Authors
1
PhD candidate, department of archaeology, university of Mazandaran
2
Department of Archaeology, Faculty of Art and Architecture, University of Mazandaran, Babolsar, Iran.
3
Department of Archaeology, University of Reading, UK.
4
Consulting Scholar, Asian Section, University of Pennsylvania Museum, USA.
10.22084/nb.2023.28212.2619
Abstract
The issue of Neolithization and domestication, food production, and reaching the Neolithic lifestyle in the eastern Mazandaran region after 70 years of silence in the last decade has once again become an attractive topic for archaeologists and researchers. Excavations and field surveys have been carried out during these years to propose Neolithization hypotheses, however, despite the clarification of some issues, more questions have been raised that remain unanswered. On the other hand, the past field surveys could not properly introduce the Neolithic capacities of eastern Mazandaran. Therefore, a field survey program titled "Investigation and Identification of Neolithic Settlements in the Lowlands and Highlands of Eastern Mazandaran" was proposed. In this field program, two main goals were considered: 1) regional connections between the sites in the eastern Mazandaran in the highlands and plains according to the Neolithization hypotheses based on endogenous factors; and 2) inter-regional relations with adjacent regions of Gorgan Plain, Shahroud Plain, Northeastern Iran, and South Turkmenistan and its possible routes according to the Neolithic hypotheses based on exogenous factors. In the mentioned survey, 53 sites were investigated and pottery collections from previous excavations and field surveys were also reviewed. The result of the work was the identification of 30 Neolithic sites in both the highlands and plains, which increased the Neolithic settlements to 42 sites in eastern Mazandaran. The study of the collected potteries indicates that there is an undisguised connection between the plains and the highlands, which can be considered for seasonal grazing of the herding communities. Moreover, according to the evidence, inter-regional relations with adjacent regions should be searched not through inter-mountain plains, but through plains, especially Gorgan Plain, which may strengthen the possibility of the Neolithization process based on exogenous factors. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
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