Search

International audience; Tappeh Qazānchi, not far from the Razavar river, is located to the northwest of Kermanshah city at 1323 masl. Parts of the north and east sides of the mound have been damaged by agricultural activities. As a result, 100 m of the northern section has been exposed, and has been found to contain cultural sequences from throughout the Holocene. The site was sounded during the winter of 2019 to identify the cultural sequences, site formation and settlement patterns present. The extent of the core area was estimated to be ca. 2 hectares, following sounding results in test trenches that were excavated in order to define the core area and buffer zone. The first results from the stratigraphic excavation and the relative and absolute chronologies indicate that the upper levels of the site belong to the Middle Bronze Age and the Late Chalcolithic periods, and the lower levels contain a Pre-Pottery Neolithic sequence. The results of archaeobotanical, archaeozoological, micromorphological and palaeoclimatological studies point to a localised wet environment during the Holocene with periodically flooded zones around the site. Tappeh Qazānchi is comparable to the Middle Bronze Age of Chogha Maran (upper phase) and Godin Tepe (Period III), as well as the Late Chalcolithic of Siahbid (middle and late phases) and GodinTepe (Period IX), that are located in the same cultural range in Central Zagros. The Pre-Pottery Neolithic phases at Qazānchi are also contemporaneous to East Chia Sabz, Sheikh-e Abad, Kelek Asad Morad and Chogha Golan, and this is also one of the first settlements in the early Holocene in the east of the Fertile Crescent.

International audience

International audience

International audience; The Iron Age covers the chronological period spanning 1500 to 550 BC. Due to the limited fieldworks in Iron Age settlement sites, our archaeological knowledge regarding the subsistence economy is very scant in this period. The southern Caspian Sea shore, Mazandaran and Gilan provinces, are limited from the south by the mighty Alburz ranges and enjoys a high annual precipitation and exceptionally humid climate which has led to the development of subtropical forests in the region with a rich fauna and flora. Tepe Jalaliye in Kaluraz, a residential Iron Age site, was excavated as part of the joint Iranian-Japanese archaeological project on the western bank of Sefid Rud. Pileh Qal'eh, another residential Iron Age site near the Mārlik necropolis, was excavated in 1960s by E.O. Negahban. The faunal remains from Jalaliye and Pileh Qal'eh, chronologically spanning the Iron Age, were studied in the Osteology Department of the National Museum of Iran. The results of these studies provided the opportunity to evaluate animal exploitation strategies, interaction between humans and animals and animal husbandry in general on the southern shore of the Caspian Sea. The results show that hunting activities did not play a major role in these societies. Hunted animals are more diversified at Pileh Qal’eh, and consist of red deer, boar, wild sheep, wild goat and gazelle, in contrast, at Jalaliye, deer and boar only were identified. Cattle are the most exploited animals in Pileh Qal’eh, while domesticated sheep and goat in Jalaliye are dominant, and cattle are of secondary importance in the subsistence economy. This pattern could perhaps be the result of changes in herding and exploitation strategies in time and space. The faunal remains from Pileh Qal’eh and Jalaliye Kaluraz reveal important analytical potential for the reconstruction of the subsistence economy and the investigation of the exploitation of the landscape and the "terroir".

International audience; Northwestern of Iran is one of the key regions in the prehistoric archaeological researches, especially during Bronze and Iron Ages. Tepe Hasanlu is an important ancient site due to its long-term occupation and extensive excavations, which relatively complete studies, have been conducted in its cultural materials. The subsistence economy of the site has not been studied purposefully and com- prehensively. In this regard, this paper dealing with the results of recent archaeozoological researches at Hasanlu, to complete the lack of studies on the subsistence economy and animal exploitation pat- terns of the site during Bronze and Iron Ages. The studied faunal remains of Hasanlu derived from campaigns of 1970, 1972 and 1974, which are housed in the Osteology Department of the National Museum of Iran. The animal husbandry and herding strategies that were identified demonstrated that the products of sheep, goats and cattle were the main sources of sustenance of Hasanlu inhabit- ants in all the periods. Equids also allocated the considerable portion of the collection which especial- ly bred in Iron Age. Generally, the animal spectrum observed in Tepe Hasanlu, with slight differences, is similar to those in other northwestern Iranian sites for the same periods. These include Dinkhah, Haftavan, Bastam, Qalaychi, and Ziwiyeh. In comparison to other neighboring regeions, southeast of Turkey and north of Iraq, similar pattern in importance of sheep and goats is observable. Breeding of pig is a difference between ancient sites of southeast of Turkey and Iran. This evidence indicated the development of a specialized economy during the Bronze Age and Iron Age to provisioning the requirements of a sedentary population. Further studies on other sites can illuminate the interactions between sedentary societies and pastoral nomads.

International audience

International audience

International audience