Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

• Ramin Yashmi ¹
• Farshid Iravani Ghadim ²
• Rahmat Abbasnejad Seresti ³
• Babak Rafiei Alavi ⁴

¹ PhD Candidate, Department of Archaeology, Faculty of Conservation and Preservation, Art University of Isfahan, Isfahan, Iran.

² Associate Professor, Department of Archaeology, Faculty of Conservation and Preservation, Art University of Isfahan, Isfahan, Iran. (Corresponding Author).

³ Associate Professor, Department of Archaeology, Faculty of Art and Architecture, University of Mazandaran, Babolsar, Iran.

⁴ Senior Archaeologist, Aga Khan Cultural Services-Afg, Kabul, Afghanistan.

Abstract

Abstract
The western side of the Karkheh River Basin, situated to the west of Greater Susiana, adjacent to the central Susiana plain, lies along a desert-plain ecotone. This ecological zone benefits from a range of environmental resources, including the fertile lands of the Karkheh River Basin, streams, and pastures. It also encompasses settlements dating from the prehistoric, historic, and Islamic periods. The present study seeks to analyze the fundamental environmental and archaeological data from this western side of this region. By offering a comprehensive characterization of settlement patterns during the Village Period, this research aims to explore how dynamic landscape changes influenced these patterns throughout the period under investigation. Through an assessment of settlement configurations across various prehistoric periods, the study will present concrete examples to support a proposed definition of the settlement system in the region. To achieve this, identified settlements will be examined in relation to the distribution and extent of material culture and a chronological framework will be established for each geographical unit. Furthermore, by evaluating the environmental capacities of these units, the research will determine whether the settlement organization during each period can be characterized as centralized, or whether settlement formation followed a more decentralized pattern. Finally, the impact of landscape transformations on the regional settlement system will be analyzed by comparing reconstructed past landscapes to their present state.
Keywords: Greater Susiana, Karkheh River Basin, Western Karkheh Region, Village Period, Settlement Patterns, Geomorphology, Palaeoenvironmental Changes.
 
1. Introduction
Considerable efforts have been made to study Greater Susiana from the perspective of paleo-climatic reconstruction in archaeological studies, and to a somewhat lesser extent, the role of the reciprocal relationship between humans and the environment during the Initial, Early, Middle, and Late Village periods, which together form the Village Period sequence in this region (Adams 1962; Kouchoukos 1998; Alizadeh et al., 2004). Previous studies conducted in Greater Susiana have revealed the adaptability of human societies and their settlement distribution patterns relative to potential changes in the natural landscapes of this geographic zone (Kouchoukos 1998; Wright 2010; Moghaddam 2012; Rashidian 2020). The study of settlement distribution patterns in the relatively small plains west of the Karkheh River (the Western Karkheh Region, hereafter WKR), which are distinguished by their geomorphological features, forms the basis of this research (Map 1). Settlement is continuous in the region from the Late Neolithic period (Archaic Susiana Phase III) to the dawn of urbanization (Terminal Susa A) and can be assessed within the chronological framework of southwestern Iran (Chart 2). Therefore, the research questions of this study are as follows:
1. How did the settlement system in the western plains of the Karkheh River Basin evolve during the Village Period?
2. On what basis was the connection between Village Period sites of the Western Karkheh Region formed?
3. What role do changes in the Karkheh River’s regime play in the establishment, occupational continuity, and the archaeological visibility of prehistoric sites in the Western Karkheh Region?
The focal point of this study concerns the role of the Karkheh River in shaping prehistoric site formation and its taphonomic role in structuring how sites have been detected by previous field research. There can be no doubt of the role of geomorphological factors in both processes, particularly as regards the earliest periods in this sequence, i.e., the Initial and Early Village Period settlements (Late Neolithic period) in the northern plains of Khuzestan.
 
2. Discussion
In the WKR region, remains have been documented from the final stage of the Initial Village period (corresponding to the Late Neolithic and the transitional phase from the Neolithic to Chalcolithic, i.e., the Choga Mami Transitional phase), the Middle Village period, and the Late Village period. Evidence from the Archaic Susiana Phase III has been observed thus far in at least three archaeological sites (Map 3: AS III). However, apart from a single piece of pottery at Tepe Ankoush in the Chenaneh Uplands and two other instances at the important archaeological site of Ishan Aswad in the Sorkheh Plain, no significant artifacts have been found in the collected assemblages that can confidently be dated to the following period, i.e., Early Susiana. It is possible that the aforementioned artifact could date back to the Archaic Susiana period. Additionally, while Adams (1962) attributes an archaeological site in this region to the Early Susiana period, none of these cases are sufficient to confirm the distribution of cultural remains from this period in the WKR region (Map 3: ES). A similar situation exists for the Early Middle Susiana period, as no cultural remains that can be definitively dated to this period were observed in the study. Only at Ishan Aswad, in the northernmost part of the study area, were three pottery pieces found that could be attributed to the Early Middle Susiana period. Given the flourishing of this site during later periods, it is possible that these two pieces were either produced and used as a continuation of earlier ceramic traditions during later times, or that older deposits, including those from the Early Middle Susiana period, were buried under newer layers (Map 3: EMS).
Fifteen archaeological sites in the region west of the Karkheh River have been dated to the Late Middle Susiana period. The settlements of this period throughout the study area mainly follow a linear pattern along the Karkheh River from north to south. The only exception is Tepe Reqeyveh in the Dowsalaq Plain, which is a settlement from the Late Middle Susiana period located in the westernmost part of the study area (Map 3: LMS).
The Late Susiana 1 period exhibits the most extensive settlement spatial distribution across the entire WKR region. Unlike the linear distribution pattern of the previous period, this period displays two types of settlement patterns: linear and clustered, on the eastern and western sides of the study area respectively. The linear pattern begins from the western bank of Karkheh in the Sorkheh Plain, includes the Chenaneh Uplands, and continues toward the easternmost part of the Bagheh Plain. The richness of the archaeological sites gradually decreases from north to south,. The Dowsalaq Plain, on the opposite side of the study area, shows a centralized cluster of settlements from this period. The southernmost identified settlement is Jali’eh Umm-ed-Dibis, which was a minor settlement during this period (Map 3: LS1).
During the Late Susiana 2 period, the dual settlement pattern observed in the previous period persists; however, the settlement distribution is limited to the northern part of the study area, and no settlements from this period have been identified in the southern plains of Lekheizar, Bagheh, and Umm-ed-Dibis (Map 3: LS2). Although the former two plains, Lekheizar and Bagheh, also appear to have been unoccupied in previous periods and this condition continued into later Village periods, one must not overlook the impact of rapid or persistent climatic and environmental factors that may have altered the geomorphological conditions of these plains.
The Terminal Susa A phase is the last period examined in this study in the region west of the Karkheh River. This period generally follows the patterns of the previous period. However, the number of settlements has significantly decreased, indicating a possible reduction in the population residing in the plains of the study area (Map 3: TS A). The only area that remained continuously inhabited throughout the entire Village period, flourishing and maintaining a significant population, is the extent of the Karkheh River’s alluvial fan in the Sorkheh Plain, which comprises the western terraces of the northernmost part of the study area.
 
3. Conclusion 
An analysis of changes in the morphology of the Karkheh River basin shows that the river has shifted its course at least three times westwards (Veenenbos 1956), transforming its wide floodplain into its current state with the gradual change of its course between 1500 BCE and 500 CE (Kirkby 1977). Beyond the crucial role this main channel has played in attracting and shaping the settlements on its western bank, it seems that the linear pattern of the eastern section of WKR Region is not related to the present flow of the river, but was formed on the western terraces when the Karkheh flowed through its ancient course, the Shaur River. Therefore, considering the potential that the area between the Shaur and Karkheh rivers may have had for the establishment of Village period settlements (Map 6), it seems that the remains of this period in the region may not necessarily provide an accurate reflection of the distribution of the sites and the Village period settlement systems in the Western Karkheh Region.

Keywords

• Greater Susiana
• Karkheh River Basin
• Western Karkheh Region
• Village Period
• Settlement Patterns
• Geomorphology
• Palaeoenvironmental Changes

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