Investigation and Studies on the structure of the ‎body of ‎historical Slip-painted pottery shards from ‎the Islamic era of Sistan

The Sistan plain is one of the most important ancient and historical centers in the east and southeast of Iran in the pre-historic and Islamic eras and little research has been done to understand its historical and cultural background. In this research, the bodies of six shreds of Slip-painted pottery belonging to the Sistan plain have been studied and investigated to identify their structure and mineralogical composition by various laboratory methods to identify their manufacturing technique and origin. For this purpose, various laboratory methods have been used, such as X-ray diffraction (XRD), thin section petrography, and ‎Scanning electron microscope‏ ‏in‏ ‏combination with energy-dispersive X-ray microanalysis ((SEM-EDS)‎. The structural study of the pottery body showed that all samples are similar in terms of structure and mineralogical. On the other hand, the absence of high-temperature mineralogical phases and the presence of some special phases indicated that the potters of the Islamic era used an average temperature of about 850 to 900 degrees Celsius to fire this pottery. According to the phases identified in the body of the pottery and the data obtained from the elemental analysis, it seems that red clays were used in the preparation of the clay of these pottery works, which caused the pottery to be fired. In oxidation conditions, the color of their paste becomes red. Considering the limited number of samples of this type of pottery discovered in this region and the incompatibility of the mineralogical composition and the elements that make up the body of this pottery with the structure and geological composition of the Sistan plain region, it seems that this is probably imported clay samples.