THE INTERACTIONS BETWEEN SISTAN AND GREAT KHORASAN CULTURE (GKC) IN THE SECOND HALF OF THE THIRD MILLENNIUM BC

The identification of the geographical extent of the Bactria Margiana Archaeological Complex (BMAC) and the interpretation of the spreading map of the related archeological instances in the ancient sites of the eastern half of Iran is at the beginning stage of its long journey. Several Studies led by many archeologists from different backgrounds were carried out to define the relationship between the BMAC and the other neighboring cultural areas of the eastern half of Iran such as Dasht Gorgan, Hissar, Kerman, Baluchistan, but the relationship between this culture and the cultural area of Sistan was neglected. According to the continuous excavations that led to the identification of the BMAC pottery, the investigations on the Sistan basin and in the archaeological excavations of Graziani, Taleb Khan and the fourth period of Shar-i Sokhta, as well as the identification of miniature columns and stone disks, regarding the similarities between the cultural artifacts of this geographical area and the examples identified in the BMAC such as marble vessels, metal reticular seals, memorial burials, all of these evidences propose the different hypotheses studying the relationship between these two areas. All the obtained evidences and the cultural data available relating to these two cultural areas tell the fact that they had a mutual relationship during which the BMAC was both influenced by the Shar-i Sokhta culture and influenced it. This article studies the relationship between these two cultural areas by emphasizing the BMAC pottery samples identified by chance throughout the excavations carried out to examine the Zabol-Zahedan water pipeline.