Sakkizabad ware

At the end of the 1950s, a necropolis was discovered in Sakkizabad, c. 60 km south of Qazvin in northern Iran, containing a very rare type of painted pottery. Only two similar vases had been found, together with the typical gray ceramics, in a tomb at Tepe Siyalk. Shortly after the discovery, however, the entire necropolis was looted, and the pottery was only found on the art market. In 1970, scientific excavations finally started in Sakkizabad. Geometric patterns dominate on both the monochrome and the polychrome pottery. Mainly zigzag motifs, stars, diamonds and swastikas are combined in various ways. Animal motifs are exceptional. Both the inside and the outside of the bowls are decorated. This type of pottery is characteristic for northern Central Iran in the first half of the second millennium BCE.