A petrographic approach to study Dalma pottery at the sites of Seh Gabi, Godin Tepe, and Tepe Siahbid in the Central Zagros of Iran

• Dalma represents the early Middle Chalcolithic pottery in the Central Zagros of Iran. • Petrography is used to examine raw material procurement and provenance of pottery. • Dalma pottery was produced locally at Seh Gabi, Godin Tepe, and Tepe Siahbid. • The clay sources correlate with the geological characteristics of each region. • Knowledge of pottery making was transmitted by people associated with the Dalma tradition. This paper focuses on aspects of pottery production during the “Dalma period”, the earliest phase of the Middle Chalcolithic in the east Central Zagros of Iran, according to Henrickson’s chronology (1985a, 1991). This period is dated to 5200/5100–4600 BCE ( Bahranipoor, 2023 ). Dalma pottery has a wide distribution, not only within modern borders of Iran but also extending into areas of Mesopotamia and the south Caucasus. In this study, a petrographic analysis has been conducted on pottery samples from three sites: Seh Gabi, Godin Tepe, and Tepe Siahbid, to examine raw material procurement and pottery provenance. The first two sites are located close to each other in the east Central Zagros, while Tepe Siahbid is situated in the west Central Zagros. By comparing results from these sites, I examine whether Dalma pottery was locally made or transported between these regions. The results show that, despite their similar appearance, the pottery samples from these regions were all locally produced, as the clay sources used in the east Central Zagros differ from those in the west, and these sources correlate with the geology of each region. The local production of Dalma pottery suggests that the knowledge of making pottery, rather than the pottery itself, was disseminated by people associated with this tradition. Moreover, a degree of variation in the local clay used in pottery making indicates that pottery was produced at the household level in these societies.