The Origin of Snake Motifs in the Material Culture of Southeastern Iran During Third Millennium B.C: Some Evidences for Making Relationship With Elam and Mesopotamia

The interactions between southeastern sites of Iranian plateau and western sites in Susa and Mesopotamia in the third millennium B.C is one of the most controversial aspects of the Near Eastern archaeology. It seems that with some structural changes in these sites from the middle of 4th millennium B.C that led to long distance trade between Mesopotamia and Indus valley, these sites were related to each other more than earlier periods. This paper by regarding the Snake motifs as one of the common motifs on the archaeological material of Iranian plateau and Mesopotamia, attempts to clarify some aspects of this relationship in the prehistoric period. Furthermore, this paper attempts to study the transition of ideology andthoughts with cultural materials in this vast chain of exchanges. As a result, in the third millennium B.C some ideologies, symbols and beliefs weretransferred with exchanged productions and luxury objects from east to west andvice versa.