Insights into Shogha-Taimuran Pottery

The Shogha-Taimuran period refers to the second half of the second millennium BCE in the Kur River Basin of southwestern Iran, characterized by two visually distinct yet contemporaneous pottery types. To elucidate the causes of these distinctions, Neutron Activation Analysis (NAA) and X-ray Fluorescence (XRF) were conducted on the samples. Previous researchers posited Tol-e Darwazeh as the production center for Shogha-Taimuran pottery. However, this study reveals that Tol-e Taimuran also served as a production center, indicating different origins for some Taimuran pottery types and reflecting two distinct pottery traditions in the mid-second millennium BCE (Middle Elam). Analyses of Taimuran pottery, alongside other site findings, indicate connections with other areas, positioning Tol-e Taimuran as a potential main center for Shogha-Taimuran culture following the abandonment of Tol-e Malyan.