Konar Sandal

Iran · Kerman

Ancient cityIntermittent excavation
Approximate period2,880 BCE — 2,200 BCEBronze Age See on the map ↓

In brief

The site in the Halil River valley consists of northern and southern mounds. Excavations on the southern mound have revealed monumental buildings, houses and production areas; the dates given are the radiocarbon range from the first excavation report.

What was found?

  • 1Clay seal impressions

    Sealed clay fragments used to close containers such as bags, boxes, baskets and jars were found at South Konar Sandal. They provide direct evidence of control over the storage and movement of goods.

  • 2Stamp seals

    The stamp seals found during excavations also allow us to identify the tools that produced the impressions on clay. Together with seal impressions, they help investigate administrative practices.

  • 3White marble cylinder seal

    The seal found in trench IX near South Konar Sandal bears animal depictions. According to researchers, some figures show connections with Indus seal art.

  • 4Clay tablets with signs

    These are clay objects bearing geometric signs and signs associated with Linear Elamite script. Researchers note that their meaning and use are still insufficiently understood.

What does it point to?

Seals and traces of sealing show the control practices that accompanied the transfer of goods at Konar Sandal. According to researchers, different seal styles indicate connections involving people or communities from distant regions; the role of writing in this economic system remains unclear.

What did it teach us?

  1. Showed that seals played an important role in controlling goods.
  2. Revealed connections in seal art with Mesopotamia, Central Asia and the Indus world.
  3. Showed that the presence of objects bearing signs does not, on its own, prove the existence of an extensive written accounting system.

Images

Konar Sandal B- South mound- Jiroft-Kerman-ID510- تم کنار صندل ب -تپه توجا-تپه چنوبی
Mhsheikholeslami · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Record

Culture
Jiroft cultural sphere
First modern dig
2002
Coordinates
28.4494°, 57.7784°

Sources

  1. degruyterbrill.com
  2. en.wikipedia.org
  3. tandfonline.com
  4. South Asian Studies — Massimo Vidale ve Dennys Frenez

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12.000

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