An Analysis of the Cultural Landscape and Settlement Pattern of the Kashafrud Basin (Mashhad Plain) in the Iron Age

The Khorasan region, especially the Kashafrud basin, has culturally retained a strategic position by virtue of its location between three major cultural spheres of southwestern Central Asia, the Central Plateau of Iran, and northeastern Iran. The Iron Age still remains a mainly unknown period in this region. In northeast Iran, particularly in the Greater Khorasan, the period is characterized by cultural attributes utterly different from those of the other parts of the Iranian Plateau. Coeval archaeological evidence from Khorasan shows affinities with the Yaz and Dahistan cultures of Central Asia. The major topics considered in this study are: the distribution pattern and major influential factors in the formation of the Iron Age settlements in the Kashafrud basin (Mashhad Plain), the nature of Iron Age cultural material in the region, and the characteristics shared between the contemporary settlements in Mashhad and the adjacent regions. Further major research objectives include proposing a comparative chronology, analyzing the regional cultural landscape, and specifying the Iron Age settlement patterns in the region. Thus, attempts have been made to answer the research questions through ArcGIS maps, analysis of surface ceramics, and the landscape archaeology approach. The results indicate the impressive role of environmental factors, especially the Kashafrud River as the leading regional resource, in the advent of Iron Age settlements. Moreover, the regional material culture exhibits strong affinities with the Iron Age culture of “Yaz” in Central Asia, and indicates relations and population movements between the different regions that were under the influence of this culture.