The Chalcolithic Period in the Bakhtiyāri Highlands: Recently-discovered Sites in Fārsān, Chāhār Mahāl va Bakhtiyāri, Irān

Fārsān is a county in the Chāhār Mahāl va Bakhtiyāri Province, located in the Central Zagros region, where fairly high mountains with several peaks reaching a height over 3000 meters overlook a natural landscape consisting of a relatively small plain and multiple ravines that disperse away. Archaeologically, the plain is among the least-known areas on the Iranian Plateau. An archaeological survey program was carried out in the area in 2007 by the author. This survey identified and recorded a large number of prehistoric sites of which 28 could be dated to the Chalcolithic Period. Not surprisingly, given the natural setting of the region, surface scatters without significant height account for a major proportion of the identified sites. Based on the morphology and observations of the modern regional nomadic tribes as well as the scarcity of surface finds, the recorded sites are of temporary encampment nature. In the surface assemblage from Fārsān, the Early, Middle and Late Chalcolithic phases are represented, though the material from the Middle phase predominates. Thus, the majority of the sites may belong to this phase. In the Early Chalcolithic Period, we are faced with fewer sites, while the Late phase shows a decreasing trend in terms of site distribution compared to the Middle Chalcolithic Period. The Chalcolithic pottery reveals very close relations with contemporary material from Fars (Bakun A and B), Khuzestan (Middle and Late Susiana) and to some extent from the Iranian Plateau. However, the closest parallels can be found in the prehistoric cultures of Fars. Extensive cross-regional interactions appear to have prevailed between Fārsān and Susiana plain and Fars in the period under discussion. Increased intra and inter-regional contacts in effect characterize the Chalcolithic Period. Though also being the case in the preceding periods, the trend towards increased contact significantly augmented in this period as the large body of available evidence suggests. The Chalcolithic sherds collected during the present survey find close parallels among the related assemblages from sites in Susiana and Fars.