Second millennium B.C. pottery at Hasanlu Tepe and Dinkha Tepe: INAA and petrographic studies

Hasanlu Tepe and Dinkha Tepe are located in the Ushnu-Solduz valley system of northwestern Iran. A comparison of the pottery assemblages of the Late Bronze Age (Has VI and Din IV) and the Early Iron Age (Has V and Din III) at each site shows that there was an abrupt stylistic change from one period to the next, that change being attributed to the migration of a new people into the region, circa 1450 B.C. INAA and petrographic analysis indicates that this cultural change influenced only stylistic aspects of the local pottery tradition: no new clay sources were exploited, no novel tempering practices were introduced. Rather, all the technological differences we can detect relate to variations within the internal organization of pottery production at each site, suggesting the presence of some workshops which specialized in certain ware types. There is also evidence for appreciable movement of finer painted wares from Dinkha to Hasanlu during the Bronze Age.