2017, REGIONAL ARCHAEOLOGY STUDIES (original) (raw)
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Archaeological landscapes of western Iran are representative of great and important socio-cultural changes during various periods of prehistory in Iran. This region, which is largely comprised of the Central Zagros range, has attracted the attention of many archaeologists, who have conducted numerous archaeological surveys and excavations there since the early 20 th century. Despite its suitable environment, Sarfirouzabad Plain in southern Kermanshah has only just been the subject of surface surveys and studies. Because of its characteristics, the plain has undergone a systemic field survey by a team from Tehran University in 2009, which yielded important results and has significantly added to our limited knowledge of the history of the region. Among the various sites were explored there have been 24 sites of the Middle and Late Bronze Ages (Godin III). The distribution of these sites across the plain has been connected to the environmental factors, especially access to the water resources, while other factors presumably affecting the settlement formation were based on the cultural and political issues. The goal of this article is to improve the quality of techniques in the understanding of archaeology of regional cultural systems.
An intensive survey of the caves and rockshelters of Kermanshah Province was planned by the Kermanshah provincial office of the Iranian Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts and Tourism Organization (ICHTO) during the late 2000s. The aim was to register the sites on Iran’s National Register of Historic Places. These surveys, which were initiated in 2009, provided additional evidence for the potential of the region to yield a rich Paleolithic record. Three teams of archaeologists surveyed all districts of the province during 2009 and 2010 and over 300 caves and rockshelters were identified and recorded, with archaeological material dominated by the Upper Paleolithic and Epipaleolithic periods, and fewer finds of the late prehistoric, historic and Islamic periods. During these surveys a number of previously identified sites were also re-examined. In accordance with the research plan recommended by the Kermanshah ICHTO, these surveys were limited to caves and rockshelters only, and the open-air sites were excluded. Despite all limitations, there is no doubt that the results will facilitate planning for future protection and excavations of the recorded sites, and help to a better understanding of the human use of caves and rockshelters in this part of the Zagros Mountains across a multitude of periods. One of the districts surveyed is Salās-e Bābājāni located in the northwest of Kermanshah Province. As far as the archaeology of the Paleolithic period is concerned, this region has largely remained unknown. The new investigations resulted in identification of a significant number of Paleolithic sites, which for the first time yielded information for settlement patterns of the Upper Paleolithic and Epipaleolithic hunter gatherer groups in these lowland regions.
the QaNaTES Project, a collaborative program initiated in 2017. The project aims to conduct fieldwork at Tepe Qaleh Naneh, an archaeological site located in the Marivan area in northern central Zagros, Iran. The excavations have provided valuable insights into the occupational deposits at the site, revealing burials, wall structures, and various materials such as pottery and lithics. These deposits span from the Chalcolithic to Islamic periods, with a particular focus on the Late Chalcolithic period, which appears to be the most significant occupation phase. Laboratory analyses have been conducted on organic samples, including charcoals and bones, as well as on items such as obsidian objects. These analyses have enabled the study of adaptation models and developmental patterns in a region, the northern central Zagros, which remains relatively understudied. The ecosystem of Tepeh Qaleh Naneh and Marivan plain, between the Middle Chalcolithic period to Bronze age, consists of extensive vegetation of oak forest-steppe And the amount of precipitation, at least in the Late Chalcolithic period, was not less than 600 mm. the material culture discovered at Tepe Qaleh Naneh indicates an increase in social complexity, as evidenced by the presence of stone mace-heads (ceremonial tools), specialized productions such as painted pottery, and evidence of long-distance contacts. Interestingly, the site appears to have stronger connections with Mesopotamia than with western Iran. The identification of Uruk pottery, including beveled-rim bowls, suggests commercial and cultural relations between the society in the Marivan region and northern Mesopotamia during the late Chalcolithic period. These findings shed light on the gradual differentiation of society during the Chalcolithic period, a critical period that witnessed the emergence of the first porto-urban communities in southern Mesopotamia. Even if the Zagros communities followed a similar trend during the Chalcolithic period, they also developed local traditions as response to interregional contacts.
The highland plains of western Iran have been investigated with varying intensity. The Sarfirouzabad plain, located in the south of Kermanshah province, although visited perfunctorily, has not previously been studied systematically, despite desirable ecological and environmental conditions. In 2009, a team from the University of Tehran conducted a systematic and intensive field survey in the region to identify archaeological settlements and to assess their location concerning ecological, environmental and cultural factors impacted the distribution of sites on the plain. The surveyed area was walked in transects at 20-metre intervals and resulted in the identification of 332 archaeological sites from different cultural periods, which added much to the limited knowledge about the history of this region. During this survey, Pa-Chogha as the biggest tell site in the area, was identified. Fifty-nine samples of pottery and five stone tools were collected from the surface of Pa-Chogha dated from Late Chalcolithic to Islamic periods. Unfortunately, due to the expansion of Pa-Chogha village, the site is in danger of being destroyed. Our aim to publish this article is to introduce the Pa-Chogha as an important site for the chronology of Central Zagros at first, and preventing the further destruction of this site at the second.
From regions to sites: the excavations
A series of excavations was performed between 1999 and 2001 in the Tanezzuft Valley. Selected structures and/or sites are located in different parts of the study area, with the aim at testing the information arisen from the survey data. Special attention has been drawn to the relationships between monument architecture and funerary practices. An intra-site control has been performed on a cemetery located near the modern village of Tahala (Site 96/129), from where the bulk of information has been gathered. As a whole, 18 monuments have been excavated, belonging to 8 different sites: remains of 36 humans have been unearthed. The chronological arrangement of this sample, based on material culture and radiocarbon dates, is displaced over the Late Pastoral phase, up to the transition to Early Garamantian civilisation. A special intervention has been devoted to the Garamantian site of In Aghelachem, an endangered area in the mid-Tanezzuft Valley.
TRACKING THE NEOLITHIC IN THE NEAR EAST - Lithic Perspectives on Its Origins, Development and Dispersals, 2022
In October 2018 a joint Austro-Iranian survey project was initiated in the Sirvan-Chardavol district of the Ilam province in central-west Iran with an aim to set up the basis for the investigation of long-term occupations in the central Zagros. This paper presents the first outcomes of the pilot survey study carried out by the prehistoric part of the team and focuses on lithic assemblages documented in the valleys of the two tributaries of the Seymareh River. Techno-typological studies of chipped stone artefacts recorded in the course of the survey provide new insights into the occupation of the Sirvan-Chardavol Valleys, which can be attributed to the periods from the Middle Palaeolithic until the Bronze Age. Preliminary results suggest the lack of permanent Early Neolithic settlements in the Sirvan Valley and can be contrasted to the evidence of the neighbouring Chardavol Valley. Initial identification of possible Neolithic find scatters provides a contribution to the research in the highlands of the central Zagros, and it outlines the potential for the future excavations of short-term and long-term occupations in the region, which differentiate in their geomorphological and geographical setting, but also in terms of the use of raw materials, which likely influenced the Neolithic chipped stone tool production patterns.
The Applications of Photogrammetry and 3-D Visualisation During Archaeological Fieldwork
Archaeological documentations methods are evolving at an increasing speed in our digital era. Around the turn of the century, photogrammetry provided one of the most substantial step forward in excavation recording techniques. In the last 15 years, numerous project utilised the new technology from a wide range of cultural disciplines, however, to-day there are still no clear guidelines on its implementation into the framework of an archaeological excavation and the potentials of the gathered data has been only partially tapped. This thesis will aim to provide a new voice in this discussion through the case studies of Metsamor, Armenia and Saruq al-Hadid, UAE.
Iranian-French Archaeological Mission in Bam, Kerman. Summary of Field-Seasons 2016-2017
Le Centre pour la Communication Scientifique Directe - HAL - Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne, 2019
In this article we present objectives and results of the first two field-seasons in 2016 and 2017 of the Bam Archaeological Mission (BAM), a new Iranian-French field research project in the Bam-Narmashir region, Kerman. The main object of this research project is to reconstruct the ancient settlement in this area with an emphasis on its oldest occupation periods between the Paleolithic and Iron Age. It aims to understand how this settlement evolved, to evaluate the influence of climate and environmental changes on this evolution, and to determine its relationship to the archaeological cultures defined in Iran and Pakistan. As such, this research project also more broadly seeks to contribute to the general study of ancient southeastern Iran and to the reconstruction of the major demic and cultural dynamics-the dispersal of peoples, cultures, and technologies-that occurred in this area and across Middle-and South Asia during pre-and proto-history. In 2016 and 2017, we surveyed the region and recorded about 250 sites mostly dating to between the Paleolithic and Iron Age periods. One of the most significant results from this survey is the discovery of two impressive settlements, one dating to the Neolithic period and one to the fourth millennium BC, probably among the highest concentrations of sites dating to these periods reported so far on the southeastern Iranian Plateau. In 2017, we also resumed excavation at the Neolithic site of Tell-e Atashi. We opened test-trenches that have helped us understand its stratigraphy and general organization, as well as the nature of deposits present in various locations at this site. With new radiocarbon dates, we got confirmation that at least a large part of its occupation levels date to between the second half of the sixth and the middle of the fifth millennia BC. This excavation season was also instrumental in the preparation of more extensive excavations that were conducted in 2018. The aggregate of this work produced new data which have confirmed the unique nature of Tell-e Atashi and its significance for the understanding of the Neolithic period in the Indo-Iranian Borderlands.