Document Type : Research Paper
Authors
Assistant Professor, Tabriz Islamic Art University
Abstract
The expansion of grey- black pottery tradition in the Iranian plateau, on the basis of Iron Age theory of cultural dynamism, was emerged by the end of the 2nd millennium BC. Such a pottery tradition is regarded as a cultural sign to point migrants who entered in the Iranian plateau from the northern outside of Caucasus the major. According to the theory, the migrants passed the river valley of Araxes towards the south; and finally settled around the Lake Urmia and other places through the Iranian plateau. Archaeologically, therefore, such a migration should be approved just on the base of material culture affiliations which are visible in both Iranian plateau and beyond, as the Central Asia and Caucasus.
Analytically, at this article, a selected group of typical ceramic wares, found from a burial mound at the Himidan village of Khoda'afarin territory, are described and compared with some samples of pottery traditions in the regions of Nakhichevan, Caucasus and Urmia. Whether they were native people or northern migrants, the results of such analyses answer to the question about the origin of the people whom were buried at the burial mound of Himidan, the Khoda'afarin territory. The pottery tradition found from the burial mound at Himidan, despite of some similarities with pottery assemblages in the NW Iranian plateau and Nakhichevan, presents local characters. Therefore, it does not fall within the Iron Age horizon of the NW Iranian plateau. But, these ceramic wares should be compared with the Qarabagh tradition of the Iron Age in the southern Caucasus. Finally, c. 900 BC is suggested for the burial mound at Himidan by the authors. Archaeologically, the Iron Age traditions around the Lake Urmia are indigenous. These traditions are not yet reported from Nakhichevan region towards the north. In addition, it is remarkable that Qarabagh tradition of the Iron Age were limited to the Southern Caucasus. Consequently, it seems that Qarabgh tradition have a local- native origin.
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