Early villages and prehistoric sites in the Abharroud Basin, North West of Iranian central plateau

The Abharroud basin is an important region in the archeological studies of northwestern outskirts of the central plateau, and west and northwest of Iran. Considering its environmental capabilities and geographical location, studying the region can leads us to a better understanding of regional relations and also inter-regional interaction between the mentioned cultural-geographical regions. However, archeological studies in the region have not been taken into consideration satisfactorily and we know very little about the early settlements and their nature in the region. The archeological survey in the Abharroud basin was carried out in two seasons in 2003 and 2005. During the survey 257 archeological sites and monuments were discovered, dating from lower Paleolithic to recent ages. Of these, 34 sites contained prehistoric remains. The study results indicate that most of the prehistoric settlements belong to the Chalcolithic period and, in contrary, the least show the Paleolithic and Neolithic evidence. Most of the identified sites are the remains of villages scattered in different areas of the basin, on the plain and also impassable heights. A preliminary study on the surface finds of these settlements suggests a close cultural relation between these settlements and the prehistoric cultures of the central plateau, west and northwest of Iran, from Neolithic to Bronze Age.