Study of Chemical Compounds of Sgraffito Ware: A Case Study of Shahkuh Site at Alamut

In the Islamic period of various arts, including pottery, great progress was made, along with unglazed potteries; a variety of glazed potteries was produced. Among the pottery in the Islamic era, is the Sgraffito pottery (carving under the glaze). in this study, 26 pieces of pottery were studied from Shahkouh and Lembassar sites. Of these, 5 samples of non-glazed pottery are related to Shokouh's kiln, which is indicated by the Kou (Koureh) mark in the result table. 8 samples of pottery are collected from the range around the kiln, shown in the table with the o38 (trench’s name was O38) mark. 7 samples of pottery are collected from different sections of Shahkouh site, which is indicated by the Moh (Mohavateh) on the table, and 6 samples of pottery belong to the Lambesar castle, which is indicated by the symbol Lam in the results table. Elements of Mgo and So3 in the samples of the kiln can be useful for identification of samples. Especially sulfur trioxide (So3) as an indicator of pottery inside the furnace that was produced in Shahkouh itself. In addition, the authors used the statistical study and components analyses of these elements. The purpose of this study is to identify the elemental composition of pottery in the kiln and glazed pottery of Shahkouh and Lembesar. The questions raised in this research are: What amounts of the Alamut’s Sgraffito pottery are produced at Shahkouh site? The results of this study showed that the chemical structure of unglazed pottery obtained from Shchokh's kiln differs from that of Shahkouh's Sgraffito pottery and compares them with the Lambesar's Sgraffito indicating their different structures. As a result, it can be admitted that unglazed potteries that was extracted from the Shahkouh kiln was local production, but Sgraffito pottery was not produced by Shahkouh and Lembasser; Sgraffito potteries are produced elsewhere and it was imported into the sites.