words, he “attacked” the mound with 200 workmen, following a two-week clearing of the Damghan citadel, which was curtailed as modern buildings occupied the historical settlement. Both Schmidt and Leitner noted that, while the topographic map was being drawn (it was not ready until the middle of the first season), pottery collections from the surfaces of elevated and relatively flat areas were used to select test squares and as chronological guide-fossils.
Schmidt (1933:343) wrote: “Our excavations in the Painted Pottery Flat only sounded the stratum of Hissar I [Plate LXXXI] without uncovering coherent building complexes. This task was deferred until the second season.” He observed that the walls of these early levels were of pisé construction, in contrast to the mudbricks used in the later periods. An undisclosed number of simple pit burials were found, while thousands of painted sherds from Hissar I with elaborate geometric and figurative animal and plant motifs were collected. Schmidt indicates in one of his reports to the museum that the mound was covered with masses of sherds and fragments of other objects suggesting the productiveness of the site.
Regarding the abundance of (mostly clay) animal figurines, Schmidt argued that they had a ‘utilitarian’ purpose: “They were magic images of domesticated beasts and birds, made to increase their number and the wealth of the owner. Others represented game of the steppe and of the hills, to help the hunter’s luck and to protect him against the ferocious species, such as the tigers represented by the alabaster figurines of Stratum III” (Schmidt 1933:357). Clay “stamp seals” with geometric designs of Period I are considered by Schmidt as probably ornaments/buttons as there were no associated seal impressions found. On the other hand, the workers may have missed the balls of clay with impressions during hasty removal of earth. Of significance, however, is one clay “stamp seal” (H20) found in the upper refuse of “Stratum I” [Hissar I], which depicts two human figures, an ibex, and snakes(?) (ibid., p. 357, pl. XCI). Its significance is in the depiction of the human figure as incorporated into the geometric and animal motifs, an unusual stylistic choice for Hissar I period.
Only a small percentage of Period I sherds were registered, most of them painted, and they were sent to the Penn Museum. Fortunately, complete vessels and other objects were carefully recorded in the field register. Only thirteen burials are noted in the first season’s 1933 report.
Schmidt noted that Hissar I material extended from the main complex of mounds to the fringes of the plain and covered a larger area than the later settlements, Hissar II and III. There were three superimposed “strata” recorded at the South Hill, at the North Flat’s eastern extension, and on the Main Mound. Schmidt’s usage of the term “stratum” is meant to connote both a stratigraphic “layer” (with or without architectural remains) and sometimes also a chronological-typological “period.” On the Painted Pottery Flat and in other flat areas, “Stratum II” appears as a “thin top layer over Stratum I” (Schmidt 1933:367), marked by the appearance of grey ware pottery types in larger quantities than in Stratum I, although still with an admixture of earlier painted buff vessels.
Thus, Hissar II was reported to follow directly from Hissar I. Hissar II was mainly explored in test squares; larger exposures had to wait until the second season. As in the case of Stratum I, no complete buildings of “Stratum II” were uncovered. However, there was one technological change in Hissar II: the use of straw-tempered mudbricks in contrast to the pisé walls of “Stratum I.” On the South Hill, in the North Flat’s eastern extension, and on the Main Mound, test squares showed that Stratum II lay directly below Stratum III.
On the eastern extension of the North Flat, 30 burials belonging to Period II were cleared in plot CG25. According to Schmidt, there was a smooth transition from the end of “Stratum II” into “Stratum III.” However, he goes on to say, “there are quite a few pottery vessels and other objects which we cannot attribute to one or the other stratum” (Schmidt 1933:389).
“Stratum II” is marked by a large number of copper objects, including weapons (blades of daggers/knives/spearheads) with mid-ridges that were superior in their craftsmanship to those of “Stratum I.” In addition to personal ornaments (such as copper and silver earrings, bracelets, pins, and weapons), objects suggesting markers of ownership and a differentiated social position of the deceased individuals were found, such as an ornamented macehead (H1200) and copper stamp seals with compartmented/cross designs. (ibid., p. 381, H1176, H320, pl. CVII). One of the most frequently occurring category of grave objects in “Stratum II”, as in Hissar I, was beads3 made of semi-precious and exotic stones (alabaster, carnelian, rock crystal, and the earliest appearance of lapis lazuli), while silver and gold pieces appear as personal ornaments.
Some “stamp seals” with geometric designs, such as those encountered in Hissar I burials, are also found in Stratum II burials, and are, again, most likely ornaments/buttons.
The pottery assemblage of “Stratum II” is marked by the appearance of grey wares in larger quantities than in Hissar I; in fact, a somewhat equal admixture of grey and painted buff vessels was deposited in the graves. Nevertheless, some of the Hissar II pottery forms are distinctly different from those found in Hissar I, including goblets and bowls with long stems and wide splayed bases. Additionally, the painted motifs change between Periods I and II.
Concerning Hissar III, Schmidt (1933:389) wrote, “the archaeological situation suggests that Period II faded into Period III.” The plans of building remains show walls of several structures, which in the 1976 season were found to enclose three large buildings on the Main Mound (Schmidt 1933: pl. CXII, 1937: fig. 86; Howard 1989a: fig. 1).
On the Main Mound, eight contiguous squares of 10-meters each were tested and an intramural “necropolis” of 180 burials was cleared (Schmidt 1933: pl. CXLVII). In the process, two superimposed occupation levels were recorded: Level 1 (earlier), largely destroyed by erosion and anthropogenic agents and Level 2 (later), which showed evidence of burning and had burials from even later periods dug into it. The intramural “necropolis” of Hissar III was placed over and into the abandoned Level 1. These were simple pit burials in which traces of fabric were often found under some of the bodies.
The burials contained a rich assortment of objects that ranged from grey burnished pottery to copper tools, weapons, copper medallion seals (ibid., pl. CXXIX) and personal adornments, as well as animal figurines, “effigy” vessels, and beads of lapis lazuli, crystal and carnelian. Objects made of alabaster and soapstone are among the rich burial finds, most notably elegant vessels, a stemmed plate, a curious “disc” with handle and an accompanying grooved “column,” and a female effigy (ibid., pp. 423–30, pls. CXXXV–CXLI, CLIII, CLIV). Of the 180 burials in this group, Schmidt described four very rich graves in detail, attributing rank and status to the deceased, called by him “warrior 1,” “dancer,” “little girl,” and “priest.” These graves were furnished with metal weapons, agricultural tools and/or domestic utensils, including a group of copper “wands”/symbols, stone and copper seals, a unique “fan”/mirror, small sculptures of animals, and female figurines modeled in copper, silver, and alabaster. Gold and silver ornaments (vessels, diadem/belts, figurines) were found in a few of the graves.
The Hissar III pottery assemblage is largely burnished grey ware, often decorated with pattern burnishing and in rare cases with linear incised patterns. New forms are described as “bottle pitcher,” “canteen,” “stemmed brazier,” and vessels with “bird spout,” “bill spout,” or “long straight spout” (Schmidt 1933: pls. CXIII–CXVII). In addition, there are some “surviving” painted cups and a potstand from types related to Hissar I and II. Some simple and beak-spouted silver and copper bowls recall pottery vessels of similar forms.
Regarding glyptic art, the stamp seals and seal-shaped ornaments with simple geometric motifs that closely resemble the clay seals/ornaments of Hissar I and II. The copper “medallion” seals appear to be specifically associated with the Main Mound burials (ibid., p. 414, pls. CXXIX, CXXX); they are “shaped like a pendant with bilateral sealing pattern” with perforated handles (ibid., p. 414). Two cylinder seals in alabaster/calcite and serpentine with human and animal figures on them (ibid., pl. CXXX H116, H892) were found on the Main Mound in the fill of Building 2 (DG10) and in a rich burial (DF19 x60), respectively.
Schmidt