Assembling the puzzle pieces: Integrating pottery and kiln analysis to reconstruct pyrotechnology at the Dinka Settlement Complex (Iraqi Kurdistan)

This study offers an integrated analysis of pottery and firing installations, used to investigate ancient pyrotechnology. Such combined approaches remain rare in archaeology, as kilns and other firing structures are often overlooked compared to the ceramics they produced. This limits insights into technological practices, resource management, and production systems. The Dinka Settlement Complex (DSC), recently discovered in the Peshdar Plain (Sulaymaniyah Province, Kurdish Autonomous Region of Iraq), provides a unique opportunity to address this gap. As the only extensively excavated early Iron Age site in the Zagros with direct evidence of a pottery workshop, it sheds light on craft specialisation, technological traditions, and urban life, revealing an unexpectedly level of socio-economic complexity in the region at that time. Excavations uncovered kilns together with a diverse pottery assemblage, analysed using a interdisciplinary methodology combining archaeometry, geoarchaeology, and palaeobotany. Techniques such as ceramic petrography, X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) were applied to sherds, kiln linings, and local clay to assess composition and firing conditions. Soil micromorphology and micro-remains analysis further clarified kiln construction, fuel choices, and use histories. The results reveal a coherent technological tradition at the DSC, possibly indicating centralised control over pottery production across a network of workshops integrated into the site's layout. More broadly, this research shows how linking pottery analysis with pyrotechnological features enhances our understanding of ancient technologies and the life cycles of production installations. The interdisciplinary approach provides a replicable model for future studies and makes a significant contribution to the study of early Iron Age production systems in the Zagros and beyond. • Integrated study of pottery, kilns, and sediments at an Iron Age urban site in Iraqi Kurdistan. • First high-resolution study of Iron Age kilns and ceramics in the Middle East. • Evidence suggests coordinated, shared firing practices across vessel types. • Micromorphology reveals full kiln lifecycle from construction to abandonment. • Methodological framework advances ceramic pyrotechnology investigations.