Tall-i Bakun (A & B)
تل باکون · Tall-i Bakun · Bakun A · Bakun B
Late Chalcolithic Bakun phase (c.4800–4000 BCE); Ubaid-related Bakun painted ware·Bakun (Fars Chalcolithic) with Ubaid–Susiana ties and early Elamite precursor·🇮🇷 Fars Province, Marvdasht Plain, Persepolis vicinity, Iran
About
About Tall-i Bakun (A & B)
Eponymous Bakun painted Chalcolithic city (c.4800–4000 BCE) on Marvdasht Plain — mound A (city, 2 ha, 8 m high) with administrative quarter: dense 20-room administrative complex with seal impressions, storage jars, copper and imported lapis. Tall-i Bakun A is capital of Bakun-phase chiefdom precursor to Banesh–Proto-Elamite urbanism; mound B (village) 1 ha lower settlement. Excavated 1928–37 L. Langsdorff & D. McCown (Oriental Institute) & 1956 Massey. Burnt admin building with 30 seal impressions and painted Bakun ware (black-on-buff). Type-site Chalcolithic Fars with lapis–copper long distance trade. Buried Ubaid-style village under A palace.
Why it mattersType-site Bakun Fars Chalcolithic — only administrative centre bridging Ubaid–Susiana to Banesh Proto-Elamite with seal administration before writing.
Open questions
Mysteries & theories
Mysteries
- 01Admin function — redistributive storage or temple economy?
- 02Why abandon with intact lapis — 4th-millennium collapse cause?
Theories
- 01Alizadeh Bakun chiefdom as Elamite state precursor vs Mesopotamian fringe
- 02Henrickson Bakun–Bakun trade network as eastern Iran–Indus indirect contact debate
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.4800 BCE Bakun B village; Bakun A admin compound 4300 BCE; Burnt Building 4100 BCE
- Period
- Late Chalcolithic Bakun phase (c.4800–4000 BCE); Ubaid-related Bakun painted ware
- Culture
- Bakun (Fars Chalcolithic) with Ubaid–Susiana ties and early Elamite precursor
- Builders
- Bakun (Fars Chalcolithic) with Ubaid–Susiana ties and early Elamite precursor builders
- Purpose
- Marvdasht plain chiefdom capital controlling Kur River basin copper–lapis corridor before Banesh city
- Abandoned
- c.4000 BCE Bakun collapse before Lapui–Banesh urban hiatus
- Rediscovered
- Excavated 1928–37 Langsdorff & McCown (Oriental Institute Persepolis Expedition); 1956 Alizadeh survey
- Excavation
- Excavated
2000
Initial work at Tall-i Bakun (A & B)
2015
Stratigraphy and geophysics synthesis for Tall-i Bakun (A & B)
On the ground
Structures & features
29.9020° N · 52.8560° E · 1620 m · 3 mapped features
Administrative Complex (A Level III)
administrative20-room sealed storage building
29.9022° N · 52.8562° EBakun B village
settlementDomestic quarter with kilns
29.9018° N · 52.8558° EPottery workshop
industrialKiln and painted ware dump
29.9020° N · 52.8560° E