Analysis of the Settlement Pattern of Semirom in its Transition from Sasanian to Early Islamic Era

The county of Semirom, with an approximate area of 5224 square kilometres, is located in Zagros mountain foothills in the south of Esfahan province, and as a result, has benefited from adequate annual precipitation; hence make abundant water resources and suitable plant variety. Such factors have made it fairly suitable for human settlement throughout the history. In archaeological investigations of Semirom, a total of 49 archaeological sites from prehistoric to Islamic era have been identified. Amongst these, 30 are known to belong to Sassanian era and early Islamic centuries, which is an indicator of the considerable growth, thrive and flourish of settlement compared to previous eras. In order to assess the changes in settlements during the transition from the Sasanian to the Islamic era, various parameters were defined all of the recorded data were analysed. These variable parameters included: (1) distance from permanent rivers, (2) distance from ancient communication networks, (3) distance from existing villages, (4) functionality of the lands, (5) plant coverage and other parameters that had influenced the establishment of settlements in this region. Geographical and spatial distribution of the discovered sites (based on GIS system) clarified that most of residential areas have been monotonously located in the northern and central parts of the county. Analysis of the data collected from fieldwork also showed that the discovered sites from the Sassanian and the Islamic period have not undergone considerable qualitative and quantitative changes; and the socio-political changes of Iran have not much influenced the life of Semirom residents.