Settlement Analysis of Village Period’s Sites: The Case Study of Zibri Plain in Central Zagros

The intermontane Zibri plain encompasses an approximately 120 Km2 area in the northeast of Islamabad-e Gharb Township in the northern part of the Central Zagros. As a small case of Zagros ecosystem, The Zibri Plain is divided into two parts with significant differences in topography, water resources, Framing and grasslands. Althogh, this plain had already surveyed by foreigner and Iranian expeditions but for the first time, we conducted an intensive systematic survey in this narrow plain in 2010 and 12 sites is discovered that related to the four sub-phases of Village Period. In the present study, due to its special natural characteristics such as locating between Mahidasht and Isalamabad plains Zibri is discussed as an instance of settlement Analyses in the Village Period of Central Zagros. The relative chronology of Village Period’s sites of zibri plain has been acquired of 38 potsherds from Neolithic Period that had compared with similar samples of contemporaneous sites of Central Zagros which have absolute dating occasionally. In Pre-Pottery Neolithic Period (PPN) isn’t found any settlement in the Zibri plain and it seems that arrival to this plain occured in the Initial Village Period (Early Neolithic). All settlements in this Period are located in the “fertile Area” and focal point with the dominant features of farming lands. This Survey shows the strong dependence on fertile farming lands especially watery places around the plain which indicates on agriculture as the main subsistence strategy and limited pastoralism. The findings of early Village Period are discovered from Three sites. Farrokh Khani region was fully settled as one of the most fertile region in this period. Like the previous period, the settlement distribution of this period is depended on natural factors including agricultural lands and natural pathways. The sites placement adjacent to fertile lands and focus on particular places in the plain indicates the continuity of farming subsistence in the Early Village Period. The Study shows that the discovering potsherds from the Middle Village Period have been acquired from 11 sites, and the Amount of the sites as well as their dimensions is increased in three and half times more. In this period, some dispersed sites is appeared at unoccupied areas indicated that the settlements is distributed for the first time. These patterns show that %27 of settlements is located in the Fertile Area and the others are thoroughly inside of. In the Middle Village Period, we deal with two different types of settlements: the first group is located where is adjacent to Water sources and alluvial land with capable of irrigation and the second, sites which are situated in high pasture slopes, rocky lands and unfit to be irrigated. The factors of Site distribution are depended on grazing lands, natural routs, water resources and agricultural lands sequentially. A random dependence on agricultural lands and pastures is quite clear in this period. In the late Village Period, the number of sites that settled is 5. Such as the other regions in Central Zagros, the rate of permanent site’s growth is decreased that shows the decline of natural population growth. The percent amount of settlements inside the fertile area is %80 that is distributed between agricultural and grazing lands of this plain equally. The settlement pattern has clear signs of a concurrent dependence on agricultural lands and grazing slopes. These signs explain that the plain’s dwellers have depended on sedentary-based pastorals and have some efforts to find pastures or settlements between farms and pastures. In due to lack of cultural materials in Zibri Plain, the authors couldn’t be able to study the subsistence of Nomadic Pastorals. Also in the Late Village Period in the Zibri plain, we could say there are two different groups of sites in this period, such as prior period.