An Archaeological Analysis of Environmental in the Southern Plains of Sarayan During the Islamic Periods, With an Emphasis on the Settlement Patterns

The Study of settlement patterns in any time period in a region, Due to the natural and cultural features of that area, it requires its own special methods. A combination of factors plays a significant role in creating settlements contexts at any given time. Over the past recent years, a lot of attention has been paid to understanding and evaluating the complex processes between humans and the environment in the field of archaeological studies. This approach to archaeology makes it possible to adapt habitats with the existing environmental situations in addition to recognizing the impact of the environment on the creation of each habitat. One of these approaches in the study of archaeology is the study of the settlement pattern and the analysis of the habitats which examines the formation of ancient sites in environmental settings. Sarayan is a city located in the Lout and Central desert in the province of Southern Khorasan; it’s 160 Km apart from Birjand, the center of the province, and is located in a plain in the margin of the desert in the west-southern slopes of Zabari mountain known as Shotoran. No studies have been done so far to investigate the settlement pattern and the interactional effects of humans and the environment during the Islamic periods in the southern plain of Sarayan; the present study aims to fill this gap by addressing this issue. On the basis of goals, the present research is a fundamental research and in terms of its nature and method is a historical and descriptive-analytical type, according to which the written information is gathered from reliable sources and even first hand, and then archaeological evidence and its related elements are provided by the results of field studies and archaeological excavations. Use of geographic information system, the monitoring of cultural data is statistically based on its field analysis and “main component analysis” of the methods used which in this research to find the settlement patterns of identifying the priority and the main component for locating the developments. The authors are trying to use theories and views Proposed in this context and using new geographic tools Such as GIS or Geographic Information System, a cultural and biological landscape single-period enclosures of the southern plain Sarayan during the Islamic Middle Ages Be evident. GIS analysis of identified sites in the Middle Islamic period (5-9th century) as well as environmental analysis in order to know the knowledge and skills of the past people Sarayan the use of environmental resources as well as the impact of environmental resources on the distribution of Islamic sites is one of the other objectives of the present study, which it seeks to achieve. What are the effective factors in the formation of a settlement pattern in the southern plains of Saroyan? The most important factors in the formation of the Islamic era settlements in the south plain of Saroyan are the environmental factors such as proximity to water, elevation, soil fertility, vegetation and access to roads. The results are based on archaeological studies and the study of cultural data in this Research shows that the distribution of all the settlements of the Islamic Middle Ages in the single-period enclosures of the southern plain Sarayan. They are centrally located and close to each other and follow the pattern of clustering and clustering, and they follow only the margins of the grove. Due to limited environmental resources in the southern plains of Sarayan and rivers, due to access to water resources, the output of GIS maps clearly illustrates this.