The proposed method for discovering visual structure of Iran Plateau's prehistoric painted potteries

Lack of studies in the origin of visual art is obvious in Iran’s history of art. The increase in archaeological findings in recent years has provided quantitative context to achieve visual documents in prehistoric eras. But in most researches pottery images were studied as a case to understand people’s mentality, believes and culture. This historical-analytical study has a formalistic approach to study visual structure of images on potteries for their being an image and as evidence of form and not meaning. Therefore, a template is designed to achieve visual characteristics of images in which painted potteries of different areas are analyzed and compared. The first and most important step is determining visual variants. In the next steps, we will then visually analyze the images and compare analysis result. So visual indicators in each era or area are obtained. Major variants are categorized in three groups of general structure, visual elements and principles and motifs. This paper provides a case study of ChoghaMish Plate in south west of Iran based on painted potteries in that era in an analytical-comparative method and asks how the visual elements and patterns in the aforementioned era were. Analyzing painted art in terms of design was done through use of library and museum sources in a form based attitude. This led to a general recognition of structure of images on painted potteries in Neolithic and Chalcolithic ages. These periods have been divided into archaic, early, middle and late Susiana in this area. Finally, variety in composition structure and innovation in creating new motifs was increased from the beginning of Chalcolithic period in Middle ChoghaMish.