The Position of Marxist Theories in the Examination of the Beginnings of Urbanization in Iran

Abstract
The influence of Marxism on the process of theoretical developments in archaeology is not far from the mind. Such effects can sometimes be traced in Iranian social archaeological research, although they have not been studied much. Hence the main question of the research was posed as follows; How is the impact of Marxist archaeological ideas on the study of societies at the beginning of Iran’s urbanization? And its purpose was to understand the relationship between Marxist archaeological thought and functionalist views in the societies of the beginning of urbanization in Iran. However, in order to guide the goal, the descriptive-historical nature and method were used along with an analytical approach. Therefore, some researches of the beginning of urbanization of Iran such as Shush and Chaghamish areas in the southwest, Bakun Fars, Pishva pottery hill in the central plateau, Jiroft and Shahr-e Sokhteh civilization in the southeast and Choghahavan area of Mehran plain in the west of Iran were examined. The results showed that although sometimes the ideas of Marxism in the analysis of societies at the beginning of urbanization in Iran can be inferred and followed for reasons such as social complexities; But so far, due to the popularity of historical-cultural trends in the Iranian archaeological community has not been reflected, and consequently the endogenous forces of social change in the early urbanization of Iran has received less attention from archaeologists. This means that the results of analyzing the data of the communities of the beginning of urbanization in Iran depend on the approach and approach of the researcher, whether functionalist, Marxism or other approach and thinking. Finally, the Marxist archaeological approach, due to its political nature, can follow the evolution of societies in the beginning of urbanization in Iran in the management of labor production, and the functionalist approach will consider the evidence of the beginning of urbanization from the perspective of necessity and need of society.
Keywords: Marxist, Functionalism, Iranian Archaeology, Evolution, The Beginning of Urbanization.
Introduction
The influence of Marxism on the process of theoretical developments in archaeology cannot be denied. Such influences can sometimes be traced in the social archaeological research of Iran, even though they have not been much studied. It should be accepted that thoughts that agree or disagree with any of these influences can work within a particular theoretical framework. Perhaps the emergence of later approaches in archaeology was due to the challenge of more advanced ideas. It seems that the archaeology of Marxism also occupied a central position in the theoretical developments of this knowledge. Thus, in Marxist archaeology, the analysis and explanation of archaeology to discover the models of social change is linked to the understanding of those in power, so that it explains how power is used for social change. Explaining the channels of communication between people to facilitate the production and distribution of goods may therefore have played an important role in the development of archaeological approaches and thought. It goes without saying that people must try to achieve collective benefits in order to achieve individual benefits. Hegel sees this as preparation for a person to take part in the state’s arena (Hegel, 2001:160-161) The extent to which Marx was influenced by Hegel can be seen in his discussion of private property. For when social conditions have advanced to the point where man is no longer able to satisfy all his needs himself, he enters the realm of exchange of goods or services. This means that individual needs are satisfied in exchange for the satisfaction of collective needs (Hahnel, 2002:71) Such an arrangement as a political economy makes more sense with urbanization. 
Although it is more or less accepted that the background of the social and political developments of society and the intellectual framework of the researcher influence the quality of research, archaeological studies will not be an exception to this rule in this case. Aware of this importance (the role of Marxist archaeology in the development of archaeology), this paper aimed at the relationship between Marxist and functionalist approaches in the archaeology of the early urban societies of Iran. Thus, one of the main questions of the research is how the studies on the early urban societies of Iran relate to Marxist archaeology. Were the theoretical theories of Marxist archaeology used or not in the analysis of societies at the beginning of urbanization in Iran? And what are their possible causes and interpretations? Therefore as stated, the main aim of this article is to understand the relationship between Marxist archaeological thinking and the functionalist perspective in the societies of early urbanization in Iran. 
Discussion
It seems that the connection of the relevant Marxist concepts of most of the findings of the societies at the beginning of the urbanization of Iran can be studied. However, they have not been mentioned under the title of Marxist archaeology and it seems that the main reason for this is to be found in the nature of the researchers’ approach and perspective in analyzing the archaeological data. Moreover, it should be added that significant archaeological studies have been carried out in the category of societies at the beginning of the urbanization of Iran. Nevertheless, the fluidity of theoretical discussions and their necessity in archaeological studies on the one hand, and the exploration of different perspectives and thoughts, including the Marxist approach and functionalism in analyzing the data of societies at the beginning of urbanisation of Iran on the other hand, can support the dynamics of researches and create possible scientific challenges in the relevant topic. delivered in order to evaluate the hypotheses of the guiding research, the general approach of the Iranian archaeology to the thoughts of Marxism was considered first, and then how the Marxist thoughts are related to the societies at the beginning of the urbanization of Iran was examined through some results of archaeological excavations. In order to achieve this goal, the descriptive-historical method was used together with an analytical approach. Therefore, some of the studies on the sites of the beginning of urbanization of Iran, including the sites of Susa and Choghamish in the southwest, the Pishwa terracotta mound in the central plateau, the civilization of Jiroft and the Shahr-i-Sokhta in the southeast, and the site of Chogha Ahovan in the Mehran Plain in western Iran, have been studied, which makes it seem that the thoughts of Marxism can be sought in the analysis of societies at the beginning of the urbanization of Iran for reasons such as the indicators of complexity; But the studies on the categories of social archaeology, including Marxist thought and the influence of endogenous forces on social development, have received little attention. One of the reasons for this is the popularity of historical-cultural archaeology and the kind of perspective in dealing with data analysis. Because the result of data analysis of societies at the beginning of urbanization in Iran depends on the way of thinking, including functionalism (necessity of society for the formation of cultural elements and components) and Marxism (based on materialism and emphasis on the effect of class conflict in social changes with the aim of achieving the evolutionary stages of socialism and communism). The political-social background of the society, such as the confrontation with imperialism and capitalism, the belief in the materialist worldview and ideals of Marx as a whole, and the social goals of so-called mass thinking can also be considered as other factors. In the event that the connection of Marxist thoughts and their social ideas in the studies of the societies of the beginning of urbanization with the consideration of social mechanisms and related to production, it can be inferred from the point of view of Marxist archeology. 
Conclusion
The potential of production and relations of production in hierarchizing society and forming governing institutions in most of the sites of the beginning of urbanization in this study, including Tepeh Sofalin-Pishwa, could be examined from the perspective of Marxist archaeology. Also, this view can be based on the conflict arising from the exploitation of factors of production and employers by ignoring human agency in the transformations of societies at the beginning of urbanization of Susa Plain or Chogha Ahavan area, from the perspective of Marxist archeology, according to the historical determinism in the process of materialist development of society, labor as a commodity plays an essential role in the transformation of a society. This is because the management of labor with the consent of the elites at the end of the Late Copper and Stone Ages and at the beginning of the early Bronze Age is one of the main features of societies at the beginning of urbanization. From the point of view of functionalism, however, it is better that all research on specialization or economic and social hierarchies not be considered as exclusively influenced by and attributed to Marxist thought. This means that the results obtained from the data analysis of the societies at the beginning of urbanization in Iran depend on the researcher’s approach and way of thinking, be it functionalist, Marxist or any other approach and way of thinking.