New Evidence on Cultural Relations in Northeastern Iran in the Parthian Period: Results of Archaeological Excavations at Dibaj Damghansilk road.pdf (original) (raw)
Related papers
A Study on the Parthian Pottery of Dargaz Plain, Northeast of Iran
Iranian Journal of Archaeological Studies , 2021
Northeastern Iran has been considered a connecting bridge and natural passageway for the entry of different tribes from the past to the present time, yet despite such importance, it has rarely been studied by archaeologists and researchers. Dargaz plain in northeastern Iran, due to its special geographical location and environmental conditions, as well as its proximity to major settlement centers of the Parthian period in South Turkmenistan, contains many remains and settlements of that period. In the surveys conducted in this region, 84 sites belonging to this period were identified and analyzed. As a result of these studies, it was discovered that the area has been among the most important and populated centers during the Parthian period. Moreover, based on the pottery evidence, it was revealed that the region has been a center of activity from the onset to the end of this period. The present research dealt with categorization and typology of the pottery based on the studies carried out on 425 pieces of pottery, and it was found that the Parthian pottery of this region is divided into two groups of simple and painted pottery; however, the painted pottery class is divided into several subclasses, such as engraved, added, grooved, marked, and painted. Red pottery has been the most common pottery of the region during the Parthian period. Common forms include crocks, pots, and skillets, small and big bowls, and long-neck and short-neck jars and cups. Comparative studies indicate that the most cultural interactions in the study region were related to cultural areas in neighboring regions such as the northeastern and eastern Iran and the western parts of Afghanistan and Pakistan so that almost 70% of the cultural relations of this region was with the above-mentioned areas and about 43.54% of these relations has been with South Turkmenistan and the sites of Marv, Nisa, Sarakhs oasis and Shar-tappeh Chapeshlou.
Shahr-Tepeh and Toghei – Two Early Parthian Cities in Northeastern Iran
One of the most important yet ambiguous geographical areas related to Parthian history is northeastern Iran, a cultural region that could roughly be labelled as “The Great Khorasan Region.” By looking at the early political history of the Parthian period, the role of this region in the formation and development of the Parthian Dynasty is perceptible to the extent that northeastern Iran could be considered a major ground for the most of the events related to the Parthian period. Prior to the gradual expansion of the Parthian Kingdom during the reign of Mehrdad I (Mithradates I; c. 171-133/132 BC), the extent of Parthian dominion could be considered local, extending more or less over Iran’s two provinces of Parthia and Hyrcania, which constituted the core of the Arsakid state at the time. One of the areas in northeastern Iran considered an important center during the early Parthian period was Dargaz. Modern-day Dargaz County is located in the northeast of the province of Khorasan-i Razavi, close to the border with Turkmenistan; its proximity to Turkmenistan’s ancient Parthian settlements, including the complex of New Nisa and Old Nisa,2 implies the importance of the Dargaz area in the Parthian period, especially during the early decades of the formation and expansion of the Parthian Kingdom. An archaeological survey of Hasan Nami has recorded 85 Parthian sites in the region, of which Shahr-Tepeh and Toghei have been asserted as two urban centers (Fig. 1). It is attempted here to evaluate the importance of the two mentioned sites in northeastern Iran during the early Parthian age using the results of archaeological investigations. The dimensions of these sites, the richness of surface remnants and the cultural material yielded by excavations, and finally the proximity to the historical center of Nisa all imply that Shahr-Tepeh and Toghei were likely important urban centers during the early Parthian period in northeastern Iran.
Priestman, S.M.N. & Kennet, D. 2023: Sasanian and Islamic Settlement and Ceramics in Southern Iran (4th to 17th Century AD): The Williamson Collection Project. British Institute of Persian Studies Archaeological Monograph Series VIII, Oxbow: Oxford.
This monograph comprises the final publication of a study supported by the British Institute of Persian Studies and undertaken by Seth Priestman and Derek Kennet at Durham University. The work presents and analyses an assemblage of just under 17,000 sherds of pottery and associated paper archives resulting from one of the largest and most comprehensive surveys ever undertaken on the historic archaeology of southern Iran. The survey was undertaken by Andrew George Williamson (1945–1975), a doctoral student at Oxford University between 1968 and 1971, at a time of great progress and rapid advance in the archaeological exploration of Iran. The monograph provides new archaeological evidence on the long-term development of settlement in Southern Iran, in particular the coastal region, from the Sasanian period to around the 17th century. The work provides new insights into regional settlement patterns and changing ceramic distribution, trade and use. A large amount of primary data is presented covering an extensive area from Minab to Bushehr along the coast and inland as far as Sirjan. This includes information on a number of previously undocumented archaeological sites, as well as a detailed description and analysis of the ceramic finds, which underpin the settlement evidence and provide a wider source of reference. By collecting carefully-controlled archaeological evidence related to the size, distribution, and period of occupation of urban and rural settlements distributed across Southern Iran, Williamson aimed to reconstruct the broader historical development of the region. Due to his early death the work was never completed. The key aims of the authors of this volume were to do justice to Williamson’s remarkable vision and efforts on the one hand, and at the same time to bring this important new evidence to ongoing discussions about the development of southern Iran through the Sasanian and Islamic periods.
University of Zabol, 2022
Southeastern Iran is a vast region that, in history, its different parts had various names. And today, the political divisions of the country include a large area in the provinces of Sistan and Baluchestan, Kerman, Hormozgan, and a small part of Greater Khorasan. This region has an undeniable role in the history and civilization of Southwest Asia, as it has shone for thousands of years as a significant part of international exchanges and cultural relations.
(Foietta, E., Ferrandi, C., Quirico, E., Giusto, F., Mortarini, M., Bruno, J., Somma, L., eds.) Cultural & Material Contacts in the Ancient Near East. Proceedings of the International Workshop, 1-2 December 2014, Torino. Sesto Fiorentino: Apice Libri. ISBN 978-88-99176-19-8., 2016
In the frame of the archaeological researches carried out between the 60s and the 70s of the last century in Iranian Sistan by an Italian team of IsMEO (Istituto Italiano per il Medio ed Estremo Oriente) headed by Umberto Scerrato, some trenches were excavated at the fortified citadels of Qal‛a-ye Tepe and Qal‛a-ye Sam in order to obtain data to be compared with the information which, during those years, the same team was gathering at the nearby Achaemenid site of Dahāne-ye Gholāmān. The ongoing reappraisal of the results from those still unpublished archaeological activities (to be meant as a part of “Archaeo.Pro.Di.Mu.S: Archaeological Project Digital and Multimedia Sistan”, housed at the Università degli Studi di Napoli “L’Orientale” and supervised by Prof. Bruno Genito) is centred on the re-examination and digital reorganisation of the extant documental archive concerning those two sites and on the study of the ceramic assemblage therein recovered
Parthian Settlement Patterns in the Central Zagros Region of Western Iran
International Journal of Archaeology, 2013
The study area in this research lies in the region of the Central Zagros, western Iran. An archaeological survey was conducted and approximately 340 Parthian (ca 250 B.C.225A.D.) archaeological sites were discovered and recorded. The aim of the project was to develop a set of simple procedures that could be widely used to build basic models of site location and settlement patterns of Parthian sites. Two methodological issues are addressed in this paper: (1) technical aspects regarding basic methods of data collection and GISbased processing and analysis; and (2) modeling archaeological site distribution patterns using the available archaeological and environmental data. In order to explore further the location of archaeological sites, a Geographical Information System (GIS) was developed combining all information from the recent survey of the area. The incorporation of this information into a GIS resulted in a digital archive of the survey area that enables the user to simultaneously visualize and analyze all data within their original spatial contexts making it possible to develop a more comprehensive investigation into the sites. The digital database was developed to synthesize information on site type, size, dating, and function. These data are subsequently used to address issues concerning changing settlement patterns in the study area. We suggest that the settlement patterns are, to a large extent, directly shaped by wideranging cultural needs which offer a strategic point for functional interpretation of the Parthian culture.