Defining Dalma: an Incipient Mountain Identity?

Abstract. The Dalma archaeological culture of the northern Zagros has intrigued archaeologists for decades with a resurgence of interest as Dalma-related sherds are found at several sites recently excavated in Iraqi Kurdistan. Research into Dalma has focused on painted and surface-manipulated vessels that are highly distinctive, especially when contrasted with the contemporary widespread black-on-buff painted ceramic traditions of Greater Mesopotamia and southern Iran. Several archaeometric investigations have established that Dalma pottery was always locally produced regardless of where it is found and shows a high degree of microscopic variation in fabrics and production methods despite the apparent uniformity of vessel shapes and decoration patterns. In order to explain this phenomenon, archaeologists have repeatedly argued that groups of pastoral nomads seasonally migrated between Dalma communities and the surrounding regions, facilitating communication within the Dalma territory and producing Dalma cooking vessels with distinct surface markings as needed. However, this model lacks supporting evidence for the existence of highly specialized, long-range nomadism during the Chalcolithic and it does not necessarily explain the centuries-long sustained marked difference between small-scale, village-based Dalma communities and the surrounding societies that were undergoing profound social transformations. Instead, I argue, the Dalma archaeological culture reflects a deliberate rejection of these new forms of social organization by communities who preferred to maintain their adaptive, egalitarian lifeways in the northern Zagros highlands.