Dancing at the Dawn of Agriculture

Chapter 9: Neolithic and Chalcolithic Iran

chapter 9 Neolithic and Chalcolithic Iran In this chapter dancing figures from forty-two sites are presented. These were discovered in different regions of Iran (Fig. 9.1): the Deh Luran Plain, Luristan, and Khuzistan in western Iran (twenty-three sites, nos. 48–70), the Iranian Plateau and northern Iran (five sites, nos. 71–75), Fars (ten sites, nos. 76–85), and Kerman (two sites, nos. 86–87). Two sites are located in Baluchistan in western Pakistan (nos. 88–89). A detailed chronological correlation of protohistoric sites in the various geographical regions of Iran is beyond the scope of this study (see, for example, Vanden Berghe 1966; Dollfus 1983b:168; Hole 1987:29–78; Voigt and Dyson 1992). However, these sites can be generally dated to different stages in the sixth and fifth millennia bc. Stylistic Analysis Dancing figures were depicted on Iranian pottery by painting. No examples of applied or incised items have been found in the assemblage . The same terminology used to describe the Halafian and Samarra painted styles is used here. The Assemblage 48. chagha sefid This site is located in southern Mesopotamia, on the Deh Luran Plain of western Iran. Dancing figures of two types were reported here: The Linear Style. In a pre-Sabz phase, dated to the mid-sixth millennium bc, the interior rims of bowls and jars were decorated with schematic dancing human figures (Figs. 9.2, 9.3:a–d, 8.26:f; Hole 1977). A similar style has been reported from other sites, mainly of the Choga Mami transitional phase (Fig. 8.26:b–e, g; Dollfus 1986, Fig. 2) but also from the Halafian site of Tell Sabi Abyad (Figs. 8.26:h, 9.3:f–h). The Geometric Style. One bowl fragment unearthed at the site is decorated in the Khazineh painted style, as defined below in Site 51 (Fig. 9.6:i). figure 9.1 Iranian sites mentioned in the text. figure 9.2 Painted pottery from Chagha Sefid. Courtesy of Frank Hole, Department of Anthropology, Yale University. Photo by Y. Garfinkel. 163 a. Chagha Sefid, ca. 20 x 12 cm (after Hole 1977, Pl. 51:a). b. Chagha Sefid, ca. 3 x 4 cm (after Hole 1977, Figure 53:g). c. Chagha Sefid, ca. 4.5 x 5 cm (after Hole 1977, Figure 52:h). d. Chagha Sefid, ca. 6 x 6 cm (after Hole 1977, Pl. 43:b). e. Farukhabad, ca. 4 x 4 cm (after Wright 1981, Figure 11:b). f. Tell Sabi Abyad, ca. 9 x 9 cm (after Akkermans 1993, Figure 3.22:49). g. Tell Sabi Abyad, ca. 14 x 6 cm (after Akkermans 1993, Figure 3.17:5). h. Tell Sabi Abyad, ca. 12 x 8 cm (after Akkermans 1993, Figure 3.22:47). figure 9.3 Painted pottery from Halafian culture and Iran: 164 The Data 49. farukhabad This site is located in southern Mesopotamia, on the Deh Luran Plain of western Iran. The excavations concentrated mainly on the upper layers of the site but published a few earlier sherds of the sixth millennium bc as well. One of them is decorated in the schematic linear style (Fig. 9.3:e; Wright 1981, Fig. 11:b). The depiction on another small sherd bears a fragment of a dancing rhombus (Wright 1981, Fig. 17:d), in the style discussed below (Site 61). 50. tepe sabz This site is located in southern Mesopotamia, on the Deh Luran Plain of western Iran. It is dated to the second half of the sixth millennium bc. Excavators unearthed dancing figures of two types: 1. Some forty sherds decorated in the Khazineh painted style (below, Site 51). Two, the best-preserved examples, were published in the excavation report, and later I published additional sherds in my discussion on this type of decoration (Figs. 9.4, 9.5:d, 9.6:a, d–e, 9.7:b, d, f–g; Hole et al. 1969, Pl. 25:a–b; Garfinkel 2000). It is possible that some of these figures are holding branches in their hands (Fig. 9.7:d, f–g). Naturalistic depictions of figures holding branches have been unearthed at other sites (Figs. 9.15:d, 9.32:a–b, d). 2. The Mehmeh phase, dated to the second half of the sixth millennium bc, has yielded a painted sherd depicting dancing...