An Analysis of Settlement Patterns of Kura-Araxes Culture in Eastern Kurdistan

The eastern part of Kurdistan Province, the region under Study, includes cities such as Bijar, Qorveh and Dehgolan. This region is a high plain which differs from western Kurdistan with respect to unevenness. Recently, this region has been archaeologically surveyed by the Cultural Heritage Organization successively. The research results cope with identifying the historical sites from the prehistoric to the Islamic periods. In this study, about 21 sites assigned to Kura-Araxes Culture have been identified. The main aim of the present study is to analyze the dispositional pattern in Kura-Araxes Culture of East Kurdistan and their relationship with natural environments. In this study, features such as altitude rate, farness from or nearness to the river, the extent of the, the slope rate, the direction, and so on have been taken into consideration. To this aim, GIS software has been used. The study shows settlements have been centered in southern part of the region under study and northern parts are almost barren of Kura-Araxes sites. The research results show the existence of several permanent and seasonal settlements patterns from the Kura-Araxes Culture in this region. A part of the paper has dealt with the analysis of these patterns.