|Generate QR code
Open Access
Subscription Access
The Relationship Between Archaic Construction Methods in Pottery and Architecture in Central Asia
https://doi.org/10.17746/1563-0110.2025.53.2.099-107
Abstract
This study explores the connection between archaic construction methods in pottery in Central Asian, mostly that of tandoors (tonurs), and present-day building technologies associated with the use of unbaked clay (“pakhsa”, “kuloh”, “adobe bricks”). Ethnographic fi eldwork was done in several areas of Central Asia, including the Sughd Region of Tajikistan, the Turkestan Region of Kazakhstan, the Fergana and Samarkand regions of Uzbekistan, and the Batkent Region of Kyrgyzstan. Traditions of constructing tandoors were examined; materials relating to various building technologies using clay were collected and systematized. Two main methods of pakhsa construction were identified—lining up undried clay lumps in layers, or backfilling clay into a mold (“packed techniques”). The first was developed in construction technology using kuloh—dried lumps of clay joined with mortar. The technique of building tandoors from two layers of slabs, with subsequent transformation into a band, and coils connected pairwise during drying, resembles that of pakhsa construction by placing clay lumps in several rows across the width of the wall in strips (“kurses”) laid along the entire length of it. This confirms the common origin of the most archaic construction methods in pottery and construction from clay in architecture.
Keywords
Supporting agencies: This study was carried out under the Project “Study of Pottery of Southern Kazakhstan and Adjacent Regions (Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan): Traditions and Modernity” (AP19678131). We are very grateful to all those who helped us in this study: N.T. Rakhimov and D.J. Farmonova (Khujand State University), G.A. Rakhimova (Isfara Museum), F.J. and M.M. Farmonovs, M. Khafizov (village of Punuk), S.M. Umarov (city of Isfara), U. Sarakhmatov and S. Saifiddinov (village of Vorukh), D. Ishanurov (village of Devashtich), Tajikistan; Z.T. Akkoshkarova (A.K. Margulan Institute of Archaeology), Kazakhstan; U.N. Mavlyanov (Gulistan State University), and N.K. Khakkulov (Samarkand State University), Uzbekistan.
About the Authors
N. Y. Petrova
Institute of Archaeology, Russian Academy of Sciences;
Margulan Institute of Archaeology
Russian Federation
Russian Federation
Petrova N.Y., Researcher
Dm. Ulyanova 19, Moscow, 117292; Pr. Dostyk 44, Almaty, 050000, Kazakhstan
N. A. Dubova
Miklukho-Maklai Institute of Ethnology and Anthropology,
Russian Academy of Sciences
Russian Federation
Russian Federation
Dubova N.A., Chief Researcher
Leninsky pr. 32a, Moscow, 119334
S. Z. Rakhimzhanova
Margulan Institute of Archaeology
Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan
Rakhimzhanova S.Z., Leading Researcher
Pr. Dostyk 44, Almaty, 050000
References
1. Ali N. 2009 Ethnographic study of clay ovens in Northern Jordan. In Modesty and Patience. Studies and Memories in Honour of Nabil Qadi. Berlin: Yarmouk Univ., Ex oriente, pp. 8–16.
2. Andreev M.S. 1966 Tadzhiki doliny Khuf (verkhovya Amu-Daryi), iss. II. Stalinobad: Izd. AN TadzhSSR. (Trudy Inst. istorii, arkheologii i etnografi i AN TadzhSSR; vol. 61).
3. Andreev M.S. 2020 Tadzhiki doliny Khuf, E. Kochumkulova (ed.), iss. I/II. Bishkek: Dzhem Kei Dzhi.
4. Artykbaev A.M. 2014 Ferganskiy klaster: Istoriya i sovremennost. Obozrevatel, No. 2: 83–90.
5. Davydov A.S. 1973 Zhilishche. In Materialnaya kultura tadzhikov verkhovyev Zeravshana. Dushanbe: Donish, pp. 7–137.
6. Demidov S.M. 2016 Traditsionniye poseleniya i zhilishcha. In Turkmeny. Moscow: Nauka, pp. 215–238. (Narody i kultury).
7. Dodkhudoeva L.N. 2021 Remesla, promysly i narodnoye izobrazitelnoye iskusstvo. In Tadzhiki. Moscow: Nauka, pp. 264–309. (Narody i kultury).
8. Ershov N.N. 1960 Selskoye khozyaistvo tadzhikov Leninabadskogo rayona Tadzhikskoy SSR pered Oktyabrskoy revolyutsiyei (istorikoetnografi cheskiy ocherk). Stalinobad: Izd. Akademii nauk TadzhSSR.
9. Giyasov A., Barotov U., Naimov F. 2019 Clay buildings in modern energy efficient construction. E3S Web of Conferences. Vol. 91: Topical Problems of Architecture, Civil Engineering and Environmental Economics (TPACEE-2018). URL: https://doi.org/10.1051/e3sconf/20199102023.
10. Grigoriev G.V. 1931 Arkhaicheskiye cherty v proizvodstve keramiki gornykh tadzhikov. Izvestiya Gosodarstvennoy akademii istorii materialnoy kultury, vol. X (10): 25–37.
11. Gur-Arieh S., Mintz E., Boaretto E., Shahack-Gross R. 2013 An ethnoarchaeological study of cooking installations in rural Uzbekistan: Development of a new method for identification of fuel sources. Journal of Archaeological Science, vol. 40: 4331–4347.
12. Ivanova L.A. 1981 Drevneisheye zhilishche Yugo-Zapadnoy i Yuzhnoy Azii. Drevneisheye zhilishche Peredney Azii. In Tipy traditsionnogo selskogo zhilishcha narodov Yugo-Zapadnoy i Yuzhnoy Azii. Moscow: Nauka, pp. 24–52.
13. Kholoshin P.R., Sharma S. 2021 Zhenskoye goncharstvo v sovremennom indiyskom gorode. Vestnik “Istoriya keramiki”, iss. 3: 226–246.
14. Peshchereva E.M. 1929 Goncharnoye proizvodstvo u gornykh tadzhikov. Izvestiya Sredne-aziatskogo geografi cheskogo obshchestva, vol. XIX: 25–40.
15. Peshchereva E.M. 1959 Goncharnoye proizvodstvo Sredney Azii. Moscow, Leningrad: Izd. AN SSSR.
16. Peshchereva E.M. 1976 Yangobskiye etnografi cheskiye materialy. Dushanbe: Donish.
17. Petrova N.Y. 2024 O goncharnom proizvodstve v Severnom Tadzhikistane. Vestnik “Istoriya keramiki”, iss. 6: 185–207.
18. Petrova N. (In press) Domuztepe: Ancient methods of ceramic construction and their origins in the Taurus foothills. In 44. Kazı Sonuçları Toplantısı. Ankara: T.C. Kültür ve Turizm Bakanlığı.
19. Petrova N., Babenko A., Darabi H., Richter T. 2025 The origins of pottery technology and its connection with house-building technology in the Zagros Mountains (Western Asia). Archaeological Research in Asia, vol. 41: 1–14.
20. Pisarchik A.K. 1982 Traditsionniye sposoby otopleniya zhilishch osedlogo naseleniya Sredney Azii v XIX–XX vv. In Zhilishche narodov Sredney Azii i Kazakhstana. Moscow: Nauka, pp. 69–110.
21. Prehistoric Archaeology Along the Zagros Flanks. 1983 R.J. Braidwood, B. Howe, C.A. Reed, P.J. Watson (eds.). Chicago: The Oriental Institute of the Univ. of Chicago.
22. Rakhimzhanova S.Z., Akkoshkarova Z.T. (In press) Nekotoriye danniye o sovremennom goncharstve v Kazakhstane i Uzbekistane. Vestnik Kazakhskogo Natsionalnogo Universiteta.
23. Razzokov F.A. 2016 Stroitelniye kompleksy drevnezemledelcheskogo poseleniya Sarazm v IV–III tys. do n.e. St. Petersburg: [Nev. kn. tip.].
24. Şen R., Karagel H. 2017 Kültürel bir imge olarak hatay’da tandır fırını ve önemi: Samandağ, yayladağı ve kumlu örnekleri. In Türkiye coğrafyası araştırmaları. Ankara: PEGEM Yayınevi, pp. 431–462.
25. Tekin H. 2022 Tarihöncesinde Türkiye’de neler oldu? Türkiye’nin İlk Köyleri, İlk Köylüleri. Ankara: Bilgin.
26. Tsetlin Y.B. 1997 Nekotoriye nablyudeniya nad sovremennym goncharstvom v Sirii. In Arkheologicheskiye otkrytiya 1996 goda. Moscow: IA RAN, pp. 402–405.
27. Vandiver P. 1987 Sequential slab construction: A conservative Southwest Asiatic ceramic tradition, ca. 7000–3000 B.C. Paleorient, vol. 13 (2): 9–35.
28. Voronina V.L. 1975 Zametki o narodnoy arkhitekture Yuzhnogo Tadzhikistana. Sovetskaya etnografi ya, No. 1: 138–145.
29. Voronina V.L. 1982 Zhilishche narodov Sredney Azii i klimat. In Zhilishche narodov Sredney Azii i Kazakhstana. Moscow: Nauka, pp. 48–68.
30. Watson P.J. 1979 Archaeological Ethnography in Western Iran. Tucson: Univ. of Arizona.
31. Wulff H. 1966 The Traditional Crafts of Persia. Cambridge: M.I.T. Press.
32. Zhilina A.N. 1968 Traditsii narodnogo zodchestva v sovremennom selskom stroitelstve Uzbekistana. Sovetskaya etnografiya, No. 1: 82–94.
33. Zhilina A.N. 1982 Traditsionniye poseleniya i zhilishche uzbekov Yuzhnogo Kazakhstana. In Zhilishche narodov Sredney Azii i Kazakhstana. Moscow: Nauka, pp. 137–163.
Review
For citations:
Petrova N.Y., Dubova N.A., Rakhimzhanova S.Z. The Relationship Between Archaic Construction Methods in Pottery and Architecture in Central Asia. Archaeology, Ethnology & Anthropology of Eurasia. 2025;53(2):99-107. https://doi.org/10.17746/1563-0110.2025.53.2.099-107
Views:
3
Email this article 