Iranian Journal of Archaeological Studies
Volume:13 Issue: 2, Winter and Spring 2023

The Iranian Journal of Archaeological Studies,volume 13, number 2, year 2023 welcomes you! Explore a variety of archaeological landscapes from the Palaeolithic to the modern era as we go on an intriguing voyage through time and space in this issue.

Tepe Tula’i in Khuzistan, Iran is one of the few acknowledged Neolithic pastoralist camps, but some question whether it is a camp of nomadic pastoralists. Features of Tula’i and its environment are discussed in relation to the possibility of nomadism. The debate concerns whether whole-group nomadic pastoralism could be sustained before the use of horses and other pack animals. The alternative is seasonal transhumance by small groups of herders detached seasonally from permanent settlements. Using evidence from Tula’i and other archaeological sites, ethnography, climatic and environmental studies, and physiological needs of humans and livestock, this paper argues for nomadic transhumance in the Neolithic and for the necessity of nomadism in the Iranian Zagros Mountains for as long as people have inhabited these lands.

This contribution aims to provide a detailed diachronic analysis of the settlement patterns in the Salmas plain, in north-western Iran. The chronological period taken into consideration goes from Prehistory to the Sasanian period, covering the entire pre-Islamic period. The work is based on a comprehensive re-evaluation of the archaeological data available to us, as well as new data produced using remote sensing. The contribution analyses the forms of interaction and control of the territory operated by the sites, in particular the fortified ones, and reconstructs for the periods for which the data are sufficient the management strategies of the plain using GIS software, as well as the analysis of the points of sight and intervisibility. The result is a highly complex and articulated situation where the settlement patterns have not always been the same over time although some forms of continuity can be noted. Due to its position and geographical characteristics, the Salmas plain is in all respects a place of great importance in the study of the archaeology of north-western Iran. It is no coincidence that key-sites such as Haftavan Tappeh or Qara Tappeh have had a long history spanning from Protohistory to the historical period. The aim of this contribution is therefore to be a first review and re-evaluation of the archaeological information of the Salmas plain and a recontextualisation of the sites in the pre-protohistoric and historical dynamics of the area examined using tools like G.I.S.

This research embarks on an archaeological investigation of the sixty-eight fresh documented unexcavated Neolithic and Megalithic sites scattered throughout Kashmir Valley, India. Focused on three key aspects - landscape, settlement patterns, and material culture, the study aims to unveil the hidden historical treasures of this region. By employing advanced archaeological techniques and methodologies, the research seeks to shed light on the enigmatic past of Neolithic and Megalithic cultures that once thrived in this diverse geographical area. Through the analysis of artifacts, and geographical data, the study endeavours to reconstruct the ancient lifestyle, social and technological dynamics, and cultural exchanges that shaped the valley as a significant cultural crossroads between South and Central Asia. The findings of this investigation have the potential to deepen our understanding of the historical interconnections from prehistoric times of the region and contribute to the broader knowledge of human history and cultural evolution in the Indian subcontinent. In essence, this study analyses the archaeological material culture related to the designation of locations as human habitations during Neolithic and Megalithic cultures, their distribution over the Kashmir Valley topography, and the contextualisation of this knowledge within Kashmir and neighbouring archaeology. The main goal of the current study is to offer first-hand information of the sites reported during the new survey to get a general understanding of site types and to document their physical characteristics based on the comparison of material culture. This study has tried to use the knowledge to gain a deeper understanding of how people settled in the Valley throughout history, with particular reference to the Neolithic and Megalithic Periods. Only three out of sixty-eight Neolithic sites are excavated, and this study is a comparative analysis of the material culture, Landscape and Settlement pattern documented from these unexplored and unexcavated Neolithic sites across the Valley of Kashmir.

Monumental structures are certainly the most common public buildings in Islamic architecture, being second only to mosques. Eight such structures were recorded during the survey of Bijar County of eastern Kurdistan province. These monumental buildings tend to share common plans and building materials. Given their position on the routes linking northwestern and western Iran as well as their proximity to the major political centres of Maragheh, Soltaniyeh and Takht-e Soleyman, these buildings, apart from a memorial function, perhaps beaconed caravans along the regional routes. Yet, these structures largely remain unaddressed by any systematic work. The main objective of the present study is to publish these buildings so as to give a more refined picture of the regional route networks in the Islamic period. The comparisons and discrepancies detected between these structures in the study area and the nearby regions, notably the Zanjan plain, characterized by environmental and cultural settings almost identical to the Garrus region, can be of great help in this regard. Accordingly, the questions considered here are: 1) What factors played a role in the emergence of these monuments in the region? 2) How did previous architectural traditions affect their formation? And, 3) To what extent are these buildings effective in reconstructing the ancient routes, and where in the region do they find comparisons in form and building materials? Social, religious and political factors have informed the development of towers in the region during the Seljuk and Ilkhanid rules. Adjacency to major coeval political centres, safety of the routes thanks to vigorous local rulers, and favorable environmental conditions (access to water and the presence of numerous villages along the routes) are the most remarkable of such factors. Previous traditions and modeling on earlier standing towers from the historical (Sassanian) and Islamic periods played a notable part in the construction of the regional guidance towers. Affinities to the standing structures in the neighboring regions, including the Khoein Tower, the mausoleum of the Prophet Qeydar, the tomb tower at Kahriz Siah Mansur (Ijrud) in Zanjan province, and their comparisons with the monumental structures of the Bijar region, apart from contributing to the reconstruction of the past route networks, attest to their original function as navigational aid. The study adapts a historical-descriptive approach and builds on field surveys, documentation in photo, and looking up related information in historical texts and library documents.

The Avesta and Zoroastrian manuscripts, in Pahlavi language, have been studied, interpreted and translated numerous times over the past century. The study of sacred numbers, only based on the above-mentioned texts, has also been a part of printed scholarly works. The reference to the Indo-European background of the numbers can be seen frequently in past works.Although in the background of this research, reference has been made to textual studies such as Indo-Iranian sources, but archaeological evidences have received less attention.This paper deals with a specific topic that is the sacred Zoroastrian numbers and entanglement with Sasanian coins. For this purpose, the author stresses on the number of pearls (beads) of the necklaces, headbands, hangings of the royal hat, and shoulder stripes based on the coins. The author will focus on the known sacred numbers such as 3, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10, 12, 14, 15, 16, 18, 21, 24…to prove the claim. Also, the article draws a clear line between necklaces worn in the batllefield, on coins and in bas- reliefs (Royal Scenes). In addition, the presence or absence of the beads of the pearl stripes on the shoulders or chest have been suggested as gender sign as a key question of this article. This restudy will show a new part of religious aspects on the royal Sasanian art.The author believes that the number of the pearls on the kings’ necklaces or headbands have followed a systematic structure from a single string to the two strings, from the rise to the fall of the empire. Also, I will briefly refer to texts to support archaeological evidences

A large number of houses all over Iran have an identity-less architecture that pays little if any attention to the architectural background of the region in which the houses are located, the needs and desires of the users, and even the sociocultural context of the abodes. The indigenous houses built in the central Baluchestan region have valuable cultural capacities. In this region, any type of housing model certainly has valuable and beneficial capacities, including cultural ones. Respect for elders, familial hierarchy, the possibility of multiple generations living in one house, etc. are among the cultural capacities of such houses, which are often neglected in modern designs. This study used a qualitative method consisting of library research and field surveys to identify the cultural capacities of indigenous housing in the central Baluchestan to improve the quality of modern housing models in the region and help enrich the identity of Iranian architecture. The findings of this study showed that cultural factors including customs, traditions, family and kinship ties have influenced the formation of indigenous houses in this area. They also suggested that using motifs and Colours according to the preferences and culture of the local people, proper interaction with neighbors, spatial flexibility based on the needs of the resident family, and harmony with the beliefs of the local people are among the most important cultural features and capacities of indigenous houses in this area.

More than two thousand years ago the first hydrostatic balance with a rudimentary structure was invented by the Greek sage “Archimedes.” Iranian scholars would later develop balances that were used not only for weighing but also for determining the density and titration of alloys.To appraise the path of evolution of these balances as well as their potentials, an experimental research program was undertaken by the Iranian Research Organisation for Science and Technology (IROST). Therefore, five different balances were selected, ranging from the oldest known in the history of science, the Archimedes balance, to the most sophisticated one, the balance of wisdom by Al-Khazini, which are separated by a lapse of time of about fourteen hundred years. Balances designed by Abu Rayhan Al-Biruni, Zakariya Al-Razi, and Omar Khayyam were the other three. In the course of the research, replicas of the selected balances were designed and fabricated according to the remaining design details in the related literature. The article covers the detailed design of each balance, their construction and functional test details as well as a comparison of their functions and their precision in densitometry and titration.

Adjusting indoor environment so as to provide thermal comfort is a matter of utmost importance in architecture. Despite the remarkable achievements so far made, the main challenge is to provide thermal comfort in buildings through minimum use of fossil fuels. In hot and dry climates, this is especially important during the hot period of the year. As the people in Sistan, a region in southeastern Iran characterized by a hot and dry climate, are from low-income families unable to afford any modern building materials and techniques, they resort to natural materials and adaptive techniques to achieve thermal comfort. This fact justifies inquiring into the effect of the local vernacular architecture, which relies on natural materials and indigenous climate adaptation techniques, on thermal comfort and energy saving. Accordingly, this study aimed at analyzing natural materials and adaptive techniques and their roles in providing summer thermal comfort in indoor spaces of the region. To this end, a typical building was selected while identifying the dominant types of vernacular architecture in Sistan. Quantitative analysis was then conducted to analyze the roles and effects of natural materials-based adaptive techniques like Dorche, Kolak and Khaarkhaneh1 , which help provide thermal comfort in specific situations. In light of the obtained results, indoor environmental parameters of the regional vernacular architecture fail to meet the thermal comfort zone in very hot days. However, adaptive techniques hinging on natural materials and ventilation has the potential to make indoor thermal parameters tolerable at different times of the day in such periods. This will result in residents’ increased thermal comfort, which will in turn reduce the amount of energy consumption.

The Archaeology of Iran from the Palaeolithic to the Achaemenid Empire by Roger Matthews and Hassan Fazeli Nashli, Publisher:Taylor & Francis, 2022,(Figures.1-3) stands as a monumental undertaking, offering a comprehensive and engaging journey through the vast expanse of Iranian history. Spanning from the first flickers of human habitation over a million years ago to the rise and fall of the Achaemenid Empire in 330 BCE, this tome unravels the intricate tapestry of Iranian society, revealing its evolution, struggles, and triumphs across millennia.