Early and Middle Bronze Ages

A very limited group of sites dating to the Bronze Age (3^rd millennium BCE) were found by the project. A single site, Dam, contained ceramics and seals that match those found at Shahr-i Sokhta in Iranian Sistan to the west. Our excavation at Lat Qala did not reach a Bronze Age stratum but produced some Bronze Age ceramics in later layers. A few Bronze Age sherds were found at other sites along the Helmand Valley, supplementing equally sparse findings by previous researchers. The lack of early sites may be related to sites being covered by later occupation in the Helmand Valley and/or by the annual floods of the Helmand River. A Middle Bronze Age culture called the Bactria-Margiana Archaeological Complex (BMAC) of the early second millennium is demonstrated by a small collection of a few sherds at several sites and by miniature stone columns and stones with carved handles at a few sites. This culture is known previously from finds in eastern Iran and Turkmenistan. Bronze Age occupation is much better attested across the border in Iranian Sistan and to the southeast in the Quetta Valley in Pakistan.

Early Iron Age

Our discovery of a style of painted pottery at Qala 169 in 1971 was first thought to reflect Bronze Age occupation in Sar-o-Tar. We returned to excavate the mound in 1974 and discovered, through radiocarbon dates, that the culture of the site dated to the Early Iron Age, around the year 1000 BCE, a time period in which the entire Sistan region was thought to be unoccupied. Reevaluation of other sherd collections and additional survey work in Sar-o-Tar produced over 20 sites in the region that date to this time period, the largest of which was Qala 350A. The discovery of Early Iron Age occupation at the eastern edge of the Helmand Basin, not found further west in Iranian Sistan, suggests the river flowed close to its current channel at that time.

While several early researchers claim to have identified material culture from the time of the Medes at Nad-i Ali, we found no similar materials anywhere else in Sistan.

Achaemenid and Hellenistic Periods

Sistan was known to be part of the Persian empire, was visited by Alexander the Great’s armies, and then became part of a series of post-Alexandrian kingdoms based in India to the southeast and Central Asia to the north. There are several well-known archaeological sites from these periods in Iranian Sistan, and we found a variety of others along the Helmand River. Our excavations at Lat Qala will help define the material culture of those two periods, as we found occupation levels from each period there. A Hellenistic Greek temple likely existed at Mukhtar, near Lashkar Gah, based upon the architectural fragments, figurines, and ceramics we found there.

Parthian and Sasanian Periods

This was the period of greatest occupation in Afghan Sistan, with over 100 of our 175 sites showing Parthian and/or Sasanian remains. The nomadic Saka people, who gave Sistan its name, controlled the area for a while, followed by an Indo-Parthian dynasty based in Sistan until the rise of the Sasanians in the 3^rd century CE. The first palace at Shahr-i Ghoghola was built in Parthian times along with numerous other large sites along the Helmand River. Canals flowed into Sar-o-Tar and supported numerous sites there. We found several fire temples dating to this period, the one at Ŝna Qala having similarities to the well-known one at Kuh-i Khwaja across the border in Iranian Sistan. The westernmost Buddhist stupa known from the early expansion of the religion was excavated at Khane Gauhar in 1971. A Mesopotamian-style temple, with numerous Greek-influenced architectural elements and objects, was excavated at Khwaja Ali Sehyaka. Occupation in the agricultural zone of Sar-o-Tar included several elaborate estates, such as House 139, excavated in 1974, and numerous smaller farms that left only storage jars embedded in the ground as evidence. Parthian fine ceramics, many of them decorated in a dark red slip with ring burnishing, appeared all over the survey zone. Numerous animal figurines in fired ceramic also appeared at different Parthian sites. 

Historical documents show that the Sasanian empire controlled Sistan from early in the 3^rd century CE and that the dynasty may have originated from a Sistani family. The region was a central part of the Sasanian empire until its demise in the 7^th century. Many Sasanian sites were identified by the project, including a string of fortresses in Sar-o-Tar that resembled collections of Sasanian forts in northeast Iran and elsewhere. The Sasanians also took over and reused many of the Parthian period sites in the region. The Sasanian empire was brought down by the Arab invasion of the 7^th century CE according to historical records but the archaeological correlates of this political change are not clear in Sistan.

We were unable to identify clear evidence of the first century of Arab rule. 
 

Saffarid, Ghaznavid, and Ghorid Periods

From the late 9^th century until the Mongol invasions of the early 13^th century, a sequence of Afghanistan-based empires emerged to control Sistan and much of Iran, Central Asia, and South Asia. The Saffarid Dynasty was local to Sistan and is best demonstrated archaeologically at Shahr-i Gholghola, where they constructed the Citadel Palace that crowns the site today. Historical documents show that the region was conquered by Mahmud of Ghazni in 1003 CE and became part of the Ghaznavid empire for the next half century. Ghaznavid building at Shahr-i Gholghola was extensive, reconstructing the defensive wall systems, building a bathhouse, and creating a new Lower Palace that resembles the well-known South Palace at Lashkari Bazar near modern Lashkar Gah, excavated in the 1950s by French archaeologists. In the late 11^th century, the Ghaznavid empire was superseded by the Ghorids, who ruled from the mountains east of Herat. Their control is largely attested in Sistan through a ubiquitous style of molded pottery found at many sites. Sistan fell to the Mongol invasion in 1222 CE, known from both historical texts and confirmed by hoards of coins found outside the mosque of Shahr-i Gholghola.

Timurid Period

The century after the Mongol invasion does not have clear archaeological correlates through our project, but the succeeding period, after the Mongol invasions of Tamerlane in the late 14^th century CE, the Timurid period, is very different. We identified a large series of mudbrick rural estates in Sar-o-Tar and elsewhere that date to the 15^th century, many of which are still standing three stories high. We found numerous Timurid period coins, a signature style of turquoise glazed pottery, and imported ceramics from China. The largest community was at Houses 338, but we found numerous others like it and excavated four rooms in Houses 183 to see what the inhabitants left. A small hoard of valuables came from one of the rooms, numerous perishable artifacts of cloth, matting, and wood from another, and ample animal dung to show that the lower floors of these houses were used as animal pens. The superb preservation of these 15^th century houses show they were abandoned, not destroyed. The elaborate brick decorative motifs featured on many walls is testimony to the wealth of the inhabitants.

While there are many sites more recent than the 15th century in Sistan, they were not included in our study.