Chalcolithic stamp seals from Tepe Gheshlagh, and a look into their application in ownership and exchange systems

Sharifi, Mahnaz (author), Motarjem, Abbas (author)

Tepe Gheshlagh is one of the major sites with deposits of the Chalcolithic period in the east of the Central Zagros. The central question in the present study was the administrative system and ownership in the Chalcolithic period. With a descriptive-analytical method, an attempt was made to expound on Gheshlagh’s glyptic assemblage that attest to the existence of an ownership system and commercial exchanges. A structural analysis of the glyptic iconography suggested that each of the linear, circular, or repeating patterns were less mere personal insignias intended to exclude the possibility of alteration or forgery than they were marks belonging to a pre-literate system where each sign/symbol stood for individual commodity types that were transported or exchanged as such. At the same time, the composition of these widely varying geometric motifs followed certain conventions.

• Language: English
• Keywords: Chalcolithic, stamp seal, cylinder seal, Central Zagros, Tepe Gheshlagh
• Work type: Article
• Typology: 1.01 - Original Scientific Article
• Organization: FF - Faculty of Arts
• Publication status: Published
• Publication version: Version of Record
• Year: 2025
• Number of pages: Str. 378-390
• Numbering: Vol. 52
• PID: 20.500.12556/RUL-180582
• ISSN on article: 1854-2492
• DOI: 10.4312/dp.52.16
• COBISS.SI-ID: 272615939

Copyright

Podatek o licenci CC BY-SA 4.0 je naveden na pristajalni strani članka (glej zgoraj izvorni URL). (Datum opombe: 11. 3. 2026)

• Publication date in RUL: 11.03.2026

Record is a part of a journal

• Title: Documenta Praehistorica
• Shortened title: Doc. Praehistor.
• Publisher: Založba Univerze v Ljubljani
• ISSN: 1854-2492
• COBISS.SI-ID: 220673792

Licences

• License: CC BY-SA 4.0, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International
• Link: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/
• Description: This Creative Commons license is very similar to the regular Attribution license, but requires the release of all derivative works under this same license.

Secondary language

• Language: Slovenian
• Title: Bakrenodobni pečatniki iz Tepe Gheshlagh in njihova uporaba v sistemih lastništva in izmenjave

Abstract

Tepe Gheshlagh je eno najpomembnejših najdišč bakrene dobe na vzhodnem območju osrednjega Zagrosa. Ključni raziskovalni vprašanji naše študije sta organizacija administrativnih sistemov in koncept lastništva v tem obdobju. S pomočjo deskriptivno-analitične metode podrobneje obravnavamo zbirko pečatnikov iz Gheshlagha, ki dokazujejo sistem lastništva in trgovinske izmenjave. Strukturna analiza ikonografije pečatnikov kaže, da linearni, krožni in ponavljajoči se vzorci niso bili zgolj osebni simboli, namenjeni preprečevanju ponarejanja ali spreminjanja, temveč so predstavljali znake v okviru določenega sistema pred vpeljavo pisave. Vsak znak ali simbol je verjetno označeval določeno vrsto blaga, ki se je prenašalo ali izmenjevalo. Kljub veliki raznolikosti geometrijskih motivov je njihova sestava sledila določenim konvencijam, kar nakazuje na standardizirano vizualno komunikacijo v skupnosti.

• Keywords: bakrena doba, pečatnik, valjasti pečatnik, osrednji Zagros, Tepe Gheshlagh

Projects

• Funder: INSF - Iran National Science Foundations
• Project number: 4025957