Archaeological Survey at Markazi and Mazayjan District in Bavanat County

The first season of the survey was conducted in April and May 2015. It is attempted to determine the studied region according to natural geographical range without considering new political borders. To this end, Bavanat River Basin which is located in two central and Mazayjan parts of this county was fully investigated. Archeological research was carried out in a survey and intensive way to identify all sites and relics that reflect the activities of past human societies in the region. In this research, in addition of using all the information of historical texts and environmental studies, it was tried to conduct a field study in the basin of Bavanat River and by analyzing movable and immovable surface findings, the relationship between cultural sites and settlement patterns are investigated and meanwhile by comparing with the adjacent regions, the relationship between these cultural sites in different periods with the environment and geography of the region is investigated. In general, the most important goals of this archaeological research in 2015 are as the following: identifying all cultural works of different periods of the region; preparing archaeological maps of the studied region in the alternation of different cultural periods, studying and investigating the process of settlement changes in different periods, presenting the sequence of relative chronology of the region based on surface findings, measuring the effect of environment on the formation of settlements, explaining the cultural position of the studied region in cultural areas of country, recognizing regional and trans-regional interactions based on surface findings. During the conducted researches, 200 sites that dated from the Neolithic Period to the late Islamic era were registered. These sites include hills and ancient sites, historical castles, historical places of worship, mosque, bridge, cemetery, mill, petroglyph, ancient mines, and slag site. The oldest signs of settlement in this region were related to the Neolithic that this type of pottery was already identified in Marvast Plain, known as Mushki.