Document Type : Research Paper
Authors
1 Department of Archaeology, Faculty of Conservation and Preservation, Art University of Isfahan
2 Department of Archaeology, Faculty of Art and Architecture, University of Mazandaran
3 Ph.D. Graduated of Archaeology, University of Frankfurt, Germany.Germany
Abstract
The western side of the Karkheh River basin, located to the west of Greater Susiana, is adjacent to the central Susiana plains and aligns with a desert-plain Ecotone, which benefits from environmental resources e.g. fertile lands, pastures and streams of the Karkheh River Basin, and includes the settlements from prehistoric, historic, and Islamic eras. This research aims to investigate the basic environmental and archaeological data of the western side of the Karkheh River basin. The main research issue is to investigate settlement distribution patterns of Village period in this region; by providing a comprehensive definition of these patterns, it mainly attempts to examine the impact of dynamic landscape changes on them during the period of study. By assessing the settlement pattern of each prehistoric period, examples will be provided for the proposed definition of the settlement system in the area. To this end, the identified settlements within the geographical units of the area will be evaluated in terms of the extent and distribution of material-culture, and the chronology of each unit will be proposed. Additionally, by assessing each unit’s environmental capacities, efforts will be made to determine whether a centralized system for the settlements of each identified period can be defined, or if the settlement formation pattern of the region does not follow such a mechanism. Ultimately, based on the current state of the landscape and the reconstruction of it relative to the target time period, the impact of landscape changes on settlement system of the region will be analyzed.
Keywords
- Greater Susiana
- Karkheh River Basin
- Western Karkheh Region
- Village Period
- Settlement Patterns
- Geomorphology
- Palaeoenvironmental Changes
Main Subjects
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