Settlement Pattern Study of Chalcolithic and Bronze Age Sites From The Southeastern Margin of Malayer Plain

Central Zagros and its eastern regions have relatively a favorable environmental condition for the formation of ancient settlements. One of these regions is Malayer intermountain plain that is located in the vicinity of Hamadan, Nahavand and Boroujerd. According to archaeological evidence, beginning of the setteling in this plain is Chalcolithic period. However, recent studies have identified several sites of the Neolithic in the region. The present study examined the Chalcolithic and Bronze Age settlement pattern in the southwest of the region. The research is based on the study of archaeological data obtained from the fieldwork of the region. For achieving considered goals, we have used and analyzed geographical information, using Arc GIS 9.2 software and then, for interpretation of data, Excel software was applied. By establish a data bank for the study, which is in the form of geographical information system, we carried out analysis on spatial distribution of the sites. Study of the neighborhoods cultures impact based on archaeological data is the other issues in this research. According to the comparison of data it can be said that cultural interactions have been between the central Zagros region and Kangavar plains. Analysis of the data has also revealed a linear model of sites distributed along the rivers and irrigation canals.