Tappeh Valiki: A Pottery Neolithic Site in the Neka Plain, Mazandaran, Iran

Eastern Mazandaran, a part of the larger southeastern Caspian region, assumed a distinctly important place in the Neolithic period. The region shows both a local Neolithic culture and trans-regional ties to the coeval cultures of Gorgan, Semnan, Damghan, and Shahrood plains, northeastern Iran, and southern Turkmenistan. In recent years, new, systematic excavations have covered the Neolithic sites in the plains of Behshahr and Neka, most notably Touq Tappeh and Tappeh Valiki. The latter, excavated in 2021 to demarcate its boundaries, is one of the largest Neolithic sites across the Neka plain. In this paper the archaeological site of Valiki is introduced and its small finds, in particular the pottery assemblage, are described. Representing the earliest phases of pottery production in the concerned plains, this assemblage evinces a local tradition of pottery technology in the Neolithic period in eastern Mazandaran, on the one hand, and regional and trans-regional contacts, on the other. A preliminary outline of the Neolithic settlement pattern in the involved plains is also given.