new findings on the bead making during the 3rd millennium b.c. in the rig saray, gav khouni basin, central iran

in february and march 2005, the archaeological survey of righ saray desert in the northern part of varzaneh was conducted. ancient rigsray is an area which has been buried by the sandy dunes at the western margin of the marsh gavkhoni. during this project nearly 100 archaeological sites were identified and recorded. one of the most important sites identified by the survey is saba 9 which is the subject of present paper. comparative study on the pottery collection of the site suggests for the site a third millennium b.c. date. the abundance of surface scatters including pottery and especially beads is remarkable and higher density of beads and pendants made from stone, bone and ivory in addition to the finished and unfinished examples on the surface suggest that saba 9 may have been a manufacturing site for these items. in this article we have tried to determine the relative chronology of the site through the study of pottery and beads by comparing them with well known sites resulted in to conclude the possible interaction of saba 9 with the contemporary sites of surrounding areas.