The Islamic Ancient Termez Through the Lens of Ceramics: A New Archaeological and Archaeometric Study

ABSTRACT This paper presents an archaeological and archaeometric study of a range of Islamic ceramics (9th-17th centuries) from Termez (south Uzbekistan), a city which has been proven to be both a production centre and a trading post. Pottery was manufactured in a number of workshops located in the lower city (shahristan) and its suburbs (rabad) and is consistent with the products of the most important Central Asian centres. For the first time, the fabrics of glazed and unglazed wares and two pottery moulds from two excavated areas at Termez were examined by WD-XRF, XRD and petrographic thin section analysis in order to determine the features of local manufacture and identify possible imports.