. HSP73.28.36

Figure 5.28.2 West exterior of House 311.5. HSP73.23.4

Figure 5.28.3 Interior north iwan and rooms inside House 311.5. HSP73.23.9

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the archaeology of southwest afghanistan The northwest corner room interior has three rectangular niches facing north beneath an arch, all of which are heavily plastered. We do not know if this was mirrored in the northeast room. The rooms on the east, west, and south seem to be small, made of mudbrick, and a single story high. A round tower anchors the southeast corner. The north exterior façade repeats the motif of engaged half columns on its upper half above the gateway into the iwan and the accompanying side rooms. Remains of a small building, possibly part of a courtyard, are located to the south of the house. To the northwest

are a cluster of other structures, presumably Timurid and including House 311. A large canal, presumably originally pre-Islamic, borders just south of the house running eastwest and littered with kilns and jar sites along its edges. No field notes or house plan have been found; description based on photographs only. No ceramics collected at this site. Based upon the architectural features such as extensive use of baked brick and the lack of keyhole arches, this is assumed to be a large Saffarid house reused in later periods. Its excellent state of repair suggests it may have been reused in Timurid times.

Figure 5.28.4 Southwest interior of House 311.5. Note large canal passing outside the walls. HSP73.23.11

Figure 5.28.5 Southeast interior of House 311.5. Note small building behind the house, probably related to a southern courtyard. HSP73.23.12

Figure 5.28.6 West rooms and northwest corner of House 311.5. Note the collection of Timurid houses behind toward the northwest, including House 311. HSP73.23.14

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5.29 House 323 Coordinates: 30°37'54.27" x 62°02'43.64" Type: Large, well-preserved house, later reuse Date: Saffarid, Ghaznavid, Timurid A very large domestic estate, 35 x 50 m in size, well preserved with walls constructed of mudbrick and much of the façade in baked brick. The house is reached through a gateway to the north, constructed of mudbrick with a baked brick foundation of at least eight courses. The gateway has a central domed room 3.2 x 4.1 m in size and arched hallways leading in all four directions. The entryway from outside the house is 2 m high and 1.5 m wide. A wall leads east and west from the gateway to create a compound of 80 x 100 m in front of the main estate. Adjoining the inside of the north wall of this compound and stretching to the west is a baked brick walkway, six horizontal bricks wide and bordered by a row of vertical bricks. The pathway continues to the northwest corner but appears to end there with another row of vertical bricks as the compound wall turns south. Outside the retainer wall are the remains of field walls, probably from Timurid times as they allow for no passageway to the main gate. A 100 x 25 m compound surrounds the south side of the house. The inside of the southern enclosure wall appears

Figure 5.29.1 Satellite view of House 323. Note canal to west, Timurid field walls to north, and, possibly, related compound of rooms outside walled garden on southeast. Courtesy J. Thibeau (CAMEL/AHMP)

Figure 5.29.2 North gateway entrance to House 323 with house behind and other structures nearby. HSP73.24.4

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Figure 5.29.3 Interior of north gate house. HSP73.24.5

to have a row of rooms, but they were not investigated. Another set of rooms are located outside the southeast corner of the compound but it is unclear whether they are associated with the house. There is a narrow, square, well-preserved tower at the southwest corner of the compound. A sizeable undated canal runs to the west of the house. The entryway into the north iwan of the house from the north is constructed of mudbrick, 5 m high, and consists of three pointed arches, the central one still intact. To the west of the main iwan on the north exterior is a small arched entryway framed by two narrow round towers, each with several small square windows. There are windows of a second story above this entry. Two additional arched entries extend to the west, with windows above them too. Similar entrances were not visible on the eastern side of the north façade. There are at least two large rooms on either side of the north iwan. Decoration of the rooms closest to the iwan consists of two registers of recessed niches inside vertical rectangular boxes of differing sizes composed of interlocking baked brick. The outer northwest room is 4 m wide and entered through a pointed arch the full width of the room and 2.5 m high. Above the arch are rectangular niches to the outside and keyhole niches to the inside. The east side of the entry room to this chamber has three registers of rectangular recessed niches on the east side 75 cm high and a doorway leading into the iwan. The northern wall of this room has a central recessed pointed arch with a square arch inside. On either side are two registers of narrow keyhole arches. The room is

Figure 5.29.4 Baked brick walkway extending west from gate house. HSP73.24.7

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Figure 5.29.5 Northwest corner of walled exterior compound with vertical row of baked bricks marking the end of the brick walkway. HSP73.R.15

Figure 5.29.6 Interior of north iwan looking north toward gatehouse. Rooms highly decorated in interwoven baked bricks are on either side of the iwan. HSP73.24.10

constructed of mudbrick and is heavily plastered. There are rows of 4–5 rooms along both the west and east sides of the central courtyard. On the west side, the first floor is buried but the second story has an architectural structure consisting of a small central area surrounded by nine very narrow chambers on three sides, each less than 0.5 m wide and 2 m long. The function of this area is unclear. Rooms on the east side are largely buried under sand, but are well preserved on the first floor level. The southern

set of west side rooms are vaulted with arches leading into each chamber, approximately 5 m long and 4 m wide. The east wall has a decorative gate at its south end framed by two baked brick square towers. An octagonal baked brick tower is located nearby at the southeast corner of the house. An arch sits over the east entrance, mostly covered by sand. The gate towers each have tall inset arches with pointed tops and two small rectangular arches above. The southeast gateway inside the towers has a tall rectangular window above and two smaller arched 87

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Figure 5.29.7 Northwest corner room with its decoration. HSP73.24.13

Figure 5.29.8 West side rooms at south end of House 323. HSP73.24.16

Figure 5.29.9 Second floor of west side of House 323 showing structure of small rectangular cells around a central court. Well preserved eastern first floor rooms visible beyond the central courtyard covered with sand. HSP73.24.15

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sar-o-tar windows on either side with three small arched windows above them on either side. The east wall has a crenelated roof in mudbrick with a row of inset Latin crosses beneath. The wall stands approximately 5 m high. The south wall has six square baked brick pillars jutting out from the wall. The upper parts of these pillars are decorated with baked brick alternately stacked vertically and horizontally.

While the ceramics suggest a Timurid use of this building, the extensive use of baked brick and the decorative arches that are not keyhole shaped suggest the origins of the building to be earlier, possibly the Saffarid period. Design elements are very similar to House 311.5, and the two are probably contemporaneous.

A subsidiary building extends out from the southwest corner of the house and a row of rooms extends from the eastern part of the house. Pottery is not abundant around the site, though a Timurid glazed sherd was removed from one of the walls. A single fragment of Chinese celadon was found here. Also found was a rim to base of a shallow bowl with a washed out turquoise line decoration on a white background, probably fifteenth century or later. An undated coin was found embedded in the baked Figure 5.29.10 Southeast exterior of House 323, showing octagonal corner tower, east entry and square towers along brick walkway. (LBZ) south side. HSP73.28.9

Figure 5.29.11 East wall of House 323 showing gateway and wall decoration. HSP73.28.11

Figure 5.29.12 Satellite building to the southwest of House 323 looking north. HSP73.24.20

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5.30 House 352 Coordinates: 30°44'44.25" x 62°04'17.63" Type: House Date: Timurid A large, elaborate, and well preserved rectangular Timurid house 28 x 38 m located several kilometers to the north-northeast of the extensive House 338 group and probably related to it. The building is preserved to the second story in many places but lower levels were filled with sand so were unable to be explored. A total of 40–45 rooms surround a central courtyard. The courtyard house has two stories of rooms along the east and west sides, each with five rooms above five others. Rooms on the first floor were unable to be measured, but second floor rooms are approximately 2.5 m in width and open to a walkway above the first floor overlooking the central courtyard. First floor rooms are vaulted toward the courtyard as are the second floor rooms on the west side. East side second story rooms are vaulted parallel to the courtyard with entry on the west side. There is evidence of a staircase at the northeast end of the side rooms. The south wall is bordered by four vaulted rooms leading into the courtyard, two on each side of an iwan. There was likely a second story above those rooms. A round tower extends from the southwest corner. The southeast corner likely contained an entryway and public reception rooms but details were unable to be discerned in the collapse. Two domed rooms in this corner are a single story, one of which is well-preserved and ornately decorated. The northwest corner is a large room with four vaults framing a much larger vault in the center of the room, two on each side. The north wall of this room is decorated with a large, central keyhole arch with three smaller keyhole arches on each side in a lower register. A vertical slit window is in the middle of the central keyhole arch. The upper register between the vaults consists of two sets of vertically stacked bricks framing a horizontal one on each side of the central keyhole arch. On the upper register framing the large arch are two smaller keyhole arches on each side.

Figure 5.30.1 Satellite view of House 352. Courtesy J. Thibeau (CAMEL/AHMP)

Figure 5.30.2 Sketch plan of House 352. W. Trousdale 1974, redrawn J. Allen

Figure 5.30.4 House 352 detail, south Figure 5.30.3 House 352 detail, north northwest façade of Room A. W. Trousdale southeast façade of Room B. W. Trousdale field sketch 1974, field sketch 1974, redrawn J. Allen redrawn J. Allen

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Figure 5.30.5 House 352 detail, façade of upper courtyard walls surrounding iwan. W. Trousdale field sketch 1974, redrawn J. Allen

sar-o-tar Some of the mud plaster of this decoration is preserved in situ. To the east of this area is an iwan, spanned by three transverse vaults. A large domed room is the central feature of the northeast corner of the building, which adjoins the iwan. To the east of the dome, in the northeast corner the room extends with three narrow vaults running north/south and a larger vault between them. The south wall of the large vaulted area has a row of five keyhole arches preserved as decoration, separated by the vaults. On the upper level of the northwest wall of the

courtyard facing south are two large keyhole arches, separated by three smaller ones on the lower register and six even smaller ones in the upper register. All the large keyhole arches are double outlined recesses in mudbrick, dropping back in three steps to a slit window, and covered with mud plaster. Satellite photographs show a set of related buildings to the south and east of the main structure, but these were not explored during our visit. No collection of ceramics was made, nor photographs taken, nor described in the field notes.

5.31 Houses 210 Coordinates: 30°32'37.85" x 62°04'00.53" Type: Large cluster of 25 or more houses, mausoleums, and other structures Date: Timurid

Figure 5.31.1 Satellite view of Houses 210, showing location of House 218, Mausoleum 214, and the major canal running to the west. Most of the other houses were south of House 218. Courtesy J. Thibeau (CAMEL/AHMP)

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Figure 5.31.2 Part of the cluster of Houses 210 from northwest. HSP72.7.27

This designation was given to an area of approximately 1 km square containing at least 25 houses and several other structures from the Timurid period. A sizeable canal runs north-south to the west of most houses. Field walls and canals are visible sporadically between the houses. Many of the houses are simple structures around a central courtyard according to typical Timurid house plans. Some of the larger ones have been built to attach Figure 5.31.3 Well-preserved example of a typical Timurid house in Houses 210. HSP72.7.25 several subsidiary units into a larger estate, the largest of which (House 218) was extensively documented and is listed separately in section 5.22. Though size and ornamentation vary, all houses we examined are oriented toward the north-northwest with entrances on the southwest or southeast. Details of a sample “standard” house in this group were recorded. It was 22 x 18 m in size and oriented 316 degrees (north-northwest). A central courtyard was bordered on the north by an iwan. Figure 5.31.4 Interior decorated façade of house in Houses 210. HSP72.7.22 92

sar-o-tar There was a door at the north end of the iwan, which presumably was open in the summer to allow breezes and mudded up in winter. Several niches pocked the north wall of the iwan, but their uses were unknown. Rooms at the northwest and northeast corners were entered through doors from the iwan. Each of those corner rooms had a second story. On the west and east sides of the courtyard were small rooms of only a single story. A rooftop walkway was reached from a stairway in the courtyard and led to the second story rooms at the northern side. Location of the entrance to this particular house was unknown. Houses that expanded beyond this basic plan generally did so toward the west. Additions to the south and east were almost always utilitarian. Houses were constructed of pakhsa, often stratified with one to three levels of mudbrick. The tops of the structures tended to be of mudbrick, including the windows and roofing. At the northwest end of this cluster of houses is House 218. Just to the southeast of that large estate is Mausoleum 214, described separately in section 8.8; likely related to the estate. Artifacts found in Houses 210 include a broken small white shell ring and an iron key, highly oxidized, with two teeth at one end and a ring at the other, discovered on a grave near the houses. Also collected were three small carnelian beads. Ceramics are dominated by turquoise glazed wares and a rim fragment of fritware with painting on white slip in black and blue designs, probably from the fourteenth to fifteenth century ce. A few imported pieces were recovered, such as Chinese celadon and blue and white wares. Some unglazed wares with incised decoration were noted on the

Figure 5.31.5 Remains of an eroded square mausoleum in Houses 210 area. HSP72.7.24

Figure 5.31.6 Interior decorated façade of a north iwan of a house in Houses 210. HSP73.J.20

Figure 5.31.7 Interior decoration of a house east of House 218. HSP72.6.13

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the archaeology of southwest afghanistan surface. Some pre-Islamic burnished red wares were also discovered along with some gritty cooking ware. (LZB) While the houses varied in size and ornamentation, it is likely all were elite Timurid residences given the quantity of glazed wares, lusterware, and Chinese imported wares. Unlike Houses 338, we were unable to identify any public buildings that would turn this house cluster into a “village” but there may well be such structures unrecognized by our survey.

Figure 5.31.9 Domed room in house of Houses 210. HSP72.6.16

Figure 5.31.8 Plastered wall made to fake rows of mudbrick in a wall in Houses 210. HSP72.6.14

Figure 5.31.10 Corner room of house in Houses 210. HSP72.7.13

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5.32 Houses 338 Other names: Masjid-i Shahr-i Kalan Gazetteer #: 715 Coordinates: 30°44'05.32" x 62°01'59.13" Type: Village Date: Saffarid, Ghaznavid, Ghorid, Timurid This is our best example of a Timurid “village” in Sar-o-Tar. An extended series of structures stretch for over 1 km from the north-northwest to the south-southeast. About a dozen large domestic estates were seen in this region as well as concentrations of smaller domestic estates. The area contains at least two windmills and several rectangular towers of unknown function. There is also an elaborate

Figure 5.32.1 Satellite view of Houses 338 from 2016. Courtesy of CAMEL/AHMP

Figure 5.32.2 Satellite view of Houses 338 from 2013, with key structures labeled. Courtesy of CAMEL/AHMP

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Figure 5.32.3 Plan of mosque and ziyarat. J. Knudstad 1974. Figure 5.32.4 Cemetery west of mosque. HSP74.41.12

mausoleum in the center of the village (Mausoleum 338) and a second, smaller one (Mausoleum 338A) surrounded by a cemetery at the southern end (the former described below, the latter as a separate entry in this report). A dovecote, graveyard, and other mausoleums were found within the clusters of houses along with occasional indications of walled gardens. Each of the great houses has a yard, usually on the north-northwest, surrounded by garden walls. While systematic documentation of the entire village was not possible given our time constraints, the village was extensively surveyed over a span Figure 5.32.5 Mihrab of mosque, from east. HSP74.41.8 of several days in 1974 and some structures documented and drawn. Tate (1910–12, 239) refers m wide. Shallow niches are cut into each side of the exteto a Masjid-i Shahr-i Kalan in the Sar-o-Tar dunes, but it is rior of the entrance, leading to an entry hall 2 m wide and 1.5 m deep. Just outside the east entryway is a rectangular uncertain if he is referring to the mosque at Houses 338. foundation for a vaulted tomb 1.8 x 2.7 m in size and made Mosque and Ziyarat of nine courses of baked bricks 28 x 28 x 6 cm. Just east of At the north and northeast edge of the concentration of it is mudbrick rubble, by shape considered likely to have ruins is a small bazaar. The bazaar surrounds a pool into been a second tomb. In the southeast interior corner is a possible room 1.1 which a small canal fed, and is surrounded by a cemetery, a x 1.8 m, though the locations of the walls were not clear small simple mosque, and several other unidentified strucon the east side. The entryway leads to a large courtyard tures. A paving made of broken baked bricks surrounds the pool. One side of the street leading up to the pool con- covered with dunes and measuring approximately 10 m tains a graveyard, unusual for Timurid town planning. square. The northwest corner of this courtyard has the Unfortunately, the only drawings or photographs of this ruins of a staircase sitting on a half arch and leading to an upper level. At the west edge of the courtyard are two large area are of the mosque. The mosque is located on the south side of a lane 8 m pillars extending out from the side wall and connected by wide bisecting the northern part of the village east-west. arches to two free-standing pillars. Each is approximately A second road may have extended northward directly 1.3 x 1.7 m in size leading toward the mihrab, the pair of from the entrance of the mosque. The mosque is 22 m in pillars on either side separated by a space 1.4 m in width. length and 12.5 m in width. Entrance to the mosque is on The central corridor toward the mihrab is 3.1 m in width. The qibla wall of the mosque has a mihrab in its center, the eastern part of the north side, with the entryway 2.6 96

sar-o-tar 1.25 m in width and set back 48 cm. Each side of the mihrab features a pillar 1.7 m in width holding an arch over the mihrab and an inset niche outside of it 25 cm wide. Another 1.2 m to each side is a triangular pillar protruding 8 cm from the wall. To the south, 3 m from the edge of the mihrab, is an arched doorway leading to a ziyarat to the west. The ziyarat courtyard is 10.4 x 3.7 m in interior diameter, with walls approximately 0.9–1.1 m in width surrounding it. A second arched doorway into the ziyarat is in its north wall. To the southeast of the mihrab are fragments of a wall abutting the qibla wall. The wall is 3.8 m in length and not aligned with the rest of the mosque. Its full shape and function are unknown. The southern wall of the mosque/ziyarat was badly eroded or covered with dunes. The east wall extends approximately 6 m from the northeast corner before disappearing into a dune. To the west of the mosque, along the south side of the lane, are mudbrick superstructures of tightly fit tombs extending approximately 20 m. To the north and south of the mosque are other houses. An open courtyard borders the building on the east. Across the lane from the mosque, on the north side, is a standard Timurid style house. The lane extends further west and bends to the northwest to avoid the pool, filled by a canal from the west. Further graves border the lane both north and south of this canal. The lane veers toward the north past the pool, toward a building 30 m to the north. That building was not explored. Though this is the only mosque we found in Sar-o-Tar outside of Shahr-i Gholghola, it does not match the description by Tate (1910–12, 239) of a mosque located in the Sar-o-Tar sands, called Masjid-i Shahr-i Kalan, though the mosque and this site are associated in the Gazetteer (Ball 2019, site 715).

North Windmill Several windmills were noted in the village and the northernmost one was drawn and measured. The rectangular building is 36 x 13 m in size with exterior walls approximately 1.15 m in width and constructed of layers of pakhsa with intermittent two course mudbrick layers. The windmill portion of the building extends to the northwest at least 3.6 m in length, though broken at the end, and 2.4 m in width. The main building rectangle consists of a transverse vaulted northern passage 9.8 m in length and 1.75 m in width. The south wall of this room has entrances into two side rooms to the south, each 1.4 x 10 m in size, and a doorway leading into a central vaulted iwan 10 x 7 m in size. Four slit windows cut through the wall separating

Figure 5.32.6 Plan and elevation of north windmill. J. Knudstad 1974

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the archaeology of southwest afghanistan the passage and the main rooms. Side walls of the iwan are decorated with keyhole niches, only those on the eastern wall were preserved. South of the main hall is a rectangular room, possibly a courtyard, 7.8 x 11 m in size. A 12 x 13 m rectangular extension expanded the building to the south at a later date. On the west side is a vaulted hall 3.5 m in width and attached to the courtyard to the north by a doorway. On the east side, an arched doorway leads to a round domed room 5.5 m in diameter and then to a square room 5.15 m on a side. Figure 5.32.7 Windmill at northern end of Houses 338. HSP74.40.19 No evidence of an entrance between these two rooms remains but there appears to be a later entrance to the square room from the east. The extant northwest façade of the building stands 10 m in height. A large arched doorway is framed by two large and two smaller arched windows above. Two higher stories also have arched windows. There was likely a parapet on top of the building. The western wall of this façade is decorated on its upper half with three layers of small diamond patterns indented into plaster, above which are three rows of indented squares, followed by at least four more layers of diamonds. This decorative pattern is set into plaster over a structure of mudbricks.

Southern Estate This is the largest estate in the Houses 338 area, located at a distance from most of the others at the southern edge of the cluster. Like the remaining houses, the central building is of a typical Timurid plan but very large, 40 x 28 m, surrounding a rectangular courtyard 13 x 20 m in size, and largely constructed of baked brick rather than mudbrick. Against the north wall is a central iwan 5 x 7 m in size. On either side are large rooms. The northwest room is 5 x 9 m in size and has entrances both to the iwan and to the courtyard. The northwest room had been broken into two, one 5 x 5 m, the other 3 x 5 m. Entrances to the square room led from the iwan and the courtyard. The smaller room has an entrance into the east side row of rooms and a window against the north wall. Roofing of these rooms is unknown. Figure 5.32.8 Detail of north windmill. HSP74.41.13

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Figure 5.32.9 Plan of Southern Estate home. J. Knudstad 1974

Figure 5.32.10 Overview of Southern Estate home from west. HSP74.41.34

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the archaeology of southwest afghanistan On both west and east sides are single rows of one story rooms. Three of four rooms on the west side are 4 x 4 m in size with a flat dome of mudbrick. The northernmost room is 4 x 7 m with a larger flat dome. The configuration is the same against the east wall, except the northernmost two rooms are combined into a single one. Each of these rooms has doorways leading into the central courtyard. The two southernmost rooms on the east side also have a door connecting the two rooms. An iwan 4 x 5 m faces the courtyard on the south side, flanked by two small rooms, and leads to a rectangular chamber 4 x 12 m behind it and against the south wall of the building. This room is vaulted with a domed central area 5 m in diameter rising out of it. At the southeast corner is a flat domed room flanked by two antechambers that was the original entryway into the house. This room is elaborately niched, but the configuration is neither described in our notes nor photographed. The southwest corner has a small flat domed room approximately 4 x 5 m leading to a larger room 5 x 5 m in size with elaborate niching and a triple squinch mudbrick dome. The southeast corner has a half circular exterior tower 3 m in diameter. To the north of the main building is a large walled garden 61 x 57 m in size with a central path from the north leading to the northern iwan of the main house. Two sets of niches facing north flank either side of the north wall of the main building leading into the garden. At the north end of the garden is a gate house likely of baked brick, now robbed, and a row of rooms 8 m in width. Preservation did not allow us to determine how many rooms were in this northern row. To the south of the main building is another courtyard, 27 x 19 m in size and surrounded by rooms on three sides. On the eastern side is a single long vaulted room 4 m in width and running the 27 m length of the courtyard in which we could not detect any cross walls. In the southeast part of the courtyard is a long vaulted hall, dimensions not measured, with several entrances into the courtyard. At the southeast corner is a small tower 3 m in diameter. The southwest corner has a large rectangular room, dimensions not measured, but highly decorated in mud plaster and leading to a small antechamber to the east. A small rectangular tower, dimensions unrecorded, anchors the southwest corner. Between them is a vaulted hall and an iwan, which has the southern entrance to the estate. Bordering and paralleling the south wall of this courtyard is a lane 5.5–6 m in width, protected on its south side by an irregular garden wall. The southern courtyard has two rooms on the west side, each approximately 7 x 7 m, and a third 7 x 7 m room above them broken into two parts. The northern of these

Figure 5.32.11 Detail of Southern Estate home, including later kilns built atop baked brick walls. HSP74.41.37

square rooms has an antechamber with a doorway leading into the southern courtyard. To its north is an irregular area of 12 x 20 m, a later addition attached to the west wall of the main building that contains additional domestic rooms added to the larger estate but not original to the main house. Plans of these rooms were not discernable. Small towers anchor this area on the northwest and southwest corners. Several kilns were noted built upon the remains of the baked brick walls of the estate. A large mudbrick tower stood to the west of this building, probably a later construction. Few photos were taken of this building and field notes did not describe the decorative elements of this estate. The extensive use of baked brick and later kilns atop ruined walls suggests this building predates the Timurid village, possibly Ghaznavid.

Baked Brick Building A building of undetermined function largely constructed of baked bricks, possibly a mausoleum, stood to the east of House A in the northern part of the village. Two squared areas with an extension to the west consisting of a courtyard with rooms on both north and south sides comprise the building. The northeastern room is domed and has an interior of approximately 9 x 9 m surrounded by walls 1.9 m in thickness. Walls are constructed of baked brick 28–29 x 28–29 x 4–5 cm. A niche of 4.4 m in width and 1 m in depth is hollowed out of both the north and south walls. To the east and west, a baked brick arch leads to side chambers 5.5 x 1.7 m in size. The eastern chamber has a niche on its east side 2.3 m in width that may have originally been a doorway exiting the structure to the east. From each side chamber is the entrance to a small vaulted room to the north and possibly another one to the south. The wall on the west

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Figure 5.32.12 Plan of northern baked brick building. J. Knudstad 1974

Figure 5.32.13 Baked brick building from west. HSP74.40.13

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the archaeology of southwest afghanistan side of this northeast complex of rooms contains a doorway leading to the room complex to the west. Embedded in one of the baked bricks found in this main northeast room was a Timurid turquoise glazed sherd. The squared courtyard on the southeast is 11.5 x 14.5 m framed by walls approximately 1 m in thickness. Unlike the other courtyard, this one is constructed of mudbrick, 26–27 x 26–27 x 4.5–5.5 cm. Each side has an iwan approximately 5 m wide and 3 m deep. The south and east iwans have blocked doorways leading Figure 5.32.14 Northeast corner room complex of baked brick building. HSP74.40.15 outside the building, there may have also been one leading from the western iwan. Niches inset 70 cm on either side of the east and west iwan lead to side rooms. On the east, the rooms are narrow, 1.9 m in width and 3.4–4.1 m in length. A doorway from the southeastern side room leads to a semicircular half-tower 5.4 m in diameter with a narrow doorway leading east, one entrance to the building. On the west, doorways lead to rooms as well, the northwest one 3.8 x 4.5 m and vaulted, the southwest one 5 x 5.2 m with its own vaulted niche on the south 2.1 x 1.7 m. Four slit windows are Figure 5.32.15 Collapsed dome of northeast room of baked brick building. HSP74.40.17 above the doorway to the southwest room. The north and south iwans of this room complex each have rooms on either side as well. To the west of the northeast domed room complex are three halls. The first two are long vaulted halls 3.5 x 9.1 m in size. A door leads from the domed northeast complex into one of these rooms, a second doorway on the southern side separates the two easternmost of the three long halls. Further west, the third hall is broken into two rooms 3.4 x 3.5 m and 3.1 x 3.5 m with doorways leading into a rectangular courtyard to the south, which stretches east-west and is 8 x 13.5 m in size. No doors were noted connecting the two long halls with either the courtyard or the smaller rooms, only the northeast complex. Walls are Figure 5.32.16 Southeast courtyard of baked brick building. made of mudbrick with a baked brick foundation. HSP74.40.18

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sar-o-tar South of the western courtyard is a large rectangular room 4 x 12 m in dimension with thinly white lime-plastered walls, possibly broken into smaller rooms but not determinable. Entrance to this room is unclear. To its west is an area of additional rooms too badly eroded to create a plan and strewn with baked bricks. The western wall of the complex is eroded badly and its location speculative. A row of six badly eroded additional rooms extend to the north of the western group but were not formally documented.

Timurid Houses Several of the large Timurid estates were documented by photographs, though no field notes were taken nor plans drawn of these buildings.

Figure 5.32.17 Baked brick building courtyard to west with three halls on north and eroded area on south. HSP74.42.36

House A This house is the southernmost of the cluster of large, well-preserved estates in the village. It is located just west of the baked brick building. Two rooms frame each side of the central north iwan and large two-story towers standing over 6 m high anchor both the southwest and southeast corners. These, and rows of rooms on the east and west, surround a central courtyard. Large amounts of baked brick were used in the northeast corner room and pointed arch niches and half columns were featured, rather than keyhole niches, possibly indicating an earlier date for the construction of this building. Aerial photos show a large enclosure extending to the south with an extensive set of rooms along the west side.

Figure 5.32.19 House A from the west. HSP74.40.3

Figure 5.32.18 Baked brick building northwest halls with additional row of rooms extending to the north. HSP74.42.37

Figure 5.32.20 House A from the east. HSP74.U.5

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Figure 5.32.21 North façade of House A. HSP74.39.34

Figure 5.32.22 South façade of House A with parts of its southern gardens visible in foreground. HSP74.39.37

Figure 5.32.23 Interior of iwan in House A. Baked brick construction, pointed niches, and engaged columns were decorative elements of this elaborate estate. HSP74.39.36

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Figure 5.32.24 House B north iwan and flanking rooms. HSP74.41.15

House B

Located to the north of House A. It follows traditional Timurid plan according to aerial photos, with a northern iwan, flanking large rooms, and rows of rooms along the other three sides of the courtyard. This house has a small enclosure to the south with a row of rooms on its south side. The well-preserved north section shows decoration in mudbrick in the iwan and flanking rooms consisting of several registers of keyhole arches of differing sizes. The house appears to have a baked brick foundation with mudbrick superstructure.

Figure 5.32.25 Interior of one of the northern rooms flanking the iwan of House B showing smaller and larger registers of keyhole arches in mudbrick. HSP74.41.14

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Figure 5.32.26 Interior courtyard of House C looking north toward iwan. HSP74.41.16

House C

House C is located to the north of House B. It follows traditional Timurid plan according to the aerial photos, with a northern iwan, flanking large rooms, and rows of rooms along the other three sides of the courtyard. Three sides of the courtyard and the iwan are extensively decorated in keyhole arches of mudbrick with horizontal layers of baked brick between registers of the arches.

Figure 5.32.27 North façade of House D. HSP74.45.15 Figure 5.32.28 House D, decorated northwest room. HSP74.45.16

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sar-o-tar House D This is a large, well-preserved Timurid house at the northwest of the cluster of large estates, standing as high as 7 m in some places. It is constructed of pakhsa with layers of interspersed mudbrick on a baked brick foundation. The roofs, vaults, and domes are of mudbrick. The house has a round tower at the southwest corner and a mudbrick dovecote in the enclosure to the southeast standing as much as 5 m high.

Figure 5.32.29 House D, round tower at southwest corner with vaulted passage to house. HSP74.41.20

Figure 5.32.30 Dovecote southeast of House D. HSP74.41.17

Figure 5.32.31 Interior of dovecote at House D. HSP74.41.18

House E This is an eroded, smaller Timurid house to the southwest of House D, close to a well-preserved rectangular tower and several other small structures at the west of the village. It is constructed of pakhsa with mudbrick layers on a baked brick foundation. Preserved decoration includes stepped keyhole niches in mudbrick.

Figure 5.32.33 Southeast(?) interior of House E. HSP74.41.21

Figure 5.32.32 North façade of House E. HSP74.41.22

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A compact Timurid house, well enough preserved that two domed rooms and one vaulted room still have their roofs. Location of this house in the cluster is uncertain.

Figure 5.32.34 West façade of House F. HSP74.42.19

Figure 5.32.35 House F domed “Room 1.” HSP74.42.14

Figure 5.32.36 House F vaulted “Room 2.” HSP74.42.15

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Figure 5.32.37 House F, detail of doming in “Room 3.” HSP74.42.16

House G This is a compact Timurid house, its location in the village unclear. The house has remains of a baked brick staircase leading to a second story outside the northeast room. The southern rooms feature a central iwan with a plaster-lined pool adjacent. Numerous other smaller houses were quickly examined. All are a single story, oriented toward the north-northwest, and approximately 10–12 m square. Their plans generally consist of three rooms each on the west and east sides of a central courtyard, with an iwan against the center of the north wall. There is usually a doorway at the north end of this iwan, which was mudded up against the wind in the winter but covered only with

Figure 5.32.38 House G, north exterior. HSP74.45.12

Figure 5.32.39 House G, northwest part of courtyard and iwan. HSP74.45.7

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Figure 5.32.40 House G, northeast corner of courtyard. HSP74.45.8

Figure 5.32.41 House G, rooms at south of courtyard and southern iwan with pool. HSP74.45.4

brush to allow air circulation in summer. Exterior walls are approximately 1.5 m in thickness, while interior ones are 0.9 m in thickness. Entry to the building is usually on the east side of the south wall. Field walls with planting rows inside them are highly visible in many places, as are the canal offshoots that fed the fields. A large canal stretches along the north edge of the village and another canal system to the south.

Figure 5.32.42 House G, baked brick staircase leading above northeast corner room. HSP74.45.10

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Figure 5.32.44 Timurid house north iwan with blocked windward door. Location of house is uncertain. HSP74.42.6

Figure 5.32.43 House G, interior of northwest room. HSP74.45.11

Figure 5.32.46 Unidentified baked brick building at northern part of Houses 338. HSP74.42.21

Figure 5.32.45 Tower at northern part of Houses 338. HSP74.41.25

Figure 5.32.47 Field rows and adjoining canal (left) in Houses 338 area. HSP74.42.9

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Mausoleum 338

Figure 5.32.48 Canal diversion structure of baked brick near Houses 338. HSP74.42.11

Equidistant between House A and the Southern Estate toward the southern part of the village is an elaborate well-preserved mausoleum. Mausoleum 338 is a two story, four pier domed rectangular structure 13.4 x 11 m in size. Its foundation is composed of 8–10 courses of baked brick extending 2.8 m from the face of the building. The foundation sits on a hard-packed mud base. The walls leading up from this foundation are 12 courses of mudbrick, with a layer of 50 cm of pakhsa above, returning to mudbrick at the base of the arches for each doorway. The arches of the doorways, window niches, and dome are all faced in baked brick.

Figure 5.32.49 Mausoleum 338 from southwest. HSP74.40.4

Each side has an entrance of approximately 1.5 m in width, except on the west where there is a wider entrance, 3.1 m, narrowing to the width of the other doorways after a recessed bay of 80 cm. The south entrance has been blocked with a wall of mudbricks stacked in herringbone fashion. There is a stairwell leading to the second story in the southwest corner. The north exterior façade has deep arched niches 1.7 m wide and 1.4 m deep on either side of the doorway. The

west façade has shallow niches 2.6 m wide on either side of the doorway with springing arches similar in height to the central niche on that side. Another recessed area 1.4 x 2.5 m cuts into the southeast corner of the building. The interior has bays on each side with the north and south bays being much deeper (2.3 m) than the east and west bays (80–90 cm). The central room is 6.7 m square, with diagonal distance approximately 9.6 m.

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Figure 5.32.50 Plan of ground floor of Mausoleum 338. J. Knudstad 1974

Figure 5.32.51 Plan of upper floor of Mausoleum 338. J. Knudstad 1974

Figure 5.32.52 Mausoleum 338 north exterior with deep niches on each side of the doorway.HSP74.40.8

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Figure 5.32.53 Mausoleum 338 southexterior, staircase at left. HSP74.41.29

Figure 5.32.54 Mausoleum 338 west exterior. HSP74.40.11

The second floor has irregular platforms at each corner and narrow passageways of 65–80 cm leading over the east and west door arches between the north and south platforms. No passage is possible from east to west, nor did we discover a staircase on the east side of the building allowing access. Decoration on the interior of the building was more consistent to the extent that the decoration was preserved. The pointed arch doorway 2.2 m in height is beneath a window 1.8 m in height and 1 m in width, decorated with a screen of rows of Latin crosses one mudbrick thick set flush with the inner face. This window is framed on each side with

rectangular niches half a brick deep, 50 cm wide and 1.3 m in height. This section sits on a base of two courses of mudbrick. Above the windows is the base of the dome, which sits on four horizontal courses of mudbrick. A window, framed in stepped baked brick, sits above the windows. The mudbricks and baked bricks used to construct the building are 30–31 x 30–31 x 5–6 cm, many cut to half brick size. No attempt was made to identify tombs within the building, heavily covered with an overburden of roof collapse. A second elaborate mausoleum at the edge of this site is described separately as Mausoleum 338A (section 5.55).

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Figure 5.32.55 Mausoleum 338 east exterior. HSP74.42.12

Figure 5.32.57 Niche in north wall of mausoleum. HSP74.41.31

Figure 5.32.56 Stairwell at southwest exterior. HSP74.41.30

Figure 5.32.58 East interior of mausoleum showing layers of mudbrick and pakhsa construction. HSP74.41.32

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Figure 5.32.59 South interior mausoleum elevation, east side. J. Knudstad 1974.

Figure 5.32.60 East interior mausoleum elevation, south side. J. Knudstad 1974

Artifacts Objects from Houses 338 include numerous bronze rings, ceramic and stone beads, and other small pieces of jewelry. Several steatite vessel fragments were found, including an almost complete cauldron. An iron sword and bronze arrowhead were also found. Other objects of stone and pieces of glass were discovered as well as a fragment of a turquoise glazed funerary tile.

Approximately 85 coins were found at this site, all of copper or lead. A majority, over 50, were not readable, but those that could be identified stretched in date from the tenth century to the fifteenth century with each century covered by one or more coins. Details of the coins can be found in Volume 2.

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Ceramics Numerous fragments of unglazed molded wares and molds belonging to the twelfth to thirteenth century ce were found in the southeast edge of the site. A few tenth to eleventh century ce Eastern slip-ware were recovered from the site including sherds with polychrome decorations on white slip and another on black slip. Among the assemblage are two sgraffito ware, one yellow glazed and the other green glazed, belonging to the tenth to eleventh century ce. The fourteenth and fifteenth century fritwares include black decoration under turquoise glaze, blue and white ware, and underglaze-painted wares. Some later wares, probably from the seventeenth and eighteenth century ce, include the base of a bowl with cloud decoration in the interior. (LZB)

Figure 5.32.61 East interior of mausoleum. HSP74.40.6

Analysis With the long spread of both ceramic styles and coins, this area was apparently a major settlement from Saffarid times through Timurid times. Architecture reflects this variety as the variations off the standard Timurid courtyard house and omnipresent keyhole decorations are in evidence at places like House A. The use of baked brick decorative elements is also indicative of pre-Timurid architecture, as in the baked brick house, another unidentified baked brick structure on the north, Mausoleum 338A, and the Southern Estate. It is likely that the Saffarid/Ghaznavid village is centered to the south and east, near Mausoleum 338A and the Southern Estate, while the main elements of the Timurid village are at the north around the mosque and the cluster of large estates. The presence of some post-Timurid ceramics and the excellent preservation of some of the structures raises the question of whether the area was abandoned in the Timurid period, as our evidence from elsewhere in

Figure 5.32.62 South interior of mausoleum. HSP74.40.7

Figure 5.32.63 Southeast interior corner showing dome construction. HSP74.40.5

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Figure 5.33.1 Satellite view of Houses 353. Courtesy J. Thibeau (CAMEL/AHMP)

5.33 Houses 353 Coordinates: 30°47'26.98" x 62°04'29.68" Type: House cluster Date: Timurid A small Timurid village of at least nine modest-sized but well-preserved houses along with remains of a canal and ceramic pipes was found here, probably also of Timurid age. While most of the houses have the typical Timurid house plan, one shows a considerable number of additions similar to more elaborate houses. The houses are located northeast of Qala 353, a Sasanian qala that was reused in Timurid times (section 5.87). The entire area is heavily sanded. One gray body sherd of Chinese celadon vessel found. Much of the area both inside and around Qala 353 covered with sand dunes so it was difficult to ascertain density of sherd cover. Two unidentifiable coins were collected.

Figure 5.33.2 Decorated iwan and courtyard façade of one house in Houses 353. HSP74.40.26

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Figure 5.33.3 Part of Qala 353 with Timurid village Houses 353 to the northeast in background. HSP74.40.21

Figure 5.33.4 One of Houses 353 buildings buried beneath high dunes that covered the site in our 1974 visit. HSP74.40.33

Figure 5.33.5 Canal takeoff and clay piping associated with Houses 353 irrigation found 200 m east of Qala 353. HSP74.40.25

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5.34 Houses STC-5A Coordinates: 30°54'49.00" x 62°00'08.39" Type: Cluster of houses Date: Ghaznavid Two clusters of about 10 houses each stretching east to west for a distance of approximately 0.5 km, starting 0.5 km west of Dam Kurdu/Qala 348. There is a large tower between the two clusters. No photos or field notes were taken at the site. Ghaznavid pottery was noted in the area and recorded in our notes, but not collected nor photographed.

5.35 Jars Sites Coordinates: Various locations, see individual entries in this chapter Type: Small pre-Islamic households made visible by jars embedded in the ground Date: Partho-Sasanian Thirteen sites in Sar-o-Tar were designated as “jars” sites because the sole common feature of the habitation of the site were large ridge-rim storage jars embedded in the ground. The bulk of these sites are clustered to the south and southwest of Shahr-i Gholghola along the major canal leading from Qala-i Fath into Sar-o-Tar. Almost all are located within 2 km of Shahr-i Gholghola and in close proximity to each other, to the point that we labeled the area the “Plain of Jars.” Most were identified during two seasons that we spent camped at Shahr-i Gholghola, 1972 and 1973. These sites are invisible to aerial and satellite photography so their position on the site map is approximate, based upon our triangulation in the field. The jars are likely indicators of some kind of agricultural feature on the landscape. Because of their quantity, usually between two and 10 jars clustered together, our assumption is that they were designed for storing grain or some other agricultural product rather than water, for which they would contain an inadequate amount for agriculture. While no other structures are located nearby, our best guess is that these are storage facilities for pre-Islamic farm houses adjacent to them that have fully eroded away. Whether the farm houses were built of pakhsa, mudbrick, or tamarisk reeds, like contemporary Baluch houses, is unknown. None of the houses built in this fashion would have survived two millennia of Sistan winds and later occupation of the region.

The jars sites are generally located in areas containing smaller canals and are fairly densely covered with pottery, further indication that we are dealing with agricultural farmsteads. Not all jars were located alone, we have cases of jars being accompanied by ceramic kilns or located near the remnants of larger sites. Some of the larger pre-Islamic sites have sets of jars located just outside the walls of the structure, such as House 139 and Qala 359. Our excavations at pre-Islamic sites Sehyak, Lat Qala/Kona Qala II, and House 139 all produced embedded storage jars in the trenches. The jars sites listed in this chapter are the ones recorded mostly in 1972 and 1973. Trousdale’s 1973 field notebook says “Jars are becoming so common and such a dominant feature of Parthian period sites that we stopped specifically recording their occurrences and locating them for mapping. They are everywhere in the Sar-o-Tar area.” This comment applies to the southern part of Sar-o-Tar, around Shahr-i Gholghola, as our pedestrian survey to the northern parts of Sar-o-Tar in 1974 recorded fewer jar sites. The predominance of pre-Islamic wares in the area surrounding these jars makes a convincing case for them as being Partho-Sasanian in origin. But the ceramics varied from site to site, so it is difficult to narrow their time range further. The jars themselves were universally of a hard fired moderately coarse red ware with bulbous bodies and ledge rims. Jars are all made using coil method, moderately coarse grained and high fired red ware with a thickness of approximately 1.5–2 cm. Their original width and height is rarely determinable because they are almost all broken before their maximum diameter is reached, though preserved portions indicate the diameters exceeded 93–97 cm. One of these jars was excavated at Jars 249. This jar stands 1.14 m in preserved height, with a 3 cm sump at the base. A jar lid was excavated from inside this jar. It is a flat round disk with a diameter of 40 cm, indicating the approximate width of the jar rim, and having a thickness of 3 cm. The lid has a hole in the center 2 cm in diameter. The lid is decorated with an incised band of wavy lines bordered on each side by a pair of simple incised bands around the circumference. The other ceramics surrounding these sites are consistent. In addition to pieces of the ledge rim storage jars and some smaller jars that are also embedded in the surface, many produced fragments of pedestal goblets, ring burnished bowls, and coarse dog dishes. Many of the sites have “pulleys” on the surface made of fired ceramic or stone. The function of pulleys is unclear but is discussed in Volume 2.

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Figure 5.35.1 Excavation of storage jar at Jars 249. HSP72.3.29

Figure 5.35.2 Excavated storage jar from Jars 249. HSP72.10.7

Figure 5.35.3 Decorated jar lid found inside the excavated jar at Jars 249. HSP72.44.19

Figure 5.35.4 Storage jar excavated at Jars 249, showing sump. HSP72.44.22

5.36 Jars 142 Coordinates: 30°34'01.38" x 62°05'57.70" Type: Jars Date: Partho-Sasanian This set of jars is located southeast of the walls of Shahr-i Gholghola between Parthian House 139, House 145, and the Cemetery 143. The site consists of a diffuse area of ceramic scatter with at least four large jars buried in ground as well as several smaller buried pots. Most surrounding ceramics are Partho-Sasanian wares including stemmed cups and ribbed wares, though some may belong to the nearby cemetery. Several bones and many water worn pebbles were noted in the area, possibly indicative of a later Islamic cemetery. No other architectural remains were seen. One ledge rim jar with its rim broken off measured 65 cm in diameter, though it is unclear if this was the maximum diameter. The rim of this jar contains a potter’s mark. No sherds were drawn or photographed.

Figure 5.36.1 Four embedded jars visible at Jars 142 site. HSP73.4.33

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5.37 Jars 172 Coordinates: 30°33'17.33" x 62°05'35.16" Type: Jars Date: Partho-Sasanian Five large ledge rim jars set close together in ground less than 100 m west of Qala 169. No structures noted nearby. No site photos taken. No ceramics collected but a stone pulley was photographed, approximately 12 cm in diameter and 8 cm in height. This pulley is made of rough volcanic stone, heavily eroded.

5.38 Jars 176

Figure 5.37.1 Volcanic stone pulley from Jars 172 site. HSP74.35.3

Coordinates: 30°33'17.69" x 62°05'31.05" Type: Jars Date: Partho-Sasanian A collection of ledge rim storage jars inset into the ground 80 m west of Jars 172, number and position not recorded, nor site photographed. No visible structures. Two sherds with potter’s marks recorded.

5.39 Jars 185 Coordinates: 30°33'16.89" x 62°05'16.44" Type: Jars Date: Partho-Sasanian Jars site 1 km southwest of Qala 169. The site consists of 10 large jars and five smaller ones adjacent to a kiln. Found at the site was a stone pulley carved out of a volcanic stone and badly weathered. Sherd coverage nearby is of pre-Islamic pottery, but none was collected.

5.41 Jars 198 Coordinates: 30°33'48.71" x 62°05'03.81" Type: Jars Date: Partho-Sasanian Located 150 m north of Jars 197, the site consists of seven large ceramic jars set in the ground and grouped in rows of two, two, and three. They are surrounded by numerous small, badly eroded canals. A larger mud or mudbrick structure is located nearby but its plan was not discernable. Two stone pulleys were found on site, one of fired ceramic, the other of dark gray volcanic stone crudely cut. No site photographs taken. Sherd cover is fairly substantial, including pedestal goblet bases, ring burnished wares, and dog dishes, as well as ledge rims of store jars.

5.42 Jars 207 Coordinates: 30°33'46.01" x 62°04'44.80" Type: Jars Date: Partho-Sasanian

5.40 Jars 197 Coordinates: 30°33'39.73" x 62°05'02.97" Type: Jars, kiln Date: Partho-Sasanian Located 0.5 km southwest of Houses 183 and 100 m from Jars 198, 11 large jars and five smaller ones are embedded in the ground on the edge of a canal. A kiln is located close by. A stone pulley was found on the site. No ceramic collection was made, nor site photographs taken.

A cluster of 14 jars along a canal 200 m east of Jars 218/219/220 cluster, visited by J. Whitney in 1973. An area 120 m to the south-southeast has an additional set of six jars, not listed as a separate site. No additional details recorded, nor photos taken.

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5.43 Jars 218 Coordinates: 30°33'52.51" x 62°04'34.39" Type: Jars Date: Partho-Sasanian Eleven large storage jars embedded in the ground to the west of Jars 197/198 and in close proximity to Jars 219/220, less than 100 m separating the three sites. Full configuration of the jars was not described in our notes. One photo shows three jars in a row. We found numerous fragments of fine orange-red ware with red slip, goblets with ring burnish on the exterior, bowls with ring burnish on the interior and vertical rims, dog dishes, jabbed bases, ribbed bowls with vertical rims, and ribbed body sherds. Several jar rims have ridging on the shoulder and are likely Early Iron Age in date.

Figure 5.43.1 Jars 218 site. HSP74.2.31

5.44 Jars 219 Coordinates: 30°33'54.75" x 62°04'29.41" Type: Jars, with kiln and Islamic cemetery Date: Partho-Sasanian, Islamic Five large ledge rim storage jars and three smaller ones embedded in the ground in close proximity with jars sites 218 and 220. Rims of the large jars are broken off and have a visible diameter about 75 cm. Approximately 100 m to the southwest is a kiln and a set of at least 50 graves constructed from bricks taken from the kiln and placed vertically in rectangles on the ground, probably Islamic in date. A black stone pulley was found at the site. Ceramics include pedestal goblets, fine ware ring burnished bowls, and dog dishes. The Islamic ceramics were not described in our notes.

Figure 5.44.2 Close up of two embedded storage jars at Jars 219 site. HSP74.2.35

Figure 5.44.1 Jars 219 site. HSP74.2.32

Figure 5.44.3 Islamic cemetery 100 m south of Jars 219 with graves outlined in baked bricks presumably taken from nearby kiln. HSP74.2.33

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5.45 Jars 220

5.46 Jars 238

Coordinates: 30°33'54.54" x 62°04'29.04" Type: Jars Date: Partho-Sasanian

Coordinates: 30°33'47.59" x 62°03'29.99" Type: Jars, kiln Date: Partho-Sasanian

Jars 220 is a set of ledge rim storage jars embedded in the ground in close proximity with Jars 218/219. Number and array were not recorded. No photographs were taken of the site nor ceramics collected. Ceramics include ring burnished pedestal goblet bases, one dog dish fragment, and handmade cooking ware with temper of large pebbles. Several medium storage jar rims with everted and thickened rims were found, along with two ridged vertical handles of pitchers in red ware and slip. Likely unrelated to the jars site, two Early Iron sherds with painted bands and two with exterior ridge rims were found along with several turquoise glazed Timurid sherds.

Groups of 11 and 24 large and smaller storage jars set in the ground approximately 600 m southeast of Qala 231. A ceramic kiln is also located at the site, specific location not recorded. A fragment of a travertine bowl with a sharply everted rim and four ceramic pulley fragments were collected. Ceramics include fine red ware plates and shallow bowls, many ring burnished. Several pedestal goblet bases, a small cosmetic jar fragment, and a vase with an ear handle were noted. Several Early Iron painted sherds were seen to the northeast of the jars area.

5.47 Jars 249 Coordinates: 34'14.56" x 62°03'46.71" Type: Jars, kilns Date: Partho-Sasanian A group of nine large ledge rim storage jars set in the ground, aligned north to south in two rows with five jars in the eastern row. To the northeast are foundations of two ceramic kilns, each 3 m square and standing as much as 50 cm high. East of the embedded jar group are broken fragments of three other large store jars on the surface. Surface ceramics include both fine and coarse bowls, many with red slips and one ring burnished. Several fragments of dog dishes and ribbed store jar bodies, four pedestal goblets in fine red ware, and one fine ware bowl with incised decoration on shoulder of wavy lines and straight lines were noted. One storage jar was excavated from this site (see Figures 5.35.1–4).

Figure 5.47.1 Nine jar configuration at Jars 249. HSP72.3.26

Figure 5.47.2 Kiln at Jars 249 site. HSP72.3.28

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5.48 Jars 333 Coordinates: 30°36'20.34" x 62°04'52.77" Type: Jars, kiln Date: Partho-Sasanian The sole jars-only site recorded at a distance to the north of Shahr-i Gholghola, approximately 2.5 km, though other collections of jars are located near larger sites in northern Sar-o-Tar. Five large jars and one smaller jar are set into the ground near a kiln and canal, surrounded by large amounts of Partho-Sasanian ceramics. Ceramics were not collected or described but include several Islamic sherds. Field notes describing Qala 352, approximately 6 km north of Shahr-i Gholghola, include the notation that groups of embedded jars were encountered along the entire route between the two sites, though none were recorded other than this one.

Figure 5.48.1 Jars 333 site. HSP73.8.33

5.49 Kiln 253

5.50 Kurdu

Coordinates: 30°34'20.13" x 62°03'23.68" Type: Kilns Date: Partho-Sasanian, Timurid

Other names: Houses 343, Fischer Tower 33, Tower 34, Ruinfield 35, Hall 36 Gazetteer #: 648 Coordinates: 30°44'48.39" x 62°02'23.87" Type: Cluster of houses Date: Timurid

A diffuse area of kilns and heavy sherd cover along a branch canal leading north from the canal toward Qala 268 and the Timurid settlement beyond. Sherd cover is of mostly pre-Islamic ware with occasional Timurid and other Islamic wares on the ground. No evidence of house remains, jars, or other domestic structures. Sherds from this area were not recorded, but objects include two heavily oxidized chunks of iron ring mail and a round, perforated bead, very light in weight, that may have been made of bitumen. No photographs were taken.

A set of houses, three or four in a line, and several others scattered about nearby in an area of about 2000 x 400 m northeast-southwest at the northern edge of Sar-o-Tar. The houses are generally small, not the size of the estates we found at Houses 338 and elsewhere. The area has numerous ruins that were documented by Fischer as four separate sites (Fischer 1974–1976, 38–39) including two mudbrick towers, several kilns, and a large mudbrick hall. Fischer ascribes Sasanian and earlier Islamic periods as well as Timurid to this cluster. Our limited evidence cannot confirm this. No HSP photographs, drawings, or field notes were taken of the site. One sherd was collected here, part of a late thirteenth century Lung Ch’uan Chinese celadon bowl, preserved rim to base, with a design of one, possibly two, low relief fish (M. Medley, personal communication).

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5.51 Mausoleum 4B Coordinates: 30°48'47.22" x 62°07'27.68" Type: Mausoleum within a rural community Date: Ghaznavid A large Ghaznavid mausoleum approximately 30 x 30 m was located at the southeast end of extensive Ghaznavid remains of the Qala 4 village. Located 0.5 km to the southeast of Qala 4, the mausoleum has a central room with four corner rooms, each slightly different in configuration. Round towers mark the exterior of each of the corner rooms. Walls are well preserved, up to 5 m in height. The central room is 17 m square with iwans on all four walls. It was probably domed with its dome rising above the height of the corner rooms. Each corner room is constructed differently. The northwest room has a recessed entrance on the north leading to a vaulted room running southwest-northeast. The north façade of this room has a large keyhole arch above the doorway, framed by two smaller ones. Windows are cut

Figure 5.51.1 Sketch plan of Mausoleum 4B. W. Trousdale 1974, redrawn J. Allen

Figure 5.51.2 Mausoleum 4B from the west. HSP74.51.12

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sar-o-tar into each of the keyholes. The northeast room has a dome over four squinch arches of baked brick and mudbrick. Above a door of the northeast room (unclear which door) are three keyhole arches with small horizontal windows above each of the arches. A course of horizontal baked bricks sits between the top of the arched doorway and the windows. The corner domes launch from just above the windows. The southwest room is divided unequally into two chambers, vaulted and stretching southwest-northeast. The smaller southern chamber may have a stairwell leading to an upper gallery. The keyhole arches in the building are plastered rather than framed with mudbrick. Layers of horizontal baked bricks are used as decorative elements. The corners have courses of vertically laid baked bricks. The arches of the doorways have alternate courses of brick laid straight so that the “pointed” arch is not truly pointed. These are all architectural elements reflecting the Ghaznavid buildings of Shahr-i Gholghola. The level of preservation suggests it might have been reused, or at least revered, in Timurid times. The roof in parts of the building collapsed on top of dunes, therefore after the incursion of sand in the area. No artifacts were collected or photographed. See also description of Qala 4 Village, section 5.59.

Figure 5.51.3 Northeast room of Mausoleum 4B. HSP74.51.9

Figure 5.51.5 North iwan of Mausoleum 4B. HSP74.51.14

Figure 5.51.4 Northwest room of Mausoleum 4B. HSP74.51.10

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5.52 Mausoleum 165 Coordinates: 30°33'52.31" x 62°05'34.78" Type: Two Islamic mausoleums Date: Timurid Two small ruined Timurid-era mausoleums were found 1 km south of Shahr-i Gholghola in the wind scour. Fragments of a third building stand to the north, possibly another mausoleum because of similar size, but only a small fragment of the east wall still stands, and the building’s architectural plan is not discernable. Fragments of other buildings extend to the west but were not explored. The larger building to the north (approximately 6 x 4 m) has two arches on each side and one on each end. The walls are made of mudbrick. West and south sides and part of the east side still stand 2 m in height, high enough to preserve arches that rise 1.5 m above the likely original base of the building. The north side and part of the west side have collapsed. This building has two vaulted tombs

inside, each approximately 2 m in width, 1.5 m in height, and constructed of mudbrick. A smaller building to the south, approximately 3 m square, is made of four mudbrick piers. All arches except one are still standing. Unlike the larger building, this mausoleum has only a single arch on each side. Domes of both buildings have collapsed. Found at the site were three fragments of inscribed ceramic funerary tiles with black paint under turquoise glaze. Two of the fragments have part of an inscription, the third a geometric decoration. An earring of iron was also found at the site. No ceramics were collected at this site, which is presumed to be Timurid because of its architectural style and proximity to Houses 183.

Figure 5.52.1 Mausoleum 165 from the southwest. Smaller tomb at right, larger tomb in center, a third badly eroded to the left, possibly others in foreground. HSP71.39.4

Figure 5.52.2 Larger mausoleum with double arches on either side. HSP71.38.33

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Figure 5.52.3 Two mudbrick tombs inside Mausoleum 165. HSP71.38.31

Figure 5.52.4 Smaller mausoleum at Mausoleum 165. HSP71.38.35

5.53 Mausoleum 271 Coordinates: 30°34'39.32" x 62°04'56.28" Type: Mausoleum and cemetery Date: Timurid An Islamic mausoleum located just outside the western edge of the moat surrounding the outer square wall of Shahr-i Gholghola. This site was also visited and photographed by DAFA in 1936 and labeled “petit tour carré” (Hackin 1959, Figure 89). The building consists of four corner piers holding up a dome, only two of which were standing. The standing piers, each 3.5–4 m in current height, are of mudbrick and hollowed in the center. One pier has a band of glazed square baked brick tiles standing in diamond formation and framed by a layer of horizontal baked brick above and below around the exterior, approximately 3 m above the current surface. The arch for the dome begins above this band. Beneath the baked brick on both exterior sides are remains of closed keyhole arches. The second pier has very fragmentary remains of this decoration. Black painted turquoise glazed ceramic tile fragments were found on the ground near this structure. An extensive cemetery surrounded the mausoleum containing hundreds of burials, largely eroded away by wind. Burials extend from the standing mausoleum eastward as far as the spoil bank of the outermost moat of Shahr-i Gholghola, 30 m away. Most burials consist of a mudbrick skewed vault holding remains of a single person. Several are made of baked brick. Skeletons were buried on their backs with heads inclined to southwest and facing northwest. A number of the burials were of two adults

Figure 5.53.1 Mausoleum 271 from the east, with cemetery in foreground. HSP71.39.36

in the same tomb. These individual tombs were not separately documented. A single surface sherd was collected here by HSP, the painted rim of an Early Iron Age small jar.

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Figure 5.53.2 Piers of Mausoleum 271 showing glazed bands. Exposed bones seen in surface graves in foreground. HSP71.39.33

Figure 5.53.3 South pier of Mausoleum 271 with tile decoration, also photographed by DAFA in 1936. HSP73.4.20

Figure 5.53.4 Other sides of south pier of Mausoleum 271 showing hollow interior. HSP73.4.21

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Figure 5.53.5 Remains of baked brick vaulting on grave east of Mausoleum 271. HSP73.43.30

5.54 Mausoleum 327A Coordinates: 30°39'09.35" x 62°02'19.37" Type: Mausoleum near a large qala and house cluster Date: Timurid A small, essentially intact Timurid mausoleum 100 m west of Qala 327. The building is made of mudbrick and consists of a square central room, possibly domed, with four corner rooms, each domed, largely intact but filled with sand. The building stands about 3 m high and 6 x 6 m in size. Entrances to the central room and the corner rooms are visible on both the west and east sides. On the east side, there is a large arched window over the door to the central room and three keyhole arches over the entrances to the side rooms.

To the north is a detached rectangular building, much more badly eroded. It is 6 x 6 m in size but stands only about 2 m in height. It has a single arched doorway on both the east and west sides. To the south of the main mausoleum there are indications of other walls but a plan cannot be discerned. No field notes were taken; description is from photographs only. Artifacts related to this site were included with collection at Qala 327; specific find locations at that site were not indicated.

Figure 5.54.1 Mausoleum 327A with Qala 327 in background, from the west. HSP73.28.35

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Figure 5.54.2 South building and part of north building of Mausoleum 327A from east. HSP73.28.33

5.55 Mausoleum 338A Coordinates: 30°43'09.30" x 62°02'41.02" Type: Square baked brick mausoleum and later kiln Date: Ghaznavid, Ghorid Located at the south-southeast end of the Houses 338 group, 1.5 km southeast of the last large structure of that group, the building is a four pier style mausoleum. The coordinates of this site are approximate as it could not be located in satellite images. The mausoleum is square, 13.5 m on a side, faces north-northwest, and has four corner piers, with walls open between them. The north iwan has a baked brick paving with a vertical brick step down into the center of the structure. Each pier has a notch in the interior corner and is hollow in its interior. The building is largely destroyed except for a portion of the baked brick foundation, with walls 0.9 m thick made of bricks 30 x 30 x 5.5–6 cm in size. Whole bricks are laid horizontally on the exterior but some half bricks and brick fragments are stacked vertically in an irregular fashion inside the clean façade, held together by mortar. This is particularly evident in the northwest corner.

A kiln was later built about 5 m outside the northeast corner, which was used to fire molded ceramics. The kiln is of baked brick and in a barrel shape with the vault going east-west. Parts of it still stand 1 m in height. Numerous twelfth to thirteenth century unglazed molded wares and some molds are scattered on the ground, carved with deep grooves, often 0.5 cm deep. Their patterns tend to be more linear than floral. The “picket fence” pattern on one of the sherds is unique and does not seem to match the patterning for this time. A wall extends to the north from the northwest corner and meets an east-extending wall, but unclear if this is another room or a porch. There are fragments of walls to the east of the building but it is unclear if they are parts of the structure. The entrance to the mausoleum might be on the east side. The iwan at the south end is blocked with a mudbrick wall preserved approximately 1 m high, added later to the building.

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Other structures surrounded by eleventh to thirteenth century ce molded and glazed pottery extend to the south and east of this building, preserved only at foundation level and interspersed with fourteenth to fifteenth century ce sherds. These were not further investigated but may indicate a village, like Houses 338, from the Ghaznavid period that moved further north in Timurid times. There is a more complete and more elaborate mausoleum documented within the Houses 338 area labeled Mausoleum 338. Figure 5.55.1 Sketch plan of Mausoleum 338A. W. Trousdale 1974, redrawn J. Allen

Figure 5.55.2 Baked brick foundations of Mausoleum 338A from southeast with remains of later kiln at right. HSP74.42.2

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5.56 Mir Ali Other names: House 351 Gazetteer #: 722 Coordinates: 30°57'06.40" x 62°01'56.02" Type: House and walled garden Date: Ghaznavid A rectangular house 15 x 25 m with its entrance possibly at the center of the south wall, though this is unusual for Sistan houses. The entrance is bordered by a pair of small, narrow rooms on each side. Rows of rooms border the west and east sides of the building. There is an iwan facing south at the north end of the central courtyard with a room behind it and hallways separating it from the rooms on the east and west sides of the building. Iwan walls are constructed of baked brick up to 3 m in height with mudbrick above. Remaining walls also have a baked brick foundation with mudbrick superstructure. Notable about this house is the grid of walls outside of it, three running east-west and three running

Figure 5.56.1 Sketch plan of Mir Ali/House 351. W. Trousdale 1974, redrawn J. Allen

Figure 5.56.2 The large house at Mir Ali/House 351, looking north at north iwan. HSP74.54.6

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Figure 5.56.3 Walled gardens around Mir Ali/House 351. Remains of gatehouse are at upper right. HSP74.54.8

north-south, outlining a large garden area approximately 150 x 220 m in size. These walls extend to the south but unclear how far. The garden walls are faced with baked brick and filled with brick rubble but stand only at foundation level, presumably to separate various garden areas. There is a small rectangular gate house or garden house at the end of the north center wall of the complex. Satellite photos show structures to the south and east of the gardens but these were not explored, possibly covered

with sand, during our visit. Numerous Ghaznavid sherds were found inside and around the house. None were collected, photographed, or drawn. Based upon the sherd coverage and extensive use of baked brick, we presume this to be a large Ghaznavid estate. A house similar in construction and plan can be found at Qala 5.5. The site had previously been visited by Fischer’s survey but not fully published.

5.57 Qala 0.5 Coordinates: 30°50'05.42" x 62°06'21.81" Type: Small square qala Date: Partho-Sasanian A very eroded stump of a small square qala approximately 32 x 32 m on a small terrace surrounded by a broad moat. The terrace extends another 25 m toward the southeast. There is a massive exterior wall on the northeast part standing two stories high above the terrace, but the site is too badly eroded to discern an interior plan. Ceramics were collected but not processed in the field and are now lost. There is a mention of jabbed base jars in the field notes. Figure 5.57.1 Satellite view of Qala 0.5. Courtesy J. Thibeau (CAMEL/AHMP)

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Figure 5.57.2 Southeast interior of Qala 0.5 with Qala 1 in distance. HSP74.50.5

Figure 5.57.3 Terrace south of walls of Qala 0.5, with moat extending around it. HSP74.50.7

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5.58 Qala 1 Coordinates: 30°49'56.27" x 62°06'27.03" Type: Nested pre-Islamic qalas reused in Islamic times Date: Sasanian, Saffarid, Ghaznavid, Timurid A tall, square fortress tower embedded within a nested pair of square qalas. The entire fortress is likely surrounded by a moat, though it is only visible in some places. There is evidence of a gateway on the southwest wall, but there may have been other entrances not visible. The outer qala is of mudbrick 100 m on a side with round corner towers and two square towers on the interior of each side. Corners are at the cardinal points. Exterior walls stand as much as 6 m high and are made of pakhsa separated at intervals by five courses of mudbrick. The Figure 5.58.1 Satellite view of Qala 1. Courtesy J. Thibeau exterior wall has thin vertical slits, often in groups of (CAMEL/AHMP) three with the center slit vertical and the side slits slanted outward from the bottom. They are about 20 cm wide. They may have originally had merlon shapes. Unlike slits designed for bowmen, these are not wide on the interior and narrow at the exterior, allowing for change of angle, but straight through the wall. Thus they are unlikely to have served a military function. The inner square qala is 70 m on a side and has rounded corner towers and square towers in the centers of each wall facing outward. The square towers stand two stories high with the lower level roofed with a single skew vault and containing 15 thin window frames, five on each open side, but only three of which extend through the wall to the interior. The remainder are recessed from the exterior wall by one brick but do not extend to the room inside. The upper level has two slit windows on each side 50 cm in width and 1 m high. The inner qala is badly damaged along most of its Figure 5.58.2 Field sketch of nested fortresses and tower of boundaries, but the walls that remain are as much as 6 Qala 1. W. Trousdale 1974, redrawn J. Allen m high and were highly unusual in construction. Layers of pakhsa are separated by single courses of mudbrick. Approximately 3 m above the current base, there is a band consisting of a single course of slanted mudbrick, presumably a decorative feature. Three layers of pakhsa separated by single horizontal rows of mudbrick sit atop the slanted layer. About 2 m above the first row of slanted brick is another layer slanted in the opposite direction from the lower layer. Above this, the alternating of pakhsa and horizontal brick layers resumes. The rooms around the inside of the inner qala were originally two stories with a row of merlon shaped windows 1.3 m in height located 70 cm beneath the first row of slanted bricks. There is a passage from the inner qala to the center tower from the center of Figure 5.58.3 Qala 1 from west. HSP74.50.18 the southeast wall. 137

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Figure 5.58.4 Entrance in southwest wall of outer fortress of Qala 1. HSP74.50.19

Figure 5.58.5 Southeast wall lines of outer and inner fortresses of Qala 1. Note large square tower in mid-wall of inner fortress, ruined round corner tower of inner fortress in foreground right, and gateway into inner fortress between them. HSP74.50.24

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Figure 5.58.6 Detail of construction of southeast wall of inner fortress of Qala 1. Thick layers of pakhsa separated by single layers of mudbrick, and two layers of slanted mudbrick at 3 m and 5 m above base. Gateway is at right. HSP74.50.22

Figure 5.58.7 East entrance to central tower from inner fortress of Qala 1. HSP74.50.11

Figure 5.58.8 Central tower of Qala 1. HSP74.50.25

The center tower stands two stories high and is approximately 30 m square. There are small towers at the corners of the center tower with a strong batter; the towers are no more than 2 m in diameter at their top. In the last rebuild, probably in Timurid times, the lower floor was filled in and the upper story raised 1.5–2 m higher than its original construction. The upper floor seems to have had a vaulted gallery 1.5 m wide wrapping around the four sides.

Outside the east corner of the largest qala is an outer bastion built on a foundation 9 m across composed of fourteen courses of large baked bricks. Bricks are either rectangular and 46–47 x 65–70 x 5–7 cm in size, or smaller and squared, 40–42 x 40–42 x 7 cm in size. The tower above the baked brick foundation is 5–6 m in diameter. The bastion is supported by a glacis of mudbrick extending along both the northeast and southeast walls. No similar

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the archaeology of southwest afghanistan structure could be seen on any of the other corners. It is unclear whether this is a repair of an eroding corner or part of the original qala design. Our notes indicate a concentration of Timurid sherds in the center tower, suggesting it was probably reused at that time. Some of the sherds are Chinese porcelain imports, suggesting elite living in the tower. Some Ghaznavid sherds were also visible on the ground. Sherds were collected but not processed in the field and are now lost. The use of slanted brick as a decorative element is familiar from the Saffarid and Ghaznavid periods of Shahr-i Gholghola and may help us date the construction or reconstruction of the inner qala. While our notes do not mention the existence of pre-Islamic sherds, the use of large baked bricks suggest the original qala was Sasanian. The set of nested fortresses suggests the site had a military or public function.

Figure 5.58.9 Bastion at southeast corner of outer fortress of Qala 1 with its foundation of baked brick. HSP74.50.28

5.59 Qala 4 Village Coordinates: 30°48'52.54" x 62°07'03.66" Type: A “village” with numerous structures representing multiple time periods, including two qalas, a mausoleum, towers, numerous houses, and a kiln Date: Early Iron?, Sasanian, Saffarid, Ghaznavid, Ghorid, Timurid

A collection of structures extending to the west, north, and south of Qala 4, covering an area approximately 1000 x 700 m. A square Sasanian qala (Qala 4A, section 5.61) is located 600 m to the west of Qala 4 (section 5.60) against a large north-south canal. A well-preserved Ghaznavid mausoleum (Mausoleum 4B, section 5.51) is located 270 m

Figure 5.59.1 Satellite view of Qala 4 Village area. Courtesy J. Thibeau (CAMEL/ AHMP)

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Figure 5.59.2 View looking south from Qala 4. Mausoleum 4B at right in distance. HSP74.51.6

to the southeast of Qala 4. A Ghaznavid tower is located 50 m to the northwest of the mausoleum (Qala 4D), a small Ghaznavid house 100 m further north (Qala 4E). The rest of the area consists of numerous small structures, likely houses. Ceramics surrounding the houses suggest occupation during both Sasanian and Ghaznavid times. The Sasanian era structures are scattered throughout the village. These houses are generally badly eroded. Their plans generally have an iwan on the north-northwest, a central courtyard, and rooms ringing the sides. Most have extensive Sasanian sherd cover around them. The Sasanian community also has numerous small towers and other buildings of unknown function. Toward the southwest are clusters of up to 20 Ghaznavid houses, based on accompanying ceramic scatter. Ghaznavid houses are smaller than their Timurid successors and are made with mudbrick superstructure over a baked brick foundation. The baked brick was likely exposed above ground as they are sometimes laid in alternating decorative horizontal and vertical bands. Most of these houses have an iwan at the north end and rows of rooms along the east and west sides around a central courtyard.

Figure 5.59.3 Plan of Sasanian fortified house (Qala 4C) southeast of Qala 4A. J. Knudstad 1974

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the archaeology of southwest afghanistan At the southeast edge of Qala 4 is an area of a mixed Sasanian and Ghaznavid occupation. About 300 m to the northwest of Qala 4 is a large pre-Islamic tower. One structure to the south of Qala 4A is a small well-preserved Sasanian house (Qala 4C) 9–10 m square, reused in Timurid times as a kiln. There is little other evidence of Timurid period occupation, possibly due to contraction of the canal system in the eastern part of Sar-o-Tar. At the far northern area of occupation (labeled Rustaq 3, described separately below), a slight rise has numerous human bones as from a cemetery, accompanied by a concentration of Early Iron Age pottery. A broken ceramic altar in red ware 6.5 m square and 10 m high is incised with different geometric designs in lines and dots on each of four sides. The piece sits on four broken feet. A whetstone 7 cm long and 2 cm wide of schist and quartzite was documented. A small travertine vessel fragment was discovered between sites. The entire area is extensively covered with pre-Islamic

ceramic wares, mostly ribbed jars and bowls. A dearth of ring burnished red wares and pedestal vessels makes extensive Parthian occupation appear unlikely. A concentration of Early Iron painted pottery was discovered at Rustaq 3 and undecorated Early Iron forms were found in modest quantities throughout the area. Numerous unglazed molded wares from the twelfth to thirteenth century were collected. All are decorated with geometric and floral patterning. One cooking pot with an elaborate handle was also retrieved. Almost all of the glazed ware belongs to the tenth to eleventh century which includes polychrome buff ware with geometric patterning, white decoration on black slip, and imitation lusterware. The base of one sherd is decorated with an image of a quadruped in black covered in white slip, resembling the figural polychrome buff ware or the wares found in Transoxania. The sherds collected were from the entire Qala 4 area, thus it is impossible to relate specific objects to any structure in the village. (LZB)

Figure 5.59.4 Eroded house in north part of Qala 4 village. Fragments of baked brick foundation suggest this house is Ghaznavid. HSP74.51.4

Figure 5.59.5 Round pre-Islamic tower between Qala 4 and Qala 4A. HSP74.51.7

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5.60 Qala 4 Coordinates: 30°48'57.35" x 62°07'25.20" Type: Square qala with rectangular central building Date: Sasanian A square qala approximately 55 m on a side with corners at the cardinal points. There is a large structure at the center. Walls stand as much as 6 m in height. A well-preserved mudbrick entrance is located at the middle of the northeast side flanked by semicircular towers. Over the archway of the gate is a tall merlon-shaped window flanked by vertical slit windows. There are elevated rooms on either side of the gate. A single row of rooms is against the inner side of the compound wall. The central structure is rectangular, about 35 x 25 m in size, and has a row of rooms along the inside of the northwest and southeast sides. The rear room of the structure has four central piers, a chartaq. The only preserved interior façade of the building has recessed arches with small square windows in their centers.

Figure 5.60.1 Field sketch of Qala 4. M. Allen 1974, redrawn J. Allen

Figure 5.60.2 Qala 4 from north. HSP74.51.16

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Figure 5.60.3 Central structure of Qala 4 looking west. HSP74.51.17

The qala is the largest feature in a collection of structures which extend to the west, north, and south, described separately here as Qala 4 Village, with occupation from Sasanian and Ghaznavid times. Ceramics of Qala 4 consist almost exclusively of pre-Islamic sherds, primarily ribbed jars and bowls. One sherd of grayware has a black drip slip. A single collection of sherds was made throughout the Qala 4 area, so it is unclear which were found inside the qala and which are from the broader area.

Figure 5.60.4 Interior of east gate of Qala 4. HSP74.51.18

5.61 Qala 4A Coordinates: 30°48'52.18" x 62°07'03.55" Type: Square qala with later tower Date; Sasanian, Timurid? A square qala approximately 40 x 40 m with tower in northeast corner located approximately 600 m west of Qala 4 with numerous structures in between (see Qala 4 Village). Walls of the original qala are highly eroded. The much better preservation of the tower suggests a later occupation. Satellite photos show this qala to be at the junction of a large north-south canal with a branch canal leading into Qala 4 Village. The site is not described in detail in our notes. Ceramics are largely pre-Islamic with a few glazed, possibly Timurid, sherds. No sherds separately collected, and no photographs taken. 144

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5.62 Qala 5.5A Coordinates: 30°52'12.03" x 62°07'46.55" Type: Large square qala with fragmentary interior buildings Date: Sasanian A large square qala approximately 100 x 100 m in size has corners on cardinal points and an entrance at the middle of the southwest wall. There are round towers at each corner and on the middle of each side not having the gate. Two round towers flank the entrance. Exterior walls are well preserved on all sides up to 8 m in height. There are pieces of at least three buildings inside, one to the south, one to the west, and one to the northeast, but the plans of these buildings were not able to be determined. There appears to be a row of rooms around the interior walls, two

stories high with skew vaults opening toward the courtyard. Much of the courtyard was covered with sand. Three large structures are located within 100 m of the main qala to the northwest, northeast, and southeast. They are described separately as Qala 5.5B, C, D. There are also small houses of unknown date 150 m south and 120 m north of the qala, not visited nor described. The collection of structures surrounding the large qala, all likely dating to the Sasanian period, are clearly interrelated. Ceramics were not collected nor recorded at the site.

Figure 5.62.1 Satellite view of Qala 5.5 area with major structures indicated. Note there are additional buildings in the area as well as sizeable canals running north of site D and between sites A and B. Courtesy J. Thibeau (CAMEL/AHMP)

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Figure 5.62.2 Field sketch of Qala 5.5A. W. Trousdale 1974, redrawn J. Allen

Figure 5.62.3 Qala 5.5A exterior from northwest

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Figure 5.62.4 Looking at northern interior of Qala 5.5A from southern wall. HSP74.51.23

Figure 5.62.5 Looking at eastern interior of Qala 5.5A from southern wall. HSP74.51.24

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Figure 5.62.6 Southern interior of Qala 5.5A. HSP74.51.25

Figure 5.62.7 Large storage jar just outside Qala 5.5A, probably originally buried. HSP74.51.27

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5.63 Qala 5.5B Coordinates: 30°52'12.64" x 62°07'39.78" Type: Rectangular house and garden Date: Sasanian A rectangular house approximately 15 x 30 m in size is located 100 m to the west of Qala 5.5A and is divided into two compounds. The house has a large iwan covering much of the northwest wall leading into a courtyard to the south faced by rows of rooms on the east and west. Several rooms extend from the iwan at the northwest and northeast parts of the building. A wall to the south and west of the house at 10 m distance defines the boundaries of a garden. The west wall of the garden is approximately 50 m in current length and extends beyond the north wall of the house. The length of the south wall is estimated to be at least 25 m long. Some of the northeastern walls stand as much as 5 m in height, though most of the southern half is highly eroded. Satellite photos indicate a tower on the southeast corner not noted in our visit. No ceramics were recorded or photographed.

Figure 5.63.2 Qala 5.5B, Sasanian house from south. HSP74.51.20

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Figure 5.63.1 Field sketch of Qala 5.5B. W. Trousdale 1974, redrawn J. Allen

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5.64 Qala 5.5 C Coordinates: 30°52'11.38" x 62°07'51.80" Type: Fire temple (?) reused in Islamic times Date: Sasanian, Ghaznavid Located about 80 m to the southeast of Qala 5.5A, Qala 5.5C is a well-preserved building of 25 x 35 m with walls made of mudbrick and pakhsa. Main walls are approximately 1.5–1.75 m in width. A 1 m wide entrance on the southwest corner leads into an antechamber 2.4 x 3.8 m with an arched niche on the north wall. This leads to a bent entry protected by a wall stub into a large courtyard to the north and east, 14.4 x 10.2 m, with niches on both the west and east walls. At the north end of the courtyard is a central iwan 4.6 m wide and 6.5 m long with niches on either side. Parallel to the iwan at the edges of the courtyard are narrow vaulted chambers running north-south, possibly ambulatories. To the north is a large room 4.6 x 2.5 m domed on four corner piers, a chartaq design. To the west and east are side bays 1.2 m in depth and running the Figure 5.64.1 Plan of Sasanian fire temple Qala 5.5C. J. Knudstad 1974 length of the domed room. The side bays have shallow high niches, badly eroded. Another transverse room 5 x 9.6 m is north of the domed room, but the domed room that has been blocked up and features largely covered by an approaching sand dune. an arched niche. A doorway leads south from this room To the west of the main area are four side rooms that bor- into an antechamber 3 x 5.5 m and vaulted east to west. der either the courtyard or the domed room. The two south- There are one or more rooms at the northeast corner but ern rectangular rooms are 7.5 x 3.8 m with entrances into the level of preservation did not allow us to determine the courtyard; the room north of those two and leading into configuration or size. the domed room is 6 x 3.8 m. The size of the northernmost Facing the exterior on the west is a merlon-shaped slit room on the west side is undetermined due to erosion. window. To the east of the main area is a small room of similar Numerous eleventh to twelfth century ce ceramics size to the entry hall on the west at the southern end. To were found around the building, but the plan is similar to the north a room 9 x 5.5 m leads into the courtyard and that of a Sasanian fire temple and unlike other Ghaznavid is vaulted north-south. To the east of the domed room buildings we recorded. We suggest this may be a Sasanian is a square room 4 x 5.5 m with a doorway leading into temple that was reused in later times. 150

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5.65 Qala 5.5D Coordinates: 30°52'22.03" x 62°07'49.36" Type: Square qala with an appended structure and satellite structures Date: Sasanian A square qala surrounded by an appended compound and several associated structures. The main qala is square, 30 x 30 m, with corner towers oriented to cardinal points and two stories of vaulted rows of rooms around an interior courtyard, with vaults running parallel to compound walls. Some, but not all, of the rooms have entrances leading to the central courtyard. Appended to southeast side is another structure 30 x 15 m with towers on the south and east corners. Location of the entrance could not be determined, nor could it be determined whether there was a passageway between the two parts of the qala.

Figure 5.65.1 Field sketch of Qala 5.5D. W. Trousdale 1974, redrawn J. Allen

Figure 5.65.2 Qala 5.5D from Qala 5.5A, showing tower and granary (left and center) surrounding it. HSP74.51.22

Figure 5.65.3 Qala 5.5D from southwest, showing two sectors of the site. HSP74.51.26

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the archaeology of southwest afghanistan At least six additional smaller structures are located within 100 m to the west, south, and southeast of the qala. These include a square tower to the west and a long hall, possibly a granary, to the southwest. The excellent preservation of these two satellite structures suggests they are

more recent. The buildings to the south and east look to be houses, though they were not visited. A large canal runs to the north of the buildings. Ceramics consist largely of Sasanian ribbed bowls and jars.

5.66 Qala 19A Coordinates: 30°40'50.90" x 62°08'11.36" Type: Rectangular qala with central building Date: Parthian, Sasanian A large rectangular fortress of mudbrick approximately 90 x 90 m. Walls stand as much as 6 m above the plain. The entry gate is on the east side. A single square building consisting of at least four rooms is situated in the courtyard. There is a row of rooms along the inside of the enclosure walls. There is an extensive sherd scatter inside. A large canal is located outside the east wall of the qala with well-defined field walls adjacent. Artifacts include a stone cube of granite (likely a weight), a metallic fragment, and a ceramic donut-shaped bead. Two coins of Yazdegard II from the fifth century ce were found along the southern side, one inside and one outside the qala walls. Ceramics are largely storage jars and basins of red hard fired ribbed ware, many with a row of punctated designs around the shoulder, tree motifs, “animal paws,” rosettes, and rows of angled dots. One ribbed sherd found in the southeast corner room has the insignia of Indo-Parthian king Gondaphares stamped into it.

Figure 5.66.1 Satellite view of Qala 19A. Courtesy J. Thibeau (CAMEL/AHMP)

Figure 5.66.2 South and west exterior walls of Qala 19A. HSP74.14.24

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Figure 5.66.3 West interior of Qala 19A. Note row of rooms against west wall and remains of central structure. HSP73.14.25

Figure 5.66.4 Eastern half of interior of Qala 19A. Central structure in left foreground. Qala entrance is through the east wall, far right in photo. HSP73.14.28

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Figure 5.66.5 Looking east from Qala 19A at large canal paralleling east wall and field walls beyond. Qala 19B in distance. HSP73.14.26

Figure 5.66.6 Sherd containing the dynastic symbol of IndoParthian king Gondophares, found in southeast corner of qala. HSP73.40.22

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5.67 Qala 19B Coordinates: 30°40'43.07" x 62°07'36.16" Type: Small square qala Date: Sasanian The site is a square qala of approximately 30 x 30 m located approximately 1 km east of Qala 19A with badly eroded walls that have towers at each corner. The entrance is possibly in the center of south side. The site is best preserved on the south and west ends, where the walls stand 6 m in height. The interior is densely covered with ceramics and vertical standing baked bricks that were probably once facings for walls. This is the only evidence of a structure inside walls. A set of jars embedded in the ground is located just outside the qala. Satellite photos show a canal running 10 m to the north of the north wall of the site. Artifacts include the neck of a yellow-olive green glass bottle. Ceramics consist mostly of utilitarian jars, red wares, club rims (many with incised wavy design), pitchers with vertical handles of three to five strands, jars with punctated wedges around the neck, jars with stamped pine tree motif bands around the neck, and one goblet base. Many of the large jars and bowls are ribbed wares.

Figure 5.67.1 Satellite view of Qala 19B, with badly eroded walls, entrance on south, and round corner towers. Courtesy J. Thibeau (CAMEL/AHMP)

Figure 5.67.2 South and west exterior of Qala 19B. Note round corner tower and entry on south wall, to right. HSP73.15.8

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Figure 5.67.3 North and east interior of Qala 19B. Note corner towers on wall at far right and left, and vertical baked brick wall facing in center. HSP73.15.5

5.68 Qala 20 Coordinates: 30°37'59.05" x 62°06'55.35" Type: Square qala with a central tower Date: Sasanian, Timurid? A square qala of approximately 40 x 40 m in size partially covered with sand with remnants of corner towers. Walls standing as much as 4 m high on the west, more eroded on other sides. Walls are made of mudbrick with at least one layer of baked brick interspersed. Entrance likely on the east side. Remains of a square structure approximately 4 x 4 m and standing 2 m high is at northwest part of site, possibly a Timurid mausoleum. Remains of a badly eroded square structure of 20 x 20 m is visible 70 m to the southeast in satellite photos, but that structure was not explored in the field. No written description was found in field notes; site described from photographs. Ceramics include medium fine and medium coarse red ware jar and bowl rims, one jar with an incised row of notches or possibly a row of pine tree motifs on exterior. Many are ribbed. Two fourteenth to fifteenth century glazed bowl sherds were noted; one decorated in black

Figure 5.68.1 Satellite view of Qala 20. Courtesy J. Thibeau (CAMEL/AHMP)

under a turquoise glaze. The thick rope twisted handle of a hard fired red jar and a flat jar base are in the collection. Two sherds have stamped seal impressions, one of a feline and the other of four arches. (LZB)

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Figure 5.68.3 Qala 20 interior looking north with central structure in foreground, possibly a mausoleum. HSP73.14.16

Figure 5.68.2 Qala 20 exterior from west. HSP73.14.15

5.69 Qala 222 Coordinates: 30°31'03.97" x 62°01'29.35" Type: High mound with lower enclosure, rebuilt as a fortress in later pre-Islamic and Islamic times Date: Early Iron, Partho-Sasanian A high mound of approximately 45 x 30 m on the west, and a lower enclosure to the east of approximately 15 x 40 m, located on the dasht southwest of Sar-o-Tar, 0.5 km west of Temple 215. The site is built upon a natural rise in the dasht gravels. Some depressions outside the mound indicate the possibility of a moat. Some meters to the east are suggestions of a wall, but its relationship to the site is not clearly defined. The structure on the east side of the top of the mound forms a square fortress 15 m on a side with corners on the cardinal directions and towers at each corner. A row of rooms surrounds a courtyard in the center of the building. Entry to the building likely on the southwest side. The only clearly visible walls are those on the west side of the building. An additional round tower is located off the west corner tower toward the edge of the mound. The building is made of mudbrick. Walls stand as much as 4 m above top of mound, the width of walls not able to be determined because of mud melt. The ceramic collection was almost all pre-Islamic. Two or more Early Iron ridged jar rims were identified, possibly an unpainted bowl fragment as well. We collected several ribbed body sherds, one ring burnished base, and other flat bases. One piece of turquoise glazed ware possibly belonging to the fourteenth to fifteenth century, and a twelfth to thirteenth century unglazed molded ware with a rosette motif on the shoulder were found. (LZB)

Figure 5.69.1 Plan of Qala 222. J Knudstad 1973

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Figure 5.69.2 Qala 222 from east, taken from Temple 215. HSP73.15.31

Figure 5.69.3 Qala 222 from east, showing lower enclosure, high mound, and remaining walls of structure atop mound, canal in foreground. HSP73.15.35

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Figure 5.69.4 Qala 222 from west, showing remains of round tower on northwestern part of summit, probably a later addition to the original mound. HSP73.9.36

5.70 Qala 231 Coordinates: 30°33'22.51" x 62°03'36.35" Type: Square platform qala with interior rooms and towers, nearby cemetery Date: Early Iron?, Partho-Sasanian, Timurid Located at the southwest edge of Sar-o-Tar, this is a square pakhsa platform approximately 55 m on each side, bordered by a melted exterior wall and containing two towers and other structures, all very eroded. Corners of the platform are on cardinal points. Remains of melted structures are on the platform, a higher set of rooms on the northwest and a courtyard and lower rooms on the southeast, where two towers are located. The lower tower is difficult to define as a structure but shows evidence of reddish burned mud plaster on its exterior. The higher tower was also difficult to define but included some rounded mudbrick in its construction. There is a dense scatter of ceramics and ceramic slag on and around the mound. The platform is surrounded by a moat, only visible on the southeast and northeast sides. Sand covers the southwest side and the northwest is smoothed with no evidence of a depression. Entrance to the platform is likely on southeast, based on the exit point of the erosion channel from the site. Past the moat on the southeast are two sets of 24 and 11 large jars embedded in the ground, described as Jars 238 (section 5.46). There are traces of mudbrick walls outside the qala near the sets of jars, though their relationship to either site is unknown. Located 0.5 km to the northeast is a large Islamic cemetery. Artifacts include a lead fourteenth century coin found on the surface of the Islamic cemetery. Ceramic corpus

Figure 5.70.1 Satellite view of Qala 231. Islamic cemetery visible at upper right, moat visible on east and south side of qala. Courtesy J. Thibeau(CAMEL/AHMP)

is almost all orange-red wares with buff to orange to red slips in typical pre-Islamic forms. Many jars have vertical club-shaped rims, others have rounded rims with a ridge on shoulder, others have ledge mouth rims, and one has a spout. Typical jar decorations include sherds with a ring of stamped pine trees or incised or combed wavy lines on the shoulder. Several shallow basins were collected. Many jar and large bowl fragments are ribbed. Fine ware bowls occasionally, though not frequently, exhibit ring burnishing and are lighter orange slipped. A highly decorated ceramic lid fragment with incised decoration was recorded. Two Early Iron Age painted sherds were collected, suggesting that the original platform may date to that period.

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Figure 5.70.2 Qala 231 from Jars 238 site to south. Towers on southeast side of mound visible. HSP72.L.23

Figure 5.70.3 Qala 231 from west. HSP72.L.18

Figure 5.70.4 Dense sherd and ceramic slag scatter at Qala 231. HSP72.L.21

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5.71 Qala 265 Coordinates: 30°36'24.13" x 61°59'30.58" Type: Small, badly eroded rectangular qala Date: Partho-Sasanian A small, badly eroded rectangular qala is located along the line of a branch canal leading southeast from the main canal to Shahr-i Gholghola. Dimensions are approximately 10 x 20 m, with rows of rooms around south and east sides, possibly on other sides, of the compound and empty in the center. Walls are largely eroded, particularly

on the north and west, and are partially covered with dunes. Several parts of the south and east walls stand up to 2 m in height. Only three pre-Islamic sherds were collected here, including a goblet rim, a goblet base, and a club rim of a bowl in orange ware with buff exterior slip.

Figure 5.71.1 South and east sides of Qala 265. HSP73.37.32

5.72 Qala 268 Coordinates: 30°34'38.33" x 62°03'01.49" Type: Rectangular qala with later rebuild and reuse Date: Sasanian, Ghaznavid, Ghorid, Timurid Rectangular fortress of approximately 40 x 60 m in the dunes area 2 km west of Shahr-i Gholghola, filled inside and out with sand. Entrance is on the southeast side and consists of two large towers outside the line of walls, squared at the base and rounded higher up. Towers stand approximately 7 m above the remains of the entrance and approximately 10 m above the flood plain. Interior mud melt indicates the likelihood of a ring of rooms around the inside of the structure and a larger structure facing the entrance, though details could not be determined. A remaining window high on the northwest wall might indicate that the original structure had two stories. Walls of the compound are constructed of unusually thick layers of pakhsa approximately 1.5 m in thickness alternating with four courses of mudbrick. The gateway, approximately 1.5 m in width, once had an arch, now

Figure 5.72.1 Field sketch of Qala 268. W. Trousdale 1974, redrawn J. Allen

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the archaeology of southwest afghanistan collapsed, which sprang from several courses of large low fired baked bricks; the sole brick measured was 68 x 46 x 6.5 cm in size. Artifacts include a fine clear glass bottle with relief décor in blue surrounded by green bands, a partial ceramic horse figurine of red ware, and a rim fragment of a large stone cooking pot of steatite with four lug handles. Most ceramics are relatively thick, fine grained hard fired red wares, often covered with a white or cream slip. There are many ribbed body sherds, along Figure 5.72.2 Qala 268 from southeast. HSP73.3.36 with rims of large jars, basins, and bowls. Collection includes one flat basin dog dish, two hard fired red goblet feet, badly wind eroded, one sherd with a band of incised pine trees, and another with four bands of jabbing on the shoulder. Two sherds of fine red ware have a red slip and repeating burnished loops as a design on the interior. Many of these sherds, more than at any other site, are embedded inside the pakhsa walls, likely indicating secondary use. A fragmentary flat-bottomed tray, very wind eroded, is decorated with incised merlons in several bands around the side. Also on the site are many sherds of soft yellow ware, some with white glazes with black and blue floral and geometric motifs. A few sherds from the fourteenth century are decorated with black under a turquoise glaze. Several sherds are slip painted with polychrome decora- Figure 5.72.3 Entry gate at Qala 268 with protecting towers. HSP73.3.37 tion in brown, green, and yellow. Among the assemblage is a piece of twelfth to thirteenth century unglazed molded ware with a red buff body decorated with a repeated starshaped motif. Some fourteenth to fifteenth century ce sherds are also found in wall melt. (LZB)

Figure 5.72.4 Interior of Qala 268. HSP73.3.38

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5.73 Qala 298 Coordinates: 30°38'56.99" x 62°02'34.47" Type: Rectangular qala, jars, kiln Date: Partho-Sasanian A badly eroded square qala of approximately 56 m on a side with a structure of unidentifiable plan in the center. Eroded internal walls are repaired using large vertical baked bricks (60–70 cm square) as noted at other sites. The qala is surrounded by a moat. In the spoil outside the moat is a ceramic tunnel kiln to the west of the qala, approximately 8 m long and 2 m wide, accompanied by 30 storage jars emplaced in the ground. Ceramics consist of mostly large red ware jars and bowls decorated with incised diagonal hatching, wavy lines, and exterior ribbing. Other sherds collected include the pedestal base of a ring burnished goblet and an Early Iron Age painted piece.

Figure 5.73.1 Satellite view of Qala 298. Courtesy J. Thibeau (CAMEL/AHMP)

Figure 5.73.2 Qala 298 from southeast. HSP73.23.16

Figure 5.73.3 Ceramic kiln west of Qala 298 in foreground and rows of emplaced jars behind, from west. HSP73.23.17

Figure 5.73.4 Interior of Qala 298 showing large, vertical baked bricks used to repair walls. HSP73.23.20

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5.74 Qala 327 Coordinates: 30°39'10.18" x 62°02'25.15" Type: Large rectangular qala with central structure, reused in later times Date: Sasanian, Ghaznavid, Timurid A very large rectangular qala 105 x 83 m was surveyed in heavy dunes. Walls on all four sides are badly eroded but still standing in some places 4–5 m high. The thickness of the melt inside the walls suggests a row of rooms around its interior. Entrance to the qala appears to be on the south side. There is a raised area on the north side, where a small tower and another ruined structure sit atop what was probably the remains of a much larger, earlier building. The tower is made of mudbrick in its center, with the western side of a mudbrick base and pakhsa layers interspersed

Figure 5.74.1 Satellite view of Qala 327. Courtesy J. Thibeau (CAMEL/AHMP)

Figure 5.74.2 Qala 327 from west with tower at north end (left) and Mausoleum 327A at far right. HSP73.28.25

Figure 5.74.3 Eastern interior of Qala 327 looking north, possibly a row of rooms along inside of wall. HSP73.28.18

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sar-o-tar with occasional brick layers above. Keyhole arches on the tower indicate this building was probably constructed in the Timurid period. An arched entrance to the tower is visible on the southern end. The second building is 10–15 m from the tower and is much more poorly preserved. There is a raised area near the southwest corner that may indicate another structure, but no details can be discerned. Some eroded wall stubs that probably belong to the earlier building are located to the southeast, but their plan cannot be determined. A set of two or more storage jars are embedded in the ground at the southwest corner. Northwest of the qala are at least five Timurid houses and the remains of canals. To the west of the qala is a well-preserved mausoleum, described separately as Mausoleum 327A. Artifacts include a handle of dark green glass, a bronze bracelet, the vertical rim and wall of a stone bowl in white and light brown travertine, a ceramic pipe section, a badly burned ceramic mold for baked bricks 55 x 55 cm, and the rim of a shallow white alabaster bowl. Numerous ceramics were collected at the site. Partho-Sasanian wares included numerous club rims of large bowls and jars, some appliqued and incised into a rope band, with wavy combed decoration, and many with external ribbing. Ceramics also included numerous fine red wares, some with pine tree stamping. Islamic wares included one green glazed and two unglazed molded ware from the twelfth to thirteenth century, a few monochrome sgraffito wares, and fourteenth to fifteenth century underglaze-painted wares. (LZB)

Figure 5.74.4 Western interior of Qala 327 looking north. Later tower on right, southern wall in foreground. Elevated area to left, possibly an early structure. HSP73.28.20

Figure 5.74.5 Timurid tower and another more eroded building (R) at north end of qala courtyard. HSP73.28.26

Figure 5.74.6 Emplaced jars at southwest corner of Qala 327. HSP73.28.31

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Figure 5.74.7 Canals and Timurid houses to northwest of Qala 327. HSP73.28.22

Figure 5.74.8 Remains of a clay irrigation pipe near Qala 327, surrounded by dense ceramic scatter of ribbed ware, ceramic slag, and a single glazed Timurid sherd at upper left. HSP73.28.21

Figure 5.74.9 Charred mold for bricks found outside Timurid houses northwest of Qala 327. HSP73.28.17

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5.75 Qala 330 Coordinates: 30°35'23.22" x 62°04'57.26" Type: Large square qala Date: Sasanian A large square qala of 90 m on a side located 600 m to the northwest of the outer square wall of Shahr-i Gholghola. Walls are parallel to the cardinal points. The site is largely covered with sand but walls are well preserved, though wall heights were not recorded. The site is surrounded by a broad but shallow moat, dimensions of which were not recorded. Likely there were round towers at each corner and in the center of each wall. The sole entry is from the center of the south wall, with two round towers flanking a gateway, each preserved 7–8 m in height and 5–6 m in diameter. At the east jamb of this gateway is a large dark gray boulder, unshaped except for the concave socket on the upper part that would hold a large door. Foundations are made of very large baked bricks, 65–75 x 35–40 x 6–7 cm, as is the remains of the arch of the entryway. Remainder of the walls are made of mudbrick and pakhsa. Interior organization of the qala is unclear, though there is evidence of rooms around the edges and likely a large walled structure at the center of the site. The few sherds embedded within the pakhsa superstructure walls are all pre-Islamic. Despite proximity to Shahr-i Gholghola and Timurid house clusters, there is no evidence of reconstruction or reuse in Islamic times. Artifacts include a stone cube and one fragment of opaque black glass. Numerous red ware jar and bowl fragments mostly orange-buff to orange-red in color with slips of buff to red were found. Some have external ribbing. One jar has combed decoration and three rows of punctated notches

Figure 5.75.1 Plan of Qala 330. R. Hamilton 1973

Figure 5.75.3 Entry gatepost socket of blue-gray stone at Qala 330. HSP73.7.26

Figure 5.75.2 Qala 330 from south, with entryway flanked by round towers. HSP72.19.5

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the archaeology of southwest afghanistan on shoulder and rim, another has merlon stamping. There was an absence of burnished wares, handles, and goblet stems. The shoulder fragment of a heavy red ware storage jar has the remains of two stamp impressions which were made before firing. The only Islamic sherd collected was a wall fragment of an open bowl which was molded and turquoise glazed. (LZB) Figure 5.75.4 Large baked bricks in foundation of entryway to Qala 330. HSP73.7.27

5.76 Qala 340 Coordinates: 30°48'52.82” x 62°00'00.76" Type: Square qala with later tower Date: Partho-Sasanian, Ghorid, Timurid? An almost square qala approximately 50 x 53 m with walls 4 m thick oriented to the compass points. Towers are at three of the corners and remains of a later house, possibly built upon the fourth corner tower, is in the southeast corner. Entrance to the building seems to be on the east side. A row of rooms 4 m in depth runs along the inside of the compound wall. Bits of a baked brick wall in the center of the courtyard indicate the possibility of later repairs there. The qala is surrounded by a moat, the width of which was not recorded. The towers are long and narrow, the best preserved one containing two rooms. An extensive amount of baked brick rubble is located in the west corner of the qala. A mudbrick tower and several other structures, probably Islamic, stretch to the southeast outside the qala walls. Primarily pre-Islamic ceramics were found at the site, though the areas of apparent reuse—the building on the southeast tower and the rubble in the southwest corner— contain a greater percentage of Ghorid and Timurid wares. The corner towers contain mostly pre-Islamic pottery. Most ceramics are large ribbed jars, some with incised wavy lines around the neck. Also noted were incised pine tree motifs, thick rimmed bowls, disc bases of red ware bowls, five ridge handles, a yellow glazed fragment from the twelfth to thirteen centuries ce, and numerous hard fired and overfired red and black wares. No ceramics were collected.

Figure 5.76.1 Exterior of Qala 340 from north. HSP74.42.23

Figure 5.76.2 South and west interior of Qala 340. Note row of rooms on right and baked bricks at left, possibly from reuse of building. HSP74.42.25

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Figure 5.76.3 Later house built atop southeast corner tower of Qala 340, field walls in distance. HSP74.42.27

Figure 5.76.4 Southern wall of Qala 340 with later buildings beyond. HSP74.42.29

Figure 5.76.5 Tower southeast of Qala 340, probably from a period later than the main qala. HSP74.42.31

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5.77 Qala 344 Coordinates: 30°44'33.21" x 62°02'41.26" Type: Large square qala Date: Sasanian A large square qala of 90 m per side with corners on cardinal points. Badly eroded walls were heaps of mud and could not be accurately measured for width or height though likely thick. In our photos, exterior walls stand at least 6 m above current plain level and interior walls 3 m above interior surface. Entrance to the site was likely via a ramp on the northeast side based upon a thicker wall on that side and a low point that might indicate an erosion channel leading out the gate. A large tower is evident at the eastern corner though dimensions could not be determined. It is unclear whether the other corners also had towers. A moat is clearly evident on the southeast side but

Figure 5.77.1 Field sketch plan of Qala 344. W. Trousdale 1974, redrawn J. Allen

Figure 5.77.2 Qala 344 from east with remains of east corner tower visible in center and possible gateway on northeast side to right. HSP74.39.22

Figure 5.77.3 Interior of Qala 344 with central courtyard and remains of interior rooms. HSP74.39.24

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sar-o-tar likely existed on three other sides as well. Interior mounds of debris indicate a central courtyard angled toward the northwest with one or more rows of rooms around the interior of the qala walls. Some wall fragments of interior rooms stand as much as 1.5 m above surface but are highly eroded. About 100 m to the west of the site is a range of store rooms with hundreds of large, ribbed storage jars still embedded in the ground. Some storage jar fragments were drawn and photographed though are now lost. Ware of storage jars are moderately gritty ware fired buff orange to deep brown and ribbed. Many contain incised or stamped decoration on the shoulder—pine trees, merlons, or bands of short vertical incisions.

Figure 5.77.4 Ribbed storage jar in situ on western side of Qala 344. HSP74.39.25

5.78 Qala 345 Coordinates: 30°43'34.78" x 62°03'02.82" Type: Platform mound with lower enclosure and later houses and cemetery Date: Early Iron, Parthian, Sasanian This platform mound has an enclosed rectangular compound to the southeast. The platform is oblong and approximately 40 x 70 m and rises toward the northwest. The lower compound is approximately 100 x 100 m with badly eroded walls. Outside the southwest part of the compound wall are several burials. Two north-south walls, each standing approximately 1 m high, run through the middle of the lower compound, with extensive scatter of Sasanian pottery in the vicinity of these walls. Remains of a house, likely Sasanian, partly cover the compound wall on the south side of the site. The plan of this house was not described in our field notes. A complete hipped storage jar with a thickened, slightly inverted rim and three external ridges was excavated from inside the eroded south wall, 68 cm in widest diameter and 72 cm in height. Burials in the southwest wall are flexed and resting on the right side. Orientations vary, one noted to be to the northeast, one to the southwest. Two of the burials have unpainted Early Iron fine ware bowls placed by the skull, the former behind and latter in front of the skull. The bowl attached to the northeast burial was buried upside down, the bowl with the southwest burial lacks a rim. There is a cemetery 200 m to the south-southeast from the compound walls, the ceramics for which seem to date to the Sasanian period. To the southwest of the site, toward House 338 and along a canal feeding into the qala, are two small scatters of Early Iron Age ceramics unrelated to any

Figure 5.78.1 Satellite view of Qala 345. Courtesy CAMEL/ AHMP

Figure 5.78.2 Eastern side of Qala 345 mound. HSP74.39.27

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Figure 5.78.3 Qala 345 from southeast. HSP74.39.28

architecture, mostly ridged jars and basins. A thin but continuous scatter of Early Iron Age pottery continues past House 338 toward Qala 352, mostly of unpainted sherds. Artifacts from the site include an excellently worked donut-shaped stone resembling a macehead, possibly an elaborate spindle whorl, 11.3 cm in diameter and made of gray purple quartzite (Allen and Trousdale 2019). There are numerous elongated baked bricks, approximately 21.5 x 5 x 3.2 cm in size, usually of orange red ware, hard fired with small black and white grits, though sometimes larger gravels. Often these bricks have an impressed ridge lengthwise down center of the long dimension. None were found in situ in the extant walls. Other stone objects include a stone cube and a mortar made of hard, grainy gray sandstone in proximity with a stone pestle made of heavy, mottled gray/brown sandstone. The bulk of ceramic finds are from the Early Iron Age. These ceramics are commonly overfired to gray/dark gray/ black and occasionally vitrified to green. Wares are generally well fired with fine black and white grits with a slightly sandy feel on exterior. Ceramic shapes match those from other Early Iron Age sites—piriform bowls and jars with flat or rounded bases, larger hipped jars, and ridged rim basins and jars. There was an impression of more painted wares here than at other similar sites, but that is still a small minority of the ceramic corpus. There is significantly more variation in painted decoration here than at other Iron Age sites. Painted wares are monochrome in dark red to

Figure 5.78.4 Flexed burial with Early Iron Age pot behind skull. HSP74.39.26

brown paint and include a rare bichrome vessel painted red plus white-yellow. Paint is generally on exterior neck and shoulder of vessel, but also can be on rim or lower half of vessel, very rarely on the inside of the rim. Bases are rounded or string-cut flat, and lower portions are often shaved with a tool. Complete fine ware painted vessels are likely linked to the burials identified at the site. Ceramics clustered around the two north-south walls and the structure on the south wall are typical Partho-Sasanian wares and include jabbed bases, club and ledge rim storage jars (both ribbed and non-ribbed), pedestaled goblets, coarse flat basins, ring burnished red wares, a gray ware bowl, and ribbed jars with punctated stamping or combing.

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5.79 Qala 348.5 Coordinates: 30°43'12.07" x 62°03'52.17" Type: Rectangular qala reused in Islamic times Date: Sasanian, Ghaznavid, Timurid A large rectangular qala of 50 x 55 m with well-preserved walls standing as much as 6 m in height just to the southeast of Qala 345. A bent entrance wall on the east side leads up a ramp from the south to the gate and into a large courtyard. The ramp has a baked brick foundation of at least nine courses in depth. The arch of the gate is intact, 2.5 m in height and 1.5 m in width. There is evidence of some walls at northwest corner of courtyard but no interior plan is discernible. Upper parts of the exterior walls are built thinner and of smaller bricks, suggesting an Islamic period rebuild of a

Figure 5.79.1 Satellite view of Qala 348.5. Courtesy J. Thibeau (CAMEL/AHMP)

Figure 5.79.2 Eastern façade of Qala 348.5, with remains of bent access entry ramp on north side of intact gateway arch. HSP74.39.33

Figure 5.79.3 Interior of Qala 348.5 looking south. Note the thinner late walls atop earlier, thicker ones. HSP74.39.30

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the archaeology of southwest afghanistan pre-Islamic qala. The area around the gate has “greenish” pakhsa and mudbrick unlike pink color of other parts, also hinting of a rebuild. Lower, thicker walls of the original structure were constructed of thick layers of pakhsa alternating with bands of five courses of mudbrick of varying sizes. Later, thinner walls are constructed of mudbrick.

Large baked bricks, the largest 77 x 54 x 6.5 cm, are scattered on the site. No pottery was collected here. The site contains a dense scatter of pre-Islamic ceramics, ribbed ware, some pedestal bases, dog dishes. There are also some Ghaznavid and Timurid glazed sherds and buff colored ribbed wares.

5.80 Qala 349 Other names: Possibly Diwal-i Lawur, Fischer Site 4 Gazetteer #: 301? Coordinates: 30°55'28.32" x 62°01'07.27" Type: Large rectangular qala with an interior courtyard building Date: Parthian, Sasanian, Ghaznavid A large rectangular qala 160 x 110 m oriented with the narrow side toward the northwest wind. The southern wall is not squared but pushes outward toward the south. Entry is on the south wall. Corner towers are evident in the wall but unclear whether there were others along the sides because of mud melt. There is evidence of multiple re-buildings of the exterior walls, with the latest walls seeming to be placed on the mud melt of their predecessors. A rectangular inner structure 70 x 55 m consists of a courtyard skewed towards its southern half surrounded by rooms. The inner structure has corner towers and irregularly spaced pairs of towers on the east and west walls. Entry to the building is on the south facing a courtyard and the entrance to the qala. Walls of the interior structure are made of lower layers of pakhsa with mudbrick above, 35 x 35 x 9 cm in size. Based upon its height, the building likely had two stories of rooms. In the center of the larger courtyard there is a standing feature, possibly the later addition of an iwan.

Figure 5.80.1 Sketch plan of Qala 349. W. Trousdale 1974, redrawn J. Allen

Figure 5.80.2 Qala 349 from northeast. HSP74.53.33

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sar-o-tar There is sherd cover within the qala, all pre-Islamic, and to the east outside the walls. There are some Ghaznavid sherds toward the east outside the qala and mudbrick remains of buildings outside the qala that are probably from the Ghaznavid period. The location matches that of Fischer’s site 4, called Diwal-i Lawur, but his description of that site and ours differ substantially. Artifacts discovered include stone cubes and travertine vessel fragments. Ceramics consist primarily of dark red, hard fired

wares. Shapes include pedestal vessels, some ring burnished ware and fewer radial burnished sherds, ribbed body sherds, club-shaped rims, stamped pine tree motifs, ledge rims of large storage jars, jabbed bases, other jar bases that are flat, rounded, and disc. Small cosmetic jars generally associated with pre-Islamic burials were found. Jar handles had varying numbers of ridges. A sherd with drip slip decoration, a pitcher with vertical rim and handle below the neck, and everted jar rims were also recorded.

Figure 5.80.3 Interior of Qala 349, showing interior building with its south tower in center and the small feature in the courtyard to the south of this building at left. HSP74.53.34

5.81 Qala 350 Coordinates: 30°48'30.60" x 62°03'23.01" Type: Large square qala Date: Sasanian A large square qala approximately 100 x 100 m. Walls on the north are well preserved. Entrance is at the center of the south side. There are rows of rooms along all four sides and possibly a central structure. It is unclear if there were corner or side towers. No field notes or photos were taken of the site. Ceramics were not described in our notes but photos were taken of three pre-Islamic sherds from ribbed jars, each with a tamga mark incised on the shoulder before firing.

Figure 5.81.1 Satellite view of Qala 350. Courtesy J. Thibeau (CAMEL/AHMP)

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5.82 Qala 350A Other names: Possibly Fischer Site 28, south of Patandak Gazetteer #: 808 Coordinates: 30°54'11.98" x 62°01'58.75" Type: Large central platform with walled enclosures to northwest and southeast Date: Early Iron, Partho-Sasanian A tall, rectangular eroded platform mound approximately 45 x 100 m with large lower enclosures to the southeast and northwest. This site is several times larger than the other Early Iron Age sites discovered. Though Fischer identifies a site in this area, his description is not detailed enough to confirm that this qala and his Site 28 are the same. The massive walls of the north enclosure stand over 10 m in height and are squared, surrounding a courtyard

Figure 5.82.1 Satellite view of Qala 350A. Courtesy J. Thibeau (CAMEL/AHMP)

Figure 5.82.2 Qala 350A from east with large central mound in center. HSP74.51.28

approximately 75 x 120 m in size. There are breaks in the wall line at the northwest and northeast corners. Walls are made of mudbrick, dimensions not recorded, with possibly a pakhsa core beneath. There are hints of rooms inside the courtyard walls, but they were not investigated. Where the northern enclosure meets the eroded mound, there are walls added with evidence they were constructed over 2–3 m of deposition against the main mound, thus confirming at least two periods of occupation. The lower enclosure to the southeast of the central mound is roughly rectangular, approximately 120 x 100 m, and surrounded by a highly eroded wall. Several fired bricks, light buff and dimensions of 18 x 9 x 4 cm, were found on the site, along with a piece of a travertine vessel.

Ceramics on the site are almost exclusively from the Early Iron Age. The painted pottery is scattered over the mound, though it represented no more than 10% of the overall collection. The more elaborately painted sherds are largely from fine ware cups and bowls. Larger utilitarian jars and basins sometimes had painted horizontal bands. Jar and basin rim sherds have an external ridge and often a second and third ridge along the exterior, sometimes with combed or incised wave designs. One large hipped store jar was found. Unique in our survey, we discovered two pieces of fine polished grayware at this site, one a rim and spout with a repair hole and the second a rim with an external ridge (Allen and Trousdale 2019, Figure 32). There were no identifiable Islamic wares recorded and only a few Partho-Sasanian ceramics, though two pedestal cup bases were collected.

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Figure 5.82.3 Large central mound of Qala 350A from the south enclosure. HSP74.51.33

Figure 5.82.4 North enclosure of Qala 350A from the central mound. HSP74.51.32

Figure 5.82.5 South enclosure of Qala 350A from the central mound. HSP74.51.30

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5.83 Qala 351 Coordinates: 30°41'11.98" x 62°04'36.67" Type: Round qala with nearby structures from other periods Date: Early Iron, Partho-Sasanian, Ghaznavid, Timurid

Figure 5.83.1 Satellite view of Qala 351. Courtesy J. Thibeau (CAMEL/AHMP)

A rounded qala structure approximately 40 m in diameter, with an entrance on the south southeast. A single row of rooms is discernable on the inside of the 4 m thick defensive walls, all buried beneath pahksa melt. There is a possibility of defensive towers along the outside wall, but it is not clear. There is some evidence of mounds inside, possibly a structure at the center of the qala. Remains of an Islamic cemetery are located on the southeast slope of the qala. To the north and west of the qala are traces of a canal

Figure 5.83.2 Satellite view of Qala 351 region showing locations of neighboring structures. Courtesy J. Thibeau (CAMEL/AHMP)

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sar-o-tar bed running southeast to northwest, with a sherd scatter from presumably pre-Islamic houses lining its course. No site photos were taken. There are numerous other remains in the vicinity of the qala, numbered Q351A-G. To the west of the qala about 200 m are the remains of a house with substantial ParthoSasanian ceramic coverages (Q351A) and a few Early Iron Age sherds: double ridge jar rims and a painted piece. The density of Early Iron sherd coverage increases substantially another 300 m further west (Q351B), though associated with no structure. The area is about 50 m in diameter and includes ridged rims, unpainted gray reduced wares, cut bases, and a single banded painted piece. A line of pre-Islamic houses line a canal which runs to the north and west of the qala, heading northwest (Q351C). Southwest of the qala (distance not recorded) is the foundation of a structure made of baked bricks (76 x 52 x 6 cm) surrounded by Partho-Sasanian pottery including ribbed ware, dog dishes, and goblet bases. The large brick sizes suggest this is a Sasanian building (Q351E). A house in good state of preservation stands 100 m to the northwest of the qala (Q351D). No description of this building

was made. Ceramics indicate it is probably of Ghaznavid date. A live tamarisk tree inhabits the courtyard of the site, which is not uncommon for other Ghaznavid period sites in Sar-o-Tar. To the south and west of this house are two houses with typical features of the Timurid period. They contain fourteenth to fifteenth century ce turquoise glazed wares and a piece of Chinese green celadon. Sherds and bones indicate there might be a pre-Islamic cemetery in this area as well. Another Timurid house stands due east of the qala (Q351F) and others stretch to the southeast (Q351G) Ceramics inside the qala were typical Partho-Sasanian wares. Mostly red hard fired utilitarian ribbed store jars, some with wavy line incisions around the neck. Ring burnished ware is in evidence as are jabbed bases, heavy trimmed bowls, several varieties of stamped pine tree motif designs, and handmade cooking ware. Intrusive to this assemblage are fourteenth to fifteenth century ce glazed sherds and one piece of Early Iron Age painted ware with three bands enclosing a wavy band of black paint on red ware. A round spindle whorl was found, reused from an orange ribbed ware sherd.

5.84 Qala 352 Coordinates: 30°39'56.95" x 62°04'50.74" Type: Large square qala, rebuilt in later times Date: Partho-Sasanian, Ghorid, Timurid The square enclosure of approximately 80 x 80 m was visited several times because of its proximity to our camp north of Shahr-i Gholghola. Initial enclosure walls are approximately 4 m wide, later supplemented by a secondary wall to the exterior, an additional 4 m in width. With the reinforcement, the walls are well preserved. Walls of the building are made of layers of pakhsa separated by single courses of mudbrick. Sizes of the bricks were not recorded. Walls stood in many places to allow for at least two stories, and the best preserved sections are over 8 m in height. Mud melt surrounds the exterior of the site and fills at least 2 m of the interior. Rounded towers stand on the exterior of each corner, possibly added during a rebuild, and squared towers appear on the center of each side, seemingly part of the original structure. Arched windows remain on the second story of the south wall and numerous slit windows are visible on the upper story of the other walls. The gate is on the east side, 5 m in width, flanked by massive rounded towers standing 5 m in height. A badly eroded piece of stucco

Figure 5.84.1 Plan of Qala 352. J. Knudstad 1972, redrawn J. Allen

border decoration was found in the gateway, showing only simple horizontal ribbed design. There is evidence of rooms on the interior of the north and south sides of the qala surrounding a central courtyard. Large storage jars are inset into the ground along the west side of the courtyard. A ragged moat is apparent outside the walls along all four sides, generally 45–50 m wide. A pillar of pakhsa stands in the center of the courtyard but

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Figure 5.84.2 Northeast exterior of Qala 352 showing wide gateway protected by circular towers. HSP72.36.9

Figure 5.84.3 Interior of Qala 352 from north showing southwest and southeast walls and pakhsa pillar in west of courtyard. HSP72.36.8

Figure 5.84.4 Interior southwest wall of Qala 352 showing two thicknesses of exterior walls and second floor slit windows. HSP72.36.10

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sar-o-tar its relationship to any structure is unclear. Dimensions of this feature were not recorded. Outside the southwest corner of the qala is a series of mausoleums of Timurid date and a string of Timurid houses extending to the west, with other structures to the north and east. Some baked bricks were found in the vicinity outside the walls (the largest 80 x 52 x 7 cm) and were likely used in the canal system, possibly in secondary use. Three fragments of hard fired, nearly vitrified, clay were found with remains of six seal impressions, one a clear high relief frontal face of a lion, another with a partial inscription around a central geometric figure, and four which were not clear. Three pieces of pottery mold from the twelfth to thirteenth century ce with dense vegetal designs were recovered along with a sherd of twelfth to thirteenth century unglazed molded ware with diamond decorations. Two fragments of fourteenth century mortuary tiles were found painted with black decoration under a turquoise glaze. Also among the assemblage are a ceramic tray with flattened edges and a fragmentary terracotta horse figurine. A very dense coverage of sherds is inside the qala, all

Figure 5.84.5 Dense pre-Islamic sherd cover inside the qala. HSP72.36.13

of unglazed pre-Islamic types, including some large storage jars embedded in the ground. These include masses of red ribbed ware, pedestal goblets, pine tree and merlon stamped motifs, jars with incised wedges, heavy pots with jabbed bases. Glazed sherds are outside the walls in proximity with the Timurid houses.

5.85 Qala 352.5 Other names: Possibly Patandak, Fischer Site 28 Gazetteer #: 808? Coordinates: 30°53'31.46" x 62°03'05.77" Type: Two nested qalas Date: Partho-Sasanian, Islamic A small square qala, 30 x 30 m, constructed of mudbrick located outside the sanded area of Sar-o-Tar. The original qala was later encased in a massive pakhsa exterior wall of 90 x 90 m in size and the inner structure was rebuilt with a similar footprint. Corners of both outer and inner structures are located on the cardinal points. Towers are on each corner and the center of each wall of the outer structure with the gate on the northeast. The original building has a single row of rectangular rooms inside. Remains of the original mudbrick structure are visible at the western corner of the inner qala, but the remainder of the smaller qala is covered by the pakhsa rebuild standing 5–6 m in height, a later construction. The site is surrounded by a moat 45 m in width. Ceramics include ribbed jars and bowls, some fine ring burnished sherds, jabbed bases, pedestal vessels, but only a few Islamic sherds. A single ostracon was collected containing three characters incised on a shoulder of a red ware jar prior to firing.

Figure 5.85.1 Satellite view of Qala 352.5. Courtesy J. Thibeau (CAMEL/AHMP)

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Figure 5.85.2 Qala 352.5 eastern exterior. HSP74.51.36

Figure 5.85.3 Qala 352.5 inner qala from south. HSP74.51.37

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5.86 Qala 352A Coordinates: 30°40'40.56" x 62°04'45.44" Type: Round qala Date: Sasanian A rounded fortress site 40 m in diameter raised above the present playa. Very heavily eroded but showing evidence of a row of rooms inside the outer wall and a large structure of squared rooms in the center, mostly covered by sand. There is an extension to the outer wall on the southeast part of the qala, possibly indicating a gateway. In plan, it is similar to nearby Qala 351. No photos were taken of the site. Ceramics include mostly gourd-shaped store jars with ribbed bodies, dog dishes, and a five-ridged handle, all typical of Sasanian sites. A hard fired jar rim had part of a tamga mark incised into the shoulder before firing. A similar piece was found several kilometers to the north. A few Early Iron sherds were found on the playa south of the site.

Figure 5.86.1 Satellite view of Qala 352A. Courtesy J. Thibeau (CAMEL/AHMP)

5.87 Qala 353 Coordinates: 30°46'52.26" x 62°04'18.42" Type: Square qala with later reuse Date: Sasanian, Timurid? A small square qala approximately 30 x 30 m badly eroded so that only the south wall remains to any height. The south wall stands as much as 8 m high and 10 m in length and is constructed of pakhsa with alternating layers of two courses of mudbrick. The remaining walls are no more than 2–3 m above the modern surface and are mostly mud melt. Given its differential preservation, this part of the qala may represent reuse of the site in Timurid times. The location of an entry gate was not determined. The qala is surrounded by a depression on all four sides, likely a moat as much as 40 m in width. A small Timurid village of seven or more houses is located to the northeast, described separately as Houses 353. A collection of jars is embedded in the ground to the east of the qala. The entire area is heavily sanded. Modest ceramic scatter around the qala with typical Partho-Sasanian wares: jabbed bases, bowls, and jars with orange-red ribbed ware. Missing are some of the more typical early forms—goblet bases, ring burnished bowls, pine tree stamps—which makes this site more likely to be of Sasanian date. One sherd has a stamped mark on the shoulder of an overfired red ware body, a second ribbed jar has an inscribed character on the shoulder after firing, both found in the jars to the east of the qala. Much of the area both inside and around the qala is covered with sand dunes so it is difficult to ascertain density of sherd cover.

Figure 5.87.1 Satellite view of Qala 353. Courtesy J. Thibeau (CAMEL/AHMP)

Figure 5.87.2 Qala 353 from east, showing standing remains of south wall and possible moat in foreground. HSP74.40.24

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5.88 Qala 357 Coordinates: 30°51'15.28" x 62°05'49.17" Type: Square qala reused in later times with nearby houses and kilns Date: Sasanian, Ghaznavid, Ghorid, Timurid A large square qala approximately 85 x 85 m sitting 1.3 km east of Surburt/Qala 355 and exhibiting similar features. Corners are on cardinal points. Exterior walls are well preserved to a height of up to 5 m and have round corner towers. There is evidence of rooms on both the east and west sides of the qala. A large tower was built later upon the melt inside the qala. The tower approximately 20 x 20 m square stands inside the walls toward the south with walls up to 8 m in height. Evidence of slit windows from a second story of the tower can be seen. The site served as our camp for one

Figure 5.88.1 Satellite view of Qala 357. Courtesy J. Thibeau (CAMEL/AHMP)

Figure 5.88.2 Structure inside Qala 357 from north. HSP74.45.35

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Figure 5.88.3 Satellite view of the various sites in the Surburt/Qala 355 and Qala 357 area. Courtesy J. Thibeau (CAMEL/AHMP)

Figure 5.88.4 Ruins of pre-Islamic house Q357A to the northwest of Qala 357. HSP74.45.36

night in our survey of northern Sar-o-Tar (see Figure 4.15). Numerous other structures surround the qala. About 250 m to the northwest are remains of a rectangular pre-Islamic house (Q357A), dimensions approximately 45 x 45 m with walls standing no more than 1.5 m high. To the west of the qala 350 m are two large tunnel-shaped

kilns (Q357B-C). Near the kilns are broken fragments of thick millstones of fired ceramic, possibly products of the kiln. Because of excellent preservation, these kilns might be Timurid. A smaller kiln (Q357D) that exhibited a complex flue system, possibly for ceramics, is located nearby. The kilns were not measured or photographed. Numerous

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the archaeology of southwest afghanistan other structures extend from the qala to the northeast but these were not explored. Artifacts collected include a well-made bronze arrowhead with three barbs and a fluted or ribbed socket and a corroded bronze stamp seal of Sasanian type—bell shaped with hole in the top for passing a string through. The base is too badly corroded to identify the seal image. Also found was an everted flat rim of a white opaque travertine bowl and a rim fragment of a large limestone bowl, probably a mortar. The ceramic inventory consists of hard fired red and orange red wares, with red and light red slips, ribbed jars and bowls, club rim jars with some club rims exterior and some above the shoulder. No fine red wares or ring burnishing were noted. In addition, there is a selection of eleventh to fifteenth century ce glazed wares at this site. A small bulbous bowl with two painted bands on the

shoulder is Early Iron Age ware. The Islamic assemblage includes underglaze painting in blue, black, and turquoise (fourteenth century ce) and a flat shaped dish from the fifteenth century ce with floral decorations. Imported ware includes a gray porcelain Chinese bowl rim with everted rim curved upward, orange oxidized elements, and a “hi wen” band on interior with faintly ribbed swirls below, possibly a floral design. Ceramics surrounding the kilns to the west are mostly of softer yellow clays. A fine vertical rim small jar with thickened rim and pinched band below the rim was collected. One glazed piece of molded ware and one piece of unglazed molded ware from the twelfth to thirteenth century ce were found near the kiln. Two glazed bases from the tenth to eleventh century ce were recovered, one splash ware and the other a polychrome ware on white slip with an incised checkerboard pattern. (LZB)

5.89 Qala 358 Coordinates: 30°45'28.68" x 62°05'47.52" Type: Large square qala on platform, towers, jars, Islamic village Date: Early Iron, Parthian, Sasanian, Timurid A large and complex qala site of 60 m square with numerous walls standing, only briefly visited by HSP. Built upon a plateau in the playa, possibly an Early Iron platform, the site is rectangular and surrounded by a moat. The western edge seems to exhibit more than one plateau and may have been walled outside the large standing walls. There are pieces of at least two heavy square towers inside the walls standing as much as 4 m high, one possibly a chartaq. Other structures were noted as well but they were not examined in detail. An extensive canal system surrounds

Figure 5.89.1 Satellite view of Qala 358. Courtesy J. Thibeau (CAMEL/AHMP)

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Figure 5.89.2 Qala 358 from northwest. HSP74.41.5

Figure 5.89.3 Qala 358 from west, showing the site being constructed upon a rise, natural or human-made, and possibly a moat outside. HSP74.41.2

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the archaeology of southwest afghanistan the site. A small Timurid village of at least seven houses extends to the east and southeast (Qala 358A). To the northwest for a full kilometer there are numerous collections of large ledge rim storage jars embedded in the ground, likely indicative of pre-Islamic domestic houses or a village. A portion of the standing exterior wall on the west side showed elements of wall construction, with layers of pakhsa on both top and bottom, separated by a single row of vertical mudbricks framed by a thick layer of sherds on its top and bottom. Whether this is from the original pre-Islamic qala or a later addition is unclear. There is heavy sherd cover throughout the qala and extending toward the northwest toward Qala 353. Several Iron Age painted sherds were seen and large quantities of both Parthian (goblet bases, shallow bowls with dark red slips) and Sasanian (ribbed jars and bowls, undecorated pedestal goblets) sherds. No ceramics were collected though several were photographed. There were three sherds with tamga marks found.

Figure 5.89.4 Construction detail of wall fragment at Qala 358, made of pakhsa with a row of vertical mudbrick framed with a layer of sherds above and below. HSP74.41.3

5.90 Qala 359 Coordinates: 30°36'39.80" x 62°05'34.91" Type: Square qala with later reuse, jars, kiln Date: Early Iron?, Sasanian, Ghorid, Timurid A square qala 75 x 75 m in diameter located 3 km north of Shahr-i Gholghola. The massive walls are generally well preserved. Some stand as high as 8 m above current ground surface. The north wall is more eroded than the rest. Walls are made of pakhsa with rows of mudbrick between pakhsa layers. There are no corner towers but square towers abut the center of each wall, each approximately 5 m square and standing 8 m above the plain. Location of the entry gate was probably on the south. Remnants of rooms are located around the interior of the fortress walls, at least five noted against the east wall. A large brick kiln at the center of the courtyard was probably built later. One room on the northwest corner has six large ledge rim jars embedded in the ground. A canal outside the site was followed for approximately 1 km and featured vertical standing baked bricks at drawoff points every 6–10 m perpendicular to the large canal. Bricks form a pointed arch at the entrance of the smaller canals. Fields nearby have ledge rim jars embedded in the ground. The area has almost no Islamic period ceramics, so it is assumed that this site and canal system date to pre-Islamic times. While some Early Iron Age sherds were

Figure 5.90.1 Plan of Qala 359. J. Knudstad 1973

found in the vicinity, there is no evidence this site was built upon an Early Iron Age platform. A hoard of 30 Sasanian silver coins and coin fragments, likely originally in a bag, was found in the spoil bank of a canal running southwest to northeast about 0.5 km south of the qala. While most were found together, a few were several meters away after having been moved down

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Figure 5.90.2 Qala 359 from west with main canal in foreground and brick canal takeoff installations at right. HSP73.14.14

Figure 5.90.3 West exterior of Qala 359 with large square tower. HSP72.36.5

the canal bank by rain. The hoard was likely dredged out of the canal during an ancient cleaning without being noticed. Coins were drachma coins dating to the reigns of Yazdegard II (438–457 ce) and Peroz (457–483 ce). One ceramic bead was found in a hard fired red ware. Also discovered was a glass bowl, flat base to simple vertical rim with many medium sized bubbles in the glass. Almost all sherds in the site and vicinity are pre-Islamic. The interior and immediate exterior of the qala has dense sherd coverage. Six ledge rim jars of light red ware were found in situ. Many of the jars noted have external ribbing in red-orange wares. Many large jars and bowls

have club rims and everted rims, with slips buff to dark red. Finer jars display vertical rims and flat shoulders, often with a ridge beneath the rim on exterior. There are few ring burnished sherds, and no pine tree stamping, stemmed goblets, or dog dish fragments were found. The Islamic wares include a few unglazed molded wares from the twelfth and thirteenth century ce, a black decoration under turquoise glaze sherd, and an incised plain ware body sherd from this period. One Early Iron Age painted sherd with two parallel horizontal bands and an angled vertical band and a ridged rim of a large red ware jar were also recovered. (LZB)

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Figure 5.90.4 East exterior of Qala 359. HSP72.36.6

Figure 5.90.5 Interior east wall of Qala 359 showing remaining walls of rooms. HSP72.36.7

Figure 5.90.6 A set of six ledge rim jars embedded in the ground in a northwest room of Qala 359. HSP73.8.4

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5.91 Qala 359.5 Coordinates: 30°52'32.60" x 62°05'54.15" Type: Square qala with houses located on two sides Date: Sasanian, Ghaznavid A square qala approximately 70 m on each side with round corner towers and rectangular towers on the middle of the sides. Corners are oriented to cardinal points. A central rectangular structure is connected to the northwest wall. The northwest side has two rectangular corner rooms at the north and west corners and a vaulted arcade connecting them, against which the central structure is built. The northern and eastern parts of the qala are almost completely eroded. Entry gate is on the southwest side with its rectangular tower and vault still intact and extending outward from southwest wall. Possibly there

Figure 5.91.1 Sketch plan of Qala 359.5. W. Trousdale 1975, redrawn J. Allen

Figure 5.91.2 Qala 359.5 from the west with intact gateway and rounded corner towers. HSP74.50.30

are rooms against the other three walls, but they are not visible from the surface. Several Ghaznavid structures are nearby. Q359.5A, to the southeast of the qala, consists of a smattering of modest Ghaznavid houses with baked brick foundations. The one examined has walls 4 m in height. Ghaznavid ceramics are found on the site along with a preponderance of pre-Islamic ceramics. To the northwest of the qala is another, better-preserved, Ghaznavid house (Q359.5B).

It is rectangular with an iwan against the northwest wall and rooms along the west and east sides. The entry appears to be on the southeast side and possibly contains a complex of rooms in the east corner. A rectangular courtyard is attached to the southeast wall, possibly with a row of rooms along the eastern side of it. The house has baked brick foundations. There is only slight sherd cover, mostly pre-Islamic, which were not analyzed or collected.

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Figure 5.91.3 Southern part of interior of Qala 359.5 showing cluster of Ghaznavid houses to southeast. HSP74.50.31

Figure 5.91.4 Ghaznavid house Q359.5A, located southeast of Qala 359.5, viewed from the southwest. HSP74.50.33

5.92 Qala STB-5 West Coordinates: 30°45'14.82" x 61°59'44.91" Type: Round qala with central building, reused in Islamic times Date: Sasanian, Saffarid, Ghaznavid Round walled structure 110 m in diameter with the external walls standing up to 7 m above plain. Likely there were two rows of rooms inside the exterior walls and a heavily built mudbrick rectangular structure in the center with its broader side facing northwest, some walls of which are still standing 4 m in height. The interior building might be from a later reuse of the qala. Entrance is on the southwest. Within several hundred yards are some structures of Ghaznavid date, based upon the pottery nearby. The qala itself is pre-Islamic and probably reused in Ghaznavid times.

Figure 5.92.1 Field sketch of Qala STB-5 West. W. Trousdale 1974, redrawn J. Allen

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Figure 5.92.2 Exterior walls of Qala STB-5 West. HSP74.39.21

Figure 5.92.3 Interior of Qala STB-5 West with central tower. HSP74.39.20

Most ceramics in and around the qala are Sasanian, but there is a heavy scatter of Islamic sherds outside the walls. Several sherds from outside the qala were photographed but no collection was otherwise made. Most common inside are orange bodied jars and bowls, mostly ribbed, fired to buff on the outside, some of the bowls having a dark red slip. In

the area near ruined mounds outside the qala, we found soft fired buff wares, molded and unglazed. Some fragments of Eastern slip ware from the ninth to tenth century ce were recovered including polychrome decoration and glaze on white slip. Part of a ring base of a lusterware bowl was also found with a calligraphic design in the interior. (LBZ)

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5.93 Qala STC-5B Coordinates: 30°55'03.82" x 61°59'16.48" Type: Square qala Date: Ghaznavid, Timurid A very well preserved small square qala of 25 x 25 m approximately 0.5 km west of Ghaznavid Houses STC-5A and at the western edge of the Sar-o-Tar field maps. The qala has round corner towers and rectangular towers in the middle of each side wall except the south, where an S-shaped gate is located. A small addition to the qala on the southwest corner was created by a wall between the gateway and the corner tower on the southwest. There was likely a row of rooms around the interior of the qala with two additional rooms in the northwest corner. No photos were taken of the site. On and around the site were a scatter of ParthoSasanian, Ghaznavid, and Timurid sherds, but none were photographed or collected. The level of preservation of the site suggests the walls might be Islamic in date.

Figure 5.93.1 Field sketch of Qala STC-5B. M. Allen 1974, redrawn J. Allen

5.94 Qala STC-5C Coordinates: 30°56'11.16" x 61°57'56.84" Type: Round qala Date: Partho-Sasanian A small round qala 50 m in diameter very badly windblown and eroded, particularly at north end. The existence of a central structure is likely at the south side of the courtyard. There are some pre-Islamic houses and kilns to the north of the qala. No photos were taken. Objects on the site include some baked brick and brick slag and a small amount of pottery, all pre-Islamic. These include ribbed ware, red ring burnished ware, jabbed bases. None were collected or photographed. Figure 5.94.1 Satellite view of Qala STC-5C. Courtesy J. Thibeau (CAMEL/AHMP)

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5.95 Qala STC-10A Other names: Possibly Char Shaklak, Fischer Site 105 Gazetteer #: 159? Coordinates: 30°55'18.20" x 62°07'06.40" Type: Small square qala Date: Sasanian? A badly eroded square Sasanian qala about 35 m square. Its corners are on cardinal points with round towers preserved at each corner. There is no indication of interior structures in a very brief visit. No photographs taken or plans drawn. Ceramics not described in our field notes. Figure 5.95.1 Satellite view of likely Qala STC10A. Courtesy J. Thibeau (CAMEL/AHMP)

5.96 Qala-i Amiran Sahib Other names: House 4, Taq-i Amiran Gazetteer #: 2182 Coordinates: 30°59'29.45" x 62°08'34.97" Type: Large estate Date: Timurid, post-Timurid

Figure 5.96.1 Satellite view of Qala-i Amiran Sahib/ House 4 and its walled garden. Courtesy J. Thibeau (CAMEL/ AHMP)

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the archaeology of southwest afghanistan A large, well-preserved Timurid estate of 60 x 42 m approximately 1 km to the northeast of the Ziyarat-i Amiran shrine and likely related to it. While we drew an architectural plan, the site was not described in detail in our field notes. It is, though, the subject of a detailed description by Tate (1910–12, 255), who notes the central building in the courtyard but describes it as 20 x 7 m in size. Fischer was also known to have visited this site. The original building dates to Timurid times but likely continued in use after the fifteenth century. Two story high walls surround the entire house, well preserved on the east but less so to the west. To the east, south, and west, there are three registers of slit windows atop of which are two rows of relief columns. A large square tower abuts the northeast corner and there are smaller rounded towers on each corner and at the midpoint of each wall. On the towers there are two rows of keyhole niches. At its center is probably the original house. It has a plan similar in size and configuration to many other Timurid houses, 22 x 22 m, with a central courtyard 15 x 12 m leading to an iwan on the north side of the courtyard and entrance to the house from the southeast. There are large rooms at both the northwest and northeast corners, the northwest one broken into two chambers. Rows of smaller

Figure 5.96.2 Sketch Plan of Qala-i Amiran Sahib. W. Trousdale 1974, redrawn J. Knudstad

Figure 5.96.3 South façade of Qala-i Amiran Sahib, with main entrance to right. HSP75.29.6

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Figure 5.96.4 The well preserved east façade of Qala-i Amiran Sahib with large tower on northeast corner (right) and remains of double rows of columns on the upper part. HSP75.29.5

Figure 5.96.5 West façade of Qala-i Amiran Sahib with remains of several external buildings in foreground. HSP74.53.27

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Figure 5.96.6 Interior of house with original house upper right and southern rooms in foreground, looking north. HSP74.53.24

rooms mark the west and east walls. This area can be accessed by doors on the north and south sides and two doors each on the east and west sides. The iwan and the north façade of the courtyard are decorated with recessed keyhole arch designs. One of these recessed keyhole arches is framed by decorated relief pillars. Surrounding the core house are two rows of rooms to the west but only a single row of long halls on the east. South of the courtyard are additional clusters of rooms to the south and southwest. Figure 5.96.7 North iwan and decorated adjoining halls. HSP75.28.37

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Figure 5.96.8 North iwan of Qala-i Amiran Sahib with recessed keyhole arches. HSP74.53.25

Figure 5.96.9 Keyhole niche decoration on the north wall of the iwan. HSP74.28.36

Figure 5.96.10 Detail of keyhole niche decoration with carved pillar. HSP75.28.35

There is a doorway leading to several rooms outside the north wall of the original house. At the center is an iwan 6 m in width facing northward into a large walled garden 75 x 140 m in size and rhomboid in shape. Large rooms two stories in height flank the iwan on either side, well preserved and highly decorated, notably a “great hall” in the northwest corner mentioned by Tate. The north exterior façade is undecorated except for a single horizontal row of baked brick at approximately 7 m above the floor. There are five arched doors leading from the northern rooms into the walled garden. The three doors on the west and one door on the east are 1.5 m in width and 3.5 m high. A smaller door is located to the east of this group, 2 m high and 1 m in width. A large canal runs from the southeast to the estate past Ziyarat-i Amiran. Aerial photos show additional outbuildings to the southeast of the estate, but these were not visited. No sherd collection was made.

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Figure 5.96.11 North façade of Qala-i Amiran Sahib, with rooms added to north wall. HSP75.32.22

5.97 Qala-i Nau Other names: Chakansurak, Noken Kalat, Fischer Sites 6, 13, 14 Gazetteer #: 871 Coordinates: 30°59'13.24" x 62°04'28.10" Type: Large Islamic qala probably built on pre-Islamic qala Date: Partho-Sasanian, Saffarid/Ghaznavid, Ghorid, Timurid, post-Timurid

Figure 5.97.1 Qala-i Nau/Chakansurak from south. Note the mud melt at the base of the walls, suggesting a previous fortress on the site. HSP71.41.11

This large well-preserved fortress and attached tower is situated at the north edge of Sar-o-Tar, visited briefly by HSP in 1966, 1971, and 1974. It was studied extensively by numerous researchers including Tate, DAFA, and Fischer, so not examined in detail by HSP; no field notes were located. A plan of the rectangular qala was drawn

by DAFA (Hackin 1959, 27). The building has external corner and mid-wall towers. Hackin identifies a mosque inside the compound. Tate (1910–12, 239) describes the fortress as 75 x 100 m in dimension with a gate on the east. A fortified ramp 15 m in length leads to a tower 20 m square and 25 m in height

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Figure 5.97.2 East side of Qala-i Nau, with tower at left, and curved entry gate in center. HSP71.41.19

on the east side that protects the entrance. Several square Timurid mausoleums with baked brick foundations are in the vicinity. A surface collection from 1966 includes several artifacts: a metal pin, green glass bowl rim, travertine piece, and steatite bowl rim. Ceramics include Partho-Sasanian red ware jars, both with wavy incised decoration on shoulder and ribbed body and a fine red ware bowl with dark red slip. A few fragments of tenth to eleventh century slip-ware were collected which are similar to the ones found in the Greater Khorasan region including polychrome buff ware and polychrome decoration on white slip. A few twelfth to thirteenth century ce molded pieces along with turquoise glazed ware with incised decoration were found. Several pieces of lusterware bowls and a piece of Chinese celadon were also recovered. (LZB) Previous researchers had not noted the significant amounts of pre-Islamic wares inside the site. This suggests the site was originally constructed in Partho-Sasanian times. The visible walls are much later but are elevated above the plain, suggesting an earlier fortress beneath their foundation.

Figure 5.97.3 Decoration on façade of walkway between qala and tower, east end. HSP74.2.27

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Figure 5.97.4 Southwest side of interior of site from southeast corner. HSP71.41.13

Figure 5.97.5 Northwest side of interior of site, showing mosque identified by DAFA in foreground. HSP71.41.14

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5.98 Qala-i Surkh (North) Other names: Qala-i Surkh, Sohren Qalat, Fischer Sites 7, 8 Gazetteer #: 883 Coordinates: 30°56'10.10" x 62°11'53.39" Type: Well-preserved square qala, late rebuild Date: Sasanian, Timurid A square qala at the northeast end of Sar-o-Tar plain leading to the Dasht-i Margo. We discovered no field notes but there is a detailed plan drawn by our architect James Knudstad. There is another site called Qala-i Surkh located along the Helmand River near Daishu, which is included separately in section 6.44. The description of the site in the Gazetteer (Ball 2019, site 883) conflates these two distinct sites. Tate labeled this site Sohren Kalat (Tate 1910–12, 239). The site is a two story square building, very well preserved to over 8 m in height, with corners on the cardinal points and round towers on each corner and at the center of three sides. It is approximately 35 x 35 m in size. A square entrance is at the center of the northeast wall. The walls are made of pakhsa with thin layers of mudbrick 44 x 44 x 8 cm interspersed. Six horizontal layers of mudbricks sit at the base of the arches and domes. The walls are heavily plastered. Towers on the northwest side are significantly eroded but are better preserved on the other three sides. The round corner towers have walls 2 m in diameter surrounding a central room approximately 3–3.2 m in diameter. Each is entered on the first floor from a doorway 1 m in width at the corner of the interior elongated rooms. The rooms are roofed with corbelled domes. The corner towers each have approximately 10–12 slit windows, many of which are no longer preserved. The three mid-wall towers are semicircular and attached to the outer walls of the structure. These walls are also approximately 2 m thick. The rooms inside are rectangular, approximately 1.8–2.2 m in size. These rooms are roofed with pointed arch vaults and stand 5 m in height. Each of the mid-wall towers has six to seven slit windows. Slit windows also break out from each exterior wall, approximately three to four between each tower. Slit windows are 80 cm in height, 15–18 cm in width, and capped by a mudbrick 45 x 22 x 8 cm.

Figure 5.98.1 Plan of Qala-i Surkh North, first floor. J. Knudstad 1974

Figure 5.98.2 Plan of Qala-i Surkh North, second floor. J. Knudstad 1974

Figure 5.98.3 Qala-i Surkh North from southwest, remains of the compound wall visible in foreground. HSP74.52.17

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Figure 5.98.4 West façade of Qala-i Surkh North. HSP74.52.34

Figure 5.98.6 Interior court from north corner of second floor. Staircases visible on both sides of southeast doorway. HSP74.52.30

Figure 5.98.5 Eastern gateway of Qala-i Surkh North. HSP74.52.35

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Figure 5.98.7 Interior of north tower. HSP74.52.18

Figure 5.98.8 Northwest room on first floor looking south. HSP74.53.4

Figure 5.98.9 First floor rectangular northeast vaulted room. HSP74.52.33

On the northeast wall is the entrance to the structure, a squared tower attached to the exterior wall, approximately 7 x 4 m. The entry hall is 2.2 x 3.4 m with the exit to the exterior on the south, 1.2 m in width. The entrance has seven slit windows. The first floor of the interior surrounds a central open courtyard approximately 9 m square. Two staircases to the second floor are built against the southeast wall of the courtyard on either side of the doorway to the southeastern rectangular room. Interior walls are 1.2–1.9 m in width. The courtyard is surrounded by a rectangular room on each side running along the exterior walls of the building on the first floor. These rooms are each 14–15 m in length

and 3.2–3.3 m in width, except the northwest room, which is only 11.4 m in length. The rooms are vaulted using mudbricks 63–66 x 26 x 7–8 cm in size. Doorways of each room open to the central courtyard. The northwest and southeast rooms show evidence of later thin walls, 0.3 to 0.4 m in width, dividing these rooms into smaller units. The southeast room also contains two niches at the sides of the entrance to the mid-wall tower on that side. The second story of the building is almost completely preserved, except for parts of the towers on the northwest and northeast. The parapets on the southwest and southeast sides are higher than the preserved height of the towers. This floor follows a plan almost identical to the first floor, with few exceptions. Roofs of the second story are collapsed. The corner and mid-wall towers each run to the second story and the window slits match the first floor in size and location. The central courtyard runs two stories high but the second floor of rooms around the courtyard is configured slightly differently. Doorways lead from one side room to the next, with entrances above the courtyard only on the southwest and northeast sides. Doorways are 0.75–0.85 m in width, have flat arches, and are low. Rectangular rooms are vaulted and corner rooms domed, like the first floor. The northwest wall of the southeast rectangular room has numerous graffiti carved into the wall plaster. These were not read by our team. The northwest room was divided into two by a retaining wall 35 cm thick. The northeast room has keyhole niches framing the doorway on its northwest side,

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Figure 5.98.10 Keyhole niches along north wall of northeast room on second floor. HSP74.52.29

Figure 5.98.11 Detail of keyhole niche at north end of northeast room on second floor. HSP74.52.28

64 cm high and 17–25 cm in width, and a larger keyhole niche at the northern end of the western wall at least 75 cm high and 60 cm in maximum diameter. The entire building is surrounded by a compound wall still visible along the west and south sides. Entrance through this wall not discovered. Alluviation on the Dasht-i Amiran extends above the base of the first floor windows suggesting there may be additional ruins buried beneath the silt. We collected no ceramics at the site. We believe the site to be originally a Sasanian qala that was extensively restored and rebuilt. The size and shape of the qala, size of bricks in the enclosure walls, corner and mid-wall towers, entry on the northeast, and existence

Figure 5.98.12 Southwest room of second story with northwest room in background, the latter broken in half by an interior wall. Central courtyard is below on right. HSP74.52.23

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Figure 5.98.14 Corner tower of Qala-i Surkh North showing level of alluviation on the Dasht-i Amiran. HSP74.52.36

of rooms around the sides, all match features of numerous other qalas we surveyed in Sar-o-Tar. But this site is far better preserved than any of our other Sasanian qalas and has additional features, like keyhole arches, that are indicative of Timurid architecture. Still, no other building from the Timurid period has a floor plan like this one. The outer enclosure wall may have been built to protect against flooding of this part of the plain and might follow the contours of an original moat. Given its location overlooking the trade route through the Dasht-i Margo desert from northern Sistan to Bust and Kandahar, this is a reasonable place for the Timurids to rebuild and fortify an existing ruin on the landscape. Figure 5.98.13 Vaulted room at southeast of second story. HSP74.52.20

5.99 Rustaq 3 Coordinates: 30°49'05.21" x 62°06'54.81" Type: Cemetery and artifact scatter Date: Early Iron, Partho-Sasanian, Ghaznavid Area on a slight rise at the northern end of the Qala 4 village (see section 5.59). Numerous human bones are found in this area along with a collection of Early Iron Age pottery. The name given to the site is probably associated with one of the large Ghaznavid houses nearby, but no indication of which one is provided in our field notes. A unique, small, broken ceramic altar, 7.8 cm in height, with different incised decoration on each side was found

here. Also found at this site was a ceramic ladle or scoop with hole for a wooden handle. Ceramics largely include Early Iron Age rims and shoulders of small jars. Painted designs include hatched bands, horizontal bands, triangles inside triangles, sun decorations, and zigzags. The area has Partho-Sasanian wares including a vertical club rim, ribbed jars, and red slip and ring burnished ware. No photographs were taken of the site.

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5.100 Sangar Other names: Qala 356.5 Gazetteer #: 983 Coordinates: 30°53'43.32" x 62°05'11.69" Type: Large square qala Date: Ghaznavid, Timurid This site at the northern edge of Sar-o-Tar had been visited previously by both DAFA and Fischer. A large square qala 70–80 m on a side with corners on cardinal points. There are round towers in the corners and square towers on the sides except the south. South side has a bent axis gateway entering from the east. The site is very well preserved with standing walls as much as 10 m in height and a strong batter to the towers. Walls are constructed of pakhsa with three horizontal courses of mudbrick separating pakhsa sections. Around the sides are two stories of single skew vaulted rooms opening to a central courtyard, with a more complex arrangement near the corner towers. There are no remains of a central building visible.

Figure 5.100.1 Sangar/Qala 356.5 sketch plan. W. Trousdale 1974, redrawn J. Allen

Sherd cover is light and almost exclusively Islamic, more Timurid than Ghaznavid. Sherds not photographed or collected.

Figure 5.100.2 Sangar/ Qala 356.5 from northwest. HSP74.50.36

Figure 5.100.3 Interior of Sangar/Qala 356.5 with row of rooms lining the compound wall. HSP74.50.37

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5.101 Square Qala II Coordinates: 30°47'48.32" x 61°58'10.17" Type: Small, square qala with Islamic houses nearby Date: Sasanian, Ghaznavid, Timurid A small square qala 38 x 38 m, oriented with the corners on cardinal points, surrounded by a roundish moat 50 m wide. Entrance to the qala is on southeast. A single row of rooms was noted inside the defensive wall; there is possibly a central structure in the western half of the courtyard. A guard tower is attached to the east corner consisting of two long vaulted rooms. To the northwest of the qala are a substantial number of houses from Ghaznavid times with baked brick features plus one typical Timurid house. These were not explored. The site is not named using our normal nomenclature in relation to Shahr-i Gholghola because of its westward location off our field maps. No photographs were taken of the site. Ceramics are pre-Islamic, consisting of large ribbed store jars, fine red slipped wares, sherds with incised pine tree motifs. Three sherds with tamga marks were collected.

Figure 5.101.1 Satellite view of Square Qala II. Courtesy J. Thibeau (CAMEL/AHMP)

5.102 Surburt Other names: Qala 355, Fischer Site 1 Gazetteer #: 1120 Coordinates: 30°50'57.59" x 62°04'41.62" Type: Square qala with later tower Date: Sasanian, Timurid A square qala 90 x 90 m in size, with round towers at each of the four corners, each oriented toward a cardinal point. The site had been previously studied by Fischer. Walls are best preserved along the northwest and northeast sides, as much as 6 m in height. Entrance to the qala is not visible, though most similar structures have entrances on the northeast sides. There is a row of rooms along the inner wall on at least the northeast and southeast sides, but level of preservation makes it unclear if there are others. At the southwest quadrant of the site is a large square tower, 12 x 12 m, a single story of mudbricks sitting on a pakhsa platform. A baked brick feature drains the roof on the southeast side of the tower. There are arrow slits along the sides of the tower where the walls stand. The level of preservation of the tower suggests it has a much more recent date. Satellite photos indicate there may have been an earlier central building approximately 50 x 50 m in size.

Figure 5.102.1 Satellite view of Surburt. Courtesy J. Thibeau (CAMEL/AHMP)

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Figure 5.102.2 Surburt from south with later tower extending above earlier walls. HSP74.50.4

Figure 5.102.3 Interior of Surburt with defensive tower surrounded by remains of walls of an earlier central structure in foreground. HSP74.45.37

The ceramic inventory is standard Sasanian wares, hard fired red and orange red wares, with red and light red slips, ribbed jars and bowls, club rim jars with some club rims exterior and some above shoulder, three sherds with incised pine tree decorations and punctated dot patterns, several pedestal vessels, simple shoulder handle. No fine red wares or ring burnishing noted. One vertical rim of reduced red ware has one complete and one partial deeply incised characters prior to firing. Several fine vertical rims of a yellow ware, one with light exterior ribbing, were noted. Also found was a leg of a red ware ceramic horse figurine. 210

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5.103 Ziarat-i Amiran Sahib Gazetteer #: 1264 Coordinates: 30°58'40.37" x 62°07'52.34" Type: Modern religious shrine and compound built upon earlier structures Date: Ghaznavid, Ghorid, Timurid, post-Timurid

Figure 5.103.1 Satellite view of Ziyarat-i Amiran Sahib with key buildings indicated. Qala-i Amiran Sahib is located to the northeast. Courtesy J. Thibeau (CAMEL/AHMP)

The shrine to Amiran Sahib is recent and still used, but its form as a five-domed qibla hall is typical of Timurid and post-Timurid times. The shrine honors the memory of Amiran Sahib, his brother, and his sister, who came to Sistan from Arabia via Herat area to battle for conversion to Islam (Amiri 2020, 170). Amiran Sahib was martyred here and the family tombs are inside the shrine. Local caretakers, most recruited from the nearby village, could not tell us the nature of their wonders or miracles. There was no mullah responsible for the shrine at the time of

our 1974 and 1975 visits. During our stay there were daily visitors, mostly truck drivers. Some stopped for prayers and left offerings of water, wood, and a bit of meat if they brought an animal. Given the remote location of the site, none of those were available locally so had to be brought to support the caretakers. Overnight visitors were not uncommon. One man brought his wife to sleep there in hopes that she would be cured of a disease. Women were put in a one-room mud hovel to the northwest of the shrine, a room filled with debris.

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Figure 5.103.2 View of Ziyarat-i Amiran Sahib complex from the northwest. Modern shrine is to the left of the minaret, the 4-iwan mosque to the right. The modern mullah mausoleum is at the far right. Rooms for visiting guests at the foreground left. HSP74.53.29

While the building which houses the tombs of Amiran and his siblings is the only building in use, other older buildings also exist in the complex. The southwest building, with its extensive scatter of baked bricks, may date to Ghaznavid times, as might the 4-iwan mosque west of the modern shrine. The antiquity of the building is supported by its location next to the Zarkhan Canal, one of the large canals leading northwest from the Helmand River, which was used during Ghaznavid times or earlier. Supporting a Timurid age for the shrine is the fact that the same canal, 4 m deep and 6–8 m wide, proceeds past Qala-i Amiran Sahib (see section 5.96), one of the most elaborate Timurid estates, just northeast of the ziyarat. The owner of this estate may have been the patron of the nearby shrine (W. Ball, personal communication).

The Modern Shrine The modern shrine containing Amiran and his siblings’ tombs may date back to Timurid times. It consists of an arcade of five pointed arches between piers supporting baked brick domes mudded over the exterior. This was probably originally a mosque with the walled courtyard to the east now repurposed as a cemetery. Light inside the arcade is provided by small windows in the east façade of the arcade and by small holes in the dome tops covered with pieces of amber-colored glass. The building is oriented with the arcade running northwest to southeast with its corners on cardinal points. The arcade is approximately 5 m in width and 20.5 m in length. Figure 5.103.3 Plan of the Ziyarat-i Amiran Sahib complex. J. Knudstad 1974

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Figure 5.103.4 Modern Amiran shrine from the southeast. Cemetery is to the right of the domed building, pile of goat horns at the far right. HSP75.29.10

Figure 5.103.5 Entrance to the modern shrine with horn decorations on the roof. Corner of the shrine keepers’ building is at the far left. HSP74.54.12

The entrance to the arcade is through double wooden doors on the southwest wall of the southernmost room. The entry contains a large keyhole niche framing the door and smaller keyhole niches on either side with molded representations of wheat stalks coming out of the mud plaster. Two handprints are laid into the plaster above the door. Above the door at the roof edge are seven gazelle skulls and horns inset into mud and two crudely carved wooden duck silhouettes perched on a T-shaped aerial pole. The south wall of the building has an additional set of much larger gazelle horns.

The ground surface on the outside has been raised by debris and mud melt so first step is down into a brickpaved rectangular slot of 2 x 4 m before the door. A single step leads down into the shrine and another step separates the domed entry room and the succeeding four domed rooms. Floors of the rooms are covered with woven reed matting. Facing the door inside the southern room is a high mud structure resembling an altar with a small ledge containing a bottle of oil to generate a small flame. We suggest this might be an additional tomb. The south wall of this room

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Figure 5.103.6 Qibla hall of the modern shrine looking toward the tombs of Amiran and his siblings. Keyhole-arched mihrab is at far left. HSP74.53.19

Figure 5.103.8 Domes above the qibla hall are inset with baked bricks as decoration. HSP74.53.16

Figure 5.103.7 Mihrab along the qibla hall of the modern shrine. HSP74.53.15

has an addition constructed of pakhsa with a window, now blocked up. The central room of the arcade has a small keyhole shaped mihrab on the west wall. The east wall connecting all all five rooms were once an arcade of pointed arches separated by piers and opening to the east, now filled in and mud plastered. On the east side, each blocked arch has a tall, narrow keyhole niche in it and windows above. The domes have baked bricks laid flat embedded into the ceiling and covered over with mud plaster. These bricks must be decorative, not structural. Many potsherds are set into mud, mimicking a tiled façade. At the northwest end of the arcade is the finely domed area with the graves of the three martyrs, Amiran at the west, his brother in the center, and his sister toward the east. The graves are covered with a single long camel-colored wool cloth. Offerings of colored seeds and polished stones have been placed on the grave. 214

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Figure 5.103.9 Pillar inside the qibla hall. Note the decoration of inset ceramic sherds at the top and the walled up arch leading to the cemetery at right, formerly the courtyard of the mosque. HSP74.53.17

Figure 5.103.10 Tombs of Amiran Sahib and his siblings, covered with a camel cloth. HSP74.53.14

Figure 5.103.11 Cemetery to the east of the modern shrine, originally the courtyard of the mosque. Note the keyhole arch decorated windows between the walled-up arches. HSP75.29.13

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Figure 5.103.12 Pile of goat horns from sacrifices with the sacrificial spot in the foreground. HSP74.53.12

Figure 5.103.13 Plan of the 4-iwan mosque. J. Knudstad 1974

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Figure 5.103.14 The 4-iwan mosque courtyard from the south. Entrance is through the iwan to the right. Note the high piled debris inside the courtyard. HSP74.53.13

A crude baked brick buttress supports the east wall at the north end. The cemetery to the east is approximately 13 x 20.5 m in size with the exterior wall preserved no more than 1 m in height. Cemetery contains at least five superstructures and at least six other graves. It is at a lower level than the current ground level outside. One of the graves is covered with large chunks of travertine. To the west of the arcade’s entrance is a much rebuilt mud building 14 x 4 m with a mud roof that now houses the shrine’s caretakers. The eastern wall of this building is shared with the shrine’s arcade, the northern 5 m of the west wall of this building is of mudbrick, and its north wall is constructed 4 m high of mudbrick on a baked brick foundation. The auxiliary building is entered from its south side framed by crude baked brick walls. The level of debris around the caretaker’s building is such that one can walk directly onto the roof of this building. Approximately 6.5 m to the west of the south corner of the shrine and aligned to its southwest wall is the entrance to the old 4-iwan mosque. To the southeast of the modern shrine is a debris pile that is used in recent times for the slaughter of animals, as evidenced by pools of blood and a 1.5 m high pile of goat horns.

The 4-iwan mosque A mosque that likely predated the modern shrine is located just to the south of the building in current use.1 1 Warwick Ball (personal communication) suggests the unusual interior configuration is suggestive of a madrassa or a mosque/madrassa. We thank him for this suggestion.

It is a square building with four iwans surrounding a central courtyard, approximately 27 m on each side. The building extends to the northwest but preservation there is fragmentary. There is a minaret at the north corner of the building. Remains of rounded corner towers are visible on the other three corners and in the center of each wall, except the northeast, where the entrance is located. Exterior walls are approximately 2.15 m in width, interior walls generally 0.8–1.0 m in width. The exterior walls are constructed of a baked brick foundation, mudbrick superstructure, and a mud plaster facing of approximately 0.5 m in thickness. The northeast entrance is framed by two extruding rounded piers. The vaulted arch doorway, 2 m in width, leads to the east iwan, 4.75 x 3.60 m in size. The entrance shows evidence of an earlier, wider doorway. Doorways on either side lead to small rooms of 4 x 2.8 m on either side, though the one on the north side has additional wall fragments against its south side. The anteroom to the north side leads through a narrow doorway to an arched hallway leading from the north iwan to the entrance of the minaret. The entry leads into the central courtyard, approximately 14 m north-south x 12 m east-west. The courtyard is filled with construction debris and contains numerous fragments of rebuilding that were not possible to sequence in our examination. Iwans on the southeast (4.9 x 3.8 m) and the northwest (5.5 x 4 m) are deeper than they are wide. The southeast iwan is decorated with three keyhole niches at its back. Doors lead from the southeast iwan to an anteroom on the east (2.35 x 3.75 m), which is also accessible through a doorway from the courtyard,

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Figure 5.103.15 Northeast iwan of the 4-iwan mosque with entrance to the building partially closed up. HSP74.53.31

Figure 5.103.16 Southeast iwan of the mosque with three keyhole arch decorations on back wall. HSP74.53.30

Figure 5.103.17 Southwest wall of the mosque courtyard with archways leading to the qibla hall walled up. HSP74.53.32

and to a larger room (3.85 x 3.35 m) on the east, likely the tomb of a holy man. From the northwest iwan, a doorway leads east into an arched hallway toward the minaret (dimensions not recorded) and another to an anteroom 4.2 x 3.75 m in size. The courtyard is 1 m below the ground surface outside the building, possibly from cleanings. On the southwest side, there is a shallow iwan 4.1 x 1.45 m, then an entrance to the mihrab hall. The central domed room containing the mihrab is 4.25 x 4.85 m. Rooms on either side are arched hallways 4.35 x 8.5 m and 4.45 x 8.4 m, with entrances 3.05 m in width. Arches in these halls are intact, though most arches in the rest of the building have fallen. Holes in the roofing has been repaired with poles holding up mudded-over matting. There may be as

much as 1 m of deposition on the floor of this hallway. There is evidence that recent visitors have used these hallways for living, given the remains of fires in the area. The original recessed mihrab in this hall is blocked up and replaced with three double recessed keyhole niches, a large central one (1.5 m in height) and smaller ones (0.8 m in height) on either side. These niches are finely decorated in mud plaster in checkerboard designs. The niches are framed by a very shallow recessed arch with remains of floral design carved in mud plaster around its interior. A square domed room 4.35 m in diameter is in the east corner of the building, with a narrow entrance from the central courtyard. The room has three keyhole niches on each wall and a small rectangular room behind it to the

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sar-o-tar south, the original entrance to which cannot be ascertained. Near the entrance to this domed room in the courtyard is a shelf used for modern animal sacrifices. The rectangular building extension shares the northwest wall of the mosque. It extends 31 m to the northwest. It has remains of corner towers on the two distant corners and another on the west side. There is no evidence of a tower on the east side, which is also the narrow walkway between this building and the modern shrine. The extension has Figure 5.103.18 Southern end of the qibla hall of the 4-iwan mosque, with three keyhole rooms on three sides of a court- arches inset in the wall. The walls are covered with soot. HSP74.54.13 yard that appears to abut the mosque. Rooms on the southern part of the courtyard are not easily visible but thought to exist. There may also be rooms on the east side but remains are too sparse to confirm their existence. At the northwest end, there are rooms 2 m deep and 2 m wide surrounding what appears to be the remains of an iwan, 4.5 m wide x 10 m deep. The rooms bordering the iwan are square and 3.5–5 m on a side. It is clear that the row of rooms against the outside walls extend toward the mosque, but preservation was insufficient to define them. The exterior wall of the compound Figure 5.103.19 The damaged roof of the qibla hall is repaired with mudded-over matting. HSP74.54.14 is 2 m in thickness, the interior walls between rooms approximately 1 m in thickness. It is The minaret unclear where the entrance to this compound was located The minaret is located at the north corner of the mosque. but there is no evidence of a doorway leading from the It is octagonal in shape and is entered through a narrow mosque. While badly eroded in most places, some frag- doorway 60 cm in width from the northeast rooms of the ments of walls remain as much as 2 m in height. mosque. Each side of the octagon is 155 cm in width on The old mosque is no longer used for services but for the exterior, 75 cm in thickness, and constructed of mudsheltering visitors and their animals and for slaughter of bricks. Brick size was not measured. The interior of the sacrificial animals. minaret is 1.9 m in diameter and houses a spiral staircase leading upward toward the right around a central column 55 cm in diameter. The eastern wall of the minaret

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Figure 5.103.21 Minaret at the north corner of the 4-iwan mosque. HSP74.52.2 Figure 5.103.20 Mihrab of the 4-iwan mosque has three inset keyhole arches with mud plaster in checkerboard design. Floral designs carved into the mud plaster frame the mihrab. HSP74.52.4

has fallen away at the base, unlike the photograph of it in Tate 1910–12 (Figure facing p. 254). Nor is the full height preserved. Four layers of horizontal baked brick extend beyond the width of the rest of the brickwork. A capping of six layers of baked brick sits at the top of the minaret. These also appeared in Tate’s photo. At least three windows light the interior on the extant west side, remains of one window is preserved on the north side.

Other structures and features To the south and east of the mosque and shrine are four additional occupation areas. These were studied only briefly so their descriptions are incomplete. A mudbrick wall extends south from the midpoint of the south wall of the old mosque about 30 m. At its south end and extending to the west is a 7 m square room

made of mudbrick with baked brick foundations and with entrances on four sides. To the west from this room is an open area bordered on the west by one of the structures, possibly a large courtyard. The building to the west of this yard is 24 x 32 m and has a single row of rooms on the north, west, and south sides of a courtyard. Entrance is likely at the center of the west wall. Side rooms are 3–4 m in width and varying in length. There is likely an iwan on both the north and south sides. There may be a path along the west side of this building, entered through a gate on the southwest corner, and another path 2.5 m wide on the north side leading toward the old mosque. The function of this building is unclear, as is its date. South of this building is a walled structure surrounding a large courtyard. The structure is 50 x 52 m in size. There is a single row of rooms or a gallery on the west side, where the entrance is likely also located. On the center of the south side are two large adjacent rectangular rooms, each about 5 x 14 m, with thick walls. Traces of two additional rooms were noted in the southeast corner. In the

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Figure 5.103.22 Inside of minaret shows circular staircase leading up. HSP74.54.10

Figure 5.103.23 South of main complex, the central room with four entrances, looking south. HSP74.53.9

Figure 5.103.24 Caravanserai? building to the south of the main shrine, badly eroded. HSP74.52.7

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Figure 5.103.25 Building to the southeast of the main shrine with numerous recessed keyhole arches and horizontal baked brick decoration. HSP74.53.6

Figure 5.103.26 The Zarkan canal runs south and east of Ziyarat-i Amiran Sahib. HSP75.29.9

northeast corner, and attached to the open entryway, is a high keyhole niched hall 11 x 7 m with windows looking west into the courtyard. In addition to the entrance to the entry hall, there is another exit from this hall to the building on the east. The building at the southeast is 29 x 42 m in size and has a large number of baked bricks in its vicinity. There is a large courtyard in its center. On the west and east walls are small rooms or a gallery with each room about 3 m square. A set of larger rooms 7 m wide is on the south side. There may be an entrance in the southwest corner. The north wall has a central iwan 6 m wide and 8 m deep, with numerous keyhole niches around its sides. The room to the west of it is an arched hallway containing niches and bordering on the large courtyard building to the west. Dimensions were not recorded. Two smaller rooms occupy the area east of the iwan, also with niches in the walls.

The layout of these buildings suggests they may have been caravanserai, hospices, or additional madrassas. The substantial use of baked brick in the southeastern building is most common in Ghaznavid structures in Sistan. To the west-southwest 100 m from the mosque is an old tamarisk tree with a large catchment basin surrounding half of it about 1.5 m deep for holding winter rain. Near the mosque is a mausoleum for a recent mullah, but it contains only poor offerings, a few animal bones, a tin can, and bits of cloth. There are several small modern buildings in the area for contemporary occupants and visitors. The Zarkan canal runs to the south of the complex. No artifacts or ceramics were collected or photographed at the site. The site was previously visited and described by Tate (1910–12, 254–255), by Fischer (1970, plates 38 and 39), and its current activities described in Amiri (2020).

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Chapter 6

Helmand Valley Sites

6.1 Baghak Other names: Pusht-i Gau South, Hammond 29 Gazetteer #: 77 Coordinates: 30°08'56.52" x 62°33'04.74" Type: Large irregular enclosure with a building complex inside, later tower Date: Hellenistic, Parthian, Sasanian, Islamic The site was previously visited by Hammond and labeled Baghak by him and in the Gazetteer, though we were given the name Pusht-i Gau. The site is not to be confused with another Pusht-i Gau located 10 km north of Chakansur visited by Bellew (1874, 206) and possibly Hammond (1970, 449) and listed under that name in the Gazetteer (site 824). The site is a large multi-sided enclosure of approximately 400 m east-west x 250 m north-south within the Helmand Valley to the south of the modern river bed by about 800 m. There is evidence of one major building complex extending inward from the north side of the enclosure wall. Several other small melted mud mounds suggest other smaller structures inside the enclosure including one in the northwest corner approximately 40 x 30 m. A square tower 8 m on a side is located in the western part of the enclosure, likely a later Islamic construction. The complex of rooms inside the enclosure extends south from the center of the north enclosure wall. The plan of the building is hard to determine because of its level of preservation, but likely contains two or more large courtyards with smaller rooms between them and other rooms against the south wall of the building. The northern courtyard is 32 x 25 m in size and may have a chartaq 12 x 12 m inside. The southern courtyard is 30 x 25 m in size with an iwan in its south wall. The east-west walls continue for another 100 m to the south but the structures associated with them are unclear. At the southern end, there are similar walls running east and west but highly eroded so the nature of those rooms is uncertain. The exterior walls have as many as 28 rounded defensive towers. Most of the enclosure shows no evidence of

Figure 6.1.1 Satellite view of Baghak/Pusht-i Gau South. Courtesy of J. Thibeau (CAMEL/AHMP)

Figure 6.1.2 Plan of Baghak/Pusht-i Gau South. J. Knudstad, 1971

interior buildings nor is there evidence of a row of rooms inside the enclosure wall, though the walls are badly melted making that determination uncertain. There is possibly an entrance to the building in the center of the south wall and/or in the northeast corner. The enclosure 223

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Figure 6.1.3 Southern and western part of interior of Baghak/Pusht-i Gau South. HSP71.35.21 Together, Figures 6.1.3 and 6.1.4 provide a panorama of the interior of the site.

Figure 6.1.4 Northwest part of interior of Baghak/Pusht-i Gau South. Large building extending from the north wall visible at right. Remains of later square tower visible back left center. HSP71.35.22

wall seems to be made of pakhsa, but highly deteriorated and may have included courses of mudbrick. Mudbricks in the interior structure are 43 x 43 x 7 cm and held together with mud mortar. There is an ancient canal bed that runs north of the site. Ceramics from the site consist of a large number of fine burnished and unburnished red wares, jabbed bases,

ribbed ware, ledge rim jars, and small stemmed cups—a typical Partho-Sasanian corpus. Both ring burnished and radial burnished sherds were found. The radial burnished sherds and a pair of carinated cup rims suggest the site might go back to Hellenistic times. One thin walled ribbed storage jar was noted in situ set high in the outer wall. Two glazed Islamic sherds were also found.

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6.2 Bobo Qala Other names: Malakhan Plain I Coordinates: 30°30'22.24" x 63°23'44.22" Type: Qala and later dwelling tower Date: Partho-Sasanian, post-Timurid A well-preserved square mudbrick and pakhsa tower 13 m square situated along an ancient canal. A rectangular mound 30 x 50 m surrounds the tower and extends to the southeast. It is raised slightly above plain surface suggesting a walled qala, likely of a previous period. A sand dune field stretches to the southwest, a highly salinated playa to the southeast. This is the easternmost site studied on the Malakhan Plain. The square tower is two stories high, as much as 9 m in height. Walls are 2 m in thickness and made of alternating courses of pakhsa 95 cm high and three courses of mudbrick 44 x 44 x 8–9 cm. Three arched windows are preserved on the west façade, with squared windows on the second story above. Five merlon-shaped window slots 2.5 m in height are cut through the north wall.

Figure 6.2.2 Bobo Qala on Malakhan Plain looking west toward Koh-i Khan Neshin with the qala visible around its base. HSP72.51.22

Figure 6.2.1 Plan and elevation of Bobo Qala. J. Knudstad 1972

Figure 6.2.3 South exterior of Bobo Qala. HSP72.51.11

Figure 6.2.4 North exterior of Bobo Qala. HSP72.51.14

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Figure 6.2.5 Interior of north vaulted room. HSP72.51.16

Figure 6.2.6 Interior of central vaulted room. HSP72.51.19

Entrance to the tower was probably at the southeast corner, but it is now destroyed. Semicircular buttresses extend from all but the east wall, each 1.5 m in diameter. It is uncertain whether the tower sits on a platform beneath it or has another level of rooms below. The interior consists of three parallel rooms running east-west, the southernmost one badly eroded away but with arches preserved in the other two, each 4 m in height. The two side rooms each run 2 m in width and 10.7 m in length. The central room is 2.4 m in width and 10.4 m in length. Rooms have skew-vaulted ceilings made of mudbrick and indications of an additional story above. Passage between rooms is on the east side and approximately 90 cm in width.

There are two later modifications at either end of the northernmost room. One is excavated out of the eastern wall, 75 x 65 cm and built in bricks of 30 x 30 x 5.6 cm, possibly a toilet. At the western end there is a hollowing out under the vaulted ceiling. The tower is at the northwest corner of a heavily salinated rectangular enclosure raised 0.7 m above the surrounding plain level. Dimensions of the enclosure were not recorded. Ceramic scatter in and around the tower and enclosure is light. Most sherds collected were pieces of ribbed jars with two cup/goblet rims of hard fired red ware and one red ware ring burnished sherd. Three Islamic glazed pieces were collected, including one with a light green glaze on buff red ware.

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6.3 Chehel Miriz Other names: Hammond 12 Gazetteer #: 197 Coordinates: 30°13'47.76" x 62°08'33.13" Type: Round pre-Islamic qala rebuilt in Islamic times Date: Partho-Sasanian, Islamic This is a round fortified site about 140 m in diameter on a gravel-covered bluff above the left bank of Helmand Valley across the river from Ashkinak and about 8 km east of Charburjak. There are at least two periods of occupation here as complete walls were built atop a ruined circumvallation beneath. Remains from the earlier period stand as much as 2–3 m high. More recent walls are constructed of mudbrick and stand as high as 7–8 m atop previous structures, probably during one of the Islamic periods. At least one row of rooms can be discerned along the interior of the compound wall. There is a large structure approximately 28 m square at the center of site. The entrance is likely on the north side. This site was visited only briefly and was not systematically described. Ceramics include hard fired utilitarian red ware jars

Figure 6.3.1 Satellite view of Chehel Miriz. Courtesy of J. Thibeau (CAMEL/AHMP)

and large bowls, some slipped with light colored slip. Many pieces of ribbed ware and some overfired handmade black coarse cooking ware were found. One sherd has a band of tree stamps along the shoulder. No glazed wares were seen.

Figure 6.3.2 Chehel Miriz from the north. HSP71.36.8

Figure 6.3.3 Eastern interior of Chehel Miriz looking north. Central structure is at left. HSP71.36.12

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Figure 6.3.4 Western interior of Chehel Miriz looking north. HSP71.36.13

6.4 Chigini Other names: Dam 352, Fischer 15, Chigini II Gazetteer #: 200 Coordinates: 30°59'36.92" x 62°02'10.49" Type: Large rectangular house Date: Timurid, post-Timurid A collection of houses and other structures is located at the northern end of Sar-o-Tar close to the eastern edge of the Hamun Lakes. This area had been visited by Tate, DAFA, and Fischer (Site 15, Chigini II) and has been documented to various degrees by them. HSP visited it only briefly in 1971 and took no field notes or photographs, nor did we collect sherds. We did, though, produce a plan of a large, well-preserved Timurid house in Chigini II, previously photographed by Fischer (1974–1976, Plates 107–113). The large rectangular house is 26 x 41 m with rooms on four sides of a central courtyard and oriented north-northwest. A highly decorated iwan is located on the north side and another on the south. The entrance is at the southeast. An enclosure extends to the south of the main building. A round tower is located at the southwest corner. The walls are all built of pakhsa foundations with alternating courses of mudbrick as they rise. The southeast entrance is through a portico with a keyhole arch main entry. Three narrow vertical window slots sit above the entry. The entrance extends to the east to give symmetry to the wall extending north that encloses the southern garden. The entry leads into a domed square room with entrances on all four sides. A doorway leads to the side rooms on the east side of the building with five tall niches above the doorway looking southward from the room just north of the entry chamber. A second domed entry chamber is located to the west of the entry hall,

Figure 6.4.1 Plan of Chigini II estate. J. Knudstad 1971

but its north doorway into the main courtyard has been blocked. West of these entry rooms is an iwan in the center of the south wall. Further west is another square room with a transverse arch leading into the iwan and another door into the courtyard. In the southwest corner is a domed room leading to a narrow arched room, presumably

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helmand valley sites a corridor leading to the southwest tower. The tower has two stories of rooms, each one roofed with a dome. The third (top) level is open to the sky and surrounded by a parapet with narrow slits looking outward. The west side of the courtyard consists of two sets of three domed rooms, with a central entry room from the courtyard leading to rooms on its north and south sides. This pattern is repeated on the east side at the north end of this bank of rooms, though the set on the east side is vaulted and not domed. The southern half of the eastern rooms consists of a single large room entered from a recessed doorway into the courtyard and a second entrance on the south from the domed entry chamber. The elaborately decorated north iwan and flanking rooms are documented in photographs by Fischer. The north iwan has a door leading out of the north wall that was likely blocked up and decorated when the house was in use. The iwan has two narrow transverse vaults at the north end and one at the south end supported by pointed arches. At the center is a dome framed by smaller horizontal arches. On either side of the north iwan are two stories of rooms. On the northeast first floor, the rooms are

rectangular heading east-west, each vaulted. The second story is not preserved well enough to determine its structure or decoration. Several narrow slot windows look out the north side of the north room. On the northwest side, the first floor is beneath debris. On the second story, there are two sets of rooms running east-west. On the southern half, there are three domed rooms with a staircase from the first floor in the southeast corner. On the northern half there is a two story high domed room, highly decorated in three registers. In the corner of this northwest room area is a smaller domed room on the second floor. It is unclear what is beneath it on the first floor. Slot windows penetrate the north wall of the high domed room, as they do on the northeast side. Exact measurements were not taken for individual walls and rooms but are approximated in the plan here. At the site, we collected a small group of Islamic glaze ware from the post-Seljuk centuries which are mainly glazed turquoise and blue glazes with black decorations on a white background. (LZB) While the architecture fits our Timurid house model, the ceramics suggest it was used past the fifteenth century.

6.5 Dam-i Malik Khan Other names: Damb Korodi, Sargah-i Seistan, Damb-i Rustam Gazetteer #: 2043 Coordinates: 30°34'48.26" x 61°51'34.50" Type: Two large pre-Islamic qalas with a cemetery to the south Date: Early Iron, Hellenistic?, Partho-Sasanian, Timurid, post-Timurid A large, complex site sitting at the edge of the Qala-i Fath highlands overlooking the gap where the canals lead from the river into Sar-o-Tar, approximately 2 km northeast of the site of Qala-i Fath. A large oval mudbrick fortress approximately 320 x 100 m, presumably pre-Islamic based on the lack of Islamic period sherds found in this area, is bisected by a man-made moat 25 m wide cutting the site roughly in half. The northern half of the site is approximately 125 x 80 m, the southern half 170 x 100 m. There are no clear indications of structures inside this enclosure, though there is some evidence of later burials. This site might be the Damb Korodi “a big flat-topped mound” north of Qala-i Fath mentioned by Maitland in an Afghan Boundary Commission report (1888, 71). It also fits the description of Sargah-i Seistan/Damb-i Rustam and the

Figure 6.5.1 Satellite view of Dam-i Malik Khan, showing the badly eroded northern fortress bisected by a sandcovered moat and the better preserved southern fortress (DMK-A) at bottom center. Canal leading into Sar-o-Tar curves east around the north end of the qala. Courtesy of J. Thibeau (CAMEL/AHMP)

fortress to the south of the Ziyarat Sheikh Husen mentioned in Tate (1910–12, 138, 249). Dam-i Malik Khan A. Sitting on the southern edge of the large fortress is a smaller square fortress on a mudbrick

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the archaeology of southwest afghanistan platform with much better preserved walls. This is likely more recent. Approximately 30 x 30 m on a side, its walls stand much higher than the northern fortress (but height not recorded by HSP). The fortress features rounded towers at the corners and additional towers along each wall. A single high wall running north-south remains to the east of this building, possibly part of a windmill. Dam-i Malik Khan B. To the south of these sites and in the river valley rather than on the bluffs is an extensive Islamic period cemetery with numerous mausoleums and scores of mastaba grave vaults still standing. The mausoleums follow the traditional design common from the Timurid and later periods of a square domed room anchored by four corner pillars. This area was labeled the Qala-i Fath cemetery when photographed by the French in 1936 (Hackin 1959, Figures 121–123). To the west and north are remains of the large canals that lead from the Helmand toward Sar-o-Tar. To the northwest are the remains of a modern village abandoned in 1975 when overrun with sand dunes.

Figure 6.5.2 Sketch plan of Dam-i Malik Khan area. W. Trousdale 1973, redrawn J. Allen

Figure 6.5.3 Northern half of north fortress of Dam-i Malik Khan looking north with Jui Nau/Bad Shaō in distance above and left of the highest wall. HSP73.43.6

Figure 6.5.4 Looking south from northern half of north fortress. Moat cut is in foreground before southern half of northern fortress. Southern fortress (DMK-A) sits at the edge of the older fortress at upper right. HPS73.41.34

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Figure 6.5.5 Moat separating two halves of Dam-i Malik Khan fortress from the west. HSP74.8.6

Figure 6.5.6 Southern fortress (DMK-A) from the south. HSP73.41.32

Figure 6.5.7 Southern fortress (DMK-A) from north with wall at east side (left), possibly part of a later windmill. HSP73.41.37

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Figure 6.5.9 Timurid and post-Timurid tomb group to the south of Dam-i Malik Khan. HSP73.43.2 Figure 6.5.8 Satellite view of part of the Islamic cemetery south of Dam-i Malik Khan (DMK-B). Fortress DMK-A is at the top left of center. Courtesy of J. Thibeau (CAMEL/ AHMP)

Figure 6.5.10 Mausoleum south of Dam-i Malik Khan. HSP73.41.33

There is a very heavy sherd concentration on the site of the northern fortress. Sherds surrounding Dam-i Malik Khan A are indistinguishable from those around the larger fortress. No Islamic glazed sherds were collected. Most of the typical Partho-Sasanian sherd types were found, along with one painted bowl rim and a ridged jar rim, both of Early Iron Age date. Partho-Sasanian wares include a fine ware buff bowl with dripped slip on exterior, club rim large bowls, a jar decorated with incised wave design on shoulder and incised hatch designs on rim, and the shoulder of a jar with stamped pine tree motif. We suggest that the site was located here to protect the canals leading into Sar-o-Tar. That function was likely moved further south to Qala-i Fath in Islamic times.

Figure 6.5.11 Detail of mausoleum south of Dam-i Malik Khan. HSP73.43.7

Figure 6.5.12 Recent village northwest of Dam-i Malik Khan abandoned because of encroaching dunes. HSP74.8.4

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6.6 Diwalak Bala Coordinates: 31°24'54.31" x 64°22'23.47" Type: Rectangular platform, possible reuse in Islamic times Date: Partho-Sasanian, Ghaznavid Located on the left bank of the Helmand, approximately 1 km north of Diwalak Pa’in. The site consists of a rectangular platform approximately 19 x 23.3 m at the edge of the bluff overlooking the river valley. The site is badly eroded at its eastern edge toward the river. Some fragments of walls were visible, particularly in southwest corner, but an architectural plan of the structure upon this platform was not discernable. Visible mudbricks are 36 x 45 x 9 cm with mud mortar attached. Slightly to the north of the site are some small one room caves in the cliff. Fragments of a kiln are also Figure 6.6.1 Diwalak Bala from southeast. HSP71.20.8 located near the site. Ceramics include numerous pieces of small jars of belonging to the eleventh to thirteenth century ce was Partho-Sasanian fine white-slipped red ware as well as also collected. (LZB) The site is likely pre-Islamic but may have been reused coarser red wares with buff slip and ribbing, combing, and punctated bands. A base of a so-called “Bamiyan ware” in later periods.

6.7 Diwalak Pa’in Coordinates: 31°24'40.90" x 64°22'14.30" Type: Rectangular platform Date: Partho-Sasanian Located on a bluff overlooking the left bank of the Helmand, approximately 1 km south of Diwalak Bala, this platform is more ruinous than Diwalak Bala but probably served a similar function. Much of the face of the structure and its pakhsa platform are eroded. The remaining platform is approximately 13.3 x 9.2 m and shows a few fragmentary mudbricks. The highest point of the structure scarcely exceeds 2 m. Its architectural plan is not discernable. Ceramics consist of Partho-Sasanian hard fired red wares, mostly coarse with ribbed bodies, slipped buff and occasionally red on exterior. Several sherds have wavy lines incised on shoulder before firing. Figure 6.7.1 Diwalak Pa’in from east. HSP71.20.16 233

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6.8 Hauz-i Palangi Other names: Hauz Gazetteer #: 2092 Coordinates: 30°35'50.11" x 61°53'06.10" Type: Modern town built around Timurid and postTimurid estates, large windmill, and cisterns Date: Ghaznavid?, Timurid, post-Timurid

Figure 6.8.1 Satellite image of Hauz area with sites indicated. Courtesy of CAMEL/AHMP

Figure 6.8.2 View of part of the Hauz ruin field. Some modern buildings at the far right. HSP73.2.4

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helmand valley sites A modern town that stretches 1300 m east-west x 700 m north-south with the contemporary small homes built amid and around larger Timurid and post-Timurid homes, mostly the latter. It was probably the occupational community associated with the fortress at Qala-i Fath from Timurid times to the present. There was no systematic study made of the pre-modern structures in the village. Ethnographic information about the village can be found in Amiri (2020) as many of our workers came from this town. The town is best known for the Timurid/post-Timurid estate building called Palangi at the eastern edge of the village (described separately in section 6.37), but the entire area was sometimes called by that name in early accounts. Ferrier (1856, 410) cites Christie, the first European to travel down the Helmand in 1808, as identifying the town as Poolka or Pulaki. Fischer suggests it might be Palakenti of Isador of Charax (Fischer 1971b, 50). Ferrier also notes the existence of large baked bricks, enameled tiles, and the remains of mosques and other public buildings (Ferrier 1856, 411), and he noted the town was surrounded by reeds and tamarisk. Tate characterizes the area as having “extensive ruins of manor houses and stately residences; some in an FFigure 6.8.3 Plan of ground floor (top), upper floor (bottom), and elevation of Hauz Windmill. J. Knudstad 1973

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Figure 6.8.4 Hauz windmill from the west with decorated façade. HSP73.2.31

Figure 6.8.5 Hauz windmill from north. HSP73.2.27

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Figure 6.8.7 Small wedge room at the northwest corner of Hauz windmill providing access platforms for working on vanes. HSP73.36.28 Figure 6.8.6 Interior of Hauz windmill looking north. HSP73.2.28

advanced condition of decay, others in comparatively good repair” (Tate 1910–12, 253). Most that we observed follow the plan of a standard Timurid house. A large windmill inside the town was also described by Tate (1910–12, 253) and was documented by HSP architect Jim Knudstad. One large ancient estate among the ruins had been converted into a garage for trucks. A brick kiln was also noted during our visit. A well-preserved cistern, possibly dating to the seventeenth century, is described separately in section 6.9. No artifacts were collected, though Hackin (1959, 28) reports relief-decorated glazed wares and molded wares that might predate Timurid times. 237

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6.9 Hauz Cistern Other names: Malik Hamza Gazetteer #: 2092 Coordinates: 30°35'36.41" x 61°53'45.47" Type: Cistern at edge of town of Hauz Date: Timurid?, post-Timurid A large standing domed cistern south of Palangi at the edge of the village of Hauz described by Tate (1910–12, 253). The cistern is still intact, 3 m in depth, covered by a baked brick vault, and thickly plastered on the interior. A baked brick staircase on the north side of about 30 steps (3 m) leads into the water. At the back of the cistern are a series of rooms at ground level in good repair. The central room has an arched window and a channel to bring water into the cistern. The ceiling of this room is decorated with relief plaster animals, rosettes, and an inscription, some of which are shown here. Tate (1910–12, 253) claims this

was called the reservoir of Malik Hamza, a revered seventeenth century ruler of Sistan. The date of construction is unknown but likely postTimurid. No ceramics were collected here.

Figure 6.9.2 Stairwell and basin of the Hauz cistern. HSP73.2.22

Figure 6.9.3 Wall decoration and inscription inside Hauz cistern. HSP73.37.11

Figure 6.9.1 Entrance to Hauz cistern. HSP73.2.23

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Figure 6.9.4 a-f Decoration on dome of Hauz cistern. HSP73.37.13, 14, 16, 18, 19, 20

6.10 Jui Nau Other names: Bad Shaō, Gudri, Damb-i Rustam Gazetteer #: 479 Coordinates: 30°37'14.30" x 61°51'16.23" Type: Large, rounded, and badly eroded walled compound, likely built upon an earlier platform; nearby mosque and houses Dates: Early Iron, Achaemenid?, Partho-Sasanian, Timurid The name of the site is unclear. Fischer labeled the site Jui Nau “new canal” in his work (e.g., Fischer 1969, 335) while we were given the name Bad Shaō, “night wind” in Baluchi. It is near the town of Gudri. A well-preserved Ghaznavid mosque is 100 m north of the main ruin and is described separately in this report in section 6.11. Two kilometers east of the Helmand, Jui Nau/Bad Shaō is a very large oval compound of approximately 120 x 150 m partially sitting upon a natural ridge with loosely cemented dasht gravels on the surface. Its location was crucial, as it, like Dam-i Malik Khan slightly further south, likely guarded the takeoff point of canals into Sar-o-Tar. No structural remains can be seen, simply raised mounds where the external walls would have been. The buildings seem to have been all in mudbrick. Thickness of the melt inside the enclosure walls might indicate a row of rooms

Figure 6.10.1 Satellite image of Jui Nau/Bad Shaō. String of Timurid houses visible at lower left, major canal runs further north of the qala. The Jui Nau/Bad Shaō mosque is just off the image to the north. Courtesy of J. Thibeau (CAMEL/ AHMP)

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Figure 6.10.2 Exterior of Jui Nau/Bad Shaō mound. HSP73.32.11

Figure 6.10.3 Interior of Jui Nau/ Bad Shaō mound. HSP73.31.34

Figure 6.10.4 Canal system outside north side of Jui Nau/ Bad Shaō, photo taken from fortress walls. HSP73.32.13

Figure 6.10.5 Timurid house in vicinity of Jui Nau/Bad Shaō. Note the deflation of the landscape of over 2 m since construction of the house, presumably in the fifteenth century. HSP74.45.31

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helmand valley sites inside the enclosure wall, but they are not sufficiently visible to provide more than a suggestion. The site was visited only briefly by HSP. In addition to the mosque, there is a cluster of Timurid and post-Timurid houses and mausoleums to the west of the qala. Artifacts found at the site include two fourteenth century coins, dating 1382–1386, and the simple vertical rim of a travertine vessel. There is a very light covering of pre-Islamic sherds.

Several large jars with ridged rims were found, as well as two unpainted fine ware bowls that are likely Early Iron Age in shape and material. Fine red wares with red slips are common, pedestal goblets with ring burnish and red slip were also collected. Coarser ceramics include the base of a ribbed bowl and jars decorated with incised wavy lines and rows of punctated marks. Two turquoise glazed pieces from the fourteenth to fifteenth centuries were also collected inside the main site. Ceramics were not photographed.

6.11 Jui Nau Mosque Other names: Bad Shaō mosque Gazetteer #: 479 Coordinates: 30°37'18.87" x 61°51'10.51" Type: Mosque Date: Ghaznavid?, Timurid Located 100 m north of the Jui Nau/Bad Shaō qala, the mudbrick mosque qibla hall is all that remains standing of what was probably a larger structure. The façade is approximately 25 m in width, 6 m in depth, and stands 6 m in height. Exterior walls are approximately 0.5 m thick. The entrance to the hall is approximately 3.5 m in width and 4.2 m high and partially walled up with mudbrick. The east façade has four large keyhole arches, each approximately 1.7 m in height on either side of the mihrab entrance, above which are four additional registers of keyhole arches, the second (0.8 m high) and fourth registers (0.4 m high) much smaller than the third one (1.3 m high).

Figure 6.11.1 Satellite image of Jui Nau/Bad Shaō mosque. Faint indications of walls to the east of the standing structure suggest a mosque courtyard with a colonnade or rooms around the edge. Courtesy of J. Thibeau (CAMEL/ AHMP)

Figure 6.11.2 Eastern façade of Jui Nau/Bad Shaō mosque qibla hall. HSP73.31.35

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Figure 6.11.3 Southern side of Jui Nau/Bad Shaō mosque qibla hall. HSP73.31.36

Figure 6.11.4 Mihrab and minbar of the Jui Nau/Bad Shaō mosque. HSP73.32.3

Figure 6.11.5 Looking north through the qibla hall of the Jui Nau/Bad Shaō mosque. HSP73.32.12

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helmand valley sites The sole remains of a fifth register of arches is a single arched window (0.3 m high) above the mihrab entrance. The mihrab against the western wall of the hall stands 4 m high and features three keyhole arches above a single arch framed in brick at ground level. In front are three domed rooms and transverse vaults preserved between the pair of piers between each domed room. At one end, the preserved wall on the north shows an arched window below and three slit windows above. The exterior wall on the other side is not preserved. There is a much worn pakhsa minbar built out of the mihrab with five steps remaining. If there was a courtyard and colonnade to the east of

the mihrab, they have not been preserved though satellite photos show faint evidence of walls that suggest an original building of approximately 35 x 50 m. The major Jui Nau/Bad Shaō qala and other Timurid and post-Timurid buildings in the vicinity are described elsewhere in this report. Most of the sherds recovered are plain red wares; however, among the assemblage, there are a few Islamic turquoise and black bowl fritware and blue on white slip under transparent glaze belonging to the second half of the fifteenth century. (LZB) Though the building exhibits many Timurid features and ceramics, its origins may be earlier.

6.12 Karbasak Other names: Garshasp, Qala-i Kohna, possibly Hammond 30 or Hammond 44 Gazetteer #: 527 Coordinates: 30°09'37.28" x 62°37'28.40" Type: Pre-Islamic square qala rebuilt in Islamic times, with adjacent satellite square enclosure Date: Sasanian, Ghaznavid, Ghorid The square enclosure called “little cloth” is constructed atop the fragmentary walls of a previous square qala on the eastern end of the Rudbar Plain. It had been noted by the Afghan Boundary Commission and possibly by Hammond. The main enclosure is approximately 65 m on a side and stands as much as 6 m above the plain with corner towers surrounding a central courtyard. Walls are oriented slightly west of north. Standing walls are made of alternating pakhsa with two courses of mudbrick and are situated on approximately 2 m of mud melt, probably remains of

Figure 6.12.1 Site plan of Karbasak. J. Knudstad 1971

Figure 6.12.2 Exterior view of Karbasak qala from east. HSP71.35.16

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Figure 6.12.3 Interior of Karbasak qala looking northeast. HSP71.35.7

an earlier qala. Exterior walls are approximately 2 m thick, interior room walls approximately 1 m thick. Brick size is approximately 41 x 41 x 7 cm. Entrance to the qala is on the east side flanked by two towers standing as much as 5 m in height; part of the east wall is missing. Small towers remain at the center of the west and south walls; both walls are still intact. Corner towers are approximately 6.5 m in diameter with low round vaulted doorways into the interior of the compound. Smaller towers on the south and west side are 5 m in diameter. The northern part of the west wall is inset 3 m from the southern part approximately 11 m from southwest corner. The east wall has a similar peculiarity, with its northern half inset 3.5 m from the southern part at approximately 30 m from south end. The gateway into the site between the two entry towers is approximately 2 m in width and stands 5–6 m in height. A well-preserved northwest tower has a 2 m thick wall surrounding a central round room 3 m in diameter. The remaining corner towers are unclear in their structure. There are remains of three vaulted rooms along the northern half of the west wall and two at the south end of that wall with the vaults paralleling the wall. Rooms vary between 2 m and 5 m in length and 2 m in depth. Along the southern end of the east wall are remains of an additional vaulted room parallel to the east wall and 3.5 m in width. There is no evidence of a central building as appears in many similar qalas. An additional enclosure of approximately 60 x 60 m stretches to the south of the main qala with melted

Figure 6.12.4 Satellite enclosure to Karbasak, possibly a reservoir. HSP71.35.17

pakhsa walls still standing as high as 4 m. No features could be identified nor any evidence of reuse. This is possibly a reservoir. Some reservoirs have been found in the Registan (Thomas and Kidd 2017) but are uncommon in our survey area. Carved into the pakhsa wall at the southwest corner of the site is the inscription “Mullah Qadir.” Red bodied ribbed and coarse buff and red wares are predominant within the site. Pertaining to the Sasanian period are two pieces with leaf design stamping and others with straight and waved combing. Several jabbed bases were also recovered. No burnished wares were seen. Islamic ceramics are lightly scattered and the bulk of these types of sherds are found on the east side of the site near the gateway. Only two twelfth to thirteenth century unglazed molded ware and two sherds glazed in brown and yellow were found on the site. (LZB)

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6.13 Khwaja Hasan Other names: Khwaja Ghraib Baba (Lwurra), Hammond 14, Abramiuk CHCP-14 Gazetteer #: 595 Coordinates: 31°11'12.47" x 64°12'16.32" Type: Recent imam’s ziyarat built over a Buddhist stupa, also occupied in other periods, nearby caves, and a recent cemetery Date: Bronze Age, Early Iron, Achaemenid, Hellenistic, Parthian, Sasanian, Saffarid, Ghaznavid, post-Timurid This site is identified as Khwaja Ghrayb Baba Lwurra (US Topo 1501 series 1967 map NH 41–7) but locals indicated the last word was redundant. Hammond (1970) identified this site as Khwaja Hasan, as did Ball (2019) and Abramiuk (2019). Bellows (1874, 185) described it: [We] passed a ziarat or shrine, shaded by a clump of trees, close under the desert bluffs on our left. High up in the perpendicular face of one of these cliffs we observed a row of three tall arched openings. They appeared of regular formations, and no means of approach was traceable on the cliff, nor could anybody tell us anything about them. Abramiuk (2019, 22) notes that the site “commands an overarching view of the Helmand River and surroundings.” One of this volume’s authors has previously written about this site (Trousdale 1984). The site was first surveyed for HSP by J. Whitney in 1971 and visited by the team again in 1974. The site is located on cliffs along the left bank of the Helmand, 8.5 km south of the bridge at Darwishan. The site is on an isolated section of cliff connected to high ground to the west by a narrow, dipping ridge. A very large cemetery is located on the undulating high ground behind the site to the west. Graves are mostly covered with river boulders and pebbles, with a lesser use of travertine than we have seen elsewhere. Ceramic scatter in the cemetery is light, but includes part of a horse figurine. A structure on a 30 x 50 m platform was constructed over an earlier building, visible where sections of the recent pakhsa structure have fractured and fallen away. The later building foundation is set further west than the remains of the stupa platform, suggesting it was placed after substantial erosion of the cliff face. This presumed ziyarat is piled with debris on all sides including ash lenses. The curved face of an earlier mudbrick wall beneath the platform for the later building is virtually identical to the inner face of the stupa at nearby Khana Gauhar (see section 8.5) and possesses similarly sized baked bricks and

Figure 6.13.1 Sketch plan of Khwaja Hasan area. J. Whitney 1971, redrawn J. Allen

Figure 6.13.2 Sketch profile of remains at Khwaja Hasan. J. Whitney 1971, redrawn J. Allen

Figure 6.13.3 Khwaja Hasan viewed from the Helmand Valley. HSP74.56.25

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the archaeology of southwest afghanistan masonry techniques. The inner face of this wall is plastered but filled with chunks of sandstone and mud inside as at Khana Gauhar. There are indications of other building phases between the round wall and the ziyarat, but they could not be detailed. In a section of cliff about 200 m to the north of the standing structure are a series of at least five caves carved out of the soft sandstone. As much of the cliff face has fallen away, the existence of one former cave is revealed only by chisel marks in the cliff face that was the back wall of the cave. Portions of at least four more complete caves remain. While three of these appear to be flat-roofed, one (with only a back wall remaining) has the more normal parabolic vault. Dimensions of the interior of the southernmost of the caves was estimated at 2.5 x 2.5 x 3.5 m. Access to these caves was not possible, though the insides of the caves appeared to be bare. The cliff here is approximately 25 m above the river valley. The lowest cave is no more than 5 m above the 30-degree talus slope at the base of the cliff. The cliff is quite uniform in composition, with thin strata of sand almost the exclusive material, interspersed with a more compact silt in horizontal layers. The talus slope below the portion of the cliff holding the ziyarat contains numerous sherds, especially on the southern part. No sherd collection was attempted in 1971 and in 1974 the collection of artifacts was thwarted by a local policeman who thought we were looters and forced us to leave the materials behind while we were taken to the police station. Thus the description is based only upon our notes of the visit. Artifacts from this site include several ceramic architectural fragments and horse figurines. Ceramics are plentiful. The substantial amount of Hellenistic objects and large fragments of ceramics from this period lead us to believe that, like Khwaja Kanur, the pottery was transported to the site for placing on graves on the ziyarat and on the cemetery west of the cliff crest. The original source of these artifacts may have been the Hellenistic temple at Mukhtar. Some painted sherds seen on the ground were identified in the field as Bronze Age in origin. Two painted sherds noted in the cemetery on the eastern slope behind the promontory were identified as fragments of Early Iron Age jars. A jar rim with typical Early Iron Age external ridges was also recorded. This cemetery also contains a few pieces of eleventh to twelfth century ce glazed ceramics on the surface. The extensive pre-Islamic collection

Figure 6.13.4 Caves in cliff beneath Khwaja Hasan. HSP74.56.24

and sparse Islamic collection suggests the site’s primary occupation was in pre-Islamic times. Neither Hammond nor Abramiuk describe the site in detail in their publications, though Hammond displays one photo (1970, Figure 5) and Abramiuk’s unpublished photos of the site show a mudbrick wall along the eastern cliff, giving the site a structure far more substantial than other recent shrines in the area. Hammond’s publication identifies Achaemenid and Hellenistic wares, ring burnished, and red slipped wares and eleventh to twelfth century ce glazed wares at the site (Hammond 1970, Figure 2). An unpublished photo of his sherd collection from the site includes primarily Partho-Sasanian ring burnished goblet and bowl rims and bases, part of an animal figurine, a densely burnished body sherd that is likely Hellenistic, a Hellenistic fishplate rim, several pieces of coarse cooking ware, and the interior of a glazed bowl. Abramiuk’s collection was much more extensive and equally varied. Several painted sherds date from the Bronze Age. From Achaemenid and Hellenistic periods were several carinated bowl rims, an incurved Hellenistic cup rim, and a burnished fishplate rim. Partho-Sasanian wares were common: ribbed ware fragments, many ring burnished fragments including a goblet rim, several pattern burnished sherds, a jar with stamped pine motifs, jars with incised wave and punctated band decoration, basket handles with multiple ridges, and a jabbed jar base. He also found a single green glazed sherd, a fragmentary horse figurine, fired brick fragments, and ceramic slag.1

1 Our thanks to both Norman Hammond and Marc Abramiuk for sharing their unpublished photos with us.

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6.14 Khwaja Kanur Other names: Sultan Baba Ziyarat Gazetteer #: 597 Coordinates: 31°29'05.47" x 64°23'36.18" Type: Modern grave site with numerous architectural fragments and ceramics imported by nomads Date: post-Timurid This site is located on an isolated ridge on the left bank above the Arghandab River, about 2 km north of its confluence with the Helmand River. The ridge extends 200 m east-west and 100 m north-south with a saddle separating the smaller west end from the rest. There are scant architectural fragments and ceramic cover on the west end peak, saddle, and western part of the main ridge. The crest of the ridge is covered with recent graves, the largest and most elaborately covered ones lying toward the west. To the north of the hill approximately 2 km is the site of Kurkoray (described separately in section 6.17), including the shrine of a recent imam, Sultan Baba Ziyarat, noted in Fischer (1974–1976, 30–31). There is a small ceramic kiln just below the summit at the west end, excavated into the side of the hill with some slag surrounding it. We found no evidence of any major ancient structure on this hill during three days of survey in 1971 and 1974. Despite this, there are numerous fragments of baked brick architecture, chunks of chert, marble, numerous fragments of figurines, and fine ceramics scattered around the hill. We believe the material culture at this site was transported here by local nomads in recent times and placed upon the numerous Islamic graves. Source of the objects was most likely the temple site at Mukhtar, northeast of Qala-i Bist (described in section 7.7). While we found a modest number of objects on the site, we were directed there by an American collector who claimed to have purchased thousands of objects found at the site and likely directed its looting. We were allowed to examine and photograph parts of his collection, a summary of which is in Volume 2 of this report. Objects uncovered in our survey include an architectural fragment of scroll of an Ionic capital with a hollowed back made of red brown, gritty very hard fired ceramic. We also found fragments of fired ceramic column bases and some of fluted columns of white marble, along with other carved marble pieces. Fired ceramic architectural decorations include pieces of torus bases, quarters of column drums, acanthus leaves, and flowers, with evidence of the molds in which they were formed before firing. Ceramic figurines include the head and partial body of a goat, several damaged horse fragments, and small pieces

Figure 6.14.1 Topographic map of Khwaja Kanur. R. Hamilton, 1971

Figure 6.14.2 Khwaja Kanur from the north, with Arghandab Valley at right. HSP71.13.37

Figure 6.14.3 Khwaja Kanur from the west, with Qala-i Bist in background right. HSP71.14.6

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the archaeology of southwest afghanistan of a terracotta bust and a lock of hair. Stone pieces include an architectural fragment made of dark blue faceted stone and several pieces of carved marble. Ceramics found on the site included red ware ring burnished pedestal cups, beakers, and plates. There are pattern burnished decorations on some cups, goblets, and bowls, in waves, zigzags, and hooks. Decoration includes jars with combed, rope band, and ribbed decoration. Ledge rim jars were noted, as was a sherd with a stamped pine tree decorative band. Three sherds had tamga marks on them. One unidentified painted sherd was collected. There are flat rim bowls and sharply carinated bowls characteristic of Hellenistic pottery, and a single glazed sherd with black geometric designs on a cream slip over a red body.

Figure 6.14.4 Summit of Khwaja Kanur with remains of recent imam mudbrick mausoleum on crest and large scatter of stone, ceramics, and artifacts on the slope. HSP74.2.12

6.15 Koh-i Khan Neshin Coordinates: 30°27'59.83" x 63°36'03.48" Type: Scatters of ceramics, cairns Date: Unknown The mountain is a much eroded volcano, the only one in the survey area along the Helmand River. The highest point on the rim of the principal crater is at an elevation of 1419 m, approximately 850 m above the surrounding land. The summit appears flat as one passes around the southern side but is, in fact, a horizontal ridge covering only part of the summit. At present there is a gap in the east side of the crater and all erosional drainage is directed toward this breach. On the northwest slope there is a smaller, less eroded crater. The peak rises from a plateau of uplifted land tilting away from the crater and now much eroded and deflated except for buttes capped with lava flows. Numerous small deposits of crumbly white travertine surrounding the mountain indicate an earlier presence of mineral-laden hot springs. The uplift that created the mountain deflected the bed of the Helmand River from its southwesterly course to a westerly one. The exposed fragments of lava are dark gray, but the other rock of the peak is highly colored and speaks with considerable eloquence of the geological history of heat, oxidation, reduction, and mineralogical composition of the mountain in rich hues of red, green, yellow, and brown rocks. The mountain is rich in uranium and by 1976 had been severely scarred by dozens of test trenches excavated by Soviet geologists and mining engineers. Subsequent satellite photographs have revealed that large parts of the mountain have been substantially destroyed by

Figure 6.15.1 Koh-i Khan Neshin from the west. HSP71.33.9

Figure 6.15.2 Native travertine bed at base of Koh-i Khan Neshin. HSP71.I.2

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helmand valley sites contemporary engineers mining the area for its uranium content. Our discussions with local residents did not provide information about whether the mountain had been ascended or carefully examined by the current Baluch inhabitants. Indeed, local lore concerning the mountain indicates an unfamiliarity with it. Residents at Daishu told us that we would find a flat top containing a deep well. The archaeological remains on the mountain are sparse and showed only temporary occupation. On a high ridge to the north of the summit we encountered a cairn Figure 6.15.3 View north from the summit of Koh-i Khan Neshin with site of Šna of rocks, standing about 1 m in Qala in center distance. HSP71.J.5 height, without associated ceramics. On a low saddle just below the summit ridge there is a occasions and did uncover a few sherds located in crevsmall cleared area, about 1.5 m square, framed by a single ices just below the summit. Most are ribbed ware with row of rocks also without any associated ceramics. There is red body and light external slip, belonging to common jar no way to provide a date for either site. types of the Partho-Sasanian periods. No other diagnostic In our survey, we visited the mountain on five different sherds were found.

6.16 Kona Qala I Other names: Daishu Gazetteer #: 224 Coordinates: 30°26'06.01" x 63°19'40.85" Type: Badly eroded rectangular qala with later tower Date: Partho-Sasanian, Islamic? Kona Qala, “old fortress,” is a trapezoidal site 1 km northwest of the village of Daishu standing 4 m above the plain in an area covered with numerous other sites. It is oriented 30 degrees northwest and approximately 35 x 77 m in size. A square tower of about 6 m square and 4 m in remaining height is located in Figure 6.16.1 View of eroded Kona Qala I mound from the west with remains of tower at northwest end. HSP71.31.12

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the archaeology of southwest afghanistan the northwest and is in an advanced state of disrepair, likely a later construction. The regularity of the shape argues strongly for its having been a walled qala. The mound is lowest at its southern end and the present drainage pattern is eroding this quarter of the mound more rapidly. The lowest point of the visible walls of the qala are constructed of dried brick approximately 42 x 42 x 8–10 cm, while the upper portions are entirely of pakhsa construction. Standing walls show evidence of repairs to increase their thickness with their seams having separated with age. Artifacts uncovered included one fragment of green glass. Leaching of salts from regular irrigation has much affected the ceramic remains on the mound which, though plentiful, have mostly disintegrated into powder or spalled into thin wafers or flakes. Most sherds are hard fired, fine grained red wares with red slips, sometimes with reduced or buff slips. Several pieces show ring burnishing on pedestal goblets made of fine clay. Storage jar fragments are often ribbed, some with wave incised or combed decoration. Several sherds have appliqued horizontal bands with incisions in the band. Another site called Kona Qala (Lat Qala/Kona Qala II) near Rudbar was also documented by the project. See section 8.7.

Figure 6.16.2 Fragmentary wall of tower atop Kona Qala I. HSP71.31.9

6.17 Kurkoray I Other names: Sultan Baba Ziyarat Coordinates: 31°26'49.86" x 64°23'26.74" Type: Zone of brick and ceramic kilns, and undated cemetery Date: Hellenistic, Parthian, Sasanian Named after the Pashto word for “slag,” this is an area 200 x 460 m of extensive material remains on the bluff above the left bank at the confluence of the Helmand and the Arghandab rivers. The southwestern area of the plain show remains of an undated cemetery, but no clear architectural structures were noted in the region. Sultan Baba Ziyarat, a recent tomb visited by M. Klinkott of Fischer’s team (Fischer 1974–1976, 30–31) is located in this cemetery, not at Khwaja Kanur as noted in Ball (2019, 221). There is lots of recent surface disturbance in southern part of surveyed area, likely a result of looting of the site for brick and/or artifacts. Extensive ceramic and brick slag remains indicate likelihood of an ancient industrial zone. HSP made its only formal systematic survey at this site for ceramics, brick, and other artifacts. The survey

area was cut into one hundred seventy 20 x 20 m squares, and samples were taken from one 5 x 5 m area within 16 randomly selected squares over a span of 11 days in October 1971. The 16 squares constituted an estimated 1% sample of the entire site. Full surface sherd recovery and sorting produced a total of 23,000 sherds and 3000 fragments of baked brick from the 14 squares containing artifacts. Among the conclusions of the site survey was that there was extensive coverage of baked brick fragments over the entire survey area, with a heavier concentration in the southern part of the area. Brick sizes were not recorded. Over 3000 pieces of black-green brick slag, and a lesser number of pieces of ceramic slag, were also found, indicating this was an area of heavy kiln activity.

250

helmand valley sites Figure 6.17.1 Area of the Helmand-Arghandab confluence, showing location of Kurkoray, Khwaja Kanur, Khane Gohar, and Sultan Baba Ziyarat. R. Hamilton 1971

Figure 6.17.2 Surveying Kurkoray I, looking south. HSP71.14.9

Figure 6.17.3 A ceramic kiln at Kurkoray I. HSP71.14.22

Figure 6.17.4 The hill containing Kurkoray I from the Arghandab/Helmand confluence looking east. HSP71.20.30

251

the archaeology of southwest afghanistan Other artifacts gathered were a fragment of worked white quartzite, one of dark gray sandstone, a fragment of a horse figurine, and two legs of unidentified ceramic animal figurines reminiscent of the collection from Khwaja Kanur, 2 km to the north. An architectural fragment from a column or capital made of hard fired brown ceramic with black interior and with undetermined exterior markings was also collected. Ceramic coverage is more extensive in southern and western parts of demarcated area than elsewhere. Almost

the entire collection of common sherds are plain red wares, almost 8000 sherds. A much smaller number were fired to gray or black, though our later research has indicated these are the same wares but deliberately or accidentally overfired. About 2800 are ribbed or combed sherds of red or black wares. Almost 1100 sherds are ring burnished, ranging in color from red to black. A much smaller number, 185, are radial burnished, generally an indicator of Hellenistic rather than Parthian wares. Approximately 6500 additional red wares have buff colored slips. Notably,

Figure 6.17.5 Topographical map of Kurkoray I, showing survey grid and location of collections shown in Table 6.17.1. R. Hamilton 1971

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helmand valley sites Table 6.17.1 Kukoray I Ceramic Analysis, October 20-31, 1971 Type Sector

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

17

18

19

20

2G6

99

149

113

21

2

3

352

91

24

0

0

71

27

56

14

2

6

1

?

?

21 Total 0

1031

3H12

205

107

42

21

5

0

117

13

2

0

0

25

22

25

6

0

7

0

18

2

0

617

5F4

48

64

47

6

68

0

240

1

1

0

0

0

25

10

1

0

1

0

401

0

1

914

5E10

350

120

155

8

14

0

519

0

0

0

0

28

48

15

0

0

0

0

268

0

1

1526

7E11

291

364

46

7

45

13

408

0

14

5

2

64

53

14

0

0

8

6

200

3

0

1543

8G1

210

243

17

10

76

6

616

1

0

0

0

43

53

26

0

0

0

0

552

0

0

1853

9H14

32

113

68

4

176

17

555

4

6

4

0

88

50

27

2

0

2

0

204

0

0

1352

11F4

27

203

62

0

131

8

738

0

3

9

0

77

52

18

4

0

0

0

296

0

0

1629

12E5

15

49

0

0

2

0

39

9

0

0

0

3

0

0

0

0

0

0

22

0

0

139

30

0

13D14

0

30

7

0

6

0

146

1

1

0

0

5

11

0

0

0

0

0

0

237

18Z4

492

243

434

31

240

88

562

26

0

14

0

49

142

16

0

0

38

0

1730 178

0

4283

18G2

1191

982

962

26

32

0

994

4

0

0

0

6

834

2

0

0

0

0

834

16

0

6572

19G9

260

320 1070

0

108

2

1892

36

0

0

0

36

276

44

8

0

10

8

1054

46

0

5170

20Z10

70

12

10

138

24

730

22

0

2

22

0

147

34

0

0

0

0

966

98

0

2499

3290 3000 3247 144 1043 161 7908 208

51

34

24

495 1740 974

37

2

72

15

6575 343

2

29365

Total

224

Ceramic Types from Kurkoray I Survey

Survey square notes

1. 2. 3. 4.

2G6.

Brick fragments Brick and ceramic slag Severely eroded surface sherds, unclassifiable Fine grayware. Moderately fine and burnished graywares with dark slip over exterior surface and often over rim to interior. Some have incised bands of short slash lines around the body. 5. Ring burnished red ware. Fine grained, thin walled, hard fired red wares virtually without temper. Have horizontal ring burnishing, generally on exterior. Similar decoration on black, gray, buff wares. 6. Radial burnished red wares. Same wares as #5 but with radial burnishing on exterior or interior. 7. Plain red wares. Similar description to #5 but without burnished decoration. 8. Grit ware. Thick, coarse reddish to grayish brown ware with much grit temper and air pockets. 9. Plain black wares. Similar description to #7 but reduced firing. 10. Ring burnished black ware. Same wares as #5 but gray-black reduced ware. 11. Radial burnished black ware. Same as #6 but gray-black reduced ware. 12. Dark gray coarse wares. Dark, coarse wares with coarse temper and air pocked but covered with light slip. 13. Slipped ribbed ware. Moderately fine grained red ware (some to brown or violet) with cream slip and even grooves on exterior. 14. Ribbed ware. Moderately fine grained red ware (some to brown or violet) and even grooves on exterior. 15. Gray-black ribbed ware. Moderately fine grained gray to black ware, sometimes with cream slip, and even grooves on exterior. 16. Black ribbed ware. Moderately fine grained black ware with green slip and even grooves on exterior. 17. Irregular ribbed wares. Moderately fine grained buff, gray, reddish brown ware with irregular lines creating a rough abrasive ribbed surface. Ribbing begins 1.4 cm below a plain rim. 18. Black slipped gray ware. Fine grained gray ware with thin walls, some with buff body, and a black slip. 19. Cream slipped red ware. Thick walled hard fired red ware with moderately fine grain and black and white grits and cream-colored slips. 20.Red slipped buff ware. Buff wares with red to deep red slip over exterior and sometimes inside of rim. 21. Jabbed bases. Disc bases of red, plain, or cream slipped wares with jabbed decorative band around the connection to the base.

1031 sherds. One fragment of white quartzite and one fragment dark gray cut sandstone. Light sherd cover but no sand dune coverage. Area heavily pitted.

3H12. 617 sherds. Area heavily pitted. 5F4.

914 sherds. One red burnished goblet pedestal base and one brown burnished sherd. Sherd with burnished wave design below rim. Red ware sherd with black slip. Fragment of ceramic horse head. Fired rounded fired brick fragment with raised ridge. Fragment of fired brick column torus. Red ware piece with red slip and black and buff painted lines on rim. Area heavily pitted.

5E10. 1526 sherds. Combed and incised sherds. Area heavily pitted. 7E11. 1543 sherds. Twelve punctated band sherds. Two ceramic animal legs. Area heavily pitted. 8G1.

1853 sherds. Brown slipped, red slipped wares. Ribbed wares. Red ring burnished wares on buff body. Area heavily pitted.

9H14. 1352 sherds. Brown slip and ring burnished buff wares. Comb marked decorated ribbed wares. One leg of a ceramic animal figurine. Area heavily pitted. 11F4. 1629 sherds. Brown slip and ring burnished red wares. Handle with center groove and two rows of punctated design on exterior. Area heavily pitted. 12E5. 139 sherds. Crusted surface with few sherds badly eroded, lots of ceramic slag. 13D14. 237 sherds. Crusted surface with few sherds badly eroded, lots of ceramic slag. 18Z4. 4283 sherds. Part of cemetery with river rocks deposited on surface. Low sandy area with heavy sherd cover and large sherds. Sherd with buff body, painted black line outside rim, and red slip beneath. 18G2. 6572 sherds. Small sherds badly wind eroded on surface, many unidentifiable. One white-slipped heavy red ware jar with punctated and stamped circle design. Area undisturbed. 19G9. 5170 sherds. Small sherds badly wind eroded on surface, many unidentifiable. Area undisturbed. 20Z10. 2499 sherds. Located within cemetery with surface disturbance. One ceramic animal leg. Several ring burnished with decorative pattern.

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the archaeology of southwest afghanistan we recovered only two jar sherds with jabbed bases, generally indicative of later Parthian or Sasanian pottery. Approximately 500 sherds are of a coarse handmade ware with black and white stone grits, generally associated with cooking ware. Only a few glazed wares were found on the site. Three sherds were found with incised tamga on the shoulders. Ceramics with impressed decoration include jars with pine tree stamping, another with an incised band of dotted circles, and bases of ring burnished pedestal cups. While our survey broke the ceramic types into 21 different categories, our further study of these ceramics over the succeeding five years found many of the distinctions artificial. The ring burnished wares (categories 5 and 10) are the same except for variations in firing. Similarly, the radial burnished wares range from buff through red to black but were all likely produced at the same time in the same way. A few variant types, radial burnishing and jabbed bases, have apparent chronological importance, but most of the ceramic groups seem to be from the same firing tradition, varying only in the form of surface treatment (slip, ribbing, combing, incision, burnishing) and the level of oxygenation/reduction in the kiln. We consider this a large pre-Islamic ceramic and brick kiln area connected to Qala-i Bist and likely the source of firing the brick that created the architectural fragments, ceramics, and figurines found at Khwaja Kanur and Mukhtar. The vast majority of ceramics at Kurkoray I fit in a typical collection of Parthian wares. The baked bricks are more common in Sasanian sites. Other artifacts, such as the radial burnished red bowls, are more common in the Hellenistic period. Thus, we suggest the industrial site to have been used in Hellenistic, Parthian, and Sasanian times. The significant pitting of the site in many areas is likely the result of recent looting. This evidence of looting suggests that the source of the numerous baked ceramic architectural fragments, figurines, and fine ceramics shown to us by local residents and represented as coming from nearby Khwaja Kanur are more likely to have been from Kurkoray I. We suggest this is one—possibly of many— industrial sites that produced the ceramic goods for Bust, located at a distance from the urban center but close enough for easy transport there.

6.18 Kurkoray II Other names: Bandar-i Baranah Coordinates: 31°21'26.05" x 64°20'48.29" Type: Kilns surrounding a rectangular structure, later Islamic occupation Date: Partho-Sasanian, Ghorid

Figure 6.18.1 Kurkoray II from northwest. HSP71.20.22

Figure 6.18.2 Brick alignments at the foot of Kurkoray II. HSP71.20.27

Possibly the location of a dam in previous times, though no physical remains of a dam could be seen, it is 1.3 km south of Sheikh Mariz at the north side of a large wadi flowing into the Helmand from the left bank. The site is an extensive area of dense sherd, slag, and baked brick coverage on low sandy banks above the plain. There are melted remains of a pakhsa rectangular structure approximately 12 x 20 m and 4–5 m in height, with no specific architectural plan visible. An erosion channel runs through the structure and exits to the north, possibly the location of the entry to the site. The sherd scatter runs to the edge of the river basin, thus part of the site is probably washed away. At the south edge of the scatter, where the wadi flows into the Helmand basin, there is a collection of squares and rectangles aligned into rows made of collapsed brick, made from the debris at the site. We were uncertain whether this was a cemetery, foundations of an abandoned

254

helmand valley sites recent village, or evidence of nomadic encampment. We could not determine a date. In addition to the many pieces of baked brick and brick slag, ceramics consist of mostly hard fired red wares, many with red or white slips, some small forms ring burnished. Other jar decoration consists of appliqued cord, combing,

incised bands on shoulders, and jabbed bases. Five pieces of twelfth to thirteenth century unglazed molded ware were also collected. (LZB) Because of the large amounts of slag and brick fragments, we assume the site has numerous kilns though none are described in the field notes.

6.19 Malakhan Plain Sites Coordinates: Various locations Type: Plain on right bank of Helmand River holding 18 recorded sites Date: Most Partho-Sasanian

Figure 6.19.1 Satellite view of Malakhan Plain with site locations shown. The large site of Qala-i Sirak is bottom center. Most sites sit along a disused canal. The modern canal is farther north. Courtesy CAMEL/AHMP

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the archaeology of southwest afghanistan

Figure 6.19.2 Eastern part of Malakhan Plain looking south. Bobo Qala at left, Koh-i Khan Neshin mountain in the distance, a modern canal in foreground. HSP72.51.24

Malakhan may come from mahalla khan, “district of the khan” in Farsi, or malik khan, “king of the khans.” The Malakhan Plain is on the right bank of the Helmand River at the point where the river changes direction from south to west as it is blocked by Koh-i Khan Neshin and widens out into the Sistan basin. The river currently runs along the southern side of this area, at the edge of the southern dasht plateau. To the north is a flat plain that once carried the main Helmand channel. The sites are scattered over an area approximately 10 km in length and approximately 5 km wide. There are currently two large canals that hug the northern dasht, taking water from the area near the mountain and returning it near Daishu. Farm areas near the river and along this canal are currently irrigated from smaller canals off the river or the two large canals. The area is controlled from the modern village of Malakhan. The area in between the watered zones is dry and uninhabited. This intermediate zone is composed of compact mud from previous alluviation events. The zone between the canals and the river is highly salinated, which affects both standing ruins and artifacts on the surface. Several areas are lightly sanded. The key site in the Malakhan Plain is Qala-i Sirak, a monumental site along the river at the southwestern corner of the plain with a long history of occupation. Qala-i Sirak is described in section 6.43. The plain was surveyed by HSP in November 1971 during the first field season and revisited briefly in December 1972, at the end of the second season. A majority of the 17 other recorded sites are very badly eroded with walls melted to show only

general shape. Several tower structures (as at MP I, VII, IX, XIII, XIV) are likely later additions to the landscape, or, as in the case of Bobo Qala (MP I), reuse of early towers. Almost all are located along an ancient canal line no longer used. Because these sites were occupied in the Partho-Sasanian era, with little later material culture seen on them, we assume the canal was operative at that time and abandoned afterwards. Most of the sites are qalas, that is, square enclosures with massive outer walls. In most cases, it was not possible to determine the architecture beyond that, though from our experience in Sar-o-Tar, with its much better preservation, the sites mostly appear to be Parthian or Sasanian in date, many of which have similar configurations. Some of these sites seem to have central buildings in the courtyard; in others, we saw no evidence of it. In several cases, we could identify that there are rows of rooms around the inner side of the enclosure wall. Some have towers at the corners. The sites are described individually in the following entries, as well as Bobo Qala (Site 6.2) and Qala-i Sirak. The vast majority of material culture found on the plain are hard fired red wares, some with buff or red slips. Many sherds are from ribbed storage jars, but much of the rest of the Partho-Sasanian repertoire is also represented (e.g., jars with jabbed bases and jars with combed or incised wavy decoration on the shoulder.) Fine wares include slipped red ware bowls and goblets with ring burnishing. It was surprising how few Islamic period sherds were seen on the surface, given our expectation that the towers were more recent than the eroded qalas.

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helmand valley sites

6.20 Malakhan Plain II Coordinates: 30°30'19.41" x 63°23'34.70" Type: Eroded mounds Date: Partho-Sasanian, Islamic? This is actually a series of at least seven small, badly eroded mounds 200 m to the north-northeast of Bobo Qala (Malakhan Plain I) stretching over 400 x 300 m of the plain from north-northwest to south-southeast. Each mound is likely a melted set of mud walls, most rise 4 m above the floodplain. The largest mound of the group, located closest to Bobo Qala, stands approximately 4 m above the flood plain. Bits of pakhsa walls stick out from the general mud melt. One east-west wall runs approximately 4 m in length and is intersected along its length by a perpendicular wall running 1.5 m in length. The faint outline of rectangular courtyards can be seen both to the southeast and the northwest of the main mound. Several small mounds are along the eastern side of the courtyard on the east. There appears to be a series of rooms along the northern side of the larger, western courtyard. This may be a single large structure rather than a series of small

Figure 6.20.1 Malakhan Plain II from the east. HSP74.52.20

buildings and may have substantial subsurface remains, as this region would likely be flooded in spring. The oxidized rim of a copper vessel was collected here. Ceramics are sparse and badly spalled from salt, but most are plain red wares, some of them ribbed. Two soft bodied buff wares that may be from recent Islamic periods were also collected. No plan was drawn.

6.21 Malakhan Plain III Coordinates: 30°30'23.97" x 63°23'05.84" Type: Large square qala Date: Partho-Sasanian?, Ghaznavid? This is a large square enclosure 70 x 70 m made of pakhsa with a mudbrick superstructure, located 400 m west of Malakhan Plain II. Most walls are badly melted, showing little shape except on the west side and in the northeast corner. There is a depression in the center of the site. Walls are oriented 20 degrees east of north. The walls are made of pakhsa supporting mudbrick vaults and arches with brick size 30–32 x 30–32 x 6–7 cm. There is a small square tower on northwestern corner approximately 7 x 8 m in size. Extending from this tower along the western wall is a two story pakhsa outer wall of the enclosure, approximately 2 m in thickness and extending 6 m in length, which devolves into mud melt further south. A thickening in this wall to approximately 14 m in width at its center might indicate a gateway into the structure. On the eastern wall approximately 47 m from northeast corner is an apsidal room opening from an enclosure wall made of pakhsa. The apse is 2.5 m in diameter. Fragments of the western wall frame the apse and a skew vault covers

Figure 6.21.1 Sketch plan of Malakhan Plain III. H. Crane 1971

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the archaeology of southwest afghanistan the room as it extends to east. South of this structure are the remains of a long rectangular room, 21 m in length and 4 m in width, preserved to two stories in height and made of pakhsa. The room is bounded on two sides by outside wall of the enclosure, by the side wall of the apsidal room, and by an interior wall preserved to 16 m in length and 2 m in width. This room is partially roofed by a skew vault that supports a second story. The south wall of enclosure is made of pakhsa and preserved for 12 m from the southwest corner but otherwise is mud melt, as are the remaining walls of the enclosure. A thickening of this melt at the corners indicate that there might have been towers in each corner. Sherds are sparse in the area and in the surrounding plain, but consist mostly of undecorated ribbed wares. One sherd collected was an orange-red ware large bowl with incised wavy line below the exterior rim. The ceramic collection and overall structure suggests this was

Figure 6.21.2 Inside enclosure of MP III showing southwest corner and west wall. HSP72.51.25

originally a Partho-Sasanian qala, though the brick size and the few areas of better preservation point to a later, likely Ghaznavid, use.

6.22 Malakhan Plain IV Coordinates: 30°30'16.77" x 63°22'42.65" Type: Eroded square qala Date: Partho-Sasanian A square enclosure 62 x 62 m made of pakhsa with badly eroded walls leaving only mud melt. Corners are oriented to the north-northwest. There is no indication of any interior structures. Thickness in the mud melt indicates the possibility of corner towers. An eroded gulley on the north of the site might show the location of the gate. There is also an unidentified protrusion from center of the eastern wall, possibly a tower. The ancient canal runs south of mound with remains of two smaller buildings seen beyond the canal. Ceramics include a few plain and ribbed red wares, most encrusted in salt.

Figure 6.22.1 Sketch plan of Malakhan Plain IV. H. Crane 1971 Figure 6.22.2 Malakhan Plain IV from the east. HSP72.51.26

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helmand valley sites

6.23 Malakhan Plain V Coordinates: 30°30'10.78" x 63°22'30.69" Type: Pre-Islamic structures with a later tower Date: Partho-Sasanian?, Ghorid? A series of small mounds stretching southwest to northeast, representing several structures. The main canal passes to the north of the site. In the central area, there are two high points with a saddle between. The southeastern part of the central area is a shapeless mound approximately 22 x 28 m in size and standing 5 m above the flood plain. The northwestern part of the central mound, 28 m away, is round, approximately 25 m in diameter, and 4 m high. On top of it is a tower 6 m in height with walls 2 m thick. The tower contains two stories made of pakhsa with occasional layers of mudbrick and has two rooms, each 5 x 8 m in size. To the southwest approximately 100 m is a squarish enclosure approximately 52 m on a side and approximately 3 m high with badly melted walls and an entrance to the west. To the east of the central area approximately 90 m is an oblong mound approximately 30 x 7 m. Atop this mound is a round hump approximately 10 m in diameter and 3 m high, remains of an undefined structure. Three additional standing ruins are visible to the west but were unexamined. Pottery is sparse and consists mostly of hard fired red plain and ribbed wares, some with red or buff slips. A fragment of a twelfth to thirteenth century unglazed molded jar decorated with a floral band around the shoulder was found. One black stone grinder fragment was also noted.

Figure 6.23.1 Sketch plan of Malakhan Plain V. H. Crane 1971, redrawn J. Allen

Figure 6.23.2 Malakhan Plain V from south. HSP72.51.30

Figure 6.23.3 Tower on central Malakhan Plain V mound. Constructed of pakhsa interspersed with layers of mudbrick, the structure contained two rooms inside. Likely a later addition to the original mounds. HSP72.51.31

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the archaeology of southwest afghanistan

6.24 Malakhan Plain VI Coordinates: 30°29'01.01" x 63°22'34.53" Type: Rectangular qala, possibly with large corner tower Date: Achaemenid?, Hellenistic?, Partho-Sasanian Located 0.5 km east of Malakhan village, Malakhan Plain VI is located 15 m from a modern canal. The site consists of a badly eroded rectangular enclosure approximately 21 x 27 m with walls standing up to 5 m in height. Most walls are mud melt, except on the north and west sides where remains of pakhsa walls survive. The site’s north wall is best preserved, 21 m in length, 2.5 m in width, 5 m high, and constructed of pakhsa. There is evidence of towers at each corner. The western wall is mostly eroded though there is evidence of the original wall along its remaining 25 m of length. The preserved northeast corner shows evidence of a room stretching along the east wall from the northeast corner at least 7 m in length and 3 m in width. To the west of and parallel to this room are two small rooms with pakhsa walls. The northernmost of these rooms is 3 x 3.5 m with entrances on west and south sides. The dimensions of the second room were not discernable. Remains of a possible tower of mud construction are at the southwest corner, and mounds of mud that probably represent the west wall extend from it. A second tower is to the south of this corner, 6 m in diameter and outside the presumed boundaries of the qala, located upon an older sand dune 4 m high. No evidence remains of a south wall to the enclosure. There is no clear evidence of other structures inside this compound. Most of the walls are heavily encumbered with sand. Ceramics are fairly prolific around the site, mostly hard fired red wares similar to other Malakhan sites, though fewer ribbed pieces and more thin, red slipped, and ring burnished wares. Two carinated bowls may be Hellenistic or Achaemenid in date.

Figure 6.24.1 Sketch plan of Malakhan Plain VI. H. Crane 1971

Figure 6.24.2 Malakhan Plain VI from southwest. Eroded tower at southwest in foreground, walls of the qala behind. HSP72.52.32

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helmand valley sites

6.25 Malakhan Plain VII Coordinates: 30°29'52.08" x 63°21'50.15" Type: Pre-Islamic qala atop mound and surrounding enclosure. Recent fortress on top Date: Partho-Sasanian, post-Timurid

Figure 6.25.1 Sketch plan of Malakhan Plain VII. H. Crane 1971

This is the second largest and most complex site on the Malakhan Plain behind Qala-i Sirak. The site consists of a large mound, approximately 65 x 65 m (height not recorded), framed by a protective wall around its edge, and housing an almost square fortress of 22 x 20 m in its center. Below the slopes of the mound on the plain is a larger enclosure, surrounded by an exterior wall with different configurations of rooms on the inside of all four sides of that wall. At the southwest corner of the larger enclosure is a complex of rooms 55 x 60 m that extends further to the west. Both the exterior and interior enclosure walls are oriented to the north-northwest and are made of pakhsa.

The almost-square inner fortress atop the mound has towers on four sides, though the northwest corner tower has eroded away. The best preserved part of the defensive walls, near the southeast corner, shows a pakhsa double wall 3 m in width with slit windows. The tower in that corner is entered through a pointed arch from the center of the fortress and is hollow inside with windows 3 m high inside the tower. It is unclear where the entrance to this fortress was. Surrounding the fortress on all sides is a squared mound, likely representing badly melted walls of a qala of that shape, likely earlier than the fortress at its center and possibly built on a platform. Atop the west side of this

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the archaeology of southwest afghanistan

Figure 6.25.2 Sketch plan of central qala and fortress at Malakhan Plain VII. H. Crane 1971

mound is a pakhsa wall approximately 6 m in length and 0.7 m in width. Any other walls that may have been along the edge of the mound have eroded away. Erosion channels run out the northwest corner of this enclosure and the southern part of its western wall, though there are no clear gateways located in either place. Below the mound on all four sides there is a surrounding enclosure of approximately 125 x 160 m (walls are not exactly squared) with rooms set against the inside of the wall. Against the north wall there is a square made of nine equally sized rooms, each about 7 m square. Extending to the east from there is an area of rooms 12 x 85 m, though it is uncertain whether this is a long hallway or broken into rooms. This same hallway/row of rooms extends along the east side to the southeast corner, where there are three rows of rooms against east side of the south wall. The entrance to the outer enclosure seems to be in the center of the south wall, approximately 5 m in width with the entrance offset outside the main line of walls.

Figure 6.25.3 Malakhan Plain VII from the south with remains of a later fortress atop an early qala, possibly atop a platform. HSP72.52.33

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helmand valley sites The western side has the appearance of comprising one very large room, but it is an oddly curved shape and very large, 50 m in length and widening from 10 m to 18 m as it opens north. In all cases, the “rooms” are mere mounded rows along the ground less than 2 m in height and with significant mud melt, so difficult to plot. The best articulated architecture of the lower enclosure is in the southwest corner. In an area extending approximately 80 m west and 31 m south from the southwest corner are three sets of rooms surrounding three courtyards. Walls are made of pakhsa, possibly with mudbrick superstructures. Walls run 1–2 m wide and stand as high as 3.5 m. Walled gardens may extend further to the west and south of the rooms. The amount of pottery on this site is far greater than other Malakhan Plain sites, both on the tepe itself and

throughout the enclosure. Our few notes and photos indicate the collection is almost exclusively Partho-Sasanian, with much coarse ribbed ware and a few fragments of fine red slipped ware. Several pieces have combed designs. No glazed sherds were found. Artifacts include a piece of copper and one of glass. Unfortunately, sherds collected were not processed in the field and are now lost. The existence of strictly Partho-Sasanian pottery as the only identifiable sherds argues for the site to date to that time. But the fortress on the summit—with its well-preserved southeast tower, arrow slits, and arched entry—argues for an Islamic, likely post-Timurid, reuse of the site. The complexity of the site, the differential erosion, and the apparent rebuilding on top of earlier structures suggest a multi-period site, possibly built on a platform that may predate the Partho-Sasanian central qala.

Figure 6.25.4 Room cluster of nine square rooms against the north wall of the outer enclosure of Malakhan Plain VII. HSP72.52.37

Figure 6.25.5 Southwest cluster of rooms and courtyards outside the outer enclosure of Malakhan Plain VII, viewed from atop the central mound. HSP72.52.34

6.26 Malakhan Plain VIII Coordinates: 30°29'50.78" x 63°21'38.91" Type: Badly eroded mound Date: Partho-Sasanian? Low, small mound 150 m west of Malakhan Plain VII, approximately 20 m in diameter and 5 m in elevation. No architecture noted. Sherds are mostly red ribbed wares.

Figure 6.26.1 Malakhan Plain VIII mound at left rear; Malakhan Plain VII in distance at right. HSP72.52.4

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6.27 Malakhan Plain IX Coordinates: 30°29'40.38" x 63°21'33.52" Type: Square dwelling tower Date: Timurid?, post-Timurid? A tower approximately 9 x 9 m stands 2–3 stories in height made of pakhsa with skew vaults of mudbrick. The interior consists of two rectangular rooms on a roughly northsouth axis. The eastern room and northern part of the western room have collapsed, with debris covering most of first floor. The west room is 3.35 m in width and approximately 6.9 m in length. The east room is approximately 2.4 x 6.9 m. Walls are 1.1 m to 1.4 m in width. The south façade consists of three stories of rounded vaults. Visible arch of first floor stands 3.5 in height, but its base is buried in debris. Second level arches extend 2 m in height. Third story arch is broken and, therefore, of indeterminate height. Overall height of façade at least 8 m. At the top of the first floor vaults are four horizontal slit windows approximately 60 cm in height and 1.1 m in width. Vault bricks are 28 x ? x 5–7 cm in size. The pottery scatter is somewhat more dense than most Malakhan Plain sites, consisting primarily of ribbed ware, but with more plain wares, some white slipped. Some ring burnished red wares were collected. No clearly Islamic wares were identified, though the site is likely to be Timurid or post-Timurid given its level of preservation, the shape of the arches, and the size of the bricks.

Figure 6.27.2 Malakhan Plain IX tower from south. HSP72.52.2

Figure 6.27.1 Plan and elevation of Malakhan Plain IX. H. Crane 1971

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6.28 Malakhan Plain X Coordinates: 30°29'40.94" x 63°21'26.05" Type: Three eroded mounds Date: Partho-Sasanian

Figure 6.28.1 a, b, c Sketch plan of three eroded mounds of Malakhan Plain X. H. Crane 1971, redrawn J. Allen

Three mounds roughly in line running from south-southeast to north-northwest 100 m to the west of Malakhan Plain IX. Each mound is 4–5 m high and about 10–15 m in diameter. Mound 1, the furthest south, is oblong and has two peaks, the one at the south end a square with a sunken center indicating a structure. Mound 2, 80 m to the north, is round with melted remains of a structure in the form of an open-sided square of approximately 3 m in length with the east side having been washed out. Mound 3 is 50 m north of Mound 2 and rounded with several erosion channels on the west side. The mound shows no clear evidence of a building foundation. Ceramics are mainly hard fired red wares, some ribbed, some plain. There is also one combed body sherd, one jabbed base.

Figure 6.28.2 View of Malakhan Plain X mounds (right) with MP XI, XII (left) from south. HSP72.52.5

6.29 Malakhan Plain XI Coordinates: 30°29'35.48" x 63°21'11.99" Type: Two badly eroded mounds Date: Partho-Sasanian? Two mounds 100 m apart on an east-west axis. The eastern mound is round, 10 m in diameter, and 4 m in height, though badly eroded with no features noted. Mound on the west is 20 m in diameter and shows no distinct lines of a structure though it has high points on the west and east sides. The two mounds are separated by a modern canal that runs from northeast to southwest. Little pottery was noted, none of it diagnostic, though consistent with other Malakhan sites.

Figure 6.29.1 Sketch plan of two mounds comprising Malakhan Plain XI, separated by a modern canal. H. Crane 1971, redrawn J. Allen

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6.30 Malakhan Plain XII Coordinates: 30°29'36.55" x 63°21'08.29" Type: Eroded rectangular mound Date: Partho-Sasanian

Figure 6.30.1 Sketch plan of Malakhan Plain XII. H. Crane 1971, redrawn J. Allen

Rectangular mound with melted remains of a structure approximately 23 m north-south x 34 m east-west. The eastern half is flat and surrounded by the melt of a mud wall, possibly indicative of a courtyard. Remains on the western half include a possible tower, standing approximately 4–5 m in height. Ceramics in the area are mostly red and ribbed.

6.31 Malakhan Plain XIII Coordinates: 30°29'38.13" x 63°21'01.35" Type: Rectangular qala, tower Date: Partho-Sasanian, post-Timurid A rectangular mound 47 x 40 m with melted remains of exterior walls up to 6 m in height around the exterior, constructed of alternate layers of pakhsa and two courses of mudbrick. At the southwest corner are melted remains of a 2 m high mound (a tower?), with an extension of the site to the west approximately 12 x 12 m. The northern half of the site has an enclosure approximately 25 m square sitting atop a high mound, likely much more recent. The building shows remains of four parallel east-west rooms inside, likely parts of a tower. The west wall is preserved to approximately 16 m in length, with the room lengths at least 8 m each east-west. The eastern and northern halves of this structure are not preserved. Walls of the rooms are 2 m in width and roof was skew vaulted. Height was not recorded. There is a window preserved in the west wall, but no doorways are evident. Ceramics consist of Partho-Sasanian hard fired red wares, some ribbed.

Figure 6.31.1 Sketch plan of Malakhan Plain XIII. H. Crane 1971

Figure 6.31.2 Malakhan Plain XIII from east, showing tower atop mound and eroded tower to southwest of mound (left of center). HSP72.52.6

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6.32 Malakhan Plain XIV Coordinates: 30°29'26.67" x 63°20'41.36" Type: Three structures, possibly a village, with a more recent dwelling tower Date: Partho-Sasanian, post-Timurid?

Figure 6.32.1 a,b Sketch plan of the Malakhan Plain XIV components. The western (left) and eastern (right) ones are separated by approximately 70 m and the two western buildings separated by about 22 m. H. Crane 1971

Four structures are located on a sandy playa approximately 0.5 km in width. It was not possible to determine whether they were contemporaneous, though the eastern tower is very likely a more recent building. A rectangular fortress is located at the eastern edge of this site, best defined at its southern and eastern edges. The size of the structure is at least 35 x 26 m. The south exterior wall, well preserved for much of its length, is at least 35 m long and 2.4 m wide. Remains of two rows of rooms are incorporated and are parallel to the south wall. Interior walls to these rooms stand approximately 1.5 m high and range in width between 0.8 m and 1.70 m. The three rooms against the south wall are each approximately 3.4 m in width. Their varying lengths were not recorded. The preserved room furthest to the west has niches cut into the north and south walls. A parallel set of rooms adjoining to the north are 4.4 m in width and also of varying lengths, not recorded. The large room on the west of this row has two entrances into the central room of the block just to its south, 1 and 1.5 m in width. On the east wall is another long room pointing north, 2.4 m in width and approximately 18 m in length. A wall 1.5 m wide and at least 14 m in length points west from the north end of that room, but the building seems to continue further north. With the one exception noted above, doorways between all of these rooms were not discernable. Inset into what were probably the remains of this building is a well-preserved dwelling tower with its walls

Figure 6.32.2 Tower built atop the large building at the eastern end of Malakhan Plain XIV, parts of which are visible in the foreground. View is from the south. HSP72.52.9

oriented slightly askew from the older building. Tower walls stand approximately 9 m high and 2–2.2 m in width, constructed of pakhsa alternating with 3–4 courses of mudbrick. Ceilings are skew vaulted and indicate approximately three stories in height, though only two stories are extant. The two interior rooms inside the tower run east-west, approximately 6.3 m in length and 3–3.15 m in width each. The west side walls are intact but most of the remaining walls have fallen. A window faces west from each room of the tower.

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the archaeology of southwest afghanistan Approximately 70 m to the west are two other fragmentary structures. The northeastern structure is rectangular, 21 x 14 m with walls oriented almost to the cardinal points. All corners but the southeast have small mounds, between 2 m and 4 m in height, possibly remains of towers. To the southwest of this building 22 m is a building approximately 15 m square and 1.5 m in height, containing two wide rooms, each approximately 5 x 12 m in size and separated by a partial wall. Entrance to this building seems to be on the south. The area around and between these buildings has the densest collection of ceramics on the Malakhan Plain, possibly indicating the location of a village. Ceramics are typical of our Partho-Sasanian collections, numerous pieces of coarse storage jars, ribbed wares, hard fired red wares with red and buff slips, fine wares with ring burnish, one goblet base, one jabbed base, and jars with combed and incised rows of decorations. Two sherds have rows of stamped pine motifs. No clearly Islamic sherds were

Figure 6.32.3 Remains of the westernmost building of Malakhan Plain XIV, with the eastern tower in the background. Koh-i Khan Neshin is in the distance. View is from the west. HSP72.52.14

collected. Several areas on the landscape are also dense with small river stones, possibly indicating foundations of structures whose pakhsa or mudbrick walls have now completely melted, as we have found elsewhere in Sistan.

6.33 Malakhan Plain XV Coordinates: 30°29'12.63" x 63°20'40.55" Type: Square qala Date: Partho-Sasanian This large square enclosure is located south-southeast of Malakhan Plain XIV. It stands approximately 72 m on each side with exterior walls up to 6 m in elevation, though most stand 2–3 m high. Walls are made of pakhsa, badly melted with a depression in the center and an entrance probably on the south. It was visited only briefly. Satellite photos show this site has been covered by a modern structure and, therefore, likely was leveled. Ceramic scatter includes hard fired red wares, some ribbed.

Figure 6.33.1 Satellite view of Malakhan Plain XV with recent building on top. Courtesy J. Thibeau (CAMEL/AHMP)

Figure 6.33.2 Malakhan Plain XV from the west. HSP72.52.15

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6.34 Malakhan Plain XVI Coordinates: 30°29'06.67" x 63°20'38.22" Type: Rounded mound Date: Partho-Sasanian This tall mound is 100 m southeast of Malakhan Plain XV. The north end is conical and flat at south end. The size was not recorded. It was visited very briefly at dusk so our observations are cursory. No photos were taken. Ceramics include hard fired red wares, some ribbed.

6.35 Malakhan Plain XVII Coordinates: 30°28'28.78" x 63°21'57.41" Type: Baked brick structure Date: Saffarid, Ghaznavid, Ghorid This is an Islamic structure constructed of baked brick in an area of light dunes. Visible remains consist of three side-by-side rooms running east-west with the overall length of 14.7 m by at least 9 m north-south. The northern extent is unknown. Walls are oriented just west of north and their bricks are 28 x 28 x 4.5 cm. Figure 6.35.1 Sketch plan of western room at Malakhan Plain XVII. W. Trousdale 1971, redrawn J. Allen The westernmost room is 3.55 m in width and its length is at least 9 m. The southern wall of molded wares with vegetal decorations were also recovthis room is highly decorated with two rounded arches ered. Among the assemblage are a few plain wares, some flanking a keyhole arch in center, 1.31 m in height. The with incised decorations. An unglazed painted sherd keyhole arch is backed with a false wall. The gap behind with black wavy lines on a white slip possibly belongs to the arch is 25 cm in thickness and filled with broken baked the tenth to thirteenth century ce. (LZB) Several pieces brick. The rounded arches on either side are recessed into of hard fired red wares were also collected including buff the wall itself. There is another keyhole arch on the east slipped ribbed ware, a ring burnished rim, one sherd with wall of this room, size not recorded. Sizes of the other two combed decoration, and one Achaemenid/Hellenistic rooms was not measured. There are elements of the corner dipinta storica sistana painted sherd. The broad scatter of pre-Islamic sherds along the Malakhan Plain may explain of a dome on the northwest. Ceramics encompass a fair amount of tenth to elev- their appearance at this site, the architecture of which is enth century ce slip-painted and glazed pottery including clearly later. Very briefly visited; no site photographs were taken, sgraffito wares and polychrome decoration on white slip. Eighteen pieces of twelfth to thirteenth century unglazed though sherds were collected.

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6.36 Murtaza Other names: Daishu Gazetteer #: 224 Coordinates: 30°26'08.23" x 63°20'13.55" Type: Large tower built on an earlier qala Date: Partho-Sasanian, Ghorid

Figure 6.36.1 Murtaza, very close to the modern village of Daishu, taken from the dasht to the southeast. HSP71.31.20

Figure 6.36.2 View of Murtaza from the south, showing the central tower and the larger qala surrounding it. HSP71.31.16

This is one of numerous sites in the Daishu Plain studied by HSP. This rectangular, badly eroded qala approximately 48 x 41 m in size is situated at the northeast edge of the Pashtun village of Daishu on the left bank of the Helmand River. Its proximity to later settlements has caused it to be much disturbed, chief ly by farmers mining it for soil to be spread on the surrounding fields. The presumed gate is on the south side, the orientation is 15 degrees east of north. It was once surrounded by a substantial compound wall constructed of pakhsa with an occasionally inserted row of mudbrick. Between the compound walls and the central ruined tower structure, there are wall fragments and mounds which suggest smaller structures inside the enclosure that have eroded away.

The central tower is too ruinous to provide precise dimensions; it is roughly 13.2–14.8 x 13.8–16.0 m and standing to a maximum height of 8 m. The central structure was built on a previous structure, possibly an earlier central building of the qala. The standing central structure is made of pahksa and brick, the bricks measuring 22 x 28 cm, their small size suggesting Islamic period work. There is a dense scatter of twelfth to thirteenth century molded ware around the central structure. Several ribbed and wave incised jars on the site indicate likely ParthoSasanian occupation. Approximately 80 m west of the site are the remains of a modern grave heavily covered with travertine, basalt, and other stones, presumably from other sites, including a broken pestle of dark colored, heavy volcanic stone.

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6.37 Palangi Other names: Poolka, Pulaki, Palakenti?, Hauz Gazetteer #: 792 Coordinates: 30°58'11.84" x 62°88'74.72" Type: Large estate and windmill within village of Hauz Date: Timurid, post-Timurid The building called Palangi (“leopard”) is a single Timurid structure at the eastern edge of the village of Hauz, but the entire area was sometimes called by that name in early accounts, e.g. Poolka or Pulaki in Ferrier (1856). It might be the Palakenti of the Isidore of Charax itinerary (see Chapter 2 of this volume). The name comes from a decoration of small square holes in mud plaster in the shape of a leopard over the baked brick on the west wall of the building (Tate 1910–12, 250). It has been previously mentioned by Ferrier (1856), described in detail by Tate (1910–12, 250–52), and visited by DAFA (Hackin 1959) and Fischer (1969). Tate suggests a seventeenth century date for the construction of the building (Tate 1910–12, 252). The building is a large, palatial Timurid or post-Timurid house attached to a large windmill approximately 35 x 35 m in overall size. Exterior walls of the building are constructed of two layers of pakhsa below with mudbrick above. The pakhsa foundation has been deeply eroded by water and salt. A round tower is located at each corner. The western half, the residence, has iwans at the center of each of four walls surrounding a central courtyard with two stories of rooms around them. Another bank of rooms is located to both the north and the south of this central

Figure 6.37.1 Satellite photo of Palangi. Courtesy J. Thibeau (CAMEL/AHMP)

Figure 6.37.2 Remaining part of the leopard design on the wall of Palangi. HPS73.36.32

Figure 6.37.3 Sketch plan of Palangi. W. Trousdale 1971, redrawn J. Allen

complex. The entrance might be on the southwest side but it is unclear. Some interior walls are painted, particularly on the iwan vaults and some domes and corridor vaults on the 271

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Figure 6.37.4 South and west sides of Palangi. HSP73.36.30

Figure 6.37.5 North side of Palangi with location of windmill at center. HSP73.36.31

second floor. Rooms on the second floor are smaller than rooms on the first floor, allowing for a veranda at the north and south sides and passages on the east and west. Doors to the rooms have pointed arches with a second, nearly flat arch in mudbrick beneath. The lower arch bricks are leaned against each other to support the arch. The area between the arches was kept open to allow light to enter. There is evidence of numerous repairs on the interior but the external walls appear to be original. The eastern side of the interior of the courtyard is decorated with relief plastered decor of squared crosses in heavy plaster over brickwork about 2 m high and 3 m wide on the second floor of the interior face of the north iwan. The south end of that wall has another iteration of the

same pattern. The brickwork beneath the plastering was honeycombed to reduce its weight. The windmill half of the building is quite ruinous though the outer walls are still preserved to almost full height. The mill sat beneath two domed rooms at the southern half. On the north and south walls where the mill rotor moved, the walls are scarred from impact with the blades. U-shaped cuts were made in the walls to be blocked and allow the wind to be shut out when necessary. Rooms are built against the north and east walls of this part of the building. No collection of artifacts was made at this site. See the description of site of Hauz in section 6.8 for other buildings in the area.

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Figure 6.37.6 South side of Palangi. HSP73.36.35

Figure 6.37.7 Courtyard and second story of residence side of Palangi, looking north. HSP73.37.2

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Figure 6.37.8 Doorway with window above at north end of residence courtyard. HSP73.37.3

Figure 6.37.9 Honeycomb wall decoration on east side of residence iwan façade at Palangi. HSP73.37.5

Figure 6.37.10 Wall decoration facing courtyard on second story of residence at Palangi. HSP73.37.6

Figure 6.37.11 Drawing of wall decoration in residence at Palangi. J. Knudstad 1971. Figure 6.37.12 Mill room of Palangi, looking north. HSP73.36.36

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Figure 6.37.13 Grooving in west wall of mill room caused by scraping of rotating blades, made of woven reeds. HSP73.37.9

Figure 6.37.14 U-shaped sockets for closing wind chute to windmill blades. HSP73.37.10

6.38 Qala-i Fath Gazetteer #: 842 Coordinates: 30°32'41.54" x 61°50'59.86" Type: Large fortress, possibly built on earlier remains, in an area of numerous ruins Date: Achaemenid?, Ghaznavid?, Timurid, post-Timurid A large, recent site visited each season by the project but never formally studied or drawn. There are no extant field notes, only photographs. The large triangular fortress of approximately 80 x 160 m is built on a mound of previous occupations (Bellew 1874, 216) and was still a military post in the late nineteenth century (Smith 1876, 293). It had been visited by numerous nineteenth century Europeans, including Ferrier, Bellew, A.C. Yate, Maitland, and Smith, and best documented by Tate (1910–12, 245–49). It was generally accepted that the current city configuration was constructed in the fifteenth century (Tate 1910–12, 245) and had been abandoned during the incursion by Nadir Shah in the eighteenth century (Bellew 1974, 215). Our photographs enrich some of the previous descriptions of the site. The city wall is constructed of mudbrick on baked brick foundations with a circumference of 2–3 miles (3–5 km) (Smith 1876, 293), much of which had been washed away by Helmand floods (Maitland 1888, 70). The gateway on the northeast rises into the mound.

Figure 6.38.1 Satellite view of Qala-i Fath. Note the rivercaused erosion on the northwest, the faint line of the eroded second wall around the citadel, and the two large blocks of rooms, the “east and west palaces.” Courtesy J. Thibeau (CAMEL/AHMP)

The wall was protected by 94 towers (Tate 1910–12, 246). The interior consisted of an east and west “palace,” which surrounded a central courtyard holding a large brick well and a large tower (Tate 1910–12, 245). An eroded second defensive wall 160 x 200 m surrounded the first one. Beyond the citadel area was a large building of baked brick, a madrassa or “college” to the southwest (Tate

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Figure 6.38.2 Northeast façade of Qala-i Fath citadel. HSP71.36.22

Figure 6.38.4 Brick gazelle decorating the walls of the citadel. HSP71.36.24

Figure 6.38.3 Gateway into Qala-i Fath. HSP71.36.25

1910–12, 246), thought to be a caravanserai by Yate (1870, 80). This were not visited by HSP. Yate, among others, notes “countless mounds of all shapes and sizes lying to the east of Kalah-i-fath” (Yate 1870, 80), some of which may be the ruins of Dam-i Malik Khan (see section 6.5 in this chapter). The DAFA team suggested that the constructed mausoleums and other graves between Qala-i Fath and Dam-i Malik Khan represented the cemetery for the city (Hackin 1959, Fig 121). Also in the vicinity were several ice houses, one of which we document with photographs here, and numerous other structures, which we do not. To the north and east of Qala-i 276

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Figure 6.38.5 Looking outside from within the citadel gateway. HSP71.36.33

Figure 6.38.6 Detail of the entryway brickwork, showing the foundation of baked brick with a mudbrick superstructure. HSP71.36.26

Figure 6.38.7 Eastern interior of the citadel from main gateway. HSP71.36.30

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Figure 6.38.8 Western interior of the citadel from main gateway. HSP71.36.31

Figure 6.38.9 Vaulted hall inside the citadel, location unrecorded. HSP71.36.32

Figure 6.38.10 A series of ice houses outside Qala-i Fath. HSP72.18.30

Fath is the break in the raised dasht where the canals from the Helmand River turn east into the Sar-o-Tar plain. No sherds were collected during HSP visits, but Trousdale had made a small collection from a visit in 1966. Islamic glazed wares included an incised green glazed bowl from the tenth to eleventh century ce and fourteenth to fifteenth century ce underglaze painted plates and bowls and some post-Timurid wares. Unglazed wares were generally non-diagnostic but likely late coarse

wares except one ribbed jar piece, a carinated bowl rim that might be Achaemenid or Hellenistic, and a ridged rim basin that could be Early Iron or Achaemenid in date. Two fragments of bronze were also collected. (LBZ) Given the strategic location and the slight evidence from the pottery, it is likely that there is a pre-Islamic and/or earlier Islamic site underneath the current standing fortress. It would require much more systematic examination and/or excavation to more definitively answer this question.

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Figure 6.38.12 A modern canal divider near Qala-i Fath likely served the same function as older ones. HSP74.7.31

Figure 6.38.13 Dunes encroaching the Qala-i Fath area. HSP74.7.35

Figure 6.38.11 Interior brickwork of the icehouse. HSP72.18.31

6.39 Qala-i Gawak Gazetteer #: 844 Coordinates: 30°42'49.18" x 61°50'36.97" Description: Large square structure and nearby house Date: Ghaznavid, Timurid This “fort of the larks" was visited only briefly as part of our study of canal routes, deflation, and regional sanding. The base of the site is 1.5–2 m above current dasht level. Satellite photos show its dimensions to be approximately 60 x 60 m. The best preserved exterior wall stands two stories high and is highly decorated with at least three registers of keyhole arches framed by horizontal baked brick, similar to the Lower Palace at Shahr-i Gholghola (see Chapter 9). Fischer suggests it is a Ghaznavid structure based upon similarity to the decorative elements at Lashkari Bazar (Fischer 1971b, 50, Fig. 12).

Figure 6.39.1 Satellite view of Qala-i Gawak. Courtesy J. Thibeau (CAMEL/AHMP)

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Figure 6.39.2 Qala-i Gawak from a distance, meter stick showing 2 m of deflation since the occupation of the building. HSP75.32.19

Figure 6.39.3 Timurid estate near Qala-i Gawak from the east. A canal from an earlier era runs underneath the building. HSP75.32.16

Tate (1910–12, 254) outlines the basic plan of the building: It was a castellated mansion in its days surrounded by an outer wall. The main building is very much dilapidated and the outer wall is in heaps, but the interior is still intelligible. It is in the shape of a Latin cross, the four equal arms of which are lofty adits communicating with apartments on either side, the former being open to the roof which was arched, while on either side the apartments were arranged in two stories. The courtyard was therefore square and open to the sky. His Latin cross recalls the 4-iwan courtyards from

both Ghaznavid palace sites as well as Ziyarat-i Amiran Sahib (section 5.103). Satellite photographs also show round corner towers around the central structure and an outer compound with two rows of small rooms around the three preserved sides. There is a Timurid house in proximity to the qala. This is a small house of typical plan with a north iwan. Entrance is on the southeast with its arch still intact. The north façade is in mudbrick and stands as high as 4 m, but not elaborately decorated. There is a walled garden to the south and extension building to the southwest. A canal from a previous era runs from the southeast underneath the house. No ceramics were collected at either site.

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6.40 Qala-i Jan Beg Other names: Ashkinak, Burj-i Ghunda Gazetteer #: 58, 143? Coordinates: 30°12'21.70" x 62°13'26.64" Type: Large nested qala, exterior structures and kilns, towers Date: Partho-Sasanian, Ghaznavid, Ghorid The area around the site were the lands of nineteenth century Baluch khan Jan Beg who controlled the region from Rudbar to Chakansur and who purportedly sought shelter inside the qala when attacked (Bellew 1972, 207). The site name covers a series of sites in this area from different time periods. The main qala is inset in a great U in the south dasht wall at the edge of the flood plain with a formal entry structure at the edge of the low dasht leading down to a second monumental gate structure below on a flat mud plain. The main structure is a massively built fortress compound composed of three large square wall systems, one inset into the next, 125 m, 80 m, and 40 m square in dimension respectively. Several neighboring structures extend toward the southeast for 400 m. These buildings are lighter in construction. One of these buildings contains two gates with keyhole arches of characteristic Ghaznavid style. The bulk of the ceramics collected were picked up in the area surrounding this structure, which had two kilns for the making of molded ware to the north. Quantities of molds, of molded wares, and of kiln separators were found in the area. The ground surface in the area of the smaller buildings is disturbed with substantial evidence of recent small scale pot hunting.

Figure 6.40.1 Satellite view of Qala-i Jan Beg. Main qala is in upper left at base of dasht. Other later buildings are at center, adjoining what appears to be a modern industrial or military facility. Courtesy J. Thibeau (CAMEL/AHMP)

Figure 6.40.2 Sketch plan of Qala-i Jan Beg area, including main qala and later Ghaznavid buildings. A series of towers is further to the east. W. Trousdale 1971, redrawn J. Allen

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Figure 6.40.3 Qala-i Jan Beg, located on the low dasht, seen from the southeast. Helmand River and high dasht north of the river are visible in distance. HSP71.35.36

Figure 6.40.4 Southeast corner of outer qala with inner qala visible in break in wall. HSP71.35.33

Figure 6.40.5 Interior of Qala-i Jan Beg showing outer two wall systems. HSP71.35.32

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Figure 6.40.6 Subsidiary building, likely Ghaznavid, to the east of the main qala with dense sherd and ceramic slag coverage in foreground. HSP71.35.34

Figure 6.40.7 Subsidiary building near Qala-i Jan Beg, taken from the southern dasht. HSP71.35.37

Figure 6.40.8 Mudbrick tower to the east of Qala-i Jan Beg, possibly Burj-i Ghunda. HSP71.36.4

About 1.5 km to the east of Jan Beg is the line of towers with their attached openwork walls, probably associated with the Jan Beg complex. This may be the same as Fischer’s Burj-i Ghunda/Chung-i Darazgu (Fischer 1969, 335). A fairly heavy sherd cover of red plain and burnished wares is seen in the area of the main qala. Some molded wares from the twelfth to thirteenth century were also found. One jabbed base was collected here. Most of the molded and glazed ware were recovered from the

accompanying buildings to the southeast close to the gates of the second largest structure. The glazed fragments include rims of a green glazed ware and of splash ware. Other glazed wares include several with black or brown linear designs on a cream or yellow ground, fine patterned olive sherds on yellow ground, and thin and thick turquoise glazed wares. The two kilns yielded numerous kiln separators for firing. Other artifacts found consist of a few fragments of glass and one piece of a steatite stone bowl with a lug handle. (LZB)

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Figure 6.40.9 End view of second mudbrick tower east of Qala-i Jan Beg. HSP71.36.6

Figure 6.40.10 Angled view of second mudbrick tower east of Qala-i Jan Beg. HSP71.36.7

6.41 Qala-i Madar-i Padshah III Other names: Kaikabad, Hammond 25? Gazetteer #: 863, 502 Coordinates: 30°10'26.46" x 62°18'07.95" Type: Qala on platform surrounded by enclosure, reused in later times Date: Early Iron Age/Achaemenid, Parthian One of a series of sites in the region of the modern village Qala-i Madar-i Padshah, “fort of the king’s mother.” Other sites in the area are more visible but were not documented by HSP, including a well-preserved mosque published by Hammond (1970, Figure 9). Qala-i Madar-i Padshah III may be the site mentioned by Bellew (1974, 207) as near the ruined towers of Kaikabad, “the ruins of a compact town round a central fort raised on a low artificial mound.” Maitland (1888, 61) provides a similar description of a site one mile from the large recent qala at Madar-i Padshah: [T]he road passes close to the remains of a fort which either rested originally on the river, or has been partly cut away by it. It is of no great size, but there has been

originally a deep ditch, now extending from the cliff edge on one side, round southward to the other. Inside this was an outer wall, now represented only by a mound, and within is a high rectangular mound, the north side of which has apparently been washed away to some extent. The Qala-i Madar-i Padshah III site visited by HSP consists of a pakhsa platform with a surrounding enclosure similar to other Early Iron Age sites, but one third of the site was cut away by river erosion so that the remains, approximately 30 x 60 m, are exposed on the river bluff south of the Helmand. Rooms probably from Parthian reuse of the site were identified inside the enclosure but are not detailed in our field notes. There are no field notes describing Madar-i Padshah I and II though there are numerous sites in the area and ceramics were collected by Trousdale in 1966. The collection of sherds at Qala-i Madar-i Padshah III made in 1966 includes jars with Early Iron/Achaemenid ridged rims, fine red wares with ring burnish and complex burnishing, dark red slipped ware, and ribbed jar fragments. No photos were taken of the site or of the other Madar-i Padshah sites.

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Figure 6.41.1 Satellite view of Qala-i Madar-i Padshah III, at left. Another ruined site is at the center and part of the modern village and canals to the right and below. Courtesy J. Thibeau (CAMEL/AHMP)

6.42 Qala-i Mullah Nasrullah Coordinates: 30°10'11.52" x 62°41'17.06" Type: Three neighboring qalas on edge of dasht Date: Unknown The qalas are located on spur of dasht to south and west of Lat Qala/Kona Qala II. Few architectural remains are on the site but there is a dense sherd scatter. No field notes were taken concerning the sites; our description is based solely on photos. No artifacts were collected. A second and third site labeled Qala-i Mullah Nasrullah, one spilling over the dasht onto the valley plain and the other a tepe-like mound atop the dasht bluff, are seen on photographs recorded as Qala-i Mullah Nashrullah in our notes. We do not have enough information from the photos to sort out the age and function of these sites. The area was visited only briefly during our work at Lat Qala in 1975 and requires more Figure 6.42.1 Interior of one site labeled Qala-i Mullah Nasrullah from west. HSP75.4.8 extensive study. 285

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Figure 6.42.2 Qala on dasht labeled Qala-i Mullah Nasrullah showing sherds and exposed architecture. Possibly the same site as Figure 6.42.1. HSP75.4.7

Figure 6.42.3 Qala-i Mullah Nasrullah from south with unidentified standing remains. HSP75.4.9

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Figure 6.42.4 Unidentified tepe on dasht edge east of Qala-i Mullah Nasrullah and west of Lat Qala. HSP75.4.5

6.43 Qala-i Sirak Other names: Malakhan Gazetteer #: 881 Coordinates: 30°27'30.27" x 63°21'46.51" Type: Very large, multi-period qala/tepe with modern fortress Date: Bronze Age, Early Iron, Achaemenid?, Hellenistic, Parthian, Sasanian, Saffarid/Ghaznavid, Ghorid, Timurid, post-Timurid While the ancient site is called Qala-i Sirak by local residents, historical writings also call the site Malakhan after the modern village to the northeast. Ferrier hid from the chasing band of Baluch here in 1845 (Ferrier 1856, 407), probably in the northern two-story arched building on the citadel. Bellew (1874, 195) reported that the citadel had been occupied by the British during the first AngloAfghan War but was destroyed in the mid-nineteenth century: “The citadel was destroyed and the fortification demolished in 1863 by the Amir Dost Muhammad, because he found that every governor sent to this frontier post became rebellious on the strength of the fort.” The site was deserted when Bellew visited in 1871.

The current configuration of the site is fairly recent. Indeed, the son of the village khan of Malakhan in 1971 said his grandfather had lived on the citadel as recently as the early twentieth century. In about 1967, the khan had his villagers dig a canal through the northwest wall of the citadel 2 m above its base toward Malakhan village to bring water that had been pent up inside the walls. The qala is a very large, roughly rectangular fortress 250 x 210 m in size on the right bank of the Helmand River to the southwest of the modern village of Malakhan. The site is located upon a long, low natural ridge of orange sand and concreted sandstone that covers the southern half of the site and above the bluff on the north side of the Helmand River. To the north and northeast is the Malakhan Plain, upon which 17 other sites were identified by HSP (described separately in this volume), followed further north by the plateau containing the Dasht-i Margo. Corners of the perimeter walls are at the cardinal points; an imposing citadel is on the southern corner inside the standing walls. Additional buildings stand along the southeast wall and elsewhere in the southern half of the site. The main entrance through the latest wall is located on the east and is protected by defensive towers. The bases of current walls sit as much as 8 m above the floodplain

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Figure 6.43.1 Satellite view of Qala-i Sirak. Courtesy J. Thibeau (CAMEL/AHMP)

below, indicating they were built upon previous layers. The site was visited in 1966, 1971, and 1972, and was extensively mapped over five days during the 1971 season. No excavation was undertaken. A section on the southern side cut by the river shows early levels of at least 1 m in height beneath the modern structure. Bits of early brickwork are also visible in this section. The limited height of early layers might be due to later leveling before building the last visible architecture or may be buried under later alluviation. The latest walls along the southwest side beneath the citadel sit upon earlier levels as much as 30 m in height. Outside the exterior wall on the northwest, northeast, and southeast sides are remains of a moat, 28 m in width, which presumably was the source of the mud for the defensive walls. Existence of a moat on the southwest side could not be confirmed, but it might have been eroded by flood action or that side might have been protected by

the river. The fill inside the moat contained largely preIslamic ceramics. There are layered silt deposits (heights not recorded) against the exterior of the southwest wall, possibly from multiple flood episodes by the river. To the north of the exterior walls are remains of what appears to be a canal leading from the river to the site, drawn from a previous channel of the Helmand that ran closer to the site than the current path of the river.

Wall System A cut 50–80 cm wide created by an excavation conducted by villagers in the 1960s shows the northwest exterior wall to be at least 1.5 m thick and consisting of at least two different construction periods. The northwest wall is approximately 130 m in length. It is anchored by round towers at each end. Along the course of the wall there are two smaller semicircular towers extending from the outside of the wall. The western one extends 2 m outside the line of the walls and is 5

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Figure 6.43.2 Plan of Qala-i Sirak. J. Knudstad, 1971

Figure 6.43.3 Qala-i Sirak from the south across the Helmand River. HSP71.F.11

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Figure 6.43.4 Qala-i Sirak from the west, showing weir across the Helmand. HSP71.F.24

Figure 6.43.5 Concretized sandstone layer that forms the base of Qala-i Sirak. HSP71.26.19

Figure 6.43.6 West corner inside walls of Qala-i Sirak. Citadel at left, northwest wall at right. One of the arched hallways is in the foreground. HPS71.21.14

Figure 6.43.7 Northwest wall of Qala-i Sirak, showing canal cut through it in mid-twentieth century. HSP71.26.16

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Figure 6.43.8 Detail of canal cut through northwest wall of Qala-i Sirak, one which provides a section for understanding its construction. HSP71.21.30

Figure 6.43.9 Parapet inside northwest wall of Qala-i Sirak. HSP71.21.27

m in width. A staircase on the interior of the wall leads to this tower. The eastern one extends 2.5 m outside the wall and is 4.5 m in width. West of the western tower there is an area of repair to the exterior of the wall in mudbrick that is 10 m in width. A similar repair east of this on the interior wall is 12.5 m in width but constructed of pakhsa. A walkway 0.7–0.9 m wide exists along the inner parapet of the wall. The north corner tower is largely eroded away but shows evidence of a staircase leading upward from the interior courtyard. The twentieth century canal dug through the wall is just east of the eastern mid-wall tower. The northeast wall is approximately the same width as the northwest wall and also contains a parapet. It is slightly convex and is approximately 220 m in length. Badly damaged remains of two mudbrick mid-wall towers cannot be defined along the northern section of this wall. No towers are visible on the southern part of the wall, but a repair thickened the interior part of this section of the wall by 2–4 m. Approximately 9 m from the round tower at the

east end of this wall is a series of seven rooms built against the inside of the wall. Steep slots looking outward from the parapet above these rooms appear at 3 m intervals. The east corner tower is approximately 8 m in diameter with an interior oblong room 5.5 x 3 m in size. The tower is badly eroded on the north side. At the center of the northeast wall is the main entry gate to the site, described below. The southeast wall is straight and uniform and stretches 110 m in length. It has a parapet and stretches from the east tower to the citadel at the south corner. It is by far the best preserved of the city walls and is probably of the most recent date. Two constructed components are visible here, the inner eroded one 1.65 m in remaining width and the outer one an additional 2 m in width. The later, outer wall was constructed of alternating layers of pakhsa 35–75 cm in width and rows of mudbricks 20–22 x 20–22 x 4–5 cm. The earlier wall is made of bricks 37 x 42 x 7–8 cm. The additional outer wall is lower and possibly served to deflect seasonal flood waters from the river. A gate leads out from

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the archaeology of southwest afghanistan the main southeast citadel wall into the space between the two walls. The gate is 2 m in width and approximately 3 m in height and 3 m south of the north end of the arched building (described below) against the southeast wall. The section created by this gate indicates that the latest southeast wall was constructed of pakhsa. While the citadel comprises the southern part of the defenses of the site, there is a southwest wall stretching from the northwest edge of the citadel to the west corner tower. Just before it joins the citadel, the southwest wall widens into a double parapet. A round tower juts out 2.7 m from this area (diameter not recorded). Repairs to the inside of this wall, the base of the double parapet, and the midwall tower are made of mudbrick rather than pakhsa. The southern end of this wall integrates into the defense system of the citadel. The overall length of this side, including the citadel, is approximately 180 m. Construction methods of the wall are best seen in the section created by the canal cut through the northwest wall. The last phase of the wall stands 5.2 m high and sits upon a layer of river pebbles 4–10 cm in thickness. This part of the wall is constructed of mudbricks, 22 x 22 x 4 cm in size and separated by 1.5 cm of mud mortar. Evidence of at least two phases of construction or repair are visible. Another, earlier exterior wall is buried beneath later collapse and melt. This wall may stand as much as another 7.6 m in height above the level of the sandy ridge beneath and is estimated to be 12.9 m in width. The moat, mentioned above, borders the exterior line of the wall. The canal cut through the moat outside the walls shows mostly preIslamic ceramics in section.

Figure 6.43.10 Westernmost of two external towers on northwest defensive wall. Area of repair of wall visible on far right. Mudbricks from previous wall construction visible at bottom. HSP71.21.29

Figure 6.43.11 Remains of north defensive tower of Qala-i Sirak. HSP71.23.18

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Figure 6.43.12 Interior of eastern wall of the site, showing main gateway at left and repaired wall with adjoining rooms to right. HSP71.21.18

Figure 6.43.13 East corner showing room complex against northeast wall, southeast wall in right foreground. HSP71.21.19

Collapse from above extends the earlier wall another 6 m or more horizontally in either direction and is intermixed with silt layers that may represent multiple flooding events of the exterior of the qala. Large fragments of undated storage vessels are embedded in these layers. The base of the wall is somewhat eroded at this point and parts of this older wall are faced with mudbrick 32 x 44 x 7 cm in size. It was not possible to determine the date of the earlier defensive wall. There is no evidence of a row of rooms inside the base of the earlier exterior wall as is common in many other sites.

East Gate Two parts remain from the eastern gate, which is external to the latest northeast city wall. The northern half contains an extant gateway, with a rounded vault of 3.75 m in width held up by arches on either side. The width of the gateway is

2.5 m, framed to the west by a brick wall 0.9 m in width. A brick wall frames the east side of the gateway but is eroded away everywhere but at the south end of the gateway, where a corner pillar 1.8 x 1 m holds it. To the north of this pillar are remains of a semi-circular tower constructed of pakhsa, 3.8 m in radius, well preserved on the east but badly eroded on the north and west sides. The gateway appears to enter a domed room at the north end approximately 1.4 x 2.5 m, then turn to the west to allow entry into the site with remains of an arch 70 cm wide and possibly a second gateway 1.85 m in depth, but with no remnant of the north wall in situ it is impossible to determine its width. The extensive damage to this area makes our analysis of the structure of the domed room and the second gateway speculative. The pieces of the city wall attached to the northern edge of this gate are no longer extant.

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Figure 6.43.14 East corner tower and northeast wall, including late repairs. HSP71.23.30

Figure 6.43.15 Southeast walls from east corner looking toward citadel. HSP71.23.31

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Figure 6.43.16 Southeast wall and protective wall in foreground. HSP71.23.34

Figure 6.43.17 Gate in southeast wall. Lower protective wall, right, ends at this point. HSP71.23.37

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the archaeology of southwest afghanistan To the south of the gate are remains of a semicircular tower attached to the southeast city wall. The south and east parts of this tower are preserved, 5.5 m and 4.5 m in length respectively. The north side of the tower is eroded away, as is much of the west side, along with the corresponding part of the city wall. The tower appears to be made of pakhsa. A steep ramp leads to this gateway from the valley floor to the southeast. Its width and length were not recorded.

Citadel The citadel stands at least 30 m in height and is capped by a defensive wall and towers along its south and west sides, where it serves as part of the defensive wall for the entire site. Atop the citadel on these two sides is another protective wall between 1.5 and 0.8 m in width and only partly preserved up to 2 m in height. The visible citadel is built upon previous periods of construction but it was not possible to determine whether it rests upon a single massive construction or a series of increasingly tall rebuildings over the life history of the site. The side of the citadel inside the compound is also walled and protected. Entrance to the citadel is controlled by a defensive wall that covers the northeast and northwest

Figure 6.43.18 Interior of gate leading out southeast wall. HSP71.26.31

Figure 6.43.19 Southern corner of citadel with octagonal defensive tower at center. HSP71.24.12

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Figure 6.43.20 West tower of defensive wall surrounding the site. HSP71.23.9

sides with a round tower on the northern point and another protrusion along the northeast wall. The northern citadel walls are surrounded by a fosse 15–20 m in width within the fortified enclosure. A lower gate constructed of mudbrick breaks the northeast citadel wall. This gate is 5 m in depth with two bays on each side. Each bay is 1.5 m wide, 2 m high, and 0.5 m deep. On the south side of the gate is a staircase leading to the top of the gateway. Another room of uncertain function (not measured) is located slightly to the north of the gate against the inner citadel wall. The entry ramp into the citadel rises from the gate toward the southeast then turns back west into the citadel compound. The ramp is 45 m in length, passes by a room 4 x 9 m on the east side, and then is bordered by a glacis on both the west and east sides. At the top of the ramp is a second gateway entered from the east into a large domed room. South of this room is a second chamber leading into the citadel. This entryway is 1.65 m in width, buttressed by mudbrick pillars on each side, opening into a room 2.25 m wide and 1.35 m deep covered by a transverse arch. The central room beyond it is domed and 1.95 x 2.6 m in dimensions with niches on

the north and west sides covered by pointed arches. The exit rooms are vaulted, the interior one 1.9 x 1.65 m and the exterior one 1.9 m square. A partial partition, 25 cm in width, extends out from either side wall to separate the two rooms. The inner room also contains two high niches 55 cm deep. The staircase leading into the upper gate is made of baked brick. The gateway structure itself is made of layers of 30–40 cm of pakhsa, separated by layers of brick 20 x 20 x 3–4 cm. Arches, vaults, and domes are made of the same sized mudbrick. A second story above the entryway probably was entered from the citadel courtyard above. To the southeast of the lower gate is a heavily-eroded circular tower (measurements not taken) with the remnants of a staircase leading into the main part of the citadel from just past the upper gateway. Directly to the south of the gateway is a defensive tower against the outer wall of the citadel whose southern half has eroded away. The remaining sections suggest that the tower was octagonal with sides 2.2 m in length, a wall thickness of 1.1 m, and entrances 0.95 m wide at least on the north and east sides. Three of the remaining interior sides have niches 90 cm wide and 40 cm deep. The central domed octagonal room of this tower is 3.5 m in diameter. The southeast side

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the archaeology of southwest afghanistan looks out on the river below via three slit windows. After leaving the upper gateway, the path turns west along the defensive tower just described then north through an irregular passageway at least 1.5 x 5 m in size into a large courtyard. On the left along this passageway, abutting the southern defensive tower, are remains of two rooms against the outer wall of the citadel, also eroded on the southwest but preserved to 3 x 3.3 m for the larger southern one and 3 x 1 m for the arched northern one. The courtyard is irregular in size, 5–7 m in width and 8 m in length. Along its northwestern side is a circular defensive tower, entered from the north, with walls 1.2 m thick and an interior diameter of 2.8 m. There are three interior niches inside this room, each 95 cm in width and 35 cm in depth. The path continues west through an irregular passageway 8.1 m in length and narrowing to 2.75 m in width then angling to the southwest with maximum width 3.8 m and approximately 9 m in length. Walls bordering this walkway are approximately 0.5 m in width. A two story structure, the “Ferrier building,” is located on the north side of this walkway as is a courtyard of about 13 x 8 m in Figure 6.43.21 Portion of southwest wall showing double parapet at left and northwest size. We suspect this may be the corner tower of the citadel at right. Brickwork of previous citadel wall can be seen beneath tower. HSP71.24.7 building that sheltered Ferrier. The three lower level rooms are oriented northeast-south- their bricks are set directly into that surface indicating that west and have vaults still preserved. A baked brick walkway the later structure was built upon an already eroded citaleads down to an entrance to these rooms from the west. del. A fragment of a red ceramic drain pipe extruding from The vaults are covered with fill within which both bone and the back wall of the center vaulted room probably dates to fragments of coarse cloth or a rug were found. Beneath the an earlier layer of the citadel. Roofing on the upper level of vaulted room level is another layer of fill, then the eroded rooms was not preserved. West of this building are two towers. The southern portion of an earlier level of the citadel. They connect on the northeast sides with the eroded, irregular surface of the round tower is on the edge of the citadel and is about 5.2 m earlier mound without any bonding or dug foundation, but in diameter. The citadel’s plan follows the tower along 298

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Figure 6.43.22 Exterior of west tower, showing earlier wall of alternating brick and pakhsa layers and early west tower with later wall and tower above it. HSP71.21.26

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Figure 6.43.23 Exterior of eastern gateway into the compound bracketed with towers and with ramp in left foreground. HSP71.23.24

Figure 6.43.24 Interior of eastern gateway looking south towards the Helmand River. HSP71.26.26

the edge to the south, with four niched sides surrounding a domed room. Entrance is on the east and possibly on the north side. The northern round tower is badly ruined on its south side. It has a central domed room 2.2 m in diameter surrounded by a wall 0.8 m in width, beyond which it drops into the glacis that borders the citadel. The domed room may have had a vaulted rectangular room above it. There is evidence of a destroyed gateway 3.1 x 4.6 m in size between the two towers from an earlier iteration of the citadel defenses, replaced by a wall 4.9 m long stretching between the two towers. West of these two towers is a large courtyard 8.5 x 16 m in size. Remains of a vaulted building are located on the south side, against the citadel edge, at least 4.5 x 2 m in size but destroyed by collapse of the citadel edge. A badly preserved raised platform is on the north side of the courtyard, 2 m in width and 3–4 m in length. The monumental building atop the citadel is at the west end of the courtyard and has three long halls oriented northwest to southeast. It was probably the most recent structure occupied and its date of construction likely post-Timurid. The building’s outer dimensions are 6.8 x 13.8 m and exterior walls 1.15 m thick. The building is constructed of mudbrick 20 x 20 x 3–4 cm in size. A lower floor has three arched halls oriented with the upper floor but slightly narrower in width. The upper Figure 6.43.25 Eastern gateway leading into the compound, looking north. HSP71.26.25

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Figure 6.43.26 Exterior of 30 m high citadel from southwest. HSP71.23.2

floor halls are each 3.1 m in width and 9 m in length with two rows of niches on either side. Spanning the halls are four arches, each 70 cm in width. A porch entry to the building consists of four pillars, each 1.15 m square, with niches facing the three passageways. Doorways of 90 cm lead to the sides, and the pillars are connected to the main structure with flat lintels, each consisting of three beams. Doorways narrow each of the side hallways to approximately 1 m. A doorway narrows the central hall at the point of the last arch, leaving a back room in the central hallway of 3.1 x 2.3 m in size. Between each arch in all three rooms are two levels of niches, the lower ones with slightly rounded flat arches, the higher ones with pointed arches. Arches are 65 cm in width, 35 cm in depth, and 1.2 m in height for the lower ones and 0.8 m for the upper ones. The doorways of each hallway have niches facing both inside and outside the building, and the back walls of each hallway have three niches. The back room of the central hallway also has half-width niches on each side of the interior of the doorway. An open walkway on the southwest side of the monumental building is bordered by the building on one side and the external citadel wall 1 m wide on the other. The

passage is 1.3 m in width and 7.8 m in length and leads to a third circular tower similar in construction to the other two along the south edge of the citadel. This tower surrounds an octagonal domed room with an entrance on the east side from the corridor. The tower has a wall 70 cm in width and a stairway leading both down to a domed room on a lower floor and up to a higher room or terrace. The domed room on the middle floor is approximately 3 m in diameter and framed by niches 75 cm in width and 50 cm in depth on each of its eight sides. The lower and upper rooms were not measured. This tower represents the west end of the citadel and abuts the southwest city wall with its double parapet. There was no visible access from the tower to the parapet. The base of the exterior south citadel wall was reexamined in 1972 after a rain and indications of both architectural fragments and ceramics were seen.

The North Towers An open walkway on the north side of the monumental citadel building leads to two towers. The walkway stretches about 8 m in length and 1.4 m in width. A defensive wall for the citadel on the north side is now largely

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Figure 6.43.27 Plan of citadel of Qala-i Sirak, J. Knudstad, 1971

Figure 6.43.28 Citadel of Qala-i Sirak from the east. Arched building is in left foreground, with lower gateway to the right and above it. Ramp leads up to inner gateway at far left. The monumental structure of the citadel is at the top center. Buttressed tower is to the right of the citadel. HSP71.26.29

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Figure 6.43.29 Lower gateway leading into the citadel, view from top of citadel looking east. HSP71.25.13

Figure 6.43.30 Lower gateway leading into the citadel with buttressed tower in background (center) and monumental citadel structure behind it (left), viewed from the east. HSP71.22.32

Figure 6.43.31 Upper gateway at the end of the ramp leading into citadel from the east with arched entry. HSP71.24.17 Figure 6.43.32 Detail of lower gateway looking west. Buttressed tower in background. HSP71.22.30

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Figure 6.43.33 Detail of upper gateway showing baked brick arches and base of dome. HSP71.24.18

Figure 6.43.34 Hall in upper gateway, looking east. HSP71.24.21

Figure 6.43.35 Interior of the circular tower at the south corner of the citadel, showing niches. HSP71.24.22

Figure 6.43.36 Eastern end of the Qala-i Sirak citadel, looking east. The building with the vaulted basement is at the left, the walkway to the central citadel courtyard on the right. Entry gate from the ramp is behind the tall wall in left center. South tower at the end of the walkway is at center rear. Southeast defensive wall is at far left, Helmand Valley in distance. HSP71.22.22

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Figure 6.43.37 Central vaulted room in “Ferrier building” on citadel. HSP71.22.8

Figure 6.43.38 Remains of vaulting on the western side of the second floor of “Ferrier building.” HSP71.22.14

Figure 6.43.39 Plan of the monumental building at the western edge of the citadel. J.Knudstad, 1971

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Figure 6.43.40 Monumental building at the western edge of the citadel, looking northwest. Note vaulted lower story and archways leading to rooms to the northwest. Citadel courtyard in foreground. HSP71.22.23

Figure 6.43.41 Detail of the monumental citadel structure, with niches in northernmost rooms. HSP71.22.26

6.43.42 Monumental citadel structure with archway leading to northern room and a vaulted room beneath. HSP71.22.27

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Figure 6.43.43 Plan and reconstructed elevation of northern towers extending from citadel. J. Knudstad, 1971

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Figure 6.43.44 Citadel seen from west corner tower. Buttressed building and older tower seen in foreground. HSP71.21.22

Figure 6.43.46 Vaulted passageway leading into buttressed tower from citadel. HSP71.25.9

Figure 6.43.45 Buttressed tower from the citadel looking north. Older defensive tower is in foreground. HSP71.22.28

Figure 6.43.47 Interior of buttressed tower. Note central domed room and circular passage around interior tower wall. HSP71.25.11

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Figure 6.43.48 Detail of arched building built against southeast wall. HSP71.22.11

Figure 6.43.49 Arched building outside lower gate of citadel. HSP71.25.7

collapsed onto the glacis below but likely was approximately 70 cm in width as evidenced from the small portion of wall that remains. The first tower is attached to the northwest corner of the citadel and is bordered by steep glacis slopes on both sides. It is reached by a vaulted passage 3 m in length from the end of the walkway, leading into a central domed room 2.4 m in diameter. Walls surrounding this chamber are 1.3 m in diameter and sharply battered from the ground below. A lower domed room sits beneath the upper one and a room also sits above it, possibly unroofed. A room with a pointed vault leads outward from the west side and two slit windows also remain on the west. The eastern half of this tower has eroded away. A vaulted staircase 1 m in width and 3.05 m in length leads downward and north to the second, much better preserved circular tower. This tower has four exterior perpendicular buttress walls for support. The tower has an exterior wall 1.15 m in width. The entryway leads to a circular walkway that runs fully around the inside of the tower. The walkway is 1.2 m in width and roofed with a vaulted ceiling 1.75 m high constructed of small bricks with some plaster still intact. Three equidistant niches are cut into this wall toward the exterior of the tower, each 1.1 m in width. An inner circular wall, 90 cm wide, borders the inside of the walkway with a door on the southeast, 78 cm wide and 108 cm high. Inside this second wall is a circular domed room 2.9 m in diameter. The room has three other doors of similar size as the entry door but two are blocked and the third has eroded away. Equally spaced between these doors are four niches, also blocked except for the east side, which has eroded away. A higher domed room above the circular room is reached by a ramp leading up from the circular walkway just east of the entrance. There was possibly also a parapet above the second room.

The exterior wall of the tower is punctated with rectangular windows, 13 x 20 cm, around its circumference on the northwest and northeast sides. On the south there are three niches 60 x 60 x 23 cm deep with small holes 12 x 15 cm through to the exterior facing back to the citadel. A pointed arch window 160 x 108 cm faces the citadel from the west side of the tower. Another window, now filled in with mudbrick, is on the northwest side of this wall.

Other Buildings Inside the Lower Compound Outside the citadel compound, there are few visible structures inside the wall system of the site. Notable are two sets of vaulted halls, one against the southeast wall and the other outside the wall surrounding the northern side of defenses, their plans visible in Figure 6.43.27. The vaulted structure abutting the southeast wall consists of two parts. The western half is a two story building 4.75 m in width. The second story consists of a series of 10 small rooms with rounded transverse vaults ranging in width from 96 cm to 183 cm separated by arches approximately 82–87 cm in width. The first story, buried beneath later debris, seems to be similarly structured. The second floor hallway is entered from a single doorway on the north side 1.25 m in width. The second story has high windows under the vault in each bay but these are mostly filled in with later mud walls. The first floor has a doorway at the center of the north wall 1.1 m in width. The second floor of the eastern half of this building is of a similar size and design to its western counterpart except with only nine rooms. It runs about 21.5 m in length and 5.2 m in width. The first floor appears to have a similar design but was buried in rubble. To the west of this hallway is another vaulted hallway, 5.2 m in width and 11.2 m in length, but without the niches. The two sections of this building are separated by a gate leading through the southeast wall.

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Figure 6.43.50 Series of Islamic mausoleums on south side of Helmand across from Qala-i Sirak. HSP71.25.31

A second vaulted hall is located just outside the moat protecting the citadel wall. This hall is 28 m in length and 4 m wide and oriented northwest to southeast. It consists of 14 rooms with rounded transverse vaults. The bays at the west end of each room are 60 cm deep and have pointed arches. There is a niche 1.25 m wide and 30 cm deep at the southeastern end. Partial walls 80 cm in length toward the southeastern end separate the hallway into two parts. A parallel hall to the north has some of the arch foundations intact but is completely destroyed on its northern side. There is indication of a doorway at the eastern end joining the two halls and a doorway suggested in the center of the west wall of the hall. At the northern end is a two room mudbrick building 7.05 x 5.75 m opening to the north, whose walls abut the long hallway. The larger room is 3 x 2.85 m and domed with niches 65 cm deep on three sides. The south niche has a secondary niche 90 cm wide and 30 cm deep. The entry to the domed room is 3.05 m wide and 1.1 m deep and has a flat arched roof. There are niches on the north and south sides of this room and on either interior side of the doorway, which is 1.05 m in width. One additional mudbrick room is located between this two room structure and the two long arched hallways. This room is at the northwestern edge of the northern, more damaged of the two hallways. Its entrance faces east. The room is 2.9 m square with walls 80 cm around it. The interior walls are heavily plastered and have been fired red. It seems to have been a part to the two hallways against which the two room structure was built.

Off the southwest corner of the hallway is a series of fragmentary walls that suggest three additional rooms that border on the moat. Bricks in this hallway complex and all its attached structures are 20 x 20 x 3–4 cm.

Islamic Cemetery On the south side of the river across from Qala-i Sirak is a recent cemetery with six or more rectangular mausoleums and other non-constructed tombs. Four of the tombs were documented. Tomb 1 is approximately 5 x 5 m in size, 4.5 m in height, with a collapsed dome, and made of mudbrick (brick size not measured). Entrances are at the center of each side with arched windows above each. Pointed niches are at each interior corner of the dome. A niche approximately 1 m in height and 70 cm in width framed each door at ground level. Walls are plastered. Tomb 2 is of similar chartaq plan but only parts of one corner are standing, 2 m of one wall, 3.5 m and a doorway of the second, with the extant corner 4 m high. The doorway is partially bricked closed. No windows are visible above the doorways, but the arches above the doors were separated from those above the corners by only a single brick column. Tomb 3 has one corner standing, 2 m of one wall, 1.5 m of a second wall, and 3 m high. No full doorways remain. The arched niches framing the door are inside a larger arch 1.3 m in height and 1 m in width. Tomb 4 has parts of three walls remaining, standing as high as 3 m. Overall size appears similar to that of Tomb 1.

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Figure 6.43.51 Tomb 1 of mausoleums on south side of Helmand near Qala-i Sirak. HSP71.25.36

Figure 6.43.52 Interior of Tomb 1. HSP71.25.37

Figure 6.43.53 Tomb 2. HSP71.26.4

Figure 6.43.54 Tomb 3.HSP71.26.5

Figure 6.43.55 Tomb 4. HSP71.26.6

Figure 6.43.56 Location of Tomb 4 inside an earlier canal. HPS71.26.12

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Figure 6.43.57 Grave in cemetery on south side of Helmand River near Qala-i Sirak with miniature column in foreground and numerous pieces of travertine. HSP71.25.34

Figure 6.43.58 Detail of miniature column from Qala-i Sirak Islamic cemetery. HSP71.25.35

Other, non-constructed, tombs are in the vicinity, covered with tree branches, large river stones, slag, travertine, and large potsherds. The one grave photographed has a miniature Bronze Age column standing at one end, a stone 80 cm in height. No field notes were taken on this cemetery; description is provided from photographs only.

discovered. Two fragments of steatite bowls were collected, one with a drilled repair hole. Other stone includes two fragments of travertine bowls. One stone with glazing on it may have been used as a kiln dog for firing glazed ceramics.

Artifacts

There is heavy ceramic coverage throughout the site with almost every chronological period covered. With five days at the qala while the plan was being drawn, we were able to amass a sizeable collection of pottery. Early Bronze Age painted wares featuring designs such as a squiggle or tooth-edge line, inverted or hatched festoons, and hatched zig zags. These motifs are among the patterns associated with “Quetta” types found over a wide area of south Afghanistan and the Indo-Iranian borderlands in the Bronze Age periods. Some of the handmade coarse ware may be Bronze Age as well. (EH) Given the extensive Islamic period occupation, one or more of these

Numerous unique artifacts were collected at this site. A stamped inscription is on an Islamic period sherd found in the central courtyard of the site. It is made of a red ware with the inner face totally spalled off. A wheelturned Sasanian sherd with a stamped impression of an armed soldier on close up camelback, surrounded by an impressed ring of circles on its shoulder, was discovered embedded in a late exterior wall on the northwest. Three fragmentary horse figurines were collected of hard fired red wares with red slip. Nine pieces of green glass and fragments of two green glass bracelets were

Ceramics

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helmand valley sites may belong to the tenth to thirteenth century unglazed painted pottery also known as ‘pseudo-prehistoric ware.’ (LZB) At least one painted sherd matched our Early Iron Age style. Achaemenid/Hellenistic pottery was represented by one painted sherd of dipinta storica sistana ware and several carinated bowls. Vertically burnished bowls and flat rim bowls are likely Hellenistic and three red ware horse figurine fragments could be Hellenistic or Parthian. Parthian pottery is ubiquitous and includes many ring burnished sherds and some with decorative burnish patterns such as cross hatch and wave burnishing. Goblet rims were common and three goblet bases found. Many pieces of ribbed ware were identified, some with remnants of a buff slip. Three ridge handles, some decorated,

and jabbed bases are Partho-Sasanian. Jars with combed or incised wave burnishing are also from these periods as well as several ledge rim jar rims. A number of stamped sherds are decorated with a pine-tree motif, one with a geometric and linear motif. One of the sherds has a more refined impression of a square stamp with a large leaf. One sherd with a tamga mark was collected. Islamic glazed wares from almost all periods were identified. A few pieces of tenth to eleventh century ce Eastern slip-painted ware with polychrome decoration were recovered. A few pieces are glazed in turquoise or green with incised lines. A small number of twelfth to thirteenth century unglazed molded ware are also among the assemblage. Later fourteenth and fifteenth century wares include black painted under a turquoise glaze and imitation blue and white ware. (LZB)

6.44 Qala-i Surkh South Other names: Sur Qala Gazetteer #: 883 Coordinates: 30°22'49.36" x 63°16'32.10" Type: Rectangular qala Date: Hellenistic, Parthian, Sasanian

Figure 6.44.1 Plan of interior buildings at Qala-i Surkh South. J. Knudstad, 1971

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Figure 6.44.2. Exterior of Qala-i Surkh South from northwest. HSP71.31.27

Figure 6.44.3 Northeast interior of Qala-i Surkh with melted remains of walls. HSP71.31.24

The site is located in the center of the Helmand Valley south of the current course of the river midway between Daishu and Sehyak along the large canal leading to Khwaja Ali. Tepe Daishu I and Tepe Daishu II are eastward along the same canal. Another site called Qala-i Surkh is located at the northern edge of Sar-o-Tar, called Sohren Qalat in some publications, and is described separately in section 5.98. The description in the (Ball 2019, 302) Gazetteer conflates these two different sites. A set line of walls approximately 70 x 50 m, deeply eroded, are located in the center of the river valley up to 6 m above the current flood plain. Wall fragments are visible at some points on the eastern and northern sides standing as much as 1.5 m above the remainder of the site. Four clusters of rooms are visible, but not enough to create any

plan for the overall site. One group of small square cells suggests a storage facility, another group has an exposed but not dateable burial atop one of the walls, a third area seems to have a large, thick-walled building with a central courtyard. Soil on the western half is gray and gray-brown on the east, covered with small pebbles resembling dasht gravels. Mudbricks noted are 52 x 32 x 10 cm in size. A very limited number of ceramics were seen and collected. Some sherds were badly spalled. No general description or drawing of sherds was attempted. Photographed sherds showed ribbed ware, jabbed bases, combed body sherds, a likely Hellenistic fine ware incurved cup rim, and a ledge rim with punctated band around the shoulder, all ranging from the Hellenistic to Sasanian periods in date.

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6.45 Sheikh Mariz Coordinates: 31°24'07.95" x 64°21'57.16" Type: Sherd scatter near tumulus burials Date: Hellenistic, Parthian, Sasanian, Ghaznavid, post-Timurid Located approximately 1.3 km south of Diwalak Pa’in on the left bank of the Helmand Valley, the site is located on a high ridge overlooking the Helmand Valley. It is covered with a string of rock-covered burials, likely modern, on its south side. There is extensive sherd cover over several thousand square meters leading downhill toward the south. We found no indication of any structures. No photographs were taken of the site. Ceramics include hard fired utilitarian red ware jars

and large bowls, some are slipped with light slips. Many pieces of ribbed ware, some with combed decoration, and some overfired handmade black coarse cooking ware were found. Ring burnished bowls are also in the collection. One piece has an applique decoration of a bull’s head. Two stamped sherds were collected with lozenge shaped patterning. Two fragments of glazed ware, monochromatic green glazed and splash ware, were also collected, probably tenth to eleventh century ce. (LZB)

6.46 Šna Qala Other names: Qala-i Sabz, “Green Fortress" Gazetteer #: 1107 Coordinates: 30°33'18.00" x 63°32'41.45" Type: Fire temple and surrounding compound, mausoleum Date: Parthian, Sasanian, Saffarid, Ghaznavid, Ghorid, Timurid A prominent natural green volcanic formation on the right bank of a branch of the Helmand River, overall about 350 x 250 m in size. On this stone pillow and adjacent, a series of walled terraces as much as 5 m in height lead up to a fire temple, reconstituted as a mausoleum in Islamic times. Šna Qala was where Ferrier was attacked and almost killed by Baluch raiders in 1845 (Ferrier 1856, 406) and the site was also noted by Bellew (1874, 192–4) in Figure 6.46.1 Satellite view of Šna Qala. Courtesy J. Thibeau (CAMEL/AHMP) his journey along the Helmand, but, surprisingly, surface. There is limited sherd cover on the surface and no we were the first research team to study the site. The green stone mountain is unique in Sistan because evidence of structures, though at two places on the south of its prominence and composition. It faces Koh-i Khan and southwest parts of the terrace there are misfired bricks Neshin across the river where the same rock formation indicative of kiln activity. The lack of evidence of an access can be found on its slopes. There are no other volcanic route to the higher terraces leads us to suggest the possibilupswells emerging out of the sediments along the river in ity this area was an area for animal husbandry, agriculture, Sistan except for the famous Koh-i Khwaja. It is likely that and/or industrial activities. Terrace II is located approximately 11 m above the Šna Qala had a similar ritual importance, though we found floodplain at the lowest part of the volcanic pillow, to the no evidence of occupation prior to the Parthian period. Terrace I is a compound to the west of the rock outcrop- northeast of Terrace I, and is roughly rectangular, approxping on a low terrace above the river and is surrounded by imately 80 m north-south x 60 m east-west. It is approxa massive wall constructed of pakhsa. No gate, ramp, or imately 6 m above Terrace I. A mudbrick wall and gateother access to the higher terraces could be seen on the way separate this terrace from adjacent Terrace III to the 315

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Figure 6.46.2 Site plan of Šna Qala. J. Knudstad 1971

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Figure 6.46.3 Šna Qala from the south, across the Helmand River. Chartaq is at the crest on right, Terrace I to far left. HSP71.G.6

Figure 6.46.4 View from atop the volcanic base looking down on walled Terrace I on a low terrace with the Helmand River behind. HSP71.30.22

south. Entry to Terrace III is approximately 4 m in width with reinforced entry pillars. Terrace III is smaller, approximately 40 m north-south x 60 m east-west and 2 m higher than Terrace II to the north. A much narrower mudbrick wall and gate separates it from Terrace IV to the south. Terrace IV is the smallest of the terraces, approximately 30 x 50 m and lies 2 m higher than Terrace III due north of it. Terrace V, the highest, is protected on three sides by steep cliffs. It is approximately 80 x 40 m and lies 2 m

above Terrace IV to the south and 15 m above the floodplain. At its northwest corner is a square platform that likely contained a structure and cuts off a corner of Terrace IV. Access to this highest terrace is only through a small entrance between the platform and the wall that separates Terraces IV and V. Remaining walls in Terraces I–IV are badly eroded and show no sign of restoration after original construction. It is unclear whether the lower terraces contained internal structures. The vast majority of ceramics found on these

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Figure 6.46.5 View south from Terrace II, showing Terraces III, IV, V ascending the volcanic pillow. Mudbrick walls separate each section. Koh-i Khan Neshin is at right in distance, aligned with the chartaq. HSP71.G.12

Figure 6.46.6 Reverse view from 6.46.5, viewing north from Terrace V toward Terrace II. HSP71.G.34

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Figure 6.46.7 Plan of gateway into Šna Qala. J. Knudstad 1971

Figure 6.46.8 Looking from entry gate on east side down the steep ramp leading from the valley floor. HSP71.29.15

terraces were pre-Islamic, including some that were melting out of the brick and pakhsa walls. Entrance to the upper terraces is achieved via a ramp leading to Terrace II from the floodplain on the east side of the mound, the side away from Terrace I. The ramp is approximately 12 m wide and 40 m long. There are gates at the entrance of the ramp on the floodplain, midway up the ramp, and a bent axis entrance to the terrace at the west end. Walls of the entryway are made of pakhsa, not brick, unlike elsewhere on this terrace and all the higher terraces. Bricks in gate construction of Terrace II were 28 x 28 x 6–7 cm. Bricks in the corners of the chartaq and lower parts of the terrace walls were 43 x 43 x 10 cm. Bricks from the later construction of the chartaq were 34 x 34 x 7 cm. All bricks contained straw for binding.

consists of a cruciform hall separating four corner rooms. The ends of the east and west hallways have been walled up with rubble and each room is separated by a curtain wall filling in a once-large open arch on each side. Based upon the varying size of the bricks used in different parts of the structure, it is likely that the original building was a single domed room open at the center with walls creating smaller rooms and their vaults added during the reconstruction of the building in later times. Two fragments of enclosure walls surrounding this structure remain on the east and south sides, likely parts of an ambulatory corridor. Each is approximately 5 m in length and is made of the larger-sized bricks, the same as those on the corners of the central structure. A round tower of baked brick is located on the cliff at the southeast corner of Terrace V. There is evidence of another tower on the west side partially beneath the summit with the arched mudbrick entrance to a cave behind it. It was not explored by HSP. Another spot on the west side cliff shows evidence of repairs to the wall surrounding Terrace V.

The Chartaq The sole standing building on the site is a mausoleum atop the eastern portion of Terrace V. In one corner there is evidence that it was built upon, and incorporated, remains of an older structure of larger sized bricks. The building

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Figure 6.46.9 Looking through remaining arch of gateway into Šna Qala. Gateway turns to left at the wall at the end. HSP71.29.16

Figure 6.46.10 Detail of gateway into Šna Qala. HSP71.29.6

Artifacts and Ceramics An ostracon containing three Aramaic characters, probably in Parthian, was found on the surface in the northwest area of Terrace II. A reading of this sherd is included in Volume 2 of this report. Three pieces of steatite were found on Terrace V, a large rim fragment with a projecting square lug and striated lines on exterior, a fragment with a drilled repair hole, and a body piece of a vessel with alternating vertical and horizontal banding on exterior. Terrace V also produced a lump of dark green glass of an irregular shape and a fragment of a travertine bowl. A piece of scallop shell was found on Terrace II, as was a corroded piece of copper of indeterminate shape, parts of a steatite vessel, a blue glass jar, and a blue glass bracelet. Few ceramics were found on Terrace I and only a very small proportion of them are identifiably Islamic glazed or molded wares. Most resembled typical ParthoSasanian types. Terrace V contains the largest proportion

of Islamic pottery, many sherds on the ground and eroding out of the walls, possibly 40–50% of the collection on this terrace. Islamic wares represent less than 5% of the collections on Terraces I and II. No sherds were collected on Terraces III or IV. Among the pre-Islamic wares on Terrace V are several rounded, grooved jar handles in hard fired porous red wares and numerous hard fired red ware bowl rims including at least one with ring burnishing. Ribbed sherds of jars or large bowls are of hard fired red wares, many with white, red, or black slips. One sherd with a tamga was collected. Finer bowls of red ware have white slips on the exterior and over the rim. Decorated red wares include those with a stamped pine tree decoration, lozenge ornaments, incised wave patterns, jabbed lozenge bands around the rim, and combing. A jabbed base was also collected. One sherd has the stamped depiction of a mounted rider on horse or lion, likely Sasanian. More than a hundred pieces of unglazed molded ware from the twelfth to thirteenth century ce were collected

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Figure 6.46.11 Plan of the chartaq on Terrace V, showing location of larger and smaller bricks. Those slanting up left belong to original chartaq structure, toward upper right are from the later rebuild, probably a Muslim mausoleum. Remains of surrounding walls, possibly part of an ambulatory are on the bottom and right. J. Knudstad 1971

on Terrace V; however, no molds were observed here. The designs of the molded ware were mostly geometric or floral and a few pieces were decorated with intricate medallion designs. From the Eastern slip-ware type of the ninth to tenth century ce, sgraffito and splash ware demonstrated a color range from mustard to green and brown. Almost a dozen monochrome glazed ware (eleventh to thirteenth century ce) were recovered; their color ranging from light turquoise to dark aquamarine, even one green glazed sherd. A blue glazed flattened handle with a single groove at its center also belongs to this group. On this terrace, three imitation blue and white ware fragments were also detected. The most interesting find was a fragment of twelfth to thirteenth century lusterware with floral ornaments and a blue line over an opaque white glaze. A fragment with black decoration under a turquoise glaze from the fourteenth and fifteenth century ce was recovered. Pre-Islamic wares on Terrace II include five sherds with ring burnishing, several other red slipped and burnished pieces, and fragments of fine red ware open bowls

Figure 6.46.12 Chartaq of Terrace V from northwest, with Koh-i Khan Neshin in distance right. HSP71.30.19

with red slip. Decoration on larger forms includes red and white slips, wavy incised patterns, herringbone designs, jabbed incisions, and a ring of stamped pine trees. In Terrace II, 16 fragments of unglazed molded ware

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the archaeology of southwest afghanistan (twelfth to thirteenth century ce) were located. They are mostly covered with animal images such as scorpions, goats, and sheep. Only one has a fragment of an inscription. A few sphero-conical vessels were recovered. Albeit fragmentary, their black bodies had medallions or teardrop patterning. Glazed wares from Terrace II include tenth to eleventh century sgraffito and monochrome glaze wares as well as imitation blue on white ware. An unusual object was discovered, possibly a pipe bowl, slipped with notches running around the exterior of the rim; there were also traces of blackening by ash in the interior. (LZB)

Analysis With its chartaq structure, location on an elevated promontory, proximity to the Helmand River, clear view of the largest natural formation in the region of Koh-i Khan Neshin, and unusual artifacts and ceramics, we assess this site as the location of a Parthian/Sasanian fire temple and accompanying structures. The sequence of restricted compounds leading up to the chartaq atop a volcanic formation resembles the better known Koh-i Khwaja. The site was reused in Islamic times, possibly from the ninth through thirteenth centuries, with the temple reconstructed as a mausoleum. While pre-Islamic ceramics are found throughout the site, Islamic sherds are largely restricted to Terrace V. The baked brick platform at the edge of the cliff on Terrace V might also date to this time, as might the last construction of the entry ramp, based on their brick sizes.

Figure 6.46.13 Interior of chartaq looking north. HSP71.29.19

Figure 6.46.14 A preserved vaulted chamber behind a collapsed tower on the west slope of the mountain. HSP71.30.3

Figure 6.46.15 Secondary repairs to the west wall protecting Terrace V, with the chartaq behind it. HSP71.30.7

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Figure 6.46.16 Remains of a large, circular baked brick tower on the southeast cliff of Šna Qala (right). HSP71.28.4

6.47 Tandorak Other names: Daishu Gazetteer #: 224 Coordinates: 63°20'30.95" x 30°26'68.59" Type: Square tower Date: Partho-Sasanian A small ruined tower sitting on a 30 m high promontory which projects into the floodplain on the south side of the river. Its location offers a commanding view of the valley from beyond Khwaja Ali Bala to beyond Šna Qala, a span of some 35 km. The modern village of Daishu is immediately below. The tower was likely square, between 5.4 m and 6.3 m on each side, 4 m in height, and constructed of large square mudbricks 40–42 x 40–42 x 8–9 cm laid in a thick mud mortar with many small river pebbles embedded. The tower is hollow inside, but the walls are much eroded and the dimensions of the interior could not be ascertained without excavation. A very limited number of ceramics were found in the area, possibly ones that have eroded out of the walls. These include an undistinguished buff ware rim sherd, a hard fired red ware sherd, a combed body sherd, and the rim of a hand molded cooking pot, none clearly establishing a date but likely from the Parthian or Sasanian periods.

Figure 6.47.1 Square tower of Tandorak. HSP71.31.18

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6.48 Tepe Daishu I Other names: Daishu Gazetteer #: 224 Coordinates: 30°24'14.71" x 63°17'25.71" Type: Mound with two high points Date: Unknown An amorphous tepe located in the middle of the Helmand Valley in an area where the river bed has swung to the north side of the valley, west of the modern village of Daishu and just west of Tepe Daishu II. It is approximately 50 m in length and 35 m in width, running northeast to southwest with two high points. No architectural features could be discerned. Surrounding fields are very salty over a hard crust. There is a very light sherd cover on the site but the sherds are spalled or exploded because of the salt. No sherds or artifacts were collected; date of the ceramics could not be identified because of their condition.

Figure 6.48.1 Satellite view of Tepe Daishu I. Courtesy J. Thibeau (CAMEL/AHMP)

Figure 6.48.2. View of Tepe Daishu I from northwest. HSP71.31.32

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6.49 Tepe Daishu II Other names: Daishu Gazetteer #: 228 Coordinates: 30°24'33.83" x 63°17'59.99" Type: Square qala on a platform Date: Early Iron? Achaemenid? Partho-Sasanian A square qala of approximately 50 m on a side elevated 4 m above the plain with corners on the cardinal points. It is located 3 km southwest of the modern village of Daishu and 0.5 km west of Tepe Daishu I. Situated in the middle of the Helmand Valley in an area where the river bed has swung to the north side of the valley, it is surrounded by fields of very salty soil over a hard crust. The dirt on the mound itself is more compact than Tepe Daishu I and sherds are better preserved, though no architecture was discernable from the surface. Satellite photos indicate the existence of a perimeter wall and its height suggests the possibility of a platform beneath. Sherd cover is sparse and the sample size is too small to suggest a definitive chronology, but several shapes conform to the Early Iron, Achaemenid, and ParthoSasanian periods.

Figure 6.49.1 Satellite view of Tepe Daishu II. Courtesy J. Thibeau (CAMEL/AHMP)

Figure 6.49.2. General view of Tepe Daishu II. HSP71.31.33

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6.50 Tepe Rudbar I Coordinates: 30°09'27.58" x 62°36'34.20" Type: Large, badly eroded square enclosure with a square central qala atop Date: Early Iron, Partho-Sasanian, post-Timurid This large, badly damaged square enclosure of approximately 165 x 250 m is located 1 km west of Karbasak along a canal on the south side of the Helmand Valley. Melted pakhsa creates a mound of outer wall of approximately 34–45 m in width and 1.5–2 m in height on the east, south, and west sides. These walls are covered with gravel and have few cultural remains visible. This may have been a rampart upon which a wall was built. A much narrower enclosure wall (approximately 10 m in length) is preserved on the north side. There is evidence of a melted rounded corner tower 10 m in diameter and 2.5 m in height on the southwest extending outward from the line of walls. Inside this wall is a flat area on all four sides of 15–20 m in width at the ground surface level which surrounds a smaller rectangular qala, 70 x 100 m in size, 3 m in height, with walls 21–28 m in width of melted mud. Atop the north wall is a rectangular mound, 16 m in length and 6 m high, likely a secondary structure. The south wall has evidence of four small secondary mounds 5–6 m high atop it. Protuberances from each corner suggest this compound had corner towers. The interior wall system surrounds a central courtyard 66 x 43 m with no evidence of structural remains inside. A revisit to the site in 1975 gave indication that the height of the central qala may indicate a platform similar to others from the Early Iron Age. Two other qalas in the immediate area shared the same profile and contained Early Iron Age ceramics, Qala-i Madar-i Padshah III and Rudbar-i Sufla, just west of the modern military port in Rudbar, the

Figure 6.50.1 Sketch plan of Tepe Rudbar I. J. Knudstad 1971

latter not formally documented by the project. The site had a very light ceramic cover. Beyond several distinctive sherds, we collected only stray body sherds of coarse buff or red buff, one hard moderately fine grained but thick red slipped red ware, one black ware with white inclusions, and one greenish buff ware with black inclusions. Noticeable were a bluish green glazed ware bowl with small footed base (possibly modern), a hard fired gritty body with air pockets, a reddish brown sherd with brown painted geometric décor; a vertical rimmed cup, a hard fired red buff rim of a small jar with exterior ridges, and another ridged jar. No photos of the site were taken. It is likely there are at least three configurations of architecture, a central platform, an inner and outer rampart, and later towers atop the inner rampart. This suggests a multi-period site, which is supported by the variety of ceramics found at the site.

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Chapter 7

Other Sites

7.1 Chor Gunbad Other names: Gumbaz-i-Shah Maksud, Gumbad-i-Sar-i-Shela Gazetteer #: 2031 Coordinates: 29°50'13.35" x 61°22'38.94" Type: Cluster of five mausoleums Date: Timurid Labeled “Four Domes,” the site is located on a 8–10 m high bluff of dasht gravels overlooking the bed of the Shela Rud from the south, 2 km west of Dam/Khaima Barang. Despite the name, the site contains at least five small mausoleums of standard square chartaq Timurid style. About 1.5 km to the north on the other side of the waterway, a large Timurid house was visible but not visited. There may be other houses of similar age in the area. Substantial

Figure 7.1.1 Satellite view of Chor Gunbad. Courtesy J. Thibeau (CAMEL/AHMP)

Figure 7.1.2 View of Chor Gunbad mausoleums from northwest. HSP75.22.13

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Figure 7.1.3 View of Chor Gunbad mausoleums from east. HSP76.13.6

Figure 7.1.4 Chor Gunbad Islamic cemetery surrounding built mausoleums. HSP76.13.3

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Figure 7.1.5 Mudbrick mausoleum at Chor Gunbad. HSP76.13.05

Figure 7.1.6 Interior of mausoleum at Chor Gunbad, showing baked brick foundation for dome to left of scale. HSP76.13.07

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the archaeology of southwest afghanistan amounts of current vegetation led us to the supposition that the water table is not too deep in this area, though no water system was noted. MacGregor visited presumably the same site, calling it Gumbaz-i-Shah Maksud, which he describes as six tombs “of the commonest kind of structure” on a ridge in a northeast-southwest line. “Each had been a square-domed building, about forty feet square, and the same height, all but the dome being of unburnt brick” (MacGregor 1882, 184–185). Despite the discrepancy in the name and size, the general description and the proximity to Godar-i Shah, visited by his party the previous day, suggests he is describing the same site. C.E. Yate visited the site in 1900, called Gumbad-i-Sar-i-Shela by his guides, and noted four mausoleums and “a heap of ” miniature stone columns in the adjacent Islamic cemetery

(C.E. Yate 1900, 97). Dales also saw this site in 1971 as it is accurately located on his unpublished field map (see Figure 7.3.3 below), but it does not appear in any of his reports from that season. The mausoleums are similar, constructed of mudbrick, square, approximately 6 m on each side, consisting of corner pillars holding up a central dome, with the side arches sometimes filled in with brickwork. Most have standing walls 2–4 m in height. There are wall niches but otherwise the interiors examined were undecorated. Two fragments of miniature stone columns were found in the cemetery surrounding the standing mausoleums. No ceramic collection made, but there was a fragment of a plate of molded white ware with brown glazing along with a rim and partial handle of a red ware sherd with red slip noted.

Figure 7.1.8 Two fragments of Bronze Age stone columns found in the Chor Gunbad cemetery. HSP76.13.4

Figure 7.1.7 Corner squinch of a mausoleum interior at Chor Gunbad. HSP76.13.2

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7.2 Dam Other names: Khaima Barang, “Tent Hill" Gazetteer #: 229 Coordinates: 29°49'47.87" x 61°25'10.88" Type: Bronze Age village, modern cemetery Date: Bronze, Timurid, post-Timurid An elevated area on the south side and approximately 150 m from the Shela Rud channel, rising 4 m above the river bed. A flat topped and undulating triangular area of approximately 300 m north-south x 300 m east-west, it has gently sloped sides and is covered with ceramics, copper slag, and other artifacts. There is some evidence of ruined structures, appearing as lumps of sandy clay rising 1.5 m above the surface, though no architectural plan could be determined. Evidence from the sides of the slope implies that the entire elevation might represent cultural debris, though no systematic excavating was done. There is some evidence of ceramic kilns from the slag located on the site. The surface of the mound is also covered with copper slag. George Dales visited the site in 1971 (Dales 1992) and described the graves on the site of Dam and objects associated with it but claimed they were recently placed on the

Figure 7.2.1 Satellite view of Dam/Khaima Barang. Courtesy J. Thibeau (CAMEL/AHMP)

modern cemetery. In his view, Khaima Barang did not exist as a Bronze Age site (Dales 1972, 36). His photo of the elaborate grave surrounded by a low wall matches one taken by HSP. He used the name Dam, which simply means “ruin.” Our informant told us that the cemetery is named after Shamshir, a famous bandit in the region who is buried here.

Figure 7.2.2 General view of mound, 1976. HSP76.13.8

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Figure 7.2.3 W. Trousdale surveying the surface of the mound, which was covered with sherds and other artifacts. Raised areas suggest the existence of previous architecture. HSP75.21.34

The southeast part of the mound contains a recent cemetery, one larger grave surrounded by a low mud retaining wall and marked with a tamarisk branch. On the graves are numerous black stones and fragments of turquoise and black Timurid mortuary tiles, probably brought from elsewhere. But the scatter of material objects throughout the site, not just near the cemetery, led us to conclude that the cemetery was founded upon a previous Bronze Age site. One C14 sample was taken at the site in 1976 from a thin stratum of pale ash with flecks of charcoal in a previously excavated pit 70 cm deep. The sample was surrounded by ceramics typical of this site. Results returned a calibrated date of 4815 BP +/- 79 (2944–2786 bce).

Figure 7.2.4 Islamic graveyard that covers the southeastern part of Dam/Khaima Barang. HSP75.21.36

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Figure 7.2.5 Shrine to an Islamic holy man in the Dam/Khaima Barang graveyard. A similar photo was taken by Dales in 1969. HSP75.13.9

The method of collecting the sample provides possibility of contamination. The site contains many worked pieces of open travertine vessels. Approximately 50 fragments were collected including two flat bowl bases and numerous vertical cup rims. There are also many unworked pieces and chips. One fragment of a stone bead was collected as well as one sea shell. Remains of a bright red chert microlith was also found there, but the source of the stone is unknown. Copper slag was scattered around the site but not in quantities suggesting heavy smelting activity. Numerous thin fragments of bronze vessels were also found. Two seals were found here, one a three leaf bronze seal that is likely a bird figure, the other a geometric segmented seal of ivory/bone. A third seal, also segmented, was found offsite but nearby. Dales also found several segmented seals during his visit. The sherd assemblage here consists of several characteristic types known across the Indo-Iranian Borderlands in the later Bronze Age including textile and basket-marked wares (‘Quetta Wet ware’ and possibly ‘Burj’ basket ware) and fine graywares (Emir Gray and Faiz Mohammad, both red-on-gray and black-on-gray variants). The painted buff wares present also carry geometric designs vaguely reminiscent of the Quetta variety. The most complete vessel of the group is a flared, black-on-buff beaker with geometric design suggestive of beakers from Mundigak IV1 (Casal 1961, Ceramic types 260s) and the Quetta Valley

Figure 7.2.6 Collection of travertine vessels found at Dam/ Khaima Barang, including numerous vertical rims (left), two bases (top center), and partial bead. IMG8761. Photo G. Zimmerman

(Fairservis 1956, Q8). Rafaela Biscione and Ali Vahdati also reviewed the material and tentatively determined the presence of BMAC (or GKC) pottery in two examples of carinated, plain ware rim sherds (Biscione and Vahdati, personal communication 2021). An article by the authors with more detail concerning these ceramics is in press (Allen, Hubbard, and Trousdale, forthcoming). Finally, a light-yellow coarse ware fragment with black and red volcanic inclusions has four triangular figures incised before firing. It is unclear whether this is an

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the archaeology of southwest afghanistan inscription or a design. Similar marks taking a ‘V’ shape or trilinear form occur over a wide area (Indo-Iranian Borderlands, Eastern Iran, Turkmenia, and India) and time period (third through first millennium bce) (Potts 1981). (EH) A few pieces are hard fired red wares, some ribbed, which reflect the Partho-Sasanian ceramics common all over the region. A few sherds with black painted decoration under a turquoise glaze from the fourteenth century ce were also identified. This is undoubtedly a Bronze Age site, dating to the time of Shahr-i Sokhta II and III, possibly extending into the second millennium if Vahdati/Biscione’s identifications are correct. A modern tomb and graveyard placed on an ancient site is common in Sistan, but, surprisingly, the graves do not contain Bronze Age miniature stone columns and similar stone artifacts that are found in neighboring sites.

Figure 7.2.9 Inscribed sherd found on the mound in a coarse handmade ware with large black and red temper grains. Four triangles decorate the sherd at different angles. Unclear if this is inscriptional or decorative, but no other incised sherds were found on the site. IMG2861. Photo D. Marton

Figure 7.2.7 Three leaf bronze seal found at Dam/Khaima Barang, possibly a bird image. Photo M. Allen

Figure 7.2.8 Two segmented seals of bone/ivory, top one found on surface at Dam/Khaima Barang and bottom between Dam and Godar-i Shah, 1976. Photo R. Baer

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7.3 Gina Kuhna Other names: Old Gina Gazetteer #: 376 Coordinates: 30°15'58.12" x 61°30'43.62" Type: Pre-Islamic qala, with Islamic reoccupation Date: Bronze Age?, Achaemenid, Hellenistic, ParthoSasanian, Islamic Located on a bluff on the south bank of the Rud-i Biyaban, the site is a badly eroded square qala with corner towers approximately 35 x 35 m in size. Exterior walls are constructed of mudbrick. A lower terrace surrounds the site. The interior configuration was not described in our brief 1975 visit. Tate (1910–12, 163) described mausoleums on the terrace around the site such as the one in Figure 7.3.2. A more modern site (Tate 1910–12, 163), Gina Nau/ New Gina, is located in the Rud-i Biyaban watershed and consists of a large enclosure with round corner center towers and smaller rectangular towers along the sides. To the west on a bluff is a square qala with a large tower still standing. This site was not examined by HSP, we merely drove by it, but Merk (1888, 27) identifies a central building inside and other smaller structures. Ceramics range widely, possibly from the Bronze Age through most of the pre-Islamic periods, though based on a very small collection. They include one coarse handmade jar rim and a painted sherd with horizontal black bands that may be Bronze Age in date. A red painted hatched band sherd of Achaemenid/Early Hellenistic

Figure 7.3.1 Satellite view of Gina Kuhna/Old Gina. Courtesy J. Thibeau (CAMEL/AHMP)

dipinta storica sistana style marks those periods. Other Achaemenid ceramics may also include a light red fine ware bowl rim with carinated shoulder and dark paint band inside the rim. An incised triangle on a body sherd is likely a Parthian tamga to go with other hard fired red wares common from the Parthian period. Several glazed Islamic sherds were also noted but not described or collected. The shape of the existing fortress echoes other Partho-Sasanian square qalas known from Sar-o-Tar. The scattered glazed sherds and nearby mausoleums suggest the area, if not the site, was still in use in one or more of the Islamic eras.

Figure 7.3.2 Gina Kuhna from northwest. HSP75.22.33

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Figure 7.3.3 Gina Nau/New Gina. HSP75.22.34

7.4 Godar-i Shah Other names: Shah-i Mardan Gazetteer #: 383 Coordinates: 29°54'42.93" x 61°20'43.65" Type: Modern shrine and cemetery, possibly atop pre-Islamic platform, with nearby Islamic houses Date: Bronze, Achaemenid?, Hellenistic, Parthian, Timurid, post-Timurid This recent Islamic shrine is located on the north side of the Shela Rud, approximately 3–4 km northwest of Chor Gunbad. The site is said to be associated with the Muslim founder Ali and to contain a relic of his. The site was previously known to the Afghan Boundary Commission, having been visited by MacGregor and Lockwood in 1877, where they found brackish water for their thirsty band close to the surface (MacGregor 1882, 183). McMahon published a photograph of the site from his visit in 1896 (McMahon 1897, 407). Dales (1977b, 21) noted that the ruin had deteriorated substantially since then. The modern building sits atop a conical mound about 60 m in diameter and 5 m high and largely covered with sand. It is unclear how the mound was constructed but is Figure 7.4.1 Satellite view of Godar-i Shah shrine. Courtesy J. Thibeau unlikely to be a natural formation. The crest (CAMEL/AHMP) 336

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Figure 7.4.2 Godar-i Shah shrine. Note canal leading toward it in foreground. HSP76.13.15

of the mound holds three corner piers of a baked brick mausoleum with the arches filled in with mudbrick and baked brick walls (bricks not measured). Large standing tamarisk branches decorate the interior of the shrine, which is covered with carved stone objects and many modern rifle cartridges. When Dales visited in 1969, six years before us, there was an ibex skull attached to the shrine, a metal bell, and numerous cloth strips tied to the building (Dales 1972, 31). Those objects were gone by the time of our visit. A recent structure to the east of the shrine is built on a mound of sand. It is designed like a typical Timurid house, with a north iwan surrounded by substantial rooms on the northwest and northeast and a central courtyard with rows of rooms on the east and west sides. The traditional keyhole arches on the walls are missing, suggesting the building might be of a more recent date. The northwest room still stands 4 m in height and has a preserved dome and some plastering. To the north of the north iwan are a series of appended other rooms. The southern half of the building is significantly more eroded. Dimensions of the building are approximately 35 x 18 m. Numerous other standing ruins, dating to the Timurid period or later, sit near the shrine on the site toward the east and northeast as far as 4 km but are widely dispersed

and in small clusters. One large building is potentially a serai. Remains of kilns and canals surround the site. Many sherds cover the ground around the shrine and related buildings, most identifiable as from the Islamic periods. A small copper smelting site is located on the south side of the Shela Rud Basin approximately 3 km southwest of the shrine. It is a mound 2 m high and roughly round, approximately 60 m in diameter. Curious calcified, square cut red beads were found here, similar to ones found at Dam/Khaima Barang. This site was not separately numbered by HSP but had been identified locally as Komhauz. Numerous carved stones were placed upon the Islamic shrine. These stones fit the material known at the time from Tepe Hissar IIIC, now known to be common Bronze Age objects in many parts of Iran and Central Asia, miniature columns with incised grooves along the sides, large stone disks, and handled stones. The collection has already been documented by Dales (1977b), so will not be described in depth here. Ceramics collected by HSP represent a complex mixture of many periods of the survey. Slightly over 100 sherds were collected in total. Prehistoric wares similar to those found at Dam/Khaima Barang represent the majority of sherds collected. Those at Godar-i Shah are all plain wares,

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Figure 7.4.3 George Dales’s 1971 sketch map of Shela Rud sites, including Dam, Chor Gunbad, and the shrine and cluster of Islamic houses in vicinity of Godar-i Shah. Courtesy Peabody Museum Archives

coarsely hand made, and generally with large black sand inclusions. Forms are generally of closed storage vessels, often with an exterior slip in red or green. The fine painted wares known from other Bronze Age sites were not found here. Two of the sherds may date to the early second millennium from the Greater Khorasan Culture (Vahdati, personal communication). Historic period pre-Islamic wares include several very fine red ware cup rim fragments and one carinated rim in a brown ware with green-white slip that might be Achaemenid. Other fine red ware sherds were collected, including one with a red slip. Two overfired ribbed body sherds also come from this period. Most appear to be Hellenistic or Parthian in date. The only Islamic sherd collected was a modern blue on white glazed sherd with a fragmentary inscription, though other glazed sherds were noted.

While Dale’s publications about his 1969 and 1971 explorations of this site do not record the existence of other structures nearby, his unpublished hand-drawn map (see Figure 7.4.3) of the region indicates twelve nearby late structures in four clusters to the north and east as far as 3 miles from the shrine, buildings that we suggest are Timurid or post-Timurid, based on the one we were able to document. His archival photos include one photograph of a “fort” in the vicinity of the shrine, likely the same as the large Islamic-period house we photographed. Dales (1977b) reported that the elaborate stones were located on and around the shrine and on other burials in the vicinity. While Dales claims the Bronze Age stone objects were brought from elsewhere, the existence of an artificial foundation beneath the modern shrine and the scattering of distinctly unimpressive Bronze Age sherds in the area argues for habitation at this location at an early date.

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Figure 7.4.4 Interior of Godar-i Shah shrine with broken Bronze Age objects scattered in foreground. HSP76.13.16

Figure 7.4.5 Satellite view of Timurid or post-Timurid house close to Godar-i Shah shrine. Courtesy J. Thibeau (CAMEL/ AHMP)

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Figure 7.4.6 Large Islamic house from west, considered a fort by Dales. HSP76.13.28

Figure 7.4.7 Southern iwan of Islamic house. HSP76.13.31

Figure 7.4.8 Large Islamic house from east. HSP76.13.33

Figure 7.4.9 Northern iwan of Islamic house. HSP76.13.32

Figure 7.4.10 Interior of northwest room of Islamic house, walls still partially plastered. HSP76.13.29

Figure 7.4.11 Copper smelting site of Komhauz, near Godar-i Shah. HSP76.14.33

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Figure 7.4.12 Some of the miniature stone columns found at Godar-i Shah shrine in 1976. HSP76.13.17

Figure 7.4.13 Additional miniature stone columns found at Godar-i Shah shrine in 1976. HSP76.13.20

Figure 7.4.14 Travertine vessels found at Godar-i Shah shrine in 1976. HSP76.13.25

7.5 Jali Robat Other names: Robat, Rabat Coordinates: 29°50'34.83" x 60°57'52.85" Type: Extensive Islamic copper smelting site, possibly used in earlier periods, modern village Date: Bronze, Partho-Sasanian?, Saffarid/Ghaznavid, post-Timurid The site is located just west of the modern village of Jali Robat, 8 km east of the border marker separating Pakistan, Iran, and Afghanistan. We visited it in 1975 and 1976. At our first visit, the area had been renamed Hajji Isah in honor of the village khan who had gone on hajj to Mecca that year. But he died on the pilgrimage in November/ Figure 7.5.1 Satellite view of Jali Robat. Modern construction has destroyed much December 1975, so the village’s of the field of copper slag noted in our survey. The modern village is at the upper right name was returned to Robat by the and fields across the wadi at lower right. Courtesy J. Thibeau (CAMEL/AHMP) time of the 1976 visit. 341

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Figure 7.5.2 Panorama of copper smelting fields taken from the modern village. HSP76.14.7

Figure 7.5.3 Panorama of copper smelting fields from the southwest. HSP76.14.23

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Figure 7.5.4 The copper slag was piled in long rows, often as much as 4 m in height and 100 m in length. HSP75.22.5

The pre-modern site consists of an enormous field of copper slag approximately 250 x 150 m covering several hillslopes just west of the village of Jali Robat. Slag chunks are heaped into mounds as long as 100 m and much as 3–4 m high. The slag retains much of its copper post-smelting, judging from its weight and green color. Smelting seemed to have been done in simple pits dug into the soil with the slag from firing piled around the pit. As the slag pile got too large, a new pit was dug nearby. Some ash was seen on the surface. A recent compound made of broken stones and mud sits in the slag field (dimensions not recorded). Traces of an eroded older mound were noted at one end of the slag field but its specific location was not recorded nor explored. The west bank of the wadi adjoining the site showed mudbrick walls buried beneath the modern surface, but it was impossible to identify their age. Terraces of unknown age, possibly modern and used

in contemporary times, run along the far side of the wadi bordering the site on the south. Four radiocarbon samples were taken during our 1976 visit, two from a scraped-back section of the wadi, 110–140 cm below current surface, and two excavated 60–70 cm beneath one of the smelting pits. All samples are possibly subject to contamination. Median calibrated dates of the four samples ranged from 761–1085 ce. The modern graveyard contained several Bronze Age miniature stone columns and other pieces of carved travertine of unknown date. Ceramic finds were scanty amid the large field of slag and ore. Several red ribbed ware body sherds, including ones with combed, incised, and punctated decoration, of Partho-Sasanian type were found along the wadi south of the slag field. Two possible Bronze Age sherds and a fourteenth century glazed rim sherd were found as well. They were photographed but not drawn or described.

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Figure 7.5.5 Slag pile with scale. HSP76.14.3

Figure 7.5.6 Copper was smelted in open air pits with slag piled around them. HSP76.14.30

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Figure 7.5.7 Remains of mudbrick wall visible in section of wadi adjoining the village. HSP76.14.13

Figure 7.5.8 Modern graves near the village were decorated with miniature columns and carved travertine. HSP76.14.16

Figure 7.5.9 Detail of miniature column and travertine slabs on modern grave. HSP76.14.1

Figure 7.5.10 Another miniature column found in the modern cemetery. HSP76.14.31

7.6 Kusrutabad Other names: Bolan Qala, Tepe Buland, Hammond 17 Gazetteer #: 662 Location: 31°35'42.43" x 64°19'52.78" Type: Irregular shaped enclosure Date: Partho-Sasanian?, Ghaznavid? Located across the Helmand River from Lashkar Gah, just north of the bridge connecting into the city and bounded on the north and east by the Shalaman canal, the site stretches north-south for up to 200 m in the shape of a footprint, though no exact measurements were taken.

Figure 7.6.1 Aerial view of Kusrutabad/Bolan Qala with modern canal in foreground. HSP73.1.24

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the archaeology of southwest afghanistan Remains of pakhsa walls are visible on the western side of the site, height not recorded. The walls of Bolan Qala, the site name we were given, show considerable melt, spreading out to a central depression. Situated in a commanding position at the desert edge, scarcely 1 km north of Laskhari Bazar on the opposite side of the river, it might have been a port related to Qala-i Bist. Its location was outside the official HSP survey area, but its proximity to Lashkar Gah and its visibility resulted in multiple visits to the site. Repeated visits to the site and systematic walks over its surface turned up not a single sherd. Nor were any to be found mixed with the standing fragments of pakhsa

constructed wall nor along the Shamalan canal which cut the melted edges of the wall system. Hammond (1970, 449) visited this site in 1966 and labeled it Kusrutabad. His survey produced only two sherds, one of them the glazed base of a presumed Ghaznavid bowl and the other a hard fired red ware rim. The paucity of sherds from his survey in so large a site is puzzling. A modern village is located just to the south and east of the ruin. A weekly horse fair was held at the village in the 1970s. Nomads passing along the right bank of the Helmand for the purpose of trading in the town of Lashkar Gah break their journey here.

7.7 Mukhtar Other names: Mokhatar, Qala-i Mohkatar Gazetteer #: 736 Coordinates: 31°35'31.95" x 64°26'27.71" Type: Rectangular fortress and temple Date: Hellenistic, Parthian A large rectangular fortress is located on the plain between Figure 7.7.1 Sketch the Helmand and Arghandab rivers to the northeast of plan of modern Laskhar Gah. Bellew visited the site in 1872 and Mukhtar. W. described it simply as “an isolated heap of ruins marking Trousdale the site of an ancient fort” (Bellew 1874, 170). HSP visited 1976, the site both in 1974 and 1976. redrawn The main qala is approximately 55 x 90 m with towers J. Allen on all four corners. Three of the towers are square, but the northwest tower is in the shape of a 5-sided polygon running between 11 m and 14 m on a side. This tower is the best preserved, standing over 10 m in height. The interior of the northern half is filled to the level of the walls, so it is impossible to discern the spatial organization, but there appears to be a set of rooms around the interior of the walls and possibly a set of graduated steps in the interior. To the south of the main structure is a smaller rectangular extension about 40 x 90 m, probably built at a different time as the clay has a different (gray) cast from the main building (yellow). Its standing walls are only half the elevation of the northern half. Some small buildings were noted inside this enclosure. The site contains a Hellenistic temple, the specific location of which we were unable to identify. The site is littered with distinctive red slipped wares, many highly burnished and in shapes different from the burnished ware corpus familiar from Sar-o-Tar. No pot- Figure 7.7.2 Satellite view of Mukhtar. Courtesy J. Thibeau tery was drawn or photographed. In addition, there are (CAMEL/AHMP) 346

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Figure 7.7.3 Mukhtar from west with two sections visible. HSP76.1.9

Figure 7.7.4 Mukhtar from north, showing pentangular tower. HSP76.1.5

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Figure 7.7.5 Mukhtar from south. HSP76.1.11

Figure 7.7.6 Rooms inside eastern wall of Mukhtar. HSP76.1.6

Figure 7.7.7 Top of Mukhtar mound completely infilled. HSP76.1.7

Figure 7.7.8 Sculptural fragment. HSP76.10.18

Figure 7.7.9 Baked brick column base. HSP76.9.23

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Figure 7.7.10 a, b, c, d Baked brick architectural elements. HSP76.11.26, 28, 29; HSP76.12.1

a

c

b numerous column bases, parts of Ionic capitals, fluted drums, drapery, and other western-style architectural fragments of baked brick. These items are similar to those we found on recent Islamic graves we discovered surveying Khwaja Kanur and at Kurkoray I. We believe those objects originated at this site, thus our inclusion of this site in our report despite it not being within our study area.

a

d

b Figure 7.7.11 a, b Ionic column volutes. HSP76.11.24, 25

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7.8 Trakhun Other names: Tarakhun, Fairservis 97 Gazetteer #: 1147 Coordinates: 30°16'13.14" x 61°29'17.71" Type: Large walled fortress Date: Timurid, Post-Timurid Trakhun is a large Timurid or post-Timurid fortress with accompanying buildings constructed atop a 30–35 m high bluff in the center of the Rud-i Biyaban. While it is claimed this is the birthplace of Rustam (Tate 1910–12, 242) and there is an historical reference from the thirteenth century for the existence of a pre-Islamic fire temple on the site (Tate 1910–12, 244), there is little archaeological evidence of occupation prior to Timurid times. Historical records mention this site as the capital of Malik Sultan Mahmud in the early sixteenth century (Bosworth 1994, 470–472). This might be the date of construction of the current

architecture. Still, given its prominence and defensibility, it would not be surprising if the site were occupied as early as the Bronze Age and at any time there was water flowing through the Rud-i Biyaban channel through natural means or through a canal. Unfortunately, we found no archaeological evidence to support this. The site was visited by HSP for only one evening in 1975 so was not studied in depth and no measurements taken. Nor did we collect sherds there, though a small collection was made during Trousdale’s visit in 1966. More detailed descriptions of the site are available in Merk (1888, 27) and

Figure 7.8.1 Satellite view of Trakhun. Courtesy J. Thibeau (CAMEL/AHMP)

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Figure 7.8.2 Trakhun from the east. HSP75.22.30

Figure 7.8.3 Trakhun from the southwest with dasht area structures visible in foreground. HSP75.22.18

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Figure 7.8.4 Exterior walls and structures on the northeast side of the site. HSP75.22.19

Figure 7.8.5 Buildings at the southeast corner. HSP75.22.20

Figure 7.8.6 The well at Trakhun. HSP75.22.24

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Figure 7.8.7 Best preserved mausoleums to the west of the site. HSP75.22.22

Tate (1910–12, 240–42). Dales and Fairservis bypassed Trakhun in their surveys. The site is in the middle of the Rud-i Biyaban, a large triangular pillar as much as 50 m above the river bed. High walls encircle the cliffs on which the site is located, with the entrance on the north side. The entryway leads to a courtyard, 30 m square according to Tate (1910, 243), that in 1975 was heaped with meters of modern trash, ash, donkey droppings, and corroded pottery. An erosion channel runs from the center of the site at 4–5 m in depth through this area, emptying to the north through the walls. A preserved vaulted hall leads upward to the west through several rooms to a large hall in the northwest corner (Merk 1888, 27). The room has pentangular niches on the walls and slit windows. South of this room is a tower and a high inner fortification wall running north-south. A series of chambers stands outside this wall. Toward the southern end of the qala, the buildings stand taller, 3–4 stories in some places with many of the roofs preserved. It was possible to enter some of the rooms, but no plans were made of them. A complex of seven to eight heavily plastered rooms may have served as a hammam. A large brick-lined well of 4–5 m in width is to the

east of this southern complex. A tunnel cut into bedrock presumably led to the well but was filled with debris during our visit. At the very south a piece of exposed bedrock and a defensive wall on top has separated from the main mound. To the east of the fortress in the bluff of the Rud-i Biyaban walls is a human-constructed cave 4.5 m wide, cut 1.5 m into the cliff and at least 1.5 m in height. It is filled with sand and contains no visible artifacts. On the cliff behind the cave is a kiln site. North of that, at the edge of the cliff, is a large windmill, its date unknown. On the cliffs west of the fortress above flood level are two well-preserved mausoleums with several additional ones extending into the valley. These structures have heavily battered walls, unlike the vertical walls common in Ghaznavid-Timurid mausoleums in the region, indication of a more recent date. The larger one, on the northwest, is rectangular with three sections and faces west. The smaller is octagonal in shape, with seven walled-up false doors and heavily plastered on the interior. The dome has collapsed inward. Its entrance faces Trakhun, toward the southeast. Canals were visible on both sides of the qala, leading up the valley.

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Figure 7.8.8 Octagonal mausoleum west of Trakun. HSP75.22.32

No ceramics were saved during our visit, but casual examination of the surface remains indicated the visible pottery was post-Timurid. A collection from Trousdale’s 1966 visit showed black decoration under a turquoise glaze and blue and white wares from the fourteenth century ce. (LBZ)

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Part III Excavations

Chapter 8

Excavated Sites

8.1 Cemetery 150 Coordinates: 30°33'40.79" x 62°06'8.23" Type: Cemetery, graves bordered with stone rectangles Date: Parthian The cemetery consisted of an unrecorded number of stone rectangles, measuring up to 3 x 6 m in size on the flat playa toward the south-southwest end of the large wind scour south of Shahr-i Gholghola. More diffuse than Cemetery 143 (see Chapter 5), the few graves extended north to House 145 and beyond. The stone rectangles in Cemetery 150 tended to be more isolated and generally larger than those in Cemetery 143, the

Figure 8.1.1 Largest stone rectangle in Cemetery 150 prior to excavation. HSP73.47.28

Figure 8.1.2 Grave in Cemetery 150 looking northeast, with Qala 169 in background. HSP73.47.16

stone perimeters more regularly formed. These stone rectangles lay on slightly slanted ground, approximately 20 cm to 30 cm above the plain level, their presence doubtless having slightly retarded deflation in this area of accelerated winds. There were small pillars of silt in this area which rose 40 cm to 70 cm above the present surface level. Nearly all of the silt pillars contained small quantities of Ghaznavid pottery on their surface, which were not common on the rest of the site and might have indicated the approximate ground level in the eleventh century. The largest and one of the best preserved stone rectangles, 6.2 x 2.9 m, was recorded in 1973 and selected for

excavation. A trench 1.5 m wide was excavated to a depth of 1 m across the narrow dimension of the rectangle and extended nearly 1 m beyond the line of stones at each side. This trench was excavated in hopes of bisecting the vertical lines of a shaft of an undisturbed tomb. The results were negative. The earth was densely packed silt of extreme hardness, with the continuous lenses at no point revealing rupture by an earlier excavation to create a tomb. At a depth of approximately 1 m, a thin lens of carbonized plant material was encountered. A funeral pit could not have passed through this stratum without disturbing it, nor could the surface stones have 357

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Figure 8.1.3 Stone rectangle after excavation. HSP74.5.26

Figure 8.1.4 Dense layers of silt above a carbonized stratum at depth of ca. 1 m at Cemetery 150 excavation. HSP74.5.25

been at or below this 1 mm thick stratum. It was, therefore, concluded that no burial shaft lay within the rectangle of stones. The other stone rectangles in the area were so nearly alike one to the other that it was not considered profitable to repeat the experiment. The rectangles farthest to the south in the Cemetery 150 zone had 58 degree orientations, those toward the north were mostly between 52 degrees and 55 degrees. We did not ascertain a reason for this difference between Cemetery 150 and Cemetery 143. Several fragmentary baked bricks of extraordinary size, typical of the Sasanian period, lay about on the ground, the largest measuring 34.5 x 55.2 x 8.3 cm, with neither length

nor width fully preserved. Broken artifacts of carved travertine of types found at Khwaja Kanur and Mukhtar (see Chapters 6 and 7), and several cubes fashioned from imported stone, possibly weights, were also noted. All are types of artifacts imported to this region and suggest an elite burial environment. Parthian period red ceramics are predominant, more here than at nearby Cemetery 143, perhaps because of the proximity of House 145. A few sherds of Early Iron Age type were also found as were some Ghaznavid sherds on the silt pillars mentioned above. The Parthian types include heavy jabbed bases of jars, pedestal goblet bases, and bowls of a wide variety, flat ceramic dog dishes, fine thick red ware

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excavated sites bowls, and red ware plates of numerous sizes, both plain and ring burnished. Our belief that these stone-bordered rectangles at Cemetery 143 and Cemetery 150 represented ancient cemeteries was shaken—but not abandoned—by the results of our test excavation. Other hypotheses were required to explain the sterility of our findings. Both cemeteries lie within 2 km of Shahr-i Gholghola, the chief urban center of Sistan dating back to Parthian times. Had large cemeteries been visible during later Islamic periods, from the ninth to fifteenth century, it would have been a small matter to clear out the stones for reuse, even to plunder the graves. The best explanation for why this did not happen is because they were not visible on the surface. Our working theory is that this section was greatly deflated while unoccupied between approximately 450 ce and 900 ce,

lowering the playa surface below the level of the burials and removing all of their contents but leaving the heavier stone rectangles and grave goods in situ. This deflation was possibly accelerated by the presence of sand dunes moving through the region at this time. When reoccupied and intensively farmed between 900 ce and 1500 ce, aggregation exceeded deflation, thus burying the stone rectangles under fresh deposits of silt, perhaps 50 cm to 70 cm in depth. Since the abandonment of the basin sometime around 1500 ce or slightly later, deflation again predominated and the heavy stone and artifacts settled in a deflated ground surface, except for the small pillars of silt with Islamic sherds on top of them. The whole northeast quadrant of Shahr-i Gholghola was similarly marked with these small mounds covered with dense clusters of sherds, preserving an earlier and higher ground level.

8.2 House 139 Coordinates: 30°33'46.08" x 62°06'12.93" Type: Large Parthian house, remodeled in late Parthian or Sasanian times, with occasional later reuse Date: Parthian, Sasanian, Ghaznavid, Timurid House 139 was a large pre-Islamic building located 1 km southeast of Shahr-i Gholghola just east of the wind scour within the dunes. It was surveyed in 1972, resurveyed and planned in 1973, and excavated for 17 days in October 1974. The excavation was led by M. Allen. A rectangular building 30 x 30 m oriented into the wind toward the north-northwest, it surrounded a central Figure 8.2.1 Satellite view of House 139. Courtesy CAMEL/ AHMP

Figure 8.2.2 Plan of House 139 with excavated rooms marked. N. Vester 1973

courtyard (Room 3, partially excavated) with one row of rooms on each side. The main entrance appeared to be on the east side. The center of the west side had an iwan facing the entrance to the building. It appeared that there may have been a narrow corridor running around the exterior of the rooms around the courtyard on at least three sides. Walls were constructed of mudbrick. They were 1.5–1.85 m wide throughout most of the building. The foundation, exposed only at the south end of Room 5, appeared to be pakhsa. Wall preservation was variable, standing as high as 2.5 m along the eastern side of the courtyard and 3 m in the complex of rooms in the northwest. The southern walls of the building were often eroded to the modern ground surface. There was 359

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Figure 8.2.3 Panoramic view of House 139 from south. Note variable preservation of the walls, approaching dune to the north, and wind scour upper left. Shahr-i Gholghola in the distance. A thick ceramic scatter covered the area, seen in the foreground. HSP73.47.4

evidence that the exterior walls were thickened during a later rebuilding, in some areas up to 3 m in width. While a general plan based on surface features was done in 1973, the northern half of the site was buried by a large sand dune at the time of excavation in 1974. Thus, excavation was only possible on the southern half of the building. Dune movement overtaking our excavation was so quick in the brisk wind that the excavation area was decreased by as much as 45 cm on a single windy day as sand covered parts of the central courtyard. The edges of the southern half were badly eroded so that the extent of the building on the south was somewhat speculative. Subsequent dune action covered the entire site and backfilled the excavated areas prior to our next visit in 1976.

Site Plan On the west side of the central courtyard, there were two rooms to the north of a central iwan, 5.6 x 5.1 m in size, leading into the central courtyard of 9.35 x 9.15 m. The narrower room was 7.8 x 1.6 m with an entrance to the

second room occupying the northwest corner, that room being 8.9 x 3.2 m. A door 1.35 m wide led from the iwan south into a southeast corner room (Room 6, excavated, see below). The west side rooms were measured in 1973 but were covered by sand during the 1974 excavation. On the north side, next to the northwest corner room was a large room 8.85 x 4.6 m in size with a door that led into the central courtyard. A small room occupied the northeast corner, 2.85 x 4.45 m in size. The corridor outside these rooms noted on the southern and western side likely continued around the west part of the north wall as well. In the northeast corner were several wall stubs that may represent an extension of the building toward the north, including one area of 4.3 x 2.8 m just outside the northeast corner that was filled with construction debris. Too little remained in this corner to understand its relationship to the overall plan, and it was not excavated. Outside the east wall in this corner was a series of six large ledge rim jars of ribbed red ware buried in the ground and presumably used for storage, similar to other jars sites found in Sar-o-Tar (see section 5.35).

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Figure 8.2.4 The iwan on the west side of the central courtyard, unexcavated. Rooms to the northwest at upper right. Walls of the central courtyard lined with baked brick at lower left. HSP73.47.8

The east side had a large rectangular entry chamber, 5.5 x 3.15 m, with a doorway 1.65 m in width leading to the central courtyard. The room also seemed to have a vestibule entrance to the building. This room was 3.3 x 3.8 m with an entrance into the rectangular chamber on one side and a bent entrance to the building 1.75 m in width on the east. Part of the entry was framed with horizontally laid baked brick, dimensions not recorded. There was evidence that the exterior ambulatory led south from the entrance, but the level of preservation made it hard to define further. The room in the southeast corner was excavated and is described below as Room 4. The excavation uncovered five rooms on the south side of the building (Rooms 1, 2, 4, 5, and 6) and half of the central courtyard (Room 3). These rooms are described below. The building had been used and reused over time. There were two major periods of occupation and numerous episodes of reconstruction identified in one or more of the rooms. There was suggestion of a rounded corner tower at the southwest corner but the level of preservation was poor there.

Excavation Room 1

Figure 8.2.5 Northeast corner of House 139 with jars embedded in the ground in background. HSP73.47.12

Figure 8.2.6 Main entrance to House 139 on east side of building, framed with baked brick. HSP73.47.9

The surface of Room 1 consisted of hard-packed sand with a layer of soft sand beneath. The top floor level of compacted mud (Locus 107) was discovered within 20 cm of the surface, above which some ash and burnt soil was identified, presumably squatter occupation. In tracing this floor to the east and south, it seems to have eroded away. Parts of a large jar with applique decoration were found in the northwest corner within 5 cm of the surface. Cleaning of the surface of the west wall indicated that the later of the two plasterings of that wall was associated with this flooring (Locus 207) and with Sill 206. A layer of 1–12 cm of soft sand below this flooring separated it from a second floor of compacted mud (Locus 108). The sand layer had reddened sand from burning and chips of clay in it, possibly due to a period of abandonment or fill brought from elsewhere. This floor was associated with an elevated large round basin 3 m in diameter in the center of the room (Locus 111) made of mudbrick and elevated 10–15 cm above Floor 108. The basin showed several damp mud resurfacings. On the north side of the basin was a deeper pit, containing a sump coated with a fine clay with a large ribbed storage jar set into it (Locus 114). The upper half of the jar was broken off. Diameter of the sump basin was approximately 75 cm and the broken jar 45 cm in diameter. It extended 1 m below the base of the large basin. The basin postdated Floor 108 as it was cut into it. Earlier floor 361

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Figure 8.2.7 Room 1 after excavation from west. Floor 108 at bottom, left, and top. Large basin 111 in center with embedded jar 114 at left. Fill 112 partially removed from within the basin. Later Floor 107 visible behind the basin. Six postholes cut into buried basin from Floor 107. Entrance to Room 4 at center back, entrance to Room 2 to left. HSP74.6.22

Figure 8.2.8 Doorway between Rooms 1 and 2 from east. Sill 206 in center foreground with door socket 109 to right of meter stick. Floor 107 adjoins sill at left, with Floor 108 unexcavated beneath. In Room 2 to right, Floor 207 in shadow. HSP74.3.23

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plasterings of Floor 107, about 5–6 cm in thickness, seemed to abut the edges of the basin rather than going over it. Cut into this basin were six post holes (Locus 110) each 21 cm square, three on the eastern side and three on the western side, though not exactly aligned with each other and possibly associated with one of these later Locus 107 floors. Ancient shovel marks could be seen within these holes. A layer of fill of hard clay, soft mud, and sand was inside the basin and was sealed by the final plasterings of Floor 107 (Locus 112), as were the post holes. The west wall of the room had two rounded river pebbles embedded in it at the level of Floor 107. A single vertical baked brick was embedded in a west wall repair, 35 cm square.

excavated sites

Figure 8.2.9 Basin 111 from south, surrounded by Floor 108, which preceded it. Doorway to Room 2 shows both upper sill (206) and lower sill (211) with door socket at left (109). HSP74.8.16

Room 2

Figure 8.2.10 Sump 114 at north end of Basin 111 with embedded broken jar. HSP74.6.28

Figure 8.2.11 One of the postholes (113) dug from Floor 107 through Basin 111 and its fill (112). Mudbrick frame of basin visible. HSP74.5.12

The surface of Room 2 consisted of 10 cm of compacted sand with a layer of 30 cm of soft sand beneath. Below that was the top flooring of compacted mud (Locus 207). Few artifacts were found in the top layers but a piece of burnt wood was found in the northeast corner of the room. Separating this antechamber from Room 1 was a packed mud sill (Locus 206) 40 cm wide, 22 cm above Floor 107, and 15 cm above Floor 207. The sill was sitting on a thin layer of sand and overlay a single horizontal baked brick 25 x 22 cm on the west side of the doorway (Locus 109) at the level of Floor 107 with its center excavated, likely a door socket. A deep crack running perpendicular to the doorway and through the sill between Room 1 and Room 2 may have indicated the occurrence of an earthquake sometime after the period of occupation. Beneath Floor 207 were 15 cm of soft sand and a second flooring (Locus 209). In the northwest corner above this floor and sitting in sand was a small basin (Locus 208). Floor 209 was wetlaid as it contains footprints of a child or small woman in the mud. Another sill (Locus 211) lay beneath Sill 206 and seemed to be associated with Floors 108/209 sitting on a thin layer of sand atop Floor 209. Another sill (Locus 210) was identified that separated Room 2 from the courtyard (Room 3). Mud plaster ran up this sill from Floor 209. Mud debris between Floor 207 and Floor 209 was likely collapse from above. A rounded river stone was embedded in the northwest corner of Room 2. Almost the entire area of the walls of this room was lined with large vertical baked bricks, 45–50 cm square, associated with Floor 207 and plastered against earlier walls, probably representing a major wall repair in this room. These were covered with 2–5 cm of later mud plasterings.

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Figure 8.2.12 Narrow Room 2 with baked brick reinforcements on walls and door. Sills 206 (left) and 210 (right), and Bench 212 (top) visible. HSP74.10.10

Room 3 The central courtyard of the site was designated Room 3. The sand dune atop the north half of House 139 covered about two-thirds of the courtyard with the bulk of it at the northwest. Both the southwest and southeast corners were able to be explored as well as much of the eastern half. The surface of the central courtyard consisted of compacted sand with soft sand beneath it containing pieces of pottery and mudbrick. Floor 302 was

uncovered beneath 20–25 cm of sand and was at the level of Floor 207, separated by Sill 201. The flooring was made of a very hard clay with small amounts of brick, ash, bone, and pottery embedded in it and averaged 15 cm in depth. On top of it were multiple thin lenses of rain-laid deposits 5 cm deep with some pottery on the surface and several burn spots. At the southeast corner of the room, the south wall was badly eroded and filled with at least six alternating layers of fine debris and rain-deposited silt.

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Figure 8.2.13 Detail of Sill 206 with Sill 211 beneath it at level of lower Floor 108, from south. Socket 109 is at left. Deep crack through Sill 206 may represent damage from an earthquake. HSP74.4.6

Figure 8.2.14 Southern half of central courtyard (Room 3) after completion of the excavation, taken from top of the approaching sand dune. Basin 307 at left and brick lined Basin 308 at center, both at level of earlier Floor 306. Basin 311 cut into Basin 308 at right at the edge of the dune. South wall of the courtyard faced with baked brick in the background along with entrance into Room 2, upper left. HSP74.10.15

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Figure 8.2.16 Bench 303 at the southeast corner of the courtyard, with a mudbrick frame holding a mixed fill. HSP74.6.31 Figure 8.2.15 Central courtyard (Room 3) from the west at level of later Floor 302, with animal burrows (Pits 304, 305) visible at left. Outline of later Basin 311 visible at far left foreground. Bench 303 visible at upper right. Dune at left covers north half of the courtyard. HSP74.6.29

Figure 8.2.17 Basin 307 from south with Floor 302 on left and right, earlier Floor 306 in foreground and lower left. HSP74.10.12

Figure 8.2.18 Location of C14 sample, sealed beneath Floor 302 (right) and above Fill 309 contained inside Basin 307 (left). HSP74.8.20

Against the southeast corner at this level was a bench of fill framed with mudbrick. The bench was 26 cm thick (Locus 303), approximately 45 x 50 cm square, and 40–45 cm in height. The brick at the bottom showed evidence of being burnt. The fill inside the bench contained sand, mud chunks, pieces of mudbrick and baked brick, potsherds, ash, and bone. An ash sample was taken for carbon-14 366

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Figure 8.2.19 Basin 308 from south, showing mudbrick lining. Basin cut on upper left by Basin 311. Floor 306 in foreground. HSP74.10.14

Figure 8.2.20 Room 4 excavation from the east, showing Floor 403 with probe that uncovered Floor 404 at the right. Door sill 407 and baked brick socket 408 are at top, leading into Room 1. HSP74.10.8

dating but the sample was not submitted. The base of Bench 303 sat on 2–5 cm of rain-deposited silt lenses above Floor 302. In this corner, beneath the level of Floor 302, workmen uncovered a Ghaznavid coin, but we suspect it was intrusive as it was not seen in situ. This bench clearly postdated the later floor of the courtyard and may have represented a much later occupation. Toward the center of the courtyard about 3.5 m from Room 2 and slightly to the west was a small round hole (Locus 304) excavated out of Floor 302, 13–16 cm deep and 45 x 50 cm in diameter. Another irregular rectangular depression in the courtyard (Locus 305) slightly to

the west was at least 80 cm long and 20 cm in width and disappeared under the dune in the northern part of the courtyard cutting through the walls of Basins 307 and 308 (see below). We assumed these to be animal burrows. Both Locus 304 and Locus 305 contained small Timurid turquoise glazed sherds in their fill. A lower plaster flooring (Locus 306) was reached beneath the upper flooring (Locus 302) and was separated from the top floor by 10–15 cm of sand. It appeared to be stratigraphically connected with Floors 209 and 108. A rectangular basin (Locus 307) 1 m north and slightly to the east of the entrance to Room 2 was excavated beneath

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Figure 8.2.21 Room 5 from the north, with the later Floor 502 visible at south end of room and earlier Floor 503 in foreground connected to central courtyard. Test pit in corner of the room at upper right in shadow. HSP74.10.16

Floor 302. It was 1.8 x 2.5 m in size, 1.2 m in depth, and filled with a hard-packed clay. Its surface appeared to be associated with one of the later plasterings of Floor 302. A carbon-14 sample taken here, sealed beneath Floor 302 and atop the fill inside Basin 307 (Locus 309), produced a likely first century bce calibrated date, 101 bce to 43 ce. A second rectangular basin (Locus 308) was approximately 1 m to the west of Basin 307 and associated with the first plastering of Floor 302, thus probably preceded Basin 307. It was at least 2.3 x 2.3 m in size, though its northern extension disappeared under the sand dune to the north, and 1.3 m in depth. Basin 308 was lined with horizontally laid square mudbricks around its top, each brick approximately 28–30 cm square. Basin 308 was filled with a very hard clay filling. Both Basins 307 and 308 were carefully mud plastered on their interiors. A third basin (Locus 311) overlapped and cut into Basin 308 on the west and disappeared into the dune to the north. It appeared to be dug from the last flooring of Floor 302 and, therefore, was likely slightly later than Basin 307. No complete measurements were

Figure 8.2.22 General view of excavated area of House 139 at conclusion of the excavation, from the south. HSP74.10.4

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excavated sites possible because of the sand dune, though the exposed area of this basin was approximately 0.7 x 2 m and dropped 1.1 m below Floor 302. The south wall of the courtyard, connecting it to Rooms 2 and 5, was repaired with vertical standing baked bricks of different sizes, at least seven were visible and covered with 2–5 cm of mud plaster. Also used to reinforce the wall were large fragments of storage jars embedded in the wall and plastered. They were associated with the later Floor 302.

Room 4 Room 4 was to the east of Room 1 and at the southeast corner of the building. It was 4.15 x 2.7 m in size with its entrance into Room 1 about 95 cm in width. There may have been a corridor to the south and east of this room 1.25–2.4 m in width but the level of erosion made this claim speculative. There was no indication of an entrance from this room into the corridor. At the center of the north wall of Room 4 the erosion also extended below the lower floor level, though the corners of the room’s walls were preserved. Beneath approximately 28 cm of the surface sand and mud debris was a packed mud floor (Locus 403), poorly preserved. Embedded into the northwest corner of the room at the level of this floor were two round stones, one inside the corner wall erosion and the other at floor level 403. Atop this flooring between Rooms 4 and 1 was a sill (Locus 407) 40 cm in width and a baked brick (33 x 33 cm) door socket (Locus 408) at its south end, similar to the configuration between Rooms 1 and 2. In a probe approximately 60 cm in width along the north wall of the room there was crumbly, loose mud debris and a layer of sand before the next floor level (Locus 404). Numerous erosional problems and related difficulties in tracking stratigraphy led to abandoning further excavation of this room.

Room 5 Room 5 was to the west of Room 1 and 4.15 x 4.8 m in size, with an entrance to the central courtyard to the north. An entrance to what appeared to be a corridor to the south of this room was at the southeast corner, 0.85 m in width. The remaining walls did not rise above the modern ground surface level. The northeast and southeast corners of the room had round river rocks embedded in them at the level of the upper floor. Beneath 30 cm or less of surface debris and sand was a compacted mud floor (Locus 502) that covered the entire room and represented its last occupation. The room was excavated completely to this floor level. Beneath the upper floor lay another floor (Locus 503), a continuation of the earlier floor in the central courtyard (Floor 306). There was no sill separating the room from

the courtyard. Floor 502 was likely associated with the later courtyard Floor 302. There appeared to be at least two other lenses of flooring between the upper and lower floors, one of which had remains of ash on it and both of which were rich in ceramics. A 1 x 1 m probe in the southwest corner 60 cm below the lower flooring unearthed a thin stratum of fill above a layer of green soil, presumably created by organic materials. Beneath this was a layer of packed mud containing minimal amounts of sand and ash, presumably virgin soil. An ostracon with two Aramaic characters on a red ware body sherd was found on the surface of this room, above Floor 502. This ostracon will be described in Volume 2 of this report.

Room 6 Room 6 was at the southwest corner of the building, 7.2 x 4.2 m in size. There was an entrance 1.35 m wide from that room into the iwan just to the north, separated by a wall 2.1 m in width. A second entrance existed to the south 1.05 m wide leading to what appeared to be the exterior corridor 1.5 m in width to the south of Rooms 5 and 6, but that part of the building was badly eroded. An approaching dune covered the northeastern quarter of the room. Little excavation was done here and no photographs were taken. The surface debris (Locus 601) was cleared and a floor discovered beneath it (Locus 602) at a depth not recorded. A portion of this floor was cleared but no further exploration was done.

Artifacts Five coins were found at the site. Of the four found on the surface, one was a bronze coin of an unidentified IndoParthian ruler, the other three from the Timurid period. One of the three coins from the Timurid period was identified, a two-thirds dirhem lead alloy coin from the reign of Saffarid malik Izzul Haq ed-Din (1362–1382 ce). A Ghaznavid coin with the designation Zarabe Nimruz was found near Bench 303, but it is unclear if it was found in situ. The leg of a ceramic animal figurine made of orange ware with squared sides and traces of beige slip was found in Fill 309 inside Basin 307. Other material objects included ash, charcoal, bone, glass, broken baked brick fragments, and bits of iron.

Ceramics Room 1 Locus 101, surface. Three turquoise glazed Timurid bowl sherds, orange body ribbed ware, miscellaneous hard fired red ware bodies. One broken handmade cooking pot with

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the archaeology of southwest afghanistan large grits and uneven surface, applique circle decoration under an applique arch. Floor 107. Hard fired red ware cup, jar handle with two ridges, flat base of orange-red ribbed ware, other sherds of ribbed ware, several fine goblet ware with slip and ring burnishing. One piece of iron. Basin 111 fill. Two flat jar bases of red ware, fragments of ribbed and fine ring burnished ware, one piece of coarse handmade cooking ware. Pieces of storage jar 114 in the sump were of hard fired red ribbed ware with orange slip.

Room 2 Locus 201, surface. Handmade cooking pot rim in coarse ware with large grits. One Timurid turquoise glazed sherd fragment, bits of red and orange ribbed ware. Glass, ash, bone. Locus 207, upper floor. One rounded rim of large bowl, other orange body sherds, some ribbed, some with orange or beige slip. Bits of iron.

Room 3 Locus 301, surface. Glazed turquoise Timurid bowl sherds. One Ghaznavid glazed rim, hard fired red ware, handmade cooking ware, dark red hard fired jar ware, fine red ware with interior ring burnishing. Body of a handmade jar with applique sun on shoulder under applique arch. Floor 302. Large cooking pot rim, crude handmade with large black grits. Medium size bowl and jar fragments. Flat base of red hard fired bowl. Shoulder of jar with diagonal line incised decoration. Jars with ribbing, one with ring burnish, other large red ware jar fragments. Field stones, slag, bone, and a stone grinder. Locus 303, bench. Three body sherds, one handmade cooking ware and two hard fired buff orange/orange sherds, one with faint ribbing. Bone fragments, chips of mudbrick, and baked brick. Locus 305, animal burrow. Seven body sherds and one flat jar base of hard fired red ware and red slip. One body sherd decorated with incised wavy lines and gentle ribbing. Floor 306. One fine ware goblet/cup rim sharply everted rim, red slip and ring burnish. Bone, tooth. Locus 309, fill within Basin 307 sealed by Floor 302. Numerous bases of fine red ware goblets, either flat base or slightly concave, most with a dark red slip and ring burnishing. Numerous rims of fine red ware goblets or cups with red slip and ring burnishing mostly on exterior. Platter rim with heavy ring burnishing on lip. Pitcher handle with central indention. Red fine ware bowl rim

with interior ring burnishing. Coarse handmade cooking ware with evidence of burning, handmade orange ware jar with applique circle decoration on shoulder. Large jar burnished with incised pine branch decoration, one with wave incised decoration. Numerous other red and orange thin goblet sherds with red slip and ring burnish. Many ribbed pieces of red-orange ware, some slipped. Other large hard fired red ware jar fragments and handmade coarse cooking ware fragments with large grits. Bone, ash, brick fragments. Locus 310, fill within Basin 308. Two fine red ware goblet/cup rims with red slips and heavily ring burnished on exterior. Other sherds of burnished goblet ware, one flat base of bowl, ribbed ware, two pieces of handmade coarse cooking ware. Locus 312, fill within Basin 311. One fine goblet rim in orange ware with exterior ring burnishing, one fine goblet/cup red ware with red slip and interior burnishing. Ribbed body sherds, fine red-orange wares with ring or vertical burnishing, coarse hard fired red ware with dark red slip. Animal bones, slag fragment. Locus 313, resurfacing of the wall in courtyard. Large jar sherds including one of hard fired orange ware with beige slip and gentle ribbing. Several other large red and orange ware body sherds.

Room 4 Locus 401, surface. Miscellaneous hard fired orange and red ribbed ware body sherds, one exterior burnished. Locus 403, upper floor. Four pieces of one jar, hard fired dark red ware, beige slip, rounded ribbing.

Room 5 Locus 501, surface. Fine red ware goblet rims, slipped and ring burnished on interior, faint ribbing on exterior. Other fine ware goblet rims with horizontal burnishing on interior. Jar of orange ware with black grit temper and everted triangular rim. Neck of fine red ware jar with vertical burnishing, flat base of large ribbed storage jar. Disc base of fine hard fired red ware bowl with interior burnishing. Molded body sherd in chocolate brown ware, likely Ghaznavid/Ghorid. Several animal bones. Floor 502. Rim to base of medium-sized hard fired dark red bowl with red slip and interior ring burnish, disc base. Numerous orange-red ware medium-sized jar rims with buff slips. Several fragments of goblet/cup rims with red slips and ring burnish. Body sherd of jar with incised wave decoration. Ribbed jars and other heavy jar sherds. Animal bone, brick fragments, basalt tool fragments, one stone pounder.

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Figure 8.2.23 Plan of excavated rooms of House 139, earlier stratum. J. Knudstad 1974

Figure 8.2.24 Plan of excavated rooms of House 139, later stratum. J. Knudstad 1974

Room 6 Locus 601, surface. Duckbill rim pointing out of hard fired dark red ware with beige slip. Other hard fired body sherds some with gentle ribbing. One handle fragment.

Analysis This was a large domestic estate near the urban center of Shahr-i Gholghola. The house was built around a central courtyard with rooms on all sides and possibly a corridor around the exterior of the rooms on most if not all sides. It was occupied in two major periods. The earlier occupation probably consisted of Floors 108, 208, 306, 404, and 503 and associated structures. These likely included Basin 111 in Room 1, which was constructed with a brick frame and interior mud plastering for some kind of industrial purpose. Basin 308 in the courtyard had a similar construction with a brick border and interior plastering. Another small basin was constructed in the corner of Room 2, anteroom to Room 1, likely of the same stratum. A single carbon date secured above Floor 306 gives the initial construction of this building no later than the first century bce or early first century ce. A major reconstruction of the building took place that included Floors 107, 207, 302, 403, 502, and possibly 602. Sills and door sockets were installed between rooms and the older basins covered over. Walls were shored up with vertical baked bricks, large pieces of ceramic, and round river pebbles. Walls were re-plastered. In the courtyard, Basin 308 was replaced with Basin 311 and Basin 307, in Room 1 a set of six post holes were dug to hold up an interior wooden structure of some sort, whether industrial or domestic

is unclear. Given the similarity in ceramic assemblages between the two periods and the existence of clean sand layers instead of water wash and erosion debris between the floor levels, it is possibly the remodeling of an occupied building. At some later time, the rooms were abandoned and sanded up, with some surface debris, temporary hearths, and minor constructions such as Bench 303 constructed. Even later, in Islamic periods, animals created burrows in the fill and the building was reused for some purpose, but it unlikely that the building was occupied at that time. It is possible that the original building was preceded by a smaller one we did not discover in our limited excavations, given the extent of the organic-coated mud and sand beneath Room 5. The numerous animal bones, several groundstone tools, and handmade cooking wares suggest the building was a domestic residence, and the various installations imply that some industry took place on site. The extensive amount of fine ring burnished goblets led us to believe this residence was an elite one. We assume the site was occupied in the first century bce and remodeled sometime in the first few centuries ce. The use of baked brick to reinforce walls was more common in Sasanian times, for example at House 266, which may help fix a date on the reconstruction of the site. It is unknown when this site was abandoned, but the remaining standing walls, some still 3 m high, meant the site was probably used later in the pre-Islamic periods and again in both Ghaznavid/Ghorid and Timurid ones based upon ceramics and coins found at the latest levels.

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Figure 8.3.1 Satellite photo of Houses 183 with excavated houses indicated. Courtesy CAMEL/AHMP

8.3 Houses 183 Coordinates: 30°33'57.81" x 62°05'21.75" Type: A group of five small houses, from which four rooms in three houses were excavated Date: Timurid This site consisted of a cluster of at least five well-preserved Timurid houses 700 m due south of Shahr-i Gholghola, south and east of the wind scour, extending 350 m east-west x 150 m north-south. Its proximity to our camp at Shahr-i Gholghola allowed it to be visited annually from 1971 to 1975, and the site was excavated by a Baluch team led by M. Allen over 16 days in October and November of 1974. Two houses were situated toward the northwest (H183B and 183C), with H183B well preserved and 183C more eroded. Three more houses were 100 m to the south and east of these. The center one, House 183A, was very well preserved, including its walled garden and gazebo.

The houses on either side of House 183A, while well preserved, were not formally studied nor numbered. Aerial photographs showed there was a heavily eroded building, possibly another house, just south of H183C and a series of walls and field walls to the south and west of H183B. An east-west canal passed 25 m north of H183B. A mausoleum, presumably related to H183A, was located to the south of the garden wall of that house. Further to the southwest another 100–150 m were the walls of two additional buildings, possibly Timurid houses. Another 200 m to the southwest was a set of mausoleums comprising Mausoleum 165 (described separately in section 5.52), assumed to be related to this group of houses due to their proximity. There seemed to be an almost continuous stretch of Timurid structures extending from here to the northwest to the Houses 210 area. Surface collection in 1973 recovered a few unglazed molded wares from the twelfth to thirteenth century and a bowl with black decoration under a turquoise glaze. (LZB)

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Figure 8.3.2 Houses 183 from northwest. From left, unnumbered well-preserved Timurid house, House 183A, eroded House 183C, unnumbered house (background center), House 183B (foreground center). Profile of Qala 169 visible at right in distance. HSP74.39.4

Figure 8.3.3 Houses 183 cluster taken from House 183B looking southeast. House 183C in left foreground. Unnumbered houses at far left and right with House 183A at top center. HSP74.39.2

Figure 8.3.4 Iwan of unnumbered well-preserved house in House 183 complex, to east of House 183A. A similar photo was taken by the DAFA mission in 1936. HSP73.3.11

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Architecture House 183A

Figure 8.3.5 Sketch plan of House 183A. M. Allen 1974, redrawn J. Knudstad

This house had the typical plan of a Timurid elite domestic structure. It was rectangular 26.3 x 28.1 m with a central courtyard surrounded by rooms on all sides. Exterior walls of the house were 1.1 m in width. The sole interior wall measured was 66 cm in width. Oriented toward the northwest wind, there was a doorway 1.45 m wide leading from the iwan into the north wall. This could presumably could have been left open in the summer to funnel breezes through the house and closed up in winter to shut out the winds. The main entrance to the house was through the south wall leading into a room in the southeast corner. From here, a doorway to the west led into a domed vestibule 3.2 m square. Another door on the north of the domed room led into the courtyard. The eastern side of the house had four rooms. North of the entry room was a rectangular room of which the sides were not measured. This room had a doorway into the courtyard and another into another rectangular room to the north 3.6 x 5.2 m in size. The northeast corner had a large room 5.3 x 4.8 m in size with a small area in the northeast corner separated by a short wall leading from the north wall. It was entered from the eastern side room and had another doorway on its southwest corner leading into the iwan. A similar but slightly larger room sat in the northwest corner of the house, with a doorway

Figure 8.3.6 House 183A from west. Rounded watch tower protrudes from southwest corner in center. Eroded garden walls are to the right of structure. HSP74.38.32

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Figure 8.3.7 Southeast corner of House 183A with southeast entrance visible. Domed vestibule room is to the right and decorated courtyard wall to the left. HSP74.38.30

Figure 8.3.8 East and north sides of House 183A. Backdirt piles from excavation in foreground. HSP74.38.35

leading into the iwan. The façade of the eastern rooms featured two rows of recessed keyhole niche decorations with windows above. Rooms on this side were probably two stories tall. The iwan had recessed keyhole niche decorations. The north iwan was vaulted and measured 4.8 x 6.2 m in size. It opened into the central courtyard which was 12.65 m in width and 18.45 m in length. The south border of the courtyard was against the south wall of the house, except for a small wall leaving a single enclosed area 3.5 m in width against the south wall. The west side of the courtyard contained a row of four rectangular rooms in addition to the main room

on the northwest corner. Each of these had doorways directly into the courtyard, but no doorways leading between these rooms could be discerned. Only two of the rooms were measured. Dimensions of the southwest room, labeled Room 1 and partially excavated, were not recorded. The third room north, labeled Room 2 and excavated, was 3.3 x 3.1 m in size. South of Room 1, in the southwest corner of the building, was a small corridor separated by a badly eroded pakhsa wall, leading to an oblong tower extending from the southwest corner. The tower was 3.9 x 2.7 m in size with a central room 1.35 m in diameter in its center. Against the south wall of the house and extending to

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Figure 8.3.9 East and north sides of iwan of House 183A with recessed keyhole niche decorations and a doorway leading north from the iwan. HSP74.38.29

Figure 8.3.10 West side rooms along the central courtyard with backdirt piles in foreground. It is unclear if this side stood two stories. HSP74.38.34 Figure 8.3.11 Gazebo at south end of House 183A garden. HSP74.38.31

Figure 8.3.12 Mausoleum standing south of the House 183A garden. HSP74.38.33

the east was a walled garden 30.1 x 42.75 m in size. There was an entrance to the garden from the west as well as the entrance from the southeast corner of the house. At the southeast corner of the garden was a gazebo, 4.2 m square. A four pillared domed mausoleum stood outside the south wall of the garden. Details of this building were not recorded. Fragments of a wall paralleled the west wall of the house and garden, but it is unclear whether they were associated with it.

House 183B This house also followed the typical pattern of a Timurid house. It was rectangular, 18.6 x 19.5 m, and oriented 376

excavated sites toward the northwest around a central courtyard. Exterior walls were approximately 1.1 m thick while the interior walls were approximately 0.8 m thick. The central courtyard measured 6 x 11.9 m. Inset in its west wall was a niche, 1.15 m wide and 0.9 m deep. To the north was an iwan 4.45 x 5.75 m in dimension, flanked by a large room on either side. Only the northeast room, 4.8 x 4.05 in size, was measured. A doorway in the center of the north wall of the iwan was probably used to provide air into the house rather than access. A row of two rooms was located to the east of the courtyard. The northernmost room was 5.5 x 4.7 m with an entrance into the courtyard. A second entrance to this room was to the south, where it connected with the room on the southeast (measurements not taken, but approximately the same size). An entrance to the house likely was through this

Figure 8.3.13 Sketch plan of House 183B. M. Allen 1974, redrawn J. Allen

Figure 8.3.14 House 183B from north. HSP74.38.37

room’s south wall, though none was visible in our survey. The west side of the courtyard contained two rooms and a corridor on the southern end. The southern of the two rooms was 3.25 x 3.65 cm in size; the room to its north approximately the same, though not formally measured. The southern room was partially excavated, the only excavation in this house. The corridor led to an additional wing built against the west wall of the house. Two rooms, each 2.5–3 m wide and of unknown length, comprised the additional wing.

Against the north part of this wing was a large room, the northwest corner of the house, measuring 6.4 x 5.5 m, and extending both north and west of the other wall lines of the house. A doorway led from its north wall, 1.25 m in width. A second doorway on the south wall of this room led into the rest of the western addition.

House 183C As noted above, this house was badly eroded. Its plan was not drawn nor were plans drawn for the other houses in

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Figure 8.3.15 Stratigraphic section of excavation of Room 1 in House 183A. M. Allen 1974, redrawn S. Carr

Figure 8.3.16 Stratigraphic section of excavation of Room 2 in House 183A. M. Allen 1974, redrawn S. Carr

H183, though casual observation made it clear that they followed the typical plan of Timurid houses. One of the east side rooms of House 183C was excavated.

Excavation House 183A Portions of the southwest corner of the house were excavated to determine the stratigraphy of the structure. These included the corridor leading to the southwest tower, the western part of Room 1, and all of Room 2. Excavations in the corridor at the southwest corner showed the lowest level above bedrock was filled with 1.3 m of loose silts and rubble. A deposit of ash sat at about 1 m against the pakhsa retaining wall separating it from Room 1. Above the loose fill was a layer of rubble 40 cm in width

under a layer of animal dung 30 cm thick. A thin layer of surface soil covered the deposit. Within Room 1 itself, a 1.1 m thick layer of dung lay on bedrock. Above it were 30 cm of surface silts and debris, including wall collapse and ceramics. Approximately 1 m from the pakhsa wall to the south, the room was cut by a wall of mudbrick 62 cm high (10 courses) sitting on bedrock and faced with a thick layer of mud plaster on its north side. This wall seemed not to be original to the building. It was heavily corroded and used plaster to even its exterior surface. Shovel marks could be seen in the bedrock, and we believed it likely that any previous occupation was removed when this wall was constructed. The wall held fill that included broken baked bricks, mudbricks, and pottery. The fill was capped by a thin compact layer, possibly

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Figure 8.3.17 Stratigraphic section of excavation of room in House 183B. M. Allen 1974, redrawn S. Carr

an occupational floor, on top of the mudbrick wall. A layer of dung 3 cm thick covered the top of the mudbrick wall, upon which sat a second mudbrick wall, only 31 cm in height and offset to the south of the earlier wall. This wall held in additional dung layers on both sides and above it. The final surface layer contained silts and remains of collapse from above throughout the excavated area. Found within the top debris layer were a footed stone bowl, pieces of cloth, horn, eggshell, wood, reed matting, pottery, bone, and several stone tools, possibly from squatters after the abandonment of the building. It is likely this was a platform on the south side of the room, which was rebuilt at least once and, after abandonment, covered with droppings of animals left in this room. Room 2 was rectangular and contained four identifiable occupation layers. The lowest flooring of 8–10 cm thick (Level 4) sat above a rubble fill 15–25 cm thick. The floor consisted of at least five separate mud plasterings. Within this rubble were mudbrick and baked brick fragments, ceramics, bits of jewelry, rounded stones, and stone tools. From this floor was constructed a baked brick fire pit that sat on bedrock, 74 cm from the north wall and 87 cm from the west wall. The pit was constructed of a single standing brick on each side, 27 x 23 x 5 cm in size. In the center of the room there was a hearth on the floor, from which a C14 sample of ash, charcoal, and dung was taken, returning a date of 1499 ce +/- 99 cal. On the top of the floor was evidence of rain deposition. Above it was a 3 cm layer of compacted, layered dung beneath a thicker layer of fine silt, 10–15 cm in thickness. A second constructed floor (Level 3) sat on the silt, 8–10 cm thick. The southwest corner of the floor had a shallow basin constructed of mud on it, possibly a trough. It was 18 cm in interior diameter and stood 8 cm above the floor.

Above the second floor was a 35–40 cm thick layer of dung in lenses interspersed with clay (Level 2). An inscribed tomb tile was found in this level. A 4 cm layer of ash was at the top of the dung layer, from which a C14 sample was taken, returning a date of 1560 ce +/- 72 cal. Another layer of 5–15 cm of mud debris with mudbrick fragments sat above the ash layer, then another stratified layer of dung deposits, 25 cm thick. The final 20–40 cm of layering (Level 1) consisted of surface debris intermixed with silt. The doorway to the room led into the central courtyard and was framed by two sill bricks 16 x 33 x 5 cm, representing a single vertical course, likely associated with the original flooring of the room. Walls in the room were badly eroded and rested directly on bedrock.

House 183B One room of this house was chosen for excavation, the southernmost room west of the central courtyard. An L-shaped trench was dug, 1 m wide against the south wall and 1.3 m wide against the west wall. The southern part of the trench was excavated to the first level of flooring. The western part of the trench went to the second level, and the northwest corner of the room, 1.3 x 0.85 m, was excavated to bedrock, approximately 2.2 m below the current surface. A top layer of wall collapse and silting was approximately 40 cm in thickness. Toward the eastern part of the room was much wall collapse, likely a recent event. Below this was a stratum of hard-packed layered animal dung, approximately 25 cm in thickness. Below this were striated levels of silt and at least two significant layers of animal dung, likely representing alternate periods of abandonment and use as an animal pen (Level 1). Within the silt were bits of mudbrick and other rubble from wall

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Figure 8.3.18 Vertical trench of 1.3 m width against west wall of room in House 183B, looking north. Two layers of flooring in first two steps, bedrock in third. HSP74.38.26

Figure 8.3.19 Stratigraphic section of east side of excavation in House 183B. Beneath surface rubble and collapse lies a compacted floor. Striated layers alternating between fine water- and wind-laid silt and strata of animal dung below, possibly indicating seasonal use for animal pens between periods of abandonment. HSP74.38.27

Figue 8.3.20 Sketch plan of excavated room in House 183C showing pitting. M. Allen 1974, redrawn J. Allen

Figure 8.3.21 Excavated side room from House 183C looking south. Earliest floor at left with five shallow pits containing ash. Some bits of floor plastering shown at center toward bottom. Pit at lowest right shows vertical baked brick used as beneath-floor fire pit. Bedrock shown on right hand side. Small piece of preserved later plastered floor shown at bottom center. Doorway with baked brick sill visible to left. HSP74.38.25

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Figure 8.3.22 Stratigraphic section of excavation of room in House 183C. M. Allen 1974, redrawn S. Carr

collapse as well as large sherds, stone tools, and other objects. These might represent seasonal occupation of the house. The lowest 20 cm of this band were pure water-laid soft silt and sand, the clearest evidence of abandonment. The upper floor itself (Level 2) was thick, as much as 24 cm deep in places and made of hard-packed clay. Striations in this layer showed that the floor was re-plastered from time to time. There was a shallow depression in the center of the floor, but only noticed in section, and plastered over before the final use of the floor. Another layer of water-laid fine silt 8–12 cm thick lay below the upper floor. A second, thin prepared flooring lay below this, exceedingly uneven and corroded, sitting on a layer of hard pakhsa fill 0.5 m thick above bedrock. A pit 60 cm in diameter and filled with loose rubble dropped from the lower floor almost to bedrock below. Ceramics in this room included a tenth to eleventh century slip-painted potsherd with polychrome decoration on a white slip, likely from fill (LZB).

House 183C A single room was excavated from House 183C, one of three rooms on the east side of the main courtyard, though notes are not explicit as to which one. The room was 3.15 x 3.75 m in size with a door on the south side. It was excavated in its northwest corner to bedrock, 1.05 m below the current surface. Interior walls of the room were approximately 0.85 m in thickness. The doorway to the building was laid with a sill 30 cm wide and 34 cm tall. A single step led down into the room, made of a brick 30 x 27 x 11 cm.

The top layer of the room consisted of an almost sterile sand layer, interrupted only in the northwest corner with traces of a fire on it. The floor beneath it was plastered in mud, well preserved in places and corroded in others. On the top floor were a millstone and blue glazed ceramics of the Timurid period. The flooring itself was 8 cm thick and highly striated, representing multiple re-plasterings. A single pit was dug from the latest floor level in the northeast corner of the room, 63 cm in diameter and 43 cm deep, almost to bedrock. Earlier floorings were also associated with three other pits in the eastern half of the room, each lined with mud, blackened from firing. The largest was 48 x 34 cm, the smallest 30 x 18 cm. Each was 10–15 cm in depth. A thin layer of mud lay beneath the lowest floor and sat on hardpacked clay and clay rubble containing bits of mudbrick and baked brick. Attached to this lowest mud layer was a fire pit made of vertical baked bricks, 28 cm square, similar to the one in House 183A. While one of the bricks was missing, the majority of the installation remained intact and atop a burnt mud flooring. The fire pit was filled with mud debris, mudbrick, baked brick fragments, and ash. Two other pits were identified but could not be associated with a specific flooring.

Artifacts The environment within the houses allowed for significant preservation of perishable materials. Thus, in addition to durable objects, we were fortunate to find cloth, matting, leather, wood, bone, and other artifacts that would have survived in few other sites half a millennium old.

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the archaeology of southwest afghanistan The surface debris of House 183A turned up two coins, one of copper and one of silver, but neither was readable. At the same level, we found several groundstone tools, a broken quern, a basalt grinder, half of a copper bracelet, and three pieces of cloth. Within the upper level of fills in Room 1, there was a basalt quern and a basalt millstone with a well-carved center hole. Within the thick dung level sitting on bedrock, we found a footed stone table, the handle of a glass vessel, the base of another glass vessel, pieces of reed matting, and the leather heel of a shoe with nail holes still visible. Room 2 had a larger number of intact artifacts. Beneath the surface debris in the dung layers and compacted mud layer, we found two fragments of a blanket with red and beige bands separated by brown strips, a bone or ivory bead, and part of an inscribed glazed funerary tile. Level 2 produced remains of a tether for an animal with a wooden handle and part of a rope, a terracotta spindle whorl, the rim of a steatite vessel, and a footed brazier. The layer of the upper floor contained a stone pestle. Sealed beneath the lower floor was a rich collection of women’s objects that may have been buried as a hoard. These included three pieces of a copper ring, a wooden comb, a tortoise shell bracelet, a dark green glass bracelet, a hexagonal ceramic bead, and glass bangles in black and green. That level also produced a stone grindstone and a stone polisher. The upper level of House 183B, above the upper floor, contained several steatite bowl rims and base fragments, part of an exotic glass vessel with thin applique decoration, a piece of a sandstone millstone, a piece of rope, a flat iron fragment, and a ceramic bead. In the level beneath the floor, five pieces of an iron knife were excavated. Found on the upper floor of House 183C were a piece of a basalt millstone and a fragment of a pale green glass bottle. Beneath this flooring there was a whetstone, an iron ring, a goat horn, and a blue glass bangle.

Ceramics Almost half of the sherds excavated from House 183A are glazed with a large quantity of open shaped forms. A black and blue glazed funerary tile with Arabic inscription was found bearing the partial name “Ali ibn.” Several glazed rim fragments from pale turquoise to dark green-blue were also uncovered. The majority of the glazed ware could be attributed to the fourteenth to fifteenth century. This collection included underglaze painted, blue and black under a clear glaze, and black decoration under a turquoise glaze; the majority of which were bases. A turquoise glazed lamp was also collected. Most ceramics found at H183B were glazed with the exception of an Islamic incised ware, an unglazed molded ware from the eleventh to twelfth century, and a very impressive stump base of a water jar decorated with notches on its ridge. Among the glazed ware were pieces of tenth century polychrome decoration on white slip and others with black paint under a turquoise glaze. We also found a wall fragment of a black and turquoise underglaze earthenware from the fifteenth to sixteenth century, similar to material from Herat (Franke and Urban 2017, 549). The fragments from H183C were mainly undiagnostic but there were some glazed ceramics such as black under a turquoise glaze from the fourteenth to fifteenth century and late sgraffito glazed ware from the mid-eleventh to the thirteenth century. A few Islamic incised ware from the eleventh century were also collected. The surface finds from this site yielded a wide variety of unglazed and glazed wares. A few unglazed molded wares from the twelfth to thirteenth century and Islamic incised wares were uncovered. The glazed ware sherds were mostly frit-bodied with a monochromatic glaze ranging from turquoise to cobalt. However, black decoration under a turquoise glaze and underglaze painted wares were also collected. (LZB)

8.4 House 266 Coordinates: 30°34'39.80" x 62°04'34.70" Type: Partho-Sasanian rectangular public building reused in Islamic times, neighboring kiln Date: Parthian?, Sasanian, Ghaznavid?, Timurid?

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Figure 8.4.1 Plan of House 266. R. Hamilton 1974, redrawn J. Allen

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Figure 8.4.2 House 266 from atop dune to west of site. Piers of pakhsa stand to left surrounding Room 1, framed by baked brick reinforcement. Kiln located to southeast of building, far upper right; pile of pakhsa overlapping the wall on the southeast corner at upper right. HSP74.5.19

Figure 8.4.3 Kiln at House 266. HSP74.5.20

Located 0.5 km west of the outer walls of Shahr-i Gholghola, House 266 was a four-piered structure with an additional large rectangular room at the south end that extends the size of the building to approximately 44 x 72.5 m. Though called a house, this building did not resemble the standard house plans for any of our periods and, therefore, likely served a different function. A main room was framed by four corner piers of approximately 1.6 x 1.8 m and made of pakhsa. Walls of pakhsa filled the gaps between the piers. The central room (Room 1) was 2.4 x 4.6 m in size. The side bays created by walling

between the piers were each approximately 2.9 m in width and 1.7 m in length. The southern room extension (Room 3) was approximately 2.4 m x 6 m. A niche extending the southern wall of Room 3 was 0.8 m in depth and 2.8 m in width. The site was badly eroded on the surface, with the maximum height of walls less than 0.5 m. Walls were all of pakhsa and badly eroded on the exterior making the original width of the walls hard to determine. No doorways were seen. Interior walls were reinforced with large vertical bricks, 43 x 66 x 8 cm, probably a repair as seen at several other Sar-o-Tar sites. Baked bricks of the same size were laid horizontally at floor level perpendicular to the vertical ones. To the east of the structure, there was a wall running parallel to the building for much of its length then turning toward the east, but this was only visible as discoloration on the current surface and could not be fully defined. A heap of pakhsa had been mounded at the southeast corner of the structure atop the wall, added for an unknown reason after the building went out of use. There were surface indications of another wall running east-west along the north end of the building and other scraps of architecture seen on the surface further north but they were too unclear to plot.

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excavated sites A vaulted ceramic kiln was located 5 m to the southeast of the building, approximately 2 x 3 m in size. It opened toward the east, with another large opening at the top. Eighteen smaller holes were in five rows along its slope. The north side of the kiln showed evidence of a baked brick paving.

Excavation House 266 was excavated for two days in October 1974 by a Baluch team led by R. Hamilton. A 1 m wide trench 8.5 m in length was dug east-west across the width of the site between the piers of Room 1. Beneath 20–30 cm of mud flooring on the surface was a 25 cm layer of sand with clay nodules, followed by 80 cm of sand with clay lenses above virgin clay. No further occupation was noted beneath the top flooring. At the west end of the trench, a pakhsa wall, approximately 80 cm in height, crossed between the western piers. Atop it was a mudbrick wall of three courses, 40 cm high, and one course in width. The mudbricks were not measured. Vertical standing baked bricks embedded into this wall showed evidence of being burned. Outside this pakhsa/mudbrick wall in the trench was 20 cm of flooring above virgin clay. Outside the baked bricks between the eastern piers was also a 20 cm flooring level, with sherds interspersed, above virgin clay. A north-south trench 3 m wide and 4.4 m in length was dug across the southern room (Room 3) to a depth of 80 cm. This trench extended from the center of the southern pair of piers of Room 1 to beyond the south wall of Room 3. The south exterior wall of Room 3 was of varying widths of at least 50 cm. Flooring of 40–48 cm in thickness in Room 3 had ash and ceramics embedded in it. Some sherds were burnt with bone fragments intermixed. Beneath this was a layer of sand with clay lenses above virgin clay. A small mudbrick square feature at the northern end of the trench beneath the lowest flooring was not described in the field notes. Another 1 x 1 m square was dug at the southwest corner outside the walls of Room 3, but we have no record of what was found there.

Figure 8.4.4 Schematic drawing of excavation areas of House 266. R. Hamilton 1974, redrawn J. Allen

Figure 8.4.5 House 266 after excavation. East-west trench bisects Room 1 at left, north-south trench through Room 3 at right. HSP74.11.5

Artifacts Artifacts included a bronze handle 1.3 x 0.4 cm, rounded at one end, at least 8 cm long, connected to a ferrous piece with eroded iron at opposite end, excavated just outside Room 1 at west end of trench. A fragment of fine gray ceramic bead with thinner diameter at one end and incised dots at thicker end was found as was an incurved rim of bright blue molded glass with ribs running diagonally to the curve of vessel and two olive green glass bottle constricted necks.

Figure 8.4.6 Schematic stratigraphic section of Room 1 trench. R. Hamilton 1974, redrawn J. Allen

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Figure 8.4.8 Detail of west end of Room 1 excavation. Ancient shovel marks are visible on pakhsa wall to left and on floor. HSP74.11.22

Figure 8.4.9 Latest occupation of north end of trench in Room 3, with baked brick flooring and wall facing. HSP74.11.23

Figure 8.4.7 West end of Room 1 excavation with mudbrick wall above pakhsa wall. Exterior wall to the building is behind. HSP74.11.18

Ceramics Most surface sherds collected were pre-Islamic with an occasional eleventh to fifteenth century Islamic glazed piece. Surface finds included numerous hard fired red ribbed ware, some with light buff slip. Partho-Sasanian wares also included a jabbed base, the stump pedestal base of a goblet, two large bowl rims with external ribbing and club rims, one slipped in black rings inside and around rim. A ledge rim jar with a dark red slip has stamped rosettes around rim. The lid of a red ware fine clay vessel has a hole through top. Two red ware sherds with almost identical incised tamga marks were found. A small fragment of eleventh to twelfth century molded ware covered in green glaze was recovered. (LZB)

Figure 8.4.10 North end of trench in Room 3. Substantial layer of ash beneath last flooring at right. HSP74.11.6

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Figure 8.4.11 Schematic section of Room 3 trench. R. Hamilton 1974, redrawn J. Allen

Figure 8.4.12 Lowest excavated level of north end of trench in Room 3 with rectangular subsurface mudbrick feature. HSP74.11.15

The sherds excavated in the two trenches were not recorded with their stratigraphic location. They included the rim of a large bowl of fine orange ware with thickened rim everted and external ribbing, the flat base of a red fine ware bowl, and ribbed ware body sherd pieces in reduced black, buff, orange, and red wares, including two buff slipped pieces.

Analysis This building was likely a Sasanian structure, based on the chartaq piers, large baked brick size, and excavated

ceramics, but not a house because of the unusual configuration. Given the baked brick repairs of the interior walls similar to Parthian House 139 and several earlier ceramics, it is possible that the structure was originally Parthian and rebuilt in Sasanian times. The site contained much ash in the southern end but not carried over to Room 1, so it is unclear as to the function of the building, though its use as a fire shrine is not an impossibility. The building was reused during Islamic times, based on limited ceramic and glass finds on the surface and the nearby kiln.

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8.5 Khana Gauhar Gazetteer #: 554 Coordinates: 31°25'25.62" x 64°22'48.44" Type: Buddhist stupa and caves Date: Hellenistic, Parthian

Figure 8.5.1 Plan of Khana Gauhar stupa and caves. R. Hamilton 1971

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Figure 8.5.2 View of Khana Gauhar from the citadel at Qala-i Bist. Site is on the semi-detached portion of the cliff to the left of the highest point in center. HSP72.52.17

The site was identified as Khana Gauhar by local Pashtu farmers raising cotton on lands in the nearby valley. Khana Gawr appears on US Topo series 1501 sheet NH41-3 (1965). The immediately adjacent valley area was locally called Amir Nagar, Nagari, Gawragi, (Afghan Cartographic Institute sheet 605 (1969)) or Kharabor (?) (US Topo series 1501 sheet NH41-3, 1968). There is a previously published article by the senior coauthor about this site (Trousdale 1984a). The site was located on the left bank of the Helmand 17 km south-southwest of the bridge at Lashkar Gah and 2 km south of the present confluence of the Helmand and Arghandab rivers, within view of the site of Qala-i Bist. The bank rose to slightly over 100 m above the river flood plain and terminated in a cliff at its west end, cut away by the river when its bed lay along the base of the cliff at the edge of the flood plain. The cliff face was broken at several places by small runoff canyons dropping sharply from the higher ground westward to the flood plain. The eroded cliff face revealed alternating beds, at times several meters thick, of counter-laid silts riddled with ancient lebenspuren (fine and coarse water-laid sand) and strata of flood-deposited gravels. Though the strata varied in the degree of concretion, in general all were quite lightly cemented. A general view of the cliff face showed the main strata to be horizontally laid and continuous along the cliff. Near the center of the intermittent friable cliff face was a massive columnar section separated from the main mass of high land by a low saddle falling away to the steep talus slope descending precipitously to either side and encircling the columnar mass. The principal caves were cut into the interior of this rounded rising rock mass. At the top of the pillar was a stupa, only the eroded base of which was visible as light colored dirt on the peak of the cliff at the time of discovery. First located by J. Whitney and R. Vincent of HSP in 1971, the site was excavated over four days in October

Figure 8.5.3 Natural column containing the stupa and caves, viewed from the river valley below. HSP71.15.11

Figure 8.5.4 Thick layer of silts comprising the cliff. HSP71.13.23

1971. From the meager remains, it was impossible to calculate the original height of the stupa or anything concerning its possible surface ornamentation, but we may be certain that its commanding situation assured its visibility for a great distance over and along the Helmand river plain, several miles broad at this point near the confluence of the two rivers.

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The Stupa The stupa base was an almost perfect circle, the diameter varying only between 11.2 m and 11.3 m. The thickness of the stupa wall itself was somewhat less regular, varying from 2.1 m to 2.25 m. Unlike the large masonry stupas of eastern Afghanistan and Kandahar, which have rock and rubble cores, the interior of the Khana Gauhar stupa appeared to have been filled with sandy earth and gravel similar in composition to the surrounding ground surface. This would certainly have formed a dense core of even greater stability than rubble ones. The stupa

was best preserved in its eastern half where 13 courses of mudbrick remained intact in places, capped by the melted residue of an additional two or three courses. At its best preserved place, the stupa fragment stood 1.4 m high. The bricks were badly weathered on the outer exposed surface but well preserved on the interior face. The inner surface of the stupa wall had not been plastered. The stupa bricks were fairly uniform in size, 42–44 x 31–33 x 7 cm. They were regularly laid in alternating courses of headers and stretchers.

Figure 8.5.5 Stupa prior to excavation with the Qala-i Bist plain in the background. HSP71.14.28

Figure 8.5.6 Stupa after excavation. HSP71.17.12

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Figure 8.5.7 Curved mudbrick wall of the stupa with inner filling of sandy earth and gravel. HSP71.17.10

Figure 8.5.8 Mudbricks of the interior of the stupa wall. No plastering visible. HSP71.15.31

Figure 8.5.9 Worn exterior of stupa. HSP71.17.7

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Figure 8.5.10 Mudbrick paving of the upper ambulatory. Note that the lowest course of bricks of the stupa wall extend outside the rest. HSP71.15.6

Figure 8.5.11 Ramp of mudbrick leading to upper ambulatory, north face. HSP71.18.22

There was no remaining trace of a thick exterior plaster coating which likely once covered the exterior mudbricks, and no fragments of molded, carved, or painted decoration were found. The lowest course of brick projected out slightly to form a small curb between the stupa wall and the surrounding ambulatory 3.8 m wide, paved with mudbricks 46 x 32 x 9 cm. There was no foundation for the stupa below the lowermost course of bricks set in a moderately hard and quite dense stratum of counter-deposited gravel. Beyond the ambulatory, down a mud-plastered slope at

58 degrees, was a mudbrick revetment 130 cm in height surrounding a terrace. From this, a stairway or ramp, again constructed of mudbrick, led up to the ambulatory on the east side. This ramp was 2.8 m long and 80 cm wide, and curved slightly toward the south, but it was destroyed along its south face and doubtless was once broader. It was broken at its lower end and did not quite reach the level of the lower terrace. The remnant of this massive pillar of stone, semidetached from the main cliff face, was decorated with a series of concentric walks, or narrow terraces, rising up

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Figure 8.5.12 Cliff face below stupa showing Caves A (right) and B on ledge and possible passageway to well below Cave B. Cave C is slightly below ledge, at left. Hole beneath Cave B may have been remnants of a staircase leading to a well below. HSP71.17.36

to the stupa. Most of the western half was lost entirely through erosion of the conical summit, though the lowest course of mudbrick could be traced in the exposed gravels in this area. The erosion of the western portion had been accelerated by the collapse of the highest cave in the bedrock pillar which concentrated surface drainage in this direction.

The Caves Seven caves have been identified at the site. There might have been others completely lost through cliff collapse or buried in the talus. Five of the caves were cut into the rock pillar crowned by the stupa. A sixth cave, the smallest extant, was cut into the cliff to the north of the pillar (Cave E). Reconnaissance of nearby canyons and cliff faces produced the vestiges of a seventh cave that was not documented. The three largest caves were oriented toward the west, the three smallest toward the northwest. All the caves had a parabolic vault form. Entrances to the caves bore traces of salts on the surface, more evident on

some than others, and gave the impression of plastered or faintly painted lines. Where original surfaces remained, there was some blackening from smoke. No ornamentation beyond small, possibly utilitarian, wall niches were found in any cave. All the caves were infested with wasps and bats, the latter having deposited considerable guano which had become mixed with thin layers of wind-blown dust and sand on the floors. This unsanitary circumstance prevented our undertaking any excavation in the caves. There was no access to the uppermost cave, Cave F, destroyed by collapse and erosion, but the curves of the side walls were still discernable and the bottom of the cave could be examined from the narrow outward ridge above it. Below Cave F, almost 30 m below the stupa, there was a narrow ridge providing access to three caves on the ledge and to one just below it. The floor of this ridge was 62 m above the flood plain. Here, as with all the extant caves, the cutting was not done with precision, walls curved, floors were uneven, and the ceilings were of irregular height. Many of the dimensions must be general or average ones.

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the archaeology of southwest afghanistan Cave A Cave A, the best preserved, was composed of an entrance hall with a small, enclosed room to either side (a north and a south chamber) and a long central hall oriented eastwest, with a small chamber on axis beyond to the east. The entrance hall and its adjacent side chambers were open along their west sides because of collapse, but their dimensions could be obtained owing to partial preservation of the west walls. There was a considerable accumulation of loose wind-transported sand in the open area, but little of it had reached the better preserved interior cave rooms. A large block of stone had fallen from above the former ceiling of the cave and lay between the entrance hall and the north chamber. The entry hall was 4.8 m wide and was separated to the north and south from its side chambers by arches cut in the rock 85 cm wide and only 6 cm deep where they abutted the lower wall. The north chamber measured 2.9 x 2.76 x 3.6 m and was the more damaged of the two side rooms. The back wall clearly exhibited some of the salt efflorescence that could be mistaken for plaster remains. While this back (north) wall was marked by several holes, the upper left and upper right holes, larger and on the same level and equidistant from the east and west walls, suggest original features of uncertain function. The south chamber was better preserved and showed clearly how the transition from the higher ceiling entrance hall (measured at approximately 3.36 m with the original height estimated at 3.75 m) to the lower side chamber (measured at approximately 2.8 m with the original height estimated at 3 m) was handled by the flattening of the parabolic arch. The south chamber measured 2.5 x 3 m in size. The light banded effect on its walls (and on those of the other caves) resulted from the sedimentary strata and were not decoration. Situated centrally in the east wall of the entrance hall of Cave A was a small vestibule much resembling in size the entry hall side chambers. This vestibule was 2.85 m wide and 2.4 m on each side, its ceiling approximately 2.4 m above the wind-blown sand deposit on the floor, here approximately 50–60 cm in depth. In the center of the east wall of this vestibule was a square doorway approximately 1.8 m high and 1 m wide and 1.9 m deep, with a slightly projecting stone jamb on the right (south) side, 20 cm wide, and much battered by use. To the east beyond this door was the principal hall, 7.8 m long and varying in width between 2.8 m near its western end to 2.9 m to the center and eastern end. The height was approximately 3 m, but the original height was probably 3.5–3.6 m. The surfaces were considerably blackened by smoke and covered with wasp nests. On the north wall of this hall there were two shallow niches, one rectangular and the other modified parabolic in

Figure 8.5.13 Collapsed Cave F at upper right, with entrance to Cave D below. HSP71.15.30

Figure 8.5.14 Plan of Cave A. R. Hamilton 1971

Figure 8.5.15 Cave A, rock fall from above between entryway and north chamber. HSP71.16.9

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Figure 8.5.17 Cave A, south chamber. HSP71.16.2

Figure 8.5.16 Cave A, north chamber. HSP71.16.8 Figure 8.5.18 Cave A, entry vestibule. HSP71.16.5

Figure 8.5.19 Cave A, main hall. HSP71.16.15

form, as though they were mimicking the arched cave constructions. At either side on the bottom of the rectangular niche was a bored hole 14 cm in diameter, the left one 31 cm deep, the right one 29 cm deep; these probably served as sockets to support whatever was contained in the niche. The parabolic niche was 1.4 m above the floor, 54 cm wide at its base, 48 cm high, and 22 cm deep. The rectangular niche was 1.5 m above the floor, 64 cm wide, and 44 cm high. At the eastern end of the long hall there was another

Figure 8.5.20 Cave A, niches in north side of main hall with evidence of burning. HSP71.18.8

centrally placed doorway. This doorway was 2.25 m high and 1 m wide on the side facing the long hall. From a narrow opening, the door opened to a width of 1.15 m for most of its 1.3 depth. This small rear chamber, on axis with the long hall, vestibule, and entry, was 3.5 m long and 3 m wide, or slightly wider than the greatest width of the long

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the archaeology of southwest afghanistan hall or its vestibule. It was approximately 2.8 m high at the time of excavation but was once approximately 3 m in height, there being relatively little floor debris. This small chamber, as were all the others, was plain. Because of the multiple rooms, Cave A did not appear to be a residential unit. We suggest it was the principal religious assembly area at Khana Gauhar. Figure 8.5.21 Cave A, back room. HSP71.16.18

Cave B On the same ledge and 16.4 m (axis to axis) north of Cave A was the entrance to another cave, 64 m above the flood plain. The central door in the east wall of this vestibule was 1.4 m wide with a vertical opening of 61 cm, but it was blocked with considerable sand, transported to this height by severe winds. The back vestibule wall to the north of the door was 1.2 m high, to the east only 1.1 m high. The entry was 1.4 m deep, with an extremely worn jamb on the south side which was later replaced by one constructed of mud. Above the stone jamb was a well-worn stone socket presumably originally matched by a lower one. The single large hall beyond was 10.4 m long. The width of the cave varied because the north wall bowed inward, the south wall outward. The minimum width (nearer to the west end) was 1.9 m; the maximum width (near the east end) was 2.7 m. The maximum height inside above the shallow fill was 2.9 m, suggesting an original height of more than 3.2 m. Here, as in the other caves, broad tool cuts could be seen on the walls which presumably were originally concealed under plastering. In places the sides of the cave were deeply undercut near the floor level, as much as 4.6 m in places, perhaps due to water filtering along natural horizontal fractures or beds. At the eastern end of this cave, crossing from side to side, was a ruined stone platform 1.35 cm deep and probably about 30 cm above the cave floor level. Its surface was 2.1 m below the highest point of the curved ceiling. At the back right of this platform there was a deep irregular hole broken into the platform which did not appear to be original. It may have been a fire pit introduced there at a later time. There was some evidence that animals had occupied this hole and the sheltered undercut areas. The existence of this platform, upon which typically a religious image would be placed, together with the size of the cave, suggests that it may have been a lesser assembly hall rather than a residential cave.

Cave C This cave, which was just below the ledge of caves A and B at 60.7 m above the flood plain, may originally have been reached by means of another passage along the cliff face.

Figure 8.5.22 Interior of Cave B. HSP71.19.7

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excavated sites Presently it may be entered through a collapsed portion of its ceiling. Its roughly east-west orientation was equivalent to that of Caves A and B. Of its vestibule, only a small fragment remained of similar width to the hall beyond. The central west door leading to the main hall was 1.75 m wide and 1.5 m deep. The single room beyond was 14.15 m long, 3.3 m wide toward the back, and 4.2 m high, the largest single room in the Khana Gauhar complex. The cave itself had the best preserved interior of the group. Midway along the south wall there was a cut rectangular recess 2 m high, 1.1 m wide, but only 18 cm deep. The interior of the cave was otherwise plain.

Figure 8.5.23 Plan of Cave C. R. Hamilton 1971

Figure 8.5.25 Plan of Cave D. R. Hamilton 1971

Figure 8.5.24 Interior of Cave C with rectangular recess on south wall. HSP71.15.17

Figure 8.5.26 Entrance to Cave D. HSP71.15.23

Cave D Slightly above the elevation of Caves A and B at 69.5 m above the flood plain but appended along the same narrow ledge, Cave D had a north-northwest orientation. The mouth of this cave could be seen directly below collapsed Cave F. The mouth of the cave was filled with rock fall and beyond this, to a greater extent than in Caves A and B, wind-blown sand had accumulated inside. Its longest preserved wall (west) was 8.7 m in length but originally was approximately 9 m

long, for to the west of the present opening was a corner of a once broader vestibule belonging to this cave. This vestibule would once have been slightly under 6 m wide. The east wall of the cave was only 6.5 m long; the width of it varied from 2.9 m near its broken mouth to 3.3 m near the back wall. There had been so much ceiling collapse that an original height could not be determined, but it was probably similar to that of the other caves.

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Figure 8.5.28 Plan of Cave E. R. Hamilton 1971

Figure 8.5.27 Interior of Cave D. HSP71.15.21

Figure 8.5.29 Entrance to Cave E. HSP71.15.29

Cave E Little remains of Cave E, located 69.4 m above the flood plain. Detached from the others, it shared its northnorthwest orientation with Cave D. Much of the cliff face had collapsed and the opening was nearly closed by the talus slope before it. From the narrow arched entry, winddeposited sand sloped down toward the back wall of the cave. The maximum preserved length of the cave was 3.5 m, its width 3.1 m.

Other Structures There were only two other constructions at this site. One was a curious horizontal passage close to Cave D, only partially preserved.

The preserved portion was 70–80 cm wide and only 30–37 cm high. It turned at a right angle toward the left into the cliff face, sloped downward at an angle of 11 degrees for 2.7 m into the rock, abruptly made a second right angle left turn, and then proceeded for another 7 m through a gradual curve toward the right. At the point where it turned left for the second time, at the back wall near the top were four small horizontally drilled holes, about 10 cm deep. On the opposite side wall was a socket 40 cm in diameter which conceivably held a lamp. We do not know the function of this passage nor whether it was finished. Equally curious was a hole in the cliff face directly below Cave B.

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Figure 8.5.30 Horizontal passage near Cave D. HSP71.19.10

Descending from this enlarged aperture at an angle of 55 degrees into the cliff was a passage 1.35 m wide and 1.75 m high extending 30.4 m into the cliff and terminating in a small rubble-filled area of slightly greater breadth. Access to this internal passage was probably originally from the level of the caves above, before the collapse of the cliff face. We suggest this may have been part of a staircase leading to a well at the base of the cliff. We found no source of water nor a reservoir anywhere on the rock pillar.

Artifacts There were almost no artifacts found at the site. From the stupa area, in the loose fill, two body sherds of a gray undiagnostic type were collected. No ceramic was visible embedded in any of the stupa bricks nor found in the caves.

Analysis The presence of Buddhism in western Afghanistan has long been known. The discovery in 1884 by Captain F. De Laessoë of a substantial complex of Buddhist dwellings and assembly caves on the Murghab River in the northwest part of the country remained as sole testimony to this fact for the better part of a century until the discovery near Kandahar of the Asoka inscriptions and Buddhist remains on a ridge high above the Old City (De Laessoë et al. 1886, Schlumberger 1964, Fussman 1966). At about the same time as these discoveries were made at Kandahar, Professor A.D.H. Bivar visited a small group of Buddhist caves at Loman in the Jughuri District, some 120 km west-southwest of Ghazni and then speculated that the “whole mountain area of the Upper Arghandab and no doubt also further west about the Upper Helmand, is likely to be no less rich than the vicinity of Loman in Buddhist cave monuments”

Figure 8.5.31 Hole in cliff face below Cave B, possibly a passageway to well. HSP71.17.30

(Bivar 1971, 86). It is within the context of such modest Buddhist establishments as these, rather than such impressive sites as Hadda and Bamiyan in eastern Afghanistan, that the discoveries of Buddhist monasteries along the lower course of the Helmand River are to be viewed. The significance of the small, undoubtedly poor Buddhist communities of Khana Gauhar and Khwaja Hasan/Khwaja Ghraib Baba (see also section 6.13) on the lower Helmand cannot be over-emphasized. They represented the westernmost known outposts of the religious tradition, though there were sites of much greater ostentation further to the east. Nothing was found at either site to suggest dates of construction or duration of occupancy. Sherds were non-diagnostic and brick sizes did not closely match known sizes from our key periods. Both sites likely belonged to the same period and, given their proximity to Kandahar and its stupa, were probably built in the same era, the last few centuries bce, though a later date would also be possible, as Buddhism’s growth during the mid-first millennium ce elsewhere in Afghanistan was significant.

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8.6 Khwaja Ali Sehyaka Other names: Sehyak, Khwaja Ali, Shishagi Ghundai, Dik Gazetteer #: 2127 Coordinates: 30°17'26.48" x 63°10'39.55" Type: Mesopotamian-style temple and compound Date: Parthian

Figure 8.6.1 Satellite view of archaeological site of Sehyak with remains of excavation trenches still visible. Courtesy J. Thibeau (CAMEL/AHMP)

The archaeological site Sehyak was located on a low bluff south of the Helmand River above the village of Khwaja Ali Sehyaka, about 10 km downstream from the town of Daishu. The site extended 125 m north-south x 225 m eastwest. It was visited and briefly surveyed in 1971, and its similarity to the finds from Khwaja Kanur and Mukhtar was noted (see Chapters 6 and 7). We returned and extensively excavated here for 16 days in October 1975. The local name for the site was Shishagi Ghundai, the “Mound of Shards” in Pashtu and Dari. Other maps refer to the site as Dik. It is recorded in the Gazetteer as Khwaja Ali Sehyaka, the name

of the nearest village. The area of the site was covered with sandy soil and desert dasht gravels. The remains were very low to the ground, not easily visible from a distance. The site was built around a small Mesopotamian-style temple (Shenkar 2011) with a columned porch and cella, surrounded by adjacent storage and occupation complexes. A second large building was located on the crest of the hill but was preserved only at foundation level so no plan could be determined. An enclosure wall surrounded the various buildings on the mound. Wind erosion had shredded most of the remains of this hilltop complex. Some walls

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Figure 8.6.2 Site plan of Sehyak with excavation areas indicated. J. Knudstad 1975

had vanished completely, and we dug at foundation level in other places. There were at least two major building periods in the temple and some of the occupational rooms behind the shrine showed multiple re-floorings and modifications, suggesting a long occupation. A well located just outside the shrine was discovered and excavated to a depth of 15.5 m below the surface. Water table was reached at about 15 m below surface, and excavation was halted before reaching the bottom of the well. Carbon samples taken from well debris at 4.8 m, 13.5 m, and 15 m below surface returned dates from the second and third centuries ce, leading us to believe the site was abandoned in the third century.

Area A Area A was determined to be an occupational complex of at least 12 rooms located on the western side of the site. Situated on the slope of the mound, the excavated

remains were all located beneath a flattened modern surface. Parts of the slope had eroded beneath the foundations of the building. Initially, a slit trench 1 m wide and 10.5 m long was dug northeast to southwest off the crest, approximately 35 m west of Area C, in an attempt to define the extent of cultural material. This attempt proved fruitless as we encountered only a half meter of soft sand with occasional sherds and sheep dung above sandstone bedrock. The southwest corner had a collection of river pebbles, probably used for wall construction, but was otherwise sterile. The trench was abandoned and another 1 m wide trench started 22 m further downhill toward the southwest, which stretched for another 9.5 m. The second probe immediately produced structural material that was dubbed Area A. The probe cut through parts of Rooms 5, 8, and 9. The trench was expanded in all directions and the rooms excavated. All of the 12 rooms identified were partially or completely

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Figure 8.6.3 Pre-excavation photograph of Sehyak, looking north toward village of Khwaja Ali Sehyaka and Helmand River. HSP75.A.35

excavated to bedrock, though most were already very shallow, at floor or foundation level before starting. Several additional mudbrick wall fragments between 10 m and 30 m in length were noted to the north of this complex and possibly associated with it, but they were not excavated. Ceramics were collected from each stratum within each room, but only Rooms 1–5 were processed in the field. The rest of the sherds were left in Afghanistan for later study and are presumed lost.

Room 1 At the northeast end of the complex was a small room approximately 3.5 x 2.5 m. The north mudbrick wall was approximately 0.7 m in width, the remaining three walls 1.1–1.2 m in width, with a 15 cm jog outward on the south wall. Excavation was done against the east and west walls of the room. Mudbricks in the walls stood no more than one to three courses in height and sat on a thin layer of soft fill on bedrock, as did most walls in this area. The room was filled with a thick mud flooring on 5 cm of soft sand fill above bedrock, generally sloping toward the southwest and in places eroded away completely. At the east side of

the room was a pit cut through fill below the floor and into sandstone bedrock. Its interior to the top of the bedrock was lined with a mud plaster, but no evidence of that plastering continued to the bottom. The pit was 1.3 m in depth, 0.95 m in maximum width, with an opening funnel 33 cm deep and 40 cm wide. It contained a soft sandy fill similar to that beneath the extant flooring, containing a couple of sherds, but showing no evidence of a storage jar having sat in it as was common in Area B. At the east part of the north wall of the room, there was a sill 30 cm thick on bedrock and raised 2–4 cm above the floor surface. Only soft sand was found outside the room near this sill. The east wall of the room continued another 8 m to the north at 4–5 cm in height and 1.25 m in width, likely three bricks wide. Both faces of this wall were badly eroded. At that point, the wall faded out into bedrock. Room 1 produced approximately 40 sherds, mostly fragments of jars with buff slips. One piece of a red ware jar and a fair number of poor handmade cooking fragments were found, including a flat base. Two small fragments of vertical fine ware rims from goblets or bowls were found. Sealed beneath the mud flooring against the north wall

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excavated sites were 25 sherds, mostly buff slipped jars, a few cooking ware fragments, and one fine red ware sherd. Inside the excavated pit in this room were approximately 25 sherds (mostly buff slipped jars but several unslipped), six fine red ware pieces, three sherds of cooking ware, a goblet base, and a piece of overfired red ware with heavy ring burnishing.

Room 2 Room 2 was located to the southeast of Room 1, approximately 3.5 x 5 m in size. Probes were made to bedrock along all four sides of the interior of the room. Walls surrounding the room were of mudbrick between 0.9 m and 1.1 m thick and rested on a thin layer of soft fill on bedrock. There was a 50 cm wide wall parallel to the west wall which created a thin corridor of 50 cm between the two, open only at the south end. This corridor contained only soft fill 20–25 cm thick before reaching bedrock. Doorway to this room may have been on the south side of the east wall. The southeast corner of the room was eroded away. We discovered only soft fill over bedrock, leading to the conclusion that we were below the lowest floor. The fill in the southwest corner of the room produced an iron axehead, too badly spalled to be preserved. Pottery in Room 2 was unstratified, consisting of about 75 sherds, most buff slipped jar wares, including four bases. About onethird of these sherds were ribbed. There were also several pieces of thick jars and handmade cooking ware. Ten fragments of ring burnished jars and bowls were found, including two flat bowl base pieces. Figure 8.6.4 Plan of Sehyak Area A with excavated rooms indicated. J. Knudstad 1975

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Figure 8.6.5 Area A from west. Meter stick spans width of Room 4, M. Allen before Room 3. HSP75.I.7

Figure 8.6.6 Area A Rooms 1 (foreground), 2 (back left), and 3 (back right) from north. HSP75.10.25

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Figure 8.6.7 West side of Area A excavation from north. Room 3 in foreground left, Room 4 in center. HSP75.10.31

Figure 8.6.8 Room 1 from north. Note east wall of Room 1 extends further to north, though that area was not excavated. HSP75.10.24

Room 3 Room 3 was located to the west of Room 2 and of approximately the same size. Probes were dug in this room in the northwest and southeast corners. The material uncovered was beneath the lowest f loor, consisting only of soft fill on crumbly sandstone bedrock, often filled with bits of brick and ash, from 25–90 cm in depth. Walls were 0.9–1 m in width and consisted of mudbrick one to two courses high, 37 x 37 x 9 cm in size. A doorway could not be discerned. The northwest corner contained a pit filled with loose fill, 2.25 m in

width at the top, 1.4 m wide at the base, and 1.2 m deep. Ceramics in this room were located only in fill below the surface. Approximately 25 sherds were found, mostly buff and buff-orange slipped jar ware. Two fine ware and two cooking ware pieces were found. Only two jar sherds were ribbed. The unsealed pit at the northwest end of the room contained an equal number of buff slipped jar and thick red jar wares and a couple of fine red ware pieces, including a small, unburnished red slip flat pedestal base. A broken jabbed base was also found.

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Figure 8.6.9 Room 3 from north. HSP75.10.30

Figure 8.6.10 Rooms 5 and 6 from west, showing various features, including earlier and later walls. HSP75.6.32

Room 4 This was a small rectangular room 4.5 x 2.4 m in size to the south and west of Room 3. It was not excavated, only its edges probed to define the line of the walls. The walls of this room were not squared and, except for the wall bordering Room 3, were thin, 45–55 cm in width. Along the north wall, 9–10 cm below the surface, a mud floor was encountered. Above it was a mixture of sand, mud, and debris. The floor (Floor 1) was at least 3 cm thick and separated by 3–4 cm of sand from a second mud floor level (Floor 2), containing ash, lime plaster fragments, and some sherds

flattened into the floor. While the room was not excavated further, remains of a wall that ran beneath Rooms 4 and 5 and just above bedrock could be discerned, making Room 4 a secondary addition to the building. The south wall of this room extended to the west for several additional meters before being eroded away. No evidence was found to suggest the building continued west of Room 4. Ceramics found in Room 4 consisted of only 12 sherds, both buff slipped jars and thick red jars. Also found was a burnished pitcher sherd and two ridged handles with buff slip.

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excavated sites Room 5 Room 5 was in the center of the room complex, surrounded on all sides by other rooms. It was extensively excavated, with probes throughout the room, and showed a complicated stratigraphy. There was evidence of a doorway to the east and possibly the southwest corner into Rooms 6 and 9. Walls of this room indicated multiple strata, particularly the south wall, which was 1.5 m on its eastern half and 0.55 m on its west side. Bricks on the western half, adjoining Room 7, were measured at 40–42 x 40–42 x 9 cm. The east wall was 1.2 m thick but a joint in the wall showed that it was constructed in two separate pieces, and it was cut by pits from Room 9 on its northern side. The west wall (between Room 5 and 6) was largely eroded away, only 50 cm of its length remaining from the north wall. A second stub emerged from the north wall at an angle 1.4 m further east. It was heavily fragmented and extended a little more than 1 m in length. Bricks of this wall were 37 x 37 x 7 cm in size. It was apparently the last addition to Room 5, associated only with Floor 1. Excavations in the northeast corner, bordering on Room 9, showed an initial thin flooring (Floor 3) on 25 cm of soft sand fill on bedrock. Cut into this flooring was a small ashpit 15 cm deep and 20 cm across. A 3–4 cm layer of soft brown and gray ash above the lower floor was followed by a set of superimposed mud floors 13 cm thick (Floor 2), which passed into Room 9. The top 5 cm of this deposition was a combination of a mud flooring (Floor 1) and a sand crust. The pattern in the western half of the room was much more complex, with remains of west and south walls of an earlier room beneath the later occupational levels. These walls were one mudbrick in height and two mudbricks in width, slightly angled from the later walls, and passed beneath the south wall of the room. Bricks were 28–29 x 28–29 x 7–8 cm in size. The earlier walls sat on a foundation of wadded mud mixed with ceramics and river pebbles extending down to bedrock. The earliest floor, Floor 3, in this part of the room abutted the earlier walls and ran below the later south wall and west walls of Room 5 and into Room 6. Fragments of another north-south wall of this early stratum of Room 5 were one brick course high with a similar foundation to the other early wall. Above Floor 3, the room resembled its eastern half, with a thin ash layer of 10 cm atop Floor 3, a thick set of layers for Floor 2, and a top floor/sand crust (Floor 1) of 15 cm in thickness. Both Floors 1 and 2 run into the later south wall of Room 5. All three floor levels touch the north wall of the room. The thick Floor 2 continues into Rooms 6 and 9 on each side of Room 5.

An unstratified ceramic collection in Room 5 returned 100–150 sherds, mostly red ware jar body fragments with buff, orange, or no slip. One jabbed base and a few ribbed sherds were found, as were 10 pieces of handmade cooking ware. The collection also included three small pedestal bases, two flat bases of fine ware bowls, and eight ring burnished sherds. Most were found below Floor 1, though they were not sealed by the flooring. Two of these sherds had tamga marks on red ware jars with buff slips incised after firing. Cleaning the wall between Rooms 5 and 9 produced one buff slip ribbed ware sherd, a ring burnished piece, and a piece of cooking ware. Embedded in the top floor of the room were about 15 sherds, including a number of buff slipped ribbed jar fragments, fine red ware bowl pieces, and a cooking ware piece. Beneath the top floor were about 20 sherds, mostly fine goblet pieces including three flat goblet bases. The rest were buff slip jar ware and two pieces of cooking ware. Beneath Floor 2 were 15 sherds, mostly red fine wares including a goblet base and a black slipped piece. The remainder were buff slip jars and cooking ware. One jar fragment had a complex decoration of two connected polygons, incised after firing.

Room 6 There was no remaining west wall for Room 6. Its western half showed no stratigraphy, only soft wind-blown dust and sand with ash and bits of lime and ceramics. Large quantities of animal bones and broken ceramics were found in this area, 40–50 cm thick and capped by a thin layer of sand, indicating it might have been a midden for the building. This collection of trash continued outside the south wall of Room 6, suggesting it was associated with Floor 3 of Rooms 5 and 6.

Figure 8.6.11 Room 6, showing earlier wall passing beneath later one. HSP75.14.6

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Figure 8.6.12 Room 7 from west, showing five different levels of flooring. Door sill into Room 8 at upper left. HSP75.6.6

The area of Room 6 associated with Floor 3 showed continuation of stratigraphy from Room 5. The west wall of this stratum was three courses high, the top course set back from the other two. The top floor (Floor 1) was visible only against the northern wall of Room 6. The thick Floor 2 touched both the northern and eastern walls but was eroded on the west and passed over the walls associated with Floor 3. Floor 3 appeared only in patches but was 15 cm thick of hard flooring mixed with thin layers of fill. Upon it was 25–35 cm of soft fill containing sherds, stone, bone, ash, and brick fragments. An unstratified collection of ceramics produced almost 200 sherds in this room. A majority were jar fragments, most with buff or buff green slips, with several pieces of ribbed ware, four flat jar bases, two jabbed bases, and a neck with an incised ridge. There were 10 pieces of cooking ware. The room had a larger than average collection of fine red wares including a goblet base, two bowl bases, three goblet rim fragments, and two small everted bowl rim fragments.

Figure 8.6.13 Fire pit in southeast part of Room 7. HSP75.6.35

Room 7 Room 7 consisted of a series of seven superimposed floorings and was excavated almost completely. It was also constructed in irregular stages. The north and south walls were approximately 0.5 m in width, the west wall 0.75 m in width, and the east wall 1.4 m in width. A 0.6 m doorway in the northeast corner leading to Room 8 had a sill and baked brick door socket (see below). The walls of this room were eroded away at the southeast

corner. A small stub of wall 25 x 25 cm extended from the south wall toward the south but no room could be discerned in the area. The lowest floor, Floor 7, was found only in the eroded southwest corner. In the southeast sector and associated with Floor 7, there was a large depression 1.4 x 1.3 m, rounded and 20 cm deep. The fill was hard-packed, possibly as leveling for Floor 6. Also in this corner was a mud-lined

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excavated sites fire pit, possibly a tandur, approximately 50 cm in diameter and probably also associated with Floor 7. A 5 cm layer of fill led to Floor 6, 2 more cm of fill, then Floor 5. There appeared to be a cup hole against the west wall attached to Floor 6 and another to Floor 5. Floor 5 had much cultural material—pottery, brick, bone, and ash—on a smooth mud floor. It rose up toward the sill and socket on the northeast and was probably contemporary with it. A layer of 6–7 cm of sand was beneath Floor 4, which was thin (1–1.5 cm) and roughly made. A thicker level of 10–12 cm of sand with some fill was beneath Floor 3, 1 cm thick. A thin fill layer separated it from a substantial Floor 2 of wet-laid mud 5 cm thick and containing sand, dust, and bits of brick and ash. Another thin layer of sand separated that floor from the last flooring, which was mixed with surface debris. Outside the west and south boundaries of this room was soft sandy fill sitting on bedrock. The ceramic collection from the surface of Room 7 consisted of about 40 sherds. Half were fine red ware goblets, including four slightly concave and two deeply concave goblet bases and a flat bowl base. The rest were jar wares with buff, buff green, buff orange and speckled orange slips, a few of them ribbed. Several cooking ware pieces were also found. Inside Floor 1, three jar sherds were recovered, one with a red slip and ring burnishing, one with rounded ribbing and a buff slip, and one with a buff green slip. Inside Floor 2 were three jar body sherds, one with a buff slip, one incised with a wave and two grooves beneath, and one thick red burnished fine ware jar piece. Floor 3 produced five jar pieces with orange or buff slips and nine fine ware pieces. Fine wares ranged from unburnished with red and black slips, a dark red slipped piece with “V” burnishing, and a large fragment of a very thin goblet. Floor 4 produced about 25 sherds, half jars and half fine wares, with one cooking piece. Jars had buff and pink slips, one of them ribbed. The fine red wares had red slips and most were ring burnished. A black ring burnished piece and a slightly concave goblet base in brown ware were also found. Floor 5 produced 25 sherds, including several jar pieces with buff or speckled slips. One jar fragment had incised wave design. A cooking fragment was also found. The remainder were fine red wares with ring burnishing. Two black pieces with ring burnish were also included. The pit in Floor 6 included three sherds of fine bowl ware, eight jar fragments with buff slip, and a neck piece with incised wave design.

Room 8 This room was completely excavated, though its walls were eroded away toward the south and east. At the northern

end were three superimposed floorings. At the northwest corner was a doorway to Room 7, with a sill and two superimposed baked brick door sockets. The lower one was preserved in situ at the southern side of the door and consisted of a brick 26 x 18 x 7 cm with a single socket hole. Floor 1 of this room, the highest, was 1 cm thick and sat beneath a crust of 9 cm of sand and mud. Beneath Floor 1, 7 cm of loose fill with dust and ash sat above thin Floor 2. Another 5 cm of loose fill separated that floor from a 2 cm thick Floor 3. Beneath Floor 3 were 3 cm of sand then bedrock. A meter from the west wall, the top two floors lensed out into soft sand and dust and Floor 3 became sketchy and uneven. On Floor 3 in the center of the room was a thick layer of ash, which also filled some of the pock marks in the floor, possibly indicating that the room was burned and the walls collapsed onto the floor. At the north end of the room, there were quantities of mud debris and large sherds. Remains of white wall plaster were on the ground around the edges of the room. The east wall of the room showed refacing with a thin layer of debris fill against the brick before plastering. Floor 1 ran up to this re-plastered wall. The general collection of ceramics from above the latest floor of Room 8 produced 30 sherds, mostly jar ware with buff or orange slips. One had a wave decoration and ribbing. There were three pieces of thick red jar ware and several pieces of fine red ware goblets, all ring burnished. Three jar bases, a disc bowl base, and a goblet base with a deep square concave base were also included. Between Floors 2 and 3 were 10 sherds, small jar and bowl fragments, including two small dark brown (burned?) jar fragments.

Room 9 This room was in the center of the complex. Room 9 was first uncovered during the initial probe of the area, then was excavated to bedrock in almost all areas. The three floorings of adjacent Room 5, described above, seem to continue into Room 9. The top floor, Floor 1, was a constructed mud floor, which abutted the north wall but eroded as it moved south and melted into surface debris over fill. Beneath a layer of sand fill, Floor 2 was well made and visible against the north and west walls where it passed through a doorway into Room 5 at Floor 2 level. Floor 2 was also eroded toward the south of the room and was clear only at the southeast corner of the south wall. A pit was found against the east wall, 65 cm in diameter and 60 cm in depth, probably dug from this floor. Sand and soft fill were found beneath Floor 2 and upon Floor 3. Floor 3 was patchy, like in Rooms 5 and 8 and the earliest floor in Room 11. Here, as in those other locations, it appeared

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Figure 8.6.14 Room 9 from north at Floor 3 level. Latest floors (Floor 1 and 2) had already been removed. Pit from Floor 2 in lower left. Installations on Floor 3 in upper center. Floor 3 runs over deep pit between Rooms 9 and 5. HSP75.6.2

that collapsed mud material filled with ash broke through the floor, possibly from a fire that ended the use of this level. Beneath Floor 3 in the south part of the room was soft fill of about 10 cm leading to bedrock and sloping to the northeast. In the northwest corner of the room, leading to Room 5, a deep pit was cut into bedrock below the level of Floor 3 and sealed by that floor. We found no stratum associated with this pit though it likely represents the earliest occupation of Area A. If so, most evidence of it was removed with the laying of Floor 3. The pit was 2.2 x 1 m and 1.5 m in depth and contained two depressions (88 and 95 cm in width) in which jars may have sat. The east and south walls of Room 9 associated with Floor 3 showed evidence of reconstruction, mud plastering near the installations, shored by wall fill containing bone, pottery, stone, and bits of brick, indicating that earlier floorings may have existed, possibly related to the pit in the northwest corner. Associated with Floor 3 in the southwest corner of the room were two installations set against the south wall. A semicircular pit toward the east bounded a central area of

23 x 30 cm, contained by wadded mud 8 cm above and 12 cm below Floor 3. To the west, an almost square installation of 45 x 42 cm, set 7 cm from the walls, was also held in by bricks 8 cm thick and set through Floor 3 to 3.3 cm below floor level. The bricks sat on large sherds and were plastered inside. While the semicircular installation contained only soft fill, the square one also had ash, bits of bone, and large sherds inside. Function of these installations was unclear. The south wall with which these installations were associated was badly eroded, possibly contained a doorway, and was filled with stones, bricks, and potsherds. About 40 sherds were collected in the initial probe of Area A within Room 9. Most were buff jar wares with buff, green, or orange slips. A large percentage were ribbed. Several had wave decoration. A few cooking ware and fine red ware pieces were also collected, including a flat base of a red slip bowl, two stump cup bases, and three goblet bases. A buff slip jar had black paint dripped over its exterior. Embedded in Floor 1 were fragments of fine red ware goblets with ring burnishing and one piece of a buff slipped ribbed jar. The pit cut from Floor 2 produced a slightly concave large jar base, a goblet stem, a flat bowl base, and

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Figure 8.6.15 Installations in southwest corner of Room 9. HSP75.5.16

three body sherds of jars (one ribbed and buff slipped). Beneath Floor 2, 10 sherds were collected, mostly fine red wares. These included one flat bowl base, one black ware goblet fragment with delicate ring burnishing, two large jar fragments with buff-green slips, and a jar fragment with a line of incised dots as decoration. The wall cleaning in the southeast corner attached to Floor 3 produced about 10 sherds, mostly thick storage jar body sherds, two pieces of fine red ware, and a flat base with buff slip. Beneath Floor 3, 30 sherds were collected, mostly storage jar ware with buff or buff-orange slips. One sherd had an incised wave decoration, another had dripped orange paint over a ribbed exterior. Several pieces of handmade cooking ware were also found as were several pieces of fine red ware goblets and two disc bases, one with a thick red slip. The square fire pit on Floor 3 produced eight sherds made of thick storage jar wares with buff or no slip, located at the base of the bricks of the installation. The early deep pit adjoining Room 5 produced 70 sherds, mostly buff slipped storage jars but also a few thick red ware jar fragments and 15 fine red ware pieces.

Room 10 Located south of Room 7, Room 10 was evidenced only by the shared wall and a small wall stub one mudbrick wide heading south from 65 cm west of the southeast corner of Room 7. In this area, only soft fill and bedrock was located. It may not have been a room. No sherds were collected here.

Room 11 Room 11 was preserved only in parts of the north and west walls. There may have been a door leading to Room 9. Three floors were identified. Floor 1 was 7-8 cm thick but melted into surface debris toward the east and south. Beneath it, there was a second well-constructed

floor (Floor 2) 2-3 cm thick. Floor 3 was patchy and covered with ash, similar to Floor 3 in Room 8. This floor sat on soft sand and bedrock. In the southern part of this room, a flat white stone of irregular size, approximately 36 x 48 cm, was set into Floor 2. To the east of this stone approximately 30 cm, Floor 2 disappeared into erosion. This room contained stone, much pottery, a fragment of a baked brick column piece, three grindstone fragments, a bit of stucco, and a ceramic horse figurine. Beneath Floor 3 there was also pottery and large amounts of ash. Room 11 ceramics were a general collection consisting of 15 sherds. Most were jars, including several bases and several ribbed pieces. Three goblet bases were found. Also in this area were many fragments of stone grindstones and bricks. On and under Floor 2, eight sherds were collected including jar, cooking, and fine ware fragments. On Floor 3 mostly fine wares were found, including one badly damaged T-shaped rim.

Room 12 Only parts of the west and north walls of Room 12 were preserved. The west wall was a composite, with a later wall of about 55 cm, possibly contemporary with the one associated with Floor 3 in Room 6, attached to one of 70 cm in thickness. Very little of this later wall, built on a foundation of river pebbles, was preserved. The north wall of the room appeared to have been thickened and re-plastered in a rebuild. Floor 1 of the room was mixed with surface debris. Floor 2 was 15 cm thick and passed beneath the later part of the west wall. A layer of ash sat atop this floor. Erosion had erased the eastern and southern parts of the floorings. Only 10 sherds were collected from Room 12, all on the surface. All were thick jar ware, including two ribbed pieces.

Analysis Area A stratigraphy showed a complicated set of at least four rebuilds over a long period of time. There was a thin layer of sand above the bedrock in each case and generally thin layers spread below each new flooring. The earliest clear occupation layer (Level 1) seemed to be associated with the early walls in Rooms 4, 5, and 6, though there may be an earlier one associated with the pit in Room 9. The building was then reconstructed to its current wall configuration and a thin floor layer installed. Its destruction by fire seems likely as there was evidence of ash above and inside this flooring in Rooms 4, 5, 8, and 9 (Level 2). A later construction created thick, well made mud flooring, seen in rooms 5, 6, 7 (floor 5?), 9, 11, and 12 (Level 3). The last occupation was difficult to ascertain as the level

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Figure 8.6.16 Plan of Sehyak Area B. J. Knudstad 1975

of erosion was below the floor level in some rooms (Level 4). Ideally, ceramics associated with each layer would help to date them and refine the stratigraphy, but the ceramics for the most important rooms (5 through 9) were not processed and are now lost.

Area B Area B was located approximately 40 m south of the temple compound of the site. Five rooms in this area were excavated and at least eight others were noted, though the boundaries of the building were unable to be determined because of the level of erosion on the hillside. At its north end was a boundary wall with at least four rows of rooms stretching to the south. There were at least four rooms leading from the boundary wall in each row in the two best preserved areas, but we were unable to determine

how much further these rows of rooms extended. Most notable about this building were the numerous large pits, often with emplaced storage jars, in each excavated room. This configuration indicated this was a storage area of goods for the compound. The number of unique objects found here suggests that what was stored were the treasures of the shrine. The pits were dug into the bedrock of the hill, composed of lightly concreted sand. Pits were fitted in after the construction of the walls because, in some cases, pits were excavated underneath parts of the bases of the walls. The excavation indicated there were at least two strata to this building, as the west doorway of Room 2 was located atop a storage pit from a previous stratum. Between these two layers, there was a period in which the rooms were unroofed as the pits were filled with water

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Figure 8.6.17 Sehyak Area B from north. Rooms 2 (left) and 4 in foreground with retaining wall in front of them. HSP75.10.15

Figure 8.6.18 Area B, Room 1, late level from east. Area includes much pitting. Later level door leading into Room 2 at right. HSP75.4.31

Figure 8.6.19 Room 1, earlier level, from east. Note two emplaced storage jars beneath doorway to Room 2 at right. HSP75.10.19

laid mud and sand. The reconstruction of the walls was accompanied with a new floor layer, which may have been below the level of the original floor, as no evidence of the first flooring could be found. Some of the pits were reused in the second period and new pits were dug, sometimes overlapping previous ones. Several of the second level pits either replaced or reused complete jars from the first period, but no sherds from broken pots were found inside the pits, indicating perhaps that most of the first set of jars were removed at an earlier date. Room 3, at the southern end of an eastern row of excavated rooms, had eight pits, the most of any of the excavated rooms. The remaining four excavated rooms had between four and six pits of varying sizes. Pits were

either straight sided or enlarged at the top for insertion of jars and were 50-130 cm in maximum width. A large number of sheep knucklebones were found in the debris, some perforated presumably to use as jewelry. Walls of the building were made of mudbricks approximately 43-44 cm square and 7-8 cm in thickness. Eastwest walls of the complex were generally thicker (1-1.3 m in width) than the corresponding north-south walls (0.6-0.9 m in width), the variations in width indicating the building was probably not constructed according to a master plan. The boundary wall to the north shared this inconsistency: 87 cm in width on the west, 68 cm in the center, and 48 cm in its eastern stretch. No doorways were located along this wall.

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the archaeology of southwest afghanistan Room 1 Located to the south of Room 2, Room 1 was approximately 3.5 m square. It had a single entrance of 1.1 m in width on its north wall. A pit on the west wall underlay the later wall of the building, as did a large pit in the northeast corner, which was cut by a smaller pit. Two overlapping small pits were on the south of the room, one large one in the center, and two others with ledge rim storage jars intact blocked the doorway north, showing the doorway to be from a level later than the jars. One of the two jars in situ was measured at 63 cm in height and 49 cm in internal diameter. A total of 893 sherds were collected from this room, mostly body sherds of storage jars but also jars, bowls, pitchers, and pedestal cups. About a tenth were of coarse cooking pot ware, handmade with the ware tempered with small gravels. Twenty-one pedestal bases were collected, both flat and concave, one of which had a collar around the stem. Fine ware rims were found related to these bases, simple thin vertical rims. Three basket handles, probably of water jars, were found along with the handle and neck of a pitcher. A hoard of objects was found in the southwest corner of this room 30 cm below the surface. It consisted of a single small ceramic unguent juglet of hard fired fine grained orange-red ware with a dark red slip and ring burnishing. The vessel had a comma shaped mark incised on the widest part of the vessel before firing. Found with this juglet were a glass paste turquoise bead, a carnelian bead, a fragment of a dark brown ostrich egg, and a gold earring. Also found there was a multihued sherd painted both inside and out in buff, black, green, and rust, with a distinctive wax coating on the exterior, probably an import from the Mediterranean area.

Figure 8.6.20 Gold earring found in hoard in Room 1. HSP75.X.28

Figure 8.6.21 Ceramic juglet found in hoard in Room 1. IMG0310

Figure 8.6.22 Wax-covered sherd found in hoard in Room 1. HSP75.K.2

Room 2 Against the north wall on the eastern side, Room 2 was rectangular, 3.8 m north-south and 3.5 m east-west. It shared a door on its south with Room 1 and had a second door 85 cm in width leading west into Room 4, with a stone door socket in situ. Three small pits were situated unevenly along the western wall, at least two of which preceded and were covered by the doorway to Room 4. Just north of these pits, another jar with a ledge rim embedded in situ in the floor against the center of the west wall of the room was 104 cm in height and 79 cm in internal diameter and likely related to the later occupation of the room. This jar used a fired clay column drum, presumably from the temple, as a lid. The column drum was 38 cm in

diameter and 6 cm thick. Its size was consistent with other column drums found in Area D and in the well. A ribbed storage jar with jabbed base decoration was found in situ in the southeast corner of this room at the level of the late doorway to Room 4. The vessel was hard fired, moderately gritty with a buff exterior slip and a tamga on one shoulder. Room 2 had three large overlapping pits on the south side. The pit on the southeast corner was completely under the later wall, while the southwest pit was partially underneath the entrance to Room 1. The assemblage here consisted of 1008 sherds, largely bodies and bases of storage jars but also bowls, pitchers,

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Figure 8.6.24 Stone socket for door leading to Room 4, late layer overlaying pits against west wall. HSP75.4.30

Figure 8.6.23 Area B, Room 2 from north, late level. Note pit blocking doorway into Room 4, at upper right, and pit with column drum lid on right. Complete storage jar with jabbed base discovered in upper level in southeast corner, upper left. Room 1 behind. HSP75.E.25

Figure 8.6.25 Room 2 pits against west wall in early level underneath doorway to Room 4. HSP75.4.25

and pedestal cups that came from this room. Pedestal bases were both flat and concave. Some of the simple vertical rims of these cups were discarded on site, but 72 rims of various different vessels were retained. There were 38 pieces of cooking ware, including eight rim fragments. Two lids of ceramic with knobs on their tops were found, similar to numerous others found on the surface. A whetstone, unperforated, was also uncovered. A unique find was a ceramic figurine of a stylized ram or wild goat head. The piece is of a gritty red ware and lightly covered with plaster. The large horns of the animal extend beyond the hollow plaster-filled rectangular base supporting the head. The figure is 5.8 x 6.5 cm and 5.8 cm in height.

Figure 8.6.26 Room 2 from east with storage jar in situ. Lid made of baked brick column drum has been removed. HSP75.H.32

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Figure 8.6.27 Jabbed base ribbed storage jar emplaced in late level of southeast corner of Room 2. HSP75.E.22

Figure 8.6.28 Jabbed base storage jar from Room 2. HSP75.16.3

Figure 8.6.29 Tamga on jabbed base storage jar from Room 2. HSP75.16.4

Figure 8.6.30 Deep pit from early level at south end of Room 2 dug into bedrock sand. No jar was found. HSP75.6.37

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Figure 8.6.32 Sherd with snake decoration from Room 3. HSP75.15.10 Figure 8.6.31 Ceramic stylized ram from Room 2. Photo C. Ellick. IMG7547

Figure 8.6.33 Room 3 from east. HSP75.10.20

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Figure 8.6.34 Room 4 from north. Two intact storage jars on east side, deep pit beneath doorway to Room 2 on left covered by a later floor. HSP75.10.16

Room 3 To the south, Room 3 was also square and approximately the same size as Room 1. There may have been a doorway in the southeast corner of the room. Three overlapping pits were against the west wall, ranging in diameter from 85 cm to 115 cm, including one that went almost completely under the wall. Evidence of a massed mud floor was on the south end of this room over a sand base. Two overlapping pits were in the center of the room. Two pits on the east wall and one on the north wall underlay the last walls of the room. Evidence of a previous east wall, one that didn’t have pits undercutting it, was found, including a mudbrick refacing of that wall. A total of 498 sherds, mostly bodies and bases of storage jars but also bowls, pitchers, and pedestal cups were collected. Pedestal bases were either flat or concave, with one having a collar around the stem. A small percentage of sherds found were handmade cooking pot fragments with crushed ceramic temper. One handle had an appliqued relief with incisions on the top resembling a snake. A ceramic form, possibly a pulley, with diameter 10.512 cm and height of 6 cm was discovered in the room. A corroded bronze fragment also came from this room.

Room 4 This room, against the north retaining wall west of Room 2, was approximately 3.8 x 2.7 m in size. Room 4 had three pits along its west wall and another on the southern part of the east wall that likely preceded the doorway into Room 2, which it would have otherwise blocked. North of it along the east wall were two intact ledge rim storage jars.

Figure 8.6.35 Ceramic lion figurine from Room 4. HSP76.6.33

Room 4 produced 636 sherds, largely of storage jars but also bowls, pitchers, and pedestal cups. The 10 pedestal bases were all concave. The collection also included 10 sherds of handmade cooking ware, including three rims, and 54 rims of other vessels. Half of an olive colored glass paste bead and a ceramic handle with an attachment shaped like a cowrie shell were also uncovered. One lightly fired piece of molded mud and ceramic appeared to be in the shape of a lion’s head.

Room 5 Approximately 3.5 x 2.5 m in size, Room 5 was located west of Room 1. A door connected it to Room 4 to the north approximately 83 cm in width. A second door in the southwest corner was 75 cm in width. Two small pits blocked the southwest doorway, one of which had most of a storage jar embedded. Two overlapping pits were in the north center of the room, one with a storage jar embedded.

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Figure 8.6.36 Room 5 from the west. HSP75.10.18

Figure 8.6.37 Horse figurine from Room 5. HSP76.6.32

Figure 8.6.38 Horse? figurine from Room 5. HSP76.6.34

Two large pits were located along the south and east sides, the eastern one with an intact jar inside. Depth of these pits and dimensions of the jars were not recorded. Two fragments of horse figurines were excavated in this room, but their exact locations were not recorded. The remaining rooms in Area B were not excavated.

Area C Area C was located approximately 30 m west of the temple in Area D and also on the crest of the hill. The area consisted of the foundation of a single, wide north-south running wall, 1.7 m thick and approximately 15 m in length. The foundation consisted of pakhsa in three layers of 25-30 cm each. The foundation rested on sandstone bedrock. The wall itself no longer existed, presumably robbed out. On either side of the wall was a preparatory fill made of blocks of sand, clay, and river pebbles dumped in layers.

This fill ran the full length of the wall as wide as 4 m on the west side and 2.5 m on the east side. A depression within the fill consisted of a 3 cm thick layer of gray ash beneath a layer of burned mud plaster. Above this were 6 cm of layers of spongy lime gypsum with indications of burn marks between layers. Baked brick fragments and bits of plaster were found within these layers. No field notes could be located indicating what was found in this area. Given the size of, and the care taken in preparing for, the foundation for this wall, this was likely a second large building accompanying the Area D temple on the crest of the hill. The alternating thin strata of ash and plaster was suggestive—we found a similar layering at a fire temple, Temple 215 (see Chapter 5)—but there is too little remaining of this building to reach any conclusions as to its size, plan, or function. No ceramics were collected in Area C, though a piece of carved stucco was found.

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Area D Area D was likely the central shrine of the site, located on the eastern side of the crest of the hill. A detailed stratigraphic recording was not possible since the erosion of this part of the site was generally below the foundation level of the building. The building followed a 4-peristyle broad building plan oriented with an entrance on the east through a peristyle to a porch which sat before the cella. There were fragmentary pieces of walls and flooring behind the cella. Main walls of the building were constructed of pakhsa, with at least three layers separated by thin layers of dark rounded river pebbles. The east and west walls were 1.55 m in width, the north wall 1.7 m in width. The south wall was too badly eroded to be defined. The cella was approximately 11 m in width and 4.5 m in depth. A doorway of 1.5 m in width entered the room from the east wall, which had later been blocked by a wall of mudbricks. This doorway was not centered in the wall but was 4.4 m from the north wall of the building. There was a possibility of a second doorway, or an earlier one, that was later blocked about 1.2 m to the south of the extant one. There was a later wall built against the exterior of the east wall of the cella, somewhat uneven but approximately 1 m in width. It was eroded away on its south side. Against the north wall, there was also an additional pakhsa wall attached to the original, 1.7 m in width and extending toward the west at least 5 m past the west wall of the cella. To the west and south, depressions were cut into the sand just outside the walls of the building and filled with floor debris. At the east end of this depression outside the southeast corner of the building was a small pit, 55 cm in diameter. A similar pit, 45 cm in diameter, sat directly upon where the west wall would have run, thus postdating the building. There

Figure 8.6.39 Plan of Area C. J. Knudstad 1975

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Figure 8.6.40 Area C looking north. Long pakhsa foundation of wall on left with fill for accompanying rooms on both sides of it. Shorter east-west wall fragment in foreground. HSP75.5.7

Figure 8.6.41 Section of foundation of long wall of Area C. HSP75.5.17

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the archaeology of southwest afghanistan was an extant patch of flooring on sand on the southwest side of a presumed room behind the cella, an area of approximately 2.4 x 2.8 m. Approximately 3 m to the northwest of the cella wall was the mudbrick platform surrounding a well for the building. The well was approximately 1.5 m in diameter and lined at its top in mudbrick three to four courses wide. The excavation of the well is described below. The peristyle showed round pits for three columns and possibly a fourth at the southeast end. Columns had been placed on a pakhsa socle 40 cm high and 1.5 m wide on a sand base. All of the columns that had stood on it had been removed; all that remained were pits up to 1 m deep where the columns presumably stood. Column drums were found in the well and at least one was used to cover a pit in area B, described above. Clearly, the columns were dismantled before the abandonment of the site. One columnar pit was excavated and contained bits of lime cement and a brickbat of fired ceramic in the fill, covered with sand and mud melt from the building. Pieces of mud flooring 10-15 cm thick sat both inside and outside the peristyle, on the porch leading to the cella. Outside the north central pillar was a groundstone seat and trough with a pit to its east overlapping the pit that once contained a column. The porch, like the cella, was approximately 11 m in width and 2.3 m in depth. Its north wall extended 2 m beyond the cella and was met by the edge of the socle there. The south wall was too badly eroded to be reconstructed. Few ceramics were collected in Area D. These included pieces of several very fine bowls and small jars with red slip and ring

Figure 8.6.42 Foundation of long wall (left) and fill foundation for adjacent area at right. HSP75.5.17

Figure 8.6.43 Decorated stucco fragment from Area C. HSP75.15.4

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Figure 8.6.44 Plan of the Area D shrine. J. Knudstad 1975

burnishing, a small broken unguent jar with a black burnished slip, two goblet pedestal base pieces, part of a jar lid, a coarse handmade cooking ware sherd, and a badly damaged part of a horse figurine. Approximately 30 m west of the Area D well, two connecting mudbrick walls were preserved, 45-50 cm in width. One wall pointed north for 5.2 m, then turned east for 4.6 m and was set on a foundation layer of small river pebbles. At the southern end, a break (doorway?) of 1 m

led to a continuation of the north-south wall extending at least another 1.5 m south. Another piece of wall, possibly part of the same one, was visible for 1 m in length 6-7 m further south. A mud-laid terrace flooring sat within the angle of the northeast corner of these walls. Several meters east of the north-south wall a pot of 50 cm in diameter was set into the flooring. Another mudbrick wall fragment parallel to the north-south wall and of the same width and construction was found 10 m further east. No collection of

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Figure 8.6.45 Badly eroded Area D from the east. Two of the foundation pits for baked brick columns in foreground with the southern part of the porch and cella behind them. Area C on crest in background. HSP75.18.21

Figure 8.6.46 Plan of Area E. J. Knudstad 1975

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b

c

Figure 8.6.48 Plan of Area F. J. Knudstad 1975

Figure 8.6.47 a, b, c Decorative stucco fragments found in Area E. HSP75.13.26, 27, 28

Figure 8.6.49 Excavated pit from Area F that produced a collection of ceramics. HSP75.2.24

Figure 8.6.50 Mudbrick with human footprint. HSP75.2.23

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the archaeology of southwest afghanistan artifacts was made in the area beyond the shrine nor was any of it systematically excavated.

Area E Approximately 25 m south of Area D, there was another collection of rooms labelled Area E. Two thick walls, 2 m in thickness each, extended to the north and east from a corner, the north wall 15 m, the east wall 18 m in length. The area inside the angle was unexcavated. To the east and south of this corner were two rows of rooms. Attached to the thick east wall was a room 3.1 x 5.2 m with north-south walls 1 m thick and an east wall 0.75 m thick. The entrance was likely on the east side. To the west was a small square room, approximately 4 m on a side, extending to the west of the thick north-south wall with its likely entrance on the north. A wall fragment extending west from this room indicted the likelihood of another room further west. To the south of these two rooms and adjoining them was a row of three additional rooms. The two easternmost rooms were each approximately 4 m square. The westernmost of these two had a low bench in the northeast corner 80 cm in width. The room furthest west in this row was approximately 5.5 x 4 m in size. Walls were thicker, 1–1.1 m in width, and the entrance to the room was likely on the northwest. Several pieces of fine red ware burnished bowls were collected here, as was a complete small unguent jar with bands of black and red paint on its lower half. The area did produce substantial amounts of decorated brick and stucco and a single broken horse figurine. Field notes for this area have not been found, so additional details are not preserved, nor were any photographs taken of this area.

Area F This was an area of three or more rooms on the north end of the mound approximately 50 m from Area D. While architectural drawings were made and 43 sherds drawn, no field notes from R. Hamilton’s excavation were found. The westernmost room was bordered on the north by a wall of 1.7 m, on the west 1.3 m, on the east 1.8 m leaving a room of 2 m in width by at least 7 m in length. The north wall was constructed of square mudbricks (dimensions not recorded). The north wall may have continued to the west but the level of preservation made that unclear. Also unclear was the composition of the other walls. No remnants of a south wall remained. To the east of this room were two smaller rooms with thinner walls (0.7-1.2 m). Dimensions of these rooms were not recorded but the

Figure 8.6.51 Well in Area D with mudbrick platform. HSP75.10.28

western one was about 2 x 3 m and the eastern one was about 2 x 2 m. The southern wall of the eastern room seemed to have a later wall overlapping an earlier one, indicating more than one building period in this area. None of the rooms in this area were excavated; however, a pit in the area was excavated and returned a substantial number of sherds. A mudbrick was found in this area that had an intact human footprint in it. Five sherds from this area were decorated with tamga marks. At least eight sherds collected from this area were fine ware hard fired red thin goblet rims with deep red slips and ring burnishing. Rims were vertical, either thinned or bulbous at the top. Most contained either one or two thin grooves on the exterior of the vessel. Also collected from this area were many body sherds from storage jars, both ribbed and unribbed, many with buff slips, and fragments of large red ware storage jars. Fine hard fired goblet pieces were found, red slipped and often ring burnished, as well as flat, slightly concave, and deeply concave bases from these goblets. One of these was overfired to black with ring burnishing. Several cooking pieces were found. Some hard fired gray wares with dark brown slips and heavy burnishing were collected. Disc bases of fine red ware bowls with red slips and ring burnish, and a fine jug with thick radial burnishing were also found. Also included were flat bases of large basins or jars, two of them with ring burnishing on the exterior. One jabbed base was found.

The Well The discovery of the well adjacent to the shrine in Area D provided us with several interesting opportunities: finding the level of the water table on this plateau above the river valley, finding evidence of when the site was constructed and abandoned, and finding some objects that would have

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Figure 8.6.52 Excavation of well in Area D. Note the numerous large pieces of ceramic jars pulled from inside the well. HSP75.T.3

Figure 8.6.53 Jar stand found at 12 m depth in the well. HSP75.35.10

been secured in a sealed context. Our excavation gave us intriguing data on all three questions. Our workers encountered the water table at about 15 m below the modern surface and were able to excavate another 30-50 cm before it became impossible to work any deeper. There was no indication we had reached the base of the original well at that point, so it is possible the water table may have been lower when the site was occupied. The well was probably dug during the initial construction of the site, given the distance between Sehyak and the 427

Figure 8.6.54 Handmade vessel found at 11.5 m depth in the well. IMG7552

Figure 8.6.55 Lamp found at 11.5 m depth in the well. IMG7598

Figure 8.6.56 Sample of tamga marks found at Sehyak. IMG7662

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Figure 8.6.56 Sample of tamga marks found at Sehyak. IMG7662

river. It is likely the well was abandoned and filled in at a single time. Our radiocarbon dates from various points along its depth between 4.8 m and 15 m below the surface consistently returned second to third century ce calibrated dates, which gives us both a terminus ante quem for the digging of the well and a likely end date of the site’s occupation (see the radiocarbon section below). The well produced numerous bricks, wall debris, charcoal, and other detritus. We found numerous ceramic pieces, some complete, including many large sections of storage jars. Two had tamga marks. The well also returned 14 pie-shaped pieces of baked brick columns and some architectural decorations. And, at the level of the water table, we found fragments of an inscription in Greek and Aramaic characters that we presumed had been affixed to the shrine. The inscription is discussed in Appendix 3 of this volume.

Figure 8.6.57 Sample column drum from Sehyak well. IMG7561

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Figure 8.6.58 Baked brick column base found in the initial survey of Sehyak in 1971. HSP71.33.34

Figure 8.6.59 Architectural decoration of highly burnished black baked brick, which would have been affixed to the shrine. Surface find. IMG7583

Objects

Fourteen of the column drum pieces found in the well were 5-7 cm thick, 34-40 cm in diameter, and had center holes, presumably to hold a dowel to give them tensile strength. Two others were found in Area D, and one complete drum covering a storage jar was found in a pit in Area B. Column drums were covered with black carved fluted baked bricks, so that the original standing columns had diameters approaching 44-50 cm. Green vitrified baked torus bricks were their foundations at the base of the columns. A garland fragment was found that was likely attached to the top of one of the columns. Like the remaining brick, it was dark gray and polished, a decorative choice not a firing accident. Bits of white plaster adhered to its interior. The decorative bricks were not finely made and occasionally showed cracking in firing. The exteriors of the decorative bricks were slipped in dark gray or black and burnished. Approximately a dozen animal figurines were found at the site, most of horses with riders. Also found were rams, a lion, and a human torso, possibly of a rider. All were made of red ware ceramics and some were decorated with incised decoration or applique (see Figures 8.6.31, 35, 37, and 38 above). Numerous pieces of both stucco and fired brick were discovered. These included material that would have been

Sehyak was rich in objects rarely found at other archaeological sites we surveyed and excavated. There were numerous figurines, architectural fragments, tamga marks, column drums, and other unique objects that denoted this site as an abnormal one. These objects are described in Volume 2. The bilingual Greek-Aramaic inscription from the well is described at the end of this volume. We found more than 75 sherds with inscribed markings, either pre- or post-firing, from simple incisions to some that might be alphabetic. This was a much larger number of tamga marks than found at any other Sistan site. While some were found on fine red ware pieces, some with red slips and ring burnishing, most were found on the shoulders of storage jars. Marks ranged from single or multiple incised lines, presumably numbers, to complex design, to characters that resembled either Greek or Aramaic script. Most were surface finds, though Area A produced three in situ and Area F produced five from excavation. The Area D well produced two. Surprisingly, Area B, which had many fragments of storage jars, produced only one (see Figure 8.6.29 above). Seventeen column baked brick drum fragments were found in all, most pie-shaped quarters of a column.

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Figure 8.6.61 Baked brick column decoration in hard fired red ware with white slip, surface find. HSP76.D.32

Figure 8.6.62 Baked brick column decoration similar to 8.6.61, surface find. HSP76.D.33

Figure 8.6.60 Baked brick architectural decoration, surface find. IMG7581

Figure 8.6.63 Baked brick column decoration similar to 8.6.61, surface find. HSP76.D.35

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Figure 8.6.64 Dark gray stucco decoration with wave pattern likely affixed to the shrine, surface find. HSP75.13.37

Figure 8.6.65 Stucco decoration with diamond inside triangle pattern, surface find. HSP75.16.5

Figure 8.6.66 Back side of stucco decoration showing grooving for affixing to shrine, surface find. HSP75.16.11

Figure 8.6.67 Stucco decoration with wave pattern covered with white plaster, probably painted, surface find. HSP75.K.19

Figure 8.6.68 Basalt quern, surface find. HSP75.15.6

Figure 8.6.69 Basalt door socket, surface find. HSP75.15.8

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the archaeology of southwest afghanistan wrapped around column drums and others placed upon the architrave. Several fragments of torus bases were also discovered. No architectural decorations were found in situ because of the highly eroded nature of the site. An iron axe was found in Area A and fragments of an iron sword inside the well at 14 m depth. Several grindstones and mortar fragments also came from the site, as did both brick and stone pieces used as door sockets. Ceramics from the site are analyzed in Volume 2.

Radiocarbon Dates Eleven carbon dates from sealed contexts were taken at this site. Area D sample (SEH.75D.C14.1), where the main temple was located, was of charcoal and ash 30 cm below the surface and produced a date of 308 bce +/- 83 cal. This would be an early date for the establishment of the temple, though not impossible. Its context near the ground surface is fraught with the possibility of contamination. Three other dates were taken from the well in Area D. A split sample (SEH.75D.C14.2A,B) taken 4.8 m below the surface produced varying dates, 120 ce +/- 84 cal and 241 ce +/- 109 cal. If associated with the filling of the well after abandonment, both would date to late in the Parthian or early in the Sasanian period. A deeper sample (SEH.75D. C14.3), taken 13.5 m below the surface and 1.5 m above the current water table produced a date of 235 ce +/- 115 cal, consistent with the sample from higher up. The final sample from the well (SEH.75D.C14.4), taken at water table level 15 m below the surface and associated with the inscription, produced a date of 120 ce +/- 84 cal, also consistent with the filling of the well in the late Parthian/early Sasanian period. Six samples were taken from Area A. Room 1’s sample (SEH.75A1.C14.1) came from the unsealed pit in that room, 80-100 cm below the surface, and returned a date of 534 ce +/- 65, likely contaminated or a result of later looters. A sample from Room 3 (SEH.75A3.C14.1) was taken from an unsealed fill context 50 cm below the surface and returned a date of 311 ce +/- 65, possibly from the end of the site or contaminated with later material. A Room 5 sample (SEH.75A5.C14.1) was from a sealed context, beneath the last floor of that room, 30 cm below the surface. The date of 62 bce +/- 82 might represent an intermediate date of Area A though its proximity to the current ground surface may have contaminated the sample. Two unsealed samples from Room 9 (SEH.75A9.C14.1, 2) came from on a late floor close to the surface and from a pit, 150 cm below the surface, respectively. Their dates, from the tenth century bce and the eighth to ninth century ce, are equally inappropriate for

Figure 8.6.70 Polished travertine pounder?, surface find. IMG7564

the site and are likely contaminated. A final Area A sample was too small to analyze. In all, the samples seemed to show that the temple might date to the third century bce, though more likely the second to first centuries bce, and was abandoned and the well filled in during the second to third centuries ce.

Analysis A temple and its compound surrounded by an enclosure wall sat atop the low hill overlooking the Helmand River at Sehyak. It was likely built somewhere between the third and first centuries bce, based upon radiocarbon evidence within the structure and ceramic evidence on the mound. Facing east, it was built in a Mesopotamian style with a colonnade, porch, and central shrine room. The community was not likely wealthy, as columns were all of local fired brick decorated with stucco and baked brick elements. A bilingual inscription in Greek and Aramaic characters was affixed to the building with iron dowels, the paleography fitting a first century bce to second century ce context. We do not know to whom the shrine was dedicated, though if Ahuramazda carved in Aramaic is original to the inscription, it would help clarify that (see Appendix 3). At some point, the temple was abandoned and its main entrance sealed by a wall, though the building remained in use. It is likely at this time that some of the columns had collapsed and at least one drum was reused as a jar lid in Area B. The inscription that overlay the entrance had roughly carved graffiti in Aramaic script added to the initial text. Another public building constructed at the other end of the crest of the hill (Area C) may have been a second focal point for the site, though we have no way

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excavated sites of knowing if the buildings were contemporary or sequential, nor whether their functions were identical or different. This second large building was preserved only in a well-constructed platform and foundations of a single large wall, but at least one stucco fragment was found in its vicinity. In addition to the shrine, there was a domestic area in Area A that was likely built to support the temple and reused over a long time period with at least three major occupational strata. There was also a storage area/treasury in Area B. The existence of more than 75 tamga marks on ceramics and the recovery of more than 15 ceramic figurines in the occupation areas and elsewhere around the crest of the hill show the site had some importance. Area B, with its accumulation of storage jars and many unique objects, also supports this idea.

Areas E and F were occupied as well, but our work did not recover much information about their functions. Part or all of the site may have been destroyed by fire at one time during its occupation, given the number of rooms in Area A that produced an ashy layer but were reoccupied at a later time. Area B also shows abandonment for a period but then a rebuild and reuse. Sometime in the third century ce, the buildings were torn down to their foundations and some of the material was thrown down the well. Other bits were hidden in hoards, as we found in Area B. We encountered numerous early first millennium sites in Afghan Sistan during our work, but no other site had been so completely leveled as Sehyak, suggesting a deliberate act of dismantling the site rather than its gradual erosion from wind and water.

8.7 Lat Qala Other names: Kona Qala II Gazetteer #: 687 Coordinates: 30°10'15.75" x 62°41'17.47" Type: Multi-period tepe and a recent fortress Date: Bronze Age, Early Iron, Achaemenid, Hellenistic, Parthian, Sasanian, Timurid, post-Timurid Lat Qala, near the village of Lat in the Rudbar area, was called Kona (or Kuhna) Qala by our local community and that was the name we used in the field. It being the second site in the Helmand Valley given that name, we used the designation Kona Qala II in our field notes, though have adopted Lat Qala here to conform with the 2019 Gazetteer designation. The site was a conical tepe standing approximately 14 m above the modern plain and 75 m in diameter. Our excavation took place over a span of four weeks in November/December 1975. A recent post-Timurid fort was the only standing architecture on the top of the mound. We excavated two thin trenches into the mound. Trench

Figure 8.7.1 Plan of Lat Qala showing location of late period fort and both excavation trenches. J. Knudstad 1975

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Figure 8.7.2 Lat Qala on the Rudbar plain from the dasht to the south. HSP75.18.33

and glazed ware” (Bellew 1874, 201). The Boundary Commission visited the site in October 1884, though they may have confused the name Kona Qala, “old fort,” with nearby Karbasak. The site is described thus: The mound is high—perhaps 60 or 70 feet, and probably artificial, perhaps an ancient remain. The fort crowning it appears to be in good preservation. It is a small square structure without towers but having lofty walls and a double tier of loopholes. I thought I perceived others at the base of the walls. Entrance is on the west side. The ground for a great distance round is covered with bits of pottery and brick. (Maitland 1888, 57) Figure 8.7.3 Post-Timurid fortress on summit of Lat Qala. HSP75.18.37

A, on the northwest side of the site, was selected because an erosion channel in that area had cleared out some of the later occupation layers. A second excavation, Trench B, was opened on the east side, stretching from the flattened top of the mound to the plain level and below. The site was previously noted by Bellew: “on a low mound, are the ruins of Lat Cala, of the history of which nobody could tell us anything. The surface around is strewed to redness with bits of broken pottery, bricks,

The crudely constructed building on the top of the mound was a four-sided fort approximately 15 x 20 m in size with walls approximately 1.2 m at the thickest and 0.5 m in thinner parts. The mudbrick construction used bricks approximately 23 x 23 x 4-5 cm in size. Corners were oriented to the cardinal points. An entrance, 95 cm in width, was on the southwest side. There were no interior structures inside the defensive walls. The exterior part of the wall carried above the inner level to form a parapet. Inset in this upper exterior wall were numerous slit windows 10-12 cm in width, as noted by Maitland in the late nineteenth century. The building rested on earlier mudbrick constructions.

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Figure 8.7.4 East stratigraphic section of Trench A. Note large mudbrick platform to the right and layers of water wash downhill to the left. J. Knudstad 1975

Figure 8.7.5 Location of Trench A on the northwest side of the mound. Note flat summit, probably leveled during construction of the post-Timurid fort. HSP75.3.37

No other buildings sat on the mound or around it, though the top appeared to have been f lattened, likely during the process of constructing the fort.

Trench A Trench A was excavated on the northwest part of the mound, starting at the plateau on which the late structure sat and dropping almost to the modern ground surface. The trench was 20 m in length and 4 m wide and was dug in an attempt to compare the stratigraphy with that uncovered in Trench B on the east side of the mound. At its deepest level, on the northwest end, 8 m of cultural debris were excavated. The particular location of this trench was decided by the existence of an erosion gulley

Figure 8.7.6 Trench A in an erosion gulley prior to excavation, looking southeast. HSP75.14.28

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the archaeology of southwest afghanistan that cut 3 m into the plateau of the mound. Our hope was that this would allow us to reach earlier occupation levels more quickly. Sadly, we discovered in our excavation that the water channels we saw on the surface were matched by other water channels further below and, while we regularly cleared away material we knew to be late intrusions, they were replaced on the next level below by others of the same sort. This can be summed up simply, on the last day of a four-week excavation, at the bottom of the lowest part of the trench, 8 m below the surface, we discovered a black paint under turquoise glazed sherd of Timurid or later date, indicating extreme mixing of occupational layers and lack of stratigraphic integrity. On the southern part of the trench, the excavation was restricted to uncovering the mudbrick wall or platform that was preserved wherever the water wash had not taken it away. At the southern edge, up to 4 m of depth of mudbricks 47-50 x 29-30 x 8-10 cm were exposed for 4 m in width. There appeared to be at least two construction periods with one mass of mudbrick 3 m in height offset from the one below. After the gulley to its north, 2-3 m wide and 2-3 m deep, another mass of mudbricks, assumed to be a continuation of the southern mass, was exposed. This mass stood 3 m

above the lowest point of excavation and was 4.5 m wide. The mudbrick was rife with large animal burrows. We did not excavate deeply enough to know whether this structure of mudbrick represented a large platform extending to the ancient valley surface or capped earlier occupation layers. To the north of the mudbrick mass was a confusing array of debris, deposited at an angle down the slope of the

Figure 8.7.7 Fragment of flooring emerging from east balk of Trench A, surrounded by previously excavated erosion debris. HSP75.17.9

Figure 8.7.8 Massive mudbrick platform at southeast end of Trench A. HSP75.28.27

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Figure 8.7.9 Wall fragment and adjacent floor in Trench A. Extensive water wash around and below it did not allow us to date the construction. HSP75.17.10

Figure 8.7.10 Final section of southeast balk of Trench A showing numerous layers of downslope erosion in that area. HSP75.28.19

mound. There were patches of ash, collections of stone, and fragments of walls, though not clearly attached to any occupational surface. In the western balk, 14 m from the south end of the trench and 0.5 m below the surface, were the remains of a baked brick paving 1.5 m long that provided the foundation for a baked brick oven. Bricks were 51 x 47 x 7 cm but didn’t extend into the excavation area enough to determine the oven’s age or relationship to other cultural elements. Gray dust extended to the north and downslope, possibly ash from the oven. There were occasional spots in the excavation area where horizontal occupational levels and related walls were discovered, but these had obviously been built upon water wash of a previous level and so were suspect. The clearest stratigraphy we found came out of the west balk 11 m north of the southern end of the trench and 0.5 m below the modern surface, an area of about 3.5 x 1.5 m. In this area were the remains of the corner joining two mudbrick walls that stuck out diagonally from the balk, 146 x 56 cm in size, running toward the southwest into the balk, and six courses in height (65 cm). Full width of the wall unknown. Bricks were 37 x 37 x 9 cm with a greenish mortar and had been burned, giving the wall a reddish tinge. Fragmentary remains of a second mudbrick wall, seemingly the fortification wall of the site, began 80 cm to the south of the more clearly defined wall but were washed away in most places and could not be easily articulated. It appeared the fortification wall predated the other as its related fill seemed to go beneath the more clearly defined wall. To the southeast of the defined wall were the remains of a flooring 10-15 cm in thickness and extending about 90 cm east of the wall. The flooring contained much ash, large sherds, and bits of brick embedded in the surface. Both above and below this flooring was a fill of crumbly mud intermixed with pieces of brick, flooring, large ceramics, stone, bone, and ash. To the north of the articulated wall was a hard-packed mud fill, possibly filling a passageway between the two walls. Beneath these walls were 60 cm of laminated fills above 1 m of grayish pakhsa. A flooring sat beneath this fill. Another wall 1 m in height of mudbricks 38 x 38 x 8 cm in size was uncovered beneath that. This wall was 5 m below the surface and 1.5 m above the lowest part of the trench. It sat upon horizontal fills. The area exposed here was extremely small and patchy and could not be excavated. Because we were waiting to find a “clean” level from which to carefully excavate, no sherds were collected from these few patches of intact stratigraphy, thus we 437

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Figure 8.7.11 South stratigraphic section of upper (west) half of Trench B with layers identified. J. Knudstad 1975

cannot correlate the strata from Trench A with any stratified layers of Trench B.

Trench B Trench B was excavated on the east side of the mound and stretched 44 m in length and 4 m in width from the artificially-flattened plateau on top of the mound to the modern surface of the plain 12 m below. The lowest part of Trench B extended 4 m below the modern surface. The trench was divided into six uneven sections (A-F) from the top.

Area A Area A was excavated along the plateau from the west balk to the first standing wall (B1). The area was 19 m in length and its ceramics separated into a surface fill and five separate horizontal strata. At the far western end of this section, a burned mud floor (A1) emerged 0.5 m from the west balk, beneath which were a set of five vertical mudbricks (A2) standing on their sides 48 cm apart and each 30 x 30 x 8 cm in size. Amid the other surface debris, there was the likelihood of a pakhsa wall 1.5 m wide and 70 cm in height approximately 2 m from the west balk (A3). No intact surfaces reached this wall on either side. Beneath this area, another thin burned mud floor lay 1 m below the surface (A4) but

did not connect to any architectural features. A layer of pakhsa (A5) 25 cm thick and 4 m long sat above a larger stratum of solid pakhsa of green and brown clays 1 m thick (A6) and extending 4 m to the east. Toward the east, a fill and possibly a floor (A7) separated these two pakhsa layers. No structures or floorings intersected this pakhsa platform. This platform sat atop 70 cm of clay and mud debris atop another clay flooring (A8). Below a fill beneath this floor was another pakhsa (possibly mudbrick) mass 4 m below the surface (A9) and rising toward the east from a few centimeters thickness at the west balk to almost 50 cm 4 m to the east before being cut off by a fill. Further east, a series of mud floorings (A10) were situated between the vertical bricks and the mass of pakhsa below, but we were not able to associate these floorings with either the bricks or the pakhsa nor with any walls, except for the lowest floor (A11) which sat upon fill atop the lowest pakhsa mass almost 4 m below the current surface. The eastern third of Area A was 6-9 m from the western balk and bounded on the east by a mudbrick wall (B1) that reached to the contemporary surface. A single row of square bricks of approximately 40 x 40 x 8 cm in size comprised this wall, 1.2 m high and 40 cm wide. While three mud floors approached this wall from the west (A12), all were truncated by a fill adjacent to the wall.

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Figure 8.7.12 Lat Qala from east with area of Trench B outlined along the slope to the right of the large tree. HSP75.14.33

The lowest of these floors, approximately 1 m below the surface and covered with ash, also intersected the neck of a large intact storage jar (A13) at the south balk about 75 cm west of the wall. It is likely this jar was set in the ground and accessed from the ashy floor. Fifty centimeters directly below the bottom of Wall B1, separated by fill, was the top of a mudbrick wall 1.5 m tall and almost 1 m wide (B2). This wall was bordered on the west by fill and patches of mud, beneath which lay five or more intact floorings (A14), some of mud, some of ash. These were approximately 70 cm thick in toto but the area that might connect them to the lower wall was not excavated so it is unclear. There was 0.5 m of fill beneath the floorings to the bottom of the excavated area, 4 m below the contemporary surface.

Area B Located to the east of Area A, Area B was very narrow, extending only from Walls B1/B2 described above to the next intact mudbrick wall, less than 2 m to the east. Top of this wall (B3) was 1.6 m below the surface, 1 m in height, and 0.4 m in width. Above this wall was an area of fill, which included sherds, stone, and some bones. Between the eastern wall of Area B and the lower wall bounding Area A was an area of collapsed pakhsa and other fill covered with

animal holes. No flooring was defined between the two walls creating Area B.

Area C Area C was bounded on the west by the wall at the bottom of Area B (B3) and on the east by a very thick wall area (C1) that must have been the defensive wall of the qala at some period, an area 5 m in width. The lower parts of the exposed wall were constructed of pakhsa, the upper sections of mudbrick. At the east end of Area C, the slope dropped very steeply. Before this dropoff at the western end of Area C and 50 cm below the surface there was a fragment of an ashy flooring (C2) and a pile of black ash next to it, but it did not connect to any walls. Beneath and around this bit of flooring was only fill and debris for 1.4 m, beneath which were several other ash-covered mud floorings (C3), which again did not directly connect to any walls though they were at the same horizontal level as Wall B3. Another mud flooring did connect to the bottom of this lower wall (C4). Beneath this were 35 cm of soft mud fill then another sequence of 20 cm of floors (C5), then more fill, then a floor at the lowest level of excavation (C6), 4 m below the modern surface. J. Knudstad did not have time in the field to finish the drawing of C5 and C6, though a description was included in his notes, but these

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Figure 8.7.13 Western part of Trench B (Areas A, B, C). Wall B3 in foreground, Wall B1 behind. Area A behind Wall B1. HSP75.20.2

Figure 8.7.14 South section of western part of Area A, Trench B, showing various levels described. HSP75.28.17

Figure 8.7.15 Trench B west end, flooring (A1) just beneath surface held up by five vertical mudbricks beneath (A2). Possibly a wall (A3) close to surface at far left. HSP75.17.15

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Figure 8.7.16 South section of eastern part of Area A. Storage jar A13 emplaced beneath flooring A12. Approximately 1.5 m of fill beneath separate these from earlier floors A14 at bottom of photo. HSP75.28.12

Figure 8.7.17 Area B of Trench B. Wall B1 visible top center in section, Wall B2 below. HSP75.28.11

Figure 8.7.18 Wall B1 in foreground with Wall B 2 beneath. In situ jar A13 behind, looking west. HSP75.17.3

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Figure 8.7.19 South stratigraphic section of lower (eastern) part of Trench B, showing areas described. J. Knudstad 1975

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Figure 8.7.20 Areas D, E, F from east. Large mudbrick platform in Area D at rear. HSP75.28.2

Figure 8.7.21 Trench B, Area D. Pakhsa layer D4 (right) overlays large mudbrick wall D1. HSP75.28.7

floors appeared to abut Wall B3 on one side and the thick pakhsa section of Wall C1 on the other. This large wall east of Area C (C1) extended beneath the excavation area but was exposed for 4 m in height and 7 m thick. It was constructed of alternating layers of mudbrick and pakhsa. It was pocked with erosion holes, animal holes, and sat beneath approximately 0.5 m of surface debris.

and other debris. A layer of animal droppings sat 0.5 m below the modern surface. No occupational layers were found in this area. The Area D wall had numerous erosion cavities, animal holes, and areas of deteriorated brick. Underneath Wall D1, 4.5 m below the surface, was a hard flooring (D2) covered with ash and debris. Beneath this floor was another stratum of mudbrick (D3), 0.5 m of which was excavated before the end of the season. The bottom of this layer was not reached. It was possibly part of a mudbrick platform. Against the western face of the Area D wall was laid thick layers of pakhsa (D4) of yellow, brown, and green clays. These layers were 4 m long and as much as 2 m high, leading downhill to Area E. The pakhsa sat on a floor of mudbrick two courses high (D5) that extended to the east, ending when cut off by the modern surface. It sat on another gray pakhsa foundational level (D6) 35 cm in thickness. Level D6 sat on top of mudbrick D3. Above these pakhsa layers was more erosional debris. The lowest

Area D At the base of the large defensive Wall C1, but still 7 m above the contemporary ground surface, Area D was constituted mostly of a mudbrick wall 3.5 m high and 4 m wide (D1). This wall abutted the main defensive wall at its base. Bricks in this wall were partially measured, 25 x ? x 9 cm, and had 4-5 cm of plaster separating the courses. The top was 2.5 m beneath the modern surface and the two walls were separated by 2 m of erosion material, wind and water laid layers mixed with mud, mudbrick,

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Figure 8.7.23 Bronze juglet found in fill of Trench B. Photo by C. Ellick. IMG182

Figure 8.7.22 Area F at base of Trench B, excavated to 4 m below modern ground surface. Cultural materials found within several centimeters of the bottom of the trench. HSP75.28.5

mudbrick wall of Area D (D3) extended beneath this floor, though the excavation ended without finding its base.

Area E Beginning only 2 m above the modern ground surface, Area E was 5 m wide but was only excavated to 1-2 m in depth. At its western edge at the bottom was the continuation of the Area D wall (E1), angling down to the east, which extended below the bottom of the trench. About 1 m above this there was a single flooring of light gray mud and straw (E2). This floor ran beneath the lower floor at the east end of Area D (D5) and was sandwiched between fill materials to the surface above and the Area D wall below.

Area F Area F was at the current ground level and was excavated to see how deep cultural levels extended below the modern surface. The trench was 3 m long and 3.5 m deep. Between

it and Area E was a hard pakhsa level of yellow green clay (F1). This area consisted of angled layers of sand, mud, clay and water wash. While no remains of human occupation were found in Area F, artifacts such as pottery were found within a few centimeters of the bottom of the trench, showing the extent to which alluviation had raised the river bed over the past five millennia. The excavation ended before we were able to determine we had reached virgin soil.

Artifacts Some of the most notable objects discovered by the project came from our excavations at Lat Qala. A complete small bronze juglet, presumably for oil or another liquid, was found in the top layer of fill in Trench B. Two ceramic broken horse-and-rider figures were also found in the surface fill, as was another ceramic animal figurine. A small square footed ceramic base that was the foundation for some object came from Trench B, Area A4. These objects are described in Volume 2. Other items included the handle fragment of an iron knife 3 cm wide and 3 cm long in stratum A1 and the fragment of a curved baked brick, possibly part of a quarter

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Figure 8.7.24 Square footed base of ceramic object found in Trench B, Area A4. Photo by C. Ellick. IMG7746

them. The substantial amount of Early Iron Age ceramics found in the excavation suggests there was an unreached stratum from that era lower on the mound or surrounding it, and a finely polished polychrome painted globular jar and several other fragments of contemporary polished and painted wares found in fill pointed to a Bronze Age occupation of Lat Qala.

Trench A Because of the continual appearance of invasive late Islamic wares, a collection of “clean” samples from this trench was never attempted.

Trench B, Upper Surface Fill column drum 13.2 cm thick in stratum A3. Also in A3 were a diamond-shaped piece of iron with a circular piece extending from its center. A portion of the rim of a finely carved translucent white travertine bowl was found in stratum B2, and a small flat fragment of copper, oval in shape with edge perforations, was in the surface fill of Area D/F. A very small ceramic mortar made of light red ware was uncovered in Level C2. The most complete inscription incised into ceramic found by the project came from stratum A4 in Trench B. The script was Aramaic, the language undetermined. A provisional reading by Michael Zellman-Rohrer was as a possessive: “To (owned by) SNS[R]WK”. A more detailed description is included in Volume 2. A total of 17 tamga marks were found incised on sherds on the surface or in surface fill. These too are analyzed in more detail in Volume 2.

Stratified Ceramics We created a ceramic labeling system by section for Trench B, beginning at the top, separate from, but intersecting with, the stratigraphic designations of the architecture. Controls over the stratified ceramics were somewhat limited, due to the inexperienced nature of our work force, the limited ability of the excavators to separate sherd collections between strata, and by the possibility of later ceramics dropping into early levels. The earliest ceramic layers excavated come from the lower reaches of the mound, Area D, where we had a fairly clean collection of Early Iron Age ceramics. Further to the west, Level C had what seems to be a Hellenistic stratum (C2) atop an Achaemenid one (C3). At the west end of the trench, all of the extant strata had some ceramics we recognized as Parthian, even as deep as A5, 4 m below the modern surface. If there were earlier strata at the center of the mound, and it is likely there were, we did not reach

Finds in the surface fill of Trench B and Areas A, B, and C (labeled Level 0 in our ceramic numbering system and including strata A1, 2, 3, B, east of Wall B1, C2) had significant numbers of red wares with dark red slips and ring burnishing, markers of our Parthian sites. Many of the sherds collected were bases of goblets or footed cups. While our typical Parthian goblet bases had flat or slightly concave bottoms, some of these were deeply concave, which may suggest a Hellenistic date. Two horse/rider figurines were found here, as were another animal figurines and four of the tamga-inscribed sherds. Other finds included late Achaemenid/Hellenistic dipinta storica sistana (DSS) painted ware, vertically burnished and densely burnished Hellenistic fine ware, numerous small cup and goblet rims ranging from Achaemenid to Parthian times, a few ribbed jar fragments, four ledge rims of storage jars, jars with incised wave bands, pieces of handmade cooking ware, the rim-spout of a water jar, a basket handle of a red ware jar with cross hatch burnishing, a fishplate with the inner rim painted in pale red, several jar rims with Parthian or possibly Sasanian external folding, two basin rims with external ridges that could be Achaemenid or Early Iron, and one turquoise glazed sherd likely belonging to the fourteenth century or possibly later. In Area B/C surface fill there were two small ceramic unguent juglets of the type found in Parthian period burials. Numerous similar juglets were collected on the ground surface around the base of Lat Qala and assumed to be funerary offerings. One had a shoulder band of cross hatching interspersed with star decorations above a band of chevrons in black paint, the other was painted with a white band of pine tree decoration. No bones were found with the two juglets.

Trench B, Area A Sherds found in stratigraphic areas A4, 10, 12, which we labeled ceramic Level 1, had many similarities to the surface fill above. Numerous red slipped and ring burnished

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the archaeology of southwest afghanistan simple rims of goblets and cups were found, along with several everted, club, and folded jar rims known from Parthian sites. Two storage jar sherds had incised wave designs on the exterior. One flat goblet base, a flat dog dish, and one coarse handmade cooking pot rim were collected. A broken small bulbous unguent jar was found. Two carinated shallow bowl rims in red wares were likely Hellenistic. Also found were a jabbed jar base, flat bowl and jar bases, a two-ridged handle, and a jar with a band of jabbed incisions around the shoulder. Most wares were lighter than the typical Parthian ones and suggest a Late Parthian or Sasanian date for this level. Level 2 ceramics (representing stratigraphic levels A5 and A7) were sparser than on the previous ceramic level though there was still an ample amount of vertical rims of red slip/ring burnished cups and goblets, a signature of our Parthian sites. There was also a densely hand-burnished piece more typical of Hellenistic pottery. Several pieces of ribbed jars were collected. Three decorated large ledge jar rims were also uncovered, one with two incised waves bordered by bands of incised jabs, one with lightly stamped pine motifs, and one with a single row of jabs below the rim. Unique to this level were two pieces, the square footed red ware ceramic base of some unknown vessel or object (see Figure 8.7.24) and a ridged cylinder that might be the very thick stem of a goblet or some other kind of object. Level 3 (A6, A8, and below A13) had two almost complete bowls with everted rims and ring burnishing. One was fired a medium gray and had a shallow ring base, the second had a flat base and an incised tamga on the exterior. A complete handmade lamp was also found at this level. There were numerous rims and bodies of thin, fine red ware goblets with red slips and ring burnishing and several goblet/cup bases, including one highly concaved. Other burnished red slipped wares had cross hatching on one sherd and wavy bands surrounding two horizontal bands on another. A fine vessel had vertical burnishing on the neck. One fine ware closed vessel had a stamped band of pine trees around the shoulder. Two parts of shallow fine ware bowls with exterior folded rims and a bowl with a highly carinated profile were Hellenistic or Achaemenid. One bowl with an incurved rim and another bowl with a flat profile and outward folded rim were also probably Hellenistic. A small unguent bottle with the rim broken off was black slipped on its lower half only and with a string-cut flat base. Jar decorations included wavy bands and incised rope pattern. Ribbed sherds were also in this level. One basin rim with an exterior ridge was likely Achaemenid. Two pieces of handmade coarse cooking ware were collected. Large bowl and jar flat bases were

collected, including six finer ones with string cut bases, likely Achaemenid. One late turquoise glazed piece of fritware was thought to be intrusive into this level. Three DSS painted sherds were found, including one with incised tamga marks. Level 4 (A9, A11, A14) produced a significant number of sherds and a large percentage of the key stratified objects that were dug up by the project. These included an Aramaic inscription on the shoulder of a jar and an unusual ceramic footed base. The character of the ceramic corpus changed dramatically as well. No goblet bases or ring burnished goblet bodies/rims were found in this layer. Instead, there were several sherds with intense burnishing or with vertical burnishing, characteristic of the Hellenistic period. Storage jars had squared everted and folded external rims and some were decorated with wavy combing designs. One had an applique design emulating a braid. Sharply carinated bowls appeared, some in red ware, some in lighter wares, and there was an increase of light buff slips over red ware bowls. Several dog dishes were found including one with a band of incised slashes on the interior of the rim. A number of vertical or slightly everted rims of fine, thin cups were found, one with a band of painted dots on the exterior. Numerous incurved cup rims were also collected. One other DSS painted sherd was found and a second painted sherd that might have been from the Bronze Age. Flat bases were common, including some that were string cut. While some of the forms and decoration of the collection match those known from the Parthian period, the majority were unfamiliar and matched pottery known from Hellenistic and Achaemenid levels of other sites. The collection of sherds from Level 5 (below A11, A14) was small. Like Level 4, there were few ring burnished sherds, though one rim reminiscent of the typical ring-burnished goblets was found, as was one sherd with radial burnishing. Another ring burnished sherd had a band of wavy lines between the horizontal ones, also typical of Parthian pottery. More of the fine wares had buff slips and several had red brown paint in the style of DSS bowls. Two ridge rim basins were Achaemenid or Early Iron in design, as were several string cut bases, two of them molded around the base with a carving tool, common from both of those periods. Several bowls had incurved rims, four shallow flat bowls had everted downward rims like Hellenistic fishplates. A handmade cooking pot rim was also discovered. Jars had incised wave patterns and one had an applique band simulating braiding. While two of the sherds uncovered in this layer appeared to be Parthian, our stratigraphic controls were not absolute and

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excavated sites the vast bulk of the sherds collected were Hellenistic or Achaemenid. We would attribute this layer and Level 4 of Area A to the Hellenistic period.

Trench B, Area B Ceramic Level 1 (above Walls B2, 3) included several pieces of red slipped and ring burnished goblets, one with a wavy layer of burnishing over the horizontal rings. One goblet base was found with a slight concavity. Other fine wares were more buff in exterior, one with an incurved rim, another with a sharply carinated shoulder. Several of the flat bases were string cut and at least two of them carved above the base. A non-diagnostic sherd, possibly fourteenth century or later, had incised flower decorations. Jars were decorated with combed wave decorations and one with an incised wave band between two horizontal bands. Several red ware sherds had complete burnished exteriors. Like the upper levels of Area A, ceramics on this level were mixed. We suggest this level was Parthian in date, though there are some earlier wares. Level 2 (between Walls B2, 3) relates to the earlier wall and floor levels of Area B between Walls B2 and B3. This layer contained the same admixture of Parthian/ Hellenistic/Achaemenid as the layer above and should probably be attributed to the Parthian period. A shallow bowl had red slip, ring burnishing, and a band of wave burnishing. A vertical rim bowl and goblet rim both had typical Parthian ring burnishing, as did a pedestal cup base with slight concavity. An incurved cup rim, a densely burnished red-brown ware sherd, and a shallow straight bowl with a red-brown painted band inside the rim were likely Hellenistic, while a ridged rim basin was either Achaemenid or Early Iron. Jar decoration included three with wavy comb markings and an incised shoulder with a wavy band between horizontal bands. The Parthian burial juglets close to the surface, if in context, confirmed that the layers beneath dated no later than Parthian, but it is likely that all the material in Area B dated from the Parthian period.

Trench B, Area C Most of the material in Ceramic Level 1 (C3) fit our Hellenistic criteria, 10 incurved rim sherds, several with densely burnished over red slip, and several carinated bowls. Two sherds of carinated bowls were heavily burnished and had a band of red-brown paint around the interior of the rim. Jars were decorated with ribbing and combing. One had an applique braid pattern, another an incised band of dots between two horizontal incised bands, and two others an incised wavy band between horizontal incised bands.

There was one ring burnished sherd typical of Parthian pottery and two turquoise glazed pieces likely from the fourteenth to fifteenth centuries, not surprising given that the upper parts of this level appeared to be fill. Level 2 (C4) was a mixture of Hellenistic and Achaemenid, including fishplates, cups with incurved rims, bowls with carinated sides, and flat bowl rims with dense radial burnishing. Much of the collection had buff or white slips, unusual for later periods. A large basin with ridge rim had the texture and profile of Early Iron ware, as did the ware of a simple bulbous juglet with an everted rim. No ceramics in this layer were painted. One sherd had the red slip and ring burnishing typical of the Parthian period. Also found was a jar with jabbing above the base, but dissimilar to later Partho-Sasanian ones because the row of jabbings were far more widely spaced and higher on the body. Some of the jars had combed decoration. No goblet pieces or ribbed jar sherds were found. While this layer had mostly Achaemenid ceramics, it could be Hellenistic and may be linked to Area A, Ceramic Level 4. There were a limited number of finds in Level 3 (C5, 6). There were no burnished pieces found, but several carinated bowl rims and much of the ware with white or buff slips. One complete shallow bowl had a cut base, one jar an exterior ridge. One flat jar base was in the grainy ware common to Early Iron pottery, but otherwise all the ceramics were likely from the Achaemenid period. The few clearly Bronze Age sherds came from Area C, though their stratigraphic associations were not noted and they were likely out of context. Most impressive were fragments of an almost complete polychrome (red, black, white), narrow necked, globular jar whose upper body could be partially reconstructed. This jar was painted with geometrical patterns in horizontal registers, including lines of alternating colors, small solid triangles, and large crosshatched triangles. The large triangles were interspersed by “bowtie” designs stacked vertically between dotted and solid lined frames. The lower body was presumably covered in a solid red. We know that this piece is not unique in Sistan for we found several other fragments of the same handmade highly polished yellow and red ware in the fill that do not belong to this vessel. Exact parallels are difficult to cite but there are similarities to numerous Bronze Age wares in the Indo-Iranian borderlands from the third millennium. These similarities included the globular shape, the orange ware with buff slip, red paint over a substantial part of the lower body, and the geometric decorative elements of hatched triangles and bowties with banding in brown, red, and white. We found no exact parallels to this vessel in the research literature,

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the archaeology of southwest afghanistan though there were design similarities with Kech-Makran IIIb and Dasht IIIb wares early in the third millennium (Franke and Cortesi 2015, 327, 330) and more design similarities with sherds found at Pirak (Jarrige and Enault 1976, 34, Plate 10; Franke and Cortesi 2015, 368) and other Baluchistan sites (Franke and Cortesi 2015, 371) in the post-Harappan periods.

Trench B, Lower Surface Fills Surface collections and upper fill levels of Areas D, E, and F were collected together and were highly mixed. There were numerous ridge rim jars and basins that would be either Early Iron or Achaemenid, one with a painted band around the rim. Other coarse sandy ware also matched our Early Iron repertoire. Numerous ring burnished rims and bases of goblets were found, including one with a tamga mark incised after firing. A vertical burnished goblet was probably Hellenistic, as were a ring burnished carinated bowl, a densely burnished bowl interior, and a burnished bowl with a high ring base. Coarser wares had ribbing, combing, applique braids, and incised dual waves. A single turquoise glazed bowl base was from Islamic times.

Trench B, Area D Our sole stratified collection in Area D was sealed beneath mudbrick Wall D1 and pakhsa Wall D4. Only 10 sherds were collected in this area. The ceramics were generally gritty wares, several with buff or other light colored slips. Three bowl sherds were of the overfired painted wares known from Early Iron Age sites in Sar-o-Tar, two with horizontal lines and one cross hatched in dark brown paint. Four of the jar or large bowl sherds had external ridges common both in Achaemenid and Early Iron contexts. We suggest that this layer was the juncture between constructions of the Achaemenid period, D1 and possibly D4, and an Early Iron Age platform beneath.

Trench B, Area E No sherds were collected in this area.

Trench B, Area F As this was at the base of the mound at some period and the destination of objects washed down from above, there was an admixture of Early Iron, Achaemenid, Hellenistic, and Parthian sherds. No ceramics could be identified from later periods. Materials included a cooking pot rim, shallow fine red ware bowl rim with ring burnished interior, several sherds with buff slips that were likely Achaemenid, gritty jar body sherds and flat bases reminiscent of Early Iron wares, one combed jar sherd with a buff slip, and Early Iron ridge rims of jars or large bowls.

Analysis Excavations were undertaken at Lat Qala with the expectation it was a multiperiod tepe with stratified layers that would allow us to sequence many of the finds from the surveyed sites. We were successful in that, though the finds themselves created limitations we didn’t expect. The last reconstruction of the site, in post-Timurid times, consisted of the building of the fort atop the mound. At that time, we also believe the top of the mound was leveled, destroying remains of any structures that may have stood in the way. Evidence for this was in the jumbled mix of the top fill in both of our trenches. There was likely a Timurid building on the surface, based upon what we found in fill at the top of Trench B and in the water wash in Trench A but we do not know where it stood or what it consisted of. Remains of other Islamic periods were generally absent, suggesting that there was a significant occupational gap after the Sasanian period. Pre-Islamic wares abounded at the site dating from the Bronze Age to the Sasanian period. We had no clear evidence of a Sasanian stratum at the site, though the scrap of baked brick flooring found just beneath the surface in Trench A best fit a Sasanian date because of the large brick size. The full range of the ubiquitous Parthian corpus of ceramics was amply represented at Lat Qala. These included a large number of red burnished sherds, numerous ring burnished bowls and goblet rims, pedestal bases, dog dishes, ledge rim jars, and jars with incised wave and line decorations. The fill at the top of Trench B contained many of these ceramics but they were mixed with both earlier and later wares, including all the Bronze Age wares we identified. We also found at Lat Qala the largest number of inscribed tamga (11) outside the temple at Sehyak (83), a site dated to the Parthian period, most of which contained symbols also seen at the latter site. These are detailed in Volume 2. Moving downward in Areas A (ceramic levels 1-3) and B (levels 1-2), the ceramics were consistently Parthian. These were held in by the large mudbrick Wall C1 in Area C and D1/D3 in Area D. We do not know how deep this wall went, nor whether it was solid or had cultural materials beneath it, but it seemed to be the boundary of occupation at the top of the site in the Parthian period. Beneath these layers, but also contained by the defensive Wall C1-D3, there were earlier ceramic assemblages. We suggest that ceramic horizons A4 and A5 were Hellenistic, along with ceramic horizons C1 and C2 in Area C, though the vertical trench provided us with little in the way of an architectural plan. Beneath those, ceramic

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excavated sites Level C3 lacked the hard fired red wares, red slips, and burnishing that begin with the Hellenistic period and were, therefore, likely Achaemenid in date. Dating the construction of the large perimeter Wall C1 was aided by the ceramic assemblage found lower on the mound. Much as the wall or platform facing Area C had at least one rebuild, there was evidence in Area D of at least two rebuilds on top of Wall D3/E1. Mudbrick Wall D1 was probably a continuation of Wall C1, but a later addition of a badly-eroded pakhsa wall, D4, showed further repairs to the wall system. Separating Wall D3 from D1 and D4 was a thin occupation layer containing sherds (D2) from the Early Iron Age and thus dating the later walls (D1, D4) likely to the Achaemenid period and Wall D3 to an earlier date. The mudbrick platform beneath D3 dated to the Early Iron Age, contemporary with Qala 169, or to the Bronze Age similar to the platform found at at Nad-i Ali. The platform extended as far as E1 in Area E, but not as far as the deep trench in Area F. This was mirrored in Trench A, where there were two different large mudbrick walls stacked at the base of the trench, the earlier one possibly a platform. Unfortunately we have no firm measurements of the bricks in the Area D walls to support this hypothesis. Bricks measured in the substantial mudbrick wall in Trench A (47-50 x 29-30 x 8-10 cm) did match the brick sizes and ratios of Early Iron Age and Bronze Age bricks (Besenval and Francfort 1994, 8) and those at Qala 169 (see below, section 8.9), but we unfortunately have no

corresponding ceramic corpus from Trench A finds to confirm the date of this wall there. Possibly equally important to the suggestion of an early date of the original Lat Qala were the finds in Area F, where we excavated 4 m below the modern surface, a surface that had been buffeted both by millennia of river floods and strongly eroding winds. These ceramics appeared to be pre-Islamic in date—stretching from the Early Iron Age until the Parthian period—and were found almost to the bottom of the trench. This suggests that the site’s base was far below the modern ground surface. The lack of any occupational strata in this part of the trench also suggests the platform underlying the site did not extend that far to the east. The Bronze Age ceramics from Trench B support the idea that Lat Qala was likely to have first been occupied in the Bronze Age, possibly on a platform the base of which is beneath the current ground surface. Repairs and additions to this platform are likely to have occurred in the Early Iron Age. A new, large enclosure wall was built on this foundation in the Achaemenid Period. The Achaemenid wall system, with some repairs, existed until the Sasanian period, with as much as 5 m of occupational debris gradually filling up the interior. The ceramic evidence suggests a gap in occupation between the Sasanian period and the Timurid period. After an undetermined Timurid occupation, the mound was again abandoned until recent centuries, possibly the nineteenth, when the top of the mound was leveled and a rough fortress built on top, already abandoned when Bellew and Maitland passed by late in that century.

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8.8 Mausoleum 214 Coordinates: 30°33'00.49" x 62°03'58.81" Type: Domed mausoleum Date: Timurid

Figure 8.8.1 Plan of Mausoleum 214. J. Knudstad 1972

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Figure 8.8.2 Mausoleum 214 from northwest. HSP72.6.19

Figure 8.8.3 Looking north through southern arch of the mausoleum. Central tomb visible in center, House 218 visible in the distance at left. HSP72.7.34

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the archaeology of southwest afghanistan This mausoleum was part of the complex of Houses 210 that stretches over 1 km from northwest to southeast. The mausoleum was partially excavated in 1973, but only to the point of clearing debris and sand from the outside of the tombs. No tombs were opened. The mausoleum was toward the northern end of Houses 210, 100 m southeast of the largest structure in the house cluster, House 218, and probably related to this house (see Figure 5.31.1). The mausoleum was square with a single dome around a central chamber with side rooms on all four sides and a baked brick porch on the south side. There were numerous burials both inside the structure and around the outside, especially to the south and east. The overall building dimensions were 16 m northsouth by at least 18 m east-west, with the western end covered with sand and not excavated to its full extent. Bricks used in wall construction were generally 28 x 28 x 5 cm, with half bricks 28 x 14 x 5 cm. Bricks holding up the vault were 41 x 25 x 4-5 cm. While the basic chartaq center of the building was probably erected at one time, the various side rooms show enough architectural changes to suggest it was modified over the years of its use.

Figure 8.8.4 Arch at north end of mausoleum. HSP72.C.24

The south, north, and east exterior walls of the mausoleum and its subsidiary rooms were 80-90 cm in thickness, the thickness of the western wall was not measured.

Architecture The central domed room of the mausoleum was 7.3 m square with entrances on three sides, each 2.67-2.88 m in width. The west side had two entrances leading into the central room, a central one 1 m in width and a smaller one

Figure 8.8.5 Tomb at southwest corner of central room of mausoleum, showing glazed tiles on north and east sides and a vertical brick on top. HSP72.6.29

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Figure 8.8.6 North side of southwest tomb, with detail of standing tile and vertical brick. HSP72.6.30

Figure 8.8.7 East side of southwest tomb, with detail of standing tile. HSP72.6.31

Figure 8.8.8 South side of southwest tomb, with detail of standing tile. HSP72.6.32

65 cm in width on the southwest, leading to a small square domed room 1.8 m on a side. This small room was not excavated. The four corner piers of the central dome were variously 1.2-1.6 m in width. The south and north jutting walls had niches inset varying between 0.67 m and 0.87 m in width and 33-45 cm in depth. The central dome was approximately 10 m in diameter. The central room had at least eight constructed burials. A large central tomb chamber was vaulted and whitewashed with molded mud decoration on beveled corners. A large tomb chamber was located just to the east of the central tomb, with a second one filling the northeast corner of the central room. South of this group were three smaller tomb superstructures of baked brick, only partially cleared. Another tomb may have blocked the main west entrance but was not excavated. Another vaulted tomb filled the northwest corner of the room, also not excavated. A second large chamber burial was slightly southwest of main tomb in the main room, separated by a walkway of 40 cm, and was decorated with three glazed tiles. The outside of this tomb was cleared. The tomb was 1.75 x 2.53 m in diameter and rose 95 cm above the floor at its highest point. Glazed tiles were inset at the central points of the north and south sides. The tile inset into the east side was more to the south than centered. To the west, the tomb abutted the wall of the chamber with a walkway as narrow as 13 cm in parts allowing entrance around the tomb into the chamber on the southwest. The exterior of the tomb was plastered and whitewashed twice. On the top of the tomb were at least three courses of flat laid bricks. An additional baked brick was set vertically 30 cm from the north end of the tomb. From the doorway leading to the west (1 m wide) were remains of a room 3.2 m in width. The room length was at least 1.7 m but it was not excavated. This room had one tomb blocking the doorway. Another, larger vaulted tomb chamber was adjacent and further west, though it was not excavated. Another vaulted tomb filled a 1.7 m square small chamber to the north, likely entered from a subsidiary hall on the north, but not excavated. To the north of the central room was a vestibule 2.7 m wide and 3.6 m in length leading to a north door 1 m in width. A test excavation at the north doorway produced one end of a tomb inside this vestibule and a fragmentary glazed tile. A doorway 1 m in width led from this vestibule toward the east into a room 1.75 x 2.2 m that contained a vaulted tomb filling the room, but not excavated. The eastern entrance from the central room led to a vestibule 2.1 x 2.8 m and an eastern doorway of undetermined width. This vestibule contained a tomb filling most 453

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Figure 8.8.9 West wall of mausoleum, with later retaining wall. Entrance to a small chamber on left and a niche to right of arch. HSP72.6.34

Figure 8.8.10 Entrance to niche at northwest corner of central room. HSP72.7.12

Figure 8.8.11 Entrance to small burial chamber in southwest corner of central room at right and niche against southwest corner in center. HSP72.7.13

of its space. To the north of this vestibule was a vaulted room 2.3 m in width and 6 m in length containing a vaulted tomb. From the eastern vestibule was another rectangular room to the south 5.2 m in length and 2.5 m in width. The northern part of this room likely contained another tomb. Toward the southern end, the room was bifurcated northsouth by a wall 2.2 m in length and 25 cm in width. The western chamber of this area likely contained a staircase to the second floor. Toward the south of the central room was a vestibule 2.8 m wide x 3.4 m in length leading to a south door 1 m in width. The south wall of this vestibule had niches on each side of the door 40 cm wide and 33 cm deep. Adjoining this vestibule on the west was a room 4.7 m in length and

1.9 m in width, entered through a doorway 0.83 m wide. The southwest corner of this room had been eroded away, but a doorway on its west end led to another room further west, not explored. To the east of the southern entry hall was another room approximately 2 m square, entered by a doorway 0.87 m in width. These southern rooms were not excavated but presumably contained tombs. At the south end of the building was a baked brick porch, 4 x 9.7 m, with three baked brick tomb superstructures built on top of it. The porch was not symmetrical to the building, with most of the porch extending toward the east side of the structure’s south wall. The central porch tomb obstructed the view into the south entrance of the building, which was blocked by a low wall or raised sill.

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Figure 8.8.12 Small tombs in western rooms of mausoleum. HSP72.7.14

Figure 8.8.13 East wall of central domed room. HSP72.7.4

The incomplete tomb structures were each 98 cm in width and at least 1.1 m in length. All three were eroding on the south end. The north ends of the tombs were only 33–40 cm from the south wall of the mausoleum. Remains of a well were found outside the northern end of the building.

Artifacts Four funerary tiles were found, three on a single tomb at the southwest corner and the fourth by a tomb on the

north porch. A pentagonal tile decorated with a black painted border and inscription under a turquoise glaze on a gray buff ware discovered in situ at the north end of the southwest tomb with the inscription facing north. The inscription commemorated the life of a hetib who died at age 80 in 849 ah/1445 ce. A complete hexagonal marker broken into five pieces was found at the center of the east side of the tomb. The marker had eight lines of a wellknown Persian poem. The tile was warped and cracked in firing, with turquoise glaze running into the cracks. An

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the archaeology of southwest afghanistan octagonal tile with arabesque design in black paint under a turquoise glaze was discovered in situ on the south side of the tomb. The tile was irregular in shape, the symmetrical octagon carved from a larger piece. A fourth partial tile was discovered in sand near a tomb on the north porch. Only the bottom of the tile was preserved, though it was likely pentagonal. Geometric borders were on both sides and a floral decoration covered the bottom. There was one preserved line of script and the left part of a second line above it. It was also warped in firing. These tiles are described in more detail in Volume 2. No ceramic collection was made at this site. One decorative brick wall tile was noted.

Analysis This elaborate tomb was the resting place of at least 18 individuals. With the multiple additions and rebuilds of the basic chartaq structure, it was probably used over a number of generations. At least one burial gives us a firm fifteenth century date for use of the building. Given its proximity to elaborate House 218, we contend this was the mausoleum for the family that inhabited that house.

Figure 8.8.14 Three baked brick tomb structures on south porch of mausoleum, from east. HSP72.7.32

Figure 8.8.15 Three baked brick tomb structures on south porch of mausoleum, from north. HSP72.7.37

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Figure 8.8.16 Remains of a well found outside the northern door of the mausoleum. HSP72.S.25

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Figure 8.8.17 Decorative brick wall tile found in Mausoleum 214. HSP72.7.36

8.9 Qala 169 Coordinates: 30°33'16.50" x 62°05'40.18" Type: Early Iron Age platform and enclosure with later Partho-Sasanian occupation Date: Early Iron Age, Partho-Sasanian, Islamic

Figure 8.9.1 Satellite view of Qala 169 showing areas excavated in 1974. Courtesy CAMEL/AHMP

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excavated sites Located 1.5 km south of Shahr-i Gholghola, Qala 169 was a mound 50 x 80 m in size and 25 m in height above the flood plain. It was surveyed during our visits to Sar-o-Tar in 1972 and 1973. As this was the first site that showed substantial quantities of painted pottery, we planned an excavation there over a span of two weeks in October 1974 by a Baluch team directed by W. Trousdale and G. R. Amiri. The excavation consisted of six narrow trenches in an attempt to uncover its stratigraphic history. While these trenches allowed us to explore the mound’s chronology, the vertical trenches did not allow us to explore its architectural plan. The discoveries at Qala 169 led us to identify a previously unknown Early Iron Age culture in Afghan Sistan. The details of our analyses of this period are contained elsewhere in this volume and in Allen and Trousdale 2019. The qala was built around a solid, rectangular pakhsa platform with rounded corners with occupational layers both around and atop the platform. From portions of the pakhsa platform visible in Trenches A and C, it appeared the original platform was at least 60 m in width and 15 m in height. All sides showed evidence of significant erosion and slumping, so it was likely considerably larger. The densest occupation was at the base of the platform to the southeast. The platform was itself surrounded by a mudbrick defensive wall set alternatively inward and

outward, creating chambers along its length. Some flexed burials of individuals were located in the crevices of these chambers on the northeast side of the mound. A lower compound 140 x 80 m lay to the southeast and was surrounded by a pakhsa wall 10 m in thickness and as much as 4.5 m in height. The site was revisited in 1975 and most of the trenches excavated had been filled with sand at that time.

Survey The surface of the mound summit showed the outline of at least three rooms outside the excavated area. The northernmost was at least 3.05 x 3.2 m in size, but highly eroded. Hints of a baked brick paving lay in the southeast corner. The only complete mudbrick wall profile was to the south and was 0.85 m in width and 4 m or more in length. It was the north wall of a corridor 2 m in width. Bordering the corridor on the south was a wider mudbrick wall, approximately 2 m in width and preserved to 2.9 m in length. Eroded facings of a room to the south of this wall were visible but quickly disappeared into the erosion at the top of the mound. Stubs of these walls stood as high as 1.45 m above the surface of the mound. There was the stump of a tower at the northeast corner of the high mound made of large rectangular bricks approximately 57 x 28 x 9 cm, bricks larger than those in

Figure 8.9.2 Qala 169 from the east, high mound on the right and enclosure below at center. HSP74.19.12

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Figure 8.9.3 Mudbrick base of a tower at the northeast part of the mound. HSP75.27.37

Figure 8.9.4 Bricks overlaying the possible gateway to the site at the northeast of the mound. HSP74.8.21

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Figure 8.9.5 Islamic period mudbrick burials in lower enclosure. HSP75.27.25

Figure 8.9.6 Remnants of a later building in the lower enclosure, date not determined. HSP75.27.36

the excavations of Trenches A, B, and C, and cemented with mud mortar. There were aligned bricks that hinted of another, smaller tower at that corner and others elsewhere on the platform, but these were not explored. A structure of mudbricks in this same corner of the tower may have been the original entryway into the high mound. Evidence of architecture was noted in several places in the lower compound. Mudbrick lined burials, likely from an Islamic period based upon the orientation of the graves,

were seen on the western side. A mudbrick building of uncertain date, evident only by some faint lines of walls on the eroded surface, was also noted. Outside the enclosure on the east side was evidence of borrow pits, but it was unclear when they were dug. Outside the wall both to the northeast and west of the site were large storage jars embedded in the ground. There were also some nearby vestigial field walls that might represent later Timurid occupation as several Timurid houses were located nearby.

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Figure 8.9.7 Mound of Qala 169 from west, showing Trench A on left and Trench B on right under excavation. HSP74.5.13

The Excavation Trench A Trench A sliced through the southwest part of the high mound for a length of 20 m. Beginning at the summit, four steps were cut into the steep mound toward the southwest for the first 7 m then doglegged six steps to the west for another 12.25 m before reaching the contemporary plain surface. The trench was generally 1.3–1.6 m in width, though expanded to 2.9 m at the dogleg. The first excavated layer at the highest point of the mound (Level 1) contained two rooms surrounded by highly eroded mudbrick walls. The wall between these two rooms was 0.9 m in width and stood to a maximum height of 1 m. These rooms sat upon a solid mudbrick platform. No attempt was made to cut beneath the platform. Ceramics of Level 1 and other areas of the surface of the mound were typical of the Partho-Sasanian periods known in Afghan Sistan. These included ribbed wares, ring burnished bowls and goblets, and jars with stamped tree decorations. However, beneath the rooms at the top of mound in Trench A, a new, previously unknown style of ceramics was found, described below. On the fourth and fifth steps, the mudbrick was discovered to sit upon an occupational layer predating the Partho-Sasanian level, which in turn sat upon a massive

pakhsa platform. At step 6, a thick layer of mudbrick abutted the south face of the pakhsa platform. Cutting through the mudbrick, we discovered a second occupational layer (Level 2), which in turn sat upon another layer of mudbrick. Level 2 was thin, only about 40–45 cm in depth. This lower layer of mudbrick capped a full meter of occupational lenses that originally built up from the surface of the dasht (Level 3). The westernmost, lowest step of Trench A contained two walls. The shorter wall stood only one course high, the larger wall stood six courses high and slumped to the south. Mudbricks in these walls measured 45–49 x 23–24 x 8–11 cm. The occupational layer between these two walls appeared to be on a level below the foundation of the pakhsa platform and may have represented the original settlement at the site. This level also produced a hearth built within a mud basin. Covering this occupation (Level 4) was a 20 cm layer of water-laid sand and mud with bits of ash. Beneath this layer were layers of sand and mud for another 50 cm until becoming a thick layer of homogeneous clay, which we took to represent virgin soil. A carbon date (Q169.74A. C14.4) taken from Level 4 returned a date of 2543 +/- 132 BP cal, or the seventh to sixth centuries bce.

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Figure 8.9.8 Stratigraphic section of north balk of Trench A showing four major occupation layers. Earliest Level 4 appears to predate construction of the monumental platform. Level 3 is main occupation of that platform, both on its top and at its base above Level 4. A rebuilt mudbrick platform contained Level 2, also from the Early Iron Age. In Parthian or Sasanian times, a large mudbrick rebuilding covered the earlier layers and provided the platform for the final occupation on the top of the mound. J. Knudstad 1974

the archaeology of southwest afghanistan

Figure 8.9.9 Upper steps of Trench A. A ribbed jar sticks out of the balk. Photo number unknown.

Figure 8.9.10 Level 1 on top of Trench A with burial in east side of citadel wall at upper left. HSP74.8.25

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Figure 8.9.11 Trench A, Step 6, where mudbrick rebuild (foreground) meets original pakhsa core (rear), with occupational Level 3 Upper atop both, seen in section. Later mudbrick wall at top of section. HSP74.3.16

Trench B Trench B began lower on the southwest face of the mound and extended to level of the dasht. It was cut in four steps 1.3–1.4 m in width. The overall length of this sounding was 11 m. In the top two steps, the excavation quickly ran into the pakhsa platform and was not further excavated. On the third step from the top were the remains of two mudbrick walls 1–1.25 m in width, one of which abutted the inner face of the defensive wall of the mound, creating a room 2.25 m in width. Bricks in these walls were 48–49 x 28–31 x 9–11 cm. Two thin occupational strata stretched between the walls with artifacts similar to Layers 2–4 in Trench A. Three occupational levels of extensive ash and cultural materials stretched from the northern wall to the pakhsa platform at the north end of the trench. The lower two steps of Trench B were dug to beneath the current plain level and found sterile, dense, light brown clay approximately 90 cm below the current surface, likely virgin soil.

Figure 8.9.12 Detail of section showing burned level at top of Level 3 Upper occupation. HSP74.C.1

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Figure 8.9.13 East stratigraphic section of lowest step of Trench A. HSP74.11.25

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Figure 8.9.14 Clay basin and hearth embedded in west balk of Trench A, Level 4. HSP74.11.28

Figure 8.9.15 Trench A Level 4, with mudbrick flooring possibly predating construction of platform. Radiocarbon samples were taken in fill to the right of photo (A-1) and in occupational debris above this floor to the left (A-2). HSP74.6.19

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Figure 8.9.16 Trench B on southwest side of Qala 169 mound. HSP74.M.4

Trench C

Figure 8.9.17 Trench B, step 3 with two walls creating a room against the defensive wall of the mound. HSP74.5.21

Trench C sought to confirm the findings of Trench A on the northeast side of the mound. The trench ran 16 m in length and was 1.2–1.3 m in width in five steps from northwest to southeast. Mudbrick capped the northwest end of the trench. At 1.6 m beneath the mudbrick cap we unearthed a thin cultural layer (Level 1) that sat atop the pakhsa platform. The pakhsa platform extended at least another 5 m below, which was the base of our excavated area. The mudbrick overlay extended an additional 8 m to the southeast, overlaying several cultural layers capped by a second, badly broken mudbrick structure beneath, 1 m in depth and 2.5 m in length. A thin cultural layer containing early Iron Age ceramics separated the two mudbrick caps (Level 2). Beneath these caps was at least 2 m of cultural material in at least five separate lenses abutting the pakhsa platform and sealed by the last brick platform. Three carbon dates (Q169.74C.C14.1,2,3A/B) were taken in different lenses, close to the pakhsa platform and beneath the later mudbrick sealing, producing median calibrated dates from the sixth to the twelfth centuries bce. At the base of the cultural levels were three mudbrick wall fragments of 0.8, 1.3, and 0.5 m in thickness and a half meter or less in height. The northernmost was 1.6 m from the pakhsa platform. Evidence of a single thin occupational stratum (Level 4) stretched between two of them, 10 cm or less in depth. The walls were set into laminated mud and sand levels, possibly virgin soil. Brick sizes of these walls were not recorded. At the very southeast end of the trench was a small pit surrounded by green soil, likely organic material. 468

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Figure 8.9.18 Trench B, step 3 with occupational levels between the constructed walls and the pakhsa platform, off camera to the left. HSP74.5.23

Trench D Trench D was excavated against and outside the lower enclosure for a length of 9 m. The trench was a width of 1.4 m. There was evidence of additional occupation outside the enclosure wall in Trench D as far as 30–50 m, but it was cut off by wind erosion below the level of the ancient surface. Beneath 0.5 m of mudbrick debris, the trench disclosed the enclosure wall to be made of pakhsa still standing 2 m in height and founded on 0.5 m of laminated sand, demonstrating the existence of a sandy environment as early as the first millennium BC. Outside the enclosure wall were several smaller walls above which were several layers of green organic soil. Green soil also covered over the wall stumps. Objects found in these layers also exhibited a crusty green covering, possibly a dumping area for organic materials. A later wall stub 3 m away from the pakhsa wall had layers of ash against its outer surface. The trench was excavated to approximately 0.5 m below the current ground surface and produced wind and waterlaid mud and sand layers with mud lump enclosures. The objects found here were identical to those in the earliest

occupation of the pakhsa platform. There were also a few sherds of the Partho-Sasanian periods, but we believe they were deposited here by wind deflation of the later occupational surface onto the earlier one.

Trench E Trench E cut through 1.3 m of the lower enclosure wall and the area outside the wall at the south end of the site. It was 1.4 m in width and approximately 20 m in length. No architecture was discovered outside the enclosure in this area, though many of the sherds collected had a coating of green organic material. At the bottom of the trench, below the cultural levels was a stratum of pure laminated sand as in Trench D.

Trench F Trench F was a sounding dug into the center of the lower enclosure, 1.9 m in length, 0.9 m in width, and 1.55 m in depth. This trench showed little beyond 80 cm of wind and water erosion from the qala. Only 13 sherds were discovered in the excavation.

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Figure 8.9.19 Trench C west balk stratigraphy. Thick Early Iron Age Level 3 runs up against the original pakhsa platform. It is capped by two broken Early Iron Age mudbrick platforms (MB2, MB3) sealed by a later mudbrick cap (MB1). Earliest occupation is a thin layer between two thin walls (Level 4) which may predate the pakhsa platform. J. Knudstad 1974

Figure 8.9.20 Trench D west balk stratigraphy. J. Knudstad 1974

the archaeology of southwest afghanistan

Figure 8.9.21 West balk of Trench D, showing walls visible in section (14), base sand layer (6) and layer of organic soil running over the wall (21). HSP75.30.18

Artifacts The top level of Trench A produced a bead of blue-white quartz of hexagonal shape and drilled on the sides. The upper part of Level 3 in Trench A produced a single unusual bronze socketed spearhead with punctures near the point. The same level produced the neck and shoulder of a light green glass bottle with appliqued wavy bands. Since glass is not likely to have been a feature of Early Iron Age culture, we suspect it is intrusive from a higher level. Trench A Level 3 Lower produced a fragment of a grindstone. Trench C Level 3 Lower produced four fragments of a gray grindstone. This layer also produced a complete baked brown oval of clay, the function of which is unknown. Trench D produced a fragment of a stone mortar, a lump of bronze that might have been an arrowhead, and a fragment of a gray steatite bowl. A fragment of a grindstone was also found in Trench E. A small carnelian seal of Sasanian date was found just outside the site on the northeast. It was crudely cut with wings, a crescent, and a star incised into one side. Between Qala 169 and Shahr-i Gholghola, a complete, but weathered, donut-shaped stone macehead of basalt

was discovered on the surface. The basalt originated from Kuh-i Khwaja or one of the other nearby basalt flows along the west edge of the Hamun-i Helmand. The object was carefully crafted and showed no evidence of use. Brick sizes measured at Qala 169 were consistent between Layers 2 and 4 and varied from Level 1, as would be expected given the chronological separation.

· Northeast tower, surface · Trench A, mudbrick supporting Level 2, sealing Level 3

· Trench A, Level 4 walls · Trench B

56–58 x 27–29 x 9–10 cm 43–47 x 21–22 x 9–10 cm

45–49 x 23–24 x 8–11 cm 48–49 x 28–31 x 9–11 cm

Ceramics Trench A Ceramics found in this room on top of the mound at Level 1 were generally in fill layers or wall melt, rather than deposited on the floor. While many of the ceramics found were representative of the early Iron Age, including ridged rim jars and basins and bowls with horizontally painted bands,

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Figure 8.9.22 North section of Trench D. Pakhsa wall atop a sandy base with mudbrick debris on top. HSP74.38.19

Figure 8.9.23 Laminated sand layer below cultural levels at southeast end of Trench E. HSP74.19.10

Figure 8.9.24 Lower enclosure of Qala 169 seen from the top of the mound. Trench F excavation and back dirt visible at far left, Trench E visible at upper left. Photo number unknown

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Figure 8.9.26 Punctured arrow-spearhead found in Level 3 Upper of Trench A. It was made from a single sheet of bronze rolled over with a lengthwise seam to go over a shaft. The piece runs 10.5 cm in length and maximum diameter of 1 cm. Its point was not sharp enough to serve effectively as a spear point. HSP74.28.19

Figure 8.9.25 Section of Trench F with layers of wind and water erosion from the mound mixed with cultural materials. HSP74.38.24 Figure 8.9.27 Glass bottle neck and shoulder found in Trench A, presumably intrusive from above. HSP74.28.14

Figure 8.9.28 Carnelian seal found just outside the Qala 169 during 1973 survey. HSP73.54.8

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excavated sites Level 3 Lower ceramics included over 1400 sherds and matched those of Levels 2 and 3 Upper. There were more painted sherds found in this stratum, though still a minority of ceramics collected. Most sherds in Level 3 Lower were fine ware bowls and juglets, with few large coarse wares.

Trench B Sherds were collected in this excavation, but not processed prior to the completion of the project and are now lost.

Trench C

Figure 8.9.29 Well-carved basalt disc found near Qala 169, showing no evidence of use. Spindle whorl? Macehead? IMG5926

this level also included storage jars with incised straight and wavy bands and ribbed jars, signifiers of the Parthian period. Within the flooring were few sherds, 52 collected. Among them were body sherds of red, orange red, and red brown jars and basins with flat bases. No ribbed ware was discovered, though one piece collected had ring burnishing and another had painted bands. Level 2 was a thin layer with only 44 sherds excavated. Ceramics were indistinguishable from Level 3 below. Few large vessel fragments were found.1 Level 3 Upper was material from atop the pakhsa platform, stratigraphically connected to Level 3 at base of mound. Approximately 150 sherds were collected from the Levels 3 Upper and Lower and Level 4. Ceramics were mostly large and small wheel-made bowls and jars, some fine grained, all with flat bases and most with buff slips. Many were coarse jars, large bowls, and basins with ridges on the exterior below the rim. A single small vertical rim with an external ridge that had irregular ring burnishing both inside and out was found, common from the Parthian period, and was presumably intrusive. One bowl rim with complex non-repetitive painted design in red was found along the upper part of Level 3.

Levels 1, 2, and 3 Upper were difficult to clarify stratigraphically and produced few sherds, thus using these levels for diagnostic purposes is problematic. Level 3 Lower produced 809 sherds similar to the types found in Level 3 in Trench A. These consisted of a preponderance of bowls, jars, and basins but a larger percentage of coarse wares than in Trench A. A single red ware carinated bowl was found, reminiscent of Achaemenid bowls. Twelve of the sherds were painted, mostly with simple horizontal bands. Three pieces had a horizontal combed design, one combed horizontally above a waved comb band. There were five fragments of “hips” from hipped jars. Two fragments of legs of ceramic vessels were found at the lowest level.

Trench D Sherds were reminiscent of those in Trench A, Level 3 Upper and Lower, but coated with crusty green exterior; about 600 were found in all. The vast majority were plain body sherds of small cups, bowls, and basins. Only a few large pieces were found in this area. A fragment of a vessel leg was found, 3.5 cm high. Four fragments had incised decorations, in a Z shape. Only three sherds showed evidence of paint, but that might have been a result of the organic context in which this collection was found. Most small jar rims were S-shaped and larger vessels generally had exterior ridges. A few sherds of later periods might have been deposited here by wind deflation of the later occupational surface onto the earlier one. Surface sherds were eroded, oxidized dark red or brown, and wind-polished.

Trench E 1 Numbering of the stratigraphic levels in the sherd notebooks for Qala 169 was somewhat confusing. In the original field notes, the upper Early Iron Age level was labeled Level 3 and the lower levels Level 2. The sherd notebooks identify Levels 3, 3A, 3B to represent the steps on which they were found, working from the top of the mound but were labeled 2, 2A, 2B in those notes. We have simplified this into an upper and lower level of stratum 3 as the separation of those sherds’ locations is not exact. Lower stratum 3 is called Level 4 in field notes.

This trench produced about 500 sherds, most with green organic exterior like Trench D. Rims were largely S-shaped or with exterior ridges. One coarse handmade complete bowl was found. Four fragments of hipped jars discovered.

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the archaeology of southwest afghanistan Table 8.9.1 Qala 169 C14 Samples Calibrated using Online CalPal LAB

DATE BP (cal)

SI SI SI SI SI

2585 2430 3217 2543 2609

+/+/+/+/+/-

Q169.74C.C14.1 Q169.74C.C14.2 Q169.74C.C14.3 Q169.75C.C14.1 Q169.75C.C14.2 Q169.75C.C14.3A Q169.75C.C14.3B

SI SI SI SI SI SI USGS

3063 2519 3074 2616 3497 2205 2839

Q169.75C.C14.4

BETA

BETA

HSP NUMBER

MEDIAN CALENDAR DATE

EARLY DATE

LATE DATE

146 147 130 132 116

635 480 1267 593 659

781 627 1397 725 775

489 333 137 461 543

bce

+/+/+/+/+/+/+/-

140 141 118 108 89 103 274

1113 569 1124 666 1547 255 889

1253 710 1242 774 1636 358 1163

973 428 1006 558 1458 152 615

bce

2933

+/-

103

983

1086

880

bce

3319

+/-

121

1369

1490

1248

TRENCH A Q169.74A.C14.1 Q169.74A.C14.2 Q169.74A.C14.3 Q169.74A.C14.4 Q169.74A.C14.5

bce bce bce bce

TRENCH C bce bce bce bce bce bce

TRENCH D Q169.75D.C14.1

Trench F Only 13 sherds found, the most diagnostic of which was a coarse ware large open bowl with two exterior ridges.

Radiocarbon Dates Fourteen carbon samples were taken from excavated contexts at Qala 169 and processed in the 1970s and 1980s. 2 Though all were sealed beneath the Partho-Sasanian mudbrick overlay and taken at a distance from the contemporary surface to minimize the possibility of contamination of the samples, the dates produced were inconsistent, ranging from the second through seventeenth centuries bce after calibration. Even samples taken from the same stratigraphic context often produced divergent results. One sample from Trench C (3A and 3B) was split in half and sent to two labs: the results varied by 600 years. Most dates we have hover between the seventh and 2 Unprocessed parts of these samples were left in Afghanistan in 1979 and are presumed lost, so there is no opportunity to reanalyze them using contemporary C14 technology.

bce

twelfth centuries bce, which gives us a starting point for absolute dating but is too wide a range for what was likely a shorter occupation. Carbon samples Q169.74A.C14.1–4 were all taken from Trench A, Level 4. Sample 1 was further to the west and closer to the surface of the mound than sample 2, which was from the same horizon but from deeper into the excavation. Sample 3 was taken from ash inside a wall at the same location as sample 1. Sample 4 was from 50 cm below samples 1–3, beneath burials found in that layer. Sample 5 was taken from Level 3 Upper atop the pakhsa platform, dug out from the lowest part of that stratum. Carbon samples from Trench C, Q169.74C.C14.1–3, were all taken from Level 3 Lower. Sample 1 was taken from the back of the trench, 130 cm from the modern surface. Sample 2 was from 20 cm lower than Sample 1. Sample 3 was 110 cm below Sample 1, close to the bottom of Level 3 Lower. A return to Qala 169 in 1975 enabled the resampling of Trench C (Q169.75C.C14.1–4). Sample 1 was taken from the east balk at the midpoint of Level 3 Lower but had

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excavated sites recent exposure to the wind. Sample 2 was taken from the same location but from the west balk. Sample 3 was taken from the central portion of the lowest area of Level 3, 200 cm below the current surface and 500 cm from the edge of the trench, a thick stratum of dark ash and charcoal. This sample was taken from the west balk associated with a painted rim sherd visible in the layer. Half of this sample was sent to the Smithsonian lab, the other half was sent to US Geological Service for processing. Sample 4 was taken from 18 cm above Sample 3 but in the same balk. The Trench D sample (Q169.74D.C14.1) was taken from the upper quarter of the compact trash stratum outside the wall of the qala compound, sealed and overlain with melt from the wall.

Analysis As shown in a stratigraphic section of Trench A and confirmed in Trench C, there were four occupation levels at the site. Upon the foundational pakhsa platform and the occupational levels on and around it, there was an extensive

rebuilding and reconstructing of the platform in mudbrick during the last occupation of the site. Occupational levels (Level 1) associated with this final mudbrick platform included clear indicators of Partho-Sasanian periods in Sar-o-Tar, a millennium later than the original Early Iron Age culture. This level also provided a stratigraphic cap for three habitation layers beneath, all of which shared the same material culture. The original pakhsa platform core hosted occupation both upon it and next to it (Stratum 3). Several mudbrick expansions shored up the original platform and supported a slightly later level of Iron Age occupation (2). The oldest Iron Age level (4) appeared to have been beneath the original pakhsa platform in Trench A; the first occupation of the site predating the monumental construction. No architectural elements were associated with this first occupation. The lower enclosure was likely constructed with the initial platform. The area outside that enclosure became the midden area for the site, given the green soils found in Areas D and E.

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8.10 Qala 198 Coordinates: 30°33'26.40" x 62°04'56.49" Type: Fire temple Date: Parthian

Figure 8.10.1 Qala 198 plan showing the building’s irregular shape. Darkened lines show areas excavated to clarify wall locations. Excavated areas 1 and 2 also indicated. J. Knudstad 1974 based upon notes by R. Hamilton

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Figure 8.10.2 Satellite view of Qala 198. Courtesy J. Thibeau (CAMEL/AHMP)

Located approximately 1 km south of Shahr-i Gholghola, the site was badly eroded when first visited in 1972. While some walls were visible, most of the site consisted of mounds of melted mud over sand. A preliminary plan drawn in 1973 had difficulty defining walls in the rhomboid structure, approximately 65 x 69 m in size and angled at 59 degrees from north. The melt seemed to show corner and side towers—hence labeling the site a qala—that later excavation showed not to be architectural features. Our hypothesis was that this building was a fire temple from Parthian times. Ceramics were few on the surface and did not include any glazed ceramics that would indicate occupation in any of the Islamic periods. The site was excavated over 18 days in October 1974 by a team of Baluch workmen supervised by R. Hamilton. Excavations were conducted to define the architectural configuration of the site beneath the mud melt. Two small sondages were conducted to virgin soil and various other

corners were briefly excavated to confirm details of the architectural plan. The mud melt covered approximately a 2 m thick layer of compact sand with a compact clay surface beneath, about 3 m below the modern surface. It was unclear if this was a floor. Above the compact clay were numerous burned brick bats (10 x 10 x 6 cm), presumably from the collapse of the building, and a small collection of sherds. Beneath the wall foundations were an additional 20 cm of sand.

Architecture The central room, which we suggest to be the shrine room of a fire temple, was largely cleared in the excavation. Its walls were made of mudbricks 40 x 40 x 9 cm in size. The room was almost square, 7.05 x 7.85 m with walls approximately 2 m in width surrounding it. Entrances were noted on both west and east sides. The west one could be defined as 1.5 m wide, the east one was approximately 80 cm in

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Figure 8.10.3 Qala 198 from west wall. Iwan in foreground, central room behind the elevated walls. Excavation of south ambulatory visible on the far right. HSP74.4.10

Figure 8.10.4 Central room of Qala 198 from east. Excavation to determine the edge of the walls taking place at left. HSP74.4.13

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Figure 8.10.5 Northern room complex and exterior wall. Shahr-i Gholghola visible in the distance. HSP74.4.9

width and offset to the north of the central axis of the room. The excavation determined fragments of an ambulatory on north, west, and south sides; the east side was not definable. To the west of the central shrine room, past the west ambulatory, was a square room that was likely an iwan, though no entryway from that room to the central shrine could be detected. Stratigraphy of the central room was most clearly defined in the northeast corner: the structure sat on a base of clay with a 30 cm layer of sand with clay nodules above it. Ash layers of 48 cm in depth sat above that, capped by debris, then additional occupational layers of another 48 cm. The upper level included pottery, ash, and charcoal, including a ceramic pot with bones inside. Our notes do not indicate the nature of the bones there. Above this was 1.6 m of sand covered by brick and mud melt. Collapse inside this corner of the room indicated the room may have been vaulted. The base of a flared vase with thick red slip, exterior shaved toward base, and extensive ring burnishing was found in the upper occupational stratum of this room, which was otherwise sparse in diagnostic pottery. The north ambulatory was bounded by a wall approximately 1.2–1.5 cm in width and running the length of the

Figure 8.10.6 Remains of intact doorway in north room complex. HSP74.10.2

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the archaeology of southwest afghanistan iwan and central shrine, at least 12 m in all, though its overall length toward the east could not be firmly determined. A doorway of 1 m in width led from this ambulatory to the northern complex of rooms. To the north of this wall was another narrow corridor bordering a group of rooms on the north side of the building. We identified five square rooms in this area, though not all were clearly defined, ranging in width between 3 m and 4.9 m east-west by 4.3 m north-south. We detected only a single entry into the corridor on the south that led into the westernmost of these rooms, though there may have been others. That room had a niche in its west wall. The rooms were linked by doorways between them, the third and fourth of which were separated from each other by a preserved arch. The arch sat atop a wall made of pakhsa with two courses of mudbricks separating pakhsa layers. The arch was 84 cm in width and 1.5 m in height and was made of large mudbricks, 43 x 66 x 8 cm, sitting on two or three courses of flat mudbrick atop the pakhsa wall at 1.3 m above the surface. The bricks at the base of the arch were 25 cm square and approximately 9–10 cm in thickness. A post-use squatter’s occupation of the site was identified 30 cm above the surface of this doorway. A 3 m wide corridor bounded these rooms on the north, which in turn was contained by the external wall of the structure, visible for only about 20 m of its full length. The exterior wall was approximately 3 m in width. The iwan on the west side of the building was seemingly square. It showed a single clear entrance to the west—and none into the heart of the building—and was not excavated to level of the ancient flooring. The exterior wall of the iwan was approximately 2.1 m in width, the width of the remaining walls could not be determined, though likely approximately 0.8 m in width, thus the dimensions of this room are conjectural but approximately 7–8 m on each side. To the west was a narrow corridor, approximately 1.5 m in width, seeming to stretch the width of the building with a possible entry on the northwest corner. The building’s external wall to the west was too badly eroded to determine its width without excavation.

Figure 8.10.7 Excavation on south side of shrine in south ambulatory (left) and south room complex (right). Qala 169 visible in background across wind scour area. HSP74.4.11

Excavation in the Southern Sector The architectural plan of the south side of the building was difficult to determine. A south ambulatory bordered the iwan and central shrine. It led to a set of rooms, only the westernmost of which was examined. A vertical excavation of the northeast corner of this room (Trench 2) produced a sequence of 2 m of soft sand, with 1 m of harder porous material beneath this. At approximately 3 m, a layer of ash, sherds, and brick bats 0.5 m thick was disclosed. Some of

Figure 8.10.8 Trench 2 excavation. Note flooring at bottom with sand layer above and another occupation/debris level above it. HSP74.6.35

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excavated sites the brick bats showed evidence of burning. The trench was discontinued due to threat of collapse. A second trench (Trench 1) was dug into the south ambulatory just outside the iwan. This trench produced a burn layer approximately 1.9 m below the modern surface. At 3.2 m a second burned layer was reached, including sherds and six brick bats. This layer was approximately 30 cm in thickness. No clear flooring could be identified, though a layer of 20 cm of sand lay beneath the burned layer and beneath the wall foundations. Fragments of an arch were identified between this ambulatory and the iwan. Like the north side, we posit yet another corridor further south and another set of rooms running east-west before the external wall of the building. Two rooms were delineated at the southeast corner of this outer string of rooms. One ran 5.5 m in width, the other 6.1 m, and both were 3 m in depth and surrounded by walls 2.2 m in width. A thin wall of 0.5 m separated the two rooms. Doorways were not identified. The width of the outside wall on the south was not clarified but was likely 2–2.5 m in width. The eastern end of the building was not intensely studied, thus the configuration behind the central shrine was unclear. The external wall to the east featured two long rooms between walls. The northern one was approximately 13.2 m in length, the southern room 17.5 m in length, and both were 2.7 m in width. They were surrounded by walls approximately 2.3 m in thickness. A space of 9.3 m separated these two rooms, though it was unclear if that was a solid wall. The width of the external wall was not measured but likely to have been 2–2.5 m in width. Two carbon samples were taken at the site from two points along the west wall of the central room, beneath the uppermost level of ash. One returned a date of 834– 600 bce, the other 37 bce–93 ce (Q198.74.C14.1,2). The proximity of this site to Qala 169 could account for the earlier date. The second date would place the site into the Parthian period and would parallel the date of Temple 215, also excavated and described in this chapter. The signature part of the building, a squared central room with heavy ash and charcoal deposits, surrounded by narrow corridors on all sides, and an iwan to the west, also closely matched the plan of Temple 215, which is recognizable as a fire temple. We suggest that was the function of this building as well, despite the heavy erosion that made parts of its plan unclear. Our inability to find any well-defined floors to the building nor any thick plastering, as was common at Temple 215, is problematic. The thick ash layer within the building supported the premise of its function as a fire temple but, unlike at Temple 215, the ash was found in various

Figure 8.10.9 Trench 1 completed excavation. Indication of doorway into iwan at lower right. HSP74.8.26

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Figure 8.10.10 Stratigraphy of Trench 1. Layer of debris and ash at top, above a thick layer of sand. Lower ash layer at bottom. HSP74.8.28

the archaeology of southwest afghanistan spots in the building, not just the central shrine room. The ash might represent a destructive fire instead, though no burn marks were found on the walls. It was clear that the structure was quickly buried by sand because of the height of the remaining walls, as much as 3 m in places, but the lack of preservation of floors or other features of a specialized structure cannot be easily explained. The multiple brick bats might have been elements of a fire altar that was disassembled after the building was abandoned, but that is conjecture. After abandonment of the building there were later squatter occupations, as evidenced by the burn level in the south ambulatory excavation and possibly from the rough handmade cooking and storage ware discovered at the site. No attempt to date these occupations was made. Regrettably, Robert Hamilton passed away before he could write up the complex findings of this site, so its analysis comes from review of his notes, of field photos, and of completion of his field drawings by Jim Knudstad.

Objects and Ceramics Numerous mud brick bats were found loose in various points within the occupational strata, a few of them burned and 10 x 10 x 6 cm in size. A broken bronze bracelet was found during the excavation of the south ambulatory. It was slightly corroded with one end broadened and flattened. Dimensions were not recorded. About 20 sherds were retained and processed from the surface survey in 1972. Most were of large bowls and jars. A ledge rim, known from Parthian jars sites in Sar-o-Tar, was collected. Several large vessels were decorated with wavy

line incisions on the exterior. Two sherds had rolled everted rims and exterior ridges, common in early Iron Age contexts at nearby Qala 169. Two sherds collected were of fine ware with thick red slips, though neither was burnished. Limited ceramics were uncovered in the excavation. Few sherds were found within the occupational strata below the overlaying fill and sand layers, which were reached in only a few places. Most were undistinguished body wares of large wheel made vessels, including numerous ribbed wares. These were not catalogued nor saved. A handmade cooking pot and storage jar were discovered during the excavation in one of the southern rooms. Finer wares included a flat based bowl with incurved rim in hard fired orange-red ware, discovered in the occupational layer along the west wall of the central shrine. The complete mouth of a small unguent bottle of hard fired orange ware, many examples of which have been found at other Parthian sites as funerary goods, was excavated along with the disc base of a hard fired dark red bowl with ring burnish in this area. The central shrine room also contained a piece of handmade cooking ware and a ribbed ware body sherd. On the surface of the site were a rim of a large ledge rim storage jar with a buff brown slip, a base of a fine ware piece with heavy red slip and shaved on the lower parts toward the base, and a rim of an early Iron Age bowl painted in black with three horizontal bands above two diagonal ones and dotted lozenges extending from the bottom horizontal band. The dearth of ceramics also matches our experience at Temple 215, also a fire temple, in which we recovered very few sherds from the building.

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8.11 Temple 215 Coordinates: 62°01'57.39" x 30°30'49.79" Type: Fire temple Date: Parthian, Sasanian

Figure 8.11.1 Plan of Temple 215 showing areas excavated and location of sand dunes. J. Knudstad 1973

The site was located on raised ground at the southeast edge of the dasht headland at the east edge of the Sar-o-Tar dune field, approximately 1 km from Qala 222. The region around the site was called seh dik (three mounds) by the local inhabitants, but they may be referring to other more visible sites in the area. The site was

visited in 1973 and the decision made to excavate that season because, while the area was at that time mostly free of sand, it was apparent that an approaching dune would cover it in short order. Sand had already completely eroded the northeast corner of the site and much of the northwest corner, which showed some evidence

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Figure 8.11.2 Temple 215 elevation, looking southwest. Shrine at center, flanked by ambulatories. J. Knudstad 1973.

Figure 8.11.3 Temple 215 elevation, looking southeast. Shrine at center, anteroom and iwan to left. J. Knudstad 1973

Figure 8.11.4 Temple 215 viewed from the south. Badly eroded south room complex in foreground. HSP73.13.30.

of rebuilding. Notable is the fact that the site was not located near any visible canal remains. The structure was approximately 55 x 55 m and extant walls were 8 m high at points. Walls of the building were thick, 4 m wide for the iwan and central shrine and 2.5 m for the ambulatory walls, which helped protect the site from wind erosion over the past 2000 years. Wall construction was largely of pakhsa for the lower parts of the walls, with the upper walls made of mudbricks of 42 x 42 x 10–15 cm in size. Baked bricks were used only at the entrance of the iwan. Very few sherds were found

inside the pakhsa, mudbricks, or mud plaster, implying that the area had not been heavily occupied prior to the construction of the temple. Rooms all had plastered floors and plastered walls. There were clearly multiple plasterings of each, ranging 4–9 cm in thickness. Construction was generally well done, with angles squared to within a centimeter in most cases. Orientation of the entrances to the central shrine and iwan was at 51 degrees, pointing toward the northeast and the area of Shahr-i Gholghola. The site was revisited in 1974 and had largely been refilled with sand at that time.

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Figure 8.11.5 East façade of Temple 215 from southeast corner looking north. Southern pillar of iwan in foreground. HSP73.21.02

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Figure 8.11.6 Southern pier of iwan arch entrance before excavation, looking east. HSP73.15.9

Figure 8.11.7 Arch takeoff from south pillar of iwan. HSP73.25.10

Figure 8.11.8 Baked brick foundation of south pier of iwan arch. Most layers of bricks were robbed out and layer of ash runs beneath lowest brick layer. HSP73.16.37

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Figure 8.11.9 Baked brick foundation of north pier of iwan arch. HSP73.16.30

Figure 8.11.10 Shovel marks in debris covering baked brick foundation of south pier shows later robbing for brick. HSP73.16.34

Figure 8.11.11 Floor plaster upturned against north iwan brick pier, showing the pier was still intact for last plastering of iwan floor. HSP73.21.05

Figure 8.11.12 Carved stucco fragment from collapsed iwan arch. HSP74.35.9

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Figure 8.11.13 Repairs to base of wall along north side of iwan (lower left). HSP73.12.9

Figure 8.11.14 Central shrine room of Temple 215 prior to excavation, looking west. HSP73.13.37

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Excavation The site was excavated over a span of three weeks in November 1973. The central shrine room was completely cleared and a sondage made in the center of the room below the latest floor level to assess its stratigraphy. Other parts of the site excavated included the front third and southwest corner, side, and doorway of iwan to the east of the central shrine, including a subfloor excavation to reveal mudbrick piers beneath the last flooring level; the hallway between iwan and central shrine; the ambulatory on the north side of the iwan; the ambulatory south of the central shrine to the wall blocking it; the west shrine doorway and across passage to the room complex to the west of the shrine; the west room complex; the profiles of the halls extending from the south ambulatory wall to the south via a slit trench; across the northern open passage through a doorway and into one room in the northern room block. In most cases, excavation consisted of clearing sand away from the final plastered floor of the building. Other doorways and foundations of western rooms were tested to complete the architectural profile. A separate building of presumed same age located to the west of the main shrine, called the West Building, had two central rooms and parts of other rooms standing, which were selectively excavated to complete an architectural plan.

Iwan The iwan leading into the central shrine opened to the east exterior of the building. Made of mudbricks, 42 x 42 x 10 cm, atop a base of pakhsa and covered by a heavy coat of plaster, the room stood 10 x 10 m inside with walls approximately 4 m thick. The east side of the iwan was interrupted by an archway 8 m in width but no longer preserved, of which the pillars were founded on baked brick piers of approximately 2 m square that were inset in mud mortar 65 cm below the floor of the room and partially beneath the east wall. The south pier had a layer of ash beneath the foundation. Portions of the east walls framing the archway remained up to 1.7 m high. The original baked bricks stood 12 courses high but most of the south pier bricks had been robbed out, likely in medieval times based on the C14 date recorded from the robber trench. Marks of shovels on the bricks were still evident, indicating that the bricks were excavated when the ground was damp. The iwan floor and walls were well plastered in a brownish-white color, repeated on the plaster floors of the ambulatories. As much as 6 cm of plastering layers was noted. The top part of the archway façade of the iwan was originally covered with plaster molding with

Figure 8.11.15 View through intact arch from iwan into anteroom and shrine room after excavation, showing location of sondage through shrine floor. Note batter on lower parts of walls. HSP73.35.6

vegetation motifs. About a dozen fragments of this molding in half-relief profile were recovered in the excavation just outside the entrance of the iwan. Similar pieces were found by HSP at the gate of site Qala 352. A plastered step was constructed outside the east entrance to the iwan and temple, 17–21 cm in height. Its excellent condition implied it was covered with sand before the archway above it fell, though a late plastering indicated some repair and much of the plaster had eroded away. The west wall of the iwan leading toward the central shrine room showed faint traces of being painted, both black horizontal lines and areas with black, white, red, and possibly blue fields. There was an arch remaining in this doorway, constructed of mudbricks with a pakhsa keystone. The west door of the iwan had a preserved arch 4.3 m in height. The northwest corner of the room stood 8.25 m in height. Both east and west doors to the iwan had a slight keyhole profile, as did the west door of the central

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Figure 8.11.16 Excavated central shrine room, looking east toward iwan, fragments of dome collapse in foreground. Note the keyhole style arch. HSP73.24.33

Figure 8.11.17 Southeast corner of shrine room at the level of the latest plastered floor. Note strata of layered sand at right, beneath and between several layers of mudbrick collapse. HSP73.16.8

Figure 8.11.18 Detail of strata of sand and collapse debris in southeast corner of shrine room. HSP73.15.26

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Figure 8.11.19 Sondage beneath last plastered floor of central shrine room. HSP73.35.8

shrine room. The west door had been repaired with pakhsa, rather than mudbrick. A test pit was dug along the edge of the south baked brick pier of the iwan to a depth of approximately 1 m. The final plastered floor showed evidence of burning across much of the iwan. It was undergirded with 15 cm of hard mud fill and 12 cm of softer floor fill beneath. A 5 cm gray ash level and 12 cm of brownish soft fill and mud beneath that sat atop 14 cm of baked brick foundation. Beneath the foundation of the pier was an ash layer, from which a C14 sample was taken that produced a medieval date. A stratum of 50 cm of packed mud sat beneath the ash layer. A series of mud plasterings as much 7 cm thick extended 15 cm beneath the final flooring, covering up eroding baked bricks at an earlier floor level. Two sherds were discovered 33 cm beneath the bricks, one a coarse orange-red sherd with ring burnishing on the exterior, the other a coarse red ware body sherd with a buff exterior slip. Other sherds were discovered 75 cm beneath the floor of the iwan in this pit, including a thickened vertical rim of a red slip bowl and a body sherd with thick radial burnishing on the exterior.

Figure 8.11.20 Sondage in central shrine room shows alternating layers of ash and plastered flooring. HSP73.P.28

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Figure 8.11.21 Section of sondage in central shrine room. Thick burn layer 20-30 cm beneath last plastering, other layers of ash and dust lie 1.5-2 cm below last surface. HSP73.R.30

Figure 8.11.22 West door of central shrine room leading to west ambulatory and Room A prior to excavation. HSP73.13.33

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Figure 8.11.23 West door of central shrine room leading to west ambulatory after excavation. Note its keyhole shape. HSP73.23.37

Figure 8.11.24 Detail of keyhole arch entry to west ambulatory from central shrine room, keystone constructed of pakhsa. HSP73.31.6

The lowest 1–1.25 m of height of the west wall of the iwan had been repaired during a later occupation, as were the anteroom and central shrine room. The resulting wall repairs had been heavily plastered with a brownish mud plaster. After abandonment of the room, it was filled with sand before the higher parts of the wall collapsed onto it.

Anteroom To the west of the iwan was a small anteroom, separating it from the central shrine. Doors led into this room from the iwan, central shrine, and from both north and south sides of the ambulatories. The room was approximately 2.7 m in width and 10 m in length. Its east and west doorways

Figure 8.11.25 Entrance into north ambulatory from east wall of temple. HSP73.21.3

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Figure 8.11.26 Southern ambulatory (left) with wall blocking it at top. HSP73.35.19

were 1.6–1.7 m wide and 3.5–4 m deep into the adjoining rooms; the north and south corridors into the ambulatory were 0.9 m in width and 4 m in depth. Plastered floors were continuous from the rooms on either side into the anteroom.

Central Shrine The central shrine room was well preserved. The room was 10 m square, with entrances on the east and west sides but no interior features. Heavily plastered walls in this room stood as much as 5.5 m in height. Embedded in its final plaster flooring were two clods of plaster and a sherd, possibly from immediate post-occupation collapse. The room was completely excavated of wall collapse and sand to its last flooring. There was no indication of a built-in fire holder in this room, as might have been expected of the central ritual room of a fire temple. Only two sherds were found atop the latest floor in the room, neither diagnostic. A base from a heavy jar or large bowl, coarse grained hard red ware with exterior reduced to gray, likely from the pakhsa wall above, was discovered in the melt at the north side of the room. On the last plastered surface of this room was a poorly made reduced gray body sherd with a heavy gray slip. A sondage below the floor level was conducted in the center of this room to a depth of 36 cm. The excavation began inside the east door of the room and ran 4.5 m in length and 1 m in width. The latest floor plastering (Level 1, 1.5 cm deep) of the room showed no evidence of

Figure 8.11.27 Southern ambulatory with collapsed vault bricks. HSP73.33.3

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Figure 8.11.29 Plan of collapsed vault bricks on ambulatory floor. J. Knudstad 1973

Figure 8.11.28 Details of collapsed vault bricks in south ambulatory. HSP73.32.21

burning. If the room was used for fire ceremonies, there was likely a portable altar used. Prior levels of flooring were heavily burned with significant ash in approximately 1 x 1 m of area in the center of the room and to a depth of 5 cm (Level 2). Additional evidence of burning and ash extended another 2 m toward the east entrance of the room. After a thin lens of wind-laid and occupational dust (Level 3), another layer of 18–21 cm of ash mixed with mud and dust was discovered (Level 4), followed by an occupational surface and another 8 cm of soil containing bits of charcoal beneath (Level 5). Three C14 samples were taken in this area, on the second, fourth, and fifth levels of flooring beneath the final occupation of the room. Only the latest produced a result from the lab, and was dated to the early centuries ce. A rim sherd of a ring burnished bowl with faint external ribbing was found embedded in the latest plastering of the central shrine floor. Several ribbed body sherds lumped together were found 15–20 cm beneath the surface of the sondage. Two additional body fragments of fine grained

Figure 8.11.30 Looking into Room A from central shrine room, showing offset doorways. HSP73.21.37

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Figure 8.11.31 Room A from west with entrances to west ambulatory, offset entrance to central shrine room. Pilasters on east wall located unevenly from doorway. HSP73.25.5

Figure 8.11.32 Room A from east with entrance to west room block unexcavated. Pilasters on west wall frame this doorway. Entrances to north and south rooms from Room A at left and right. HSP73.25.9

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excavated sites hard fired red ware with exterior ring burnishing were also discovered in the sondage, specific locations not recorded. A keyhole profile characterized both doors to this room, most apparent in the west door of central shrine. The west door stood at 3 m in height. Walls of the central shrine room bulged somewhat outward from the weight of the roof, suggesting that the room was possibly domed.

Ambulatory The ambulatory was 2.6–2.7 m in width and surrounded the iwan, anteroom, and central shrine on three sides. There were entry points to this hallway from north and south of the east wall to the iwan, from the anteroom, from the west side of the central shrine, and from the room to the east of the shrine (Room A). Small doorways also opened from the ambulatory to the corridors and rooms to the north and south of the central structure. Exterior walls of the ambulatory were approximately 2.5 m in width. The latest plastered floors on the ambulatory were brown/ white in color, similar to that of the iwan. Passage along the south ambulatory was broken by a transverse wall of 1.2 m in width located 27 cm west of the doorway leading to the anteroom and completely blocking

Figure 8.11.33 North block of rooms and courtyard from south, visible only as lines on the surface. A dune approaches. Qala 222 in the distance. HSP73.16.3

Figure 8.11.34 North block of rooms from north. HSP73.L.8

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Figure 8.11.35 Narrow hallways along south side of Temple 215, visible only as long, light lines of soil in foreground. HSP73.12.24

Figure 8.11.36 Closer view of hallways along south side of temple looking east. HSP73.13.36

Figure 8.11.37 Plan of West Building of Temple 215. J. Knudstad 1973

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Figure 8.11.38 West Building from north. North room walls eroded to modern ground level. HSP73.33.12

Figure 8.11.39 West Building from south. HSP74.33.10

passage along the ambulatory. This barrier dated to the construction of the original building. The south ambulatory outside the iwan had the best evidence of the roofing techniques of the building. A group of as many as 11 broken mudbricks were found atop 20–25 cm of sand on the plaster floor approximately 2–5 m from the east door of the ambulatory. These bricks were elongated rectangles, the largest fragment being 91 x 18–20 x 12–14 cm. The position of the bricks on the ground indicated they had been placed end to end on the roof. It was likely there were multiple layers of brick and this represented only the bottom layer, which fell on the sand and was covered by later sand incursions. Later layers of bricks likely fell atop further

layers of sand and were eroded away. It is unclear whether the roofing of this corridor was vaulted or flat. Ribbed body sherds were found in the last plastering of the north ambulatory and under the floor of the south ambulatory, which also contained a vertical thickened bowl rim with red slip.

Room A To the west of the central shrine was a small room labeled Room A by the excavators. This room was excavated to the last floor level between 40–60 cm from each of the four walls toward the center of the room, and a transect cut across its center from its north to south entrances of approximately

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the archaeology of southwest afghanistan 50–60 cm in width. The east doorway of Room A leading toward the central shrine room was offset slightly southward from the shrine room door leading into the ambulatory that separated them, ensuring that there were no direct sightlines from this room into the iwan and shrine. The west entrance of Room A was directly opposite the east one and therefore not centered on those two walls, but the north and south entrances to this room were located at the center of those walls. Doorways were 80–87 cm in width. This square room of approximately 5.4 m on each side was notable for two rhomboid-shaped pilasters on each wall, framing each doorway and covered with mud plaster. Each pilaster was 32–37 cm in width and stood out 4–5 cm from the wall. The east and west wall pilasters were centered in the room, though that created an unbalanced distance to the off-center doorways they framed. Thus, while the north and south wall pilasters were an equidistant 42–48 cm from the edge of the doorframes, the northeast pilaster was 86 cm from the east doorway, the southeast pilaster 21 cm. Similarly, the northwest pilaster was 63 cm and the southwest one 39 cm from the doorway. Rectangular rooms were located both to the north and south of Room A. The north side anteroom was largely covered by a large sand dune, so was visible only in its northwest and southeast corners. Its dimensions were likely the same as the room to the south, which was 6 x 5.4 m and featured another entrance at the southwest, approximately 88 cm from the room’s south wall and 90 cm in width. We believe Room A was unroofed, as this would have been the most likely way that sand entered the building from the west and filled the western half of the central shrine. The lack of a roof would also have provided light into the center of the structure. The doorway to the west of Room A led to the series of rooms west of the central shrine area, described below.

North Room Complex Remains of north rooms and corridors were largely identifiable by contrasting clay colors visible on the surface of the playa as they were otherwise completely wind eroded. An excavation transect of 1 m in width was cut through this corridor and through one of the rooms in the row of side chambers down to the final occupation floor level. Outside the ambulatory was an unroofed passageway extending northeast-southwest almost the entire length of the building and 10 m in width. To the north of this passageway was a series of small rectangular rooms bordered by the outside wall of the building with entrances into the passageway. East-west walls of the north side complex were 2–2.25 m thick and have been completely eroded since the abandonment of the building. Walls separating these small rooms

were 1.25 m in width. The rooms were approximately 4.7 m east-west and 3.4 m north-south with doorways of approximately 0.8–1 m in width. The northwest and northeast corners of this side of the building were covered by encroaching sand dunes. A single narrow door connected the north side of the ambulatory with this complex. Only this doorway and a thin trench through the exterior passageway and into one of the rooms were excavated.

South Room Complex South of the south ambulatory were three long hallways seemingly not broken into rooms. An excavation transect of 1 m in width was cut through this area down to the final occupation floor level. Doorways between the various corridors were also excavated. Several small pits were also excavated in the southwest corner of this complex. The wall closest to the ambulatory was approximately 0.7–0.8 m in width and extended the entire length of the building creating a narrow corridor 3 m in width. It was unclear if this corridor was roofed. A single door of approximately 0.9 m led into the ambulatory at approximately the southwest corner of the central shrine room. It aligned with a door of slightly greater width (1.25 m) through this corridor wall into the next passageway to the south. The second corridor also extended the full length of the building but was 6.1 m in width and unroofed. A wall of 1.7 m in width separated it from the third corridor, which also ran the length of the building and was 4 m in width. A single entrance on the side of this corridor into the unroofed one to its north was 1.6 m in width. An additional partition wall was added to this southernmost corridor after the building was in use, approximately 0.8 m from the north wall of this corridor. The wall of this addition was thin, only 0.8 m in width, similar to the thin wall just outside the ambulatory. It did not extend to the west end of the corridor, but turned to attach to the south wall of the building approximately 1.8 m before the west wall. This wall was built upon one of the earlier plastered floors, thus not part of the original design of the building. The resulting narrower corridor to the south was 3.1 m in width. Like the north exterior wall, the wall of the south side of the complex was 2.5 m thick. The exterior face of this wall had eroded and it stood only at playa level in some places.

West Rooms To the west of Room A was a north-south corridor, running the length of Room A and its flanking rooms and 2.4 m in width. Doors from the east leading into this corridor were from Room A and from the anteroom to its south. Three doorways, each approximately 0.8 m in width, led

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Figure 8.11.40 Southeast room of West Building, with a pakhsa bench at each corner and ovens against the southeastern bench. HSP73.32.36

Figure 8.11.41 Two tandurs cutting into bench at southeast corner of southeast room of West Building. HSP73.32.37

Figure 8.11.42 Inverted pedestal goblet above floor of southeast room of West Building. HSP73.33.21

west from this corridor to three heavily-eroded rectangular rooms, each entered from the corridor. The three rooms were approximately the same size, though the poor level of preservation only allowed us to measure the south room at 4.7 x 6.3 m. The rooms were separated by walls 1.7 m in thickness. The door from Room A aligned with the door of the room to its west, but the door leading to the south room did not align with the south chamber off Room A. There was potentially a narrow corridor to the west of these rooms that extended into both the north and south complexes but the level of erosion of the west edge of the building did not allow us to further determine if it was a separate corridor or part of the exterior wall of the building.

West Building This building was located approximately 20 m west of Temple 215 and belonged to the same occupational complex given its location, preservation, and orientation. Along with the temple, this building was extensively excavated by the HSP team to the last occupational floor level. Much of building had been eroded away around all four sides, making it difficult to provide a definitive architectural plan. Walls of this building were all made of pakhsa. Three central rooms were well preserved. To the north side of the building was a rectangular room 15 x 8 m in dimension, which was cleared to last floor level, digging

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Figure 8.11.43 Circle and lines graffiti carved into plaster on iwan wall. HSP73.16.16

to approximately 0.5 m from each wall toward the center of the room. The northern wall of the northern room was only 40 cm in width in its western half, widening to 0.8–1.05 m on the eastern half of the room. A parallel wall fragment to the north of the room was 80 cm in width and 3.8 m in length and created two partial room fragments to the north of the large room, one extending west 60 cm in width and the other 75 cm in width. A similar set of rooms framed the east side of the northern room, which was bordered by a thin wall only 30 cm in width. The wall further to the east was 35 cm in width and broken into two narrow chambers of 1.25 m in width by an east-west wall of 0.6 m. These thin walls may have been wall facings with a fill in between but they were eroded to ground level so that hypothesis could not be verified. South of this large room were two other well-preserved rooms, both of which were completely excavated to the last occupation floor level. The southeast room was 4 x 6 m in size. In its northeast corner was a plastered pakhsa bench 95 x 65 cm in dimension and 40 cm in height. The southeast corner also had a pakhsa bench 65 x 120 cm in size. Between the two pakhsa benches were two ovens made of

fired clay, each 33 cm in diameter, the south oven cut into the southwest bench and the north oven cutting into the other oven, thus providing a stratigraphic sequence for the three features. Along the south wall of this room were two pots inset into the floor. Near the west wall, an additional jar was set into the flooring, blocking the entrance to the west room, thus a later addition. The southeast room contained substantial amounts of pottery, including most of the fine ware goblets, cups, and bowls discovered at the site. Many sherds exhibited external ribbing. Most of these were deposited 15–20 cm in the fill above the final flooring. On the floor of the room were found other sherds and the jars set into the floor itself. The collection above the flooring included a moderately gritty red ware bowl with cross hatched burnishing, rim fragments of three fine grained red ware bowls, one with ring burnishing, another with shallow exterior ribbing. Another sherd was decorated with crude vertical burnishing on the interior. A wall 1.85 m in thickness separated the southeast and southwest rooms. The doorway leading to the southwest room was 1.4 m in width but highly eroded. The southwest

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Figure 8.11.44 Phallus, testes, and vulva graffiti carved into plaster on doorway between iwan and antechamber. HSP73.16.13

Figure 8.11.45 Green glass bottle, surface find east of the iwan. HSP73.53.34

Figure 8.11.46 Bronze spoon, surface find east of the iwan. HSP73.53.33

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the archaeology of southwest afghanistan room was 4.5 x 4 m in size. It contained a plastered pakhsa bench of 80 cm width but undetermined length in the northwest corner, 50 cm in height. A jar of 22 cm maximum diameter was set into the southeast corner of this room. Two walls led south from these two rooms, framing part of another room, but the remains of the structure in this direction were eroded away. The project excavated along the north wall of this room to the latest floor level and along both the east and west walls to approximately 50 cm from each wall. The northeast corner of this area had a plastered fireplace or oven 80 cm in width cut into the wall. The wall stub that extended south on the west side of this area also contained an oven carved into the wall on the west side.

Outside the Temple While no structures were visible to the east of the iwan, there was a dense scattering of pre-Islamic sherds in this direction. To the northeast of the temple, there were visible fragments of ceramic kilns and wall stubs extending into the approaching dune. These structures were not examined and might represent a later occupation.

Graffiti Two graffiti were incised into a late plastering of the southeast portion of the wall between iwan and central shrine. On the south side of the west iwan wall itself there was inscribed into the plastering a circle of 11.5 cm in diameter with two parallel lines leading from it toward the doorway, each line 57 cm long and separated by 11 cm. The top line

Figure 8.11.47 Southwest corner of iwan after excavation. Note at left lower layers of 1.5 m of pure sand filling iwan before the walls or roof collapsed. HSP73.16.17

Figure 8.11.48 Excavation of south side of iwan showing effects of waves of sand against plastered wall. HSP73.16.19

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Figure 8.11.49 Late burial in southwest corner of the iwan. HSP73.12.13

Figure 8.11.50 Central shrine room enveloped in sand between 1973 excavation and our return during the 1974 season. HSP74.14.17

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the archaeology of southwest afghanistan was 150 cm above the last plastered floor. Two layers of brown-green plaster were laid over incisions, which were made through an earlier layer of brownish plaster, thus the graffiti was made while the building was still in use. This figure was roughly carved. A second, better executed figure was placed on the south pillar of the entry passage between the iwan and the anteroom. It consisted of male genitalia with the tip of phallus pointing toward the iwan. Phallus was 79 cm in length and 24 cm in width; the top line of phallus was 124 cm above floor. Two parallel arced lines were carved below the phallus tip and there was a short line extending from end of penis toward an inverted triangle, presumably representing a vagina, incised into the wall to the east. Beneath the phallus were two inscribed overlapping oval testes, 28 cm in horizontal diameter. The vagina carving was 36 cm high and 21 cm wide at its top, with a 24 cm slit extending vertically from the lower point. It was unclear whether this figure was covered by the latest coats of plaster like the other figure, or whether it was carved into the final plastering. Both were carved at a height on the wall commensurate with someone standing on the plastered floor of the temple, thus before the iwan passageway filled with sand.

Artifacts and Ceramics Three coins were found on the surface of the site, though none were found in stratified contexts. A bronze tetradrachm, possibly of Parthian king Pacores (110–135 ce), was found 100 m to the northeast of the building during the resurveying of the site in 1974. A copper drachm of Vologases III (105–147 ce) was obtained from one of the workmen on the surface before excavation during 1973, though its location was not determined. A third unidentified coin was found in the sand fill of the northwest corner of the temple building. A complete light green glass bottle 8.2 cm in height with marked surface decomposition was discovered on the surface outside the temple. A bronze spoon of 17.4 cm in length was another surface discovery. Sherd coverage inside the building itself was very light, many of those found in stratigraphic locations had been embedded in walls, wall plastering, or flooring during construction or reconstruction. There were sherds located outside the east end of the iwan for 0.5 km outward from the site. The largest collection of ceramics was located around and in the West Building, within the fill, on the floor, or inset into the floor of the southeast room. Almost all ceramics were Partho-Sasanian wares but few were distinctive enough to be chronological markers. Most of

the finer wares—thin bowls, cups, pedestaled goblets, and other ring-burnished pieces—were found in and around the West Building. There were almost no identifiable Islamic period ceramics found in or around the site except in the very top debris layers.

Radiocarbon Dates Three carbon samples from the site were analyzed by the Smithsonian radiocarbon lab in 1974 and recalibrated to the latest MASCA curve. One sample, taken 20 cm below the surface of a secondary wall on the floor of the south ambulatory, produced a date of 1935 BP +/- 70 cal (55 bce to 85 ce). A second sample of charcoal taken from silt below the baked brick foundations of the south iwan pier, produced a date of 675 +/- 90 cal (1185–1365 ce), though the baked bricks were robbed, which may have contaminated the sample and provided a late date. A third sample of ash mixed with silt below one of the later floors uncovered in the sondage beneath the final plastered floor of the central shrine produced a wide date range of 1575 +/220 cal (155–595 ce). Two additional C14 samples were returned without measurable results.

Post Occupation Levels The existence of graffiti on the walls with subsequent plasterings suggested the building was standing but no longer a religious shrine in its final occupational phase before being encased in sand. The lack of squatter remains, though, suggested that the time period was short. There was substantial evidence the building was filled with sand shortly after it was abandoned or was abandoned because of sand. The excellent preservation of plastered walls and floors indicated the rooms were largely left intact and protected from elements by being roofed. Slight spalling of later floor plasterings was seen in the central shrine, but there was no significant erosion. Evidence of squatter debris, rebuilds, and hearths on the floor were few. A few burn spots were identified on the floor of the iwan and the east end of the north ambulatory. The roof bricks that fell on a 25 cm layer of sand in the south ambulatory provided more support for the hypothesis of sand encroachment before the building lost its roof. Rooms filled with sand were protected from later wind and water erosion and had better preservation of walls. The walls of the iwan were preserved to a height of as much as 8 m, both the iwan and the central shrine were filled with sand as high as 2 m when excavated. Thin lenses of mud and mud plaster from the walls sat atop various layers of sand. It appeared from the layering of the sand that it

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excavated sites entered the central shrine from both west and east doorways in equal amounts. If domed, the central shrine roof collapsed after the room was largely filled and roofing materials were eroded away by wind and water. A trench at the east end of the iwan produced evidence of the sequence of accumulation and erosion. The bottom layer was of homogeneous sand that probably came through the doorway of the iwan shortly after abandonment. Next, a layer of clay collapse, probably the vault of the room, intermixed with layers of sand and showing lenses of water erosion of the clay material over time. Atop this there was a brief occupation layer that included four fragments of two glazed ceramics, probably from the Ghaznavid period. Above this layer was a thick layer of clay, likely from the collapse of upper parts of the walls of the room. A thin lens of sand intermixed with melted mud sat atop this collapse, with 4 cm of ash in one corner, evidence of a brief occupation. At this time, a burial was dug into the post-occupational debris of the iwan. The body was interred on its right side facing northeast with crossed arms and flexed legs. No burial goods were found with the interment. Despite the excellent preservation of the plastering, many of the plastered walls showed evidence of worm holes 1–2 cm in diameter, possibly the location of straw temper in the mud. Most of the plaster was crusted in salt when excavated. Two walls inside the central shrine showed mud extrusions from the wall caused by water seeping into the wall. Wall plastering was destroyed at those points. Quick coverage in sand was demonstrated to us by our own excavation. The clearance of the site in 1973 was

almost completely obliterated by sand dunes on our return the following season.

Analysis The structure of the building, its robust and refined construction methods, and the elaborate pottery found in the accompanying building fit the pattern of Parthian fire temples elsewhere in Sistan and in Iran. Qala 198 had a very similar plan, though not oriented toward the east. While we found no fire altar in the central shrine room, the successive layers of fine floor plaster and ash debris suggested there may have been a mobile altar in that room. The lack of artifacts found in the building made it difficult to identify specific activity areas and suggested that abandonment was a deliberate act. We were unable to give a firm date of the building of the temple, but it was likely in the first century bce or ce based on the C14 date produced by a sample taken from beneath a wall added on top of a flooring in the south room complex and supported by coins found and Parthian ceramics. The C14 date from a late flooring in excavated floor of the central shrine indicated that the site likely continued to be used into the Sasanian period. Upon abandonment at an unknown date in that era, it stood long enough to be subject to graffiti, then was covered in sand. The Sar-o-Tar region was abandoned from the end of the Sasanian period until the Saffarid reconstruction of the canal system, but this area was not resettled then and showed no evidence of later canals. Brief squatter occupations left the few glazed Ghaznavid sherds in the structure, a late burial, and a robber pit to mine baked bricks from the iwan.

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Chapter 9

Shahr-i Gholghola

Other names: Sar-o-Tar Gazetteer #: 1006 Coordinates: 30°34'41.68" x 62°05'31.24"E Type: Large fortress/city Date: Early Iron?, Parthian, Sasanian, Saffarid, Ghaznavid, Ghorid, Timurid

Figure 9.0.1 Satellite photo of Shahr-i Gholghola. Courtesy of CAMEL/AHMP

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Figure 9.0.2 General site plan of Shahr-i Gholghola. J. Knudstad, R. Hamilton, N. Vester 1972-1973

Shahr-i Gholghola, the “City of Screams,” is located approximately 35 km east of the Helmand River in the southern half of the Sar-o-Tar basin. It is by far the largest archaeological site in Sar-o-Tar and one of the largest in all of Sistan. The site is massive, over 1 km square in size. The name of the site, Shahr-i Gholghola, has often been confused with Sar-o-Tar, the region in which it is located. Our discussions with local informants has separated the two, despite the

unavoidable confusion with another Shahr-i Gholghola located in the Bamiyan valley (Ball 2019, 346; Site 1042). Despite the fact we spent most of three full seasons excavating Shahr-i Gholghola after a brief survey in our initial 1971 field season, a total of 36 weeks spent at the site, we can offer here only a few preliminary observations about its structure and history. Large sectors of the site lie permanently buried in deep sands accumulated in the wind shadow of

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Figure 9.0.3 Citadel and Circular Enclosure from north. HSP72.20.29

walls and ruined structures. Its size also precluded us from doing anything other than sample small areas of the vast ruin in attempting to assess its dating and functions. The site was well known prior to our first visit to Sar-o-Tar. Tate had visited it in 1904 and drew the first map of the site. He and other members of the various Afghanistan Boundary Commissions were also regularly visited by the dagal gardi with coins and other objects purportedly from Shahr-i Gholghola during their work in the Sistan region, though it is unclear how many came specifically from Shahr-i Gholghola and how many from the Sar-o-Tar region more generally (Tate 1909, 107). The French DAFA mission also spent time there in 1936 and included a map and extensive description in their report (Hackin 1959). The visible city is primarily a product of the earliest Saffarid kings, who ruled this area from the late ninth century until the arrival of the Ghaznavids in 1003, and is likely the city-fortress of Taq mentioned in documents of that era. The results of our work allow us to trace its origins back much earlier, at least to Parthian times and possibly before. The city was clearly built with defense in mind as it was surrounded by five defensive walls and three moats,

which will be described below. This was noted in a medieval description of its conquest by Mahmud of Ghazni that fits well with our study of the site: There is also the fort of Tak which is celebrated throughout the universe. This was a fort of great size. It had three lines of defences. The outer space was cultivated and contained gardens. That between the second and third line of defences was inhabited by the populace, and within the last enclosure was the residence of an evil spirit, which had been built by the Magians. (Tate 1910–12, 224) This chapter will attempt to summarize our observations and findings about the site. First, we describe the defensive system—the Outer Wall, the Circular Wall, and the gates that pierce them. From there, we describe the Citadel at the center of the site, including its defenses, walls, and gates. We then move from the inside back out—first describing the Citadel Palace, then the buildings on the Citadel to the west of the Palace, including the Ghaznavid bathhouse. A trench cut through the western side of the Citadel confirmed there were Sasanian and Parthian structures beneath the standing ruins.

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the archaeology of southwest afghanistan Contents of the Circular Enclosure follow, specifically the impressive Ghaznavid Lower Palace, but also the Mosque, commercial street, and caravanserai on the north end, the Pavilion overlooking the inner moat, and the Mint on the south end. Several excavations in this area were conducted, one which helped clarify the history of the Lower Palace, one which identified buried structures on the terrace lining the Circular Wall, and several others that clarified the stratigraphy of the construction of the walls, terraces, and moats. Finally, we tour the Outer Compound, describing the dozen visible Timurid houses along several main streets, other industrial and commercial buildings, and the web of canals that wove through the area. We conclude with a rough chronology and functional description of the site, knowing full well that we have barely scratched the surface of this most complex and impressive city, one that will require decades of work from future archaeological projects to do it justice.

9.1 History of Research The first westerners of record to visit this site were British members of the Sistan Arbitration Commission, a few of whom stopped here briefly in the winter of 1904 and took a large number of photographs, many of which are still unpublished. The site was identified, on local authority, as Sar-o-Tar, and George Passman Tate published an abbreviated sketch plan of the area, somewhat inaccurate in scale and configuration (Tate 1910–12, unnumbered figure). On his plan the outermost walls are represented as being over 2000 m on a side, whereas in fact they actually range from about 1060–1300 m. The plan is furthermore inaccurate in representing the walls as defining a rough square, whereas in fact there is no southeastern corner, but rather a long curving arc joining straight segments of the south and east walls. Tate briefly described some of the major visible remains within the walls and proposed an identification of the site with the historical toponym Taq, a town ambiguously mentioned in several medieval historical and geographical texts, among them the anonymous eleventh-century Tarikh-i Sistan (Bosworth 1994). The next western visitors to the site were members of the DAFA project who explored the Sar-o-Tar region and conducted a few modest soundings, here and elsewhere, between October 15 and November 19, 1936. In addition to some highly valuable photographs of the site, several architectural drawings and plans were executed by Jean Carl, including a scaled plan of the roughly circular inner precinct upon which several individual structures were identified, notably the Citadel and the Mosque. The site was classified as Islamic, as indeed all the visible architectural remains are, but a heavy ground-cover of pre-Islamic sherds collected during our time there requires a revision of this determination. Their truncated report, with its particularly important appendix describing the Islamic ceramics of Sar-o-Tar, was published in 1959. Later visitors to Afghan Sistan—Fairservis in the early 1950s, Fischer in the 1960s, and Dales in the years just before our project—all skipped the sand-covered Sar-o-Tar plain and therefore did not visit Shahr-i Gholghola. To our knowledge, no scholars have been to the site since our last visit in 1976.

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9.2 Wall Systems

Outer Wall

As noted by medieval texts, three different sets of walls surrounded the Citadel, which itself had three sets of defensive walls. Surrounding each of these sets were broad moats spanned by bridges. The walls were each set upon foundational platforms above the plain. The outer two wall systems are described here. The walls protecting the Citadel are described below in the next section on the Citadel. The Outer Wall was surrounded by a broad moat 40 m wide and 4 m deep. The remains of this wall were pierced with gaps, some intentionally created, though parts of the wall still stood 10 m in height. The Outer Wall was pierced by a gateway on each of the four sides, with the main entrance on the northern side. Inside this wall was a second defensive wall, which we labeled the Circular Wall. This wall was also surrounded by a moat, 25 m in width and 3 m in depth. It had two gates, on the north and south, reached by narrow bridges over the moat. The Circular Wall was enormous, 22–25 m high and 40 m thick at its elevated base. It was pocked with defensive towers along its length, each one different in design from the others. Once inside the second wall in the Circular Enclosure, there was a terrace 60 m wide along the inner side of the wall and an equally wide lower terrace toward the center of the site 1.3 m lower than the outer terrace. This terrace was bordered by a third moat, 22 m wide and as much as 4.5 m deep, at the base of the Citadel. The Citadel was defended by a wall at the level of the moat and another higher citadel wall. A single gate on the north side was the only entrance through each of these citadel walls. The Citadel Palace had its own defensive wall and a single entrance on the south side. Thus, any outsider who wanted to enter the Citadel Palace had to pass through five walls and cross three moats, changing from the north to south sides several times before entering the palace. This provided an extraordinary opportunity for those above to decide whether or not they wished to receive the visitor. The water that filled these 8 km of moats, carefully engineered so that water flowed through concealed drains from the outermost to the innermost, also supported about 200 km square of surrounding farmland. It reached Shahr-i Gholghola through the southernmost of the three major canals from the Helmand River into the Sar-o-Tar region. A massive canal passed along the northern side of the city, in a northeasterly direction toward lower land at the base of the scarp of the Dasht-i Margo. This lower land to the east served as the drainage area for all the branch canals fed by the main canal.

The Outer Wall system of Shahr-i Gholghola was a single construction and represented the furthest of several defensive systems surrounding the site. The wall on the west was slightly convex and 1300 m in length; the north wall slightly concave and 1100 m in length. The curved east and south walls were approximately 2000 m in length. While we surveyed and mapped this wall system, we did not excavate at any point along the wall, so the observations below are based solely on surface indicators. This wall system was far more ruinous than the Circular Wall inside it and heavily covered with sand dunes in places, thus many of our conclusions are tentative and will only be improved by examination by future researchers. The wall was built upon a pakhsa foundation to elevate it above the plain. This platform extended 5–7 m outside the wall line and was attached to an outer terrace generally about 7–8 m in width. This in turn was protected by an exterior moat 30–40 m in width. While not excavated, surface differences suggested this moat was constructed in two phases, an earlier, wider moat was rebuilt significantly narrower, to 10–20 m in width, in a later phase, with the outer portion of the moat used for heaping dredged material. The wall atop the elevated foundation was as much as 10 m in height and ranged in width up to 4 m. It was graced with a regular series of at least 25 semicircular towers spaced approximately 90 m apart. These towers were smaller than the ones in the Circular Wall, generally 3.2– 3.5 m in diameter. More towers were likely along the wall but were not visible because of the state of wall preservation and sanding. Four gates broke the wall line, one on each side. These are described below. The wall was largely constructed of pakhsa. Photographs indicate there were decorative layers of baked brick in the gateways (see Figures 9.2.8–11) built over a foundation of pahksa. The upper part of the East Gate was built of mudbrick but that was not true of the bulk of the wall or the other gates. The best-preserved area of the eastern wall showed mudbrick corbels decorating the top of the wall, similar to that of the Lower Palace, but we do not know if this was consistent for the entire length of the wall. Use of this wall system apparently ended before that of the Circular Wall. Besides its more ruinous contemporary state on all sides except the east, we found numerous buildings built atop these walls dating to the Timurid period (see description of the Outer Compound in section 9.5). These seemed to be agricultural estates similar to those we found elsewhere in Sar-o-Tar. In order to access water for their fields, residents during Timurid times dug canals

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Figure 9.2.1 Satellite photo of Shahr-i Gholghola with major defensive features noted. Courtesy of CAMEL/AHMP

Figure 9.2.2 General site plan with major features along Outer Wall noted. T represents an identifiable tower. J. Knudstad and N. Vester 1973

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Figure 9.2.3 Well-preserved eastern part of Outer Wall in background behind remains of Circular Wall, looking east from the Citadel. HSP72.18.15

Figure 9.2.4 Northwestern stretch of Outer Wall looking east, showing moat (left), terrace, and platform base of wall at far right. North Gate in background. Entry leading toward the North Gate and fragments of structures visible at upper left. HSP73.7.19

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Figure 9.2.5 Eastern side of Outer Wall (left), showing elevated platform on which the wall stood, the exterior terrace extending outward from it, and both the inner and outer (right) parts of the moat. HSP72.40.31

Figure 9.2.6 Intact section of eastern Outer Wall south of East Gate showing decorative brick corbels at the top, similar to façade of the Lower Palace. HSP72.30.32

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b

c

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Figure 9.2.7a,b,c,d Sketch plans of the North, West, East, and South outer gates through the Outer Wall. J. Knudstad and N. Vester 1973, redrawn J. Allen

through the line of the Outer Wall, making it ineffective as a defensive structure and likely out of use for that purpose at that point.

Structures Attached to the Outer Wall The Outer Wall had numerous anomalies along its length. Along the west wall north of the West Gate, three rooms of a building were perpendicular to the wall line and integrated into the inside of the wall and the wall itself, which at this point was 3 m thick. Three cupola tombs sat just to the east of this structure. To the north of these rooms at least eight arched chambers of 2.3–2.5 m in width and

2.1 m in depth were inset into the wall. This segment was bounded on the north by Tower 64, 2.5 x 4.2 m in size, with an interior chamber of 2.1 x 1.8 m. Between Towers 66 and 67 along the west wall was a 12 m gap in the wall that may have indicated the location of a later canal leading into the exterior compound. This break disrupted another set of chambers inset into the west wall, at this point 3.6 m in thickness. Another gap in the wall 6 m in width was visible in the west wall just south of the northwest corner. The northwest corner had a circular tower 4.3 m in diameter on the exterior, and a square tower almost 9 m on a side was set inside this corner. Along the western side of

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Figure 9.2.8 Tower and chambers in the North Gate showing remains of two baked brick arches leading into the city. HSP72.19.2

Figure 9.2.9 Detail of the better preserved North Gate arch. HSP72.19.3

the north wall were indications of rooms built against the wall atop the wall’s substructure, but building plans were not able to be determined except for two pottery kilns in this area, described in section 9.5. A spoil heap sat to the west of the kilns, 2 m in diameter. Just east of the kilns were a set of at least three rooms against the north wall, dimensions unrecorded, possibly connected to a tower identified on the exterior of the wall. The second floor of one of the rooms was preserved and contained a niched façade. No other details were recorded.

Another 7 m gap in the wall, presumably for a canal, was just to the east of the North Gate, with other rooms and installations built against, but not embedded inside, the wall which was approximately 4 m in width at this point. The wall was badly eroded east of the North Gate toward the northeast corner, though a circular corner tower about 5 m in diameter was located there. Remains of four towers were visible along the northern part of the east wall above the East Gate, with two gaps in the wall, 3 m and 5 m in width, visible south of the second one, possibly canals. Two

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Figure 9.2.10 East gate of Outer Wall, from the east. Built on a base of pakhsa but the upper half is mudbrick. A layer of baked brick, possibly the base of an archway is visible at the right between the pakhsa and brick layers. HSP72.19.25

sections of massed mud on the inside of the wall may have represented ruined buildings or additional interior defensive towers. Gaps in the wall of 12 m and 14 m on either side of Tower 40, just north of the East Gate, may have been additional canal entrances. While three semicircular towers were visible south of the East Gate, the level of preservation further south and west was so spotty that it was unclear whether there were additional ones. Similarly, it was difficult to tell whether gaps in the wall here were due to intentional cuts or simply a result of erosion. Parts of the wall became visible again near the South Gate, with two towers to the east of the gate. On the southwest were the highest dunes around Shahr-i Gholghola, caused by the constant direction of the strong winds, and the wall line was buried in sand. The location of the Circular Wall was close to the southwest corner of the outer enclosure and the distance between the two wall systems was as little as 200 m near the outer South Gate.

North Gate The North Gate was a reverse serpentine construction, similar in design to the West Gate, 16.5 x 23.2 m in size. A baked brick arch with niches on either side and 1.7 m in width led the visitor into the gate. After 2.8 m, the visitor needed to veer to the left (east), then back right, then left again over a length of 20 m before reaching the entrance through the Outer Wall into the Outer Enclosure, 2.5 m in width and 3.2 m in length. The width of this passageway was not recorded but presumed to be 3–4 m in width. There was an elevated passage in the thick wall to the west

of the gateway inset into the west wall of the gate at least 3.7 m in width. The narrowest point of the eastern wall was at least 2 m. A small canal 2 m in width paralleled the gateway on the east and passed through a 7 m gap in the Outer Wall just east of the gateway. This was presumably a later construction after the wall went out of use.

West Gate The West Gate extended outward from the west wall approximately 20.5 m and was 17.6 m in width. Its entrance was from the south with a reverse S-shaped curve like the North Gate before leading into the compound. The entrance was approximately 2.8 m in width and was faced with a panel of baked bricks 2.4 m in width on the wall of either side. The gateway itself was rhomboid in shape with no evidence of interior rooms on either side, though it was badly eroded. The northern wall began 2.7 m in width, narrowed to 2.2 m at the first curve to the south, and expanded to 3 m when the curve returned to the north. The south side of the gate was at least 3.4 m in width at any point. The serpentine curve straightened as it proceeded through the Outer Wall itself, approximately 2.2 m in width. The outer moat extended approximately 35 m outside this gate. It was unclear how the moat was crossed to reach the gate.

East Gate The structure was simpler than the North or West Gates, with only a single arc required of the visitor to enter. The structure was attached to the Outer Wall and was

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Figure 9.2.11 South Gate of Outer Wall, viewed from the exterior, showing its semicircular entrance. A horizontal course of baked brick visible at right, possibly the base for an archway. Circular Wall in background approximately 200 m away. HSP72.19.12

approximately 15 x 19 m in dimensions. The entrance was from directly to the east in a narrowed entryway, currently only 1 m in width, though that may have been a later addition as the general entrance width was 5–6 m. The visitor then veered toward the south, with the semicircular wall on that side 3 m in width, then back toward the north. This walkway was 5 m in width in most places and deposited the visitor inside the Outer Compound through a gap in the Outer Wall 5–6 m in width. The northern half of the gateway was 3 m in width at the eastern part, 2 m in width at the west, and extended 5–6 m into the passageway to the curve. There was evidence of a bridge spanning the exterior moat that approached the East Gate from the east. An entry ramp 9–10 m in width seemed to be located at the eastern end but the bridge would still have covered a span of 22 m to cross the moat.

South Gate The design of the South Gate was similar to that of the East Gate. The visitor entered from the south then was forced to turn to the west around a semicircular corridor 4 m in width. A small wall 1 m in width separated this corridor from the interior of the Outer Compound, narrowing the entrance to 2 m. Both the curved wall on the west and the components of the wall on the east were about 2 m in width. There was evidence of chambers inside the western curved wall and a circular tower 3 m in diameter at its southern end. Overall size of this gate was not recorded. There was no indication of how the moat outside the gate was crossed to enter through the South Gate. A building of

at least three chambers was appended to the western side of the wall inside the South Gate. We cannot confirm archaeologically whether the Outer Wall that created the Outer Compound was built during the pre-Islamic occupation of the site, during the Saffarid occupation, or during the Ghaznavid enhancement of the city, though written documents mentioned above suggest it was part of the Saffarid massive building program. The general construction methods, including the foundational platform, the exterior terrace, and the moat, all match the construction techniques from the Circular Wall, which we suspect was pre-Islamic in origin. But the similarity in design of the well-preserved Eastern Façade with that of the Lower Palace argues for a Ghaznavid date or a Ghaznavid rebuild. The shapes of the gates, the sizes and shapes of the towers, the lack of baked brick foundations, and the much wider dimensions of the Outer Wall differ significantly from the inner defensive system. We suggest this wall system dates to Saffarid times, continued in use and underwent refurbishing during the succeeding three centuries, and went out of use after Genghiz Khan’s conquest of the fortress.

Circular Wall The standing walls of the Circular Wall system likely represented numerous phases of construction and repair, though we can discern a construction pattern that undergirded the basic system. The current wall was 1–1.2 m in thickness and sat, at least in some parts, upon the foundation described below. The full length of the wall was

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Figure 9.2.12a Satellite photo of Circular Wall and Circular Enclosure. Courtesy CAMEL/AHMP

almost 2000 m and encompassed an area about 460 m north-south x 530 m east-west. At various points along its circuit, towers were built, 56 in all. Strongly fortified gates stood at the north and south ends of the circumvallation. The wall was best preserved in its southern and western parts and much more fragmentary to the north and east. There was a lower terrace on the outside of the wall 7–11 m in width that extended from the northwest (Tower 3) to the northeast (Tower 23) of the wall system. It was unclear whether this terrace extended to other parts of the wall system. A moat of 25–30 m in width and 3 m in depth surrounded the wall system. Despite the imposing bulk of the Circular Wall, there was an anomaly on the southeast curve of the Circular Wall. Close examination of a stretch of 100 m of that wall which appeared to be fully destroyed between Towers 28 and 30, showed the absence of the wall for a different reason. The wall at that point was never completed. A brick

foundation of approximately 1 m in height remained well preserved and complete, but this base was apparently never built upon. The 1973 excavation of a trench through the area inside the eastern side of the Circular Wall allowed us some idea of part of the construction of its base. At the east end of this 2 x 50 m trench, a section was cut through part of the foundation of wall. At this point, the wall was constructed of a gray mound on the hard gray earth terrace that was noted elsewhere in our 1973 terrace excavations. At the top of this stratum, at least 2.5 m in height, there was an eroded top. A thick brown layer of hard-packed pakhsa approximately 1.5 m in preserved height sat above it followed by a layer of 20 cm of flooring including heavy ash accumulation. The Circular Wall sat on this base. At various points, the extant wall line was supplemented by additional layers, presumably repairs or strengthening of sections of the wall that were vulnerable

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Figure 9.2.12b Plan of Circular Wall showing numbered towers and gates. J. Knudstad and R. Hamilton 1972-1973

or collapsing. Thus, between Towers 2 and 6, an additional thickness up to 1.4 m was added to the exterior of the wall line. The same was true between Towers 12 and 13 (1.5 m thick), Towers 15 through 24 (1.5–2.5 m thick), Towers 26 through 28 (0.8–1.2 m thick), Towers 38 through 44 (1.4–3 m thick), and Towers 46 through 48 (1.6 m thick). Repairs were generally made in mudbrick, though occasionally pakhsa. In some cases, repairs were a façade and the area between the two parts of the wall was filled in with rubble.

Approximately every 40 m along the circumference of the system, a protruding tower was incorporated in the main vertical wall. These towers were generally broken oval or semicircular in shape. There were approximately 35 of these towers along the wall, with their diameters along the length of the wall ranging between 4 m and 7 m in diameter and extending similar distances away from the wall. Based on the level of preservation at the time of our work, these towers probably stood 6–8 m above their foundation. These towers were usually constructed

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Figure 9.2.13 Southeastern section of Circular Wall showing section never completed at upper right. HSP73.E.32

in a similar fashion, on a baked brick foundation with courses of horizontal mudbricks alternating with courses of vertical mudbricks. The latter may have been decorative rather than structural. In some cases, these brick layers alternated with pakhsa layers or were built upon a basal layer of pakhsa. The similarities between these towers suggested they were constructed at the same time, though no two seemed to be identical in shape and size. Details of the towers are included in Table 9.1. In about 10 cases, there was a visible chamber inside the tower, usually oval or semicircular and between 1.5 m and 4 m in diameter. In the rest of the towers, there was no visible interior chamber, though they may have existed beneath the mud melt. Some of the towers, like Tower 12 near the North Gate, showed windows to the exterior, presumably for defensive purposes. On the south side, where the best-preserved sections were, there were large arched windows at the lower levels and slit windows on the second story. This suggested an interior parapet attached to the wall, though it could not be demonstrated throughout the entire wall system. Along the circuit of the walls some smaller oval towers

and some small rectangular towers were also incorporated. The smaller towers extended 1.5–3 m in width along the wall and extended outward less than 1 m. In addition, there were two large rectangular towers (Towers 9 and 50) and one modest sized square tower (Tower 28). The smaller towers were generally located on the southeastern stretch east of the South Gate (Towers 31–34) and along the western side near the Lower Palace (Towers 48–56, except 50). It was unclear if these were constructed with the original wall or were later additions. Along the interior of the wall circuit, a row of rooms was visible particularly on the south side, likely a feature of the full wall system. A more elaborate rooms system was documented at the South Gate, described below. Just inside the North Gate a commercial street extended into the center of the compound past the Mosque and caravanserai. It is described elsewhere in this chapter. Dating the construction of this wall was difficult because of the limited excavations along it. From the eastern end of the 1973 trench at the base of the Circular Wall, numerous pre–Islamic sherds were found, but also glazed wares, as well as several Timurid turquoise glazed bowls.

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Figure 9.2.14 Section of foundation of Circular Wall from 1973 Moat Trench excavation. HSP73.11.15

The best-preserved segments of the southern and western parts of the wall had vertical brick corbels decorating the top, very similar to the decoration of the façade on the Lower Palace, suggesting those sections were built at the same time, in the eleventh century. Yet the 1973 moat trench produced several buildings that probably date to the earlier Saffarid period, late ninth to tenth centuries. These buildings would be unlikely in an unfortified area off the Citadel and argue for an earlier date for the standing wall. The material used in construction of the foundation of the Circular Wall was the same as that of the Citadel foundation, suggesting both were originally constructed in pre-Islamic times with a pre-Islamic wall originally

Figure 9.2.15 Tower 17, showing additional width of mudbrick wall added outside the original wall. Alternating courses of horizontal and vertical mudbrick visible on right. HSP72.48.38

atop the Circular Wall foundation. Whether the visible standing walls were pre-Islamic or Saffarid with modifications, including the corbelled decoration, made during a reconstruction in the eleventh century is not a question we were able to firmly resolve. It was not unlikely that work on the Circular Wall system occurred during each of those periods. It was likely that the wall continued in use in the Timurid period, given that the Citadel, Lower Palace, and Mint were occupied in that period. Which repairs were made by the Timurids, if any, was also unclear.

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the archaeology of southwest afghanistan Table 9.1 Circular Wall Towers #

Shape

Dimension

Interior chamber

Features

Construction and Decoration

1

Semicircular

5 m diameter

Not visible

Small rectangular buttress 0.4 x 2 m located 1 m to west

Alternating vertical and flat mudbrick courses on pakhsa on baked brick foundation

2

Oval

5.2 x 6.3 m

Semicircular 5.1 m diameter

Unbonded exterior addition to wall 2.1 m thick going east 5 m to rectangular buttress 3 x 0.9 m with internal semicircular chamber

Mudbrick on base of baked brick

3

Oval

5.5 x 5.8 m

Oval 4.3 x 2 m

4

Oval

5.6 x 4 m

Semicircular 4.1 x 4 m

Small oval buttress to east of tower 2.25 x 0.7 m; badly eroded. Only baked brick base remains

Later mudbrick tower added against original pakhsa. Vertical brick on exterior.

5

Oval

3 x 5.5 m

Semicircular 2.3 m diameter

Exterior extension of wall between towers 5 and 6, 3.4 m in width atop stepped baked brick base

Vertical brick alternate with horizontal brick on baked brick base

6

Oval

5.2 x 5.5 m

Semicircular 0.5 m diameter

—

Vertical brick alternate with horizontal brick on baked brick base

7

Oval

5.2 x 4.6 m

Not visible

—

Pakhsa, foundation not visible

8

Rectangular

1.4 x ? m

Not visible

—

Not recorded

9

Rectangular

4.5 x 5.4 m

Not visible

—

Mudbricks 30 x 30 x 5-6 m, atop pakhsa, atop baked brick foundation

10

Oval

6.2 x 6 m

Not visible

V slot incised in wall 1.7 m to east, blocked with mudbrick; small semicircular external tower 3.5 m further east, 2.8 m in diameter

Pakhsa atop course of mudbrick atop pakhsa

11

Oval

5.3 x 5.8 m

Not visible

12

Oval

6 x 6.8 m

Not visible, but arrow slits leading outward

13

North Gateway Tower

Not visible

14

North Gateway Tower

Not visible

15

Oval

4.5 x 5.6 m

Not visible

Small rectangular buttress 1.8 x 0.4 m located 4 m to west; external wall thickened 1.5 m to east

Alternating flat and vertical mudbrick

16

Semicircular

2.6 x 2.5 m

1.8 x 1.2 m

External thickened wall by 1.5 m

Not recorded

—

Vertical brick alternating with 4-5 flat courses on exterior, no baked brick foundation visible

Alternating vertical and flat mudbrick courses on pakhsa on baked brick foundation Exterior wall to east thickened 1.5 m on exterior, made of pakhsa — —

mudbrick Not recorded Not recorded

17

Oval

4 x 4.6 m

3.3 x 3.9 m

Chambers inside thickened exterior wall

Alternating flat and vertical mudbrick

18

Oval

2 x 3.5 m

Not measured

External thickened wall by 1.2 m

Alternating flat and vertical mudbrick

19

Oval

4.2 x 3.5 m

Not visible

External thickened wall by 2 m

Not recorded

20

Oval

1.7 x 2.8 m

Not visible

External thickened wall by 2 m

Not recorded

21

Oval

4.7 x 3 m

Not visible

22

Semicircular

2.2 m diameter

Not visible

Badly eroded pakhsa/mudbrick tower to east

—

Not recorded

23

Oval

4.7 x 5.5 m

Not visible

Extension of outer wall 2.5 m in width on exterior

Alternating flat and vertical mudbrick on pakhsa on baked brick base

24

Oval

6x?m

Not visible

25

Semicircular

5 m diameter

2 m diameter

26

Semicircular

5.3 m diameter

Not visible

—

Alternating flat and vertical mudbrick on pakhsa on baked brick base

—

Alternating flat and vertical mudbrick on baked brick base

0.8 x 0.7 m chamber on one side, 0.6 m square chamber on other side

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Not recorded

Alternating flat and vertical mudbrick, base not visible

shahr-i gholghola

#

27

Shape

Oval

Dimension

5 x 5.4 m

Interior chamber

Not visible

Features

Small chambers on each side of tower, possible tower of 1.9 m in width to west —

Construction and Decoration

Alternating flat and vertical mudbrick, base not visible

28

Square

3.2 x 3.2 m

1.3 m diameter

29

Oval

10 x ? m

Not visible

30

Rectangular

1.9 x 0.4 m

Not visible

—

Not recorded

31

Oval

3 x 1.4 m

Not visible

—

Surface covered with mudplaster and straw

32

Rectangular

2.15 x 0.5 m

Not visible

Badly eroded by wind

Mudbrick Not recorded

Bend in wall 5 m to southwest

Not recorded

33

Semicircular

2.6 m diameter

1.7 m diameter

—

Not recorded

34

Rectangular

0.5 x 2.15 m

Not visible

—

Not recorded

35

South Gate Tower

Not visible

—

Not recorded

36

South Gate Tower

Not visible

—

Not recorded

37

South Gate Tower

Not visible

—

Not recorded

38

Oval

4x5m

3.3 x 4.3 m

—

Alternating vertical and flat mudbrick on pakhsa, base not visible

39

Oval

3.9 x 3.5 m

Not measured

Extension of exterior wall by 2.1 m outward, gap in wall to west, 0.8 m

Flat mudbrick on pakhsa

40

Oval

3 x 3.5 m

Not measured

Extension of exterior wall by 0.8 m, gap in wall to west

Flat mudbrick on pakhsa

41

Oval

3.2 x 3.5 m

Not visible

Extension of exterior wall by 0.8 m

Not recorded

42

Oval

3.4 x 4.3 m

Not visible

Extension of exterior wall by 1 m

Not recorded

43

Oval

6 x 5.8 m

Not visible

Extension of exterior wall by 2 m to west, 3 m to east; much eroded tower midway from Tower 42

Not recorded

44

Oval

4.7 x 4.5 m

Not visible

Extension of exterior wall 0.7 m

Not recorded

45

Semicircular

3.5 m diameter

Not visible

Rebuilt

Not recorded

46

Semicircular

5.5 m diameter

Not recorded

Two towers to west, one badly eroded oval, one small and rectangular 1.5 x 0.6 m

Alternating vertical and flat mudbrick layers, one layer 4 cm thick

47

Oval

5.3 x 5.4 m

Not visible

Extension of exterior wall 1.2 m

Not recorded

48

??

7.5 x ? m

Not visible

Badly eroded away from defensive wall, extension of exterior wall 1.6 m

Not recorded

Extension of exterior wall, width not recorded

49

Oval

1.6 x 2.8 m

Not recorded

50

Rectangular

5 x 5.3 m

3.6 x 3.9 m

—

Not recorded

Not recorded

51

Rectangular

small, not measured

Not visible

—

Not recorded

52

Oval

2.9 x 1.4 m

Not visible

West face of Lower Palace wall follows curve of the west wall at this point

Not recorded

53

Rectangular

0.5 x 1.4 m

Not visible

West face of Lower Palace wall follows curve of the west wall at this point

Not recorded

54

Oval

1.4 x 2.7 m

Not visible

Arched window to east 1.1 m

Not recorded

55

Rectangular

1.7 x 0.6 m

Not visible

—

Not recorded

56

Oval

1.3 x 2.4 m

0.7 x 1.8 m oval

—

Not recorded

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Figure 9.2.16 Well-preserved section of Circular Wall just west of South Gate showing decorative corbels beneath the parapet similar to façade of Lower Palace and the eastern side of the Outer Wall. At the start of the work day. HSP73.33.22

Figure 9.2.17 Northwest exterior of Circular Wall showing towers and exterior terrace. HSP73.8.20

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Figure 9.2.18 Exterior of Towers 5 (right) and 6. Oval towers constructed on baked brick foundation with alternating layers of horizontal and vertical mudbrick at the base and alternating layers of pakhsa and brick in the superstructure. HSP72.48.26

Figure 9.2.19 Semicircular Tower 10, located northeast of Mosque, with bricked up doorway 2 m in height and 1 m in width through the wall to east. A small circular tower to the east of the doorway. HSP72.48.28

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Figure 9.2.20 Semicircular Tower 11, just east of North Gate built on a baked brick foundation, with a layer of pakhsa above, then mudbrick. A layer of vertical mudbricks visible 3.5 m above the base. HSP72.48.33

The South Gate through the Circular Wall was located between Towers 34 and 38. The entrance was on the east side of the gate, faced with a baked brick arch with a room above it. The entrance was 1.1 m in width and 3.7 m in length. It led into a square domed room 3.2-3.3 m in dimension from which there was an exit to the west into another square domed room of 3.3 m in diameter. These rooms were made of mudbrick with baked brick foundations and arches and were highly decorated with keyhole and rectangular niches. The second exit from the domed entry hall led south into a corridor 4 m in width with a curved bank of 11 rooms bordering it on the south side, each 1.6 m to 2.9 m in depth. As many as two additional stories sat above the bank of rooms. Slit windows were constructed through the outside wall of these curved rooms approximately 65 cm in height and 12-15 cm in width, with small windows 17 cm square another 80 cm above them. These rooms stood as much as 4.2 m in height and were made of mudbrick on a pakhsa base. Inside the north wall of the gateway was a row of rooms attached to the defensive wall. The two westernmost rooms were 2.3 m and 2.5 m in width and 2.1 m in depth and were flat domed. To the east of them was a large two story high vaulted room 5.7 x 2 m in diameter. The exterior wall of 1.2 m in width was pushed outward at this point and contained at least four small rooms eastward from the gate. Two other rooms sat to the west of the gateway, the largest 3.2 x 2.3 m and vaulted, likely supporting a second story.

Figure 9.2.21 Tower 12, just west of the north gate, with windows, presumably for defensive purposes. HSP72.48.36

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Figure 9.2.22 Well-preserved section of Circular Wall, showing tower at right, arched windows on lower floor, and arrow slits on upper floor. HSP73.25.25

Figure 9.2.23 Oval Tower 30 on southeast side, with small entrance from outside into the chamber on left and main entrance into tower from inside the wall at center. A small square tower stands to the right. HSP72.49.5

Figure 9.2.24 Interior of unidentified tower chamber along the Circular Wall. HSP73.35.35

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Figure 9.2.25 Interior of Circular Wall showing attached chambers. HSP72.2.25

Figure 9.2.26 Plan of the South Gate through the Circular Wall. J. Knudstad 1972

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Figure 9.2.27 Exterior of South Gate from southeast. Entrance behind the low partition. HSP72.49.12

Figure 9.2.28 View of South Gate from northeast inside compound. Row of rooms east of gate in the foreground. HSP73.3.29

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Figure 9.2.29 South Gate area from west with decorative façade of square and keyhole niches. HSP72.49.15

Figure 9.2.30 Second story rooms above South Gate. HSP72.49.13

Figure 9.2.31 A tall, vaulted room attached to the north side of the South Gate complex. HSP72.49.23

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Figure 9.2.32 Curved row of rooms against Circular Wall at west end of South Gate. HSP72.49.16

Figure 9.2.33 Decorative brickwork just west of the South Gate, possibly a Kufic inscription. HSP72.49.26

537

the archaeology of southwest afghanistan North Gate The North Gate was the other entrance through the Circular Wall and the closest to the northern gate to the Outer Wall. It consisted of two parts. The exterior half extended almost due north at the intersection of roads leading from the north and east gates. It sat outside the moat surrounding the Circular Wall and showed evidence of a long ramp crossing over the moat and leading to the interior North Gate. A pier of concrete–hard earth was in the center of the moat. The outer North Gate had a narrow entrance 2–3 m in width leading into a triangular antechamber. Inside the antechamber, a curved entrance led the visitor first to the east, through a passage flanked by two circular towers, then an area flanked by two vaulted rooms on either side. Both the western tower and the rooms on that side had slit windows, presumably for archers. A sharp turn to the west led to the ramp over the moat. One more curve back northward led toward the inner North Gate, protected by a semicircular tower.

The interior North Gate covered approximately 20 m of the width of the wall and extended out to the north 15 m. The exterior of the gate stood as much as 6 m above the plain outside but it was impossible to determine its original height. The gate was constructed of layered pakhsa and mudbrick on a baked brick foundation that extended 80 cm beyond the superstructure. The exterior wall was approximately 5.5 m in width with a parapet 3.5 m in width included. The entrance was on the east and had an arch constructed of baked brick covering an aperture 4.5 m in width. The visitor then made a semicircular path to the west through a causeway 5 m in width before entering the compound onto the street that led southwest toward the Mosque and caravanserai. There was an indication of several small rooms inside the wall at the gateway but their state of preservation and heavy sanding prevented any further analysis.

Figure 9.2.34 Sketch plan of North Gate through the Circular Wall. J. Knudstad 1972, redrawn J. Allen

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Figure 9.2.35 Inner tower of North Gate through the Circular Wall. HSP72.40.35

Figure 9.2.36 View of North Gate in the Circular Wall from above, showing dune coverage over gate. HSP73.8.14

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9.3 The Citadel At the center of Shahr-i Gholghola was possibly the largest human-built structure in all of Sistan, the Citadel. The mound stretched 168 x 82 m and rose 25 m above the plain below. As the rest of the site, it was heavily defended, first by a moat 22 m in width and 4–4.5 m in depth. Next, a wall system surrounded the inner part of the moat with a single entry gate on its north end. A pathway upward and to the east led to a second gateway at the flattened crest. Inside this sanctum was the Citadel Palace on the east side, defended by yet another daunting defensive wall and entered by a single gateway on the southern side. The western half of the crest contained other buildings, notably a Ghaznavid bathhouse, excavated in 1973 and described below. A deep depression to the north of this bathhouse may have represented the location of a large well in the style of that at Qala-i Bist, but we were unable to

excavate deeply enough to confirm that. Other buildings surrounded this depression, including hefty walls likely representing public buildings from both the Sasanian and Parthian eras, excavated in a narrow trench in 1974. We did not reach to the level of the plain so were not able to ascertain whether these buildings were atop an Early Iron Age platform as we found elsewhere, earlier Parthian structures, or a Parthian platform. The flat Sar-o-Tar plain eliminates the possibility of this being built upon a significant natural rise. The configuration of the Citadel as visible likely dates to the time of the Saffarid kings of the ninth and tenth centuries ce, who are known to have built and strongly fortified Taq. The Citadel continued in use through the Ghaznavid period, though it might have lost its importance with the construction of the Lower Palace by the Ghaznavids and was likely abandoned after the attack by Genghiz Khan’s armies in 1222, the effects of which were

Figure 9.3.1 Plan of the Citadel with key buildings indicated. J. Knudstad 1974

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shahr-i gholghola more visible at the Mosque inside the Circular Enclosure. After a period of abandonment, the Citadel was reoccupied in Timurid times, but only in a minor way. We found occasional Timurid sherds on the mound and some evidence of a Timurid reconstruction of the bathhouse, but the Timurid occupation atop the mound was modest. The site was abandoned with the rest of Sar-o-Tar in the fifteenth or sixteenth centuries. There was no evidence of a destruction fire at any location in our excavations and surveys of the Citadel.

Citadel Defenses The Moat Trench excavation during the 1973 season gave us our best look at the construction of defenses of the Citadel and is described below. The defensive wall sitting atop the terrace inside the moat was 1.3 m in width. On the north side of the lower terrace was a heavily defensible gate accessed by a narrow bridge over the moat. The Lower North Gate was S-shaped with the entrance

facing north. The southern half of this structure had been destroyed. Walls were approximately 2.1 m in width. At the north end, the gate narrowed to 1 m in width with pillars on either side. The passageway behind the pillars expanded to 2.5–3.5 m in width. After curving around a pillar 1.7 x 1.8 m in diameter, the visitor traveled east, then north before turning south again to the end of the gate structure. A sharp left turn led the entrant up a ramp toward the inner gate. The gate was constructed of mudbricks on a foundation of broken baked brick. The steep ramp led to a second inner gate guarding access to the Citadel. This gate was entered from the west through a passage 3.4 m in width. The gate was U-shaped and ranged in width between 3.2 m and 4.3 m around a tongue emerging from the south consisting of walls 0.5 m in width with a central passage inside the walls 1.2 m in width. Around the exterior of the wall was a narrow, hidden exterior passageway that allowed defenders to view those entering and arrow slits to be able to shoot at invaders. The

Figure 9.3.2 Satellite view of Citadel. Courtesy J. Thibeau (CAMEL/AHMP)

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Figure 9.3.3 Citadel from the southeast, showing a moat in the foreground, two layers of defensive walls, and the walled Citadel Palace on the eastern half of the summit. HSP71.K.35

Figure 9.3.4 Citadel from west with Lower Palace in the foreground right. Lower North Gate to left and Upper North Gate (the tower-like protrusion) on far left. HSP72.D.9

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Figure 9.3.5 Plan of Lower North Gate to Citadel. A no-longer-extant bridge crossed the moat to the terrace of the Circular Enclosure and a ramp led from gate to the east to the Upper North Gate. J. Knudstad 1972

Figure 9.3.6 Plan of Upper North Gate to the Citadel. J. Knudstad 1972

Figure 9.3.7 Lower North Gate of the Citadel from the east. The southern half of the gate no longer extant. A ramp led to the right up to the Upper North Gate. HSP72.21.28

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Figure 9.3.8 Upper gate into the Citadel viewed from lower gate. HSP73.33.35

Figure 9.3.9 Upper gate into Citadel from the south with part of the domed room in foreground. HSP72.23.27

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Figure 9.3.11 Buried archway in upper gateway of Citadel. HSP72.23.17

Figure 9.3.10 Upper gate into Citadel showing hidden defensive compartment on left. HSP72.23.18

passage was approximately 1 m in width and framed by walls 0.5 m in width. At the south end of the gateway was a domed room approximately 6.4 m square to pass through before entering another U-shaped structure with rectangular walls decorated with keyhole niches and a layer of horizontal baked bricks leading the visitor west, south, and then east before a final doorway 3.4 m wide leading to the south onto the terraced walkway surrounding the Palace. Both the lower and upper walls surrounding the Citadel were constructed of mudbrick on a baked brick foundation. Both were also heavily damaged and only standing in few places. Several spots showed evidence of extensive rebuilding. The upper citadel wall was best preserved on the southwest where a section of 15 m showed the wall to be approximately 1 m in width. This area also contained four rooms attached to the inner side of the wall, each 1.6 m wide and 1.3 m in depth. A baked brick drain led off to the south from the base of this part of the wall. Thickened areas of the upper wall at various locations

Figure 9.3.12 Arched walkway from domed room in upper gateway toward Citadel. A layer of baked brick formed the base of the arch which was decorated with keyhole niches between the arches. HSP72.23.14

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the archaeology of southwest afghanistan section of this passageway in 1973, described below with the bathhouse excavation. At the end of the west side palace wall, the entrant turned left and walked along the south side, then ascended another steep ramp or stairway, now destroyed, into the sole gate into the Palace along the south wall, defended by a large tower.

The Citadel Palace

Figure 9.3.13 Parquet brickwork on the walkway along western side of Palace, excavated in 1973. Parquet level was later covered by flat baked bricks and sat on baked brick foundation that protected a drain beneath. HSP73.13.15

suggested the existence of small towers, as many as 12 of them, but not generally preserved. The best example of these towers was at the southern tip of the upper wall; it was irregular in shape, 1.2 m in width and 0.7 m in depth, and still preserved the corbelled pilasters at the top of the wall as elsewhere on the site. The lower wall surrounding the Citadel was approximately 1.3 m in width but badly damaged and standing in only a few spots. Too little remained to provide much detail as to its original construction, though it stood 10 m above the moat surrounding the Citadel. Several irregularities were noted; one on the south side, where two rooms of an eroded building were set against the inside of the wall, and two others on the east side where square rooms were built over or as part of the wall. Once inside the compound, the visitor was directed along a walkway made of vertical parquet baked bricks along the west side of the Palace. We excavated a small

We have found no comparable structure in medieval Islamic times to the large public building atop the Citadel. The foundation of the serpentine outer walls, 63 m on a side, stood 5 m above the surrounding terrace and 25 m above the landscaped enclosure below. In addition to the serpentine walls, other unusual features of the building were that the angles of its exterior were not squared and that the Palace was built along the east edge of the Citadel mound rather than at its center. The Palace was an official structure with private apartments on an upper floor, probably with servant and guard quarters around the outer walls in the oddly-shaped rooms of the lower two floors. A vaulted public area leads to a domed audience chamber on the western side facing an open courtyard with tall narrow windows at its rear to admit the persistent northwest winds. The standing structure was Islamic, likely built in the ninth century, the earliest Islamic construction at the site that we were able to identify. Its massive form and the lack of complex architectural ornamentation do not reflect the more flamboyant buildings of Ghaznavid times constructed at Shahr-i Gholghola and elsewhere. The Palace exterior was faced with 38 courses of baked brick, four to five bricks deep. Nearly a quarter of a million baked bricks were employed in this façade. The walls were constructed of baked brick of 32–33 x 32–33 x 7–9 cm, yellow in color, and set in a green-gray lime mortar. Large stretches of the palace wall show extensive repairs of pakhsa 1 m or more in thickness, on the west part of the south wall, the southern part of the east wall, and the northern part of the west wall. Other parts of this wall were highly eroded, including the southern part of the east wall where there was a break in the exterior wall leading into the lower level. Two full stories of the building remain. The plan of the lower floor was not possible to discern because it was largely filled with sand and clearing rooms within it would have been too dangerous. In the few locations where we were able to peek into the lower floor—for example, where the wall had eroded away on the southern part of the east wall—locations of the walls generally matched that of the floor plan above. It was likely that

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Figure 9.3.14 Plan of the second floor of the Citadel Palace with rooms, courtyards, and other features marked. J. Knudstad 1973

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Figure 9.3.15 Serpentine brick wall on west side of the Palace, parts have been refurbished with pakhsa repairs. HSP73.13.29

Figure 9.3.16 South Gate leading into the Citadel Palace is up a steep ramp or staircase. HSP73.13.29

there was some other support provided the large courtyards on the second floor as they would not have been structurally sound without it. The second, main floor consisted of 55 rooms surrounding five courtyards. While the architectural plan of this floor was extensively plotted, no excavations were conducted inside the Palace itself. There was a sole entrance to the Palace, on the center of the south side. It was entered up a stairway or ramp from the south where a baked brick arched gateway once stood.

The entrance for the visitor was at the east side of the gateway, walking west through a room protected by an outer tower on the west side. A sharp right though a narrow gateway led to an irregularly shaped room approximately 3.9 x 3.3 m. One entrance led from this room to the complex of rooms in the southeast corner of the Palace around Courtyard E. The visitor could also turn left and proceed to Courtyard D through several intermediary rooms. To enter the center of the Palace required a sharp left turn then passage toward the base of the tower before turning

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Figure 9.3.17 Entryway Room 43 looking south with defensive tower protecting the gate in center rear and access to Courtyard E on left. HSP72.22.25

Figure 9.3.18 North wall of Room 43 showing door to Courtyard B at left and vertical air shafts for lower level. Staircase going to the lower Palace level on far right. HSP72.16.21

right through a narrow doorway to get into the main hallway stretching northward (Room 43). Room 43 ended at the entrance to large Courtyard B, 12.8 x 12.9 m in size. A large rectangular room (Room 27) of 10.5 x 4.5 m bordered this courtyard on the east, three smaller rooms (Rooms 24, 25, 26) and a hallway between Rooms 24 and 25 led to the west. Just before entering this courtyard from the south, there was a staircase on the right, 1.25 m wide, leading to the lower floor. To the east of Room 27 was a set of three (Rooms 28, 49, 50), or possibly four, rectangular rooms which provided entry into the row of rooms along the eastern wall of the Palace. Bricks bordering the south side of Room

Figure 9.3.19 Entrance to downward staircase from Room 43. HSP72.21.33

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Figure 9.3.20 Detail of staircase from Room 43 to lower level. HSP73.11.20

28 were measured to be 37 x 55 x 10 cm. These 10 rooms (Rooms 20, 21, 29–31, 51–55) were similar in size and shape and bordered by walls approximately 1.25–1.4 m in width on three sides and the outer wall of the Palace on the east. Interior walls of the outer ring of rooms elsewhere in the Palace varied from 1.1–1.3 m in width. The serpentine nature of the outer wall meant that the east wall of each of these rooms, as well as all that abutted the outer palace wall, were curved. Their doors all opened to the west, except the two southeasternmost rooms (Rooms 54 and 55) that led north into Room 53. Doorways into these rooms were generally 0.8–0.9 m in width and made of large, thin mudbricks 2.5 x 3 cm in thickness and plastered on the inside. The arches were all pointed. The southeastern part of the building consisted of a set of five rooms (Rooms 44–48) around a smaller courtyard (E), 8 x 8.85 m in size. Bricks in the walls of this area were measured at 37 x 37 x 10 cm. At the northeast corner of this courtyard were two staircases totaling 2.8 m in width, one leading down to the lower floor and one to an upper floor that has not been preserved. If the visitor walked west through the corridor leading from Courtyard B, 6.7 m in length, the visitor then entered a large rectangular entry room (Room 23) into the official end of the building, 17.3 m in length and 7.9 m in width. A series of four keyhole arches framed the wall at the north end of this room, likely a later addition to the Palace because this form of decoration was found nowhere else in the building. West from this room through a low doorway

Figure 9.3.21 Courtyard B from southwest, showing air vents and staircase downward on lower right, northeast corner of Palace in upper center. Vault of room at lower floor of the Palace visible at center. HSP72.22.20

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Figure 9.3.22 Row of small rooms inside the east wall of Palace, from the west. HSP72.22.10

Figure 9.3.23 Entry room leading to Audience Hall (Room 23) with its northern wall decorated with keyhole arches (right). Courtyard A, before Audience Hall, on the left with a highly plastered west wall largely intact. HSP72.22.16

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Figure 9.3.24 Domed 4-pier Audience Hall, from the south. Two piers sit before the domed hall and three arched piers behind lead to porch behind. HSP72.16.17

Figure 9.3.25 Detail of a mudbrick pier holding the Audience Hall dome. HSP72.16.10

was expansive Courtyard A, 10.3 x 16.3 m in size. Its importance was suggested by the thickly plastered wall still remaining on its west side. At the north end of the courtyard was a domed Audience Hall framed by six square piers, 1.6 m on a side, standing 4 m in preserved height. An additional set of rectangular pillars, 1.5 x 3.3 m, separated this central area from a porch, 9 x 5.6 m in size, to the north. The porch was paved with white lime plaster over a course of baked brick. Rather than being enclosed by a wall, the north edge of the porch behind the Audience Hall consisted of three rectangular pillars, 1 x 2.2 m in size and standing 4–5 m in height. The open porch may have been designed to allow the constant northwest wind to circulate through the Audience Hall during the warm months of the year. A small room (Room 1) located in the northwest corner of the Palace was entered off this patio. Like the eastern side of the building, the western edge beyond Courtyard A consisted of small rectangular rooms (Rooms 11–14, 22) that opened into the Audience Hall and its courtyard. The western wall of these rooms was also the wall of the Palace and, therefore, curved. The southwest part of the Palace was centered around another large courtyard (D), 7.3 x 7.7 m in size, bordered on all sides by rooms (Rooms 37–42). At the southeast corner of the courtyard was another staircase leading downward to the lower level. The three southern rooms bordered on the outer wall of the Palace and had serpentine south walls. The southwest corner consisted of another rectangular room (Room 35) leading west from Room 37, bordered on the west and south by other small 552

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Figure 9.3.26 Piers on terrace at north end of Audience Hall, looking north. HSP72.16.14

Figure 9.3.27 Small doorway at east end of south wall of Citadel, blocked in later times. HSP72.16.25

rectangular rooms (Rooms 32–34, 36) which abutted the southern and western walls of the Palace. The northern part of the Palace, north of Courtyard B, was built around a rectangular courtyard (C), with a rectangular pier on its north side. The courtyard showed evidence of recent excavation, one of the few indications of looting activity we found in Sar-o-Tar. Additional rectangular rooms were strung along the north wall of the Palace between the northeast corner and the Audience Hall (Rooms 3–10). West of Courtyard C was a complex of other rooms (Rooms 2, 16–19) that led into the Audience Hall area through a door from Room 16, which was 3.9 x 9.6 m in size. A second, low doorway led south from Room 16 into Room 23, the entry to the Audience Hall wing. There was evidence of a small, second entrance to the building at the top of a staircase on the east part of the south wall. The entrance would have been 1 m in width and led into the narrow Room 50 but was later blocked with pakhsa. We don’t know the function of this gate nor its timeline in the overall history of the building. The third floor of the building probably only covered the southeast part of the second story and no rooms of it were preserved. In addition to the staircase leading up from Courtyard D, the west wall of Room 41 and the southeast corner of Room 27 showed evidence of continuation to another floor at their top. Holes had been cut through the floors of several rooms to the lower floor: Rooms 1, 11, 14, and 35 on the west side, at the south end of Rooms 16 and 23, and the south side of Courtyard B. In these holes were inserted clay pipes, 553

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Figure 9.3.28 Traces of third story in the Palace, suggested to be the apartments of the inhabitants of the Palace and covering only southeast part of building, can be seen as baked brick floorings atop some of the standing walls of second floor, such as in Room 41 shown here. HSP72.16.19

Figure 9.3.30 Construction of slit windows into lower level. HSP72.16.30

Figure 9.3.29 Exterior of east wall of Palace, showing slit windows for lower level (far right and left). Large window visible in center is for upper level apartments. Remains of downspout center right. HSP72.16.29

10–12 cm in diameter, presumably for air circulation. They do not appear to be original to the building as they were cut through existing walls and floors. The brickwork of the serpentine walls extended only six courses beneath the walkway outside the western palace wall but not to the base of the lower level of palace rooms. Beneath the lowest course of bricks lay a very hard-packed fill of orange-yellow soil which likely served as the flooring for the lower level. It contained a concentration of sherds, at least against the west palace wall where it was exposed by our 1974 Citadel trench, described below. Light was brought into the lowest floor through slit windows in the walls. Four such windows were identified on the east side of the building, tilted upward toward the outside. Each provided light for a small rectangular room in a presumed bank of rooms along those walls. The one window documented by the project was 37 x 66 cm, the angled top capped by baked brick bats held in place by 554

shahr-i gholghola lime mortar. No lower floor windows were identified on either the north or south sides of the building. Drains bringing water away from the Citadel Palace were constructed of courses of baked brick set in a thick plaster. They were built against the outside walls of the Palace and into channels inset into the pakhsa of the platform to carry water down the slope.

The Citadel Trench To help in our attempt to date the Palace without a massive earthmoving effort inside of it and to explore the structures on the western half of the Citadel mound, in 1974 we dug a vertical trench 2 m in width outside and beneath the west wall of the Palace extending westward 40 m. Though the trench (called SG74A in our notes) was dug as a single unit beginning outside the western wall of the Palace, the different sections of the excavation were labeled Trench 1, 2, 3, and 4, as they were excavated further and further from the palace wall. We had several purposes in this project. First, we hoped to dig beneath the edge of the palace wall to understand its substructure and the possibility of earlier layers beneath it. The location of the trench was established so it would intersect

Figure 9.3.31 Baked brick downspout outside east wall of Palace by Room 30. HSP72.16.31

Figure 9.3.32 Downspout on west wall of Palace. HSP73.49.23

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Figure 9.3.33 View of western part of the Citadel from the west. Serpentine walls of Palace on the left. Deep depression on west of the mound (center) might represent a large well. The 1974 Citadel trench was cut through this area. HSP72.23.11

Figure 9.3.34 Citadel trench excavation 1974 (top) and bathhouse trench of 1973, with other standing remains on the western part of Citadel mound. J. Knudstad 1974

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shahr-i gholghola the edges of two buildings visible on the surface to the west of the Palace, one slightly to the north and the other to the south of the trench. We also used it to compare the stratigraphy with that of the bathhouse to the south, excavated in 1973 and described below. We also hoped to test whether the depression at the western edge of the Citadel was a large well. Unfortunately, we did not excavate deeply enough to answer this last question.

Trench 1 The easternmost section of the Citadel trench (Trench 1) was at the base of the western palace wall, 15 m south of the northwest corner of the Palace. The trench extended beneath the brick foundations of the palace wall approximately 30 cm toward the east. The palace foundation consisted of a very hard-packed orange-yellow soil containing a high concentration of sherds, almost all pre-Islamic, and standing at least 2.2 m in height. The parquet walkway that adjoined the palace wall further south by the bathhouse excavation, was not found here, though many fragmentary baked bricks were found in the fill. Instead, a late drain covered the southeast part of the trench at its surface. This drain was 32 cm in width and extended diagonally 1 m toward the palace wall from a spot 1.05 m from the wall in the south balk. It was constructed of four courses of mudbrick on a single course of baked brick atop compact fill. Beneath the drain, underneath 1.6 m of fill, we uncovered a large mudbrick wall 1.27 m in width that paralleled the east-west line of Trench 1, extending from beneath the serpentine palace wall to the end of Trench 1. Neither edge of the wall touched the north or south balks. The wall may have turned corners at the western edge of Trench 2, disappearing into both the north and south balks there but the evidence was unclear. Preserved to a height of 2.2 m on the east but only 30 cm at its western edge, it ran underneath the serpentine wall and predates the existing Palace. Between the north face of the wall and the north balk, there was 1.4 m of fill consisting of mud, dirt, brick bats, and mud. Beneath that was 70 cm of a heavy mud fill with large stones and brick bats in its lower half. A hard-packed mud floor (Level II), adjoined the long wall at its base 2.2 m below the surface in Trenches 1 and 2. Another meter of hard-packed fill sat beneath the Level II floor. Possible indications of flooring or fragments of wall appeared in this lower fill but were not substantial enough to define. A second floor level of packed mud lay 1 m below the Level II floor (labeled Trench 1, Level III and Trench 2, Level IV), which was also at the base of the long east-west wall. A small test of another 90 cm below

Figure 9.3.35 Citadel trench from the east atop the Palace wall. Visible are a late baked brick wall to right of Trench 2; Trench 3, Level II baked brick flooring in shadow at top center. HSP74.22.2

this flooring, and 4 m below the last surface level of occupation, produced little evidence of further occupation, though our area of exposure was small (Trench 1, Level IV). This lowest level was still more than 15 m above the terrace outside the Citadel, so it was likely that this was a platform of soil dug from the surrounding area.

Trench 2 Fragments of other late walls visible on the surface before excavation extruded from the north balk at the western edge of Trench 1 and into Trench 2. The older of these walls was 72 cm in width and extended 28 cm from the south balk, though not touching the long east-west wall. It was constructed of baked brick of the size of those in the Palace, approximately 32 x 32 x 8 cm, plastered with red lime cement, and stood 19 courses high, as much as 1.7 m in height. The wall had been set into a neat excavation

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Figure 9.3.36 Stratigraphy of the north balk of the 1974 Citadel Trench, eastern end (Trench 1). A wall with construction methods similar to the Citadel Palace sat at the west end (left) with two mudbrick rebuilds above. A hard-packed pakhsa layer sat below the Palace wall on the right filled largely with pre-Islamic ceramics. Beneath this, there were two floor levels (II, III), likely representing Sasanian and Parthian strata. The large east-west wall to which they were attached is not shown in section as it ran through the middle of the trench. J. Knudstad 1974

trench but many of its bricks had been robbed in antiquity. A second late wall either abutted or overlay the fragment of the baked brick wall just described and was likely placed later. It had several plasterings of mud on its walls and floor in the small area of 62 x 25 cm that was visible. The wall was made of seven courses of thin baked brick, preserved up to 49 cm in height. Both late walls were buried by approximately 50 cm of debris eroding off of the Citadel Palace above. To the north of the long wall that filled Trench 1 from east to west, no other architecture was visible though it was excavated as much as 80 cm below the top of the long wall in most places and a deep test of 30 x 120 cm was dug at its western end. At the eastern end of the lowest level of Trench 2, 3.3 m below the surface and at the same depth as Trench 1, Level III, were the remains of a blue-gray ash floor 5 cm in thickness (labeled Trench 2, Level V). The flooring stretched the width of the trench and extended as much as 70 cm to the west. West of this flooring on the southern half of the trench was a surface of a white material, possibly a plastered floor

or door sill sitting 5 cm above the ash floor, as much as 32 cm in width but undefinable on its western side. The blue-gray ash floor resumed at the western end of Trench 2, covering its entire width and measuring 60–105 cm in length. The western edge of this floor was broken off. It was unclear how this floor, which was at the level of the earlier floor attached to the long east-west wall, was related to either that wall or to the Trench 1, Level III floor, as they were not stratigraphically connected.

Trench 3 Trench 3 followed the slope of the Citadel leading down toward the west. Between Trench 3 and Trench 4 further to the west was another late drain running northwest-southeast across the excavation, labeled Trench 3, Level I. The drain was 37 cm wide and 1.2 m in excavated length. It consisted of two or three courses of broken baked bricks of various sizes set in mud and bound with gray cement. To the south, a hole created by water erosion flowed into the balk. The base of the drain was 1.1 m below the last occupational surface of the trench and 80 cm above the flooring of

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Figure 9.3.37 Trench 1 with long east-west wall at base. An area beneath the Palace wall, where the meter stick stands, was also probed. A late baked brick drain, probably Timurid, at top right. HSP74.17.6

Figure 9.3.39 Deepest part of Trench 1 shows the Level III floor at the right, the probe beneath that floor at left. The Level II floor is visible coming out of the balk at lower right. HSP74.19.28

Figure 9.3.38 Timurid period baked brick drain stretching across Trenches 3 and 4. HSP74.11.33

Level II described below. A fourteenth to fifteenth century glazed sherd found in the excavation trench for this drain likely dates it to the Timurid period. Beneath this drain, Trench 3, Level II included the baked brick floor of a room extending toward the south of the trench. The north mudbrick wall bordering this room was 95 cm in width, stretched for most of the east-west duration of Trench 3, and largely paralleled the direction of the trench, from the east to west, with the northeast corner of the room located 8 cm from the north balk of the trench. Sizes of the mudbricks were not recorded. The mudbrick wall bordering the room on the east continued into the south balk in a fragmentary fashion. The two preserved bricks of the floor in the room associated with these walls were at 2.2 m below the datum point, thus at the same horizontal level as the Level II floor in Trenches 1 and 2. The baked bricks of this floor were 70 x 46 x 8 cm. A brick in the northeast corner of the room was measured 559

the archaeology of southwest afghanistan at 64 x 39 x 8 cm. Another flooring brick along the eastern wall of this room was broken and, therefore, not measured. Vertical bricks sat upon the brick floor against both walls. The two complete bricks on the north side were also large, 71 x 71 x 8 cm and 71 x 43 x 8 cm respectively. A vertical broken brick on the north wall and another on the east were presumably the same size. Underneath the baked brick floor was a gravel bedding. Outside this defined room, on the north side of the north wall, fragments of baked brick were noted atop the gravel, though very fragmentary and presumably robbed in antiquity, suggesting another room similar to the Level II floor uncovered.

Trench 4

Figure 9.3.40 Baked brick flooring and vertical brick wall supports of Trench 3, Level II, from east. Level III of Trench 1-2 at bottom of photo, including west end of long east-west wall. HSP74.17.3

The brick-faced mudbrick wall of Trench 3 continued another 2.6 m into Trench 4 (called Trench 4, Level II). Baked brick paving on the north side of this wall indicated another room there. The one complete brick in place was 69 x 46 x 8 cm, similar in size to the ones in Trench 3. Two other fragmentary bricks were located in situ, and two others had been partially dislodged. Like in Trench 3, the mudbrick wall was lined on the north side with vertical baked bricks; the three in situ were 70 x 45 x 8 cm. At the west edge of Trench 4, there were indications of a west wall bordering the room, but erosion made this impossible to determine with certainty. The excavation of Trench 3 was stopped at the baked brick flooring but continued beneath the brick flooring in the eastern part of Trench 4. Here were located two fragments of overlapping east-west running walls (Level III). The upper one was made of mudbrick and was 65 cm in

Figure 9.3.41 Detail of baked brick flooring and vertical brick wall supports of Trench 3, Level II with mudbrick north wall of room behind the standing bricks. HSP74.19.30

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Figure 9.3.42 Continuation of mudbrick wall from Trench 3 (far right) with pieces of adjoining baked brick flooring preserved at east end of Trench 4. HSP74.19.33

Figure 9.3.43 Mudbrick east-west walls in Trench 4, Level III, found below the baked brick flooring of Level II. HSP74.19.35

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Figure 9.3.44 Far western edge of the Citadel trench, labeled Trench 4 West, showing debris washed down from elsewhere on mound. HSP74.19.37

Figure 9.3.45 Plan of Level I of Trench 1 of Citadel trench, showing late drain near the serpentine Palace wall at right and late buildings between Trench 1 and 2 at left. J. Knudstad 1974

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shahr-i gholghola width and at least 1.4 m in length but ended in erosion debris at the west edge of the trench and did not intersect either balk. It stood only 15 cm in preserved height and may have intersected another wall heading to the south, but too poorly preserved to determine with certainty. Its relationship to any floor level was also unclear. The western edge of this wall was washed out into sand and later occupation debris. To the east of this wall and underlying it was another wall, also of mudbrick, that extended the width of the trench, possibly displaying a corner at the eastern end. It stood as much as 1.4 m in height and likely bordered a room to the north. The western edge of Trench 4 was composed of 5 m of erosion debris going downslope toward the edge of the Citadel. The furthest western part of Trench 4 (Trench 4 West) consisted of wind- and water-laid sand underneath later water-laid sand and mud debris. The base of Trench 4 West was 4 m below the last occupation surface associated with the serpentine wall of the Palace to the east in Trench 1.

Citadel Trench Objects The later levels of the Citadel trench produced objects likely from Islamic periods: a lump of oxidized iron, a fragment of a bronze plaque, a piece of wall plaster marked with herringbone ridges on the back, almost 20 fragments of green glass, small fragments of ribbed pipes, a black bead of glass or stone, and two pieces of a steatite stemmed vessel. Level IV of Trench 2 produced three fragments of green glass, two pieces of a stone grindstone, three bits of iron oxide, and several fragments of wall plaster.

Citadel Trench Ceramics Trench 1, Level I Underneath the palace wall in Trench 1, a total of 372 sherds were recovered. The vast majority were of ribbed orange ware storage jars, most having a buff slip. Decorated orange ceramics included combed and incised waves, circles, and wedged bands. Bases were flat, disk, or squared and of coarse ware, probably of storage jars. One buff flat base was probably Islamic. Rims were largely simple, thickened, and everted. Six large bowls of orange ware had hammer-shaped rims. Most sherds had buff slips, though a few had a red slip. There were 240 sherds excavated from the highest level of Trench 1, the first 50 cm in depth and including both the late drain and the late walls at the west end of the trench, of which 139 were orange ware ribbed body jar sherds and 48 unribbed of the same ware. Rounded and ridged handles; flat, disc, or squared bases; and two orange ware spouts were of the same ware. The Islamic sherds in this

collection included two glazed molded wares, calligraphic black on white slip (tenth century), polychrome decoration on white slip (tenth century), and hatched sgraffito (eleventh to twelfth century). Trench 1, Level II This collection contained largely orange ribbed body sherds. There were flat, disc, and squared bases and one jabbed base. Decorated sherds included one with a band of incised wavy lines bordered by horizontal incised bands. Eleven buff body sherds included two with incised decoration of parallel and wavy lines, likely tenth to eleventh century. A turban handle in a soft ware had a molded bird design. Two pieces of molded vessels were found. One piece of green and yellow glazed bowl was found, likely tenth to eleventh century. Trench 2, Level I This surface level collection was about half orange ribbed ware sherds of thin storage jars including one flat base. Most of the rest were unribbed orange ware, red or buff body sherds. Seven rims of ribbed jars, bowls, and one tiny cup, all in orange ware, were found. Bases were either flat or disc base. Four fragments of tenth to eleventh century green and brown glazed sherds were included. Trench 2, Level II A large but similar collection as Trench 2, Level I, largely orange ribbed body sherds, many of them with organic residues on the surface, and plain sherds in the same orange ware. A body sherd had a raised rope design on the shoulder. The rims collected were mostly in the same ware. A single tenth to eleventh century yellow glazed rim was recovered. Trench 2, Level IV This level produced over 700 sherds, of which almost all were orange and orange-red body sherds of jars and bowls, some with a buff slip. Several of the fine wares had a dark red slip and one was ring burnished. Three sherds of ribbed jars had wavy incised lines along the shoulder. The storage jar rims were everted or club-shaped. No buff-white wares were found, nor any glazed or molded wares. Trench 2, Level V These 44 sherds were uncovered on or in the gray plaster floor at the base of the trench. Most were unribbed body sherds from storage jars in red or orange wares. Nine fine ware sherds were found, unribbed, in red-orange wares with red, buff, or orange slips. Some were corroded with organic residues. One fragment had a red slip and ring burnishing.

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the archaeology of southwest afghanistan Trench 3, Level I Sherds collected above the brick-lined room consisted entirely of pre-Islamic wares. Almost two-thirds were ribbed wares, and almost all were hard fired orange or red wares. Most were of large jars or bowls, and the majority had a buff slip, one with a wavy incised decoration. One thick handmade ceramic sherd was recovered. Half the jar rims were simple everted rims of orange ware and buff slip. No buffwhite wares were found, nor any glazed or molded wares. At the west end of Trench 3, 44 sherds were collected within and around the late north-south drain. Most were body sherds of jars, some ribbed, of orange-red wares with buff or orange slips. Some were sewage corroded. Several small jars had red slips. Two small jar fragments had ring burnishing on the exterior. Trench 3, Level II Above and on the brick flooring, 79 sherds were collected. All sherds were of hard fired red-orange wares, almost all thick jars, and one-third ribbed. Many had buff slips. None were glazed or burnished. Flat based jars and disc based bowls were collected. Two rims of red ware and red slip were also collected. Trench 3-4, beneath the Level I drain Sherds collected here were largely body sherds of coarse bowls and jars in orange-red wares, about half ribbed. Many had red, orange, or buff slips, and some were corroded with

organic materials. The collection also included four body sherds of white or green-white soft Islamic wares, one with combed decoration. Three glazed sherds—one fourteenth to fifteenth century black under turquoise glaze piece and two tenth to eleventh century incised under monochrome glazed sherds—were found along with one piece of molded ware and a spout of a water jar. Trench 4, Level IV This small collection had mostly body sherds in red-orange ware with red or buff slips. Two pieces of ring burnished ware, one a base, were found. Trench 4 West Most sherds were of hard fired red-orange wares, with red, orange, or buff slips. Ten of the sherds were of beige-buff, yellow-buff, or green-buff wares. Six sherds with red ring burnish ware were collected. Two fine red ware bowls with red slips and disc bases were also found. Also found were a spout, several brown and green glazed over incised ware sherds, one sherd with a stamped pine tree motif, a glazed piece of white sgraffito ware, and a piece of light green Chinese celadon. Trench 4 West Lower This area at the western edge of the excavation produced 400 sherds, most of which were fragments of ribbed jars of orange ware, most with buff slips, or plain red ware.

Figure 9.3.46 Plan of Level II in Trenches 1 and 3. In Trench 1 (right) a long, east-west wall ran through the trench with two layers of flooring on north side (Level II and III floors). There was a disturbed area north of the wall, which lost its clear shape as it went into Trench 2 to the west. A well-constructed building appeared at the same elevation in Trenches 3 and 4 with baked brick floors covering rooms on the north and south side of a mudbrick wall faced with baked brick. J. Knudstad 1974

Figure 9.3.47 Plan of Level III of Trenches 2 and 4. In Trench 2, a hard flooring covers most of the trench. At a similar elevation in Trench 4, two walls found beneath the floors of Level II overlap, the lower one connected to a flooring. Erosion erased them at western end. J. Knudstad 1974

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shahr-i gholghola One fourteenth to fifteenth century black under turquoise glazed ring base was recovered with several blue and turquoise glazed body sherds. Some body sherds in buff ware were incise decorated with horizontal, vertical, or wavy lines. Glazed monochrome over incised body sherds in green and brown were found, including one with a pseudo calligraphic decoration. (LZB)

Analysis Our excavation on the Citadel demonstrated conclusively that the standing Palace, likely built by the Saffarids, was not the original building on its surface. We could identify at least two layers beneath that structure dating to Sasanian and Parthian times. Whether the Parthian building identified in Trench 1, Level III, and elsewhere was the original structure was uncertain, but it was built substantially above the modern ground surface, so it was either atop a large platform or it hid still earlier strata we were unable to reach. We were unable to determine whether or not there was a well on the Citadel. Results of our excavation in Trench 1 underneath the serpentine palace wall were somewhat indeterminate. Sherds from this area were numerous and largely consisted of pre-Islamic storage jars and basins intermixed with a few Ghaznavid and Saffarid glazed wares. The latter might be associated with the later drains that intersect this area or with the foundational work in creating a platform for building the Palace. In this western edge of the Citadel, we documented several standing buildings likely from Islamic times. We also traced several drains leading off the Citadel at or just below the ground level of the era of the Palace, one by the palace wall, the other between Trenches 3 and 4. Spanning the boundary between Trenches 1 and 2 and close to the surface were the remains of another building, built of the same sized bricks as the Palace and overlain with two later walls of thinner mudbricks. We are inclined to date the lower wall to the era of palace construction (ninth to tenth century) and the walls above it with later reconstructions of an unknown date. Beneath the fills and hard-packed foundation associated with the Palace we found clear evidence of previous

occupation of the mound. In Trench 1, approximately 2 m below the palace ground surface, we came upon the long east-west wall with two associated floors on its north side, which we labeled Levels II and III. In Trench 3 we came across two rooms of a well-made mudbrick structure with an attached baked brick floor and baked bricks used to face the walls at the same elevation as Floor 2 in Trench 1. This building continued into Trench 4 with an additional room covered by a baked brick flooring on the north side of the trench. The very large bricks were known from buildings elsewhere in Sistan, such as House 139 and House 266, and can be attributed to the Sasanian period. The relationship of the Level II floor in Trench 1 and the structure in Trenches 3 and 4 was unclear, though their similar elevations argued for them coexisting. The pre-Islamic ceramics in both areas were also compatible with the existence of a Sasanian building beneath the Saffarid Palace. An additional meter below the Level II floor in Trench 1 we found another flooring (Level III) that we attributed to the Parthian Period. At the same elevation, we found a hard-packed ashy flooring in Trench 2. Further west in Trench 4, we found remains of two overlapping walls that ran parallel to our trench and underneath the baked brick building of Level II. The lower of these two walls was linked to a floor level at a similar elevation as Level III in Trenches 1 and 2. Parthian ceramics of the first couple of centuries ce were associated with these walls and floors. Small test pits were dug at the western edge of Trench 1 beneath Floor 3 but the results were inconclusive as to what lay beneath the Level III buildings. The clear stratigraphy of Level III also vanished further west as erosion debris covered the western edge of Trench 4. We suggest there were substantial buildings from both the Parthian and Sasanian periods on the Citadel mound and the Saffarids chose to build their palace on the already existing rise. What lay in the 15 m beneath our lowest excavated level was unclear, either a platform constructed in Parthian times or possibly an Early Iron Age platform like nearby Qala 169. Further excavation would be required to get a greater understanding of the substructure of the Citadel.

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The Bathhouse An addition to the western side of the citadel mound in Ghaznavid times was a bathhouse at the west edge of the Citadel Palace, excavated in 1973. A trench approximately 2.25 m in width was dug beginning at the western wall of the Citadel Palace and extending 30 m toward the west. The trench was later widened to expose most of the bathhouse. The bathhouse had two entry rooms on the east, followed by cold, tepid, and hot rooms. A fire chamber and

basin for holding water stood on the west, and a channel was built along the south side of the building to move heated water to the rooms. Niches and benches were placed in each room for sitting. The bathhouse was reoccupied in Timurid times with less refined flooring and a roughly built drain to draw water away. At the west end of the bathhouse, atop the pile of ashes from the fire pit and, therefore, after its final

Figure 9.3.48 Plan of the Citadel bathhouse. J. Knudstad 1973

Figure 9.3.49 Area of bathhouse before excavation, from the west. Citadel Palace in background. HSP73.10.19

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Figure 9.3.51 Overall shot of earliest level of excavated bathhouse from Citadel Palace looking west. HSP73.13.22

Figure 9.3.50 Citadel bathhouse under excavation, from east. HSP73.10.21

use, we uncovered a pile of skulls detached from their bodies with holes punched in each forehead. A collection of decapitated skeletons was also found a distance away buried along the southwest corner of the Citadel Palace. We cannot confirm that these two finds were connected nor do we know the historical context for this event.

Parquet Walkway Between the bathhouse and the palace wall, beneath a talus of erosional debris, was a badly eroded parquet paving 3.2 m in width made of baked bricks, 25 x 25 x 6–8 cm in size, set vertically in alternating sets of three (Room A, see Figure 9.3.13). A vertical layer of bricks bordered this parquet floor on the east where it attached to the palace wall. This bordering row of bricks was constructed of baked bricks set on edge, 34 x 17 x 5–6 cm in size. The parquet floor was laid on approximately 15 cm of fill including brick bats, gravel, and bits of slag in loose dirt. This sat atop a dense level of clay fill 15 cm in depth. Periodic scrapings against the palace wall in various locations suggested that this parquet

walkway followed the outside wall of the Palace and was the main route for getting from the upper north gate of the Citadel to the palace entrance on the south. Beneath this parquet floor, 60 cm from the serpentine wall, was the street drain, 48 cm in width and at least 35 cm in height, but not excavated to its base. The drain flowed under the street and the level was capped with five layers of horizontally laid bricks that interrupted the parquet paving. Stratified layers of dirt sat over the flat bricks capping the drain.

Entrance Rooms At its western end, the parquet floor ended at the doorway to the bathhouse, framed by mudbrick walls 90 cm in width and on baked brick foundations on both sides of the trench. The entry was 1.12 m in width and paved with baked bricks. The east-west drain ran approximately 32 cm beneath the baked brick paving directly through the center of the doorway. The baked brick paving continued to the west inside the doorway into Room B, 3.2 x 1.7 m in size. There were

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b

Figure 9.3.52a,b Entry into bathhouse (Room B). Earlier level (Fig. 9.3.52a) shows original baked brick paving and large plastered baked brick basin on south side (Level 1). In a remodel, a smaller basin with vertical standing bricks was added (Level 2). In a later reconstruction (Fig. 9.3.52b) flooring was raised, a platform added to the basin on the south side, and a baked brick lined drain (Level 3). Room C, paved with brick and covered with later brick layer, in background. HSP73.11.32, HSP73.11.28

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Figure 9.3.53a,b Plan of bathhouse Room B, Levels 1 and 3. J. Knudstad 1973

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shahr-i gholghola indications of a room opening to the north, a later addition, but this was not excavated. At the southwest corner of Room B was a large basin, 1.9 m in length and 72 cm in width (Level 1), later raised and bordered by a wall of baked brick covered with lime plaster (Level 2). A smaller basin, 65 x 80 cm and framed with baked brick atop mudbrick, was located just to the east of the larger basin. In a later reconstruction (Level 3), the floor level was raised 75 cm and a new brick paving laid. Under the southern part of the later paving was a drain that ran east from the bathhouse. The later drain was framed with vertical baked bricks, 34 x 17 x 5–6 cm, and was lime plastered. The exposed parts of the drain ran 3 m in length and were 13–17 cm in width. Approximately 1 m from its easternmost exposed end, it intersected with another drain running south, of similar construction and width, before vanishing into the north-south street drain mentioned above. The later stratum of this room also featured a raised basin against the south and west walls, covering much of the large basin that was in the original construction. This new basin was bounded on the other two sides by vertically stacked baked brick 65–70 cm in height. The late drain ran from this basin. The basin was 1 x 0.85 m in size and paved with baked brick. To the north the baked brick paving to the end of Room B ended at the juncture with Room C, where a sill was placed. A doorway led west from this room into Room C, 0.95 x 1.7 m in size, bordered by a large pier of 95 x 68 cm on the south and a smaller one of stacked single bricks of 35 x 35 cm on the north. Two baked brick steps led to an elevated Room C. Room C was also paved in its original construction in baked brick. In the reconstruction, a layer of broken baked bricks was added at the higher floor level. A short hallway separated Rooms C and D. At a later time, this hallway was blocked with crude baked bricks to a height of 53 cm above the Room C west door sill.

Figure 9.3.54 Three main rooms of bathhouse from east. Room D, foreground, with benches inset into arched niches on north and south sides. Room E, middle, with niche on north side (right) and channel for the flue on south side. Room F, top, with a niche on north side and pillars to allow hot water from the flue channel on south. Basin, water tank, and firepit were beyond the wall on west side of Room F. HSP73.13.8

Main Bathhouse Rooms The bathhouse proper consisted of a row of three square rooms (D, E, and F) linked by doorways. Each of the three square rooms was approximately 2.1 m on a side and separated by doorways 0.8 m in width. Room D was the easternmost of the three bathhouse rooms. One entered from a doorway 85 cm wide and 68 cm deep. The entry was not centered with the room but was on the northern part of the east wall, 35 cm from the north wall. A drain ran underneath the west edge of the doorway and split into two in the center of the room, 2 cm beneath the plastered floors. A niche was inset into the walls on

Figure 9.3.55 Bench in northern niche of Room F, from southwest. HSP73.10.37

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Figure 9.3.56 Flue channel of Room E, southern niche of Room D on left. From the north. HSP73.13.10

Figure 9.3.57 Western part of bathhouse from south showing water tank and plastered basin on left, Room F with plastered niche against its north wall to right, and flue channel in foreground. A step in left foreground provides access to the water tank. HSP73.13.5

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Figure 9.3.58 Bathhouse from west, showing furnace in foreground. HSP73.13.13

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the archaeology of southwest afghanistan both the north and south sides of the room with a bench in each. The northern niche was arched, 70 cm deep and 1.5 m long, with 30–35 cm of preserved wall on both the east and west sides. The outer face of the wall into which it was set was faced on its exterior with roughly laid baked brick. The southern niche was inset into the wall 60 cm and was similar in dimensions and location to the northern one. The south wall of the building extended only another 17–20 cm beyond the edge of the niche and was faced with baked brick. All the interior surfaces were heavily lime plastered. The plastered floor of Room D was significantly damaged in its center, as was the southern niche. The doorway to the next room (E) was centered and square, 70 cm long and equally wide. An eroded sill sat at its eastern edge. The drain from Room D extended along the southern side of this entryway, then made a northward turn upon entering Room E. The drain extended through the east-west length of the room, exiting it at the northern edge of the doorway into Room F. The northern side of this room also contained a niche 1.3 m long and 50 cm in width but without a preserved bench. It was situated approximately 30 cm from the east and west walls of Room E. The niche was twice plastered and filled with baked brick decoration. No corresponding niche flanked the room on the south side. Instead a flue ran behind a thin wall of 20 cm in depth composed of a single row of baked brick, plastered on the inside of the room. Several holes also marred the plaster flooring of this room. The westernmost room (F) was entered through a doorway 85 cm in width and 70 cm in length. An eroded sill of 18 cm in height sat at its east end. Like the other rooms, an arched niche dominated the north side of Room F, 52 cm deep, 1.3 m wide, and containing a bench. The southern wall of this room had four pillars 20 cm square and separated by 17 cm each instead of a niche. The floor of this room was also damaged in the middle, with at least one repair made along its western edge. Unlike the entry rooms, these rooms showed no significant remodeling.

The Tank and Furnace West of Room F was a plastered basin, separated from Room F by a thin wall of plastered mudbrick 25 cm wide. The basin was 95 x 25 cm. At its center a hole led from a large lime plastered water tank, separated from the basin by a wall 25 cm in thickness. This tank was 129 x 65 cm

and offset to the south from the smaller basin. In line with the other basin and the pipe leading to it was a sump 37 cm in diameter. The tank was made of baked brick and set in lime mortar. It had gone through at least three interior plasterings in its period of use. A frame of mudbrick walls 45–50 cm in width retained the water tank on three sides. A platform had been placed on the south side of the water tank, possibly to assist in filling it. Another hole, 40 cm in diameter, opened to the west from the tank to a furnace of baked brick, where fires heated the water used in the bath. West of the furnace was occupational debris, with a thick layer of ash atop rain-laid mud and erosional debris. Within this pile, we discovered a cache of five disembodied human skulls. At its western edge, the bathhouse was bordered by a large building, of which only 2 m of its southern wall was exposed in excavation. This wall was made of 10 courses of baked brick 34–35 x 34–35 x 5–6 cm. On top of this base was a decorative layer of six vertically stacked baked bricks with one edge exposed, interspersed with vertically stacked brick with the face exposed. This building was not explored.

Bathhouse Objects and Ceramics A total of 26 coins were found in the bathhouse, all within the heating duct on the south side of Rooms E and F. Twenty-two were fully effaced copper coins and can provide little stratigraphic help. The remaining four dated from the late fourteenth century and the early to mid-fifteenth century. Only one other object was described, photographed, and drawn in the field, half of a copper or bronze belt buckle. A collection of 18 sherds from the bathhouse are in the collection preserved at the Smithsonian. Inside and under the parquet paving by the palace wall were pre-Islamic red ware ribbed body sherds and a single red vertical rim with a buff slip. The remaining ceramics were not separated by room or level, so provide limited chronological information. A variety of mostly unglazed Islamic ware with incised and impressed decoration was uncovered. The attributed period ranges from the ninth to the eleventh century. A few monochromatic glazed sherds were found including a ring base of a turquoise glaze bowl and a green sgraffito fragment. Due to the absence of vessel form and any stylistic indicators, these vessels could not be precisely dated (LZB).

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Figure 9.3.59 Cache of skulls found in the ash pit to the west of bathhouse furnace. HSP73.11.16

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Figure 9.4.1 Plan of the Lower Palace. J. Knudstad 1973

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9.4 The Circular Enclosure The Circular Enclosure was composed of four concentric elements within the Circular Wall. At its center was the Citadel, described above. Surrounding this was the innermost defensive moat, 22 m in width and 4–4.5 m in depth, also described above. Surrounding the moat were two terraces, each approximately 60 m in width with the outer circle raised approximately 1–1.5 m higher in elevation than the one inside. The Lower Palace and Mosque,

described above, were built on the higher terrace, as were several other buildings on the northeast of the enclosure that were not examined by the project. In addition to the prominent buildings described below, we sank several vertical trenches into the moat, terraces, and at the base of the inner and outer defensive walls to examine their construction. A description of the various key structures we studied and trenches we dug inside the enclosure follows.

Figure 9.4.2 View of the East Façade of the Lower Palace taken from the Citadel to the east. HSP71.38.15

Figure 9.4.3 The Lower Palace from the northwest, with North Courtyard in foreground. North, east, and south iwans visible. The Citadel in the background at left. HSP73.49.3

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Figure 9.4.4 Western wall of Lower Palace looking southeast, taken from the Circular Wall, the shadow of which can be seen in lower right. HSP74.39.9

Figure 9.4.5 Inside mudbrick western wall of Lower Palace looking south. The west iwan of the north courtyard behind and to right of high dune in the foreground, with other rooms in the western room complex visible around and behind it. Niches inside the western wall at lower right may represent chambers built into the wall. HSP73.49.6

The Lower Palace Along the southwest side of the outer terrace, deeply buried in sand, was an elaborate Palace, 60 m wide and approximately 150 m long. It was extensively surveyed in 1973 and 1974, and the excavation of a small room on the northeast of the building, one of the few areas not covered with sand, was conducted in 1974. The structure, Ghaznavid in date, was built around two courtyards. The large, northern courtyard was rectangular,

35 x 39 m in size, and sported an iwan on the center of each wall. An arched passageway slightly east of the center of the courtyard led to a smaller courtyard to the south, unusual in that it was eight sided with an iwan facing each side of the courtyard. A large central Domed Room between the two courtyards might have been the central focal point of the building. Additional room complexes were built on both the west and east sides of the structure. The far northern and southern areas of the palace beyond the courtyards were buried in sand, which made it impossible to complete a

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Figure 9.4.6 The northern end of Lower Palace Eastern Façade from east. HSP71.38.14

Figure 9.4.7 Lower Palace Eastern Façade from northeast. HSP74.17.26

comprehensive plan of the building. The Palace hosted two floors in some places—several staircases were found—with some walls still standing as much as 20 m in height. Walls of the rooms in the Palace were plastered and in a few places we found remaining bits of paint in red, blue, and black but no large painted areas. While there was a preserved entrance to the Lower Palace through the Eastern Façade, the main entrance was originally likely on the north, where only a few fragments of a high, monumentally constructed wall remained visible above the sand dunes. 577

the archaeology of southwest afghanistan The Western Wall

The East Façade

The Lower Palace was presumably surrounded by a wall, but only sections of its east and west sides remained. The wall design was interesting as it was irregular, curved on both west and east sides, separating the curve of the Circular Wall from the rectangular shape of the Palace itself. While rooms were embedded into the eastern wall, there was less evidence for incorporation of rooms of the western complex into the western wall, though the level of preservation and sanding made it impossible to determine that with any confidence. The section of the western palace wall visible was approximately 63 m in length and ran largely parallel to the Circular Wall, approximately 10 m away. It framed the northern courtyard and west halls, stood approximately 1 m in width, and was preserved to 1–2 m in height. It was constructed of mudbricks, the size of which were not recorded. It may have had a baked brick foundation, given that the east wall did. At the far north of the preserved section, corresponding to the northernmost wall of the north iwan of the North Courtyard, the wall disappeared into the sand. Approximately 8 m south of this point was a break in the wall, framed by six external facing buttresses on the north side and one on the south side. Each buttress was 27 cm in width, extruded 20 cm from the wall, and was separated from the next buttress by 35 cm. The gap in the wall at this point was only 50 cm in width so it was uncertain whether this was designed as a gateway, a drain, a water course, or something else. It is possible these buttresses may have been remnants of a corbeled façade as on the east side of the Palace as we do not know how far above the base of the west wall the visible stretch was. Another 25 m further south along the line of the west wall, across from the west iwan of the north court, this decorative pattern was repeated, but with 10 buttresses/ corbels on the outside north of a narrow gap and two on the south. The break in the wall at this point was only 37 cm in width. South of this area was a continuous band of these buttresses/corbels of approximately the same size and depth, approximately 15 of them spanning 10 m in wall length, followed by an area of about 13 m of smooth wall face before the wall disappeared to the south under sand dunes. A horizontal row of baked bricks decorateed the exterior façade of this wall at parapet level, similar to the East Façade.

The eastern palace wall was preserved for a length of about 75 m. Surprisingly, its north end curved outward toward the center of the Circular Enclosure rather than inward toward the western wall of the Lower Palace. We were unable to determine where and how these two wall segments met at the north end of the Palace due to heavy sanding. The east wall was constructed of mudbrick. Its parapet was a full 12.3 m above the lowest floor level excavated in 1974 (see Lower Palace Excavation section below). The wall was constructed on a foundation of baked brick, some whole, some fragmentary, and of various sizes, with an average thickness of 5–6 cm. Above this foundation, the wall was constructed of mudbricks 33–35 x 33–35 x 6–7 cm in size. There was a strong exterior batter to the line of the wall. A single horizontal course of baked brick 33–34 x 33–34 x 6–7 cm denoted the start of the parapet at the top of the mudbrick wall. The foundation for the baked brick course was two courses of long, bracing bricks 46–47 cm in length. Beneath this were corbels of mudbricks descending outside both the inner and outer faces, bricks 27 cm in width and spaces between them 35

Figure 9.4.8 Eastern Façade of Lower Palace showing it angling toward the east and its batter, from the south. HSP73.35.27

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shahr-i gholghola cm in width. The corbels jutted out 14–17 cm at the parapet but descended in thickness until they merged into the vertical face of the wall approximately 1.4 m below the parapet. The parapet was composed of overlapping angled courses of long half mudbricks 46–47 cm in length. Rows of vertically stacked decorative bricks sat upon the parapet and the corbels jutting out from them. The southernmost section of the east wall visible was about 18 m long and also served as one wall of the Southeast Hall. This section of wall was 75–85 cm thick. A stub of wall 1 m long and 65 cm wide paralleled the main wall 30 cm inside of it and 8 m north of where the wall disappeared into dunes at its south end. Eight meters north of this feature was another short stub of wall approximately 1.1 m in length, creating a wide niche against the interior of the east wall in the Southeast Hall. The exterior of the East Wall at this point featured two buttresses, a rectangular one 1.60 m in width and extending 0.5 m from the East Wall and another unevenly shaped 70 cm wide that extended 65 cm from the wall. North of this was the only extant entrance to the Palace,

a square entry room 4.5 x 4.5 m in size with a porch inset from the face of the eastern wall. A passageway led south from the entry room into the Southeast Hall, a room 4.5 x 11 m in size, bordered on one side by the east wall. The entry was 1.7 m wide and recessed 1.5 m into the east wall. Two rows of narrow chambers were behind the west wall of the entrance. An arched passage also led north from the entry room toward the eastern halls and toward the Arched Passageway at a lower floor level. The northern part of the entryway was badly damaged as was part of the resumed eastern wall for about 3 m north of the gate. The wall to the north of the gate was about 85–90 cm in width. A buttress 2.1 m wide extruded 50 cm from the exterior wall line 5 m north of the entryway. On the interior of this section of the palace wall was the East Hall, discussed below. Another rectangular buttress 1.9 m in width extruded 50 cm from the exterior wall line at the next joint, where the wall angled slightly toward the east. Three niches, 30–35 cm square, decorated the inside of the wall in this area and a window through the wall was 57 cm south of this buttress. About 13 m separated these two buttresses.

Figure 9.4.9 North end of façade of east wall with inner buttress. HSP73.36.16

Figure 9.4.10 Downspout on East Façade of Lower Palace, showing baked brick foundation of wall at lower right. One of the towers abutting the wall is at left. HSP73.41.5

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Figure 9.4.11 Inner face of Eastern Façade showing wall corbelling and niches, covered over by later rebuilding. HSP73.36.24

Figure 9.4.12 Detail of construction of inner face of Eastern Façade, with horizontal layer of baked bricks on top, corbeled lines of bricks below, later hidden by a repair layer attached to the inside of wall. HSP73.36.25

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Figure 9.4.13 Entry into Lower Palace through east wall, from north. HSP73.35.25

The interior of the eastern wall also featured corbels and a horizontal baked brick layer, similar to that on the exterior, but they were apparently covered with a thick layer of pakhsa in a later repair. North of this buttress were three windows 55 cm in width, then a downspout, 10 m north of the buttress, framed in baked bricks 17 cm wide and recessed 17 cm into the wall. A base of at least 1 m of baked brick was at the downspout’s bottom. A plain stretch of wall was next interrupted 8 m to the north by what appeared to be a small doorway 1 m wide leading into a hallway 2.4 m in length that opened into the east iwan of the North Courtyard. Another 8 m north along the wall was another rectangular buttress 1.8 m in width and extruding 40 cm from the wall, at which point the wall changed its angle still further to the east. A second baked brick downspout, flush with the face of the wall and the same size as the southern one, was located 3.2 m north of this buttress. The wall abruptly ended another 4 m north of this second downspout.

Figure 9.4.14 Vertical brickwork in porch of eastern entry. HSP73.35.28

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Figure 9.4.15 Lower Palace Octagonal Courtyard from west, mostly covered in sand. Well-preserved south iwan is at right. HSP73.49.9

Figure 9.4.16 Southern half of Octagonal Courtyard, aerial photo from a kite. The south, southeast, and east iwans visible. HSP72.14.7

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shahr-i gholghola The Octagonal Courtyard Arguably the most unusual part of the Palace was the eightsided Octagonal Courtyard, the southernmost of the two large courtyards. The octagonal shape of this courtyard may have been an architectural concession to the curved Circular Wall bordering the Palace and the western wall that paralleled it. We do not know how close to the courtyard these two walls ran to the west and south ends of the Palace because of the dune coverage, though fragments of walls west of the west iwan and south of the south iwan could be seen.

The courtyard stretched 23 m in diameter and had an iwan inset in each of the eight sides, each side 9 m in width. Of the ones that were preserved, and we had parts of only four of them, each was decorated differently. The west, southwest, northwest, and northeast iwans had little visible above the extensive sand dunes that covered the courtyard. The entrance to the courtyard was likely through an unpreserved location on the northeast at the end of the Arched Passageway. Though the north iwan backed to the large, decorated Domed Hall between the two courtyards, there was no doorway leading between the two.

Figure 9.4.17 South iwan of Octagonal Courtyard. HSP73.47.33

Figure 9.4.18 Niches on west outer face of south iwan of Octagonal Courtyard. HSP73.47.36

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Figure 9.4.19 East iwan of Octagonal Courtyard. HSP73.47.30

and possibly a small cupola. At least three niches were inset into the south wall of the iwan. Other niches faced west on the outside of the iwan, though it is unknown what kind of room these faced. Between the south and southeast iwans and facing the courtyard were two floors of rooms on a bent axis. Only the upper floor was visible. The main part of the room paralleling the south iwan was 5.7 m north-south and 1.95 m east-west. The north wall of the room angled toward the northeast to align with the next (southeast) iwan. This portion of the room was 2.1 m northwest-southeast and 3.1 m northeast-southwest. Walls of this room were 0.5–0.6 m in width and made of baked brick. Two niches, 1.8 x 0.7 m and 1.1 x 0.8 m, were set into the wall bordering the south iwan, a wall 1.6 m thick. A staircase to the second floor, 0.77 cm in width, was by the southeast wall. A vaulted entrance to the first floor room, 0.58 cm in width, was on the northeast part of the room where it met the courtyard. To the south of this room was another room, preserved only to one story and approximately 4.1 x 2.85 m with flat dome squinches in two corners. Its walls were aligned with the south iwan, separated by walls of 1.07 m on the west of the room and 0.8 m on the south. The southeast walls of the room were not visible due to sanding and erosion. Location of the entrance to this room was also unclear.

The southeast iwan was preserved only on its south and west sides with approximate size of 5.3 x 3.6 m. There were remains of one arch spanning the iwan, 1.28 m in width, and a niche, 1.35 m wide and 57 cm deep, along the west wall of the iwan. The eastern end of this wall had part of a squinch for a cupola and two corner niches. The iwan was backed by a wall 93 cm thick with a window 20 cm wide facing another room to the southeast and on the same orientation as the iwan. Walls of this back room were only partially preserved, 2.35 m in length for the southwest wall and 1.7 m in length for the northeast one, before disappearing into the sand. The east iwan was 4.25 m in width and 3.15 m in visible depth. A 30 cm wide archway looked to additional rooms on the east. Much of the southern wall of this iwan was not visible beneath the sand. Walls surrounding this iwan were 85 cm in width. The northeast iwan was only partially visible where a pillar stood 6 m in height and 1.55 m wide on the northwest side of the entrance to the iwan. Width of remaining fragment of the southeast wall was 1.07 m, but the dimensions of the northwest wall and back wall of the iwan were not possible to determine. The north iwan was the largest facing the courtyard and was well preserved except where it joined the courtyard,

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shahr-i gholghola with approximate dimensions of 10.6 x 6.7 m. Its east wall was 1.9 m in width, its back wall 1.55 m in width, and its west wall 1.65 m in width. The form of vaulting was not preserved though there was a pier for a vault of narrow mudbrick 1.5 m in width at the juncture of the courtyard, preserved only on the west side. The iwan was elaborately niched on all preserved areas. Three additional iwans were buried in sand on the western side of the courtyard, all approximately the same size as the south iwan. The southwest one was not able to be explored. The western one showed evidence of additional rooms on that side, with walls extending from the southwest back corner of the iwan to the south and west. The northwest iwan was buried in sand but was backed by a better-preserved room that was entered from the northwest and equal in size to the iwan. This room, the Southwest Hall, was cleared of sand and is described below with the West Halls. The octagonal shape of the courtyard is unique as far as we know in medieval Islamic architecture. We can only speculate as to the reason for its construction, though the most likely scenario would be that a squared southern courtyard and accompanying iwans would have been cut off by the curvature of the Circular Wall and the octagonal shape was chosen to accommodate that preexisting structure.

Domed Hall Figure 9.4.20 Pier at northwest corner of northeast iwan of Octagonal Courtyard. HSP73.35.30

Between the north iwan of the Octagonal Courtyard and the south iwan of the North Courtyard was a large square room approximately 8 m on a side and likely a major focal

Figure 9.4.21 The Domed Hall (left), largely filled with sand, north of the heavily decorated north iwan (right) of the Octagonal Courtyard. HSP73.49.10

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the archaeology of southwest afghanistan point of the building. Its central area was domed, based upon the preserved support on the northwest corner. Entrances to this room were unclear beyond a narrow gap in the western part of its north wall. An elaborate arched passageway at the east end of the south wall was the most likely location for an entry door, but the area of the passageway adjacent to the Domed Hall was not preserved so that could not be confirmed. A 37 cm wide window in the center of the north wall looked into the south iwan of the North Courtyard. While the north and south walls showed no remaining decoration, there were remains of an elaborate niche 50 cm wide and 62 cm deep against the west wall. A room or set of rooms likely existed to the west of the Domed Hall but they were hidden by sand.

North Courtyard

Figure 9.4.22 Standing wall fragment at northeast corner of North Courtyard. HSP73.36.23

The North Courtyard was considerably larger than the southern one, 32 x 35 m in dimensions, and housed iwans in the center of each wall. The iwans varied in size and decoration and likely were heavily plastered and painted. Only fragments of walls bordering the courtyard on the east and west side remained, up to 2.1 m in width. A piece of the north wall of the courtyard at the northeast corner, 2.2 m in width and extending 2.7 m to the east from the presumed corner of the courtyard, suggested a series of rooms outside this corner of the courtyard. The north iwan was 9 x 5 m in dimension. Walls of the iwan were of varying widths, 2.1 m on the east, 68 cm of

Figure 9.4.23 Sand-covered North Courtyard looking southeast, with south iwan on right, Arched Passageway in center, and back of Long East Hall on left. HSP71.37.7

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Figure 9.4.24 Decorated east iwan of North Courtyard. HSP71.37.9

Figure 9.4.25 Decorated façade of south iwan of North Courtyard. HSP73.36.13

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Figure 9.4.27 Detail of decorated south iwan of North Courtyard, eastern side. HSP73.36.14

Figure 9.4.26 Central niche of south iwan of North Courtyard. HSP71.37.6

preserved width on the north, and 1.6 m on the west. This iwan seemed to have been roofed with a continuous vault, constructed of large mudbricks 3 cm thick. The west interior wall of the iwan was elaborately decorated with seven niches 35–38 cm wide and 40 cm deep separated by wall sections 67–70 cm in width. The niches were keyhole-shaped and constructed of baked brick with recessed smaller niches inside made of mudbrick and plaster. Fallen baked brick on the east façade of the iwan suggested that wall was similarly decorated. It was unclear if there were rooms to the northwest of the iwan, though fragments of a wall extending southeast from the east wall suggested a room on that side. The east iwan was 5.5 x 6.6 m in dimension. It was spanned by three arches made of narrow (4 cm) brick, each about 95 cm in width. Along the north wall of the iwan were three stepped niches, each approximately 1 m in width. The east wall of the iwan had two stepped niches 60–70 cm in width on either side of a stepped doorway to the east, narrowing from 1 m in width to 72 cm in width. No decoration was preserved on the south wall. The wall

bordering the east side of the North Courtyard narrowed to about 50 cm south of this iwan. The south iwan was shallow, 4 m deep and 7 m wide, and probably domed. It featured a heavily decorated south wall approximately 1 m thick, backing on the Domed Hall behind it. The side walls of the iwan were not preserved. The south wall likely stood as high as 9 m in places though the bottom several meters were buried in debris. While largely constructed in mudbrick, it featured baked brick designs in several areas. A central arch 2 m in width and 4 m in height but largely buried beneath debris was topped by an arch of narrow baked bricks. Above this archway was a row of seven keyhole niches, the largest one, the central one, 2.5 m in height, framed by small keyhole arches 1 m in height on either side and those framed by smaller arches on either side. A rectangular window was cut through the top of the central arch 40 x 60 cm in size. Framing the central arch and two smallest ones were vertical channels extending to the widest point in the central keyhole arch and topped by a stack of 10 baked bricks. A register of pointed arches sat above this group on either side with

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Figure 9.4.28 The Arched Passageway connecting the North Courtyard to the Octagonal Courtyard, seen from the south. HSP73.04.08

small windows inside the arches. The one on the eastern side was destroyed by a large hole in that part of the wall. Horizontal baked bricks sat above the side keyhole niches. A square of baked bricks sat above each of the small niches next to the main keyhole niche. Two other registers of horizontal baked bricks sat above those, the top one forming a base for squinch arch bases that came from above the stack of baked bricks on either side. The west iwan was approximately 5 x 7 m in dimension and was spanned by two arches of narrow brick totaling 1.15 m in width. The back wall of the iwan was decorated with niches but these were badly eroded. A doorway along the south wall of the west iwan 2.1 m in width led to a narrow corridor 60 cm wide along the south wall of the iwan. The west wall of the courtyard north of this iwan was decorated with alternating wide and narrow stepped niches. There was evidence this niching continued south of the iwan but the wall was damaged. This form of niching was not visible on any other wall of the courtyard. To the south of this iwan, the wall of the courtyard edged slightly toward the west.

Arched Passageway Access between the two courtyards was achieved through the Arched Passageway, a long vaulted hallway spanning the distance between the two courtyards to the east of the Domed Room. The Arched Passageway was 22 m long and 5.5 m wide and was spanned with four large arches, each approximately 1.6 m in width and jutting 45 cm out of the wall behind. The arches were made from 30 or more vertical courses of very large mudbricks, over 1 m in length, 60 cm in width, and 2 cm thick, coated with mud plaster and bound with a tough reed root temper and mud mortar. This clearly improved the mudbrick’s ability to withstand twisting and deformation without falling as surrounding parts of the structure settled. The spans were built upon two courses of baked brick, which were in turn on a foundation pillar of 11 courses of mudbrick upon two or more courses of baked brick which lay on lower courses of mudbrick. The northernmost arch was still intact during our first three field seasons but had collapsed prior to the 1974 season. A niche remained intact north of the standing arch which contained a keyhole arch 2.3 m in height with two smaller keyhole arches

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Figure 9.4.29 The last intact arch in the passageway, from the east. HSP73.4.4

Figure 9.4.30 Detail of construction of the arch, west side. HSP71.37.4

above, each approximately 1 m in height. We presumed the remainder of the Arched Passageway was similarly decorated. There may have been an entrance from its center west into the Domed Room, which was no longer visible. A cupola dome may have been the roofing for this central part of the Arched Passageway. There were also entrances to the Arched Passageway on both the north and south ends leading into either courtyard, though only the one into the North Courtyard was preserved.

north and a decorated wall façade on the north of the room 44 cm in width. This wall was decorated with floral scrollwork in relief, with two niches of 20 cm width on either side of a central larger niche 63 cm wide. It was impossible to ascertain the exact width of the thick west wall, as it disappeared into the sand, but it was at least 2.3 m in width. The pillars and niche arrangement was the same as on the east wall. The south wall, leading into the northwest iwan of the Octagonal Courtyard was destroyed except for 1.30 m on its west side, but it appeared to share the same design as the north wall and was 85 cm in width. On the northeast corner, remains of a passageway to the West Hall just to the north was found, but the method of egress into this room was unclear. It was assumed there was a door leading toward the Octagonal Courtyard to the south but that area was not possible to survey. The three vaults spanning the room were constructed of large, narrow mudbricks, 3–3.5 cm in thickness and 41 cm in length. The third dimension could not be determined. The pillars holding these vaults were 95 cm wide and extruded 37 cm from the side walls. North of this was the West Hall, aligned with the

The West Halls Directly behind the northwest iwan of the Octagonal Courtyard and on the same orientation was another decorated room, the Southwest Hall. The room was 6.6 x 4.5 m in dimension with three vaulted arches spanning the narrower sides. Niches 35 cm in width and 28 cm in depth framed each of the pillars supporting the arches. The east wall was 1.25 m in width including the width that the pillars holding the vaults extended into the room. The three sections of the north wall’s width were almost 1 m in size, with two windows facing an unknown structure to the

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Figure 9.4.32 Detail of top of remaining arch spanning the Arched Passageway. HSP73.36.20

Figure 9.4.31 Detail of construction of the passageway pier, east side. HSP71.37.3

Figure 9.4.33 Corner squinch inside the arch spanning Arched Passageway. HSP73.41.16

Figure 9.4.34 Decorated wall on north side of standing arch. HSP73.41.18

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Figure 9.4.35 Arched Passageway looking south. HSP73.08.10

Figure 9.4.36 East side of the Arched Passageway with Long East Hall to the left of the arch. HSP73.08.08

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Figure 9.4.37 Alternating mudbrick and baked brick pier foundations on east side of Arched Passageway. HSP73.36.19

Figure 9.4.38 The intact arch collapsed between the 1973 and 1974 seasons. HSP74.18.30

central Domed Hall instead of with the Southwest Hall. It was a larger room, spanned by six arches, 14 x 4.5 m in size, and highly decorated. Its east end was largely enveloped in sand but appeared to be connected to a room or set of rooms between it and the central Domed Hall. The walls were made of various sections, 2 m wide on the east and west, 1.7 m on the north, and 1 m on the south. At the southeast corner was what appeared to be a doorway 70 cm wide leading south into a vaulted passage toward the Southwest Hall. The arches ran east and west, the four

central ones 1.2 m in width each, the smaller outlying ones to the north and south 30 cm in width each. Decorated keyhole niches of varying widths were embedded in the wall between these arches, two narrow ones on north and south ends of the side walls (25–30 cm wide), wider ones between the two wider arches on each side (0.9–1 m wide), and a wide one in the center (1.3 m wide). They were each approximately 35 cm in depth. At the north and south ends of this room there were vaults perpendicular to the main hallway arch formation. There were decorated niches

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Figure 9.4.39 The West Hall, looking north. HSP73.41.30

Figure 9.4.40 Detail of northeast corner of West Hall. HSP73.41.31

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shahr-i gholghola against the north and south walls. One niche in the northeast corner had remains of a blue painted decoration on it. To the north of the West Hall was the west iwan of the North Courtyard, which was bordered on the north and south by large but poorly preserved halls including a smaller hall leading west from the west iwan toward the west wall of the Palace. The southern of the two halls bordering the west iwan was 15 m in length and at least 8 m in width. The dimensions of the northern of these two halls were unclear, but its northern edge was crimped by the inward curvature of the west palace wall. The room directly west of the west iwan was 3 m in width and at least 1.5 m in length but only 6 m from the west palace wall. Its relationship to the western palace wall could not be determined.

The East Halls

Figure 9.4.41 Painted northeastern niche of West Hall. HSP73.49.11

Several decorated halls were located between the two courtyards and the Eastern Façade of the Palace. At the northern end was the east iwan of the North Courtyard, highly decorated with a passageway leading to the eastern wall, described above. To the north of the iwan was a small decorated antechamber that was excavated in 1974 and is described below. To the south of the east iwan were two additional large rooms, irregular because of the angled east wall that formed their eastern wall, the northern one 6.5 m in maximum length and the southern one 3.6 m in maximum length. The latter room had three windows

Figure 9.4.42 View of eastern halls and standing arch in Arched Passageway taken from a kite. Domed Hall and north iwan of Octagonal Courtyard to left of arch. Presumed eastern entrance to the Palace at lower right, staircase to eastern wall parapet through East Transverse Hall at upper right. HSP721.14.6

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Figure 9.4.43 East Hall, looking south, with Long East Hall to the right and Southeast Hall upper left. HSP73.41.14

Figure 9.4.44 East Hall from south, East Transverse Hall behind. Buttresses support the east wall at right and frame a large niche against the wall. HSP73.41.25

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Figure 9.4.45 Central niche of north façade of East Hall. HSP73.41.10

Figure 9.4.46 Niches on eastern half of north wall of East Hall. HSP73.41.11

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Figure 9.4.47 Detail of northeast corner of East Hall showing plastered keyhole niches with floral motifs above. HSP73.41.12

Figure 9.4.49 Niches in stairwell at northeast corner of East Transverse Hall. HSP73.41.27

Figure 9.4.48 Stairwell at northeast corner of East Transverse Hall. HSP73.41.26

looking through the East Façade toward the Citadel and was bordered on the south by one of the angles of the eastern wall. To the south of these rooms were three rooms of the East Hall complex, an important, highly decorated part of the Palace. The Long East Hall was situated between the East Hall and Arched Passageway. It stood two stories high, was 15 x 4 m in size, and had a vault over its center 1.2 m in width constructed of large, thin bricks. The piers of this arch extruded 40–50 cm into the room. A second, narrower arch of 0.65 m in width was 1.4 m from the

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Figure 9.4.50 Excavated room of Lower Palace against the east Palace wall just north (left) of the east iwan of the large North Courtyard, seen here, along with the west wall of the excavated room. HSP73.41.28

south end of the room. The walls of the room varied in size, approximately 50 cm in width for the well-preserved north wall against the North Courtyard, 75 cm on the east shared with the East Hall, 40 cm on the south, and a composite wall of 2 m overall width on the west shared with the Arched Passageway. The only visible doorway into this room was on the south, an arched passageway 1 m in width at the first floor level, though there may have been others. The room appeared to have a decorated north wall, but it was badly eroded. To the east was the highly decorated East Hall, 11 x 6 m in size, not exactly rectangular because of the angle of the Eastern Façade and its southern border unclear because of sanding. This room was arched or vaulted. Two buttresses for the east wall jutted into this hall, each approximately 1.1 x 0.7 m in size and separated by 2 m. They may have supported a veneer wall inside the room, now fallen. A passageway on the east led to the room to its north. The north wall of the East Hall was highly decorated. There was a central two-step arched niche approximately 2.5 m in height with a window behind looking into the East Transverse Hall. Niches on either side were largely buried but featured two-step plastered keyhole arches above which were floral motifs in mudbrick.

The East Transverse Hall behind the East Hall had three vaults running north-south from pillars 0.7 m in width and separated by 1 m wide niches that receded 40 cm. Two more buttresses on the east side against the eastern wall were similar in size and configuration to those in the East Hall. Between these pillars was an arched bay 2 m in width and 1 m in depth. At the northeast corner of this room was an arched entrance to a stairway leading up the eastern wall. The north wall of this room backed upon the North Courtyard.

Lower Palace Excavation, 1974 A room in the northeast corner of the Lower Palace was partially excavated in October 1974 to begin to provide an architectural history of the Lower Palace. The room sat just north of the elaborate east iwan of the North Courtyard. The room was 8.4 x 3.35 m in dimensions. Its eastern wall was part of the exterior palace wall which angled sharply toward the east just after the northeast corner of this room. This section of the Eastern Façade included a long slit window and a string of corbels beneath the horizontal row of baked bricks that supported the parapet. The base of a north-south vault was visible against the south wall of the room. On the west wall of the room

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Figure 9.4.51 Excavation area against east wall, showing horizontal baked brick layer above corbelled pillars and keyhole niche decorations below. Base of vault spanning the room north-south visible at the right. HSP74.19.17

Figure 9.4.52 Level 2 of Lower Palace excavation, showing platforms both on east (bottom) and west ends of room with tandur inset into eastern platform. A flooring of pakhsa filled the area between the platforms with ash and cultural material. The last baked brick flooring (Level 4) beneath at right. The northwest corner of the room (upper right) was not excavated. HSP74.17.19

there was a largely eroded pointed arch doorway through the 87 cm thick wall, with niches 73 cm in height and a slit window opening to the west 20 cm in height above it. On the western edge of the south wall, a similar pointed arch doorway led to the east iwan. These walls and doorways were not excavated nor were the widths of these doorways recorded. The walls of the room were made of mudbrick covered with a thick layer of mud plaster and white lime plaster. Figure 9.4.53 Level 4 floor with missing bricks in center of decorative brick band. Some of the coating of lime plaster visible in the foreground. Level 5 floor visible at lower left. HSP74.18.26

Level 1 At the start of excavation, the room was filled with well-striated layers of sand and silt laid by wind and rain, tilted upward from west to east to a height of 60 cm. Parts of the wall and attached plaster had collapsed into 600

shahr-i gholghola the top and 1.25 m in exterior diameter at Level 2 floor level. The bottom interior was 1.04 m in diameter. The tandur was 64 cm in preserved height and rose 42 cm above the mudbrick floor. An air hole 10 cm wide opened to the west, filled with ash. The mud inside the tandur had been fired red from burning and the tandur contained considerable amounts of ash. A C14 date taken of ash and charcoal from the tandur produced a calibrated date of 683 bp +/- 100 (1167–1367 ce), an earlier date than we expected from the ceramics recovered at this level. West of this platform was a packed mud flooring 17–20 cm below the level of the platform, including layers of ash, sherds, and other occupational debris. It extended the entire width of the room and 2.9 m in east-west length. Occupational debris on this floor was thick, as much as 40 cm, including striated layers of ash. Ash also permeated parts of the mudbrick walls that had been hollowed out by erosion at floor level. No evidence of wall repairs was noted. At the western end of the room was another platform, held in place by a layer of vertical mudbricks, slanted to the south and plastered, holding back loose rubble fill at the west end of the room. These bricks stood 6 x 9 x 33 cm in size. This area was 62 cm in width and stretched across the entire excavated portion of the room. The platform rose 35 cm above the level of the retaining mudbricks and 51 cm above the height of the flooring in the center. A thin layer of ash sat on the platform and beneath the later collapse. The northwest part of the platform, 1.2 x 1.3 m in area, was not excavated, nor was the northwesternmost 2.4 m of the room.

Figure 9.4.54 Remains of irregular middle baked brick floor (Level 5, top) with finer lower baked brick floor (Level 6) beneath. A single plastered brick atop the Level 5 floor at upper left, either remains of another floor layer removed or an installation. Upper baked brick floor (Level 4) visible in the section on upper right. Looking west. HSP74.19.19

Level 3

the room, along with large sherds, ash, and broken baked bricks and mudbricks. There was one area of large wall collapse within the debris.

Level 2 The eastern side of the room contained a platform with a mudbrick floor and inset tandur. The mudbricks were laid in pairs, alternating in direction, to the north of the tandur and were 40 x 20 x 5 cm in size. The south side of the platform was composed of rubble, held in place by pakhsa 21 cm thick and 42 cm high on the west and north. Bordering this platform to keep it intact was a layer of four courses of horizontally laid brick. The tandur was made of mudbrick coated on the outside with a layer of pakhsa. It was 80 cm in interior diameter at

The west platform and the tandur were not removed as the excavation proceeded beneath the mudbrick platforms and packed mud flooring in an L-shaped excavation. Beneath Level 2 was loose fill 25–40 cm thick containing much pottery, brick, ash, and bone over a thin layer of fine silt, 16 cm thick against the west platform and decreasing toward the center of the room.

Level 4 A baked brick flooring covered the entire exposed floor, 3.5 m west from the east wall and the full width of the room. Baked bricks were 27–28 x 27–28 x 5 cm in size and covered with up to 3 cm of a crumbly lime plaster. Alternate rows of full bricks were started with half bricks at the north wall. A single decorative brickwork band consisted of two half bricks laid in one direction framed by one half brick on each end and separated from the next group of half bricks by two end-on-end half

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Figure 9.4.55 Fragmentary middle baked brick Floor 5 sitting above better preserved lower Floor 6. Air channels with their capping bricks shown between the floors and underneath Floor 6. HSP74.19.20

Figure 9.4.56 Air channels below Floor 6 were capped with baked bricks. HSP74.22.6

bricks. This band was located 2 m from the east wall. This brickwork would not have been seen beneath the plaster flooring above. The central area of this decorative band was missing some bricks, replaced by soft fill, possibly an animal hole or brick robbing. After the decorative band, the solid square baked brick flooring resumed to the end of the excavation area to the west. Atop the baked brick flooring was an accumulation of occupational debris with much bone, some ash, plaster, and pottery, all of eleventh to thirteenth century types. There was evidence of rain-washed layers toward the east wall. The base of the mudbrick exterior walls of the room showed evidence of corrosion at this level and was repaired using wadded mud and irregularly sized baked bricks as filler, often covered with lime plaster. Bits of pottery, old plaster, and other debris was also used as filler. This layer likely dated to the twelfth to thirteenth centuries based upon the ceramics found.

Level 5 The excavation continued only on the north side of the room. A layer of hard-packed fill composed of clay, silt, pottery, bone, and large chunks of mudbrick, baked brick, and lime plaster underlay the baked brick floor of Level 4 and sat on a much damaged baked brick floor beneath, preserved only on the western and eastern edges of the excavated area. In the northeast corner on top of this damaged floor, one whole baked brick sat between two half bricks against the north wall. The whole brick was coated with 4–5 cm of plaster, possibly remnants of a repair to the Level 5 floor or an installation. At the western edge of the room, one complete and one partial row of bricks was preserved but slumped toward the center of the room. There was evidence of two other fragmentary rows of bricks toward the center of the room. Complete bricks were 35 x 35 x 5.5 cm in size. Above the point where this baked brick floor

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shahr-i gholghola met the walls, the bricks of the wall were corroded and the plaster mostly disintegrated. In some places, the bricks of this flooring were set against a course of vertical baked bricks lining the north wall that were probably placed to reinforce the Level 6 wall described below. In the center of the room, between the preserved portions of brick was a loose rubble fill. The extensive wear on the floor suggested lengthy use of this stratum, with pottery connecting it to the eleventh century. Beneath this floor was a hard-packed foundation layer of clay 5 cm thick, covering three rows of three to four courses of mudbricks, intermixed with a few baked bricks, running east-west with the gaps between them capped with baked bricks to provide air circulation beneath the flooring. A loose fill of clay crumbs was found within these channels. The channels were approximately 20 cm high and 30 cm each in width.

Objects Fragments of glass were found throughout the excavation, of blue-green, green, olive, dark green, and light blue. These included the convex base of a round olive green glass jug, the rim of a blue-green glass bowl from Level 1, and a fragment of a dark olive cylindrical glass body with a band of curved diagonal scoring on the outside from the ash fill of Level 2. Level 1 produced organic materials of unknown date including a hollow wooden tube 6 cm long and 0.8 cm in diameter, four pieces of white cotton cloth finely woven—the largest of which was 5 x 7 cm—a curved goat’s horn 20 cm in length, and a braid of black (goat?) hair 32 cm long and 0.2 cm in diameter. A fragment of a black steatite bowl with L-shaped high relief decoration came from Level 1. Level 6 also produced two small tubular iron fragments, possibly pins or nails.

Ceramics

Level 6 In contrast to the badly damaged middle flooring, the lowest baked brick floor of the room was almost pristine, possibly never used or used for a very brief period. Little or no plastering was noted. The channels beneath the Level 5 flooring sat directly on this floor. No occupational debris had accumulated on this floor. The pattern of bricks of the Level 6 floor was staggered by half bricks set against the wall. The vertical bricks inset against the north wall sat on this brick flooring, suggesting the vertical bricks were placed to protect the base of the mudbrick walls. The vertical bricks were adhered to the wall through the use of wadded mud with straw, both preserved, and were covered with two coats of lime plaster. Both the standing bricks and those of the Level 6 floor were 33 x 33 x 6 cm in size.

Level 7 Beneath the lower baked brick floor ran another set of mudbrick channels, running east-west, and constructed better than those beneath the middle floor. These channels, slightly smaller than the later channels, 23 cm high and 25 cm wide, were covered with baked brick and hardpacked fill and contained fine clay crumbs. These channels also ran beneath the vertical bricks and directly up to the east wall of the Palace. This lowest channel sat on hard pakhsa fill, probably the foundation for the building.

Few of the ceramics collected had been drawn, photographed, and described before the end of the project. We assume these are now lost. Descriptions below come from a general assessment of the collection done during the fieldwork and a small collection that was exported to the Smithsonian in 1980. Level 1 ceramics were from surface and collapse debris and the contents of the tandur. The first level contained a mix of unglazed Sasanian and Islamic fragments; however, the majority collected were Islamic glazed sherds. A jar with a short neck and beaded rim was found belonging to the Sasanian period. Large Islamic incised wares from the tenth to eleventh century were unearthed along with 30 bowl fragments decorated blue and black on white background from the fourteenth century. The second level had a similar assemblage to Level 1, with a preponderance of blue and black glazed bowl fragments. Level 3, the fill beneath the mudbrick floor, were mostly orange body sherds, mainly of large, thick storage jars, with a scattering of lighter colored wares and about a dozen glazed pieces, including more blue and black glazed wares. Level 4 ceramics consisted of glazed and molded wares from the eleventh through thirteenth centuries, but no additional blue and black glazed pieces, and orange body sherds, several ribbed. Level 5 produced mostly unglazed body sherds with two open form vessels of unglazed painted pottery from the tenth to thirteenth century. Seventy body sherds, mostly orange but several of lighter wares, were collected, about one-fourth were ribbed wares. Level 6 included a set of eleventh through thirteenth century glazed and molded wares and 100 body sherds, mostly orange or lighter in color, and softer wares.

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Figure 9.4.57 Final excavation shot from north, showing remnants of top mudbrick platform and tandur, with three successive baked brick floors beneath. HSP74.22.4

Analysis The excavations of this room allowed us a better idea of the chronology of the occupation of the Lower Palace. The lowest floor (6) was elaborately constructed likely with the original construction of the Palace, including subsurface ducts to circulate air in the building. For some unknown reason, this floor was never used or used only briefly and was replaced by a much rougher version of the room with a much inferior flooring (5) that bore extensive use and required repairs over time. At some unknown time prior to the Mongol invasion, a remodel replaced this floor with a better one (4) including some decorative brick elements. The building was likely abandoned for a period afterward, given the rain-washed sediments atop this flooring, then leveled and filled for construction of the final phase that consisted of two platforms surrounding an earthen flooring and a tandur on the eastern edge. This last occupation of the room likely occurred during the Timurid period, based on the ceramics found on the floor.

Lower Palace Analysis The Lower Palace showed significant similarities in plan and architectural design with the Ghaznavid Southern Palace at Lashkari Bazar. The ceramics from the one excavated area also matched an eleventh century date, likely contemporary and built with similar intent. The use of baked brick as a decorative element in the ornamented façades and extensive use of keyhole arches and niches, like in the south iwan of the North Courtyard, was highly reminiscent of similar rooms at Lashkari Bazar. The unusual construction of arches using very large and thin bricks was seen at both sites. Knowing that Mahmud of

Ghazni controlled both parts of Sistan at this time supports the idea that these were constructed as part of his building program in the western part of his empire. The Palace posed architectural problems for its designer, how to maximize its size while accommodating the curved arc of the Circular Wall. To compensate, we suggest the architect designed the Octagonal Courtyard to allow for the curve of the western wall of the Palace within the boundaries of the Circular Enclosure. We assumed the main entrance to the building was from the north, which was buried under the sand, but a secondary entrance on the southern part of eastern wall allowed quicker access to the Pavilion and Citadel. Highly decorated rooms were on either side of the central courtyards and the Domed Hall was located between the two, possibly the focal point of the Palace. Access between the two courtyards was achieved using an elaborate Arched Passageway, which probably also provided access to the Domed Hall. From our modest excavation, we suggest that the Palace was ornately and finely built but required almost immediate modification such that the lowest flooring doesn’t appear to ever have been used—at least it never had its floors plastered as one would expect. The floor above shows the most usage and deterioration over time though it was built on largely the same model, including the air flow channels beneath the floor. It too was rebuilt with a more elaborate remodel at a later time. It is likely that some time had passed, both from the usage of the Level 5 flooring and because the upper floor (Level 4) was constructed using different sized bricks. The Palace shows no evidence of it being destroyed after the end of use of

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Figure 9.4.58 Plan of the Mosque, street, and caravanserai near the North Gate of the Circular Enclosure. J. Knudstad 1972

the upper floor and the level of preservation of arches and walls support this. The rain wash above the Level 4 floor suggests a period of abandonment. At a later time, we presume the Timurid period, some parts of the Palace may have been reused for more pedestrian purposes, given the roughly built tandur found in our excavation, which also seemed to show abandonment rather than destruction at the end of its period of use, after which sand filled much of the Palace, preserving much of the architecture and decoration but providing a challenge for our project to document the building.

The Mosque, Bazaar, And Caravanserai Remains of a substantial mosque were noted by the Tate and DAFA missions when visiting Shahr-i Gholghola in 1904 and 1936. The 51 m square building, the center of which was covered by a permanent sand dune, was selected for excavation in our 1972 season. The columns and piers of this hypostyle mosque, with the mihrab and minbar on the west side and a single iwan at the center of the east side of the courtyard, were constructed of baked brick, and segments of the vaulting were found in the collapsed rubble. Originally there were entrances on either side of the mihrab

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Figure 9.4.59 Plan of the Mosque, highlighting excavated areas. Numbered columns mentioned in text are identified here. Note that the northeast corner was originally constructed to be square but was redesigned with the corner angled to adjust for the nearby Circular Wall. J. Knudstad 1972

from a courtyard to the west containing the rubble of what was probably a substantial minaret. These entries were later blocked, a new one constructed between shops along a commercial street south of the Mosque. Unique to this building was a slice taken from the northeastern corner of the Mosque to compensate for its proximity to the Circular Wall, an excellent example of the difficulties the architects encountered in their efforts to adapt square-grid town planning to the

circular architectural precinct of the Circular Enclosure. A startling major find from the Mosque was confirmation of an historical event. Hundreds of fragments of a baked brick inscription in foliated Kufic script were scattered in and around the Mosque, nearly all of which contained less than a single letter. The condition and deposition of this inscription was not the result of gradual dilapidation and collapse in situ. The inscription was deliberately smashed and widely scattered. That

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Figure 9.4.60 Kite photo of colonnade surrounding courtyard and mihrab (right) of mosque prior to excavation. Iwan against the east wall is upper left. HSP72.14.13

Figure 9.4.61 The Mosque prior to excavation from the east, with the remains of the qibla wall at the center and standing columns of the colonnade on either side. HSP72.12.35

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Figure 9.4.62 Excavated mihrab hall from the southeast. Minbar steps are to right. HSP72.24.27

this destruction, typical of the Mongols, may in fact be attributed to them was eloquently attested to by several coin hoards found in rotted cloth bags stuffed into what must then have been minor cracks in the masonry. All were struck within six years of the arrival of the Mongol invaders and none date after 1222, the accepted date of the Mongol invasion of Sistan. We have few archaeological indicators of the attack on Shahr-i Gholghola from Genghiz Khan’s armies in that year, but evidence from the Mosque provided ample confirmation of the capture of the city and some level of destruction by those armies. But, like elsewhere in the site, the main physical structure of the Mosque was not destroyed by the Mongols. There is no thick destruction level of ash that would indicate the building being burned, and our excavations at several points in the building showed columns still standing 4 m high and the qibla wall preserved as much as 8 m high.

Mihrab The mihrab was located on the west wall of the Mosque, inset 1.6 m from the qibla wall, and 1.7 m wide. On its northern half we found a curved facing made of crude baked brick, covered first by an ash plaster then by a lime plaster finish, sitting above a base of four courses of baked brick with smoothed outer faces. The curvature presumably continued through the southern side, no longer preserved. Behind the curved facing was a squared wall of horizontally laid baked bricks, each approximately 35 x 17 x 5 cm in size. The flooring of this area was a parquet paving of baked bricks 29–30 x 14–15 x 4–5 cm sitting over a thin layer (up to 20 cm) of loose fill with sherds, bricks, and dirt crumbs set upon two or three courses of horizontal baked brick as a foundation. Excavating 30 cm beneath the southwest corner of the mihrab flooring returned a hard brown clay base with stray sherds and bits of baked brick.

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Figure 9.4.63 The mihrab from the east. Note the later curved baked brick façade inside mihrab and plastered corners next to the meter stick. HSP72.24.28

The outside corners of the mihrab were plastered in lime cement over baked bricks bound by ash cement. The decoration was similar on each side, an irregular concavity nearest the mihrab with a rounded columnar formation 17 cm in diameter further away, much better preserved on the north side than the south. In the original design of the building, doorways led into the mihrab from both the north and south sides. The south doorway was 0.8 m in width, 1.6 m in depth, and originally stood at least 2.3 m in height. The sidewalls of the doorway were constructed of baked brick, of which 17 courses remained, upon which 10 courses of mudbrick sat, and which supported a vault of mudbricks 30 x 30 x 6 cm, no longer preserved. The facing of this doorway was rows of five vertically-stacked baked bricks interspersed with projecting flat-laid baked bricks. These bricks were no longer

in situ. Horizontal baked brick backed these decorative elements. The back wall of the mihrab extended further to the west, toward a courtyard to the west and possibly a large minaret, which was not explored. The parallel northern doorway was similar in size and was constructed in a similar fashion to the southern door. In later uses of the mihrab, these two doorways were sealed and replaced by an entrance to the building on the south wall. The door cavities contained soft fill mixed with layers of water-laid mud debris, suggesting the infilling occurred over time. Beneath the earliest mud flooring of the south entrance, of which only 2–3 cm remain, there was a thin layer of wood ash on red burned clay. This burn layer was not noted elsewhere in our Mosque excavation. The qibla wall was constructed of square mudbricks, varying between 30–35 cm on a side and 6–7 cm thick,

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the archaeology of southwest afghanistan which extended in both directions from the mihrab at a thickness of about 75 cm. A layer of baked brick buttressed the interior of the wall in the qibla hall up to 4 m in height. It was constructed of square baked bricks approximately the same size as the mudbricks behind and standing out from the mudbrick wall by 80 cm. Above the baked brick there was evidence of at least four windows or niches, subsequently filled in. The overall height of the qibla wall reached over 10 m. The courtyard before the qibla wall was paved with squared baked bricks of 36 x 36 x 4–5 cm, but they were missing in several areas.

Figure 9.4.64 Detail of the mihrab. HSP72.24.29

Figure 9.4.65 Southwest corner foundation of the mihrab. A parquet floor sits over a thin layer of fill with two or three layers of horizontal baked bricks beneath. Underneath the floor is 30 cm of hard packed brown clay fill. HSP72.48.5

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Figure 9.4.66 Collapsed brick inside the mihrab prior to excavation. HSP72.21.3

Figure 9.4.67 Plastered feature on the north side of entrance to the mihrab. HSP72.24.32

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Figure 9.4.68 Original south entrance to the mihrab with the base of its mudbrick vaulting preserved. HSP72.48.14

Figure 9.4.69 Wall construction of original south entrance to mihrab showing alternating vertical and horizontal baked brick facing with flat faced brick interspersed in vertical rows. HSP72.48.10

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Figure 9.4.70 Qibla wall of the Mosque preserved as high as 10 m. HSP72.31.11

Figure 9.4.71 A small buttress attached to the qibla wall south of mihrab showing repairs made at its base. HSP72.19.24

Figure 9.4.72 Baked brick paving in the mihrab hall. HSP72.24.35

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the archaeology of southwest afghanistan Minbar To the north of the mihrab were the remains of a baked brick minbar of which eight steps were partially preserved in its last reconstruction. The steps were 30 cm in width, widening to a platform of 1.75 m at the top of the stairs, which was 2 m above the baked brick foundation layer. The stairs ranged 25–45 cm in height. The feature extended out 2.5 m from the qibla wall. The foundation of the minbar was constructed of a course of vertically-stacked baked brick that sat upon the baked bricks of the floor of the mihrab hall. An earlier baked brick staircase sat beneath the later one and had six very steep steps leading up the minbar. While this staircase was visible in section, it was not excavated. The minbar was an addition to the Mosque as there was a decorated façade to the qibla wall behind it consisting of horizontal baked bricks with one layer of vertical front facing brick. A gap of as much as 30 cm in width and 1.6 m in height existed between the earlier minbar and the face of the qibla wall.

Colonnades and Courtyard Figure 9.4.73 Plan and elevation of the minbar showing two different periods of construction. J. Knudstad 1972

Extending outward from the mihrab were two rows of three large piers each, framing the view of the mihrab from the central courtyard. Unlike the columns, these

Figure 9.4.74 The minbar was constructed of mudbrick with baked brick steps and significantly remodeled at least once. It was on a vertical baked brick foundation and attached to the qibla wall, not constructed as part of it. HSP72.24.30

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Figure 9.4.75 Detail of the baked brick steps leading up the minbar. HSP72.24.34

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Figure 9.4.76 Vertical baked brick foundation of the minbar upon the horizontal baked brick floor of the mihrab hall. HSP72.48.7

Figure 9.4.77 The qibla wall behind the minbar, with vertical flat-faced brick decoration. HSP72.31.14

were generally squared with rounded walls only to the outside. Each was approximately 2.1–2.2 m in (east-west) width and 3 m in (north-south) length. The columns were separated by walkways 2.1–2.3 m in width. The curved exterior of the otherwise rectangular piers extended an extra 7–8 cm beyond the edge of the pier and had a circumference of approximately 1.4 m each. The piers were constructed of baked brick and held up a central arch leading to the mihrab and additional arches between the pillars. One of these arches was found to have collapsed intact between two pillars and was resting on 1 m of sand and debris, suggesting that it collapsed long after the abandonment of the Mosque. The northern and southern halves of the west side of the Mosque each had nine columns in three rows facing the center courtyard. The other three sides of the Mosque appeared to have had two rows of columns, though not all

of the columns were found. Based upon the columns studied in the northwest, we posit that each column was round and approximately 1.4 m in width and was separated from its neighbors by a space of 2.6–2.9 m in all directions. The bases of the columns were of squared baked brick, sometimes with round baked brick layers above with the shaft largely composed of rounded mudbricks. Baked bricks of the foundations were 32 x 32 x 5–6 cm. Columns 1–6 preserved their baked brick bases and some of the baked brick above. Column 7 was completely rebuilt in broken baked brick to 11 courses on a square base supporting a mudbrick shaft. The other columns cleared in this corner were destroyed below the level of the mudbrick. Column 6, for example, sat on six courses of rounded baked brick with a single course of square baked brick foundation beneath. These rounded courses were constructed of 12 radial bricks, 33–34 cm in length, with

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Figure 9.4.78 One pier in the two rows of three large rectangular piers leading east from qibla wall. The arch to the east of this pier had collapsed almost intact and long after the floor had been covered with clay, mudbrick crumbs, broken baked bricks, and other debris. HSP72.19.17

Figure 9.4.80 Piers in qibla hall of the Mosque had a foundation of vertical baked brick. HSP72.19.21

Figure 9.4.79 Columns were constructed with their upper parts round and generally of mudbrick and their lower parts square and of baked brick. The column in the foreground has its lower circular rings of baked brick. HSP72.12.37

Figure 9.4.81 Closeup of column 8 at northwest part of colonnade. Columns were constructed of pie-shaped sections of brick with rubble occupying the center. HSP72.31.2

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Figure 9.4.82 West face of column 13 showing alternating layers of vertical and horizontal mudbricks. HSP72.35.7

Figure 9.4.83 Southern entry into Mosque, from the bazaar street with mudbrick superstructure above a baked brick foundation. Note vertical baked brick sill. HSP72.30.28

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shahr-i gholghola widths of 32–35 cm at the exterior and 12 cm toward the center. Baked brick rubble formed the center of these columns. Above the baked brick were six courses of mudbricks, a total of 46 cm in height, then broken by a layer of square baked brick. Pairs of baked bricks were inlaid vertically against the top two courses of mudbrick beneath this layer to provide support for the corners of the baked bricks above. An additional set of 14 courses of mudbrick rose an additional 94 cm above the baked brick layer and formed the basis of a mudbrick arch or vault that extended in all four directions from the column. The exact nature of the superstructure was not able to be determined based on the limited preservation of the remains. Stratigraphy of this area was determined through an excavation between columns 6 and 9 on the northwest. A bottom compacted layer (possibly a flooring) sat 8 cm above the foundation. The subsequent 40 cm consisted of dense fill of broken mudbrick or clay lumps, upon which was 30 cm of sandy dust with clay, mud, and baked bricks incorporated. A second flooring sat on this fill. Above the floor was a layer of 15–20 cm of wind-blown sand or raincaused silt. Another 60 cm of mudbrick dust sat above this, followed by a stratum of baked brick collapse mixed with mudbrick crumbs and sand immediately before the modern surface, a height of 1.8–2 m.

The South Side and Southwest Corner Figure 9.4.84 Base of an arch that spanned the north side of southern gateway into Mosque. HSP72.48.19

The southwest corner of the Mosque contained a colonnade parallel to the one on the northwest. The immediate southwest corner column and the one to its east (both

Figure 9.4.85 Cluster of rooms in the southwest corner of the Mosque. Meter stick indicates the find spot of the large coin hoard. HSP72.31.7

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Figure 9.4.86 Interior southwest corner of Mosque. HSP72.31.6

Figure 9.4.87 Eastern wall of the Mosque under excavation. HSP72.24.12

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shahr-i gholghola unnumbered) had fallen to the west and southwest respectively. Unlike the remaining columns, columns 13 and 16, at the southwest corner of the courtyard, were squared off on their east sides facing the central courtyard rather than round. A sill of vertically-stacked baked bricks, sitting on a single course foundation of horizontal baked bricks, bordered the central courtyard between the piers and columns on the south and west sides. The south colonnade likely consisted of two rows of six columns of 1.3–1.6 m in diameter. Most were not cleared. The four central columns on this side immediately adjacent to the courtyard had fallen inward toward the courtyard. A permanent dune covered the easternmost columns. A section 70 cm in width was excavated by column 20 to a depth of 3.35 m. The bottom 1 m consisted of orange and tan clay replaced by a narrow flooring of small smooth pebbles on sand. Above this, the accumulation was largely sand with a mixture of clay and sherds. About 1.5 m above the base was a thin layer (2 cm) of dark gray ash, approximately 80 cm below the surface. Laminated sand and dust and mixed sand and clay fills, including pieces of baked brick and sherds, comprised the layers closest to the modern surface. The central courtyard of the Mosque was covered with a baked brick paving, brick size not measured. Between the columns surrounding the courtyard was a sill consisting of vertically stacked baked bricks approximately 35 cm square, though we only examined it between columns 13 and 16. Along the south wall, approximately 15 m from the southwest corner, was a gateway into the Mosque, likely built after the closure of the two entrances into the mihrab. The gateway was 1.2 m in width and approximately 5 m in length, ending at the south colonnade of the Mosque. The walls of this entryway consisted of courses of horizontal baked brick decorated with sections of vertically laid brick and several vertical bricks flat faced between the strings of vertical bricks, presumably containing inscriptions on them, which were not found. Two separate courses of these decorative elements were noted. Mudbrick sat atop the baked brick foundations of this wall, which stood as much as 1.7 m in height. Toward the southern end were the remains of an arch of mudbrick. The entryway cut through a long string of rooms approximately 3 m in width that extended the full length of the south wall, but was only excavated in the southwest corner of the building and in two narrow stratigraphic trenches at the southeast end, each approximately 0.5 m in width. In the southwest corner, there was a series of four square rooms between 1 m and 1.6 m in size from

the earlier occupation of the Mosque. Inside the northeast wall of the northwesternmost room in the southwest corner was buried a large coin hoard containing 406 copper-coated lead coins inside a cloth bag and dating to the last six years prior to the Mongol invasion of 1222. The northeast of these four rooms was later replaced by a block of mudbrick sitting atop a square foundation of baked brick, 1.5 m on a side. The exploratory trench of the eastern side of this corner disclosed two parallel baked brick walls bounding the south side of the Mosque, each 1.1 m in width. The room between them was paved in baked brick. The southeast corner of the Mosque was beneath a sand dune and, therefore, not explored.

The East Wall and Iwan The east wall of the Mosque was constructed of pakhsa with layers of mudbrick at the top. It was broken by an entrance 1.5 m high and 1.5 m wide in its center, which led to an iwan 6 m in width and 8 m in depth. The walls framing the iwan were made of 24 courses of baked brick with a mudbrick superstructure. North of the iwan, a secondary pier was attached to the east wall, constructed of mixed mudbrick and baked brick and extending toward the west, 1.5 m in width and 2.5 m in length. At its end was a round column 1.6 m in diameter, sitting on a squared baked brick foundation of six courses. The column was rebuilt in mudbrick above five courses of baked brick at its base. The column sat on a foundation of dense gray packed mud. Above the floor of the iwan was a mixed layer of mud crumbs and lumps mixed with dust for 1 m, with mudbrick collapse above it. The northeast corner formed a 95-degree angle toward the northwest, presumably compensating for the proximity of the Circular Wall to that corner of the square Mosque. The original east wall extended another 2 m past the juncture, where it was buried into the pakhsa foundation of the Circular Wall.

The Street and Caravanserai Along the south wall of the Mosque ran an east-west street, approximately 4.5 m in width. We suggest this was likely a bazaar associated with the nearby north gate of the Circular Enclosure as several coin hoards were found inserted into chinks along the outside of the Mosque wall along this street. Parallel to the street and 0.5 m from the Mosque’s south edge, a canal was dug beneath street level. The canal was 60 cm in width and 80 cm high. It was framed in baked brick on its sides, broken bricks on its floor, with a baked brick arch, and surrounded by a hard clay fill. Inside, the bottom and sides were coated

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Figure 9.4.88 Exterior of east wall of Mosque with entrance into east iwan. HSP72.30.37

Figure 9.4.89 North pier of the iwan, constructed of mudbrick on a baked brick base. HS72.31.24

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Figure 9.4.90 Keyhole arch window above the interior entrance of the iwan. HSP72.30.9

Figure 9.4.91 Angled northeast corner of Mosque. HSP72.35.13

with a gray ashy plaster. Preserved to the north of the canal and above it was a 55 cm thick strata of floorings, but disturbed directly above the canal. Approximately 70 cm of fills and stratified layers of dust sat above the floorings, topped by another thin compacted layer 12 cm or less in thickness. Another 60 cm of mud, dust, and wind- and water-laid lenses intermixed with sherds sat above to the modern surface. We suggest this large canal was designed to bring water into the Circular Enclosure from the moat outside the wall, though we could not trace it to its source. On the north side of the street west of the Mosque was a rectangular building approximately 32 m in length and 7 m in width, with walls 80–90 cm in width and buttresses of 1.6–1.7 m on both its east and west sides. The structure was built of mudbrick on baked brick foundations, though its construction was much rougher than that of the Mosque. A large mound filled with numerous baked bricks was at the east end, possibly the ruins of a minaret. It was not excavated and its function and age was unknown. Other fragmentary mudbrick walls were found in this area that may represent a different occupation era. They were not explored. Another large building sat on the south side of the street across from the Mosque, an irregular structure approximately 45 x 30 m with a courtyard surrounded by a single row of columns on at least the north and east sides, by plan likely a caravanserai. This structure was bordered on the east by another structure of equal or larger size. Dimensions of this building, southeast of the Mosque, could not be determined as much of it rested beneath a large dune. This building was rectangular, at least 30 m on each side, with one or more rows of rooms surrounding a large courtyard. The south wall of this building was not squared but widened toward the east. A single room at the southwest corner of this building was cleared, with dimensions of 3 x 3.5 m and covered with a flat dome. It had been previously excavated at some unknown time, possibly by the DAFA mission. Walls of this building were of pakhsa on a baked brick foundation. Approximately 10 m west of the caravanserai, also on the south side of the street, were the remains of a circular structure approximately 11 m in diameter with a border of reused baked brick 1.1 m in width surrounding an area paved with small pebbles and sherds. The function of this structure was unknown. Five coins were found in this vicinity, all dating to the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, suggesting its use at the end of the occupation of the site. The track of the bazaar street could be followed for another 8 m west of the circular structure before it disappeared into a sand dune. 623

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Figure 9.4.92 Section sketch of street south of the Mosque (left) and paralleling its course. The large subterranean canal sits beneath the street which is bordered on the south by the outer wall of the caravanserai. Looking east. J Knudstad 1972

Figure 9.4.93 South side of street along southern edge of Mosque with the large canal underlying it. Wall of caravanserai at the top and bricks of a later street flooring visible in balk on either side. HSP73.36.11

Figure 9.4.94 Baked brick and plaster construction of the arch of the canal beneath street. HSP73.36.12

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Figure 9.4.95 Top of north wall of the caravanserai at left and collapsed pier in center. Unexcavated part of street at far left. Looking east. HSP72.48.21

Figure 9.4.96 Collected fragments of the Mosque inscription. HSP72.34.21

Figure 9.4.97 Excavating the large coin hoard outside the southwest corner of the Mosque. HSP72.J.20

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Figure 9.4.98a,b Two fragments of the Mosque inscription. HSP72.32.15, HSP71.42.4

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Figure 9.4.99a,b Two ornamented bricks found in or near Mosque. HSP72.34.13, 19

Ceramics

Coins

Ceramics were collected in the excavation of the colonnade at the southwest corner of the structure on a late floor between the piers, beginning at a depth of 10 cm below the modern surface, probably representing a late usage of the structure. They were not processed in the field and are presumed lost, so we have only a general description of them. Depths of individual sherds were not recorded nor were they linked to stratigraphic changes. Most were plain red or buff wares, jars and bowls, with flat bottoms. Water jugs were common, particularly handles from these vessels. There were no heavy red or coarse wares but mostly thinner, finer wares. Most were body sherds of red or buff ware, several had turquoise glazing, and there were 10 plain ribbed body sherds. Decoration included combed horizontal bands, stamping of small crossed bosses in two rows, an applied nipple with a rosette pattern, and two incised horizontal bands bracketing a band of incised lozenges. One molded sherd had vertical ribbing above horizontal bands and below a row of dots. One rim of a glazed open plate had black lines over turquoise glaze and was likely from the fourteenth to fifteenth centuries. Other objects found included eight fragments of glass, two fragments of blackblue steatite vessels, and a glass bracelet fragment.

Several coin hoards found in rotted cloth bags had been stuffed into what must then have been minor cracks in the masonry along the south side of the Mosque, both inside and along the external street. These hoards ranged from 30 to more than 400 coins and were made of copper-plated lead. The majority of those that could be identified were struck at a local mint. All bear the names of two of the last pre-Mongol Saffarid rulers of Sistan. The largest hoard, buried in the wall of the southwest portion of the qibla, contained 406 coins, all copper-plated lead and undated, most identified as being from the reign of Taj Harb bin Muhammed ud-Din, 1167–1217. One lead coin (#179) which dated specifically to the reign of Taj Nasr bin Bahramshah, 1221–1222, provides a terminus ante quem for the hoard. These inscribed coins ranged in weight from 2.1 grams to 2.8 grams and were each valued at one dirhem. Seven other copper-covered lead coins found on the surface in our 1971 survey were undated, but were also from the mint of Taj Harb bin Muhammed ud-Din. An identical coin was discovered on the excavated floor of the Mosque.

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Figure 9.4.100 Sketch plan of Pavilion. J. Knudstad 1972

Figure 9.4.101 Remains of the pillars of Pavilion sitting on lower terrace at edge of moat surrounding the Citadel, from the east. The Circular Wall in the background. HSP71.37.34

The Mosque Inscription We suggest the baked brick facing of the qibla wall to either side of the mihrab was once covered by carved, vertical flatfaced baked bricks, supported at intervals by projecting flat-laid baked bricks. The bricks comprised presumably a Quranic inscription in foliated Kufic similar to inscriptions of the twelfth century from the Bust area. We collected

over 100 pieces of this inscription, though the fragments individually were too small to reconstruct the contents of the inscription. They were scattered throughout the interior and exterior of the Mosque. Their consistent small size and wide scatter suggests they were deliberately removed from the walls of the Mosque, smashed, and dispersed. For the same reason, we cannot speak with certainty as to the

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the archaeology of southwest afghanistan size of the original bricks. Numerous fragments of decorative bricks that presumably graced the walls of the Mosque were found in the same area.

Other Structures in the Circular Enclosure Two other structures within the Circular Enclosure were examined by the project and are worthy of note, the Pavilion on the lower terrace and the Mint near the South Gate on the higher terrace. In addition to the visible monuments, three trenches were cut through parts of the terraces in 1973. These helped us define the substructure of the moat, enclosure, and Circular Wall. The eastern moat trench also produced some significant domestic architecture, described here. This trench also confirmed that the Circular Wall had been built and the enclosure occupied no later than Saffarid times and reused in Ghaznavid times.

The Pavilion

Figure 9.4.102 Sketch plan of the Mint. J Knudstad 1971

On the lower of the two terraces surrounding the Citadel, on the edge of the moat, was a rectangular pavilion with nine cruciform walls that likely held up a roof for shade. A

Figure 9.4.103 Mint from the east showing sand-covered large hall in foreground and transverse halls behind. Entrance to far right. Lower Palace in distance left. Citadel to right. HSP74.3.27

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Figure 9.4.104 Mint from north with entrance at left and eroded western part of building at right. HSP72.23.25

Figure 9.4.105 Mint from the west showing entrances to the three hallways. Circular Wall is in the background. HSP74.3.31

walkway to the west was bordered with a course of baked bricks on each side. All that remained visible from this structure were stumps of brick piers at the edge of the moat. The Pavilion was likely open, allowing occupants of the Palace to sit shaded from the sun while catching the breezes. Given its proximity to the Lower Palace, we presumed this to be a Ghaznavid construction. Several other structures lay between the Citadel and the North Gate of the Circular Enclosure. These were not studied in depth.

The Mint Highly visible at the south end of the enclosure to the northwest of the South Gate was a building we labeled the Mint. This was photographed by both Tate and DAFA during their visits to Shahr-i Gholghola and was also surveyed by our project. The building stood two stories high, as high as 6 m on the eastern side, and was 26 m northwest-southeast and at least 26 m northeast-southwest, but the northwestern edge of the building could not be

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Figure 9.4.108 Pointed vault doorway leading from east hallway to one of the east rooms. HSP72.49.32

Figure 9.4.106 Decorated façade of east wall of east hallway with inset keyhole arch niches. The base wall to which the façade is attached is visible in upper left. HSP72.49.33

Figure 9.4.109 Detail of blocked doorway on east side of one of the east rooms. HSP71.37.14 Figure 9.4.107 Detail of façade of the west wall of central hallway. HSP71.37.17

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Figure 9.4.110 Plan of the Circular Enclosure showing the location of the three trenches from 1972 and 1973. J. Knudstad and R. Hamilton 1972-1973

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the archaeology of southwest afghanistan determined because of heavy sanding in the area. The corners were aligned to cardinal points. The building was constructed of mudbricks 33–35 x 33–35 x 3–5 cm in size. Walls were 1.35–1.6 m in width. The entrance to the building was on the northeast side and about 2 m in width. It was decorated with inset keyhole arches on either side. A large rectangular hall 14 x 8.5 m in size and two stories high anchored the southeast side of the building. Its west façade was heavily decorated but most was buried under sand. Two rooms led to the east and west sides from this hall, but heavy sanding did not allow us to measure them. Three smaller halls running northeast-southwest and two stories high were west of the large hall. These halls were 3 m and 3.55 m in width on the side two halls respectively and 4.25 m in width for the central one. Each was 10.1 m in length with entrances on both the east and west. The two

side halls each led into two rooms on either side, the ones on the east 3.5 x 4.6 m in size, the ones on the west 2.3 x 4.6 m. Breaks in the walls of the long hall corresponded to the entrances to the side rooms, though the breaks were not uniform in size. The building continued to the northwest but the plan was not possible to determine as no more than 1.5 m of any of the extension walls was visible. The decorative façades were added separately to the walls and stood out from them. The façades were mostly triple inset keyhole arches, usually with a large central arch framed by two smaller ones. Arches on the lower level had wider shoulders on which the arches were framed. The decorative elements suggest a Timurid period construction, but the brick sizes were more consistent with the tenth through thirteenth centuries. We made no formal ceramic collection here due to the heavy sanding.

Figure 9.4.111 The Moat Trench from the south. HSP73.49.13

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Figure 9.4.112 The Moat Trench was filled with sand and mud with some ceramics and baked bricks above hard blue-gray clay layer. HSP73.49.14

The Enclosure Excavations Three narrow trenches were opened on the south and east sides of the Circular Enclosure in 1972 and 1973 to better understand the usage of the site below the Citadel. Additional small probes along the edge of the Citadel filled out the stratigraphic profile.

Moat Trench In 1972, a 1.8 m wide trench was dug from the terrace at the eastern side of the base of the Citadel south-southeast across the inner moat and on to the first terrace surrounding the Citadel. This trench was approximately 20 m in length, thinning to 1 m in width for its southernmost 3 m in length. After a gap of 10.5 m, another section of trench, 8.8 m in length and 1 m in width covering the outer edge of the moat, was dug. The walls of the Citadel Palace stood approximately 5 m above the top of the Citadel. The Citadel sloped downward for about 3 m until dropping precipitously to a lower terrace composed of hard-packed blue-gray clay at its base and a layer of pinkish clay in the stratum above, suggesting a stratified banding of an artificial construction. Clay from the moat was probably excavated for the platform. The top of the moat sat approximately 15.5 m below the Citadel top. The moat was composed of a sand/mud fill above the tightly packed blue-gray layer of clay, though it was not excavated to its bottom at all points. The same fill material was found on the outer edge of the moat, a result of

Figure 9.4.113 The Southwest Trenches from the Citadel. HSP72.35.23

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Figure 9.4.114 Plan of Eastern Trench across the higher of two terraces inside Circular Enclosure. Two buildings were identified at top and center. The base of the Circular Wall was explored at lower right. J Knudstad 1973

periodic cleanings. Where the excavation reached the bottom of the moat, it was 1.8–2.4 m in depth below the modern ground surface, though it may have been deeper elsewhere. The moat sediments contained both baked brick fragments and a small number of sherds. The moat stretched for 22 m in width, though it was not excavated for its entire width. At the southern end of the moat trench was a hard basal layer. The elevation of the inner moat was lower than the moats outside the two outer walls suggesting that water flowed from the outer moats to the inner one. A large plastered brick-lined drain was tracked in various spots from the southwestern side of the Circular Enclosure through the Circular Wall. This drain drew water to the inner moat from the moats outside the enclosure. It is unclear how water from the inner moat flowed back outside.

The Eastern Trench Furthest from the Citadel and due east of it, a trench of 2 x 50 m was excavated in 1973 proceeding east toward the base of the Circular Wall. The selection of the location was based primarily on finding a place where a trench could be excavated across the upper terrace without having to pass through any of the sand dunes that filled much of the enclosure. The location was also an area where there was a heavy surface sherd cover, which offered hope of structures beneath the surface. There were also occasional architectural remains visible on the surface that we hoped would help clarify whether this was a public or residential area. At the western edge of this trench, we uncovered a wall stretching northwest-southeast made of pakhsa on a mudbrick foundation of at least four courses, remains of which were as much as 1.6 m in height. The wall exposed was at least 2.5 m thick. This wall was intersected on the east

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Figure 9.4.115 Eastern Trench at conclusion of excavation, from the east. HSP73.11.23

Figure 9.4.116 Drain bordering westernmost wall of Eastern Trench. HSP73.11.05

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Figure 9.4.117 Baked brick basin feature in Eastern Trench. HSP73.11.07

Figure 9.4.118 Bowl inset into floor of house in Eastern Trench. HSP73.11.09

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Figure 9.4.119 Doorway to eastern room in Eastern Trench. HSP73.11.10

side by a drain 25 cm in width, 30 cm in height set against the pakhsa, made of crude square baked bricks, 28–30 x 28–30 x 5 cm, and flowing to the north. In a separate pit excavated further north, we discovered a thick wall that pointed toward and likely intersected the wall at the west edge of the trench. This wall was approximately 2 m thick, made of pakhsa on a base of at least two courses of baked brick and standing 0.75 m in height. A test pit southwest of the west end of the long trench showed the corner of another room, but this was not explored in detail. To the east of this wall were two perpendicular walls of a room that extended beyond the trench to the northwest. Walls approximately 50 cm in width were composed of pakhsa sitting above one to three courses of mudbrick 32–33 x 32–33 x 5–6 cm in size. The floor was made of pakhsa. Outside the room to the southeast was a depression in the pakhsa of about 0.5 m in depth. A more substantial building sat east of the first one. Walls of this building were 1.1 m in width and constructed of pakhsa above two courses of mudbrick on the south side and six courses of mudbrick on the north side. A doorway 1.4 m in width was on the western edge to

enter the building and framed with four courses of baked brick at the door jambs. At the east side of the entryway was a small niche in each corner with a course of baked brick at the base of the niche on the north side. The south side had been eroded away. The flooring consisted of a single course of mudbrick on a pakhsa base. Both baked bricks and mudbricks in this building were 33–35 x 33–35 x 5–8 cm in size. Just inside the center of the doorway was a shallow drain set into the pakhsa floor 40 cm in depth and only exposed on its north side. Both the sides and top of the drain were constructed of baked bricks. To the north of this drain and abutting a wall leading into the building from the entry was a baked brick basin 65 cm wide and 60 cm long on the east side and 72 cm long on the west. The basin was set into pakhsa flooring. This northeast-southwest wall, 1.1 m in width, was made of pakhsa atop seven to 11 courses of mudbrick. The wall had an 80 cm wide gap in its length extending 55 cm in depth. The remains of this wall stood as much as 1.2 m in height. Two additional rooms were discovered further to the east. Their orientation matched the rooms just west of them so they were likely part of the same structure. A wall

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the archaeology of southwest afghanistan of at least 1.1 m in width stretched westward into the balk and stood as much as 16 courses of mudbrick high (80 cm). Flooring here consisted of pakhsa atop broken baked brick and fill material. It bordered the entryway to a room to the north that had piers 62 x 63–70 cm forming the entrance. The wall stretching to the northwest from this entry was at least 2 m in length and 0.9 m in width before disappearing into the balk. Another wall perpendicular to this one stretched across the trench toward the southeast for a length of 3 m at a width of 1.35 m. This wall was composed of mudbrick four bricks wide and up to seven courses tall. A door jamb 90 cm wide stood 20 cm out from the center of this wall, 90 cm from the north balk, and was composed of three courses of baked brick. At the east end of this trench, a section was cut through the inner part of the Circular Wall. This wall was founded on the hard blue-gray clay foundation that was noted elsewhere, excavated only to 10 cm in depth. Above this, the wall consisted of hard-packed pakhsa in two sections. The interior section consisted of brown pakhsa 80 cm in width and 1.25 m in preserved height above the clay. Between the gray clay and brown pakhsa was a layer of 20 cm of flooring including heavy ash accumulation. The exterior part of the Circular Wall featured the same construction of pakhsa, a hard blue-gray clay beneath a layer of hard brown clay. It stood 1.3 m in preserved height above the remains of the brown pakhsa part of the wall. Between the two was a fill which consisted of clay and clay lumps. The preserved parts of the Circular Wall stood 1 m above ground level and 2.6 m above the clay layer. The modest elevation of the Circular Wall at this point was part of the incomplete section of the Circular Wall mentioned in section 9.2 above (see Figure 9.2.14).

Eastern Trench Objects and Ceramics Two stone beads were found, one decorated and painted in a red ochre. A fragment of a small black stone vessel was also recovered, decorated on the exterior. One coin, of Taj Harb bin Muhammed ud-Din (1167–1217), was found in the trench. A few small glass fragments were discovered as well, though not kept nor documented. At the eastern edge of the trench by the Circular Wall,

there were some sherds that may have eroded out of the wall. These included some pre-Islamic types, including red ware goblet bases, fine red wares, and stamped hard red body sherds. Many were wind-eroded from time on the surface. These were not recorded or photographed. Islamic wares discovered here included olive green and tricolor sgraffito glazed ware, molded pieces, and numerous typical bowls with a ring foot, vertical rim, and grooved underside, but it is unclear if they were from the original wall construction or reconstructions of it. Surface sherds along the trench were mostly unglazed and deglazed buff, brown, and gray wares, with a light scattering of typical black on turquoise glazed bowls with t-shaped rims dating to the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. The unglazed wares were generally lightly ribbed. Beginning about 20 cm beneath the surface, the number of ceramics increased: finer bodied, small bowls with dark green or mustard glaze with black incisions beneath from the eleventh century were found. Small glazed jars, bowls, and lamps were also uncovered. Most typical bowl types were of Eastern Islamic polychrome slip-painted wares with a vertical rim on a ring foot from the tenth to eleventh century. (LZB) Unglazed wares were collected, a ratio of 30:1 to glazed ones. Pieces generally belonged to smaller vessels rather than storage jars, most were buff wares, though some red. These ranged from disk to pedestal bases. Handles were rounded and often had one, two, or three ridges on the outside. Ridged wares were uncovered among the larger wares, possibly from earlier periods. Louvered ridged wares were also prevalent among jar decorations. One sherd discovered at the bottom of the trench was a small fragment of white imported Chinese porcelain, dating to the ninth century. Two other Chinese sherds, one of fifteenth century white ware and one of eleventh to twelfth century celadon, were also collected from the trench.

Southwest Terrace Trench This trench was cut through the two levels of terraces in 1972 to note their composition. Unfortunately, notes from this excavation cannot be found.

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9.5 The Outer Compound The Outer Compound of Shahr-i Gholghola was visited regularly during the four seasons we spent time at the site and was formally surveyed by architects James Knudstad and Nicholas Vester over a span of 10 days in October 1973. The architects were not accompanied by archaeologists nor the project photographer on the project, so the knowledge we have about this area is restricted to what we can discern from the architectural plans. There was never a systematic sherd collection made in this area that might help us date the usage of the enclosure or any of the buildings in it. The Outer Compound was entered through four gates, one on each side. These gates are described with the section of this chapter on the Outer Wall system (9.2). This outer precinct appears never to have been densely settled, and the foundations of structures belonging primarily to Ghaznavid and Ghorid times were robbed of their baked brick for the foundations of a few Timurid farmhouses constructed in this abandoned area. There were likely earlier structures in this area as well, which might have not have been enclosed in pre-Islamic times. Because of the

needs of the last occupation, earlier buildings were likely leveled for increased agricultural land or served as foundations for the cupola graves from the Timurid period, thus very little remains to convey the history of the Outer Compound before the fifteenth century.

The Northern Quadrant The densest settlement inside was close to the North Gate. A depression led from that gate toward the North Gate of the Circular Enclosure, possibly a road or a canal, but the former seems likely given its course. Four large buildings (G, H, I, AB) and numerous smaller ones (in areas AA and I) bordered this road, as did numerous mounds of mud melt that likely represented earlier structures (F, Y), many of which have square cupola tombs on them. Two of these buildings were designed in the form of a standard Timurid house (G, AB) as known from numerous other sites in Sar-o-Tar. Against the north wall east of the North Gate were parts of numerous structures (Z). Just east of the canal cutting

Figure 9.5.1 View from outer North Gate toward Citadel, with north-south canal visible at left, low mud melt mound on right between dunes, House G to right, and another house (S?) at far left. HSP73.33.29

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Figure 9.5.2a,b Northern and southern map of the Outer Enclosure, with features discussed in this section labeled. J. Knudstad 1973

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Figure 9.5.4 Sketch plan of House G (House 41). J. Knudstad 1973 Figure 9.5.3 Map of north quadrant of Outer Compound, with identified features labeled. J. Knudstad 1973

through the Outer Wall was a two-chambered tower that overlapped the north wall and, therefore, postdates it, presumably a defensive structure for the canal. To the east of this were several walls attached to the North Wall, but only in fragmentary shape. East of the fragmentary walls were two baked brick framed plastered basins. Still further east was another chambered defensive tower, 4.6 x 7 m (or more) in size. Its orientation did not align with the north wall and presumably postdates it. To the east of these are two pottery kilns, one 1.7 x 1.8 m, the other 1.4 x 0.8 m in size. These two are not aligned with each other, one rests against the north wall. Next to the east were several walls of a structure that could not be defined, the best-preserved part being a trapezoidal area approximately 6 x 8 m with walls leading west and north from it. There was an eroded construction atop the north wall extending north in this area about 10 m in width but not definable. Still further east was a rectangular building 8 x 14 m attached on its north side to the north wall and containing two rooms on the northern half and one on the southern half. A wall extended 6 m south from the eastern wall of this building.

Figure 9.5.5 One of two kilns (C) built into north Outer Wall near northwest corner. HSP73.7.25

From the buildings constructed atop it or oriented at different angles, it was clear to us that the North Wall was fragmentary and not used for defensive purposes during the final period of use of the Outer Compound. Structures AA, immediately inside the North Gate, was a cluster of mostly industrial buildings. Furthest north was a thin rectangular pakhsa ruin 3.5 x 12 m in dimension. To the southwest were the mud melt remains

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shahr-i gholghola of another structure approximately 12 x 12 m with graves atop. At its southwest corner were two pottery kilns, and two additional pottery kilns were located further southwest, just to the southeast of a cupola tomb, 4.5 x 6 m, with several of the corner piers still visible. Just south were Structures I, a dense set of buildings. The largest structure on the west, approximately 15 x 39 m, was badly eroded. Three large rectangular sections ran east-west, the northern two 13 x 15 m and 9 x 15 m respectively, had small chambers 3 x 5 m and 4 x 4 m respectively on the eastern side. The southern rectangular section was irregular in shape, 15 x 12–17 m, with a chamber on the west and on the south. At its southeast corner was a pottery kiln 1 x 2 m in size. To the east was a square building

Figure 9.5.6 Sketch plan of House S (House 81). J. Knudstad 1973

approximately 9.5 m square broken into four rooms. Two wider rooms were on the east, narrower ones on the west. To the south of the square building was another one, 11 x 5 m in overall size, with two rooms north and south. This building had a baked brick foundation and sat atop the mud melt of an earlier building that extended further south. A tandur 1 m in diameter and a pottery kiln 2 m in diameter were to the southeast of this building. We assumed these buildings had an industrial function. Across the street from Structures I, House G (originally called House 41 by the surveyors because of its direction from the Citadel) was a well-preserved house, likely from the Timurid period, 19 x 25 m in dimensions. There was a vaulted iwan on the north wall, 5.5 x 6 m, facing a central courtyard, 10 x 10.5 m, and a row of chambers to the west. The eastern edge of the exterior wall was thickened against the iwan. A small chamber to the west was entered off the iwan. There was a set of rooms on the south of the courtyard and a second set behind them. Entry to the house was on the southeast. Another entry led north from the iwan, though it may just have been used for air circulation. House AB was located east of the southbound street. It was a 17 x 22 m Timurid house with a 6 x 8 m iwan against the north wall leading into a courtyard to the south. A large room 5 x 6 m was on the northwest, two smaller rooms against the west wall further south. There were remains of a room against the south wall as well. Across the street was Structure H, not a rectangular structure because of a lengthened and slightly angled west wall. It had four parallel rectangular rooms on the north side and a courtyard to the south. The largest room was the second from the west, with a small room

Figure 9.5.7 Sketch plan of House U (House 83). J. Knudstad 1973

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the archaeology of southwest afghanistan in its southwest corner. The room to its east might have been an iwan. The easternmost room had a small chamber to its north. The courtyard was not rectangular, wider on the west side, and was bordered on the south by two additional rooms. Entrance to the building seems to have been in a chamber added to the southeast corner, 5 x 10 m in size, with the entrance to the south. Its non-standard plan suggested a function other than a Timurid house. The north-south street disappeared south of Structure H. In most cases, the formless mounds by the gate and those nearby were covered with later (presumably Timurid) burials, which also stretched broadly to the west (F) and east (Y) of the street. Several more elaborate square mausoleums with cupolas could be found on these mounds (K). As many as 13 tombs on top of mud melt were identified in area Y to the east. We can assume one function of the northern part of the Outer Enclosure was its use as a cemetery in Timurid times and that the graves were built upon areas not amenable to farming, i.e., the remains of earlier mudbrick structures reduced to mounds of melted mud. To the west of the North Gate cluster, there were fewer extant buildings and the scraps of two canals, one flowing east-west, the other north-south, which suggested this area was agricultural land, though there were remains of several buildings, now mud mounds, further south along this wall. At the very northwest corner against the wall were two ceramic kilns (C) and one structure of uncertain function built against the wall (D). The density of the structures increased closer to the North Gate of the Circular Wall. At least five large buildings (R, S, U, J1, J4) were along this path and many smaller structures. Houses S, J4, and U were Timurid houses based upon the similarity of their plans, each with a walled garden. House S had an additional wing to the east of the main structure and field walls leading south. Just to the east, House U had a pair of iwans on the north side and additional blocks of rooms to both the east and west. House R was likely also a Timurid estate, but it was poorly preserved. House S (House 81) was a large Timurid house 35 x 24 m in dimension. The main section was toward the west, 22 x 24 m, with a typical plan—large rooms on either side of a north iwan that faced into a courtyard. A doorway led out of the iwan toward the north, bordered with niches in either side. Four additional rooms were on the east side and three on the west. A doorway led to the house addition from one of these rooms. The northwest and northeast rooms were flat vaulted. Entrance into the house was in the south wall into the room in the southeast corner. An

extension to the house was on the east, 13 x 24 m, composed of a courtyard 5 m in width leading to a 6 x 6 m vaulted iwan on the north end. A doorway led out of the iwan toward the north. Three rooms 4 m wide were east of the courtyard, the northeast corner with a flat vault and the room to its south vaulted. The two parts of the house did not share a common wall. A field wall 31 m in length extended south from the southeast corner and turned to the west for another 4 m before disappearing. An area of mud melt was east of the field wall approximately 12 m square (S1), and a cupola tomb 6 x 8 m in size was located to the south of the southern field wall (S2). Between S2 and cupola R4 was another undefined mud ruin. House U (House 83) was 25 m east of House S. It was a large, but badly eroded structure 22 x 63 m in dimension. The original structure was a standard Timurid house 22 x 19 m in size. The central courtyard was 8 x 10 m with a large vaulted iwan 6 x 7 m on the north side. There were large corner rooms to the northwest and northeast and three chambers on the east and west sides, all flat vaulted. Fragments of three additional rooms, the central one possibly an iwan, were against the south wall. It was unclear where the entrance to this structure originally lay. To the west of this was added a second house, 11 x 21 m, sharing its east wall with the original house and entered through a doorway from the northwest room of the original structure. This part of the building also surrounded a large courtyard, 6 x 10 m, faced by a heavily niched and vaulted iwan 4 x 6 m in size on the north side. A doorway led out the north end of the iwan into the fields to the north. A row of flat vaulted rooms was against the side west of the iwan and two vaulted rooms were on the south. To the west of this doubled house was a large 17 x 19 m courtyard bordered by two long halls on the west. East of the doubled house was a row of small chambers, presumably for storage, with an entrance on the south. There was an enclosed garden to the north of this building approximately 40 x 60 m in size. The eastern wall of the enclosure was well preserved but the north and west walls were highly ruinous. A melted mud ruin (U1) was located to the southeast of this house but was not definable. Houses S and U and another one further west (House L) were the largest Timurid houses in the enclosure. House R was a rectangular structure 85 m west of House S and approximately 21 x 28 m in dimension. Its walls were highly eroded so its size is only conjectural, but it appeared to be oriented to the northwest like most Timurid houses with a tower at the southeast corner. A mud ruin of 7 x 17 m (R1) was located 18 m to the east and a ruined cupola tomb (R2) 6 x 8 m was just east of the

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shahr-i gholghola southeast corner of House R. A retaining wall (R3) 60 m in preserved length, 1 m in width, and made of pakhsa separated these two buildings from House R. Another ruined cupola (R4) was southeast, 5 x 6.5 m in size, as well as an undefinable ruin of mud melt with a grave on it (R5) along the edge of the moat surrounding the Circular Wall south of House R. To the south and east of Houses S, U, and R were the four buildings of area J, representing more than one occupational period. Area J was located north the bridge leading to the North Gate of the Circular Enclosure. Northernmost were the thick walls of a ruined building (J1), on top of which had been built two cupola tombs, the better preserved of which was 5 x 5 m. This building ran 36 m east-west and the extant walls ran as much as 16 m north-south. The structure and date of the underlying building could not be determined. A second badly ruined pile of mud representing what once was a building (J2), or another part of building J1, was 22 m to the south of J1. It too bore a cupola tomb on top of its southern edge, 6 x 6 m in dimension. The area of mud melt representing this building was approximately 11 x 30 m. Another 6 m southeast, were three long halls stretching north-south of another building (J3) which extended toward the east another 10 m or more, possibly a warehouse related to activities at the North Gate. The most recent, and best preserved, structure was a house (J4) to the east of J2, likely a Timurid house, with dimensions 20 x 16 m, a 7 x 9 m iwan, a courtyard to its south, and at least three rooms on the west. To the west of J3 was a trench, 1 x 8 m, with iron slag in it. A kiln (Q ) was to the southeast of these buildings at the edge of the Circular Wall moat. Fragmentary remains of another house (House T) approximately 27 x 27 m with field walls stretching to the west and north and a street to the east were just north of House S. Plan of this house could not be determined. None of the other quadrants of the Outer Compound supported as great a density of occupation as the north.

West Quadrant Against the west wall 150 m north of the West Gate and adjacent to the row of cells cut into the wall described above were the remains of a building (Structure N) attached to the wall. Pieces of three rooms running northsouth were attached to the wall at this point and extended as much as 6 m to the east. The westernmost rooms were 3.6 m and 1.5 m in width and were vaulted. The furthest east room was niched and may have been an iwan 2.3 m in width. The north-south walls of this building were 90

Figure 9.5.8 Sketch plan of House M (House 21). J. Knudstad 1973

cm in width, the one remaining east-west wall was 50 cm. There were likely additional rooms east of the iwan but they were not preserved. Just to the east and running beneath the easternmost wall of the first building were remains of three halls of an earlier building also running north-south but aligned slightly more toward the west. These chambers were 4 m in width and 9 m, 11 m, and 12 m in length. The structure of these two overlapping buildings just inside the West Gate suggests a storage function but from different time periods. Further east from these structures were the remains of three or more cupola tombs. The southernmost one was approximately 6 x 9 m, the two further north each about 9 x 12 m. Remains of three pakhsa buildings (O1, O2, O3) were located further south from Structure N along the outer edge of the moat surrounding the Circular Wall. Few details can be provided on these buildings because of their state of ruin, though O1 dimensions were approximately 12 x 16 m, O2 as much as 28 x 12 m, and O3 (a cupola tomb) 6 x 9.5 m in size. A ditch leading into the moat was north of the easternmost of these buildings. Northwest of these buildings was House M (House 21). The house was rectangular, approximately 27 x 28 m, with two rows of rooms running north-south on either side of an L-shaped courtyard that angled to the west. There were visible corner towers on all but the southwest, each about 2 m in diameter. Entry to this house was through a 4 x 4 m

645

the archaeology of southwest afghanistan constructed of baked brick, another to the northwest (M3) was 4.5 m square, and beyond which were remains of a kiln (M4). The southwest corner of the enclosure below the West Gate was badly eroded and largely covered by a dune that may have hidden other buildings, though the narrowness of the area between the Outer Wall and the moat protecting the Circular Wall made it unlikely there was much constructed there.

South Quadrant A complex of four or more rooms built inside the outer South Gate was described above with the wall systems. The existence of additional structures inside this gate is not surprising given that it led to the South Gate of the Circular Wall, one of only two entrances into the Circular Enclosure. Only one wall remained of another building east of the gate (AC) and the remains of a tower and a brick kiln were to the east of that (AD). The lack of additional structures and presence of a canal further east indicated that the southeast quadrant might have been used for agriculture, at least in the Timurid period. Several gaps in the wall here would have allowed access to canals from the outside. The area west of the South Gate was thickly covered with dunes and, thus, largely unavailable for survey. One amusing item located just northwest of the South Gate was the remains of the DAFA camp of 1936, reusing baked bricks from the site to stabilize their tents in the autumn wind and leaving the lid of a tin can from their stay.

Figure 9.5.9 Bricks that held tent corners down from the French camp at Shahr-i Gholghola in 1936, located in southern part of Outer Compound, just west of outer South Gate. HSP camped in the same area. HSP74.38.15

East Quadrant Figure 9.5.10 Lid of tin can from the French camp at Shahr-i Gholghola in 1936 with the legend “France” embossed on it. HSP73.39.20

iwan on the center of the east wall, leading into a 5 x 5 m square chamber with doors leading out in all directions. In the northwest hall there was evidence of a staircase leading to a second story. There was one visible window at the western edge of the south exterior wall. A kiln was located in the southeastern part of the building. Walls were mudbrick on baked brick foundations and 70–80 cm in width. Its structure with corner towers and construction on a baked brick foundation suggested this house dates to the Ghaznavid or Ghorid period. To the west of this building was a slight rise with remains of several graves built out of baked brick (M1). At least four cupola tombs were to the east (M2), also

The exterior of the East Gate had the best remaining evidence of bridges over the moat leading into the city. Like the North Gate of the Outer Wall, there was a large depression leading toward the North Gate of the Circular Wall, which likely was a street or, less likely but possible, a canal. Several canals were found in this area, both north and south of the gate, again suggesting that dense occupation was restricted to the northern quadrant of the Outer Compound and most of the rest of the area was agricultural land in Timurid times. One large estate with field walls was located on the north side of the “street” (House L/House 94). This house had an unusual orientation for a Sistan house in that it was not pointed toward the northwest. The house was large, approximately 41 x 23 m in size. The main section of the house was 19 x 23 m and was entered from middle of the south wall into a 17 x 12 m courtyard. A 5 x 6 m iwan was on the west side. It was framed by two flat domed rooms

646

shahr-i gholghola

Figure 9.5.11 Looking from the northeast corner of Citadel past the east side of Circular Enclosure. House L/House 94 behind the Circular Wall. Outer Wall in the background. HSP73.H.5

on the south and a complex of three rooms on the north, entered from the north end of the courtyard. Small rooms bordered the east wall, including a flat domed room at the southeast corner. The south wall had one long vaulted room 3 x 7 m east of the entry. To the east was a long vaulted hall the length of the building and 4 m in width, with no clear entrance demarcated. An addition to the structure on the western side was centered around a 7.5 x 9.5 m courtyard. Two rooms were situated to the east of the courtyard, the northern one containing a kiln. Two large rectangular rooms were north of the courtyard. A depression in the ground to the south of the entryway to the building might have represented a small reservoir. A small field surrounded by walls stretched to the north and west. A much larger enclosure stretched to the east and south, reaching as far as the roadway leading from the East Gate. There was another large building close to the wall to the south of the East Gate where it curved southwest toward the South Gate. Building V was not designed like most houses so may have served a storage or industrial function. On the west side was a row of six small squarish rooms

stretching northeast-southwest. A corridor bordered these rooms on the east, with a room at the north end. A cluster of at least five rooms was on the eastern side. To the north of this complex were the melted mud remains of a pakhsa building (V1), labeled the “bottle house” for the contents found in its vicinity. There was evidence of graves atop the ruin. To the west of this building was a brick kiln 3 x 4 m in size (V2). To the south of this building, the ground level was higher than that to the north and was covered with dasht gravel. North of building V was a long, thin industrial building (W) running north-south, 10 x 28 m in size, the northern half of which remained. To the west of this building was a brick making area (W1) with a kiln 2 x 3 m in diameter and a large area of kiln waste and sherds extending 20 m to the south and west. The kiln area was bordered with a wall and was just south of the east-west street. Our suggestion that this was an industrial area supporting a kiln (V1), possibly a bottle factory, and a second large kiln area (W, W1) nearby would have required water to function. These buildings were in proximity to several

647

the archaeology of southwest afghanistan

Figure 9.5.12 Looking from the East Gate of the Outer Wall toward the Citadel, east-west street in foreground left, a large house (W?) behind and to the left. HSP73.33.24

canals running both north-south and east-west. Prevailing winds would have blown the smoke (and smell) to the southeast over the wall and away from occupied areas of the site. The area north of House L had several smaller, well-preserved buildings (X1, X2, Y1), all likely modest Timurid houses based on their plans. House X1 was badly eroded on the western side but more complete on the east. It followed the typical Timurid pattern, oriented toward the northwest with rooms around a central courtyard. An iwan was against the north wall. There were four rooms preserved on the east side, but the west side was too badly destroyed to attempt a description. House X2 was 30 m to the west of X1 and also followed the typical Timurid plan, though the central courtyard seemed smaller than in most similar buildings and it appeared to have a row of rooms against the south side of the courtyard. Like X1, it was badly eroded, especially on the south side, so provided limited information. To the east of these two houses were two canals, one of which ran east-west to the north of the houses, the second ran north-south parallel to the east side of House X1 then turned east toward the

east wall. Just before reaching the east wall, it appeared to turn to the south, running along the inside of the wall, but its course was lost in this area. At the northeast of the compound near the north wall there was another typical Timurid house (Y1), with a central courtyard bounded by rooms on the east and west and an iwan to the north. To the west was another building (Y2), preserved enough to show two rows of small square rooms but not a discernable plan. Y3 at the eastern end was a set of three pottery kilns adjacent to each other, 1.2 m in width and 5.5 m in length. Y4 was a well-preserved square baked brick mausoleum. The presence of several canals and small Timurid houses suggests this corner of the compound was largely used for agriculture. Gaps in the Outer Wall in this area also suggest that these canals flowed through the abandoned walls from the north and east. The cluster of ruined houses, some covered with tombs, possibly flattened so the area could be reused in later times, suggests this may have also been an occupational area in pre-Timurid times, but its date of prior use was unclear without a targeted ceramic collection.

648

shahr-i gholghola

Figure 9.5.13 Northern half of the Outer Compound from the East Gate, unidentified house visible behind large dune in the foreground. HSP73.33.26

Figure 9.5.14 Sketch plan of House L (House 94). J. Knudstad 1973

649

the archaeology of southwest afghanistan

9.6 Discussion As noted at the beginning of this chapter, the size and scope of Shahr-i Gholghola defies easy definition, despite the amount of time we spent surveying and excavating the site. Our conclusions here can be only tentative, offered to the next brave team willing to defy the Sistan winds, shifting dunes, and distance from food, water, and other humans to discover the site’s secrets that eluded us. We do not know the date of the first occupation of Shahr-i Gholghola. The sizeable Citadel mound urges us to suggest its founding on another of the Early Iron Age platform mounds that dot Sar-o-Tar. We did find Early Iron Age pottery scattered around the site. But the proximity to Qala 169, no more than 2 km to the south, argues against another major Early Iron site, though the area was probably occupied to some extent at that time. Our survey in Sar-o-Tar indicated that the next major occupation of the plain began during the Parthian period, probably during the first century bce. We have evidence of a well-constructed building along at least the western part of the Citadel, uncovered in our 1974 trench there. The height of this layer in Trenches 3 and 4, over 15 m above the terraces below, suggests that the Parthian site was large and built upon an artificial platform. The hardpacked blue-gray clay at the base of the Citadel matched that of the foundation of the Circular Wall in the Eastern Trench and may be contemporary, though we cannot ascribe a period to these constructions. A case can be made for Parthian, Sasanian, or Saffarid origins to these platforms. Thus, we cannot say with certainty that the Circular Enclosure dates to the earliest large building on the Citadel, though the heavy coverage of Partho-Sasanian sherds inside the Circular Enclosure and eroding out of the later walls argues for that. The same uncertainty is applied to the Sasanian occupation of Shahr-i Gholghola. The use of large baked bricks on the floors and walls of the Level II structures of the 1974 Citadel trench argue strongly for this being evidence of the Sasanian occupation. The ceramics are also compatible. But the limited exposure of that trench allows us to say little more about the nature of the occupation of the pre-Islamic buildings on the Citadel. No concrete evidence can be found elsewhere within the Circular Enclosure, though few attempts were made to investigate the substructure of the current terraces. Both from historical sources and from the evidence at the site, we suggest that the largest construction period of the site came with the Saffarid kings of Sistan and their desire for a defensible fortress. The idiosyncratic Citadel Palace, with its angled serpentine outer walls and lack of

characteristic keyhole arches and ornamental baked brick wall decorations, lead us to date it prior to the building program of Mahmud of Ghazni, so clearly evident at the Lower Palace. Our 1974 excavation at the base of the palace wall was inconclusive because of later Ghaznavid modifications and drains that may account for the eleventh to thirteenth century sherds found, but Saffarid ceramics found in the fill under the western wall of the Palace support our contention that the current Palace on the crown of the Citadel likely comes from the late ninth or early tenth centuries. The historical descriptions of the site recorded by Tate and cited at the beginning of this chapter support the archaeology. Little evidence remains of the occupants of the Citadel Palace during its Saffarid heyday, the third floor apartments are gone except for a few fragments of flooring. But the scope of the building in that era, 55 rooms and five courtyards on the second floor and an equally large first floor beneath, and its elaborate architecture show that the Palace was a major investment for the new dynasty—and not an unpolished one—as the Palace was protected by the Circular Wall and Outer Wall. We also know there was a large domestic area on the east side of the Circular Enclosure and possibly elsewhere. Finds from this 1973 trench show that the occupants were of the elite, the numerous Saffarid wares and imported Chinese wares in that trench indicate high status. The Saffarid builders of Shahr-i Gholghola were also experts at water management, bringing it 35 km from the Helmand River through huge canals and establishing an elaborate set of urban canals to circulate the water through three concentric moats, into the Palace, then removing the waste water from the area. A large well, reminiscent of Qala-i Bist, may have also occupied the western part of the Citadel. We cannot firmly date the building of the Mosque to this period, though its simple decoration and multiple periods of rebuilding suggest that it too was a Saffarid construction. The elaborate baked brick facings and Kufic wall inscription are probably from one of those rebuilds in the eleventh to thirteenth centuries. Sadly, the ceramics collected from the site were lost without processing, so we cannot use them to fix a date for the building. The coins found here all date to the thirteenth century and are likely associated with the end of the Mosque’s period of use rather than the beginning. The northeast corner of the Mosque hints at an earlier stratum with a squared corner that was rebuilt and angled to accommodate the curve of the Circular Wall and allow for more elaborate architectural features. Nor can we confirm that the many mounds

650

shahr-i gholghola of mud melt and remains of canals in the Outer Compound were houses and waterways of Saffarid date, but this seems a likely use of the large enclosure. We have better evidence of the rebuilding of the site during Ghaznavid times. On the Citadel Mound, the public area of the Palace was redone, adding a wall of keyhole arches to the north end of the entry room into the Audience Hall, and an elaborate bathhouse was built just west of the Palace. More obvious was the addition of the Lower Palace, with its numerous architectural, constructional, and decorative similarities to the Southern Palace at Laskhari Bazar. Once again, the architects adjusted their square peg in a round hole by inventing an eightsided southern courtyard to match the flow of the Circular Wall. Our excavation of a small room at the northeast edge of the building showed the elaborate construction techniques and three distinct periods of use and rebuilding in that area. The domestic area uncovered by the East Trench on the terraces also showed ceramics from this period. Architectural similarities to some of the buildings in the Outer Compound also likely date them to the Ghaznavid period. The many defensive walls were likely rebuilt at this time as the corbelled architectural façade of the Lower Palace was repeated in decorating both the Circular Wall and Outer Wall. Substantial wall rebuilding likely occurred as well, shown by the extensive use of baked brick in reconstructing the foundations of the Circular Wall. The elaborate use of baked brick facings on the Mosque was also likely the result of the Ghaznavid rebuild of the city. We have little to say about the succeeding Ghorid period as we are not easily able to separate Ghorid material cultural and architectural techniques from those of the Ghaznavids. It is likely there was substantial occupational consistency between the two, and some of the renovations we attribute to the Ghaznavids may have happened under Ghorid rule. We are comfortable that the site was occupied until the invasion of the Mongols in 1222. The evidence of their attack was found primarily

in the shattered Mosque inscription and the coin hoards buried nearby dating to that year. Given the preservation of the walls, palaces, and water systems, it is clear the Mongols did not do major damage to the physical structure of the site, though it was likely abandoned at that time based upon the gap in coins known from the site and from Sar-o-Tar more generally. When the site was reoccupied, likely in the fourteenth century, Shahr-i Gholghola was no longer the major center it was in previous centuries. The Sar-o-Tar region seems to feature large estates, probably from wealthy agriculturalists based in Herat. We have clusters of these houses in various spots in Sar-o-Tar, but those were far more elaborate and larger in other places than at Shahr-i Gholghola. The estates built within the walls of Shahr-i Gholghola were largely in the northern quadrant of the Outer Compound and fed by canals that were dug through the desiccated Outer Wall. Some installations, likely from Timurid times, support the idea that there were brick, ceramic, and glass industries at the site. The Timurids also leveled and reused the area of previous buildings, often placing their mausoleums and cemeteries on earlier buildings inside the Outer Compound. There was evidence of some reoccupation of the Citadel—a late layer of the bathhouse (and a grim ending with a pile of skulls found atop the ash pile) and some minor occupation of the Citadel Palace, possibly by soldiers. The Lower Palace was also modestly and roughly reoccupied, though we only have the evidence of the tandur built in the sole excavated room of the Palace for that claim. Most likely, the standing walls of the Mint date from this time, based on its ornamentation. Sar-o-Tar seems to have been abandoned sometime in the fifteenth century and we can assume this site was also abandoned at the same time. We have no evidence of destruction of sites or of heavy sanding making the area uninhabitable, though sand covered many of the ruins soon after abandonment, helping to protect them from looters and to preserve them for twentieth century archaeologists.

651

Appendix 1

Sites Identified by the Helmand Sistan Project

SITE NAME

CHAPTER

ALTERNATE NAMES

GAZETTEER #

COORDINATES

EXTENT (m)

VISITED

EXCAVATED

DATE

PREVIOUS VISITS

TYPE

Hammond

Large irregular enclosure, structures, tower

Baghak

6.1

Pusht-i Gao (South), Hammond 29

77

30°08'56.52"N

62°33'04.74"E

250 x 400

1966, 1971

H, P, S, I

Bobo Qala

6.2

Malakhan Plain I

700

30°30'22.24"N

63°23'44.22"E

13 x 13

1971, 1972

PS, PT

Burj 1

5.1

30°49'15.51"N

62°06'28.37"E

4x4

1974

GZ

Tower

Burj 19

5.2

30°40'37.65"N

62°08'28.39"E

6x7

1973

T?

Tower

Burj 20

5.3

30°37'42.54"N

62°07'13.26"E

6x7

1973

T

Tower

Burj 183

5.4

30°29' 50.62"N

62°04'59.61"E

10 dia.

1973

EI, PS?, T

Mound, tower

Burj 344

5.5

30°43'02.43"N

62°03'17.34"E

unknown

1974

T

Tower inside structure

Cemetery 143

5.6

30°34'11.36"N

62°05'44.40"E

100 x 100

1973, 1974

P

Cemetery

Cemetery 150

8.1

30°33'40.79"N

62°06'8.23"E

135 x 340

1973

P

Cemetery

Chehel Burj

5.7

Qala 360, Fischer 9-11

190

30°56'23.54"N

62°06'21.09"E

1300 x 700

1974

P, S, GZ, T

Fischer

Cluster of five large sites

Chehel Miriz

6.3

Hammond 12

197

30°13'47.76"N

62°08'33.13"E

140 dia.

1966, 1971, 1975

PS, I

Hammond

Round qala, later rebuild

Chigini (II)

6.4

Dam 352, Fischer 15

200

30°59'36.92"N

62°02'10.49"E

26 x 41

1971

T, PT

Tate, DAFA, Fischer

Large rectangular house

Chor Gunbad

7.1

Gumbaz-i-Shah Maksud, Gumbadi-Sar-i-Shela

2031

29°50'13.35"N

61°22'38.94"E

100 x 100

1975, 1976

T

MacGregor, ABC, Dales

Collection of mausoleums, miniature columns

Dam

7.2

Khaima Barang

229

29°49'47.87"N

61°25'10.88"E

300 x 200

1975, 1976

B, PT

Dales

Bronze Age village, Islamic cemetery

Dam 198

5.8

30°30'50.54"N

62°03'48.26"E

25 x 60

1973

EI, S

Mound, enclosure, kilns

Dam 205

5.9

30°30'34.57"N

62°03'00.54"E

90 x 60

1973

EI?, S

Two mounds

Abbreviations

Bronze EI Early Iron ACH Achaemenid B

Sasanian IS Islamic EA Early Arab S

H

Hellenistic

SA

Saffarid

P

Parthian

GZ Ghaznavid

PS

Partho-Sasanian

GR Ghorid

653

T PT ABC

1974

Tower, enclosure

Timurid Post-Timurid Afghan Boundary Commission

DAFA Délégation archéologique française

en Afghanistan

the archaeology of southwest afghanistan SITE NAME Dam 351

CHAPTER

ALTERNATE NAMES

GAZETTEER #

5.10

COORDINATES 30°44'59.57"N

62°04'01.07"E

EXTENT (m)

VISITED

55 x 55

1974

S Tate, DAFA, Fischer

Square qala on mound

EXCAVATED

DATE

PREVIOUS VISITS

TYPE Square qala

Dam Kurdu A

5.11

Qala 348A, Fischer 1

Dam Kurdu B

5.12

Qala 348B, Fischer 2

228

30°54'59.75"N

62°00'54.13"E

20 x 12

1974

GZ, GR, T

Tate, DAFA, Fischer

Rectangular vaulted building

Dam-i Malik Khan

6.5

Damb Korodi, Sargah-i Seistan, Damb-i Rustam

2043

30°34'48.26"N

61°51'34.50"E

320 x 100

1973

EI, H?, PS, T, PT

ABC, Tate , DAFA

Qala, fortress, cemetery

Dik-i Dalil

5.13

Dam-i Dalil, Dam-i Dalir

2061

30°36'04.81"N

61°56'35.55"E

30 x 70

1973, 1974

EI, PS, GZ

Mound, enclosure

Diwalak Bala

6.6

Upper Diwalak

31°24'54.31"N

64°22'23.47"E

19 x 23

1971

PS, GZ

Platform and structure

Diwalak Pai'in

6.7

Lower Diwalak

31°24'40.90"N

64°22'14.30"E

13 x 9

1971

PS

Platform and structure

Gina Kuhna

7.3

Old Gina

376

30°15'58.12"N

61°30'43.62"E

35 x 35

1975

B?, ACH, P, IS

ABC, Tate, Dales

Square qala

Gudar-i Shah

7.4

Shah-i Mardan, Gumbaz-i Shah

383

29°54'42.93"N

61°20'43.65"E

60 dia.

1975, 1976

B, ACH?, H, P, T, PT

MacGregor, ABC, Dales

Tomb atop conical mound, houses

228

30°54'59.75"N

62°00'54.13"E

35 x 35

1974

PS, GZ, T

Granary 307

5.14

30°35'39.01"N

62°03'53.63"E

4x8

1973

T

Granary

Granary 330

5.15

30°35'30.22"N

62°05'00.31"E

5x7

1973

T

Granary

Grave 153

5.16

30°33'42.66"N

62°06'10.53"E

unknown

1974

PS

Low burial mound

Hauz Cistern

6.9

Malik Hamza

2092

30°35'36.41"N

61°53'45.47"E

15 x 20

1973

T?, PT

Tate, DAFA, Cistern Fischer

Hauz-i Palangi

6.8

Palangi

2092

30°35'50.11"N

61°53'06.10"E

1300 x 700

1972, 1973, 1974

T, PT

Ferrier, Tate, DAFA, Village Fischer

House 20

5.17

30°37'48.88"N

62°07'08.63"E

16 x ?

1973

PS, IS

House 49

5.18

30°35'16.25"N

62°06'00.88"E

18 x 24

1973

House 139

8.2

30°33'46.08"N

62°06'12.93"E

30 x 30

1972, 1973, 1976

T 1974

P, S

House House, house cluster House

House 145

5.19

30°33'37.06"N

62°06'11.11"E

35 x 35

1973, 1974

EI?, P, S

House

House 159

5.20

30°33'09.10"N

62°05'59.39"E

29 x 18

1974

P

House

House 214.5

5.21

30°30'51.20"N

62°02'06.75"E

unknown

1973, 1974

SA, GZ, GR

Large house

House 218

5.22

30°33'02.92"N

62°03'57.10"E

74 x 54

1972, 1973

T

Large house

PS?, T

House, house cluster, jars

T

House, house cluster

House 239

5.23

30°34'11.24"N

62°04'35.13"E

10 x 18

1971, 1972, 1973

House 240

5.24

30°34'15.92"N

62°04'29.25"E

15 x 20

1973

House 266

8.4

30°34'39.80"N

62°04'34.70"E

44 x 72.5

1974

House 271

5.25

30°34'46.88"N

62°01'38.56"E

30 x 75

House 310

5.26

30°36'11.05"N

62°03'10.55"E

House 311

5.27

30°36'20.15"N

House 311.5

5.28

House 323

5.29

P?, S, GZ?, T?

Chartaq structure, kiln

1973

GZ?, GR?, T

House, house cluster

20 x 20

1973

T

House, house cluster

62°31'13.48"E

22 x 26

1973

T

House, house cluster

30°36'12.24"N

62°03'32.14"E

unknown

1973

SA, GZ, T

Large house, kilns, jars

30°37'54.27"N

62°02'43.64"E

30 x 35

1973

SA, GZ, T

Large house

654

1974

sites identified by the helmand sistan project SITE NAME

CHAPTER

ALTERNATE NAMES

GAZETTEER #

EXTENT (m)

COORDINATES

VISITED

PREVIOUS VISITS

EXCAVATED

DATE T

Large house

1974

T, PT

House cluster House cluster

TYPE

House 352

5.30

30°44'44.25"N

62°04'17.63"E

28 x 38

1974

Houses 183

8.3

30°33'57.81"N

62°05'21.75"E

150 x 350

1973

Houses 210

5.31

30°32'37.85"N

62°04'00.53"E

1000 x 600

1972, 1973

T

Houses 338

5.32

30°44'05.32"N

62°01'59.13"E

1500 x 1200

1974

SA, GZ, GR, T

Houses 353

5.33

30°47'26.98"N

62°04'29.68"E

300 x 400

1974

T

House cluster

Houses STC5A

5.34

30°54'49.00"N

62°00'08.39"E

500 x 500

1974

GZ

House cluster

Jali Robat

7.5

29°50'34.83"N

60°57'52.85"E

250 x 150

1975, 1976

B, PS, SA, GZ, T, PT

Jars 142

5.36

30°34'01.38"N

62°05'57.70"E

unknown

1973

PS

Jars

Jars 172

5.37

30°33'17.33"N

62°05'35.16"E

unknown

1972, 1973, 1974

PS

Jars

Jars 176

5.38

30°33'17.69"N

62°05'31.05"E

unknown

1972, 1974

PS

Jars

Jars 185

5.39

30°33'16.89"N

62°05'16.44"E

unknown

1973

PS

Jars

Jars 197

5.40

30°33'39.73"N

62°05'02.97"E

unknown

1973

PS

Jars, kiln

Jars 198

5.41

30°33'48.71"N

62°05'03.81"E

unknown

1973

PS

Jars

Jars 207

5.42

30°33'46.01"N

62°04'44.80"E

unknown

1973

PS

Jars

Jars 218

5.43

30°33'52.51"N

62°04'34.39"E

unknown

1973

PS

Jars

Jars 219

5.44

30°33'54.75"N

62°04'29.41"E

unknown

1973

PS, IS

Jars, kiln, cemetery

Jars 220

5.45

30°33'54.54"N

62°04'29.04"E

unknown

1973

EI, PS

Jars

Jars 238

5.46

30°33'47.59"N

62°03'29.99"E

unknown

1972, 1973

PS

Jars, kiln

Jars 249

5.47

30°34'14.56"N

62°03'46.71"E

unknown

1972

PS

Jars, kilns

Jars 333

5.48

30°36'20.34"N

62°04'52.77"E

unknown

1973

PS

Jars, kiln Round compound, houses Mosque

Masjid-i Shahr-i Kalan

715

Tate

ABC?

Village

Copper smelting site, modern village

Jui Nau

6.10

Bad Shao, Gudri

479

30°37'14.30"N

61°51'16.23"E

120 x 150

1973

EI?, ACH, P, T

Jui Nau Mosque

6.11

Bad Shao Mosque

479

30°37'18.87"N

61°51'10.51"E

15 x 6

1973

GZ?, T

Karbasak

6.12

Garshasp, Qal'a-i Kuhna, Hammond 30,44?

527

30°09'37.28"N

62°37'28.40"E

65 x 125

1971, 1975

S, GZ, GR

Khana Gauhar

8.5

554

31°25'25.62"N

64°22'48.44"E

11.3 m dia.

1972, 1977

1971

H, P

Stupa, caves

Khwaja Ali Sehyaka

8.6

Sehyak, Shishagi Ghundai, Dik

2127

30°17'26.48"N

63°10'39.55"E

125 x 225

1971, 1976

1975

P

Temple and compound

Khwaja Hasan

6.13

Khwaja Ghraib Baba, Hammond 14, Abramiuk CP-14

595

31°11'12.47"N

64°12'16.32"E

30 x 50

1971, 1974

B, EI, ACH, H, P, S, SA, GZ, PT

Khwaja Kanur

6.14

597

31°29'05.47"N

64°23'36.18"E

100 x 200

1971, 1974

PT

Kiln 253

5.49

30°34'20.13"N

62°03'23.68"E

unknown

1973

PS, T ?

Cairn, scattered sherds

PS, PT

Eroded qala, later tower

Koh-i Khan Neshin

6.15

Kona Qala I

6.16

Daishu

224

30°27'59.83"N

63°36'03.48"E

n/a

1966, 1971, 1972, 1975, 1976

30°26'06.01"N

63°19'40.85"E

35 x 77

1971

655

ABC, Hammond?

Hammond, Abramiuk

Square qala, later rebuild

Ziyarat, cemetery, stupa, caves Recent cemetery with preIslamic artifacts Kilns

the archaeology of southwest afghanistan SITE NAME

CHAPTER

ALTERNATE NAMES

Kurdu

5.50

Houses 343, Fischer 33-36

Kurkoray I

6.17

Kurkoray II

GAZETTEER #

COORDINATES

EXTENT (m)

VISITED

EXCAVATED

DATE

PREVIOUS VISITS

TYPE

30°44'48.39"N

62°02'23.87"E

2000 x 400

1974

T

Sultan Baba Ziyarat

31°26'49.86"N

64°23'26.74"E

200 x 460

1971

H, P, S

Kilns, dense sherd scatter, mausoleum

6.18

Bandar-i Baranah

31°21'26.05"N

64°20'48.29"E

12 x 20

1971

PS, GR

Qala, kilns

Kusrutabad

7.6

Bolan Qala, Tepe Buland, Hammond 17

662

31°35'42.43"N

64°19'52.78"E

200 dia.

1971, 1973, 1974

PS?, GZ?

Hammond

Round mound

Lat Qala

8.7

Kona Qala II

687

30°10'15.75"N

62°41'17.47"E

75 dia.

1971

B, EI, ACH, H, P, S, T, PT

Bellew, ABC

Multi-period tepe

Malakhan Plain II

6.20

Malakhan

700

30°30'19.41"N

63°23'34.70"E

300 x 400

1971, 1972

PS, PT

Seven small eroded mounds

Malakhan Plain III

6.21

Malakhan

700

30°30'23.97"N

63°23'05.84"E

70 x 70

1971, 1972

PS, GZ?

Eroded square qala

Malakhan Plain IV

6.22

Malakhan

700

30°30'16.77"N

63°22'42.65"E

60 x 55

1971, 1972

PS

Eroded square qala

Malakhan Plain V

6.23

Malakhan

700

30°30'10.78"N

63°22'30.69"E

80 x 25

1971, 1972

PS, GR

Eroded mounds, tower

Malakhan Plain VI

6.24

Malakhan

700

30°29'01.01"N

63°22'34.53"E

21 x 41

1971, 1972

AC?, H?, PS

Eroded rectangular qala, tower?

Malakhan Plain VII

6.25

Malakhan

700

30°29'52.08"N

63°21'50.15"E

170 x 170

1971, 1972

PS, PT

Walled qala, later fortress, enclosure, room clusters

Malakhan Plain VIII

6.26

Malakhan

700

30°29'50.78"N

63°21'38.91"E

20 dia.

1971, 1972

PS

Small, rounded mound

Malakhan Plain IX

6.27

Malakhan

700

30°29'40.38"N

63°21'33.52"E

10 x 10

1971, 1972

PS?, PT

Malakhan Plain X

6.28

Malakhan

700

30°29'40.94"N

63°21'26.05"E

130 x 20

1971, 1972

PS

Three rounded mounds

Malakhan Plain XI

6.29

Malakhan

700

30°29'35.48"N

63°21'11.99"E

100 x 20

1971, 1972

PS?

Two eroded mounds

Malakhan Plain XII

6.30

Malakhan

700

30°29'36.55"N

63°21'08.29"E

23 x 34

1971, 1972

PS

Eroded square structure

Malakhan Plain XIII

6.31

Malakhan

700

30°29'38.13"N

63°21'01.35"E

47 x 40

1971, 1972

PS, PT

Rectangular qala, tower

Malakhan Plain XIV

6.32

Malakhan

700

30°29'26.67"N

63°20'41.36"E

125 x 25

1971, 1972

PS, PT

Rectangular fortress, tower, fragmentary structures

Malakhan Plain XV

6.33

Malakhan

700

30°29'12.63"N

63°20'40.55"E

72 x 72

1971, 1972

PS

Eroded square qala

Malakhan Plain XVI

6.34

Malakhan

700

30°29'06.67"N

63°20'38.22"E

unknown

1971, 1972

PS

Tall mound

Malakhan Plain XVII

6.35

Malakhan

700

30°28'28.78"N

63°21'57.41"E

9 x 15

1971, 1972

SA, GZ, GR

Mausoleum 4B

5.51

30°48'47.22"N

62°07'27.68"E

30 x 30

1974

GZ

Mausoleum

Mausoleum 165

5.52

30°33'52.31"N

62°05'34.78"E

4 x 6, 3 x3

1971, 1973

T

Two mausoleums

Mausoleum 214

8.8

30°33'00.49"N

62°03'58.81"E

20 x 18

1972, 1973

T

Elaborate mausoleum

648

656

1975

1973

Fischer

House cluster

Tower

Partial baked brick structure

sites identified by the helmand sistan project ALTERNATE NAMES

GAZETTEER #

EXTENT (m)

VISITED

62°04'56.28"E

8x8

1971, 1972, 1973, 1974

T

30°39'7.88"N

62°02'21.80"E

12 x 6

1973

T

30°43'09.30"N

62°02'41.02"E

13.5 x 13.5

1974

GZ, GR

722

30°57'06.40"N

62°01'56.02"E

150 x 220

1974

GZ

Fischer

House, walled garden

Mukhatar, Qala-i Mokhatar

736

31°35'31.95"N

64°26'27.71"E

80 x 115

1975, 1976

H, P

Bellew

Qala, temple

6.36

Daishu

224

30°26'08.23"N

63°20'13.55"E

48 x 41

1971, 1975

PS, GR

Palangi

6.37

Poolka, Pulaki, Palakenti?, Hauz

792

30°58'11.84"N

62°88'74.72"E

31 x 31 m

1972, 1973, 1974

T?, PT

Qala 0.5

5.57

30°50'05.42"N

62°06'21.81"E

32 x 57

1974

PS

Qala 1

5.58

30°49'56.27"N

62°06'27.03"E

100 x 100

1974

S, SA, GZ, T

Qala 4

5.60

30°48'57.35"N

62°07'25.20"E

55 x 55

1974

S

SITE NAME

CHAPTER

Mausoleum 271

5.53

30°34'39.32"N

Mausoleum 327A

5.54

Mausoleum 338A

5.55

Mir Ali

5.56

House 351

Mukhtar

7.7

Murtaza

COORDINATES

EXCAVATED

DATE

PREVIOUS VISITS DAFA

TYPE Mausoleum and cemetery Mausoleum Mausoleum, kiln

Rectangular qala, later tower Tate, DAFA, Fischer

Large house and windmill Eroded square qala, terrace Two nested square qalas with central tower Square qala

Qala 4 Village

5.59

30°48'52.54"N

62°07'03.66"E

1000 x 700

1974

EI?, S, SA, GZ, GR, T

Multi-period village with multiple structures

Qala 4A

5.61

30°48'52.18"N

62°07'03.55"E

40 x 40

1974

S, T?

Square qala

Qala 5.5A

5.62

30°52'12.03"N

62°07'46.55"E

100 x 100

1974

S

Square qala

Qala 5.5B

5.63

30°52'12.64"N

62°07'39.78"E

15 x 30

1974

S

Rectangular house and garden

Qala 5.5C

5.64

30°52'11.38"N

62°07'51.80"E

25 x 35

1974

S, GZ

Fire temple? reused in Islamic times

Qala 5.5D

5.65

30°52'22.03"N

62°07'49.36"E

30 x 45

1974

S

Square qala with appended structure

Qala 19A

5.66

30°40'50.90"N

62°08'11.36"E

90 x 90

1973

P, S

Square qala with central building

Qala 19B

5.67

30°40'43.07"N

62°07'36.16"E

30 x 30

1973

S

Square qala

Qala 20

5.68

30°37'59.05"N

62°06'55.35"E

40 x 40

1973

S, T?

Square qala, tower

Qala 169

8.9

30°33'16.50"N

62°05'40.18"E

150 x 150

1971, 1972, 1973, 1975

1974

EI, PS, IS

Qala 198

8.10

30°33'26.40"N

62°04'56.49"E

65 x 60

1972, 1973

1974

P

Qala 222

5.69

30°31'03.97"N

62°01'29.35"E

50 x 40

1973

EI, PS

Mound, enclosure, square qala

Qala 231

5.70

30°33'22.51"N

62°03'36.35"E

55 x 55

1972

EI?, PS, T

Platform, square qala, towers, cemetery

Qala 265

5.71

30°36'24.13"N

61°59'30.58"E

10 x 20

1973

PS

Rectangular qala Rectangular qala

Platform mound and enclosure Fire temple

Qala 268

5.72

30°34'38.33"N

62°03'01.49"E

40x 60

1972, 1973

PS, GZ, GR, T

Qala 298

5.73

30°38'56.99"N

62°02'34.47"E

56 x 56

1973

PS

Rectangular qala, jars, kiln

Qala 327

5.74

30°39'11.69" N

62°02'24.05"E

180 x 220

1973

PS, GR, T

Large rectangular qala, jars, later tower, mausoleum, houses

657

the archaeology of southwest afghanistan SITE NAME Qala 330

CHAPTER

ALTERNATE NAMES

GAZETTEER #

5.75

COORDINATES 30°35'23.22"N

62°04'57.26"E

EXTENT (m)

VISITED

90 x 90

1972, 1973

S

Square qala Square qala Square qala

EXCAVATED

DATE

PREVIOUS VISITS

TYPE

Qala 340

5.76

30°48'52.82"N

62°00'00.76"E

50 x 53

1974

PS, GR, T

Qala 344

5.77

30°44'33.21"N

62°02'41.26"E

90 x 90

1974

S

Qala 345

5.78

30°43'34.79"N

62°03'02.82"E

148 x 161

1974

EI, S

Mound, enclosure, house, cemetery

Qala 348.5

5.79

30°43'12.07"N

62°03'52.17"E

50 x 55

1974

S, GZ, T

Rectangular qala, later rebuild

Qala 349

5.80

30°55'28.32"N

62°01'07.27"E

160 x 110

1974

P, S, GZ

Qala 350

5.81

30°48'30.60"N

62°03'23.01"E

100 x 100

1974

S

Qala 350A

5.82

30°54'11.98"N

62°01'58.75"E

280 x 140

1974

EI, PS

Qala 351

5.83

30°41'11.98"N

62°04'36.67"E

40 dia.

1974

EI, PS, GZ, T

Round qala, houses, sherd scatter

Qala 352

5.84

30°39'56.95"N

62°04'50.74"E

80 x 80

1972, 1973, 1974

S, GR, T

Large square qala, cemetery

Qala 352.5

5.85

30°53'31.46"N

62°03'05.77"E

90 x 90

1974

PS, I

Qala 352A

5.86

30°40'40.56"N

62°04'45.44"E

40 dia.

1974

S

Round qala

Qala 353

5.87

30°46'52.26"N

62°04'18.42"E

30 x 30

1974

S, T?

Small square qala, jars

Qala 357

5.88

30°51'15.28"N

62°05'49.17"E

85 x 85

1974

S, GZ, GR, T

Square qala, tower, kilns

QALA 358

5.89

30°45'28.68"N

62°05'47.52"E

60 x 60

1974

EI, P, S, T

Square qala on platform, towers, jars, Islamic village

Qala 359

5.90

30°36'39.80"N

62°05'34.91"E

75 x 75

1972, 1973

S, GR

Square qala, jars, kiln

Qala 359.5

5.91

30°52'32.60"N

62°05'54.15"E

70 x 70

1974

S, GZ

Square qala, houses

Qala STB-5W

5.92

30°45'14.82"N

61°59'44.91"E

110 dia.

1974

S, SA, GZ

Round qala, central structures

Qala STC-5B

5.93

30°55'03.82"N

61°59'16.48"E

25 x 25

1974

GZ, T

Square qala

Qala STC-5C

5.94

30°56'11.16"N

61°57'56.84"E

38 dia.

1974

PS

Round qala, houses, kilns

Qala STC-10A

5.95

Char Shaklak, Fischer 105?

159

30°55'18.20"N

62°07'06.40"E

35 x 35

1974

S?

Eroded square qala

Qala-i Amiran Sahib

5.96

Taq-i Amiran, House 4A

2182

30°59'29.45"N

62°08'34.97"E

60 x 42

1974, 1975

T

Tate, DAFA, Fischer

House

ACH?, GZ, T, PT

ABC, Tate, DAFA, Fairservis, Fischer

Large fortress, surrounding structures

ABC, Tate, Fischer

Large square structure, nearby house

ABC, Fischer?

Large nested qala, exterior structures and kilns, towers

Qala-i Fath

6.38

Qala-i Gawak

6.39

Qala-i Jan Beg

6.40

Diwal-i Lawur?, Fischer 4?

Patandak?

Patandak?, Fischer 28

Fairservis 32

Ashkinak, Jan Beg, Burj-i Ghunda?

301

808

808

842

30°32'41.54"N

61°50'59.86"E

160 x 200

1966, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1975

844

30°42'49.18"N

61°50'36.97"E

60 x 60

1966, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975

GZ, T

58

30°12'21.70"N

62°13'26.64"E

125 x 125

1971

PS, GZ, GR

658

Tate, DAFA, Fischer

Rectangular qala, later exterior buildings Square qala

Tate, DAFA, Fischer

Tate, DAFA, Fischer

Mound, two enclosures

Two nested qalas

sites identified by the helmand sistan project SITE NAME

CHAPTER

Qala-i Madar-i Padshah III

6.41

Qala-i Mullah Nasrullah

6.42

Qala-i Nau

5.97

ALTERNATE NAMES Kaikabad, Hammond 20

Chakansurak, Noken Kala, Fischer 6,13,14

GAZETTEER #

863

871

COORDINATES

EXTENT (m)

VISITED

EXCAVATED

DATE

PREVIOUS VISITS ABC, Hammond

TYPE Platform surrounded by enclosure, later reuse

30°10'26.46"N

62°18'07.95"E

30 x 60

1966, 1975

EI?, ACH?, P

30°10'11.52"N

62°41'17.06"E

unknown

1975

?

30°59'13.24"N

62°04'28.10"E

70 x 100

1966, 1974

PS, SA, GZ, GR, T, PT

Fischer

Large fortress, tower, mosque, mausoleums

B, EI, ACH?, H, P, S, SA, GZ, GR, T, PT

Tate

Large fortress with citadel

Tate, Fischer

Well-preserved square qala

Several qalas on dasht overlooking valley

Qala-i Sirak

6.43

Malakhan

881

30°27'30.27"N

63°21'46.51"E

130 x 220

1966, 1971, 1972

Qala-i Surkh North

5.98

Sohren Qalat, Fischer 7,8

883

30°56'10.10"N

62°11'53.39"E

35 x 35

1974

S, T

Qala-i Surkh South

6.44

Sur Qala

883

30°22'49.36"N

63°16'32.10"E

70 x 50

1971

H, P, S

Badly eroded rectangular qala

Rustaq 3

5.99

30°49'05.21"N

62°06'54.81"E

unknown

1974

EI, PS

Cemetery, sherd scatter

Sangar

5.100

Qala 356.5

983

30°53'43.32"N

62°05'11.69"E

70 x 70

1974

GZ, T

9

Sar-o-Tar

1006

30°34'41.68"N

62°05'31.24"E

1300 x 1300

1971, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1975

31°24'07.95"N

64°21'57.16"E

80 x 60

Shahr-i Gholghola Sheikh Mariz

6.45

Šna Qala

6.46

Qala-i Sabz

Square Qala II

5.101

Surburt

5.102

Qala 355, Fischer 1

Tandorak

6.47

Daishu

Temple 215

8.11

Tepe Daishu I

6.48

Daishu

Tepe Daishu II

6.49

Daishu

Tepe Rudbar I

6.50

Trakhun

7.8

Ziyarat-i Amiran Sahib

5.103

Tarakhun, Fairservis 97

DAFA, Fischer

Square qala

EI, P, S, SA, GZ, GR, T

Large city, fortress

1971

H, P, S, GZ, PT

Sherd scatter, cemetery Fire temple and compound on volcanic pillow; reuse as mausoleum Square qala, houses

1972, 1973, 1974

30°33'18.00"N

63°32'41.45"E

350 x 250

1971

P, S, SA, GZ, GR, T

30°47'48.32"N

61°58'10.17"E

50 x 50

1974

S, GZ, T

1120

30°50'57.59"N

62°04'41.62"E

90 x 90

1974

S, T

224

63°20'30.95"N

30°26'68.59"E

5x6

1971

PS

Tower

62°01'57.39"N

30°30'49.79"E

55 x 55

1973, 1974

P, S

Fire temple

224

30°24'14.71"N

63°17'25.71"E

50 x 35

1971

?

Mound with two peaks

224

30°24'33.83"N

63°17'59.99"E

33 x 23

1971

EI?, ACH?, PS

Square qala on a platform

30°09'27.58"N

62°36'34.20"E

165 x 250

1971, 1975

EI, PS, PT

Platform with square enclosure

1147

30°16'13.14"N

61°29'17.71"E

300 x 180

1966, 1975

T, PT

1264

30°58'40.37"N

62°07'52.34"E

140 x 160

1974, 1975

GZ, GR, T, PT

1107

659

1973

Fischer

Square qala, tower

Tate, ABC, Fairservis, Dales

Large fortress

Tate, Fischer

Modern shrine within older compound

App Figure 1.1 Map of Helmand Sistan Project Bronze Age sites.

App Figure 1.2 Map of Helmand Sistan Project Early Iron Age sites.

App Figure 1.3 Map of Helmand Sistan Project Early Iron Age sites in Sar-o-Tar.

App Figure 1.4 Map of Helmand Sistan Project Achaemenid and Hellenistic sites.

App Figure 1.5 Map of Helmand Sistan Project Parthian and Sasanian sites.

App Figure 1.6 Map of Helmand Sistan Project Parthian and Sasanian sites in Sar-o-Tar.

App Figure 1.7 Map of Helmand Sistan Project Parthian and Sasanian sites in Malakhan Plain-Daishu area.

App Figure 1.8 Map of Helmand Sistan Project Saffarid, Ghaznavid, and Ghorid sites.

App Figure 1.9 Map of Helmand Sistan Project Saffarid, Ghaznavid, and Ghorid sites in Sar-o-Tar.

App Figure 1.10 Map of Helmand Sistan Project Timurid and Post-Timurid sites.

App Figure 1.11 Map of Helmand Sistan Project Timurid and Post-Timurid sites in Sar-o-Tar.

Appendix 2

Helmand Sistan Project Publications

Allen, Mitchell, and William B. Trousdale. “Early Iron Age Culture of Sistan, Afghanistan.” Afghanistan 2, no. 1 (2019): 29–69.

Trousdale, William B. “An Achaemenid Stone Weight from Afghanistan.” East and West 18, no. 3/4 (1968): 277–280.

Allen, Mitchell, Eric Hubbard, and William B. Trousdale. “Afghan Sistan in the Bronze Age.” In Archaeology of Southeastern Iranian Plateau, edited by Benjamin Mutin and Nasir Eskendari. Turnhout, Belgium: Brepols, forthcoming.

Trousdale, William B. “Buddhistiche Klöster am Helmand Fluss.” In Ausdem Osten des Alexanderreiches: Völker und Kulturen zwischen Orient und Okzident Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Indien, edited by Jakob Ozols and Volker Thewalt, 143–153. Köln: DuMont Buchverlag, 1984.

Amiri, Ghulam Rahman. “Share-i Ghulghula (the City of Screams) of Sar-o-Tar.” Afghanistan XXVI, no. 2 (1973): 79–90. Amiri, Ghulam Rahman. The Helmand Baluch: A Native Ethnography of the People of Southwest Afghanistan. Edited and annotated by William B. Trousdale, with contributions by Mitchell Allen and Babrak Amiri. Translated from Dari by James Gehlhar, Mhairi Gehlhar, and Babrak Amiri. Oxford and NY: Berghahn, 2020. Crane, Howard. “The Helmand Sistan Project: An Anonymous Tomb in Bust.” East and West 29, no. 1/4 (1979): 241–246. Crane, Howard, and William B. Trousdale. “HelmandSistan Project Carved Decorative and Inscribed Bricks from Bust.” East and West 22, no. 3/4 (1972): 215–226.

Trousdale, William B. “The Homeland of Rustam.” Illustrated London News (1975): 91–93. Vincent, Robert K., Jr. “City of Screams.” Sunday Times Magazine, November 18, 1979: 52–61. Whitney, John W. Geology, Water, and Wind in the Lower Helmand Basin, Southern Afghanistan, USGS Scientific Investigations Report 2006–5182, Reston, VA: US Geological Survey, 2006. Ziaii-Bigdeli, Layah, and Mitchell Allen. “Shahr-i Gholghola: A Saffarid Fortress City in Sistan.” American Council for Southern Asian Art Bulletin 79, Fall (2020): 6–9.

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Appendix 3

The Temple Inscription from Khwaja Ali Sehyaka/Sehyak Lauren Morris, Rachel Mairs, and Michael Zellmann-Rohrer

During the course of the excavation of the site of Khwaja Ali Sehyaka/Sehyak, HSP uncovered the top of the well adjacent to the shrine in Area D. It was excavated down to the water table, 15.5 m below the modern surface, over the span of a week in October 1975. Just above and below the water table, beginning at 15 m, we began to uncover pieces of the inscription described here. The excavation was halted because of the limitations caused by the water table. Further details on the excavation of the well and additional finds there can be found in section 8.6.

The inscription is a primary, official-looking text given in two languages (this being judged on the deliberate, thicker engraving of the letters), with presumably later graffiti in Aramaic script. Morris and Mairs concern themselves with the Greek inscription first; Zellmann-Rohrer discusses the Aramaic part of the inscription and graffiti in the next section. The authors were unable to study the object in person but worked from numerous photographs provided by HSP.

App Figure 3.1 Fragments of the inscription found inside the Sehyak well. Photo M. Allen

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the temple inscription from khwaja ali sehyaka/sehyak

App Figure 3.2 Iron bolts in several pieces of the inscription held it to some part of the architecture of the temple. Photo M. Allen

The Object The 14 pieces recovered are engraved onto dark, hard pieces of steatite, with a convex face and a flat back. The convex face is highly polished, the back is not. The thickest of the pieces is 2.4 cm, though several large pieces run 0.8–0.9 cm in thickness. This particular type of stone seems to break in planes, so those differences are as likely to be from breakage as from manufacture. The three longest pieces (21 cm, 9.3 cm, 9 cm) each have regular Greek characters deeply incised into the surface of the curved face. The longest piece has letters 1–2 cm in height; the smaller pieces have letters up to 2.5 cm high. The two smaller pieces in Greek make a clear join, the third does not. Thus, we assume that there were originally other pieces of the inscription, now lost. A fourth large piece (7.1 cm in length) has both formally inscribed letters in Aramaic script and two lines of graffiti also in Aramaic script. Smaller fragments seem to contain other graffiti carvings with Aramaic characters on them.

App Figure 3.3 Hole drilled into one piece of the inscription. Photo M. Allen

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archaeology of southwest afghanistan It is highly likely that the inscribed stone had been set into an architectural feature (e.g. a door lintel) before it was discarded into the well, as three of the fragments have round pieces of iron inset into the stone. Corrosion did not allow for exact measurement of the iron, but they are approximately 1 cm in diameter. The iron visible on the large fragment with Greek letters does not run completely through to the back. The two other iron bits are on broken, thin fragments. Thus, if the inscription were attached to the architecture using these iron pieces, it is unclear how. A fourth piece has a hole drilled into the convex face, but not through it. The hole is 0.6 cm in diameter, but contains no traces of iron. A likely terminus ante quem can be established for the inscription as radiocarbon dates from the fill above their find spot all produced second and third century ce dates. There are very few Greek texts from Sistan itself. Those that exist bear no palaeographical resemblance to the Sehyak inscription, but do speak to Sistan’s incorporation into wider commercial and imperial systems. The hand of the ostracon with a cursive ink inscription from Qala-i Sam, Sistan (Pugliese Carratelli 1966, 34) is extremely close to those of papyri from Hellenistic Egypt and to the dipinti of Ai Khanoum (all circa mid-second century bce). The close adherence of both Greek and Aramaic texts from Central Asia to Mediterranean palaeography is one of the most remarkable discoveries to have come from recent text finds in the region (e.g., Clarysse and Thompson 2007). From such evidence, we may conclude the existence of a far-reaching Hellenistic-period cultural

koine. Accordingly, in this later period, it is reasonable to suppose that strong palaeographic parallels reflect cultural and linguistic ties. The palaeographic features of the Sehyak inscription thus appear to suggest that Sistan’s links with the Arsacid empire had broader implications, rendering the region participant in a wider Parthian cultural koine.

The Greek Inscriptions (Lauren Morris and Rachel Mairs) Introduction Epigraphic documents from the territory of modern Afghanistan are extremely rare. The texts in Greek and Aramaic script for which we offer preliminary readings are, therefore, a valuable addition to the epigraphic corpus of the region and a unique piece of epigraphic evidence from Sistan. Although fragmentary, we can confirm that the language is Greek and propose that the text contains an Iranian personal or place name beginning Phraa-.

Text and Commentary The surviving parts of this tantalising inscription are very short, and it is not clear how the two main pieces fit together. The content of this inscription may be interpreted in multiple ways, as the word separation is not incontestable. Our transcription and reconstructions are, therefore, tentative.

App Figure 3.4 Two adjoining pieces of Greek inscription Fragment 1 from the Sehyak well. HSP75.26.37

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the temple inscription from khwaja ali sehyaka/sehyak Diplomatic reading: Fragment 1: […]ΟΥΑΠΟΦΡΑ[…] Fragment 2: [ […]Δ?ΙΑΚΗΟΥΤΑΝΑ[…] Reconstruction: Fragment 1: […]ου ἀπὸ φρα[α?…] […] of […] from Phra[a?..] Fragment 2: […]διακηουτανα[…] Fragment 1 appears to begin with a word ending in -ου, most probably the inflectional ending of the genitive singular of a second declension masculine or neuter noun. The following ἀπό is either the preposition ‘from’ or part of a compound verb or noun. If it is a compound, there are very few possibilities found in Liddell and Scott’s Greek-English Lexicon, and all of these are uncommon: ἀπόφραξις ‘blocking up’ ἀποφράγνυμι ‘fence off, block’ ἀποφράς ‘not to be mentioned, unlucky’ ἀποφράση a Cretan dialect word for ‘female slave’ ἀποφράσσω ‘block up, stop up’ ἀποφράζω ‘explain’ These rare words are still rarer—or altogether absent —in inscriptions, so the balance of probability is against a compound and in favour of a preposition + noun.

There are too many possible nouns beginning φρα- for us to review here. We find it intriguing that on one of the few other Greek inscriptions from the region, the cauldron molds from Takht-i Sangin in southern Tajikistan (Drujinina 2008; Ivantchik 2011), there is also a cryptic word beginning φρα- , in the phrase “εἰς Ὄξον κατὰ φραζύμενα.” The meaning is unclear, and the spelling non-standard, but Drujinina proposes the translation ‘in den Tempel des Oxos, des wie- derhergestellten’ or ‘erneut eingerichteten.’ It is clear that, in the absence of other evidence, these two inscriptions cannot be used to interpret each other, but the coincidence is nevertheless worth bearing in mind. The interpretation we favour is to take φρα- as the beginning of a proper noun, i.e, a name or place. This is, in part, because along the break in the stone next to the alpha we believe we can see the lower lefthand corner of a second alpha, which would allow the reconstruction of a wellknown Iranian name. The straight break in the stone may, in fact, follow the lefthand stroke of this proposed second alpha. In this inscription, the lefthand strokes of alphas are almost vertical (see palaeographical discussion below). Multiple possibilities may be considered in the case of a proper noun. The name Φραάτης is the Greek transcription of Frahāt, the name of several Parthian kings. There were several cities in the ancient Middle East named

App Figure 3.5 Detail of fractional letter broken off at the edge of the Greek inscription Fragment 1. Photo M. Allen

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App Figure 3.6 Fragment 2 of the Sehyak Greek inscription. HSP75.33.22

Phraata, including, after its renaming by Phraates IV, Susa. An ethnic descriptor φραατεύς ‘person from Phraata’ (or grammatical variant) is also possible. Fragment 2 presents even more difficulties. ΔΙΑ immediately suggests the Greek preposition διά ‘through’. As with ἀπό, above, we are then faced with the choice of a compound noun or verb, or a preposition + noun. A compound is unlikely (LSJ offers only διακήρυξις ‘sale by auction’ or διακηρύσσω ‘proclaim by herald’, no grammatical forms of which would fit the rest of the line). If διά is a preposition, the only real option for κη- is κήϋος (‘purifactory’), which does not actually fit the letters and is extremely rare. On the other hand, one question that should be raised is how “correct” we ought to expect the Greek to be in this context (see Ivantchik 2011). Alternatively, we might read the word-ending, -διακη, i.e. a feminine nominative singular. This offers some possibilities (among many possibilities is προσοδιακός, -ή, -όν ‘processional’), but nothing compelling. No clear sense can be made of the remaining letters of Fragment 2, and we could play endless word games with them without finding a firm answer (e.g., ΟΥΤ as an abbreviation of οὔτε ‘nor’; ΤΑ as the neuter plural definite article; ΝΑ as the beginning of the masculine noun ναός ‘temple’).

Palaeography Although the surviving text is short, it is palaeographically extremely distinctive, and may hold a clue as to the emergence of letter forms in Bactrian inscriptions of the second century ce (Kushan period, written in a modified Greek script). Square letter forms characterize the Sehyak inscription (most distinctively phi and omicron, less so rho), in addition to distinctive alpha, eta, and kappa forms which may be related to handwriting practices more than monumental epigraphic practice. Regardless, the square omicron, the alpha, and the kappa forms appear in the Dasht-e Nawur inscription (circa 104 ce), in addition to the small-scale inscribed silver dish of Nukunzuk (after circa 137 ce), the latter also exhibiting the eta form, and the square phi. But otherwise in Bactrian inscriptions of the second century ce, square forms seem to fall out of use. The closest Greek-language parallel from Bactria to the Sehyak inscription—a possible intermediary stage, perhaps dating to the Hellenistic period—is found on a clay mold for casting a bronze cauldron at Takht-i Sangin with a dedicatory inscription. This unusual inscription features both cursive forms and square letter forms (epsilon, theta, omicron, sigma). Although the excavator dated this find

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the temple inscription from khwaja ali sehyaka/sehyak to the mid-second century bce according to the ceramics found in the pit, Ivantchik and Bernard both questioned such an early date on the grounds of palaeography (principally by comparing the square forms with Kushan Bactrian inscriptions). As Ivantchik (2011) notes, there is extensive evidence for the use of square omicrons in coin legends from across Central Asia during the first century bce, and thus perhaps the date should be slightly later. We would, thus, caution strongly against either attempting to date the Sehyak inscription by palaeographical criteria or deriving any firm chronological conclusions from comparison of it with the Takht-i Sangin mold inscription. Significant palaeographic comparanda can also be found elsewhere. We note strong parallels in use of square omicrons and phis with Greek epigraphy from Susa under the Arsacids, Hellenistic/Parthian Babylon, and also Seleucia on the Tigris during this time. Susa is an especially intriguing case, since we find both the name Phraata/Phraates and square letter forms (see discussion of these inscriptions in Rougemont 2012). In the absence of epigraphic comparanda from the Iranian plateau between Susa and Sistan we would not like to push these comparisons too far but would not be surprised if the Sehyak inscription should turn out to date to around the same time as the Susa inscriptions in question, in the first century bce.

Aramaic Inscriptions (Michael Zellmann-Rohrer) Introduction Among the inscriptions found by the Helmand Sistan project are several texts in Aramaic, a script used in the region for administrative writing from the Persian period (see recently Zellmann-Rohrer and Olivieri 2019) and later adapted for texts in local languages. Written on stone and ceramic potsherds (ostraca), while not extensive, provide sufficient data to establish the use of Aramaic script dating to the first centuries of the common era, probably the first or second century ce (see below). As expected in this context, the Aramaic script appears to have been used to write the Parthian language in at least some of the texts. Other Aramaic words as can be discerned are more probably used as allographs. The bulk of what little can be deciphered are Iranian names, not in themselves diagnostic between the languages. The six Aramaic script components on the Sehyak inscription and one brief Aramaic script ostracon found at Sehyak are discussed below. Other Aramaic script material from the Helmand Sistan Project will appear in Volume 2.

Description The largest stone fragment containing Aramaic characters has three lines in two hands; of the scant remains the Iranian divine name ᾽hwrmzd “Ahuramazda” or a related theophoric personal name can be read with fair certainty (text 1). On two more stone fragments that bear the Greek inscription discussed above, multiple hands have added shallowly incised graffiti in Aramaic script (2 and 3); the graffiti probably give one or more Parthian personal names (2) or common nouns (3). Further stone fragments of a similar appearance preserve shorter remains of only a few letters (4, 5), possibly including an Iranian personal name (4), while a further, now illegible graffito on a slender stone fragment (6) and an incomplete graffito on a ceramic sherd (7) may be added. The texts from Sehyak are substantial enough to support a palaeographic dating, which can probably be applied in general to the rest. At Sehyak there is further support from archaeological context. A dating of the Greek text from the site to the first centuries bce/ce should give a terminus post quem at least for the Aramaic-script graffito on those stones (2, 3), while evidence for abandonment of the site suggests a terminus ante quem of the third century ce. Indeed the Aramaic-script texts give an earlier impression than the Kaba-i Zardusht trilingual of Shapur I, dated approximately 260–262 ce (Huyse 1999). Here there are no signs of the nearly circular form of w or the distinctive looped l. The closest parallels so far identified are the Aramaic script used for the Parthian inscriptions from Seleucia on the Tigris, dated 151 ce (Pennacchietti 1987 cf. Puech 1998,55) and Sar-Pol-e Zohāb first century bce/ first century ce (Gropp 1968; for northern Mesopotamian scripts see also Naveh 1987, 142), especially for ᾽ and m. A further general parallel from this period is the Parthian letter on parchment from Dura Europos (P.Dura 153), assigned to the second or third century ce (close resemblance of m). At the other end of the range, the Sehyak texts appear later than the dipinti in ink on ostraca from Old Nisa, which tend to maintain letter forms closer to those of Imperial Aramaic, e.g., of p in the earlier texts (see e.g. Livshits 2003, text no. 2, fig. 2 from the 2nd cent. bce) and ᾽ throughout (e.g. Diakonoff and Livshits 1976: 17 no. 87 Plates vol. I no. 36 from 57 bce). The Parthian documentary text in Aramaic script of the first century bcefrom Kuh-i-Salan (Avroman) is an only somewhat closer comparandum (Minns 1915, 63–65; with pl. III and tab. II, andNyberg 1923), particularly with respect to ᾽, but the Sehyak texts are generally more rounded, along the path of development leading towards the Pehlevi scripts.

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Readings The following texts are described and transcribed from archival field photographs from the Helmand Sistan Project, whose numbers are indicated at the head of each lemma; these are supplemented for no. 1 by additional photographs taken by Mitchell Allen. Unread letters are represented by single stops on the line, and doubtful letters are enclosed by half-brackets. 1. HSP75.23.7A + HSP.75.X.6 (drawing based on HSP75.23.7A). Fragment of stone with convex face, possibly an architectural member with circular cross-section comparable to that of the more extensive substrate of text 2. The first two lines are deeply incised with careful, formal lettering; the third, in a second hand, is hastier and less proficient. . . . ʾ . w . [- ? -] ʾhwrmz[d][- ? -] (m.2) št[r][- ? -] a. Three faint traces of diagonal descenders; fifth letter z or y; seventh letter b, d, k, or r. If divided ywb[, perhaps Aram. ywb[r] “barley-supplier,” (see Naveh and Shaked 2012: 279 s.v.). By an alternate division, ywd- could begin a personal name (Schmitt 2016: 248–249 nos. 609 s.v. ywdmngn, 610 s.v. ywdmrt). b. Iranian theonym, or theophoric personal name (see Schmitt 2002, 121). The spelling with h in place of ḥ is less common but attested (Gignoux 1972, 45 s.v. ʾhwrmzdyk); for the ‘hwrmzd- theophorics see in general Schmitt (2016, 35–37). c. Possibly a variant spelling of the Aramaic allograph šṭrʾ for ārag “side” (Gignoux 1972, 65), but Iranian names in štr- are preferable in this context: e.g. štrbrzn (Naveh and Shaked 2012, text no. A1.1); for the element čiθra “origin” see Schmitt (2002, 113). For the last letter b and k are palaeographically less likely, but the former could yield a name such as štbrsynk (Schmitt 2016, 207).

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App Figure 3.7 Aramaic text 1. HSP75.23.7

App Figure 3.8 Drawing of Aramaic text 1. M. Zellmann-Rohrer

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App Figure 3.9 Aramaic text 2. HSP75.23.2

2. HSP75.23.2A, 3A + 6A + 26.37 + 33.5, 6, 7 + X.3, 4 (drawing based on HSP75.23.3A). Lightly incised graffito added above the Greek inscription described in the preceding section (see also text 3), above which yet more barely legible traces of a deeper but probably still secondary inscription. Further marks beneath the Greek cannot be resolved as letters. [- ? -] vacat . . . [- ? -] (m.2) [- ? -] . šbgynyʾ . zn[- ? -] a. First unread letter p, s, q, or t; too little remains of the next two letters, two vertical strokes, to advance the reading.

App Figure 3.10 Drawing of Aramaic text 2. M. Zellmann-Rohrer

b. If a word division were made after the second letter, the personal name bgyn might be read (Schmitt 2016, 73). Following that, the end of the line resembles most [y]ʾ[r]zn [, which might be explained as a metathetic form of an Iranian theophoric name in y(ʾ)z- (cf. Schmitt 2016, 249 nos. 611 s.v. yzt, 612 s.v. yztpt); if the initial y were attached instead to the preceding word, a name related to ʾryzn might have stood here (Schmitt 2016, 55 no. 68). 680

the temple inscription from khwaja ali sehyaka/sehyak

App Figure 3.11 Aramaic text 3. HSP75.33.3

3. HSP75.33.2, 3 + HSP75.X.1, 2 (drawing based on HSP75.33.3). Another fragmentary architectural member originally bearing the Greek inscription mentioned in text 2, here inscribed with a shallow graffito below; there are illegible traces of a deeper but probably still secondary inscription above the Greek. ʾyz . [- ca. 5 -]wypy ||| ʾzy . [. Parthian ʾyzny “temple, sanctuary” (Gignoux 1972, 48) could be reconciled with the remains of the fourth letter, a vertical stroke before the break.

App Figure 3.12 Drawing of Aramaic text 3. M. Zellmann-Rohrer

]wypy. Candidates among Parthian words with this termination are ‘rt ‘wypy “piety” (Gignoux 1972, 46), ḥwtwypy “authority, government” (Gignoux 1972, 54). |||. Probably numeral strokes (i.e., 3).

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archaeology of southwest afghanistan 4. HSP75.33.12 (drawing based on IMG.2467). Stone fragment with a similar appearance to the substrates of texts 2 and 3, and directly joining to that bearing text 5. The present text is shallowly incised on an upward-slanting line.

[- ? -]prtrm

If a complete word begins at right, perhaps a name related to Parthian prtm, prtr, prtry “first” (Gignoux 1972, 61: s.v. Schmitt 1972, 168); cf. the personal name prtn in Naveh and Shaked (2012, text no. D11.1).

App Figure 3.13 Aramaic text 4. Photo M. Allen

App Figure 3.14 Drawing of Aramaic text 4. M. Zellmann-Rohrer

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the temple inscription from khwaja ali sehyaka/sehyak 5. HSP75.33.8. Stone fragment directly joining to that bearing text 4; the graffito is shallowly incised but given added visual prominence by multiple overwritings. p . [- ? -] Before the break an elbow of an angular letter, b, g, d, k, l, m, r; e.g., the Parthian names p[k][wr] (Schmitt 2016, 150–151 no. 328), p[r][ht] (Schmitt 2016, 161 no. 357).

App Figure 3.15 Aramaic text 5. HSP75.33.8

App Figure 3.16 Drawing of Aramaic text 5. M. Zellmann-Rohrer

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archaeology of southwest afghanistan 6. HSP75.33.11 (drawing based on HSP75.33.11). Small stone fragment incised with a graffito of medium depth, now preserving only the bottom half of a line of four to seven letters. At right probably b or k, followed by a vertical trace followed by a bottom corner perhaps of š, then two vertical traces, then two stroke probably the legs of m, the left flourished as in text 4.

App Figure 3.17 Aramaic text 6. HSP75.33.11

App Figure 3.18 Drawing of Aramaic text 6. M. Zellmann-Rohrer

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the temple inscription from khwaja ali sehyaka/sehyak 7. HSP75.11.19. Graffito incised post-firing on the foot of a ceramic vessel comes from Area F of the excavation at Sehyak. Its chronological relationship to the temple inscription is unclear.

ḥt[. .]

App Figure 3.19 Graffito on foot of ceramic vessel from Area F. HSP75.11.19

App Figure 3.20 Drawing of Aramaic ceramic graffito. M. Zellmann-Rohrer

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Index

Abramiuk, Marc, 24, 26, 29, 245–6 Achaemenid, 6, 16, 32, 43, 239, 245, 246, 260, 269, 275, 278, 284, 287, 313, 336, 445–9, 475 period, 14–15, 22, 27, 325, 355, 338 site, 15, 25, 27 Achaemenid-Hellenistic, 15 Afghan Boundary Commission, 4, 19–22, 38, 60, 229, 243, 336, 434, 513 Allen, Mitchell, 1, 7–8, 40, 45, 359, 373 Allen, Terry, 18, 38 altar, 142, 207, 213, 484, 497, 509 ambulatory, 319, 361, 392, 481–4, 486, 491, 496, 499–502, 508 Amir Dost Muhammad, 287 Amiri, Ghulam Rahman, 4, 8, 9, 22, 459 Anglo-Afghan War, 19, 287 antechamber 100, 150, 217–8, 363, 371, 495–96, 499–502, 508, 538, 595 arcade, 191, 212–17 arch, 69, 70–1, 81, 82, 84, 86, 90, 96–7, 100, 103, 114, 126, 128, 129, 143, 161, 167, 173, 188, 198, 203, 214, 217–18, 228, 243, 261, 264, 269, 272, 280, 293, 297, 301, 309–10, 319, 370, 394, 482–3, 491, 522, 532, 538, 550, 584, 588–93, 598–600, 604–5, 616, 619, 621, 632, 650–1 arrow slit, 209, 263, 541 arrowhead, 14, 116, 186; see also bronze axe, 403, 432; see also iron balk, 437–9, 476–7, 557–9, 563, 638 Ball, Warwick, 16, 217f, 245f, 250f basket–marked wares, 25, 333 bathhouse, 36, 513, 540–1, 546, 557, 651 Shahr–i Gholghola Bathhouse, 566–74 bazaar, 17, 96, 117, 605–8, 621–3 bead, 80, 125, 337 carnelian, 93, 414 ceramic, 116, 152, 189 glass, 414, 418, 563 quartz, 472 steatite & travertine, 74 stone, 61, 116, 333, 563, 638 turquoise, 61; see also glass, jewelry, steatite, travertine Bellew, H. W., 20, 223, 275, 284, 287, 315, 346, 434, 449 belt buckle, 572

bolt, 50; see also copper bone, 364, 366, 369, 370, 379–82, 385, 408, 409, 410, 437, 439, 445, 481, 601, 602 animal, 54, 222, 333, 370–1, 407, 413 human, 68, 121, 142, 179, 207, 298 skeleton, 31, 129, 657; see also skull brickbat, 422 bridge, 30, 245, 345, 389, 515, 523, 541, 645, 646 British Boundary Commission see Afghan Boundary Commission bronze, 61, 80, 116, 165, 186, 278, 385, 418, 444, 472, 508; see also arrowhead, belt buckle, bolt, bracelet, coin, jewelry, ring, spearhead, stamp, sword Bronze Age, 6, 13–14, 23–5, 26, 32, 41–3, 245–6, 312, 331–5, 337–8, 343, 350, 445–9 burial, 23, 25, 26, 31, 55, 68, 72, 129, 171–2, 175, 229, 314, 338, 358, 359, 445, 447, 452, 453, 456–9, 461, 476, 509, 644; see also bone, cemetery, grave, mausoleum burnish cross hatch, 52, 80, 313, 445, 446, 504 radial (vertical), 43, 175, 189, 224, 252–4, 313, 370, 426, 445, 446, 447, 448, 493, 504 ring (horizontal), 43–4, 52, 60, 62, 72, 73, 120, 122, 123, 124, 125, 142, 157, 159, 163, 172, 175, 179, 181, 183, 186, 189, 194, 207, 210, 224, 226, 241, 246, 248, 250, 252, 254, 256, 260, 264, 268, 269, 284, 313, 315, 230–1, 359, 370, 371, 403, 407, 409, 410–11, 414, 422–3, 426, 429, 445–8, 462, 475, 481, 484, 493, 497, 504, 508, 563–5 buttress, 71, 81, 217, 226, 578–81, 599, 610, 623; see also corbel canal, 17, 22, 24, 35, 38, 41, 53, 61, 63, 66, 71, 78, 80, 84, 86, 92, 96, 110, 118, 120, 122, 125, 140, 144, 152, 155, 161, 165, 171, 178–9, 188–9, 199, 212, 222, 225, 229–32, 239, 256, 258, 259, 260, 265, 278, 279–80, 287–92, 314, 326, 337, 345–6, 350–3, 372, 486, 514, 515, 520–22, 621–3, 639–42, 644, 646, 648, 650–1 canal system, 16, 17, 32, 78, 142, 181, 186, 188, 509 caravanserai, 58, 222, 276, 337, 514, 538, 605–8, 621–3, 626 carinated ceramics, 43, 60, 224, 246, 260, 278, 313, 333, 335, 338, 446, 447, 448, 475 Carl, Jean, 514 celadon, 44, 89, 93, 118, 125, 179, 201, 564, 638

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the archaeology of southwest afghanistan cemetery, 25, 27, 42, 54, 96, 121, 123, 139, 142, 159, 171, 178–9, 212, 217, 229–30, 245–6, 250, 254, 276, 310–12, 330, 332, 357, 644; see also bone, burial, grave, graveyard, mausoleum, skull chartaq, 150, 223, 310, 319, 322, 327, 387, 452, 456 cupola, 584, 590, 644 cupola tomb, 520, 639, 643, 644–6 cistern, 237, 238 club rim, 60, 63, 69, 155, 161, 165, 186, 189, 207, 210, 232, 386, 446, 563 coin, 8, 9, 16, 20, 21, 22, 39–40, 60, 74, 89, 116–17, 118, 152, 159, 189, 241, 367, 369, 371, 508, 509, 513, 572, 608, 621, 623, 638, 650–1 bronze, 369 copper, 116, 382, 508, 621, 626 dating, 41 drachms, 16, 189 bronze, 508 silver, 72 lead, 116, 626 silver, 50, 188–9, 382 colonnade, 243, 614–19, 621 column drum, 247, 414, 422, 429–32, 445 comb, 382 copper, 23, 25, 42, 50, 61, 116, 257, 320, 331, 333, 337, 341–3, 445, 626; see also bead, belt buckle, bolt, coin, jewelry, slag, smelting corbel, 203, 515, 527, 546, 578–81, 599, 651; see also buttress cruciform, 89, 114, 272, 280, 319, 628 cup, 43, 73, 121, 176, 224, 226, 246, 248, 254, 314, 326, 333, 338, 370, 409, 414, 415, 418, 445, 446, 447, 475, 504, 508, 563; see also goblet DAFA (Délégation Archéologique Française en Afghanistan), 22–3, 27, 29–30, 38, 40, 49, 129, 200, 208, 228, 271, 276, 513, 514, 605, 623, 629, 646 dagal gardi, 21, 31, 66, 513; see also looted Dales, George F., 5–6, 13–15, 22–3, 24–6, 29–30, 40, 43, 330–1, 333, 336–8, 353, 514 dam, 2, 4, 254 dating methods, 21, 25, 39, 41–5, 674, 877–8 radiocarbon dating, 41–2, 332, 343, 366–8, 371, 379, 401, 428, 432, 462, 468, 476, 476f, 477, 483, 491, 493, 497, 508–9, 601, 675 dipinta storica sistana (DSS), 43, 269, 313, 335, 445 dog dish, 44, 60, 74, 120, 122–4, 162, 174, 179, 183, 189, 358, 446, 448 dome(d), 50, 74, 80, 81, 85, 90–91, 98, 100–2, 107, 108, 112, 114, 126, 127–31, 150, 203, 205, 212, 213, 214, 218–9, 228–9, 230, 243, 269, 271, 272, 293, 297, 300–1, 309–10, 319, 330, 337, 353, 374, 452–3, 499, 509, 532, 545, 546, 576, 586, 588, 623, 646–7 cistern, 238 hall, 211, 552 mausoleum, 376

squinch, 70, 584 vestibule, 374 door socket, 167, 363, 369, 371, 408, 409, 414, 432 dovecote, 35 drain, 209, 298, 515, 545, 555, 557, 558–9, 563, 564, 565, 566, 567–72, 578, 634, 637, 650 Drangiana, 15 dune(s), 22, 30–3, 38, 49, 54, 71, 73, 96–7, 118, 127, 150, 161, 164, 183, 225, 230, 260, 269, 359–60, 364–9, 485, 502, 506, 509, 515, 522, 577, 578, 579, 583, 605, 621–3, 634, 646, 650 dung, 378–9, 382, 401 Dupree, Louis, 23, 27 Fairservis, Walter, 13, 22–25, 29–30, 40, 353, 514 Ferrier, J. P., 19–20, 235, 271, 275, 287, 298, 315 figurine, 9, 40–45, 246, 247, 252, 254, 369, 429, 444 goat, 247, 415 horse, 61, 72, 162, 181, 210, 245, 246, 252, 312–13, 411, 419, 423, 426, 429, 445 ram, 415 fire temple, 16, 27, 43, 150, 315, 322, 350, 479, 483, 484, 496 Šna Qala, 315–22; see also temple Fischer, Klaus, 5, 15, 24, 29, 40, 44, 49, 125, 135, 175, 176, 196, 200, 208, 209, 222, 228, 235, 239, 247, 250, 271, 279, 283, 514 fishplate, 246, 445, 446, 447 flue, 53, 185, 572 fluted, baked brick, 60, 429 column, 247 drum, 349 socket, 186 frescoes, 22, 27 furnace, 572 garden, 76–7, 96, 100, 135, 149, 199, 228, 263, 280, 372, 376, 513, 644 gazebo, 372, 376 Ghaznavid, 17, 35–6, 42–4, 49, 56, 60, 65, 66, 74, 100, 117, 120, 126, 133, 135, 140–2, 144, 150, 174–5, 178–9, 191, 192, 194, 207, 208, 209, 212, 222, 239, 258, 279, 280, 281, 346, 353, 357–9, 367, 369, 370, 371, 509, 513–14, 523, 527, 540, 546, 565, 566, 576, 604, 628, 629, 639, 646, 650–1 Ghirshman, Roman, 13, 14, 22, 24–5, 43 glass 16, 20, 52, 69, 74, 80, 116, 155, 162, 165, 167, 189, 201, 212, 250, 263, 283, 312, 320, 369, 370, 382, 385, 387, 414, 418, 472, 508, 563, 603, 626, 638, 651; see also bead, jewelry goblet, 43, 44, 60, 72, 73, 120, 122, 123, 124, 155, 161, 162, 163, 168, 172, 179, 181, 183, 188, 189, 226, 241, 246, 248, 250, 256, 268, 313, 358, 370, 371, 386, 402–3, 407, 408, 409, 410–11, 423, 426, 445, 446, 447, 448, 462, 504, 508, 638; see also cup Goldsmid, Sir Frederic John, 20

696

index graffiti, 40, 205, 432, 506–9, 672, 673, 677 granary, 52, 67, 152 grave, 25, 45, 55, 66, 72, 93, 97, 123, 214, 217, 230, 245, 246, 247, 270, 276, 312, 331, 332, 334, 349, 357, 359, 461, 639, 643–5, 646, 647; see also bone, burial, cemetery, graveyard, mausoleum graveyard, 25, 78, 96, 334, 343 see also, burial, cemetery, grave, mausoleum grindstone, 259, 370, 382, 411, 432, 472, 563 Hackin, Joseph, 22–3, 237; see also DAFA Hamilton, Robert, 8, 34, 385, 426, 479, 484 Hammond, Norman, 13, 15, 24, 26, 29, 40, 223, 243, 245–6, 284, 346 hamun, 2–3, 22, 23, 24, 30 Hebert, Raymond, 40 Hellenistic, 20, 27, 41, 43, 45, 224, 246, 248, 252, 254, 260, 269, 278, 313, 314, 335, 338, 346, 445, 446–9, 677 Hellenistic-Parthian, 9, 25 Helmand delta, 19, 29–30, 60 Helmand River, 2, 4, 5, 20, 25, 29–30, 32, 49, 203, 212, 245, 247, 248, 256, 270, 278, 287, 315, 322, 345, 389, 399–400, 432, 512, 515, 650 hetib, 455 hipped jars, 171–2, 176, 475 horn, 379, 415 gazelle, 213 goat, 217, 382, 603; see also bone, skull inscription, 8, 9, 15, 21, 40, 41, 52, 73, 128, 238, 244, 312, 334, 338, 382, 399, 428, 429, 432, 445, 446, 455, 606, 621, 627, 650–1 Aramaic, 677–86 Bactrian, 677 Dasht–e Nawur, 677 Greek, 674–78, 680, 682 Nukunzuk, 677 Sehyak, 674, 677–8 Takht–i Sangin, 675, 677; see also coins, graffiti, seals, stamps, tamga, tiles iron, 369, 370, 385, 432, 445, 563, 603, 674 axehead, 403, 432 earring, 128 key, 93 knife, 50, 382, 444 plate, 74 ring, 382 ring mail, 125 sword, 116, 432 Iron Age, 14, 32–3, 42–3, 53, 55, 61–2, 66, 71, 72, 123, 124, 129, 142, 157, 159, 163, 171–2, 176–9, 183, 186, 188–9, 207, 232, 241, 246, 278, 284, 313, 325, 326, 358, 445, 448–9, 459, 468, 472, 475F, 477, 484, 540, 565, 650 irrigation, 250 iwan, 35, 70–1, 74, 77, 78, 80, 81, 82, 83–4, 86, 90–1, 92–3,

97–106, 109, 126, 132, 134, 141, 149, 150, 174, 191, 196, 199, 212, 217–222, 223, 228–9, 271–2, 280, 337, 359, 360, 369, 374–5, 377, 481–3, 486–95, 499–502, 506–9, 576, 578, 581, 583–90, 599–600, 604, 605, 621, 643–6, 648 jabbed base, 44, 60, 72, 73, 123, 135, 172, 175, 179, 181, 183, 194, 224, 244, 246, 254, 256, 265, 268, 283, 313–14, 320–1, 358, 386, 405, 407, 408, 414, 426, 446, 563 jewelry 116, 379, 413 bangle, glass, 382 bracelet, 74, 80, 165, 312, 320, 382, 484, 626 earring, 128, 414 ornament, lozenge, 320, 484, 626 ring, 93, 116, 382; see also bronze, glass, iron keyhole, 74, 81, 89, 117, 491, 499, 532, 588 arch, 71, 82, 84, 86, 90–1, 105, 106, 126–7, 129, 131, 165, 198, 241, 243, 269, 279, 281, 337, 550, 588, 589, 599, 604, 632, 650 niche, 74, 86, 98, 103, 107, 196, 205–7, 213–18, 222, 375, 545, 588–9, 593 window, 71, 81, 126–7 kiln, 53, 60, 61, 74, 78, 84, 100, 120, 122–5, 132, 140, 142, 163, 185–6, 188, 194, 233, 237, 247, 250, 254, 255, 281–3, 312, 215, 331, 337, 353, 385, 387, 506, 521, 642–8 knife, 50, 382, 444 Knudstad, James, 7, 34, 37, 237, 439, 484, 639 ladle, 207 lamp, 74, 382, 398, 446, 638 leather, 381–2 lebenspuren, 389 ledge rim, 44, 60, 73, 120–4, 159, 172, 175, 188–9, 224, 248, 313, 314, 360, 386, 414, 418, 445–6, 448, 484 ridge rim, 23, 61, 62, 66, 157, 172, 179, 189, 232, 241, 278, 284, 446, 447, 448 loot; (ed); (ing), 4, 26, 31, 38, 45, 52, 68, 246, 247, 250, 254, 432, 553, 561, see also dagal gardi lusterware, 94, 193, 201, 321 macehead, 172, 472 MacGregor, Charles M., 7, 330, 336 MacMahon, Henry, 22 madrassa, 217, 222, 275 Mahmud of Ghazni, 10, 513, 604, 650 Maitland, P. J., 20, 229, 275, 284, 434, 449 marble, 247–8 matting, 213, 218, 379–82 mausoleum, 21, 35, 96, 100, 112, 114, 117, 126, 128, 129, 131, 132, 140–1, 156, 181, 201, 222, 230, 241, 276, 310, 315, 319, 322, 330, 335, 337, 353, 372, 376, 451, 455, 456, 644, 648, 651; see also bone, burial, cemetery, grave, graveyard, tile McMahon, A. H., 20, 25, 336 merlon, 50, 137, 143, 150, 162, 168, 171, 181, 225

697

the archaeology of southwest afghanistan mihrab, 96–7, 214, 218, 241, 605, 608–16, 621, 627 millstone, 185, 381–2 minaret, 217, 218, 219–20, 606, 609, 623 minbar, 243, 605, 614 mint, 16, 626 moat, 21, 129, 135, 137, 157, 159, 163, 167, 168, 170, 179, 181, 183, 186, 207, 209, 229, 288, 292, 310, 513–15, 522–4, 527, 538, 540, 541, 546, 575, 623, 628–9, 633–4, 645–6, 650 molded ware, 44, 50, 52, 74, 80, 117, 132–3, 142, 157, 162, 165, 168, 181, 186, 189, 193, 201, 237, 244, 255, 259, 269–70, 281–3, 313, 320–1, 323, 330, 372, 382, 386, 563, 564, 603 Mongol, 17, 41, 608, 626, 651 Mongol Invasion, 17, 604, 608, 621 mosque, 35–6, 41, 42, 96–7, 117, 200, 212, 217–22, 235, 239–41, 284, 605–9 Muhammad Dadi of Charburjak, 21 mullah, 211, 222 ostracon, 181, 320, 369, 674, 677 palaeography, 674, 677 parapet, 205, 229, 291–2, 301, 309, 434, 526, 538, 578–9 parquet walkway, 546, 557, 567 Parthian Period, 4, 14–16, 21, 24, 27, 31, 40–5, 55, 56, 60, 61, 72, 120, 121, 142, 152, 188, 252–4, 256, 284, 313, 315, 320, 322, 323, 335, 338, 358–9, 432, 445–9 Partho-Sasanian, 23, 27, 44, 50, 53, 60, 63, 65, 66, 69, 120, 121, 125, 165, 172, 176, 179, 183, 201, 207, 224, 232, 233, 246, 256, 258, 263, 266, 268, 313, 334, 335, 343, 386, 447, 462, 469, 476–7, 508, 650 Pattenson, Lieut. Thomas Francis, 19 pedestal base, 60, 72, 120, 122, 124, 163, 172, 174, 188, 241, 248, 358, 386, 405, 414, 415, 418, 423, 447, 448, 508, 638; see also cup, goblet pipe, 118, 165, 298, 322, 553, 563, 572 plate, 43, 72, 124, 248, 278, 330, 359, 626 iron, 74 platform, 14, 22, 24–5, 42, 66, 78, 114, 159, 171, 176, 186, 188, 209, 226, 230, 233, 245, 261–3, 284, 300, 317, 322, 325, 326, 379, 396, 422, 433, 436, 438, 443, 448–89, 459, 461, 462, 465, 468, 469, 476, 477, 515, 523, 540, 557, 565, 572, 601, 604, 614, 633, 650 porcelain, 20, 140, 186, 638 Pottinger, Lieut. Henry, 19 pulley, 120, 122, 123, 124, 418 qibla, 96–7, 211, 241, 608–14, 626, 627 Rawlinson, Maj. Henry Creswicke, 19 rustaq, 24 Saffarid, 17, 36, 42, 44, 74, 84, 89, 117, 140, 369, 509, 513, 523, 527, 540, 565, 626, 628, 650–1 Saka, 4, 16

Sakastan, 16 Sasanian Period, 16, 20, 23, 24, 26, 27, 41, 42, 44, 49, 50, 53, 56, 60, 61, 63, 72, 118, 120, 121, 125, 140–2, 144, 145, 150, 152, 171–2, 179, 183, 186, 188, 194, 195, 206–7, 210, 244, 254, 250, 258, 312, 314, 320, 322, 323, 358, 371, 387, 432, 445, 446, 448–9, 462, 469, 472, 509, 540, 565, 603, 650; see also Partho-Sasanian seal, 21, 40, 60, 156, 181, 186, 333, 472; see also stamp Seleucid, 15 Seljuk Turks, 17 serpentine wall, 21, 522, 546, 554, 557, 563, 565, 650 sgraffito, 80, 117, 165, 269, 321–22, 382, 563, 564, 572, 638 Shahnameh, 3–4, 14 Shela Rud, 2, 13, 15, 23, 25, 27, 327, 331, 336–7 shell, 320, 333 ring, 95 tortoise, 382, 418 sill, 363, 379, 381, 402, 408–9, 454, 558, 569, 572, 621 skull, animal, 213, 337 human, 171, 567, 572, 651; see also burial, grave, mausoleum slag, 33, 250,254, 312, 343, 370, 567 brick, 194, 250, 255 ceramic, 33, 159, 246, 247, 250, 331 copper, 23, 61, 331, 333, 343 iron, 645 smelting, 25, 42, 333, 337, 343 Smith, Major Euan, 20 Smithsonian Institution, 1, 5, 7, 9, 38, 40, 477, 508, 572, 603 smuggling see looting sondage, 479, 491, 496–9, 508 Soviet invasion, 4, 7, 38, 40 spearhead, 61, 472 spindle whorl, 172, 179, 382 staircase, 90, 93, 96, 109, 112, 114, 127, 205, 219, 29, 238, 291, 297, 301, 309, 392, 399, 454, 546, 548, 549–53, 557, 584, 599, 614, 646 stamp decoration, 171, 626, 638 inscription, 152, 312 leaf, 244 lozenge design, 315 merlon design, 50, 168, 181 pine tree motif, 44, 60, 155, 159, 165, 175, 179, 181, 183, 189, 227, 232, 246, 248, 254, 268, 320, 321, 446, 462, 564 rider on horse or lion, 320 seal impression, 156, 186 stamped, brick, 40 stamped, jars, 44, 386; see also seal, tamga steatite, 26, 74, 80, 116, 162, 201, 283, 312, 320, 382, 472, 563, 603, 626, 673 stupa, 43, 245, 389, 390–3, 399 Sultan Baba Ziyarat, 247, 250 sword, 116, 432

698

index tamarisk, 19, 53, 120, 179, 222, 235, 332, 337 Tamerlane, 21; see also Timurid tamga, 40, 60, 61, 68, 175, 183, 188, 209, 248, 254, 313, 320, 335, 386, 407, 414, 426, 428, 429, 433, 445, 446, 448; see also seal, stamp tandur, 409, 601, 603, 604, 605, 643, 651 Tate, G. P., 4, 16, 17, 20–2, 30–1, 38, 49, 60, 66, 96, 97, 196, 199–200, 203, 220, 222, 228, 229, 235, 237, 238, 271, 275, 280, 335, 353, 513, 514, 605, 629, 650 temple, 9, 35, 41, 43, 150, 246, 247, 322, 346, 400–1, 414, 419, 432–3, 448, 486, 491, 496, 503, 506, 508, 509; see also fire temple tile, ceramic, 71, 80, 129 enameled, 235 funerary, 40, 41, 116, 128, 181, 332, 379, 382, 453, 455–6 Timurid, 17–18, 24, 35, 41–4, 49, 50, 52, 54, 60, 67, 68, 70–1, 74, 78, 80, 81, 82, 84, 85, 89, 90, 92, 94, 95–110, 117, 118, 124, 125, 127, 128, 131, 133, 137, 139–40, 141, 142, 144, 156, 165, 166, 168, 174, 179–81, 183, 185, 186, 188, 194, 196, 201, 207, 208, 209, 211–12, 228–30, 235, 237, 238, 241, 243, 263, 264, 271, 278, 280, 300, 327, 332, 337–8, 350, 353–4, 367, 369–74, 376, 378, 381, 433, 436, 448–9, 461, 514, 515, 526–7, 541, 559, 566, 604, 605, 632, 639, 643–6, 648, 651 toilet, 226 tomb, 15, 40, 96–7, 114, 128, 211–13, 218, 250, 310–12, 330, 334, 357, 379, 452, 453–6, 520, 639, 643–6, 648; see also burial, grave, graveyard, mausoleum, tile travertine, 72, 124, 142, 165, 175–6, 201, 217, 241, 245, 248, 270, 312, 320, 358, 445 trench, 22, 25, 36, 42, 120, 248, 357, 379, 385–7, 401, 433, 435–49, 459, 462–77, 482–3, 491, 502, 509, 513, 524, 526–7, 540, 554, 555–67, 575, 621, 628, 633–8, 645, 650–1 Trousdale, William B., 1, 4–7, 14, 37–8, 44, 120, 278, 284, 350, 354, 459 turquoise, 61, 74; see also jewelry

hall, 97, 98, 102, 191, 309–10, 353, 589, 593, 598, 647 iwan, 74, 82, 83, 97, 271, 375, 588, 643–4 kiln, 385 room, 50, 57, 67, 68, 69, 74–6, 80, 87, 90–1, 100–2, 107, 108, 126, 132, 139, 145, 151, 203, 205, 209, 217, 229, 230, 238, 243, 244, 246, 257–8, 264, 266, 267, 293, 297–300, 309, 319, 452, 454, 481, 501, 532, 538, 584, 599, 619, 644, 645, 647 tomb, 96, 128, 129, 453 tower, 63, 137; see also iwan Vincent, Robert K. “Chip”, Jr., 8, 34, 38, 389 volcanic formation, 37, 315, 322 inclusion, 333 outcropping, 20 stone, 122, 270

vault(ed), 58, 64, 127, 150, 226, 309, 453, 509, 546, 590 cave, 393 doorway, 609

ziyarat, 20, 96–7, 212, 245–6 Zoroastrian, 16, 21, 22 Zranka, 15

wadi, 23, 25, 254, 343 Ward, T. R. J., 21–2 well, 9, 31, 40, 41, 249, 275, 353, 399, 401, 414, 422, 423, 426–33, 455, 540, 557, 565, 650, 672, 674 whetstone, 72, 142, 382, 415 Whitney, John W. 8, 9, 80, 122, 245, 389 Wind of 120 Days, 3, 9, 23 wind scour, 54, 68, 72, 128, 357, 359, 372 windmill, 15, 35, 95, 97–8, 230, 237, 271–2, 353 window, 67, 68, 71, 74, 81, 82, 86–9, 93, 98, 112–14, 127, 137, 143, 161, 206, 212, 214, 220, 222, 228, 261, 266, 267, 309, 310, 526, 532, 546, 555, 581, 584, 586, 588–9, 590, 595, 599, 610, 646 arched, 69, 82, 89, 98, 131, 179, 225, 238, 243, 309, 310, 526 keyhole, 71, 81, 126–7, 375 merlon shaped, 50, 137, 143, 150, 225 slit, 50, 70, 82, 90, 97–8, 102, 137, 143, 150, 179, 184, 196, 203–5, 209, 229, 243, 261, 264, 298, 309, 353, 434, 526, 538, 554, 599–600 Yate, A. C., 19, 275 Yate, C. E., 330

699