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•Proto-Elamite sealings, used to secure storage and portable objects, were typically made and used locally.•Proto-Elamite tablets seem to be transported between sites, indicating flow of information or goods.•Interactions were facilitated through the direct transport of commodities or by merchants who acted as intermediaries.•Resilience strategy would be another possibility for interaction between different sites within Iranian Plateau.

ABSTRACTSeveral monuments erected in the mid-seventeenth century in Isfahan, Iran, demonstrate a glittering paint layer as wall decoration. Raman spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy coupled with energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (SEM-EDS) on the glittering paint layer showed flakes of muscovite (KAl2(AlSi3O10)(OH)2) scattered on gypsum plaster were responsible for the glittering effect. Accounts of several travellers and historical texts about a substance called talqmatch with the use of muscovite as a glittering pigment in Persia during the seventeenth century. Methods of preparation and possible source for muscovite in Iran are discussed. It is suggested that crushed muscovite was in use as pigment in Persia sometime around the mid-seventeenth century. It is also argued that the use of muscovite was a new experience related to mass building construction in the capital of the Safavids during the mid-seventeenth century.

Non-invasive methods including micro-Raman spectroscopy (μ-Raman), micro X-ray fluorescence (μ-XRF), fibre optics reflectance spectroscopy (FORS) and environmental scanning electron microscopy (ESEM) were used to study thirty-five ceramic shards from Afrasiyab and forty-seven potshards from Nishapur. These shards are dated from the ninth to the tenth century AD and include various types of underglaze and inglaze decoration. Non-invasive scientific studies indicated that tin oxide was employed as a white opacifier in both sites while silicates including quartz, olivine, diopside and feldspar served as opacifier in Afrasiyab shards thus demonstrating a technological connection with the pre-Islamic tradition of glaze opacification. The white slip of most of the wares excavated at Nishapur contained dehydrated pyrophyllite which may be indicative of local production. Furthermore, while a dense distribution of chromite was found in the black underglaze decoration of the so-called yellow staining black ware from Nishapur, a diluted chromite probably obtained from a different source was used in the imitated lustre wares from Afrasiyab. Mixtures with different proportions of manganese oxide and black haematite were utilised as the black colouring agents. Taking all of these findings into account, it is proposed that a consistent ceramic technology and production is represented by the entire set of the shards from Afrasiyab while different materials and technologies are evinced in the Nishapur ceramics.

Shahr-i Sokhta in east of Iran represents different stages of settlements from the fourth to the second millennium BC. A large assemblage of ceramics shards has been unearthed from Shahr-i Sokhta many of which are decorated with different shades of black, yellow and red colours. Micro X-ray fluorescence (μ-XRF) and micro-Raman spectroscopy (μ-Raman) on some seventy painted shards from Shahr-i Sokhta with polychrome, bi-chrome and monochrome decorations showed haematite and goethite as red and yellow decorations, respectively. Black decorations, however, consisted of four main groups including carbon black, magnetite, haematite and jacobsite. This paper represents a successful application of non-invasive spectroscopic methods for identifying pigments on archaeological ceramics.

Eighteen glazed objects from Nimrud, Hasanlu and Borsippa dated to a period from the ninth to sixth century BCE were analysed by micro X-ray fluorescence (μ-XRF), X-ray diffractometry (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) coupled with energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) and micro-Raman spectroscopy (μ-Raman). While calcium antimonate (CaSb2O6) and lead pyroantimonate (Pb2Sb2O7) were the main white and yellow opacifiers of the glazes, respectively, white sodium antimonate (NaSbO3) was also sporadically observed in the Nimrud glazes. Copper sulphide associated with cassiterite (SnO2) was used as colouring agent – or probably as opacifier – in a green glaze from Hasanlu. Cassiterite associated with the slag of Cu-Sn copper alloys was also observed in a green glaze from Nimrud suggesting a close tie between metallurgy and glaze-making. Pyromorphite (Pb5(PO4)3Cl) and arsenian pyromorphite were observed in spherical forms embedded in the yellow glazes of Nimrud and Borsippa.

AbstractThis paper presents and interprets the terms and concepts described by Hobaysh Teflisi in the twelfth century AD for making Islamic coloured and enamelled glass and lustre decorations. These descriptions comprise the fourth and fifth chapters of Bayan al-Sana'at, a book for “explaining crafts”. The instructions contained in these chapters can be considered as one of the first references on glass making and enamelling on glass in Persian literature. Although the recipes suggested by Teflisi demonstrate fairly accurate methods, materials and techniques, they are sometimes misleading and need to be interpreted based on technological and scientific investigations. The current paper provides an English translation of the two chapters of Bayan al-Sana'atand discusses the less common terms in another section of the paper—“Commentary on the translated chapters”. Another section of the paper—“Technical description of methods and materials”—is devoted to the technical contextualisation of the chapters.

Gilding decorations on Islamic tiles have been previously studied either historically or technologically. The major emphasis in these studies has always been focused on the use of gold leaf on glazed tiles. The current research has been conducted by electron probe micro-analysis (EPMA), portable micro X-ray fluorescence (μ-XRF), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), optical microscopy and atomic force microscopy (AFM) to shed light on a less-known technique of gilding applied on the nineteenth century haft rangglazed tiles of the Imamzadih Ismail mausoleum in Qazvin, Iran. Our observations showed that the gilding decorations are performed on a blue alkali glaze. Plant ash was suggested to be the source of alkali and cobalt was identified as the colouring agent of the glaze. Moreover, trace amounts of arsenic in the composition of the blue glaze was interpreted to be associated with the colouring agent of the glaze; i.e., cobalt. Furthermore, the gilding decorations were suggested to be achieved by firing gold powder on the pre-fired blue substrate glaze. AFM, SEM and optical microscopy proved that the gold flakes partially penetrated the pre-fired blue substrate glaze. This paper established a local provenance for the colouring agent of the blue glaze used as a substrate of gilding decorations. In addition, our studies showed that the gilding decorations were achieved by firing gold powder on the pre-fired blue glaze of a nineteenth century Persian haft rangtile.

•Madder red has been used as a historical colourant in Iran.•Atacamite is a common green pigment in the Persian painting history.•Raman spectroscopy is major diagnostic tool for the identification of ancient pigment.•Local gypsum deposits have been used at the mount Sofeh in Isfahan, Iran.