1.4.1. Imported materials in Biyo Gure
We collected a total of 185 items on the surface, of which 115 in and around the structures and 70 in the dump. The general distribution by type of material is as follows: 113 pottery sherds, 47 glass fragments belonging to unguent and perfume bottles, 9 glass bangles, 9 cowries, 3 stone beads (in agate, carnelian and an unidentified material), one cabochon in carnelian and one rotary quern stone of igneous rock. We also documented several glass slags. It is possible that the inhabitants of the settlement were melting glass for either repairs or making bangles. We have not found many glass objects that could correspond to a proper local industry. In any case, this is the only place where we have documented glass-making activities in Somaliland.
East Asian imports are the most common imported materials, amounting to 37% of the total pottery assemblage—again, almost identical to the percentage found in Siyaara and Farhad (34 and 33% respectively). We retrieved 14 sherds of Chinese Blue and White Porcelain, three in the dump, the rest in the residential area. The fragments are in general very small, but there are a few that can be clearly assigned to the fifteenth-sixteenth century, including one with a lotus scroll and another one with pine trees. The small size of the sherds demands caution. Martaban are represented by only five sherds, belonging to two vessels. These are cylindrical jars in beige-grey stoneware, covered by a glossy dark brown-black glaze. The walls are thinner than in other stonewares that we have found. Both shape and fabric differ from the rest of the Martaban in our collection and are more similar to Thai and Myanmar jars (e.g. Crick, 2002: 226–227; Cort, 2017: Fig. 1, Fig. 5, Fig. 6, Fig. 7). 18 fragments of Asian greenware (Fig. 24), mostly belonging to Myanmar Celadon have been found, including large chunks of two bowls, one of them bearing what could be a graffiti in Pyu alphabet equivalent to the Latin “l” or “la” (Nan Kyi Kyi Khiang, 2007: Table 2). Another of the bases is part of a large basin and has a chocolate-painted bottom that, as we saw, is typical of both the kilns of southern Myanmar and northern Thailand (Fig. 25).
The most common type among the Islamic glazed wares is Speckled, which is represented by a minimum number of 11 vessels. Some of the fragments could be actually from late monochrome turquoise ware, as the glaze seems thinner and more homogeneous than in Speckled, but the fragments are small and eroded. The chronology and provenance, however, is the same (South Iran, fourteenth to seventeenth centuries). There are also a couple of fragments of what seems to be Iranian late monochrome green. From Yemen come a diversity of glazed wares, including Dark Glaze, of which we found one piece (an almost complete ring-footed cup) (Fig. 26), Blue Tihama (a single rim) and two sherds of Blue and White Tihama, belonging to two different bowls. From the same provenance likely come four fragments of underglaze painted wares (dark green on green, turquoise on purple), belonging to as many vessels, that cannot be easily assigned to the types described by Ciuk and Keall (1996) but have a clear resemblance with Yemenite types of the fifteenth-sixteenth century. Finally, there is a single sherd of qulla (juglet) in Thin Grey Ware.
The most abundant type of pottery by far is a sort of storage jar of muddy, flaky fabric, light pink to orange in color and of very coarse making that was perhaps produced in South Arabia and which represents 34% of the ceramic assemblage –equivalent to the percentage of storage jars in Farhad (30%) (Fig. 27). In comparison with the trade items, local pottery only amounts to 6% of the collection, which is surprisingly low for a site that is not a market, but a permanent settlement, and more akin to fair sites—in Siyaara and Farhad local pottery amounts to 10% and 4% of the assemblage respectively.
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