Signs of Commercial and Cultural Relation of the Societies of Northwestern Iran and Northern Mesopotamia in Late Chalcolithic

Zab basin is in the south part of Urmia Lake. The little Zab River in northwestern Iran rises at the Piranshehr mountains and flows from the northwest to the southeast to join Iraq through Alan passage. The river basin contains many ancient settlements. Based on pot sherds it can be inferred that this basin has been a residential zone since the prehistoric period. A noteworthy feature of this basin is the presence of Uruk pottery, including the beveled-rim bowl, at 5 sites in Zab basin. This pottery has not been seen either in the northwest of Iran or in the higher regions of Hamadan. For the first time this material is identified in the Little Zab basin. This pottery belongs to the late Uruk period, i.e. late fourth millennium BC. Geographical position and settlement patterns could be signs of commercial and cultural relations between societies of Northwestern Iran and northern Mesopotamia in late Chalcolithic.