Pottery

Pottery is perhaps the earliest and the most important invention made by man. For historians and archaeologists it is the most significant of the artistic manifestations. Ceramic production presents a continuous history from the beginning until the present day. For historians and archaeologists pottery of a certain period manifests the contemporary social organization, economic conditions and cultural stage of that particular region.

In Iran pottery manufacture has a long and brilliant history. Due to the special geographical position of the country, being at the crossroads of ancient civilizations and on important caravan routes, almost every part of Iran was, at times, involved in pottery making. Yet, recent excavations and archaeological research revealed that there were four major pottery-manufacturing areas in the Iranian plateau. These included the western part of the country, namely the area west of the Zagros Mountains (Lurestan), and the area south of the Caspian Sea (Gilan and Mazandaran). These two areas are chronologically as far as is known today, the earliest. The third region is located in the northwestern part of the country, in Azarbaijan. The fourth area is in the southeast, i.e. the Kerman region and Baluchestan. To these four regions one may also add the Kavir area, where the history of pottery making can be dated back to the 8th millennium BCE.