The Cultural Contact Between Central Zagros and Central Plateau During the 4th Millennium B.C.: Further Evidence from Shat Ghilah, Malayer

Author

Cultural Heritage and Handicraft Research Center/Iranian Center for Archaeological Research

Abstract

Cultural relation and cultural interaction among the prehistoric cultures of the Iranian Plateau have been always understood and perceived through the perspective of cultural zoning of Iran. Traditionally, resemblance between cultural materials, especially ceramic assemblages, has been anchored to approach understanding such interactions between different cultures. Before the 4th Millennium B.C. there is a few, if any, convincing evidence of cultural contact between the Central Zagros and Central Plateau. Y. Majidzadeh was the first who indicated the similarities between ceramic assemblages of Tappeh Ghabrestan in the Central Plateau with those of Godin VII and VI periods of the Central Zagros. During the past decade further evidence, mainly as ceramic collection, was obtained through archaeological fieldworks in the eastern portion of the Central Zagros manifesting further cultural contacts between these two regions. In 2007 a rescue excavation was conducted at an endangered site behind the Kalan Dam near Malayer. The site, Shat Ghilah, was a sherd scatter located on the right bank of the Kalan River, on a terrace 7 m above the river bed. The site had no visible height and its identification was possible only by a layer of sherds, about 80 m in length, protruding from the river-cut-section of the site. The surface sherd assemblage was a mixture of prehistoric and late Islamic pottery. Excavation at this site was part of the larger project of rescue excavations at some endangered sites identified in the reservoir area of the Kalan Dam. After the dam was completed the reservoir submerged the site. Three small trenches have been excavated at Shat Ghilah in the spring of 2007. Tr. 1, 4x3 m, was put on the edge of the river-cut section and was excavated to the depth of 230 cm below the surface. No trace of architecture or any feature was revealed but pottery-rich loose deposit which lay on a steep natural ground. No interface could be observed in the excavated profiles, suggesting a same formation process of the sequence. Trenches 2 and 3, each 2x2 m, was excavated aiming to find more tangible evidence pertaining to the nature of the site. These trenches proved to be devoid of any primary contexts, but produced a few stray ceramics associated with erosion-derived loose debris. Putting together the stratigraphic information obtained from the excavated trenches, it seems likely that most of the original site has been already washed away by Kalan River during the past millennia. Based on the length of the ceramic-rich layer exposed in the eroded section (some 80 m) and what the excavated trenches provided, it could be hypothesized that the original site was not probably larger than one hectare. While ceramic finds of Trenches 2 and 3 lack a reliable stratigraphic position, those of Trench 1 are well-stratified, abundant and mostly characteristic. Generally speaking, the ceramic assemblage of Shat Ghilah can be divided into two major groups: Buff Ware and Orange Ware; the former contains both plain and painted specimens, while the latter includes just plain ceramic. Ceramic comparisons, especially of Buff Ware, show a clear resemblance between the Shat Ghilah assemblage and those of the Godin VII and VI periods. The closest parallels, however, come from the Godin VI:3 and VI:2 Phases, manifesting a high percentage of painted ceramics than the preceding period. Other close parallels for Shat Ghilah ceramics are found farther in the east and north, in the Central Plateau, at the south mound of Sialk (Sialk III4-7b) in the Kashan Plain and Qabrestan in the Qazvin Plain, suggesting the cultural orientation of the site toward those areas.

Keywords

Main Subjects

References

- بختیاری، ذبیح‌الله، 1394، «گمانه‌زنی به‌منظور تعیین عرصه و پیشنهاد حریم تپه قِلابُلنده‌ی انوج، ملایر، مقاله‌های کوتاه دوازدهمین گردهم‌آیی سالانه‌ی باستان‌شناسی ایران، 29 تا 31 اردیبهشت 1393. صص 82-80. تهران: پژوهشگاه میراث‌فرهنگی و صنایع‌دستی.
- تاجبخش، رؤیا و بلمکی، بهزاد، 1393. «تحلیل الگوهای استقراری و حوزه‌ی گیرش محوطه‌های عصر مس‌سنگی واقع در اطراف الوند در ارتباط با تشابهات منطقه‌ای و فرامنطقه‌ای». مطالعات باستان‌شناسی، شماره 9، صص: 20-1.
- خاکسار، علی، همتی ازندریانی، اسماعیل و نوروزی، آصف، 1393، «بررسی فرهنگ یانیق در زاگرس‌مرکزی بر اساس کاوش لایه‌نگاری در تپه‌گوراب ملایر». پژوهش‌های باستان‌شناسی ایران، شماره 7، صص: 66-47.
- رضوانی، حسن، 1386الف. «گزارش کاوش نجات‌بخشی پاتپه، سد کلان، ملایر (دوران اسلامی)»، تهران: مرکز اسناد و کتابخانه‌ی پژوهشکده باستان‌شناسی (منتشرنشده).
- رضوانی، حسن، 1386ب. «گزارش کاوش نجات‌بخشی پاتپه، سد کلان، ملایر (دوره‌ی تاریخی)»، تهران: مرکز اسناد و کتابخانه‌ی پژوهشکده باستان‌شناسی (منتشرنشده).
- رضوانی، حسن و رشیدی ارزنده، مصطفی، 1390، «آثار معماری دورۀ اسلامی در پاتپه ملایر»، باستان‌شناسی ایران در دوره اسلامی: 43 مقاله در بزرگداشت استاد دکتر محمدیوسف کیانی، به‌کوشش دکتر محمدابراهیم زارعی، صص: 285-251، همدان: انتشارات دانشگاه بوعلی سینا.
- روستایی، کوروش، آزادی، احمد و گنجی، شادی، 1386، «گزارش کاوش محوطه‌ی شَط‌غیلَه، سد کلان ملایر»، گزارش کاوش نجات‌بخشی پاتپه، سد کلان، ملایر (دوران اسلامی)، به‌کوشش حسن رضوانی، تهران: مرکز اسناد و کتابخانه‌ی پژوهشکده باستان‌شناسی (منتشرنشده).
- شیرزاده، غلام و کاکا، غفور، 1393، «گمانه‌زنی به‌منظور لایه‌نگاری تپه‌ی قلعه سرسختی شازند، استان مرکزی»، مقاله‌های کوتاه دوازدهمین گردهم‌آیی سالانه‌ی باستان‌شناسی ایران، 29 تا 31 اردیبهشت 1393، صص: 295-292. تهران: پژوهشگاه میراث‌فرهنگی و گردشگری.
- عبدالهی، مصطفی و سرداری‌زارچی، علیرضا، 1391، «گزارش مقدماتی فصل اول بررسی و شناسایی شهرستان اَزنا»، گزارش‌های باستان‌شناسی، شماره 8، صص: 68-47.
- عبدالهی، مصطفی، نیکنامی، کمال‌الدین، حصاری، مرتضی و سرداری‌زارچی، علیرضا، 1393، «روستانشینی و تغییرات فرهنگی جوامع شرق زاگرس‌مرکزی: کاوش باستان‌شناختی تپۀ قِلاگَپ»، مطالعات باستان‌شناسی، شماره 9، صص: 86-67.
- فلاحیان، یوسف، 1394، «بررسی و شناسایی باستان‌شناسی در حوضه‌ی سد حوضیان الیگودرز، گزارش‌های چهاردهمین گردهم‌آیی سالانه‌ی باستان‌شناسی ایران، 16 تا 18 اسفند 1394، صص: 420-414. تهران: پژوهشگاه میراث‌فرهنگی و صنایع‌دستی.
- گیرشمن، رومن، 1379. سیلک کاشان، جلد اول، ترجمه‌ی اصغر کریمی، تهران: سازمان میراث‌فرهنگی کشور (پژوهشگاه).
- ملک‌شهمیرزادی، صادق، 1378، ایران در پیش‌ازتاریخ: باستان‌شناسی ایران از آغاز تا سپیده‌دم شهرنشینی، تهران: معاونت پژوهشی سازمان میراث‌فرهنگی کشور.
 
- Balmaki, B & Niknami, K., 2012, “Survey of New Discovered Chalcolithic Sites in Northern Hillside of Alvand Mountains (Eastern Central Zagros Mountains)”. Researcher 4(10): 23-28.
- Borofka, R. & Hermann P., 2011, “Sialk III Pottery from Area B: description, classification & typology”, In: Early Mining & Metalurgy on the Western Central Iranian Plateau: The first five years of work. Edited by A. Vatandoust, H. Parzinger & B. Helwing. Pp. 100-127. Mainz: Verlag Philipp von Zabern.
- Contenau, G. & Ghirshman, R., 1935, Foulies du Tépé-Giyan, près de Néhavend, 1931 et 1932. Paris: Paul Geuthner.
- Goff, C. L., 1971. “Luristan Before the Iron Age”. Iran IX: 131-152.
- Gopnik, H. & M. S. Rothman (eds.), 2011. On the High Road: The History of Godin Tepe, Iran. Toronto: Royal Ontario Museum.
- Henrickson, E., 1985, “An Updated Chronology of the Early & Middle Chalcolithic of the Central Zagros Highlands, Iran”, Iran 23: 63-108.
- Howell, R., 1979, “Survey of the Malayer Plain”, Iran XVII: 156-157.
- Levine, L. D., 1975, The Excavations at She Gābi. Proceedings of the 3rd Symposium on Iranian Archaeology, pp. 31-44, Tehran: Iranian Center for Archaeological Research.
- Levine, L. D., & Young, T. C. Jr., 1987, “A Summary of the ceramic Assemblages of the Central Western Zagros from the Middle Neolithic to the Late Third Millennium BC”. In: J.-L. Hout (ed.), Prehistoire de la Mesopotamie, pp. 15-53, Paris: Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Colloques Internationaux.
- Levine, L. D. & McDonald, Mary M. A., 1977, “The Neolithic & Chalcolithic Period in the Mahidasht”, Iran 15: 39-50.
- Majidzadeh, Y., 1976, The Early Prehistoric Cultures of the Central Plateau of Iran: An Archaeological History of Its Development during the Fifth & Fourth Millennia B.C., PhD Dissertation, The University of Chicago: Department of Near Eastern Languages & Civilizations.
- Majidzadeh, Y., 1978, “Correction of the Internal Chronology for the Sialk III Period on the Basis of the Pottery Sequence at Tepe Ghabristan”, Iran 16: 93-102.
- McCown, D. E., 1942, “The Comparative Stratigraphy of Early Iran”, Chicago: The University of Chicago Press.
- Nokandeh, J., 2010, Neue Untersuchungen zur Sialk III-Periode im zentraliranischen Hochland: aus der Grundlage der Ergebnisse des “Sialk Reconsideration Project”, PhD Dissertation. Berlin: dissertation.de Verlag im Internet GmbH
- Rothman, M. & Badler, V., 2011, “Contact & Development in Godin Period VI”. In: On the High Road: The History of Godin Tepe, Iran, edited by Hallary Gopnik & Mitchell S. Rothman. 67-138. Toronto: Royal Ontario Museum.
- Voigt, M. M. & Dyson, R.H., Jr., 1992, “The Chronology of Iran, ca. 8000-2000 BC”. In: Chronologies in Old World Archaeology, Third Edition, edited by R.W. Ehrich, Vol. I: 122-178, Vol. 2: 125-153, Chicago & London: University of Chicago Press.
- Wilkinson, T. J., 1982, “The Definition of Ancient Manured Zones by Means of Extensive Sherd-Sampling Techniques”, Journal of Field Archaeology 9: 323-333.
- Young, T. Cuyler, Jr., 1969, Excavations at Godin Tepe: First Progress Report, Occasional Paper No. 17. Toronto: Royal Ontario Museum of Art & Archaeology.
- Young, T. Cuyler, Jr., 1974. Excavations at Godin Tappeh 1973. Proceedings of the 2nd Symposium on Iranian Archaeology, pp. 80-90, Tehran: Iranian Center for Archaeological Research.
- Young, T. Cuyler, Jr., 1975. “An Archaeological Survey of the Kangavar Valley”, In: F. Bagherzadeh (ed.), Proceedings of the 3rd Symposium on Iranian Archaeology, pp. 23-30, Tehran: Iranian Center for Archaeological Research.
- Young, T. Cuyler, Jr., 2004. “Kangavar Survey: Periods VI to VI”. In: A View from the Highlands: Archaeological Studies in Honor of Charles Burney, edited by Antonio Sagona, 645-660. Herent (Belgium): Peeters.
- Young, T. Cuyler, Jr. & Levine, L. D., 1974, Excavations of the Godin Project: Second Progress Report, Occasional Paper No. 26. Toronto: Royal Ontario Museum of Art & Archaeology.

Files

Share

How to cite

Statistics