New Evidence of Increasing Social Complexities in the Qazvin Plain at the beginning of the first Millennium B.C.

Authors

1 -

2 Associate Professor, Department of Archaeology, University of Tehran

3 Iranian Center for Archaeological Research (ICAR), Department of Historical Archaeology.

10.22084/nb.2023.27164.2535

Abstract

Qareh Tepe Sagzabad is the only Iron Age site in the Qazvin Plain, which has witnessed extensive excavations. Unfortunately, due to the destruction of the upper layers of the tepe, the information from the end of the second and first millenniums B.C. of the area is insufficient. A new cemetery was found in the archeological excavations of 2016 in the east of Qareh Tepe. The cemetery's graves belonged to the first half of the first millennium B.C. and the end of the second millennium B.C. Since cemeteries are a valuable archaeological context to study various social aspects of society, the finds from this new cemetery can provide valuable information on the social structure of the residents of the area at the end of the second millennium and the beginning of the first millennium B.C. According to the existing theoretical models on social evolution, the present study aimed to evaluate the archaeological findings and compare them with the information obtained from the New Assyria resources. The results revealed the existence of a hierarchical society with the transfer of hereditary social status at least since the end of the second millennium B.C. in the area. Also, the finds from the first half of the first millennium B.C. indicated evidence of the separation of the cemetery space, emphasis on genealogy, population growth, sizeable mud-brick building, extensive trans-regional relations, and the intensification of metal production in the area. These findings indicated the increasing social complexities at the beginning of the first millennium B.C. In addition, in their sources, some kings of New Assyria mentioned a place called "Bit- Kapsi"; this place was located in the Qazvin Plain. "Bit- Kapsi" was a kind of regional polity or chiefdom in the 8th century B.C. in the area. The archaeological evidence indicating increasing social complexities at the beginning of the first millennium B.C. in the area can be associated with the emergence of "Bit- Kapsi".

Keywords

Main Subjects

pazhoheshha-ye Bastan shenasi Iran

Articles in Press, Accepted Manuscript
Available Online from 10 September 2023

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