The pottery from Dahane-ye Gholaman (Sistan). The state of art

Discovered in the early 60s of the past century by an Italian archaeological team of the IsMEO (Istituto per il Medio ed Estremo Oriente) directed by Umberto Scerrato, the site of Dahane-ye Gholaman, in Iranian Sistan, represents a key site in the archaeology of the Achaemenid period on the Iranian Plateau. Italian and Iranian archaeological activities at the site revealed an important complex of buildings dated to the Achaemenid period (interpreted as the main urban centre of ancient Zranka/Drangiana) and led to the formation of a large assemblage of pottery fragments. Notwithstanding the scientific efforts made by several Iranian and Italian scholars in recent decades, the corpus of the pottery from Dahane-ye Gholaman remains partially unpublished and more exhaustive publications are still awaited. This paper aims at outlining the state of the research on the topic