東京大学総合研究博物館

西秋研究室

Laboratory for Prehistoric Archaeology of West Asia, The University Museum, The University of Tokyo

Professor Yoshihiro Nishiaki

Tall-i Jari A, Marv Dasht, IranYoshihiro Nishiaki
The University of Tokyo

The excavations
The site of Tall-i Jari consists of two mounds, known as Tall-i Jari A and B, about 200 m apart from eachother, located approximately 10 km southeast of Tall-i Bakun, on the Marv Dasht plain, southwest Iran (Fig.
1). Both mounds were first excavated by L.Vanden Berghe in the early 1950s, which demonstrated theirgreat potential for investigating cultural developments over the Neolithic and Chalcolithic periods. Due totheir pertinence to the main research target of the Tokyo University Iraq-Iran Archaeological Expedition,
both sites were subjected to intensive excavations in 1959.
Tall-i Jari A is a circular mound of approximately 120 m in diameter, rising 2.8 m from the surrounding field(Figs. 2, 3; Egami 1967). Following a 10 m by 10 m grid system, eight squares were excavated (Squares A toH), located in the southeast quarter of the mound. Square F was dug as a 3 m-wide trench to reveal thestratigraphic relationship between the central parts (A to E) and the southern edge of the mound (G and H).
Four of these squares (A, E, F, and H) were deepened to the virgin soil. The then field director, Sei-ichi
Masuda, conducted the second season of excavations in 1971 (Egami et al. 1977). A dense succession ofarchitectural levels was recovered, characterized by rectangular mud-brick walled buildings that often
contained buttresses inside (Fig. 4). The architecture and the associated ceramic typology led the excavator
to divide the stratigraphy into seven cultural layers in 1959, and three levels in 1971. Level I (the latest) of
the 1971 season corresponds to Layers 1 to 4 of 1959, Level II to Layers 5 and 6, and Level III to Layer 7(Miki 2014).
PASARGADAE
TehranIRANkuh-i srui

Rud-i

SivandPulvarkuh-BashiSiah
Gorbazdjun

iz

NAQSH-I ROSTAM

Saadatabadaidan

PERSEPOLIS

Bakun A
Bakun B

Marv Dasht

Kushk-e Hezar

Rijabad Gap

kuh-i

Mushkik
Jari A uhir
Jari Bahmsiah

A4-2A4-1atBand Amir

ZarganNRarfudkuh-i bi

2655

kuh-Arsanjan
2441

i bamKuruEWS0Shiraz

10 km

Fig. 1 Map showing the location ofTall-i Jari A and related sites in theMarv Dasht plain.

Fig. 2 Distant view of at Tall-i Jari A.

Fig. 3 Th Japanese excavation trenches at Tall-i Jari A, 1959.

Fig. 4 The Chalcolithic architecture
at Tall-i Jari A, 1959 (Nishiaki2003).

The stratigraphy
Mostly relying on the ceramic evidence, the excavators assigned Level I to the Late Bakun phase of theChalcolithic, Level II to the Proto-Hassuna of the Pottery Neolithic popular in northern Mesopotamia, andLevel III to the Jari B culture of the Pottery Neolithic (Egami et al. 1977). However, this view needs
considerable revision today (Nishiaki 2003). A more parsimonious interpretation, based on the publishedaccounts of the archaeological remains and a reanalysis of the ceramic specimens (Miki 2014), would be toassign Level I to the Early Bakun of the Chalcolithic (Fig. 4), Level II to the Samasabad, and Level III to theBashi/TMB phase of the Pottery Neolithic. The radiocarbon dates for this sequence from Alizadeh (2006)'s
excavations point to the occupations being mainly in the 6th millennium BC. The Level II Samasabad layers
yielded dates of 6280±70 BP (AA63492), 6170±140 BP (Beta207564), and 6010±40 BP (Beta210982)(Alizadeh 2006). The date obtained from a charcoal sample stored at the University Museum, the Universityof Tokyo for Level I was 6120±35 BP (Tka13822). In sum, Level I is dated from the early 5th millennium
BC, and Level II is dated from the late 6th millennium BC. Although no radiocarbon dates have beenobtained for the earliest cultural layers, Level III should be dated from the beginning of the 6th millennium
BC (see page for Tall-i Mushki).
Regarding the present state of research, the significance of the Japanese excavations at Tall-i Jari A can behighlighted by at least two points. The most important point is the contribution that it has made to thedefinition of the pottery difference between the Neolithic to the Chalcolithic in Southwest Iran. As theradiocarbon dates indicate, the Tall-i Jari A records demonstrate a rapid transition at around 5000 cal BC.
While the beginning of the Chalcolithic period in the region is marked by the introduction of painted pottery(Black-on-Buff ware), Balun ware and its process have not been documented at any single site. The Tall-i
Jari A cultural stratigraphy provides a rare opportunity to elucidate this process, through well-defined
stratigraphic records (Figs. 5, 6). Second, the Neolithic remains of Level III are intriguing regarding theunderstanding of the transition of the early-late phases of the Pottery Neolithic. The transitional phase has
been documented at only a few sites, like Tall-i Mushiki (TMB) and Toll-e Bashi. The material records,including the architecture and material remains, are considered to be important additions that contribute tounderstanding the Neolithic development of southwest Iran.

Fig. 5 Chalcolithic burial at Tall-i
Jari A, 1959

Fig. 6 Early Bakun pottery in situ
from Tall-i Jari A (JAA. P7, Level3).* *The text is after Nishiaki 2020.

Further reading
Alizadeh, A. (2006) The Origins of State Organizations in Prehistoric Highland Fars, Southern Iran:
Excavations at Tall-e Bakun. Oriental Institute Publications Vol. 128. Chicago: University ofChicago.
Egami, N. (1967) Excavations at two prehistoric sites, Tape Djari A and B in the Marv Dasht Basin. In:
Survey of Persian Art, edited by U. Pope, pp. 2936-2939. Asia Institute of Pahlavi University,Shiraz.
Egami, N., S. Masuda and T. Gotoh (1977) Tal-i Jari A: A preliminary report on the excavations in MarvDasht, 1961 (sic) and 1971. Orient 13: 1-14.
Miki, T. (2014) The Acceptance of Black on Buff Ware in Chalcolithic Southwest Iran: A Reanalysis ofpottery assemblages from Tall-i Jari A. Orient 57(1): 2–17 (In Japanese).
Nishiaki, Y. (2003) Catalogue of Archaeological Materials in the Department of Archaeology of WesternAsia. Part 6: Prehistoric Pottery from the Marv Dasht Plain, Iran. The University Museum, The
University of Tokyo, Material Reports No. 51. Tokyo: The University Museum, The Universityof Tokyo.
Nishiaki, Y. (2020) Tall-i Bakun A, Tall-i Bakun B, Tall-i Jari A, Tall-i Jari B, Tall-i Gap, Tall-i Mushki. In:
Iranian Archaeology, edited by K. Yamauchi, N. Murakami and T. Kanai, pp. 1–22. Fuefuki:
Research Institute for Cultural Properties, Teikyo University.

Copyright © Yoshihiro Nishiaki. All Rights Reserved.
17 June 2020