Journal of Archaeological Studies

Dig it Up: A Reconsideration of Old Excavations at the Urban Center of Shahdad

Nasir Eskandari

Volume 12, Issue 4 , May 2021, , Pages 23-45

Abstract

Shahdad is an important Bronze Age city on the western edge of the Dasht-e Lut in Iran. Previous investigations at the site, with its burials containing rich and sophisticated ... Read More

Identification of Perfumery Residues Contained in Glass Objects from Parthian to Early Islamic Period with Gas-Chromatography Coupled with Mass Spectroscopy

Nafiseh Hosseinian Yeganeh; Arman Shishegar; Seyed Mohammadamin Emami; Samad Nejad ebrahimi

Volume 13, Issue 1 , July 2021, , Pages 23-40

https://doi.org/10.22059/jarcs.2019.271372.142653

Abstract

It has been a long time since aromatic plants and aromatic materials have been used in perfumery.Therefore, production of perfume flask had become noticeable among craftsmen and artists. ... Read More It has been a long time since aromatic plants and aromatic materials have been used in perfumery.Therefore, production of perfume flask had become noticeable among craftsmen and artists. The use of plants and other aromatic substances in perfumery has been possible by obtaining their essential oils. The production of perfumes are mainly derived from plants such as roses, cloves and saffron, incense and sandalwood and plant gums. Amber, musk and Azfar were also taken from some animals such as Gazelle and Amber fish. Perfume flasks are little containers made by a variety of different materials that have been shaped or embellished by standard technology and ornaments of their historical period. Glass has been one of the most favorite materials to make a perfume flask through the time. This research gives a brief overview of the history of perfumery, from the Achaemenid era to the first centuries of the Islamic era. Then it analyzes remained materials inside the five glass containers, which are considered to be perfume bottles, from the Parthian period to the first centuries of the Islamic era. These glass perfume bottles are kept in the Glassware and Ceramic Museum of Iran currently. This analysis has been done by Coupled gas chromatography with mass spectrometer in the gas chromatography laboratory of Research Institute of Medicinal Plants and Drugs, Shahid Beheshti University. The main composition which has been detected and identified are waxes, cholesterol, and natural fatty acids. Due to its sensitivity, speed, versatility, and ability to identify traces of compounds in a mixture, the GC-MS technique's application is a brilliant method for archaeological organic chemistry and can be applied to analyse any substance containing volatile organic compounds expected. In two samples of our collection, residual perfumes were extracted.For this test, the containers were first washed with n-hexane solvent and the solution was transferred into the sampling dishes for transfer to the laboratory. On the day of sampling, the objects were selected from the samples which were photographed. Then, through a Pasteur pipette, about 2 ml of n-hexane was placed in the dishes and the material was washed by rotating and the extract transferred into the pipette and prepared for the analysis by evaporating of hexane. It should be noted that n-hexane solvent has no destructive effect on the objects and because of its high volatility, immediately it will be disappeared completely and there is no trace of it in the container.Gas chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry (GC-MS) is a powerful tool for separation and identification of natural and chemical materials. In this method, after the initial preparation, the components of a mixture are injected into the device through a special syringe in the amount of half a microliter of the tested solution. The materials are separated based on the difference between the boiling point and interaction with the chromatographic column, will be entered into the Ionization Mass Spectrometry source, because of generating powerful electric and magnetic fields, the mixture’s components will be identified quantitatively and qualitatively based on their electrical charge to mass ratio (m/z). For this analysis, 1 to 3 mg of the sample was taken and 1 ml of KOH hydroalcoholic solution (potash alcohol) was added and then subjected to alkaline hydrolysis at 60 ° C for 3 hours. After hydrolysis, the neutral organic components were extracted with n-hexane. Then, according to the internal standard, injection of the solution was analyzed in GC-MS. It was then interpreted based on comparisons of components and reference materials with library items and mass spectrum. In order to identify the type of fatty acid compositions, GC-MS equipped with a DB-5 column with a length of 30 m and an inner diameter of 0.25 mm and a thin layer thickness of 0.25 μm was used. The oven temperature was increased from 60 °C to 250 °C at velocity of 5 °C/min and was kept at 250 °C for 10 minutes. Helium carrier gas with a flow rate of 1.1 ml/min was used and 70-eV electrons was used for ionization and a mass range was from 43 to 456 amu. In order to analyze the essential oil using gas chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry, the components were identified. The components and compounds were identified by the use of various parameters such as retention time (RT) and retention index (RI), study of mass spectrum and comparing the spectrum with standard compounds and basic data in the GC-MS database by Xcalibur Software. The relative percentage of each components of the essential oil was obtained according to the area under the curve in the GC. Based on the chromatogram table, the following results were obtained:Sample 1 (Table 1, Figure 1), the perfume flasks from the Arsacid era: the most important compounds identified in container No. 1 including the paraffin compounds, cholesterol (animal-based oils), vegetable oils, and fatty acids and waxes. Also, an important substance in the solution obtained from washing was flavonoid. It is a polyphenolic substance which is found in the extract obtained from the petals and pollen of plants. Sample 2 (Table 2, Figure 2), a semi-thin blue glass container, probably from the Arsacid era: the most important components identified include an essential oil, wax and fatty acid. Sample 3 (Table 3, Figure 3), a thin glass container probably from the Sassanid era: the most important compounds identified include fatty acids such as palmitic acid, stearic acid and linoleic acid. Such materials indicate that this container has been in contact with vegetable-base oils and 80% of the substances identified in this container are fatty acids. Sample 4 (Table 4, Figure 4), a semi-thin glass container from the first centuries of the Islamic period: there are only paraffin materials such as wax and beeswax and do not contain any fatty acids. The most important substance in this sample is natural linalool, which is classified as a perfume. Example 5 (Table 5, Figure 5), the perfume flask with base from the first centuries of the Islamic period: the most important compounds identified are plant-based fatty acids, paraffin compounds or waxes, and phthalate compounds.According to the tests performed in two case studies (samples No. 2 and 4), aromatic substances and essential oils are present in the identified compounds. It shows that natural perfumes and essential oils can actually stay in the glass and the adsorption of glass is very high for keep of such materials. Except for sample No. 4, other samples contain a variety of fatty acids and proved that such glasses were used as preservative objects. Wax can be seen in all samples. Fats have been identified in various forms such as cholesterol (animal base oil), palmitic acids (plant base fats) and paraffinic substances.

Analyzing Ideology Concerning the Royal Power in Neo-Assyria and Achaemenid Monarchies

Bahman Firoozmandi Shirejini; Ali Asghar Salahshoor

Volume 14, Issue 1 , June 2022, , Pages 23-52

https://doi.org/10.22059/jarcs.2022.332499.143059

Abstract

One of the fundamental features of the ancient states associated with power was ideology, and Neo-Assyria and the Achaemenid empires were no exception to this rule. If we look at the ... Read More One of the fundamental features of the ancient states associated with power was ideology, and Neo-Assyria and the Achaemenid empires were no exception to this rule. If we look at the written and visual documents and evidence of the royal contexts of Neo-Assyria and the Achaemenid, ideology has been at the heart of these two empires. How did they treat the subject people? How was their cooperation and participation with these empires? What was the connection between kings and their god or gods to justify their actions? How did the royal inscriptions and images describe the characteristics of a mighty and powerful king? What were the characteristics of hegemony and the view of domination over the whole world and nations in their views and in what methods was it done? These are the questions that this research seeks to answer to determine the ideological commonalities and differences between these two empires in their royal contexts and whether their ideological strategies and methods have been fundamentally different concerning the verbal and visual violence of the Assyrians? To achieve its goals, this research has examined the inscriptions and images (reliefs, steles, seals) of the royal contexts of these two periods. Concerning the strategies, methods, and concepts studied in this research, such as the mighty and powerful king, universal hegemony, connection between king and god (gods), participation of subject people in advancing the goals of the two empires, large construction projects and building of magnificent monuments, etc. There is not much difference in the royal ideology of the two Neo- Assyria and Achaemenid . Of course, the explicit and barely verbal and visual violence of the Assyrian should not be ignored in their royal reliefs and inscriptions, however, in the written and visual evidence of the Achaemenids, especially in the Persepolis, this violence is not explicitly seen, that is an important feature of the worldview and ideology of the Achaemenid monarchy

The Oldest Islamic Inscribed Seal or an Inscribed Seal of a Seljuk Ruler!

Moharram Bastani; nemat alimohmmadi

Volume 12, Issue 3 , December 2020, , Pages 25-39

https://doi.org/10.22059/jarcs.2020.277611.142694

Abstract

Reading Kufic inscriptions is sophisticated, for variations, and because it is without dots. Therefore, caused to biased and fault conclusions. An example is a seal impression that ... Read More Reading Kufic inscriptions is sophisticated, for variations, and because it is without dots. Therefore, caused to biased and fault conclusions. An example is a seal impression that recovered from excavations of Anahita Temple of Kangavar at 1995 (1373).. Illogically, Ghuchani claims it as the oldest Islamic inscribed from a Sassanid governor, known as "Khosrow Shinom", who ruled Hamadan region and western Iran. However, recent peripheral accurate studies including style, type, decoration, and other Sassanid seals and inscriptions indicate inaccuracy of two last words, which Ghuchani claims as "Khosrow Asham" (the same Khosrow Shinom). The first word could be read variously, however, the second is "Allah", not Asham, Hasan seems more logical. Therefore, both appear as Hassan Allah. Considering type of inscription, characteristics, it dates to 9rd century to Ilkhanid periods. Reading Kufic inscriptions is sophisticated, for variations, and because it is without dots. Therefore, caused to biased and fault conclusions. An example is a seal impression that recovered from excavations of Anahita Temple of Kangavar at 1995 (1373). Illogically, Ghuchani claims it as the oldest Islamic inscribed from a Sassanid governor, known as "Khosrow Shinom", who ruled Hamadan region and western Iran. However, recent peripheral accurate studies including style, type, decoration, and other Sassanid seals and inscriptions indicate inaccuracy of two last words, which Ghuchani claims as "Khosrow Asham" (the same Khosrow Shinom). The first word could be read variously, however, the second is "Allah", not Asham, Hasan seems more logical. Therefore, both appear as Hassan Allah. Seals are important tools with a long history. According to archaeological evidences, this instrument dates back to sixth (B. C). According to documents, the device has changed many times during the history so there have been transformations in designs, shapes, colors and inscriptions through millennia, each with sophisticated concepts and information, while resolving many ambiguities of historical texts. In 1994, one seal discovered following archeological excavations in the temple of Kangavar. After investigations, relying on the signs as well as the presence of Kofic inscriptions on the seal and conformity to the available archives, one can date it to Seljuk period. Some scholars deny the presumption and compare the seal to earlier archives as well as early indications on the seals that lead them to suggest it as a seal of a former ruler of a Sassanid ruler around Hamadan. This led to fundamental differences in dating and every given presumption. Present article attempts to analyze a written seal (one of the oldest seals of the Islamic period) to explore and analysis its data and clarify some aspects of the seal, while explaining the disputes in attribution of the seal to each of the historical periods of Iran. Accordingly, what kind of information is it and why researchers differently attribute the seal to a hypothetical period, and what do they understand of the validity of the stamp, and how they differently understand symbols and signs of the seal? Primary studies show that this seal is related to one of the Iranian rulers, but some believe that it belongs to a ruler of the Sassanid dynasty that was active in Hamadan and western parts of Iran and some others attribute it to a Seljuk ruler. According to the data, one can conclude that Ghoochani and Tohidi problematically presented the hypothesis and failed to correct identification of time, location and attribution to a given individual. The best way to understand the nature of the seal is comparative - analytical method. We identify the symbols of the stamp using the existing examples of the stamp and using comparative - analytical method, there are differences arising in identification and determination of the identity of the instrument with the value, on the one hand, and understanding the validity of this seal. In the initial studies of "Ghochani", “Khosro Asham" is the inscription and according to its similarity with the name of "Khosrow Shanom" during the Sasanian era in Hamedan and west of Iran, it is considered that "Khosro Asham" is the same historical name. Accordingly, he claims that the seal is related to a ruler of the Sassanid dynasty and in fact it belongs to the late Islamic stamp. In order to prove his claim, he reads the first word from the beginning of the inscription, and believes that he is the same " Khosrow " and because of the similarity of this word to other words. For example, he points out that the "Shad Khosro of Hormuz", known in the Umayyad coin of 716 (97 H.GH.)" is the "Shad Khosro of Hormuz", or in other example of the Bukhara coin of 983( 373 H.GH). The name of "Khosro" was referred to as "Khsro". Conclusion: according to the results of this study Tohidi’s suggestion is attributed to the period between Seljuk to Ilkhanid periods. Accordingly, he follows that there is a significant difference between these two presuppositions because the presence of symbols, while symbols attributed to the early Islamic centuries or any other period is not compatible to each other and if it is attributed to the Seljuk period. In this case, to prove this claim, we need more investigations. Dating the seal, (apart from the laboratory methods on some available data whereas conclude to biases) may be based on two ways. First, if the data is obtained through correct scientific and accurate excavations, it is possible to compare the data with other archaeological findings of the same stratum that can be dated and / or compare to the same data properly. Second, the given data is obtained from non - scientific excavation, so the only possible way to date it is comparing the stylistics of that object; otherwise the result is incorrect and far from subjective. Each of these people seem to notice one or more indices in the stamp, and thus the results of their research have been neglected and thus, in order to prove their claim, such as Ghochani by offering unreasonable reasons, they have somehow tried to appoint the seal to one of the oldest written pieces of Islamic writing. Or, as To Heidi, to relate to one of the rulers of the Seljuk era. While the results of the research and the new investigations reject both claims. As mentioned earlier, there are three lines of Kufic script on the seal. The first line is “لا اله الا اللهˮ which is not quite clear and there is no dispute about it. The second line: the owner's name is stamped, and due to the fact that the line has no point, as Ghochani says, it cannot be read correctly. The third line: Toheidi is called “Hasbi allahˮ (حسبیالله) and Ghochani is called "Khosro Asham". no doubt the second word is" allah ". but as for the first word, it can be read in a number of forms, such as "Khsr "remembrance. this reading is more probable as Ghochani reads it, and it is more likely that " Jasar " (جسر) and " Hassan" (حسن) who came to the house after the name of " Allah "(الله) ; because it is similar to that of "Ali Abarghou" of dome inscription , it is also written . In the meantime, Hasbi's Tohidi claim is untrue because it has a letter on the seal. So it might be possible to read the last line as "Hassan Allah" (حسن الله). therefore, the research and surveys, as well as presenting the symbols, signs and other documents, show that the results of the research are different than the results of the two people and research data rejects the hypothesis of these two. as a result of this research, it can be concluded that this stamp is related to the early Islamic period (Ghochani view) or the seljuk age (Toheidi view); therefore, the historical period for this stamp may be considered between the third century and Ilkhanid period.

A Research on Chronology and Function of Qalʻeh Geli Kaj in Qom

rasoul ahmadi; Reza Mehrafarin; seyyed rasoul mousavi haji

Volume 13, Issue 2 , September 2021, , Pages 25-46

https://doi.org/10.22059/jarcs.2020.240953.142471

Abstract

Qalʻeh Geli Kaj site, located in 50 km northeast of Qom, with an area of about seven hectares, is one of the most important settlements in the historical period of Qom region. ... Read More Qalʻeh Geli Kaj site, located in 50 km northeast of Qom, with an area of about seven hectares, is one of the most important settlements in the historical period of Qom region. This site, which consists of two parts of the central castle and the remains of the settlement around it, is of special importance in archaeological studies and the history of Iranian architecture in terms of architectural features and various techniques of arch construction. Despite the scattered research that has been done about this site, there are still various questions about the dating, use and also the factors influencing the formation, development and abandonment of this place. The present study aims to answer the existing questions and ambiguities by using the archaeological evidence obtained from the superficial survey of the site and studying the written historical and geographical sources. Therefore, the method used in this research is based on historical analysis and data collection based on field and documentary studies. According to the results, the location of Qalʻeh Geli Kaj, next to one of the sub-branches of the Silk Road (Isfahan to Rey road) and the need to provide the people’s own and financial security of commercial caravans, have been among the main factors of this site’s formation and development. In fact, the initial nucleus of Qalʻeh Geli in the Parthian period was formed as a facility related to the communication road around it, and during the Sassanid period, as a result of the expansion of trade relations, it became a small town. With the arrival of Islam in Iran and following the recession of economic activities, living in Qalʻeh Geli also declined for several centuries; but after the coming to power of the Seljuks and re-advert to trade affairs, with the reconstruction of the architectural structures of Qalʻeh Geli and the construction of a stone caravanserai on its southeastern side, this town was rebuilt. The Seljuk settlement of Qalʻeh Geli is not the last stage of settlement in there and according to archeological evidence, it was also used during the Ilkhanid and Safavid periods; but it has never regained its previous glory. Finally, with the construction of a new communication road between Qom and Tehran in 1882 AD Qalʻeh Geli was also abandoned

An Introduction to caves and rock shelters of Sonqor, Kermanshah Province, Iran

Amir Beshkani; Mojgan Jayez; Maryam Dehqan; Mana Jami Alahmadi; Yadolah Heydari

Volume 4, Issue 1 , July 2012, , Pages 33-58

https://doi.org/10.22059/jarcs.2012.35375

Abstract

The research layout of surveying Sonqor’s caves and rock shelters has been presented according to the region’s importance in archeological studies, lack of documented data, ... Read More

Investigating the Ancient Siraf’s Coastal Architectural Structures by Underwater Archaeology

Hossein Tofighian

Volume 6, Issue 1 , September 2014, , Pages 38-21

https://doi.org/10.22059/jarcs.2014.52671

Abstract

Some researchers believe that because of the severe earthquake and tsunami in the fourth century H., a large part of Siraf submerged by the Persian Gulf water fluctuations. Based on ... Read More

Military Strategy in the Sasanian Empire

Ehsan Khonsari Nejad; Seyed Mehdi Mousavi Kouhpar; Sorur Khorashadi

Volume 13, Issue 3 , September 2021, , Pages 45-42

https://doi.org/10.22059/jarcs.2020.303502.142882

Abstract

It is difficult to debate about the planning, correct implementation, and effectiveness of a government's strategies, such as defining the concept of the strategy. Having a strong military ... Read More It is difficult to debate about the planning, correct implementation, and effectiveness of a government's strategies, such as defining the concept of the strategy. Having a strong military force and utilizing a variety of efficient and modern armament has always been one of the ideals of governments throughout history. The Iranian states have not been exempted from this rule and have used their financial and human resources to achieve these goals. Although the Sasanians were more advanced in many aspects of administration and military than the previous Iranian governments, they could not have been so successful in military affairs without careful strategic planning. The question is, what military strategy did the Sasanians adopt for the maintenance and the continuity of their empire? The answer to this question can be summarized in a variety of grand, long-term and short-term strategies. The very hostile strategy of the Sasanian government is not very much in line with modern theories, but it was fruitful and effective in the tumultuous late antiquity. Without their grand strategy, the Sasanian kings would not have been able to achieve numerous lasting and dramatic victories. Through the application of this strategy, they maintained and strengthened the position of the royal family among the traditional aristocracy (feudal clans), clergy, warlords, high nobility, and so on. In this paper, in order to find answers for our question, we attempt to explain the various types of strategies and tactics of the Sasanians through a descriptive-comparative-analytical approach and examine their role in the power, weakness, durability, or decline of their empire. The result generally shows the efficacy of the various Sasanian strategies and tactics in the early and middle periods, but the strategic errors of certain kings in the late period and several centuries of persistence and repetition of some aspects of their grand strategy resulted in undermining of their government

Settlement Patterns of Hamedan Late Chalcolithic Sites Based on the Rank-Size and Shanon Entropy Analyses

Behzad Balmaki; Kamal Aldin Niknami; Mohammad Reza Saeedi Harsini

Volume 7, Issue 1 , March 2015, , Pages 29-45

https://doi.org/10.22059/jarcs.2015.56668

Abstract

This study assumes areas between the Central Zagros region and Central plateau of to play an important role in the shaping social and economic complexity and the formation of urban ... Read More

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masud darabi; m n; k s

Volume 9, Issue 2 , April 2018, , Pages 29-42

https://doi.org/10.22059/jarcs.2018.212052.142313

Abstract

Comparing Style and Chronology of Human Figurines of Shahr-I Sokhta with Adjacent Cultures in the Bronze Age

Mihan Jahanbakhsh; rouhollah shirazi; Mojtaba Kharazmi; zeinab afzali

Volume 10, Issue 2 , January 2019, , Pages 29-46

https://doi.org/10.22059/jarcs.2019.68515

Abstract

The figurines are one of the most important objects in Shahr-I-Sukhta, which indicate the parts of the contemporaneous art and the general social condition. An investigation on the ... Read More

Transformation Processes: An Overview

Mohsen Dana

Volume 5, Issue 1 , December 2013, , Pages 31-48

https://doi.org/10.22059/jarcs.2013.35941

Abstract

TransformationProcessesdebate ontheinteractionsbetween archaeological artifacts and structures based on their natural and cultural environments. These processes provide ... Read More

Typology and Introducing the Iron Age Ceramics of Jafar Abad Kurgan’s in Khoda Afarin Area (The First Excavation)

Farshid Iravani Ghadim; Soleyman Mamizadeh Giglu

Volume 4, Issue 2 , February 2013, , Pages 33-50

https://doi.org/10.22059/jarcs.2013.32118

Abstract

The current article is a research on the classification of the potteries found from a scientific excavations of Jafar Abad Kurgans. Kurgans are kind of graves that are mostly unknown ... Read More

Ancient DNA Analysis of Goat Bones in Kashan and Qazvin plain in the Neolithic Period

javad hoseinzadeh sadati; Hassan Fazeli Nashli; Mostafa Montazer Zohori; Shohre Zare

Volume 7, Issue 2 , December 2016, , Pages 33-45

https://doi.org/10.22059/jarcs.2015.57746

Abstract

One of the interdisciplinary approaches which recently had a key role in resolving of archaeological issues, especially domestication process, was Archaeogenetics. Caprines were domesticated ... Read More

Early Bronze Age at Central Zagros, Iran

. Abbas Motarjem; Kamal Aldin Niknami

Volume 3, Issue 2 , February 2012, , Pages 35-54

Abstract

One of the cultural characteristics of eastern zone at central part of Zagros Range during 3rd millennium BC and at early Bronze Age is the extension of the related habitats to Yaniq ... Read More

The Spatial Pattern of Iranian Old Cities in the Transition from the Sassanid to the Islamic Period

sattar khaledian; Hassan Karimian; Ahmad Pour Ahmad; Hamed Mazaherian

Volume 8, Issue 2 , March 2017, , Pages 35-51

https://doi.org/10.22059/jarcs.2017.61724

Abstract

Ancient cities are valuable cultural and architectural heritages of Iran. This cites show the citizen’s life and different spaces of cultural, political, social, religious characteristics. ... Read More

Investigating Parthian Glassworks from the Shaur Palace

Moslem Jafarizadeh; Arman Shishegar

Volume 11, Issue 1 , May 2019, , Pages 35-54

https://doi.org/10.22059/jarcs.2019.71081

Abstract

Shaur palace located at western side of Susa ancient site, next to Shaur River. Excavations at the site began since 1970 to 1976 by Remi Bucharlat, Adran Labrus, and Mahmoud Kordavani. ... Read More

Qal’e Nehbandān: New Evidence of Parthian Period in Eastern Iran

Mohsen Dana; Alireza Nasr Abadi; Hadi Sharifan

Volume 8, Issue 1 , April 2016, , Pages 37-56

https://doi.org/10.22059/jarcs.2016.59491

Abstract

In this article, the Eastern Iran defines a region where situated between northeastern (equal Khorasan Razavi Province) and southeastern Iran (approximately equal Sistan & Baluchestan, ... Read More

A Chronological Explanation of The First Millennium BC Cultures of Nir County, Ardebil

Akbar Pourfaraj

Volume 9, Issue 1 , August 2017, , Pages 37-54

https://doi.org/10.22059/jarcs.2017.64004

Abstract

This study uses background data collectd from a field work carried out in Boiniyoghon castle. Three seasons of excavations (2004-2007) revealed valuable remains from the Middle Bronze ... Read More

Identifying the Location of Ziz City Using Historical Sources and Archaeological Surveys

daivid pakbaz; javad neyestani; Hasan Karimian

Volume 11, Issue 2 , October 2019, , Pages 37-56

https://doi.org/10.22059/jarcs.2019.73098

Abstract

Ziz is one of the important cities that Geographers and Historians have described it in the early centuries and Mid-Islamic period. Ziz was a city of the Arrajan Khore, which is located ... Read More

The Creative Millennia: Highlighting the Transitional Neolithic (ca. 9800-8000 BCE) in the Central Zagros, Iran

Hojjat Darabi

Volume 14, Issue 2 , September 2022, , Pages 37-58

https://doi.org/10.22059/jarcs.2022.343781.143122

Abstract

The Central Zagros received pioneering research on the emergence of early agricultural and village life by R. Braidwood in 1959-60. However, later shifts in research toward the Levant ... Read More The Central Zagros received pioneering research on the emergence of early agricultural and village life by R. Braidwood in 1959-60. However, later shifts in research toward the Levant put the Central Zagros in shadow for several decades until recently, when investigations have once again highlighted its key place in the Neolithization processes in West Asia. Unlike the Levant, where a protracted change from the Epipaleolithic to the Neolithic is seen, the border line between these two periods is evidently sharp in the Central Zagros suggesting that unprecedented features appeared during the first two millennia of the Holocene, a foundational time that is poorly known in the region. In light of new evidence, this period is addressed here under the chronological term ‘Transitional Neolithic’ (ca. 9800-8000 BCE). Current datasets suggest that, following an environmental improvement at the end of the Younger Dryas, local communities engaged in short-term inhabitations, collective or communal ceremonies, and had an increasing reliance on the wild progenitors of early domestic plant and animal species. This time span’s close interactions with natural resources provided people with growing ecological knowledge. We may think of longer occupation in desirable places and thereby population increases in the 9th millennium BCE. This instead could have gradually resulted in an environmental depression, however, caused either by population growth or by possible unfavorable climatic events. Archaeological evidence shows that from the mid-9th millennium BCE on, a change happened in subsistence strategies toward low-level food production. In fact, this was an eco-cultural event that broadened the human diet. The central Zagros saw multiple creative behaviors during both the early and late phases of the Transitional Neolithic, providing people with a robust foundation for the succeeding truly Neolithic way of life that took shape during the 8th millennium BCE

Place of Donations and Sacrifices

Armān Shishehgar

Volume 1, Issue 2 , February 2010, , Pages 39-47

Abstract

By appearance of human societies, the spiritual needs of different individuals and societies to worship the creator and to donate in order to attain the health and to fulfill the wishes ... Read More

Shift in the Bladelet Production Process from Epipalaeolithic to Neolithic in the Izeh Plain of Kuzistan, Iran

Mozhgan Jayez

Volume 5, Issue 2 , March 2014, , Pages 39-57

https://doi.org/10.22059/jarcs.2014.50392

Abstract

The Organization of stone tool production is one of the most important aspects of lithic assemblage studies. Reduction process indicates how lithic material was prepared and transported ... Read More

The Rise and Fall of a Capital: Soltanieh Through History

Homayoon Rezvan; Hassan Karimian

Volume 6, Issue 1 , September 2014, , Pages 39-54

https://doi.org/10.22059/jarcs.2014.52672

Abstract

Although Ilkhanids (1256-1353 CE) initially selected Maraghe and then Tabriz as their capital, the thought of founding a new city as a symbol of their kingdom encouraged them to establish ... Read More

Explaining the 3rd Millennium B.C. Cultures of Kur River Basin Based on the Excavation at Tol-e Gap-e Kenareh, Marvdasht

Morteza Khanipoor; Reza Nouroozi; Reza Naseri; Salman Khosravi; Milad Zeraatpishe; Habib Emadi

Volume 6, Issue 2 , March 2015, , Pages 39-58

https://doi.org/10.22059/jarcs.2015.54171

Abstract

According to the Geographical and environmental situation, the Kur River Basin have been occupied from the Middle Paleolithic to the modern times. Of the ancient cultures of the region, ... Read More

Volume 15 (2023)

Volume 14 (2022)

Volume 13 (2021)

Volume 12 (2020)

Volume 11 (2019)

Volume 10 (2018)

Volume 9 (2017)

Volume 8 (2016)

Volume 7 (2015)

Volume 6 (2014)

Volume 5 (2013)

Volume 4 (2012)

Volume 3 (2011)

Volume 1 (2009)

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