The aim of this study was to determine whether pottery shards from Kuh-i Khawja were locally made or imported. Kuh-I Khawja is one of the most ancient settlements in Iran’s Sistan during the Sassanid period. The study shows that the antiquity of the site goes back to the 3rd to 8th centuries CE and the earthenware found in Kuh-I Khawja can be categorized into four groups which are i) Plain unglazed pottery; ii) Unglazed painted pottery; iii) Plain glazed pottery; iv) Glazed and painted pottery. Archaeologists believe that most of the pottery shards are locally made; hence, to test this hypothesis, a scientific analysis was done to determine the chemical composition of the pottery shards. X-Rays Fluorescence (XRF) was applied to determine the major and trace elements of the pottery shards. The results demonstrate that most of the pottery shards are in the same group and this strongly suggests that they are local products. Additionally, based on the major and trace elements, it can be suggested that some of the samples were imported items.

中文翻译：

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来自伊朗东部锡斯坦 KUH-I KHAWJA 历史遗址的陶器碎片的成分分析

本研究的目的是确定 Kuh-i Khawja 的陶器碎片是本地制造的还是进口的。Kuh-I Khawja 是萨珊王朝时期伊朗锡斯坦最古老的定居点之一。研究表明，该遗址的历史可追溯到公元 3 世纪至 8 世纪，在 Kuh-I Khawja 发现的陶器可分为四类：i) 普通无釉陶器；ii) 无釉彩陶；iii) 素釉陶器；iv) 釉面和彩绘陶器。考古学家认为，大部分陶片是当地制造的；因此，为了检验这一假设，进行了科学分析以确定陶片的化学成分。应用 X 射线荧光 (XRF) 测定陶器碎片的主要和微量元素。结果表明，大多数陶器碎片属于同一组，这强烈表明它们是本地产品。此外，根据主量元素和微量元素，可以推测部分样品为进口物品。