The Susa Sequence-3000-2000 B. C

The Susa Sequence-3000-2000 B. C.: Susa, Ville Royale IAuthor(s): Elizabeth CarterReviewed work(s):Source: American Journal of Archaeology, Vol. 83, No. 4 (Oct., 1979), pp. 451-454Published by: Archaeological Institute of AmericaStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/504144 .Accessed: 25/01/2013 05:03

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Chronologies in Old World Archaeology The End of the Susiana Sequence and the Origin

of the Uruk Period, by Harvey Weiss The Susa Sequence--3000-2000 B.C., by Elizabeth

Carter The Topography of Amarna, by Geoffrey T. Mar-

tin The Mycenaean Pottery at El Amarna, by Vrowny

Hankey Minoan and Mycenaean Faience, by Karen Polin-

ger-Foster Near Eastern Faience, by Suzanne Heim The Chronology of Late Helladic IIIC, by Spyros

Iakovidis

The information given by Harvey Weiss is cov- ered in his article, "Periodization, Population and Early State Foundation in Khuzistan," in Moun- tains and Lowlands: Essays in the Archaeology of Greater Mesopotamia, eds. L.D. Levine and T.C. Young, Jr. (Bibliotheca Mesopotamica 7, Malibu 1977) 347-69; his paper is therefore not summa- rized here. The papers by Geoffrey T. Martin and

Vrowny Hankey were not considered ready for publication by their authors; the paper by Karen Polinger-Foster was based on her very useful dissertation. Suzanne Heim's paper was a partial report on her dissertation which has not yet been completed.

To these explanatory remarks about the papers of the past academic year are added corrections to the paper of P.E.L. Smith, "An Interim Report on Ganj Dareh Tepe," AJA 82 (1978). On p. 535 the text reads "large bread bowls" but should be "large broad bowls." On p. 538 the depth of the accumu- lated deposits of Level E was given as 5 m., but was only about 0.50 m. thick. In the footnote on p. 538 the name of one of the sponsoring institu- tions should read "National Research Council of Canada."

EDITH PORADA DEPARTMENT OF ART HISTORY AND ARCHAEOLOGY

COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY NEW YORK, NEW YORK 10027

The Susa Sequence--3000-2000 B.C.: Susa, Ville Royale I ELIZABETH CARTER

The goal of the current Susa excavations is the establishment of an archaeological and cultural sequence for the site. Part of this long-term project is a stratigraphic control operation at the north- west edge of Mecquenem's "Chantier I" in the Ville Royale. This work has led to the recovery of a sequence spanning most of the third millennium B.C.1 Table I outlines the stratigraphy, ceramic sequence and evidence of date found in the Ville Royale I sounding. These results are com-

pared to those of recent excavations on the Acro- pole2 and with the widely used scheme of periodization proposed by Le Breton.3 Le Breton's divisions are difficult to correlate precisely with either the Ville Royale or Acropole sequences since they are based on stylistic changes of unstratified material.4

Three major periods, described below in outline (see Table below), were numbered following the scheme proposed by Le Brun5 for the Acropole.

1 A report on the first three seasons of work in Ville Royale I is scheduled to appear in Cahiers de la dilegation archdologique Iranfaise en Iran [DAFI] 11 (1980). Details on stratigraphy, architecture and burials from the excavations have been sum- marized in E. Carter, "Suse: Ville Royale I," Pallorient 4 (1979) 197-2I11. 2 M.-J. Steve and H. Gasche, L'Acropole de Suse (Memoires de la dclICgation archeologique en Iran 46, Leiden and Paris 1971). A. Le Brun, "Recherches stratigraphiques a l'Acropole de Suse (I969-x97I)," DAFI I (i971) I63-214. 3 L. Le Breton, "Susa, the Early Periods, Mesopotamian Re-

lations," Iraq 19 (1957) 113-23. 4 "Da," "Db" and "Dc" are distinguished by the appearance of different styles of polychrome painted wares. Most of this pottery was decorated after firing and the paint is not stable. Thus it is not surprising that few examples of these distinctive wares have been found in recent excavations on the Acropole or in the Ville Royale. The majority of the pots studied by Le Breton were apparently found in graves excavated in the Donjon and Ville Royale and such wares may have been a special class of funerary ceramic.

5 Le Brun (supra n. 2) 211.


452 CHRONOLOGIES IN OLD WORLD ARCHAEOLOGY [AJA 83 Susa: Relative Chronology 3oo0-200oo B.C.

Susa: Relative Chronology 3000-2000 B.C. Ville Royale I Acropole

Tentative Steve et period Glyptic and Le Brun Gasche Le Breton & date Ceramic Types Level Inscriptions 1971 1971 1957

3 Ur IlI style seal: > V2000j _inscribed

Wells 8, 2000 presentation, 10, 22, 25, combat scenes 27, 28

4A Shu-Sin brick B :m fragmentary

cone B of Puzur/Kutik

V Inshushinak 5

A GAP

6A 2200 B

7 Couche 1 Agade recent

B De

8 Couche 2

Trend toward Mesopotamian recent IV Ceramic Styles ? 9A Couche 3

B Proto- Dd imperial

A i,

10

S11 Couche 4

12, Strata 4a Strata 4b Dc 2600

12 Strata 4

13

C 14 10? Db

15 11? III

16 12? 17 13

1 18A 2 brocade style B seals, and

_ geometric style GAP Da imprints )J 18B t1 ED I

style sealing Ca

2800 1 Proto-Elamite 14B 2800 -

tablet 14A Proto-

Sterile 15 dynastic Cc 3000 16


1979] CHRONOLOGIES IN OLD WORLD ARCHAEOLOGY 453 The area excavated, with the exception of level 18, is extremely small and, although the main lines of ceramic development are clear, the divisions proposed here may well have to be revised when a larger sample of material is recovered.

LEVELS I8-I3-PERIODS III B AND C? The Susa III period can be divided into at least

three phases. The earliest phase has not been found in the Ville Royale but is well represented on the Acropole.6 The ceramics of the earliest Ville Royale phase are characterized by a buff ware with a predominantly mineral temper that was often coated with a flaky red or red-brown slip or wash. Plastic decoration in the form of finger-impressed bands, small bosses and pierced triangular nose lugs are relatively common.

Usual forms in levels 18-17 include shallow and hemispherical bowls, sometimes with notched rims, and neckless jars that grade into closely related open forms. Small jars, that are rarely decorated with red and black paint, but more frequently with simple bands of red paint, and medium to large necked jars with flat-topped rims are also characteristic of these levels.

Many of the same types appear to continue in the following III C? phase. The distinctive banded forms shown in Table I appear to be con- centrated in levels 15-13 and for that reason a subdivision is proposed at this point in the sequence. Too little pottery has been recovered to come to a more definite conclusion.

Correlations with Acropole I, I4B-I3, as well as specific parallels with pottery from Nippur (Inanna XII-X), Asmar (H 18:14 sounding) and Uruk (Early Dynastic, private houses) suggest a date range of ca. 2900-2700 B.C. for levels 18-16 of the Ville Royale. Likewise parallels with Banesh Period Malyan and Tepe Yahya IVC-B indicate a date not far from 3000 B.C. for level 18.

LEVELS I2-7-PERIODS IV A? AND B? In levels 12-7 the red-washed or slipped common

wares of levels 18-13 go out of style. Monochrome painted wares first appear in significant numbers in the assemblage forming approximately 33% of the diagnostic sherds recovered in level 12. Typical motifs include vertical and horizontal bands, wavy

bands, hatched triangles, solid triangles, wavy angled or arched bands, "ladders," "plants" and birds. The lower body of the vessel is often decorated with "shark's teeth" and/or plain bands. The paint used varies from black to brown to brown-red to red. The most frequently decorated form is a slightly restricted carinated or semi-carinated pot or jar.

Plain buff ware forms found in levels 12-9 include carinated bowls, large open forms and jars often decorated with finger impressed bands on body and base.

Painted buff wares go out of fashion forming between 6-12% of the diagnostic sherds in levels 8-7 as compared to 27-42% in levels 12-9. Conical bowls and ribbed-shouldered jars also become common in 8-7. This trend toward Mesopotamian styles in ceramics is the basis for the subdivision of Period IV. A similar observation made by Le Breton formed the basis of his division between his "Dd" and "De."7

The IV A? painted wares find their closest parallels in Godin III and Baba Jan IV decorated pots, while the Susa IV B? assemblage can be compared to ceramics of late Early Dynastic III through Ak- kadian Period date found in Mesopotamian sites.

LEVELS 6-3-PERIODS V A? AND B ?

The pottery found in levels 6-3 is characterized by the use of unpainted buff ware with a grit, chaff or sand temper. The most common decora- tive technique found was the use of applied ribs, ridges or finger-impressed bands either singly or in combination. Incised bands on jar shoulders were also used with some frequency. Only scattered painted sherds have been found in these levels.

The conical bowl continues in levels 6-5 but declines in popularity and appears to be replaced by hemispherical and upright-indented-band-rim bowls. Double angled jars appear in 6 and become common in 4-3. These may be a development from earlier, more open, step-shouldered pots. Ribbed- shouldered jars, common in 8-7, continue in 6-5 but were not found in 4-3. The decision to group levels 6-5 with 4-3 and not 8-7 may well have to be revised once a larger body of stratified material is available. The majority of the ceramic parallels

6 Le Brun (supra n. 2) 189-96. 7 Le Breton (supra n. 3) 122.


454 CHRONOLOGIES IN OLD WORLD ARCHAEOLOGY [AJA 83 with Mesopotamia and with Ville Royale B VII-VI indicate a date range for levels 6-3 of ca. 2200-1900 B.C.8 Glyptic and inscriptions found in levels 4-3 also support this dating.

CONCLUSIONS

Further expansion of these excavations is planned since they will lead to the reconstruction of the culture history of the period, permit the reordering

of a large body of unstratified finds from earlier excavations and provide more detailed evidence of Susa's ever-fluid relationship with the city states of Sumer and the towns of highland Elam. The docu- mentation of Susa's changing cultural orientation during the third millennium B.C. may well provide insight into the effect political change had on the material culture of a regional center located in a border zone.

8 H. Gasche, La poterie ilamite du deuxieme millinaire a.c. (Memoires de la dilegation archeologique en Iran 47, Leiden and Paris 1973) I1. The pottery from levels 6-3 is closely par- alleled by that found in Ville Royale B VII-VI which Gasche

dates from ca. 2oo0-900o B.C. The slightly higher date sug- gested here is based on my understanding of the ceramic sequence and its relationship to dated Mesopotamian finds. Fur- ther excavation is needed to establish a more precise date.

The Chronology of LH IIIC To Fritz Schachermeyr, on his eightieth birthday

SP. IAKOVIDIS

Late Helladic IIIC is often described as a pottery style, the last to be developed in Mycenaean Greece. Actually it is more than that: it is an era, a chronological period, during which pottery evolved first along the patterns of the preceding IIIB style-- which, indeed, was simply a style--but soon divided into several general trends, more or less di- versified locally. In this it differs from the uniform, standardized and widespread LH IIIB pottery. At the end LH IIIC style tended towards simplifica- tion of forms and frugality of decoration which foreshadowed the following, so-called sub-Myce- naean, LH IIIC 2 stage. Stylistically speaking, the final phase of IIIC i style is unspectacular and sometimes not easy to define, but its emergence, although not sudden, is readily distinguishable from the foregoing fashion. Even so, however, it is difficult to place it accurately in terms of years. Our most reliable guides are indirect and often tenuous synchronisms with Egyptian dates and these can be determined at best no closer than within four years. Usually the margin is wider. In our present state of knowledge we cannot hope to arrive at precise absolute dates, especially in the case of tran- sition from one pottery style to another, which is by definition a gradual process. What we can and must do, however, is to define such a process, to narrow down its duration as far as possible and to correlate it with the available chronological data.

LH IIIC pottery has been discovered practically

everywhere in Mainland Greece and the Aegean, and in some Near Eastern sites. At some sites, it forms more or less bulky groups, found sometimes in well stratified contexts, which show best the evolution of shapes and decoration as well as even- tual regional variants. These variants exist and are sometimes very pronounced, as for example in Achaia, Crete, the Dodecanese and the Cyclades. They have been often exaggerated, however, and may seem to exist only because of the nature of their find spots; settlement and cemetery pottery may sometimes be of different types.

There are some changes in vase shapes from LH IIIB. Kylikes (ill. 1, #7, 20) are entirely replaced by deep bowls (skyphoi) which become very frequent (ill. 1, #3, 13, 14, 40, 41, 52). New shapes or variants of shapes appear: the one-handled conical skyphos, (ill. 1, #15, 42) the collar- necked stamniskos (ill. 1, #43), the trefoil-lipped jug (ill. 1, #34, 49), the neck-handled amphora (ill. 1, #46, 56), the hydria (ill. 1, #33, 48), the small bottle-shaped lekythos (ill. 1, #21, 44, 55). Minor features change: lips on jugs show an inner groove (ill. 1, #35), spouts on stirrup jars become increasingly more vertical (ill. I, #12, 38, 39, 51) and their handle disks acquire a pointed knob (ill. I, #11, 12, 38, 39, 51). Vase forms which during LH IIIB were more or less squat or globular and baggy (ill. i, #i-io) become now ovoid, with flat- tened shoulders and taut, nearly straight sides (ill.


Article Contentsp. [451]p. 452p. 453p. 454

Issue Table of ContentsAmerican Journal of Archaeology, Vol. 83, No. 4 (Oct., 1979), pp. 377-504+iii-viiiVolume Information [pp. iii-vii]Front Matter [pp. 504-504]Morgantina, Past and Future [pp. 377-379]Where Was the So-Called Erechtheion? [pp. 381-394]Did Julian the Apostate Rebuild the Parthenon? [pp. 395-401]"The Garden of Hercules at Pompeii" (II.viii.6): The Discovery of a Commercial Flower Garden [pp. 403-411]Ayia Irini, Keos: The Successive Periods of Occupation [p. 412]The Dendra Octopus Cup and the Problem of Style in the Fifteenth Century Aegean [pp. 413-426]Late Minoan Incense Burners [pp. 427-435]Review: Trends in Current Americanist Archaeology [pp. 437-449]Chronologies in Old World ArchaeologyThe Susa Sequence-3000-2000 B. C.: Susa, Ville Royale I [pp. 451-454]The Chronology of LH IIIC [pp. 454-462]

Archaeological NotesTen Lead Tabellae from Morgantina [pp. 463-464]Stone Vases and Minyan Ware: A Facet of Minoan Influence on Middle Helladic Laconia [pp. 464-469]The Agricultural Year, the Commodity SA and the Linen Industry of Mycenaean Pylos [pp. 469-474]The Return of the Dioskouroi: A Reinterpretation of the Scene on the Reverse of the Vatican Amphora of Exekias [pp. 474-476]The Apulian "Xylophone": A Mysterious Musical Instrument Identified [pp. 476-477]A Portrait of Alexander the Great at the University of Delaware [pp. 477-481]Pliny's Chapter on Roman Funeral Customs in the Light of Clipeatae Imagines [pp. 481-484]

Book ReviewsReview: untitled [pp. 485-486]Review: untitled [pp. 486-487]Review: untitled [pp. 487-488]Review: untitled [p. 488]Review: untitled [pp. 489-491]Review: untitled [pp. 491-492]Review: untitled [pp. 492-493]Review: untitled [pp. 493-495]Review: untitled [pp. 495-496]Review: untitled [pp. 496-497]Review: untitled [pp. 498-499]Review: untitled [p. 499]Review: untitled [pp. 499-500]

Books Received [pp. 500-503]Back Matter

Documents

The Susa Sequence-3000-2000 B. C