The Role of Environment Factors on Formation of Bakun Period Settlements in the Kazeroun Plain, Southern Iran

Human is dependent on nature; he changes it while he is part of it, but at the same time he is separated from it by cultural factors. Emergence of various forms of life, e.g. plant, animal and human lives, is of the result of several natural factors such as climate, topography, soil type and water. For our survey of Kazeroun Plain, we used 1:50000 scale satellite and topographic maps, and divided the surface of plain into northern, southern, eastern and western parts. The survey began on a regular basis from the southern part and eventually ended in the northern part with random sampling as our sampling strategy. For each site, a SK (Survey of Kazeroun) code was assigned, and different data types including GPS coordinate, dimension of site, local geographical data were recorded. Besides, any additional cultural information such as location name, historical background, effective and efficient set of factors including vegetation, climate and landscape were also recorded. In our archaeological survey 19 Bakun period sites were identified. In this study, it is attempted to assess the environmental factors and their role in shaping the space of human settlements during the Bakun period in the Kazeroun Plain. To this end, the sites related to Bakun period were chosen as our sample. A number of variables were considered in evaluation and study of prehistoric settlements in Kazeroun Plain. These included distance and proximity to water resources and agricultural lands, elevation, size and density of sites, distribution of sites in terms of rainfall, distribution of sites in terms of slope, and annual temperature average. All these factors were considered together as criteria for identifying patterns of settlement in this region. Most of Bakun period sites are located near Parishan Lake. During Bakun period, the number of settlements in the Kazeroun Plain increased and new segments of the plain were occupied, so that there is evidence of settlement in Jereh Plain in southern part of Kazeroun Plain. Most of the Bakun period sites are located in open plain on well-drained soil near water resources. The settlement patterns in Kazeroun Plain have been prevailed with simple methods of irrigation and expansion of agriculture, with decreased number of sites as the distance from the lakes and rivers increases. This pattern is also seen in the Kur River Basin and Nourabad Mamasani region. Among the various factors associated with the establishment and distribution of habitats and sites, geographical conditions and factors have had an important role. The important point in studying the prehistoric settlements in this region is proximity of the settlements to Parishan Lake and Shapur River and agricultural lands. As mentioned earlier, these indicators have had a significant role in formation of sites. Parishan Lake is located in the center of Kazeroun Plain, and therefore the majority of sites have been concentrated in the center of plain in the basin of lake. Study of relevant documents and spatial analyses were used in the form of GIS using ArcGIS software and correlation test in SPSS 16. SPSS16 was used to analyze the correlation between surface area of the layers and number of sites in each layer. Due to quantitative values, Pearson’s correlation with a significance level of 0.01 was used. The results showed that correlation between elevation levels, precipitation and temperature layers and the number of sites on them was insignificant. The correlation between the distance from water resources and correlation between vegetation and the number of sites was significant and strong. Therefore, vegetation and distance from water resources were found to be more effective in distribution of archaeological sites than the other natural factors.