Cultural Developments in the East of Fars During the Fourth and Third Millennium BC

The first archaeological work in east of Fars, conducted by Sir A. Stein in 1934. However, an intensive survey, directed by De Miroschedji, was carried out in this region in 1971-72. Unfortunately, the materials of this survey were not studied in detail. So, the prehistoric cultures of the Fasa and Darab valleys remained unclear. To comprehend the prehistoric cultural developments of the east of Fars, the Miroscedji’s survey collections were studied first and completed with a stratigraphical excavation at Tappeh Vakilabad. The combination of the results of the survey and excavation provided an appropriate framework for the prehistoric cultures. These results affirmed that the prehistoric cultures of the east of Fars were entirely indigenous after the Bakun period to the beginning of the Kaftari era. The pottery styles of this era (Bakun-Kaftari), are introduced as Vakilabad, Zahak, Jouzjan, Roudbal, and Galyan. Furthermore, the settlement pattern analysis shows a reduction in the number of settlements in the Vakilabad period and more intensely in the second half of the fourth and first half of the third millennium BC. This pattern may indicate a shift in the subsistence economy of the large part of the society from agriculture to animal husbandry. The fourth and third millennium BC settlement patterns of the east of Fars are almost similar to KRB. However, in the second half of the fourth and first half of the third millennium BC, the KRB reached a complicated political and social developments, but the east of Fars became a peripheral region with the limited settled population.