rouhollah shirazi

The intriguing area of paleopathology mergesthe disciplines of archeology and biological studies. Using this line of research, it is possible to identify diseases that have left skeletal traces in the past. In addition, diseases such as various anemia that occur in childhood, when bone tissue is soft and retains evidence, can be identified in ancient bones. Cribra orbitalia (Co), cribra cranii (Cc), and porotic hyperosto-sis (Ph)were ancient skeletal remains' most common degenerative anomalies.

Shahr-i Sokhta datedback to 3200-1800 BCE, is the subject of our research; it is located in Sistan and Baluchistan province (Iran). The research was done on the archaeological data collected during the MAIPS expeditions at Shahr-i Sokhta (2017–2021) kept at the storage of the excavated materials on the site. The skeletal remains were examined for bone abnormalities such as Co, Cc, and Ph. These symptoms were analyzed to obtain traces of anemia-related diseases at this site. Data has been utilized following the Data Collection Codebook

Ninety-six adults were studied while the anemic signs of CC and Co are respectively seen in 27/72 (37.5 %) and 10/57 (17; 5 %), and these samples have been kept for future analysis.

Bones may narrate a person's life, their gender and how old they were whenthey died besides the diseases they had. Some of the skeletons show signs of anemia, Classical paleopathology lets us to re-confirm studying diseases by further targeted sampling using molecular methods.

Horand County is located in the most eastern part of Eastern Azerbaijan Province and is perhaps one of the few areas of Iran where major archaeological activities have not yet been carried out. Environmental factors play an important role in creating human settlements in any period. So in archaeology, in addition to the effects of the environment on the creation of each settlement, the degree of the adaptation of settlements to environmental conditions should be examined. One of the methods of studying the adaptation of settlements to environmental conditions is to analyze settlement patterns, that is to examine the formation of ancient sites in environmental contexts. Considering the geographical location and environmental potentials of a region, it is important to know which environmental factors have contributed to the creation, continuity, or abandonment of the grounds and how humans have dealt with their environment in choosing a lifestyle. For this purpose, 42 sites of Horand County, which have traces of the Bronze Age, are studied with the aim of determining the settlement patterns based on environmental variables. Through cluster analysis and using SPSS and ArcGIS software, the distribution of ancient sites in relation to natural variables is investigated. The location pattern of the sites in relation to the environmental resources shows that the settlement pattern of the Bronze Age at Horand is similar to the current settlement pattern and that, under the effect of the environmental conditions, two settlement patterns of sedentary farmers and nomadic herders in the region have always been observed.

Despite numerous archeological activities in the recent years in Kermanshah province, there has been little attention to the eastern parts of the province, including Sonqor and Koliaei. Appropriate geographical and environmental conditions, including the permanent rivers, the small and fertile midlands, and route of communication has provided suitable condition for habitation from a long time ago up to the present. Due to lack of information about the afore-mentioned region it was necessary to do a series of systematic studies based on regular and targeted excavations. Accordingly, the rescue studies of archaeological sites in Jamishan Dam Project could be the best opportunity for such purposes and could provide a good background for further studies. Faramarz is a late Chalcolithic site in the Jamishan Dam basin which was excavated with the goal of rescue studies. According to the preliminary results of excavation of the Faramarz site and comparing its pottery with the other contemporary archaeological sites, the site was occupied in a single phase, Godin VI3 period. According to data from the excavation of the Faramarz site it can be concluded that the breeding animals were very important and we hope that future animal bone studies helps to reconstruct the plaeo-diet of the site. On the other hand, a large number of shells of sweet waters were found in the site, which indicates that aquatics were hunted from adjacent rivers by residents. The ceramic assemblages of the site help us to reconstruct the relationship between the central plateau and central Zagros and Mesopotamia.

The present article introduces a model for distribution of the Chalcolithic sites in Houran located in the eastern part of Azerbaijan. The main aim of this research is to show how environmental and geographic factors could influence site selection and how it can determine a model for settlement pattern in a specific region. Hence, seventeen sites dated back to the Chalcolithic period (a date between sixth to fourth millennium BC) have been analyzed. The proposed model for site catchment as well as distribution pattern of human settlements in Hourand is based on the ArcGis software outputs, multi-variants statistical methods and digital geographic data. This research indicates also that environmental conditions played a major role in the selection of the region for habitation. To conclude, after analyzing the spatial distribution of the sites, it is clear that three geographic factors such as altitude, access to the main routes and water resources are the main environmental factors providing a convenient natural setting for human populations during the Chalcolithic period

The figurines are one of the most important objects in Shahr-I-Sukhta, which indicate the parts of the contemporaneous art and the general social condition. An investigation on the human figurines from Bronze Age of Shahr-I-Sukhta suggests the similarities between Iran and other neighboring regions. The figurines show the beliefs and attitudes, environmental effects, and interregional cultural exchanges of Shahr-I-Sukhta with other regions. The analysis of this study is basically based on the chronology and stylistic comparison mad between Shahr-I-Sukhta and other connected regions. One of the most important questions is the contemporaneity or mere stylistic similarity of figurines to which the chronology of neighboring and remote sites, historical relations of the Bronze Age and the similarities of Shahr-I-Sukhta figurines with other areas were investigated. Considering chronology and similarities, however, figurines are functionally different; they suggest reciprocal effects, exchanges, and contemporaneity. As there are many comparison problems in studying per-historic figurines, focusing on chronological communication development is not for sure even if they are satisfactory mainly due to the fact that the environment and beliefs themselves both are the issues that might be differed among the

East Mazandaran including Sari, Neka, Behshahr and Galoogah and the Caspian Sea located in its South and South-east has always been a good choice for human settlement because of its geographical conditions and environmental capacities. We are also aware of the fact that the first human settlements during the history have always been affected by the environment. Archaeology as a scientific system is indeed indebted to geography processing the models and comparative studies on the reconstruction of paleo-environments and paleo-landscapes, as well as human settlement patterns. It is obvious that the different types of existing settlements on the earth are the results of consequential interaction between human behaviors and environmental situation. This communication is obviously clear, in particular, in the case of soil and sedimentary lands, which are very important elements for husbandry and food production. Human impressibility of environment has always been main reason for spatial differences of settlement and population aggregate and has formed specific settlement pattern in the ancient time; as East Mazandaran is not an exception for this issue. Although there have been great development on prehistoric studies during the recent years, the lack of scientific and systematic studies about chalcolithic period is still felt. The current study is one of the important pioneer archaeological efforts in order to recognize the chalcolithic period of East Mazandaran. The aim of this paper is to focus and analyze the role of natural and geographical as well as the environmental factors in the appearance of the human settlements of the Chalcolithic period of east Mazandaran province, Northern Iran. There are 27 chalcolithic settlements in East of Mazandaran have found which their relative date back to the early 5th millennium up to the late 4th millennium B.C. After relative dating the chalcolithic settlements which were done by the typology of potteries, the geographical positions of the settlements were entered to the GIS and had been analyzed regarding to the different geographical factors. Cultures and pottery traditions of eastern part of Mazandaran are were very similar to the contemporaneous cultures from Central Plateau and Gorgan Plain. These cultural similarities may be a result of interactions between nomadic societies, commercial exchanges or economic activities of travelling artisans. Results suggest that 93% of the settlements are in areas with Mediterranean climate and 85% in non-forest areas. 85% of them are in areas which have an average precipitation of 600-800 millimeters and 48% of them are in areas at an altitude of 0-500 meters and 37% at -26 – 0 altitude. 89% percent of the settlements have less than 2 kilometers distance from the river, 85% of them have 0 – 4 kilometers distance from the transportation paths and 96% of them are in non-pasture areas. Therefore, almost most of the Chalcolithic settlements are in non-pasture areas. Nevertheless, we can’t claim to contribute these settlements to the nomadic communities; the reason is that the nomadic economics makes the settlements to develop in pasture areas. Whereas, the placement of most settlements near rivers and non-forest plains suggests that the dependence of Chalcolithic societies of the region to agriculture economics and sedentary. Based on the foregoing, it is clear that the settlement patterns of Chalcolithic sites, despite the prior assumptions, are quite impressed by the physiography while the human geography had less effect.

The importance of inscriptions as the primary sources refer to historical events is undeniable. Introducing the Shāhugat inscriptions were found near Tābaktal village of Chāhān district around Nikshahr is the purpose of present paper. They refer to the events that occurred in south Iran around the end of the 7 th and the beginning of the 8 th centuries AH., a colorful and turbulent period of its history, some of which can be easily adapted to the historical sources. The invasion of Chagatai Mongols to Shiraz and Hormuz, the conflicts between the rulers of districts and southern islands such as Shiraz, Hormuz, Kish and Qeshm to hold the roads and commercial interests are among the reasons that made some of the people to refuge the highlands of Makrān and subsequently led to these inscriptions.

Looking at the dawn of human figurines in the Fertile Crescent which comprises Western Iran, Anatolia, Mesopotamia and Levant, this article aims to explore the reasons of their making and their meanings comparatively. This may help scholars to compare the artifacts following their construction timeline. The historical span of investigated museum artifacts in this case study is from the end of Epipaleolithic and the beginning of Proto Neolithic to the end of Neolithic. This article pursues the following four 1) investigating the theories and ideas of scholars about the function of Neolithic human figurines, 2) studying and separating spatially and temporally the Neolithic sites of Fertile Crescent in which such figurines have been made, 3) preparing the map of Neolithic human figurines of Fertile Crescent, 4) searching the reasons for making human figurines in the changes of the economic context of the area. The data of this study has been gathered via library and museum survey. The method of this study is comparative examination of the figurines’ structure and analytical investigation of their relation with each other. Regarding purpose and methodology, this research is respectively a foundational and historical research. The most important result of this study is the absolute dominance of feminine figurines over the masculine ones regarding number and variety. On the other hand, the western side of this region has started the making of such artifacts almost one millennium earlier than the eastern side and, exactly with the very temporal distance, it has commenced agriculture whereas the beginning of animal husbandry was in the eastern side. On the basis of archaeological evidence it can be said that the procedure of making human figurines is closely coordinated with the beginning of agriculture and inclining toward farming- based economy.

To recognize the dynamic of vegetation in eastern Iran as well as to ascertain interactions of human societies with their environment, the present study is carried out on charcoal samples collected from Shahr-i Sokhta dated back to the Bronze Age. This research will present two different vegetal formations used by the inhabitants of Shahr-i Sokhta: riparian formation with species such as tamarisk (Tamarix) and willow (Salix) and steppe taxa like Chenopodiaceae and saltwort (Salsola). By comparing charcoal data with those of present flora, certain changes concerning the vegetation structure in this part of Iran have been identified. These changes are best explained in terms of anthropogenic or environmental factors. The major presence of riparian taxa in the studied samples indicates that Sistan had favorable environmental conditions in the third millennium B. C. The study also concludes that the ancient vegetation of southern delta of Sistan have been relatively richer than the existing situation.