Iranian Journal of Archaeological Studies
Volume:4 Issue: 1, Winter and Spring 2014

New archaeological evidences of the so-called "Bactrian-Margiana Archaeological Complex" (= BMAC) has invited a change in our knowledge of the cultural relations between Oxus civilization and south-eastern Iran during the III-II millennium B.C. transition period. The new archaeological projects in southern and western Turkmenistan, as well as attested at Gonur Depe, have showed a wider and more articulated relation in Asia Media, not only constrained to the movement of the Central Asian Bronze Age onto the Iranian plateau, Baluchistan, and western coast of the Persian Gulf. At the same time new research and excavations in the Jiroft valley has demonstrated a new cultural horizon in the eastern Iran. In this perspective the new information from the Oxus (Bactria and Margiana) and Jiroft civilizations invite new interpretations on III-II millennium historical relations among eastern areas. In particular it is possible to recognize south-eastern Iranian objects or influenced materials by Jiroft civilization in the Bactrian-Margiana archaeological complex. For these reasons the characteristic finds of BMAC recovered in Iran from Susa, Shahdad, Shahr-i Sokhta, Tepe Hissar, Khurab and Tepe Yahya have to be analyzed as part of a wider network and not simply explained with the movement of people from Central Asia towards southern Iran. An unpublished bifacial seal, now placed in the Bastan Museum, is an important line of evidence for a reassessment of the historical relations between two civilizations, representing a conceptual and ideological creation originated by the union of southern Iran and Central Asian cultural developments. This evidence is a new and decisive contribution for the understanding of the intercultural processes between the Oxus and Jiroft cultures; its presence confirms a homogeneous and related-artistic knowledge in a wide territory from Margiana and Bactria to the Lut, Jiroft, and Elam regions in a joint cultural source, but with different indigenous developments.

The second season of the archaeological survey of Qeshm Island was conducted during the winter of 2012, during which the team identified a total of 138 sites. The preliminary analysis of the ceramic assemblage from these sites suggests that 5 sites date to the 3rd millennium B.C.(Bronze Age) and represent the earliest in the directory. The remainder includes 3 Iron Age, 4 Achaemenid, 23 Parthian, 20 Sasanian, 11 early Islamic, and 34 Ilkhanid and Timurid as well as 102 sites ranging in date from the Safavid to Qajar period. Bronze Age was simply represented by two settlements and three burial sites, all clustered in the central part of the island and the Turiyan plain. The three Iron Age sites previously recorded in the first season were complemented with 3 others in this season. Four sites likely datable to the Achaemenid period all lie on the shore or close to it. Pay Posht 4 (QS 129) appears to have been a harbour and an “industrial center.” Large number of copper slag and some fragments of copper and bronze vessels were found on its surface. Several settlement and burial sites can be dated to the Parthian period. As in the Achaemenid period, these are on the shore or next to it, though a few contemporary sites were recorded in the Turiyan plain located in the central island some distance from the sea. The Sasanian period does show a significant change in the number of sites compared to the earlier Parthian period. Indeed, the sites are now larger than those in the preceding period. Islamic period was attested by a plethora of structures and sites. These show great variety and include extant constructions such as mosques, imamzadehs, cisterns, dams, forts, cemeteries, sites and large and small mounds.

The comprehensive study of interactions between environment and humans is very interesting in order to build up a good picture about geographical and cultural landscape. To obtain the visibility, the site location modeling, and patterning of archaeological data and extract settlement patterns in the Bastam Plain, GIS spatial analysis methods have been applied accordingly. Some environmental factors around archaeological sites have been extracted to identify the local characteristics of the landscape that may have influenced the particular location of the ancient settlements and archaeological visibility. The final results of site probability modelling were obtained based on the environmental factors. According to these variables, 5 types of probability were evaluated for the location of archaeological sites (Very high probability, high probability, medium probability, low probability and very low probability). The simple, visual evaluation of the results indicates that 70% of the archaeological sites felt within the very high probability, 20% in the high probability and 10% in the medium probability zones in the corresponding predictive map. Based on the current field research (which is not sufficient to get the reliable results) and previous archaeological projects It would be argued that the phase of early village settlement in the area, including the Neolithic and Chalcolithic periods appears to have been dense. In turn, Bronze Age settlements appear to have been sparse. However, these observed patterns may not reflect the true insights due to the small scale survey, thick sedimentation and the relative dearth of sites in the alluvial plains.

Situated in the Talvar valley of the Bijar County, Tepe Qeshlagh is an archaeological site with a sequence spanning the Chalcolithic through to the Bronze Age. Two seasons of salvage excavations have covered the site as it will be submerged as part of the intended lake of the Talvar Dam. Results from the excavations show evidence of long-lasting Chalcolithic (Dalma) settlements at the site. Dalma represents a major culture of the early-mid-Chalcolithic period, and its presence has thus far been documented over large parts of northwest and west Iran. In this period several socio-economic changes and environmentally provoked cultural adaptations have led to a diversity and distinction in certain cultural aspects. The preliminary results from the excavations at the site reveal strong parallels with the Hajji Firuz-Dalma cultures of the Lake Urmia Basin alongside inspirations from the Hassuna culture of northern Mesopotamia in the form of a pottery of Dalma type. The excavated material indicates external connections.

In spring 2012 an archaeological survey was conducted within the Rayen region in order to explore all archaeological periods and document settlement patterns of all archaeological sites in the region. In general 52 archaeological sites were discovered and documented which are included all prehistoric and historical sites. Among these sites, 3 of them seem to belong to the Paleolithic period. This paper aims to examine one of them, based on the available materials, technological and typological characteristics, seems to lead toward the Epi-Paleolithic, which are slightly known from other parts of Iran. This specific era in Iranian Paleolithic studies and its existence and all its characteristics, complexity and their distributions around the country are highly unknown, especially from the southeastern Iran. Since this site is an open air location, the only way to determine its approximate date is to study and classify the available materials. In order to achieve this, a number of analyses have been carried out on the technological and typological characteristics of the lithic of this site. In this paper the Lithics and their technological and typological characteristics have been studied in order to examine and determine the main production techniques and its approximate date.

Among the variety and diversity of pigeon houses, Multi-Tier Pigeon Houses (MTPHs) are distinguished from the functional and aesthetic point of view and are considered as a specific local architectural sights of Lenjanat. However, few studies have been conducted to study this type of pigeon house and these constructs have remained unknown. In this study we have conducted library and field studies because of the profusion and diversity of these pigeon houses in the Mobarakeh region and Flavarjan region. The aim of this study is typology and classification of Multi-Tier Pigeon Houses based on plan, structural, and technical analysis of these constructs. The results of this study show that the congestion of these pigeon houses has been in Lenjanat, and the geographical and climatic conditions have been effective in construction of these structures. The necessity of typology and classification of these constructions is crucial in saving the native architectural heritage of these areas.