نشریه پژوهش های باستان شناسی ایران
پیاپی 37 (تابستان 1402)

Climatic changes in the late Pleistocene and early Holocene, which had a great impact on the transgression and regression of the Caspian Sea levels, were simultaneous with Mesolithic and Neolithic settlements around the sea. The frequent changes in the Caspian Sea level have directly and indirectly affected the early settlements of prehistoric societies around the Caspian Sea. The impact of these changes and the reaction of humans is the main subject of this research. Despite the importance of this issue, it has not been studied well related to Caspian Sea research, and it is necessary to explain a model for the response of these communities to climate change. In this paper, with an analytical approach, the subsistence of the communities around the Caspian Sea during the transgressions and regressions of the sea level has been discussed. The Khvalynian (18,000-12,000 BP) and Neo-Caspian (10,600-8,400 BP) transgressions caused marine species to play a significant role in the sustenance of these communities, among other resources. The Mangyshlak (12000-10500 BP) and 8.4k (8400 BP) regressions caused a large distance between the identified sites and the sea shores, and as a result, the use of marine resources in the residents’ sustenance decreased; but on the other hand, it caused the formation of rich ecosystems for new animals and plants such as gazelles, goats, and sheep. On the southeastern shores of the Caspian Sea, the beginning of Mesolithic settlements was almost simultaneous with the Khvalynian transgression and the proximity of the coasts to the sites, and these settlements continued until later periods. In the eastern Caspian Sea, settlements appear after the end of the Khvalynian transgression and during the Mangyshlak regression. During this period, the sea was still close to the settlements. While in the west, in the middle of the Khvalynian transgression, settlements were in the Upper Paleolithic, and in the north, there was no settlement until about 10,000 BP. While almost most of the communities in West Asia, at the end of the Pleistocene and Early Holocene, began the domestication and food production; the richness of the regions around the Caspian Sea could easily provide the sustenance needs of its communities and the first domestic species appeared only in the west and north at the Eneolithic period.

As far as the Neolithic period is concerned, the focus of research has been on the study of the early domestication and sedentary life throughout the central Zagros. However, insufficient attention is paid to later developments during the late Neolithic, and our current knowledge is largely based on the investigations of the 1960-70s, especially those carried out in the foothills which played a role as a ‘transition zone’ between Mesopotamia and the Zagros. In this context, the nature of cultural interactions in local and regional contexts is of particular importance. Moreover, the probable reasons that brought an end to the Neolithic way of life in the region are not yet known. The new, brief excavations at the site of Remremeh in the Mehran Plain have therefore shed new light on these issues. So far, as attested by AMS dates and ceramic analysis, a long sequence from the 7th to the 6th millennium BC has been excavated at the site. Accordingly, the central part of the site contains the late Neolithic remains with artifacts similar to the Deh Luran plain while the eastern part yielded a combination of local late Neolithic and Hassuna and late Samarra materials. It seems that the local Neolithic materials and thus the traditions were preserved until the end of the 7th millennium BC when Hassuna and Samarra elements were introduced to the region, respectively. After a few centuries of coexistence of local and Mesopotamian entities, the so-called late Samarran or Chogha Mami Transitional (CMT) materials, especially the black-on-buff ware, dominated the Mehran plain and other nearby lowlands in southwestern Iran. This may mark the end of the Neolithic period in the region, although the nature of this cultural transition or replacement remains controversial. However, to date, the finds from the site would help with better understanding of the cultural development and interaction in the borderland foothills over the late Neolithic.

The early phase of late chalcolithic period is corresponding with principal cultural changes in vast regions of west of Iran. After long time of using painted potteries, at least at the end of fifth and early fourth millennium BC overlapping with Godin VII (VII/VI3) in west of Iran, the painted ceramics style went out entirely and replaced by plain/coarse chaff tempered pottery style. The replacement of plain ceramic instead of painted one in west of Iran, is considered with great cultural changes in west Iran which an event has occurred in the Zagros region to be seen by a severe decline in the number of residential areas and functioned to bring a shift by which the sedentary societies were changed to the more mobile pastoralists using open-air or cave areas instead of large occupational sites. but noted that mentioned hypothesis regarding the archaeological studies of early phase of late chalcolithic period in west of Iran was based on early studies occurred at 1964-1975 in east of central Zagros Highlands at west of Iran. noted during recent decades the situation was changed and more investigations conducted mainly based on scientific approaches by using radiocarbon dating which resulted in challenging early mentioned hypothesis about this period. Most of thesis regarding the chronology, settlement pattern, distribution, socio-economic complexity and cultural interaction of Godin VII studies at the end of fifth and early fourth millennium BC was failed. The present paper is trying to evaluate this period based on review of archaeological studies carried out about Godin VII period during recent decades. Our studies in this article showing that Godin VII period at the end of fifth and early fourth millennium BC was one of the main period at the prehistory of west Iran that has a key role of socio-economic complexity that need more attentions.

the QaNaTES Project, a collaborative program initiated in 2017. The project aims to conduct fieldwork at Tepe Qaleh Naneh, an archaeological site located in the Marivan area in northern central Zagros, Iran. The excavations have provided valuable insights into the occupational deposits at the site, revealing burials, wall structures, and various materials such as pottery and lithics. These deposits span from the Chalcolithic to Islamic periods, with a particular focus on the Late Chalcolithic period, which appears to be the most significant occupation phase. Laboratory analyses have been conducted on organic samples, including charcoals and bones, as well as on items such as obsidian objects. These analyses have enabled the study of adaptation models and developmental patterns in a region, the northern central Zagros, which remains relatively understudied. The ecosystem of Tepeh Qaleh Naneh and Marivan plain, between the Middle Chalcolithic period to Bronze age, consists of extensive vegetation of oak forest-steppe And the amount of precipitation, at least in the Late Chalcolithic period, was not less than 600 mm. the material culture discovered at Tepe Qaleh Naneh indicates an increase in social complexity, as evidenced by the presence of stone mace-heads (ceremonial tools), specialized productions such as painted pottery, and evidence of long-distance contacts. Interestingly, the site appears to have stronger connections with Mesopotamia than with western Iran. The identification of Uruk pottery, including beveled-rim bowls, suggests commercial and cultural relations between the society in the Marivan region and northern Mesopotamia during the late Chalcolithic period. These findings shed light on the gradual differentiation of society during the Chalcolithic period, a critical period that witnessed the emergence of the first porto-urban communities in southern Mesopotamia. Even if the Zagros communities followed a similar trend during the Chalcolithic period, they also developed local traditions as response to interregional contacts.

The archaeological site of Tepe Gird-i Ashoan in the Little Zab basin of Piranshahr County was excavated in two consecutive seasons. The work yielded remarkable information about the regional cultural traditions in the Late Chalcolithic period. The recovered material culture indicates the presence of the chaff-faced/Pisdeli pottery tradition, and the relative chronology evinces that the strongest interactions were with Caucasia, Anatolia and Mesopotamia. Notwithstanding the fairly extensive archaeological work in northwest Iran, the Zab basin remains almost totally neglected as regards botanical and zoological studies. The present study explored the biological evidence from the site and attempts a reconstruction of the subsistence patterns prevailing in the Late Chalcolithic northwest Iran in light of the evidence from Gird-i Ashoan. To gain an insight into the regional societies in the 4th and 5th millennium BC, the subsistence patterns of the inhabitants of the Little Zab basin was examined. In effect, recovery of an abundance of ash deposits alongside other burned materials at Gird-i Ashoan permits such interdisciplinary enquiries as archaeobotany and Zooarchaeology. Drawing on excavations as well as botanical and osteological analyses, the present study attempted to explain the local subsistence patterns through a descriptive-analytical approach. Thus, the two major topics addressed here were the subsistence patterns adopted by the mid/late Chalcolithic populations of Gird-i Ashoan, and the animal species represented in the excavated assemblages. Animal husbandry seemingly constituted the major component in the local subsistence system and surpassed agriculture judging from the fact that the faunal evidence outnumbers the floral remains. Therefore, the results of the study pointed to a mixed agro-pastoral subsistence pattern, and attested to the cultivation of bread wheat and barley, indicating that agriculture also played in part in the local economy.

Gourab Tepe is one of Iran’s most important prehistoric sites, located in the city of Malayar in the province of Hamedan. Unlike Godin Tepe, Gourab’s transition from the Late Chalcolithic period to the Early Bronze Age was without any ruptures, and the Bronze Age artifacts found there belong to the Kura-Araxes culture, a culture covering a vast geographical area whose wide spread through the region and the reasons for their expansion have been subjects of great fascination to archeologists. Petrography is a scientific method used in the geological sciences to identify minerals based on their optical properties. The pottery found on Gourab Tepe provides an incredible opportunity to study the transition from the Late Chalcolithic period to the Early Bronze Age, which in itself is an important topic of discussion for archaeology. This article aims to understand the makeup of the minerals present in the pottery found on Gourab Tepe and analyze the transition from the Late Chalcolithic period to the Early Bronze Age to understand the influence of cultural changes on the structure, texture, and makeup of the pottery in the region. Research questions include: Which minerals are present in the Late Chalcolithic and Early Bronze Age potteries, and what does their presence signify about the geological structure of the region? What effect did the Cultural transition and change have on the structures of potteries, and in the case of these changes, how can we interpret and analyze this phenomenon from an archeological standpoint? The petrographic study analyzing 20 samples—10 of which were from the Late Chalcolithic period and 10 of Kura-Araxes origin—showed that the Gourab Tepe potteries underwent significant structural changes from the Late Chalcolithic period to the Early Bronze Age, and whilst these potteries were produced in the same region, the clay and the pottery-making techniques used had fundamental differences.

Late 4th millennium B.C is a period of human life in which he developed writing on clay tablets as a major means of economic transactions. This process is one of the greatest inventions in human history, and perhaps the most important of them, which did not happen all at once and had a gradual trend from the Neolithic period to the second half of the fourth millennium BC. The main feature of this period, along with seals and seal impressions, is clay tablet with ideographic signs plus counting notations and then evolved with syllabic conventional signs in the later stages, which is probably the initial shape of the standard writing. These clay tablets in Iran have been obtained from Susa and Chogha Mish in Khuzestan, Sialk in Kashan and Sofalin in Tehran province. The excavation seasons at Tappeh Sofalin unearthed a significant corpus of administrative material culture that provides evidence for the use of a complex administration systems during the Proto Elamite period at the second half of the fourth millennium B.C. These evidences are closely related to administration systems known from sites in southwestern Iran, most prominently at Susa III period. The types of administrative evidences from economic tablets to ideo-numerical ones were found at Tappeh Sofalin, suggesting that the settlement prolonged during the Proto Elamite period. One of the diagnostic administrative materials unearthed during the expedition is an almost intact Proto Elamite tablet with an unattested numerical system. Given the relative scarcity of texts from this time, the example offered in this article should add significantly to our knowledge and understanding of one of the world’s oldest attested forms of writing. Here we discuss this Proto Elamite tablet and the meaning it conveys.

South-East Iran is a region of great archaeological significance, with diverse physical landscapes and a rich urban phase in the third millennium BCE. Recent archaeological discoveries in the Halil Rud Valley (Kerman province, Iran) brought to light a hitherto unknown civilization, the so-called “Jiroft or Halil Rud Civilization” which generally dates to the third millennium BCE. As a result of the early 2000s’s widespread looting in this region, numerous sites were plundered and severely damaged and thousands of the burial goods ended up on the black market. Although illegal digs in the region have been halted, there are still countless ancient objects in the hands of local people far more than those confiscated. The present paper deals with one of these finds from the Jiroft civilization. It presents a small Bronze Age object; a semi-precious stone statuette at present in the property of a villager living in the surroundings of Jiroft. The statuette comes from illegal excavations in the Halil Rud Valley (Southern Kerman, Iran) and represents a standing female personage. Although the discovery lot of the statuette is unclear, but it probably comes from the plundered cemetery of Mahtotabad (second half of the third millennium BCE), pertaining to the urban center of Konar Sandal. It is made of lapis lazuli, a rock notoriously imported from Afghanistan, but the evidence indicates that it was manufactured in the Jiroft area. This early Bronze Age statuette is discussed with synoptic reviews of other female sculptures in coeval ancient Mesopotamia, Elam and Egypt. Presenting the uncommon iconography of a breastfeeding female, or mother goddess, the statuette hints to an important religious identity, possibly materializing the symbolic role of breast feeding in the adoption of deified kings by goddesses.

Khaneqah Cemetery, located in Gilavan village in Khalkhal County of Ardabil Province, is one of the most unique cemeteries in the country. Based on burial findings, this cemetery is one of the most significant cemeteries in northwestern Iran, because it presents graves from the three cultural periods of the Middle Bronze Age, Iron Age and Parthian period. Four-season scientific excavations have been carried out in Gilvan cemetery. In the present study, the graves excavated in the third season have been studied. During this season, four ancient graves have been excavated and identified by numbers 30, 33, 34 and 35. Graves 30 and 33 has been dated to the Middle Bronze Age and graves 34 and 35 has been dated to the Iron Age I. The graves of this cemetery are of the type of pit graves in which burials have been done as single and double person in grave pit. The present study has been studied qualitatively in a descriptive-analytical manner and with a comparative approach, and has been compared with the works of other simultaneous sites in the north and northwest of Iran in terms of burial data. The results indicate the cultural relationship with the sites of Middle and New Bronze Age and Iron Age I and II. There is a lot of evidence to date the tombs of Khaneqah Cemetery. The burial method, shape and structure of the graves and the typology of the pottery and objects obtained indicate that this cemetery belongs to the Middle Bronze Age to the Iron Age I and II.

Historical-religious research and studies of ancient Iran are deeply dependent on philological research and studies, and leave many questions still to be resolved. Accordingly, research involving sacred architecture in this region has considerable value, even if it raises new questions about the interpretation of many structures for which religious functions have been proposed. A lack of comprehensive archaeological documentation constitutes the main obstacle to knowledge of the sacred architecture of Iran, and if it is correct to say that the evolution of religious ideology and religious practices as attested by written sources surely must have influenced this architecture, only a careful and thorough analysis of the monuments will clarify many problems related to their function. The mountain chain of north-east Khuzestan is considered as the homeland of the Elymaeans, people led by a political entity that repeatedly claimed independence from the great statal formations of the Seleucids and Arsacids, and intermittently succeeded in establishing independent forms of government in the region. Although the highlands were difficult to exploit, this area became the place of settlements, urban centers and religious complexes displaying monumental architecture. Thanks to archaeological excavations so far conducted, we know that mountainous sanctuaries were located in the areas of Masjid Suleiman and the plain of Izeh, in sites such as Bardnshande, Sarmsajd and Kal Chandare (Shami). The examination of architectural features show that all these complexes belong to the same building traditions. This research focuses on the characteristics of Elymaean religious architecture with the aim to make cross-comparisons with other architectural complexes in a diachronic perspective and to enlighten trends that can be ascribed to processes of decision- and policy-making in a comparative environment. Data are collected and analyzed thanks to published excavation reports and previous literature (of historical and archaeological type). The result of this study is that it allows us to get to know the Elymaean architecture, which includes: terrace building, stairs, sacrificial platforms, pillared porches, square halls, courtyard architectures, and rectangular rooms, side rooms with separate entrances and Column and column head. These features appear to have been created thanks to the combination of formulae of local (Mesopotamian and Elamite) and global (Hellenistic) types.

The role and position of the deity of Mithra/Mehr in Zoroastrianism or the official Zoroastrian religion of the Sassanian era, as well as its relationship with Roman Mithraism, has always been ambiguous and the subject for a great deal of debate and discussion. This deity (Izad) was one of the most important and popular deities (Izadān) of the Sassanian era, but despite this, there are not many material works related to this deity. In the excavations of Ak-Depe in the south of Turkmenistan, a collection of Sassanian bullae was found which the excavator assigned one of them to the deity of Mithra. According to the inscription of this bulla, it belongs to a Magi, so it becomes more important because of its direct connection with the Zoroastrian. The motif of this bullae, which is not very clear, probably shows a person riding in a chariot carried by two horses. In this article, the deity Mithra has been considered from a different view and while discussing the above-mentioned bullae, other cultural materials such as architectural evidence and pictorial evidence attributed to this deity have been analyzed. This research has used the iconography approach. This essay has shown that: a) the imprinted picture belongs to the deity of Mithra; b) the worship of Mithra was part of the Zoroastrian religion in the Sassanian period and was not considered as a separate religion or sect. And c) There can be no further connection between Roman Mithraism and the worship of Mehr or Mithra in Iran, except for general similarities.

During his lifetime, the Human has always been in a constant interaction with the environment, and the growth and development of human civilization have taken place in the context of the natural environment. Meanwhile, a manifestation of humans’s alignment with their surrounding environment is the technology of using natural phenomena in different regions. One of these technologies is the construction and operation of Persian windmills (Asbads), the earliest example of which has found to belong to the Iranian civilization to this day. Sistan is thought to be the place where Asbads were invented for the first time, and today numerous remains of historical Asbads are found in this region. Although the best-known windmills of Sistan are those of Hozdar complex, there are other Asbads in Rendeh region of Sistan, some of which can be regarded as the most representative examples of Iranian windmills. Unfortunately, despite the significance of this issue, no comprehensive research has been conducted on these windmills so far and questions regarding their age, architectural structure and typology as well as the position of the region during its lifetime have remained unanswered. The authors of the present paper have, therefore, made a comprehensive identification of this complex relying on field studies and archaeological surveys; and subsequently, using a descriptive-analytical method, they have extensively studied the architectural structure of windmills and other monuments of Rendeh complex. The results suggest that the Asbads and the sites of Rendeh complex are older than other windmills of Hozdar, dating back to the 6th-9th centuries AH. This collection includes the greatest number of windmills belonging to the mid-Islamic centuries, thus making this the largest flour production complex of Sistan. Among them, a windmill known as “Se Pareh” is the biggest known Asbad in eastern Iran, the architectural type and style of which have continued in the Safavid windmills of Hozdar during the subsequent periods by removing the side courtyard and its surrounding storage rooms. It was also found that this windmill is the oldest example of twin-windmills in Iran.

Sassanian seals and sealings were among the objects; used at all levels of society and administrative organizations of the Sassanian era, and thus they play a significant role in our understanding of various historical aspects of this period. The motifs carved on Sassanian seals indicate the beliefs and thoughts of their owners, among which are abstract geometric motifs, introduced under the title of monograms. There are different ideas regarding the meanings of these motifs; they are generally identified as indescribable symbols; but some consider them to be modified forms of the Pahlavi letters, which mysteriously contain the concept of an inscription at their core and are introduced under the title of the monogram. Seals containing these motifs, as Nishan seals, are sometimes seen with an inscription. The use of Nishans on pre-Islamic Iranian seals is rather complicated, and it may not be easy to understand the owner’s intention in using these motifs on their seals. In this article, an attempt is made to examine two seals kept in the Bu Ali Sina Museum in Hamedan. Through library studies and field research, the author attempts to read the inscriptions and find the relationship between the signs and the inscriptions around them while examining the seal designs.

The inscriptions and motifs on the coins have always been influenced by the religion, culture and political-governmental conditions of every period. Coins can be considered as an undistorted historical document to know the conditions of society in every period. Symbols give new value and meaning to an object and trace without destroying its real value. One of the most widely used symbols is plant motifs, which became more effective and powerful in the early Islamic time due to the fading of human and animal motifs in Islamic art. These motifs were painted sometimes abstractly and sometimes realistic. The aim of this study is typology of floral motifs on coins from the Ilkhanid to the Qajar period and also to study these motifs from a symbolic point of view in order to answer questions such as: What floral motifs are there on the Ilkhanid to the Qajar coins? And what are the symbolic meanings of these motifs? The present study is a descriptive-comparative and analytical approach and its information is extracted through library resource studies (study library resources) and field surveys (investigating the samples of various inside and outside museums) on more than 100 coins. The results of studies showed that plant motifs have been used on coins as in other industries objects. In the Ilkhanid and Timurid periods, these motifs were mostly limited and were used marginally to fill the background space and sometimes for creating frames, but from the Safavid period onwards, these motifs can be seen on coins with more quantity and distribution, it is why we can find fewer coins in this The period without plant motifs. The most common plant motifs are lotus and rosette flowers and Arabesque(Eslimi)-Khatai and Bergamot motifs, and symbolically, the selection of these motifs is all based on ancient Iranian beliefs and is rooted in the belief in immortality, blessing, fertility and believing in the Iranian utopia.

The study aims to discuss the Saljuq dome chamber of the Masji-i Jami‘at Marand in detail. The building is mainly famous for its Ilkhanid Mihrab. The dome chamber is part of a larger structure that was expanded in various periods. The mosque was examined by previous scholars, who mainly focused on the Mihrab. Sarre, Pope, Siroux and Wilber are well-known scholars of Iranian architecture who have published their survey about the mosque. In his lengthy studies, Robert Hillenbrand categorises the Marand mosque, with other domed mosques of northwest Iran, as the “School of Qazvin”. However, no hard evidence confirmed a Saljuq date for the Marand Jami‘except for architectural similarities. The present study mainly focuses on the dome chamber of the building. The article first introduces the mosque and then examines its dome chamber. The dome chamber is placed in a rectangular structure in the historic part of the city. The building was developed and changed at various times. The building has neither a courtyard nor a historic entrance. Despite its vanishing dome, the dome chamber still preserved its original architectural features. The building’s main features are the square dome chamber, the stunning transition zone that differs from other Saljuq cases, and an inscription band of carved stucco encircles the dome chamber.  Providing a comprehensive reading of the Mihrab’s inscriptions as much as possible based on previous studies and the fieldwork of the writer is a further purpose of the study. The inscription band of the dome chamber has not received enough attention from earlier scholars. The fresh material that was found in the conservation procedures of the building shed light on the mosque’s history.  The founded date confirmed the erection of the dome chamber in the Saljuq period. The study also provides some unpublished drawings of the building.

In recent years, the importance of energy conservation has increased due to the lack of energy resources and environmental problems caused by the use of non-renewable energy. Energy efficiency in the housing sector is very high and consumption is expected to increase as the world’s population grows. Creating comfort in buildings against climate problems is allocated to high energy consumption. It is appropriate to study the solutions employed in vernacular housing to deal with climatic problems and provide comfort for residents. Buildings consistent with the climate can reduce energy consumption. The vernacular architecture reflects the harmony between architecture and climate and has been providing comfort for the residents with passive solar techniques. This article addresses several vernacular houses in Hamadan with a cold mountain climate in the west of Iran in order to identify effective factors in reducing energy consumption. This study is aimed to find the most important factor in the formation of climate-adaptive vernacular houses in Hamadan. In this article, effective climatic factors are initially extracted for vernacular houses through previous studies and a variety of factors are then analyzed by an investigation into vernacular houses in Hamadan and simulation of some factors. The orientation was noticed as an important factor in previous studies, which is quantitatively investigated in this article by simulating vernacular houses. The houses are simulated by Design Builder software based on two factors: orientation and the window-to-wall ratio. It is concluded that although various factors contribute to the reduction of energy consumption in vernacular architecture, the most important factor is the orientation of houses toward the sun. The orientation particularly affects the area of openings on a facade and the energy consumption for heating. The results show that other protective factors against cold climate depend on the orientation of houses towards the sun and are formed based on it.