Document Type : Research Paper
Authors
1 Research Associate to Iranian Center for Archaeological Research
2 MA in Archaeology, Department of Archaeology, Islamic Azad University, Tehran Markaz
Abstract
The Silakhor Plain is one of the key plains in the eastern part of Central Zagros that its suitable environment made a significant base for human habitants since prehistoric time. This plain is located in the east of Nahavand and Kangavar valleys and it is about 70 km length and 12 km width besides the east of Oshterankooh range between Broujerd and Dorrod cities in Luristan province. In the past decades, over 700 ancient sites from Neolithic to the Islamic era were identified by Parviz (1382-1385). Since then, no detaile anaysis have been done on the settlement patterns of this region. In this study, only settlement patterns of the Bronze Age in this area evaluated based on the fifty-one settelements from Silakhor Plain to undestand effictive parameters on site vriabilities, distributions and types by means of GIS. The initial results outlined some of the key geographic factors affecting settlement variabilities. Among the geographical features, Tireh and Chalanchulan Riveres, springs, tributary streams, fertile lands, degree of land slope, ancient roads and proximity to geological faults were the most effective reasons. Based on those key factors, six kinds of settlement patterns have been identified in the region that will be discussed in this paper.
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