Editing Susa (section)

=== Susa I period (4200–3800 BC) ===
[[File:Iran époque d'Obeid Sèvres.jpg|thumb|320px|Goblet and cup, Iran, Susa I style, 4th millennium BC – [[Ubaid period]]; goblet height c. 12&nbsp;cm; [[Sèvres – Cité de la céramique]], France]]
{{see also|Ubaid period}}
Shortly after Susa was first settled over 6000&nbsp;years ago, its inhabitants erected a monumental platform that rose over the flat surrounding landscape.<ref>[https://oi.uchicago.edu/sites/oi.uchicago.edu/files/uploads/shared/docs/saoc63.pdf] Hole, Frank. "A Monumental Failure: The Collapse of Susa". In Robin A. Carter and Graham Philip, eds., Beyond the Ubaid: Transformation and Integration of Late Prehistoric Societies of the Middle East, pp. 221–226, Studies in Oriental Civilization, no. 63, Chicago: Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago, 2010</ref> The exceptional nature of the site is still recognizable today in the artistry of the ceramic vessels that were placed as offerings in a thousand or more graves near the base of the temple platform.<ref>Hole, Frank, "The Organization of Ceramic Production during the Susa I Period", Paléorient, vol. 36, no. 1, pp. 23–36, 2010</ref>

Susa's earliest settlement is known as the ''Susa I'' period (c. 4200–3900 BC). Two settlements named by archaeologists the ''Acropolis'' (7 ha) and the ''Apadana'' (6.3 ha), would later merge to form Susa proper (18 ha).<ref name="Potts: Elam"/> The ''Apadana'' was enclosed by 6 metre thick walls of [[rammed earth]] (this particular place is named [[Apadana]] because it also contains a late [[Achaemenid]] structure of this type).

Nearly two thousand pots of ''Susa I'' style were recovered from the cemetery, most of them now in the [[Louvre]]. The vessels found are eloquent testimony to the artistic and technical achievements of their makers, and they hold clues about the organization of the society that commissioned them.<ref name="Aruz 1992 26">{{cite book|last=Aruz|first=Joan|title=The Royal City of Susa: Ancient Near Eastern Treasures in the Louvre|year=1992|publisher=Abrams|location=New York|page=26}}</ref>
Painted ceramic vessels from Susa in the earliest first style are a late, regional version of the Mesopotamian [[Ubaid period|Ubaid]] ceramic tradition that spread across the Near East during the fifth millennium BC.<ref name="Aruz 1992 26"/> Susa I style was very much a product of the past and of influences from contemporary ceramic industries in the mountains of western Iran. The recurrence in close association of vessels of three types—a drinking goblet or beaker, a serving dish, and a small jar—implies the consumption of three types of food, apparently thought to be as necessary for life in the afterworld as it is in this one. Ceramics of these shapes, which were painted, constitute a large proportion of the vessels from the cemetery. Others are coarse cooking-type jars and bowls with simple bands painted on them and were probably the grave goods of the sites of humbler citizens as well as adolescents and, perhaps, children.<ref>{{cite book|last=Aruz|first=Joan|title=The Royal City of Susa: Ancient Near Eastern Treasures in the Louvre|year=1992|publisher=Abrams|location=New York|page=29}}</ref> The pottery is carefully made by hand. Although a slow wheel may have been employed, the asymmetry of the vessels and the irregularity of the drawing of encircling lines and bands indicate that most of the work was done freehand.

==== Metallurgy ====
Copper metallurgy is also attested during this period, which was contemporary with metalwork at some highland Iranian sites such as [[Tepe Sialk]].

As many as 40 copper axes have been found at the Susa cemetery, as well as 10 round discs probably used as mirrors. Many awls and spatulas were also found.

: "Metal finds from the burials in Susa are the major metal assemblage from the end of the 5th millennium BCE. Strata 27 to 25 contained the earliest burials with a large number of axes, made from unalloyed copper and copper with elevated As [Arsenic] levels."<ref>Thomas Rose 2022, [https://iris.uniroma1.it/retrieve/5172909a-429c-4fc2-901d-f1e82b1465cb/Tesi_dottorato_Rose.pdf Emergence of copper pyrotechnology in Western Asia.] PhD thesis, Beer-Sheva. 342pp</ref><ref>Rosenstock, E., Scharl, S., Schier, W., 2016. Ex oriente lux? Ein Diskussionsbeitrag zur Stellung der frühen Kupfermetallurgie Südosteuropas, in: Bartelheim, M., Horejs, B., Krauß, R. (Eds.), Von Baden bis Troia, Oriental and European Archaeology. Leidorf, Rahden/Westf., pp. 59–122. p. 75</ref>

The cemetery of [[Chega Sofla]], from the same timeframe, provides a lot of similar material, with many sophisticated metal objects.<ref>Moghaddam, A., Miri, N., 2021. Tol-e Chega Sofla Cemetery: A Phenomenon in the Context of Late 5th Millennium Southwest Iran, in: Abar, A., D’Anna, M.B., Cyrus, G., Egbers, V., Huber, B., Kainert, C., Köhler, J., Öğüt, B., Rol, N., Russo, G., Schönicke, J., Tourtet, F. (Eds.), ''Pearls, politics and pistachios.'' Ex oriente, Berlin, pp. 47–60. https://doi.org/10.11588/propylaeum.837.c10734</ref> Chega Sofla is located in the same geographical area.

==== Ceramic objects ====
<gallery widths="200px" heights="200px" perrow="4">
Louvre Suse I Boisseau décor géométrique 1 14012018.jpg
Louvre Suse I Nécropole du tell de l'Acropole Coupe décor géométrique, SB 3175 1 14012018.jpg
File:Master of animals, Susa I.jpg|[[Master of animals]], Susa I, Louvre Sb 2246.
File:Sun and deities, Susa I.jpg|Sun and deities, Susa I, Louvre
</gallery>