Spatiotemporal Distribution Analysis of the Iron Age Settlements of the Township of Divandarreh Using a Geographic Information System (GIS)

The city of Divandarreh is one of the most important geographical and climatic regions of Iran and Kurdistan and belongs to the geomorphological units of East of Kurdistan and Sanandaj-Sirjan. In terms of natural landscape, it has high plains surrounded by a mountain dam. Based on the archaeological investigations of the city of Divandarreh and its proximity to the historical sites of Ziviyeh and Takht Suleiman, as well as the existence of explored sites in the aforementioned region, it is undoubtedly a historical region that have not yet been fully Study. The present study deals with the investigation of 56 Iron Age settlements in the Divandarreh region identified during the archaeological field surveys of 2018. The main questions are how settlements and environmental variables affect the formation of Iron Age settlements. This methodically and appropriately interpret the distribution of Iron Age sites in the district using field and library studies and the application of the geographic analysis model. The research has shown that the site location pattern is evident in relation to environmental factors such as elevation and water resources in the formation and cultural interaction of Iron Age habitats. The research area has a suitable climate, low horizontal hills in the plain, direction of agriculture, dependence of settlements on water resources in a linear way shows permanent and seasonal settlements. To give Also, the study of influential environmental factors in the kernel density model determined the highest density of sites in the central and western parts of the region.