A 3-thousand-year-old pottery workshop was unearthed in Başûrê Kurdistan

Archaeologists have discovered a well-preserved pottery workshop dating back to the Iron Age in the Pişder Plain in Başûrê Kurdistan. The findings reveal that ceramic production is carried out with an organized and collective system.


ANF
NEWS CENTER
Saturday, December 27, 2025 


Archaeologists from the universities of Tübingen and Munich (LMU) in Germany have unearthed a well-preserved pottery workshop dating back to about 3 thousand years ago in the Dinka Settlement Complex located on the Pişder Plain in Başûrê Kurdistan. The discovery provides important new insights into how ceramic production was organized and how urban life was structured in the Iron Age.



The workshop, which dates back to between 1200 and 800 BC, was found in the lower part of the settlement in the area called "Gird-i Bazar". During the excavations, two ovens that provide upward air flow, tools used in pottery making, production residues and intact sediment layers were found. The findings show that ceramic production is not a household-based activity, but part of an organized and collective system carried out in specialized workshops.

The researchers conducted mineralogical and microstructural analyses on raw clay, finished vessels, furnace linings, furnace filling, and fuel residues used during firing. Reviews revealed that most ceramics are fired at temperatures below 900 degrees Celsius, in oxidizing conditions, and with slow heating methods. This process caused the vessels to acquire reddish hues.

Electron microscopy and spectroscopy analyses indicated low levels of vitrification, while it was determined that different types of vessels and their intended use were largely incorporated into the same production and cooking system. This indicates a modular, standardized and well-organized production chain.

Dr. Silvia Amicone, lead author of the study from the Archeometry Research Group at the University of Tübingen, states that this uniformity observed in production reflects a common technical tradition and a strong collective production identity. According to Amicone, this also points to a centralized management of resources, labor and technological knowledge, and a more complex social organization than expected for the Iron Age Zagros region.



The structural features of the ovens are also remarkable. The kilns, built by mixing local clay with organic materials, consist of a fire chamber and an upper section separated by a perforated floor. This design is similar to traditional kiln types known in Mesopotamia since the 7th millennium BC and reveals the long-term technological continuity in the region.

A post-occupancy examination of the kilns shows that the structures were abandoned over time, not by sudden destruction. Microscopic analysis indicates signs of water exposure and natural wear, with wood likely used as fuel.



The Dinka Settlement Complex has been one of the most extensively excavated Iron Age settlements in the Zagros region since 2015. According to experts, the workshop in Gird-i Bazar shows that craft production was an integral part of the urban fabric and that urban life in the Iron Age had a more organized and specialized structure than previously thought.

The results of the research were published in the Journal of Archaeological Sciences. Excavation and analysis are expected to continue to contribute to a more detailed understanding of the production, labor and technology relations of Iron Age societies.