SOJAS 2015 – 2018: A Résumé of Four Seasons of Archaeological Survey South of Jiroft

The SOJAS (South-of-Jiroft Archaeological Survey) Project aims to find the relations between the Jiroft Region and the shores of the Persian Gulf by investigating settlements, routes and natural resources in the plains and valleys located south of Jiroft, within the limits of the province of Kerman. Altogether, 209 archaeological sites have been discovered during the seasons of 2015–2018. These are located in several survey zones, among which the plains of Boluk and Faryab are the most prominent. Furthermore, the Varamin strip of the Middle Halil Rud Valley and the Lower Halil Rud Valley proved to be important settlement zones. Large-scale occupation in the region occurred in the Early and Middle Chalcolithic periods, with a first marked increasing in the Late Chalcolithic. During the Early Bronze Age, dense settlement patterns developed in almost all parts of the region. Several sites seem to be related to the procurement and exchange of chlorite artefacts. Of special importance is a probable settlement of miners in the Bagh-e Borj Mountains; an area where natural chlorite outcrops are most abundant. The end of the Early Bronze Age is characterized by a collapse of the settlement systems. Only very few sites existed during the 2nd millennium and the first half of the 1st millennium BCE. A full-scale re-occupation of the entire region occurred during the Achaemenid period. This trend continued into the Arsacid period, when the number of sites was doubled compared to the previous period. This period yielded the largest number of sites in the region. A dense occupation continued during the Sasanian and the Early Islamic to Seljuk periods. After the Seljuk period, a second settlement collapse took place, which left the region with only sparse occupation until modern times, when cities and villages in the region expanded as a consequence of agricultural intensification.