Tall-e Bakun
تل باکون · Tall-i Bakun · Bakun A & B · Tall-e Bakun (Marvdasht)
Chalcolithic (Bakun, c.4000–3500 BCE)·Fars Chalcolithic Bakun culture·🇮🇷 Fars Province, Marvdasht plain, Iran
About
About Tall-e Bakun
Twin chalcolithic mounds (Bakun A and B, 300 m apart) on fertile Marv Dasht, Bakun period (c.4000–3500 BCE) elaborate AP administration centre with stamp seals, sealings, painted Bakun ware (geometric + naturalistic), copper, and central pillared hall. Excavated 1930s Schmidt, Langsdorff, Alizadeh shows proto-Elamite horizon, 1.2 ha, 6 m high, earliest Fars painted pottery climax before Proto-Elamite Lapui. Models early state in Persepolis plain before Anshan.
Why it mattersType-site for Bakun painted ware and earliest administration in Fars before Proto-Elamite.
Open questions
Mysteries & theories
Mysteries
- 01Bakun–Susa connection?
Theories
- 01Marv Dasht proto-state model
Theories are interpretations, not findings. The seal above tells you how much scholarly weight the place carries.
History
How it came to be
- Built
- c.4000 BCE Late Chalcolithic
- Period
- Chalcolithic (Bakun, c.4000–3500 BCE)
- Culture
- Fars Chalcolithic Bakun culture
- Builders
- Marv Dasht Bakun villagers
- Purpose
- Painted pottery production and sealing administration centre
- Abandoned
- c.3500 BCE Lapui phase
- Rediscovered
- 1928 Schmidt Oriental Institute
- Excavation
- Excavated
c.4000 BCE
Bakun A village founded
c.3800 BCE
Bakun painted ware peak with sealings
c.3500 BCE
Abandoned, Lapui gap
On the ground
Structures & features
29.9133° N · 52.8867° E · 1620 m · 3 mapped features
Tall-e Bakun — Bakun A
moundMain mound with pillared hall and sealings
29.9135° N · 52.8867° ETall-e Bakun — Bakun B
moundSecondary mound 300 m south, painted pottery kiln
29.9120° N · 52.8870° ETall-e Bakun — Sealing workshop
workshopSteatite seal and sealing workshop between mounds
29.9130° N · 52.8860° E
Gallery