This monograph presents new archaeological data on the economic development of southern Iran and the Persian Gulf coast from the Sasanian period to the end of the 17th century.

This monograph comprises the final publication of a study supported by the British Institute of Persian Studies and undertaken by Seth Priestman and Derek Kennet at the University of Durham. The work presents and analyses an assemblage of just under 17,000 sherds of pottery and associated paper archives resulting from one of the largest and most comprehensive surveys ever undertaken on the historic archaeology of southern Iran. The survey was undertaken by Andrew George Williamson (1945–1975), a doctoral student at Oxford University between 1968 and 1971, at a time of great progress and rapid advance in the archaeological exploration of Iran.

The monograph provides new archaeological evidence on the long-term development of settlement in Southern Iran, in particular the coastal region, from the Sasanian period to around the 17th century. The work provides new insights into regional settlement patterns and changing ceramic distribution, trade and use. A large amount of primary data is presented covering an extensive area from Minab to Bushehr along the coast and inland as far as Sirjan. This includes information on a number of previously undocumented archaeological sites, as well as a detailed description and analysis of the ceramic finds, which underpin the settlement evidence and provide a wider source of reference.

By collecting carefully controlled archaeological evidence related to the size, distribution and period of occupation of urban and rural settlements distributed across southern Iran, Williamson aimed to reconstruct the broader historical development of the region. Due to his early death the work was never completed. The key aims of the authors of this volume were to do justice to Williamson’s remarkable vision and efforts on the one hand, and at the same time to bring this important new evidence to ongoing discussions about the development of southern Iran through the Sasanian and Islamic periods.

• Front Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Contents
• List of figures
• List of tables
• Preface
• Conventions and explanatory notes
• Acknowledgements
• 1. Introduction
• 2. The Williamson Collection
  • 2.1 An archaeological career
    • Williamson’s early years (1945–67)
    • First prospective survey (1968)
    • The detailed survey (1969–71)
    • Williamson and Prickett
    • An overview of the survey
    • Writing up the results
    • Distractions and new opportunities (1972–75)
    • Posthumous work on the Collection
    • The challenge of a comprehensive study
  • 2.2 Survey methodology and concept
    • Survey methodology
    • Site identification
    • Vehicular survey
    • Site recording and sampling
    • Value of the data
  • 2.3 Processing the Collection
    • The Collection as it stood
    • Sherd numbering
    • Initial catalogue
    • Site location
    • Ceramic classification
    • Fabric description
    • The refined classification
• 3. Testing the reliability of the survey
  • 3.1 Issues of interpreting the data
    • Discoveries made through the work
    • Sampling and selection
  • 3.2 Site card analysis
    • Sherd comparison
    • Site comparison
    • Discussion
  • 3.3 Stein/Williamson comparison
    • The Stein Collection
    • Comparison of sites
    • Discussion
  • 3.4 The Bushehr Hinterland Survey (2004)
    • Revisiting Williamson’s sites
    • Background to the investigation
    • Discussion
  • 3.5 The Hormuzgan Survey (2005)
    • Site and area selection
    • Comparison of assemblages
    • Secure identifications
    • Casual identifications
    • Non-Williamson sites
    • Discussion
  • 3.6 The Williamson Collection in Tehran
    • The Williamson Collection in Iran
    • The Tehran Collection
    • Object labels
    • Finds selection
    • Tehran Collection sites
    • Discussion
  • 3.7 Reliability of the survey results
• 4. Regional settlement patterns
  • 4.1 Regional surveys
    • Settlement dynamics
    • Shah Maran-Daulatabad Survey
    • Eastern Bardsir Survey
    • The Bushehr Hinterland Survey
    • Diyala Basin Survey
    • The question of recent settlement change
    • Marv-Dasht Survey
    • Ras al-Khaimah Survey
  • 4.2 Analysis of settlement change
    • Dating of pottery and sites
    • The initial model
    • Improving the site periodisation
    • Regional distribution of settlement
    • Coastal areas
    • Inland areas
    • Trends and limitations
• 5. Patterns of ceramic distribution
  • 5.1 Regional reorientation of ceramic production
    • Alkaline-glazed ware
    • Distribution of alkaline-glazed ware
    • Honeycomb ware and torpedo jars
    • Systemic change
    • The Samarra horizon
    • The Samarra horizon in Iran
    • Glazed wares of the 11th to 13th century
  • 5.2 Eastern trade
    • South Asian pottery
    • East Asian pottery
    • Regional distribution of East Asian pottery
    • Emporia ‘migration’
    • Shifting economic zones
• 6. Conclusion
• Appendix I – Class catalogue
  • Introduction
  • Record explanation
  • Class index
  • Class code identification
  • Class descriptions
• Appendix II – Fabric catalogue
  • Introduction
  • Record explanation
  • Fabric index
  • Fabric description
• Appendix III – Site catalogue
  • Introduction
  • Abbreviations
  • Region prefixes
  • Site catalogue
    • Region A – Rud-i Shur to Bandar-i Lengeh
    • Region AA – Hormuz Island
    • Region AE – Kish Island
    • Region B – Lengeh to Qalat-i Abdl Rahman
    • Region D – Neran to Naband
    • Region DD – Tepe Dasht-i Deh
    • Region F – Tahiri to Rud-i Mond
    • Region H – Bushehr peninsula
    • Region J – Rud-i Shur to Minab
    • Region K – Minab plain
    • Region L – Minab to Jask
    • Region P – Halil-Rud
    • Region Q – Rudan and Bulak
    • Region R – Betweek Jiroft and Fars
    • Region S – Sirjan
    • Region V – Shiraz to Region B
    • Region Z – Bam/Rayen
    • Marv-Dasht Survey
    • Hormuzgan Survey
• Appendix IV – Pottery forms
• Published sources
• Williamson Collection Project archive contents
• Colour plates