Preliminary analysis of Iron Age pottery cultures in Northeastern IranCase study: Hesare Omrani in the Gonabad plain

Studying various aspects of the Iron Age culture of Eastern Iran and Khorasan based on comparative studies is one of the most important challenges of the Iron Age. In the current situation, the components and features of the Northeast Iron Age, focusing on Khorasan, due to lack of studies, have remained largely unknown and ambiguous, and the need for purposeful studies is strongly felt. Now, based on few studies and excavations in Khorasan, little evidence of Iron Age cultures has been identified and measured in a comparative approach with the important cultures of Central Asia (Yaz and Dahistan). Accordingly, in the Gonabad plain, which is located almost in the south of Khorasan and is limited to the Ghohestan cultural area, the Hesare Omrani site can provide basic information about the Iron Age of Khorasan. The Hesare Omrani, which is located close to the current city of Gonabad, has a main ridge that can be seen with a diameter of more than 800 meters, the distribution of cultural materials around it. Due to the vastness of the area in this study, by adopting a methodical surface study, cultural materials, which are mainly pottery, have been collected and interpreted in the form of Early to Late Iron Age cultures. The results of studies show that the clay traditions of the Hesare Omrani have a significant affinity with Yaz culture and its pottery species can be analyzed in the framework of Yaz culture I to III. This site has hand-painted pottery of the early Iron Age and simple forms of wheel-making pottery of the Middle and Late Iron Ages. In addition, the settlement landscape alongside the current status of the remaining deposits in the context of Central Asian experiences shows human communities with a settlement and social pattern similar to its Iron Age.