A meticulous and systematic study of pottery can yield valuable insights into various aspects of human societies, including subsistence strategies, culture, art, economic conditions, technology, cultural interactions, and more. The Sarakhs Plain, located in northeastern Iran and adjacent to Turkmenistan, contains Sasanian-era pottery whose identification and classification can serve as a key tool for understanding ceramic traditions and examining the cultural and economic exchanges among population centers of that period.
This study is based on an archaeological survey of the Sarakhs Plain and an analysis of 80 diagnostic pottery fragments from 12 Sasanian settlements, forming the core foundation for relative chronological assessment. To scientifically reveal cultural interactions, a combination of library research (descriptive and comparative analysis) and field investigations was employed. The findings from the Sarakhs Plain archaeological survey were compared with contemporaneous discoveries from both intra-regional and transregional contexts. Through these comparisons, classifications, typologies, and cultural connections were identified and analyzed.
Field studies provided evidence of cultural continuity and single-period occupation in Sasanian settlements. Based on the analysis of pottery attributed to the Sasanian period in the Sarakhs Plain, two distinct types were discernible: locally produced pottery (influenced by the Sarakhs Oasis culture of Turkmenistan) and common Sasanian pottery (influenced by the Merv culture), representing the recognized cultural sphere of southern Turkmenistan.