Iranian Journal of Archaeological Studies
Volume:9 Issue: 1, Winter and Spring 2019

Sense of place is the factor that transforms a space into a place with special sensory and behavioural characteristics for individuals. Place is a sensible and perceptible space associated with memory, of which part of meaning can be traced in human experience and emotions. The key questions addressed in this article are how human beings feel the environment through form structures, and what physical components and formal factors affect human beings’ perception of a place. Finding replies to these questions requires understanding the factors and physical components causing sense of place and the effects of such factors and components both on creating sense of place and on one another. The purpose of this paper was to evaluate the effects and roles of architectural forms and structures of an environment on creating positive and negative emotions toward a place. To this end, we mention the meanings of such concepts as place, sense of place, and physical components being effective in creating sense of place, followed by an elaboration of different types of factors and components as well as their effects on creating sense of place. The data required for this study was collected using a descriptive-analytical research method combined with a case study on Hafez Garden-Tomb in the north of Shiraz and in the south of the gates of the Quran. The results indicated that both the physical environment and forms play important roles in creating sense of place through specific mechanisms. In addition, the findings of the case study showed that the structural form of Hafez Garden-Tomb consists of components having effects not only on the sense associated with the place but also on other factors creating sense of place.

This study presents a possible spacial structure of ceramics across the architectural complex remains of Bazeh-Hur (6th to 8th centuries AD) through interpolation analysis. The output surface was validated by specifying subsets and cross-validation during the Mean Relative Error (MRE), and Root Mean Square Error (RMSE) geoprocessing. The Regression analysis was also used to examine the vessel prediction per square meter and measure the correlation intensity between the values and distance. These geostatistical and quantitative methods enable us to characterize the necessary arrangement of the architectural spaces in which a quality of activities can take place efficiently. The predictive model also identifies the limits of the structures which were then corroborated by the excavated areas. These analytical techniques established the high probability of the main entrance of the building in southern taq which is also attested by a chief portico and a broad gypsum floor near to an ancient trade road.

A house is a space where humans grow and live with their families feeling secure with a sense of attachment. The architecture of the traditional Iranian houses not only has taken on physical and functional importance as architecture but also it plays a substantial role in the communication of its meaning and notions. Liminal spaces in traditional houses are part of the apparent form carrying multiple meanings. These spaces provide conventional interactions and exchanges with the adjacent spaces, mirroring the potential of liminal spaces to address several concepts as the focus of meaning. This applied research was conducted as a descriptive-analytical study with the interpretivist approach to describe the valid theories and opinions of theorists by ranking the concepts and notions hidden in liminal spaces. The identified indicators were analyzed using a comparative approach by developing and presenting a questionnaire to the occupants and conducting field studies on some traditional houses in Yazd. Our findings suggested that liminal spaces are represented by a concept defined by physical elements (such as porches and entrances) in traditional houses consisting of various semantic layers perceived objectively (physical concepts) and subjectively (subjective concepts). In addition, it was revealed that all indicators had considerable physical manifestations in threshold spaces on five value levels, fostering the link between the physical form and content on all semantic levels. Moreover, restoring part of the lost identity of the Iranian house architecture seems possible by prioritizing these indicators, recreating, and incorporating them into the modern housing models.

In the wake of the Kura-Araxes horizon, a major cultural shift brake out with painted ware replacing the glossy black burnished pottery. Painted ware, also termed Urmia Ware, became widespread in Northwest Iran in the Middle Bronze Age. The same scenario is reflected at the archaeological mound of Barde Zard in the Little Zab Basin. Situated in Piranshahr city of West Azerbaijan Province, this settlement represents one of the several formed across the basin in prehistoric times. The fieldwork at the site was aimed at specifying the occupation sequence, the cultural interactions of its residents with neighboring regions, and the characteristics of the Middle Bronze Age there. The excavations at the mound brought to light a mid-Bronze structure associated with a burial. Also identified were cultural ties with the Urmia Lake Basin and inspirations from the Khabur tradition of Mesopotamia.

The ritual-cultural architecture is the result of a mutual interaction of man and nature throughout history. Hence, the study of ritual buildings in a geographical context provides us with a meaningful understanding and recognition of these monuments. There are a considerable number of ritual monuments in southeast Iran, especially in some towns such as Chabahar, Konarak, and Nikshahr. According to the type of their structures, these monuments convey symbolic and meaningful concepts. The questions raised in the present study are as follows: 1- How is the structure type of ritual architecture in southeast Iran? And 2- how these buildings have been expressed in connection with ritual behaviors as well as concepts and symbols? In terms of objective, the present study is a fundamental research and based on the nature and methodology, it is among the historical-analytic studies. Data collection has been performed using field study and data analysis conducted through library sources. The results indicated that archetypes have played a significant role in the quality of structural process of ritual architecture in the investigated region.

With many archeological sites, the southern area of the Qazvin Plain is among the significant areas of the Central Iranian Plateau where numerous studies and excavations have been carried out. However, the authors intend to re-examine the evidence regarding the settlement patterns during the Bronze and Iron Ages in this area, due to some unanswered questions and uncertainties. One of the revisited prehistoric sites in this area is Douranabad the findings from which were presumed to outline the settlement pattern of the Bronze and Iron Ages in the southern area of the Qazvin Plain. These findings indicate that the site has been occupied during the Chalcolithic, Bronze, and Iron Ages, and therefore has an important status to study the cultural sequence and settlement patterns in the area. In addition, other evidence from some sites in the area, such as Sagzabad, Ghabrestan and Yass Tepe, confirms the presence of human communities in different phases of the Bronze Age to Iron Age in the southern areas of the Qazvin Plain and that the same sites were generally reoccupied in the Iron Age.