Eco-political interactions between Nishapour and its hinterlands during Sassanian period

In the face of strategic and geopolitical importance of Nishapur, this city was not much taken into consideration by the archeologists of the historic period. The analysis of the new findings of the ancient castle of Sasanian Nishapur as well as the identification of some Sasanian settlements in the plain of Nishapur can make it possible to re-configure the eco-political structures of the communities that populated this area of Iran to a large extent. This paper assesses how the the interaction occurred between Nishapur and its hinterland by ceramic analysis in the framework of the quantitative models such as regression analysis and rank-size model. According to the historical records and archeological analysis, the magnitude of Nishapur's influence on its hinterland brings it to mind that the pattern of eco-political interaction in Nishapur's hinterland at the time of Sasaninas have resembled the core-periphery model.