Preliminary Understanding of the Developments and Settlement Pattern of the Late Bronze Age Kashfarud Basin (Mashhad plain)

Abstract
Between 1800 and 1700 BC, complex urban centers in the eastern half of Iran, especially in the Northeast and Central Asia, collapsed due to unknown factors; While in Balkh and Merv oases, the settlements of this period appeared with the prominent culture of Balkh-Merv and continued without interruption. According to current knowledge, settlements in northeastern Iran, including Khorasan, Gorgan plain and Shahroud, were abandoned in 1700 BC and despite a period of decline, they continued again in the Iron Age with the emergence of cemeteries. Assessing these developments in Kashaf-Rud Basin as one of the cultural regions of Khorasan is one of the goals and necessity of studies in this period. Assessing the time phase of the Late Bronze Age and the dominant culture of the Kashaf-Rud Basin and how the developments of this period occurred in the region is one of the main research questions. On the other hand, understanding the pattern of settlements of the Late Bronze Age of Kashaf-Rud basin is one of the most important goals of the research. This research has been done with a landscape archeology approach and by analyzing ArcGIS output maps. The results show the similarity of the pottery characteristics of the Late Bronze Age Kashaf-Rud basin with the two time phases of Gonor and Togholog and the samples of Gonur Depe pottery of Turkmenistan and Jarkutan, Uzbekistan. The number of settlements has not decreased and new settlements have been inhabited for the first time in this period. The results also indicate the continuation of settlement and change in the type of livelihood of some settlement communities in this period. The settlements of this period, like the previous cultural periods, are strongly dependent on the Kashaf-Rud River as the most vital artery of the Mashhad plain and have been formed with a linear model along this river.
Keywords: Khorasan, Kashaf-Rud Basin, Mashhad Plain, Late Bronze Age, BMAC.
 
Introduction
The period of the second half of the second millennium BC (around 1800-1700 BC) coincides with the collapse of complex urban centers in the eastern half of the Iranian plateau, especially in the northeast. In the middle and southwest of Central Asia, after the mentioned change, the establishment of sites continued, which is known as the BMAC culture (Bactria Margiana Archaeological Complex). According to the current archaeological knowledge in the northeast of Iran, including Khorasan, Gorgan plain and Shahroud, the settlements were abandoned around 1700 BC and despite a period of decline, they continued again in the Iron Age with the emergence of cemeteries. Unlike southwestern Central Asia, which has extensive archaeological studies and, in addition to cultural sequencing, other studies with approaches to social, economic, and interdisciplinary archeology; The current understanding of the prehistoric cultures of the Khorasan region is not the same in all sectors; Accordingly, prehistoric research in Khorasan can provide basic information and contribute to a general understanding of the archeology of the plateaus of Iran and Central Asia.
 
Objectives and Necessity
Due to the lack of purposeful research in Khorasan and recent findings in the region, a preliminary understanding of the cultural components of the new Bronze Age as the most problematic cultural period in Khorasan and Central Asia along with the introduction of this period as a statistical population for further studies. The future can open a new window for methodical and long-term studies in Khorasan, which may be overshadowed by the purposeful study of these settlements, the developments of this period in Central Asia.
Questions and Hypotheses: The initial evaluation of the New Bronze Age and the dominant culture of Kashfarud Basin, as well as how the developments of this period occurred in the region is one of the main research questions. According to the initial hypotheses, the developments of the New Bronze Age in Kashfarud Basin are of a different nature from other cultural regions of Khorasan and Northeast of Iran as well as Central Asia, so that although some Middle Bronze Age settlements are abandoned, but new settlements, although with The smaller area appeared for the first time in the New Bronze Age, and its cultural materials, including pottery, indicate homogeneity with the Central Asian settlements in the two famous phases of Gonur and Toguluq, as well as the two settlements of Gonur Depe and Jarkotan, which have been confirmed by the present research.’
 
Research Background
In the period of the present study, Kashfarud river basin lacks purposeful studies and most of the archaeological activities of the region consist of several studies and recordings that have been done in Kashfarud catchment area and form the history of archaeological research in this cultural area. (Labaf Khaniki, 2012: 137-158). Among these, only two prehistoric review and identification projects have been carried out in the city of Mashhad, which include surveys along the Kashfarud River (Ariai & Thibault, 1977) and the survey and identification of Mashhad (Labaf Khaniki 2012: 137-148). Methods: In the present study, the comparative approach of pottery traditions has been studied and in addition, by interpreting and analyzing ArcGIS output maps, environmental factors affecting the formation and continuity of settlements in this period have been studied. Theoretical foundations: In the second half of the second millennium BC in the oasis of Merv in modern Turkmenistan, changes occur in human societies and rapidly move to the east and affect the oasis of Balkh in northern Afghanistan and lead to the formation of a culture called BMAC (Sarianidi 1998: 35). Its chronological scale starts from 2300 or 2200 and ends until 1700 BC in Balkh and Merv oases, but in the eastern half of Central Asia and Khorasan, the settlement continues until the middle of the second millennium BC (1500 BC) until the Tahirbay phase (Basafa, 1394; Vahdati, 1394: 44).
 
Research Achievement
14 prehistoric settlements have been identified in the Kashfarud catchment area within the city of Mashhad (Mashhad plain). Of these, 4 settlements have been introduced as settlements that appeared in the Iron Age (Mazari-Moghaddam, 2016) which in pottery species are similar to the pottery traditions of the new Bronze Age called BMAC culture, which are in the cultural phase and similar to Jarkotan samples. Therefore, considering these pottery traditions as examples of the Late Bronze Age, a total of 10 settlements have surface cultural materials (pottery) from the Late Bronze Age and are similar to the BMAC culture.
 
Settlement Pattern
Two groups of sites are distinguishable in terms of location relative to altitude above sea level; Areas that are located at an altitude between 933-633 meters above sea level (5 settlements - 50%) and areas that are located at an altitude of 1300-1666 meters above sea level (5 settlements - 50%). All settlements of the late bronze period of Mashhad plain are located in the plain area and often close to the river. The 7 settlements studied (70%) are located in the range of 6 degree and 3 settlements (30%) are located in the slope of 6 degrees to 13 degrees. Between the 10 settlements that have been studied, 9 settlements (90%) are located less than 500 meters from the Kashfarud River and its tributaries and only one crescent hill settlement is located approximately 1 km from the river. All the studied settlements tend to focus on the rangelands of the region and its proximity to agricultural lands.
 
Conclusion
According to the evaluation of biological variables, Kashfarud River, as the most vital surface water artery of Mashhad plain, has always attracted human societies of different eras by creating a fertile ecosystem from the Paleolithic period to the contemporary period. Also, according to current knowledge and lack of identification of settlements in the highlands of the region, Kashfarud River is the most effective environmental factor in creating human habitats. The studied settlements with a linear model in its margins as two northwestern settlement clusters including Tape Ghader Abad, Abarghan site, Tape Devin with the axis of the tree canopy and the southeastern cluster, including Tape Qolur khaneh, Tape Gash, Tape Helali, Tape Shar shar and Tape Khaki, has been formed with the axis of Tape Naderi in Torogh city. The proximity of all settlements to the river, location in agricultural lands and the lowest slope of the region is not conclusive evidence of the pattern of settlement and livelihood based on agriculture of these settlements, but by examining the extent of some southeastern clusters such as Tape Crescent, Tape Shar shar and Tape Khaki And the absence of any cultural materials except pottery, these settlements can be considered semi-nomadic or seasonal with a livelihood based on livestock and seasonal agriculture. According to the present study, the studied pottery species indicate the synchronicity of the settlements of the Late Bronze period of Mashhad plain, coinciding with the two phases of BMAC culture, namely the phase of Gonur (Middle Bronze) and the phase of Toghulogh and Taherbai (Late Bronze) have been abandoned in 1700 BC and have adapted to the developments of this period and have been inhabited until 1500 BC and early Iron Age. With these interpretations, 5 settlements out of 10 studied settlements have been abandoned at the end of the Late Bronze Age. Based on the homogeneity of the pottery of these settlements with the samples of Toghlugh and Tahirabay phases, its date can be considered 1500 BC and Iron Age did not continue in these settlements. Definitely related to the Iron Age, not found from the surface of these settlements. In addition, according to current knowledge and typology of surface pottery, settlement in Tape Naderi and Tape Devin have have been continued from the Late Bronze Age to the Yaz I cultural period (1500 BC).