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Image Credit: Andrea Squitieri
Iron Age Pottery Workshop Sheds Light on Ancient Production Systems
Archaeologists have uncovered a remarkably well-preserved pottery workshop in Iraq’s Kurdistan region, offering rare insight into the full production chain of Iron Age ceramics—from raw clay to finished vessels.
The discovery was made at the Dinka Settlement Complex, one of the most extensively excavated Iron Age urban sites in the region. Within an area known as Gird-i Bazar, researchers identified a pottery workshop dating between 1200 and 800 BC, including two kilns, production debris, and intact sediment layers. The preservation of these remains has enabled an unusually detailed reconstruction of how pottery was produced.
Scientific analysis of clays, kiln linings, fired vessels, and fuel residues revealed a highly organized and standardized manufacturing system. Although vessels varied slightly in form and finishing—likely reflecting different uses—the underlying production methods were consistent. Potters relied on simple updraught kilns, low firing temperatures below 900°C, oxidizing conditions, slow heating, and short firing times.
Evidence suggests that this workshop was not an isolated facility but part of a broader network of pottery production serving both the settlement and its surrounding region. Additional kilns identified through geophysical surveys indicate that ceramic manufacture was deeply embedded in the urban layout and economic life of the site.
The findings point to a shared technical tradition and coordinated production practices, reflecting a level of organization and resource management that was previously unexpected for the region during the Iron Age. Rather than being peripheral activities, specialized crafts such as pottery production appear to have played a central role in shaping urban life in the Zagros region.
Ongoing excavations continue to explore the economic and social foundations of the Dinka Settlement Complex, offering new perspectives on the complexity of early urban societies in the first millennium BC.
Published on: 23-12-2025
Edited by: Abdulmnam Samakie
Source: Phys.org