Authors
1
Research Institute for Earth Sciences, Geological Survey of Iran,, Tehran-Iran
2
Aix Marseille Univ, Univ Avignon, CNRS, IRD, IMBE (Institut Méditerranéen de Biodiversité et d’Ecologie), Aix-en-Provence, France
3
School of Geology, College of Science, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran
4
Iranian National Institute for Oceanography and Atmospheric Science (INIOAS), No. 3, Etemadzadeh Street, West Fatemi Avenue, Tehran, Iran
10.22084/nb.2023.26444.2501
Abstract
In the present study, multi-proxy climatic records—including palynological, sedimentological, and geochemical data—were employed to reconstruct palaeoenvironmental changes in the Halil Rud cultural zone from 4 to 2.9 ka BP, based on a 2.5-meter sediment core retrieved from a peat bog near the excavation site at Konar Sandal, located near Jiroft in southeastern Iran. The relatively low abundance of desert shrubs in the Konar Sandal sediment core indicates a humid/semi-humid climate from approximately 4 to 3.4 ka BP. Tepe Yahya shows occupation during this period (IVA, ca. 4.0-3.6 ka BP), followed by several centuries with no evidence of sedentary settlement in the region. A similar pattern is observed in the Lut desert, Sistan, and Bard Sir Valley. However, in highland southwestern Iran, whereby the Kaftari period represents a peak in sedentary occupation in the Kur River Basin. Subsequently, in the later 4th millennium BP (Qaleh/Shogha-Teimuran periods, ca. 3.6-2.9 ka BP), there was a significant decline in population at the Kur River Basin.
The high abundance of desert shrubs and the dominance of Amaranthaceae and Artemisia in the Konar Sandal sediment core signify dry environmental conditions alongside reduced agricultural activities in the Halil Rud cultural zone between 3.4 and 2.9 ka BP. This period, particularly around 3.2 ka BP, was characterized by severe droughts that coincided with a decline in settlements in the region. In southeastern Iran, occupation is currently not attested in Sistan, the western Lut, the Bard Sir Valley, or the Bam region before 2.8 ka BP. However, recent studies have recorded early Iron Age settlements (around 3.3-3 ka BP) at Tom-e Gavan and Konar Sandal North, partially filling the long settlement gap and aligning with the gradual rise in Cerealia-type pollen recorded in the Konar Sandal sediment core. The Kur River Basin witnessed a significant decline in settlement during the Qaleh/Shogha-Teimouran periods.
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