جستجوی مقالات مرتبط با کلیدواژه "عصر آهن" در نشریات گروه "تاریخ"

Bijar County is situated in the eastern part of the Kurdistan Province and comprises three districts: Central, Cheng Almas, and Korani, along with 11 rural villages. This region is characterized by its location along the hills of western Iran, with approximately one-third of its territory being mountainous. Recent archaeological excavations conducted by the Cultural Heritage Organization of Kurdistan Province have uncovered artifacts spanning from prehistoric times to the Islamic era, including 71 sites attributed to the Iron Age. However, the cultural materials and distinctive features of the region remain inadequately understood and articulated. The primary aim of this study is to investigate the relationships between Iron Age settlements and geographical environmental factors, as well as the various types of livelihoods present. Data for this research is gathered through fieldwork, satellite imagery, GIS mapping, and library resources, and is analyzed using a descriptive-analytical approach. The study of Iron Age settlement patterns in Bijar focuses on aspects such as elevation, slope, access to water resources, and topographical features. The central research question is: What influence did environmental factors have on the establishment, distribution, and cultural interactions of Iron Age settlements in the Bijar area? By analyzing the data collected and generated through GIS mapping based on available information, the study aims to provide insights into this question. The predominant flat, mountainous, and semi-mountainous landscapes of the region have been utilized since the Iron Age; a period marked by significant enhancements in human adaptation to the natural environment. A critical inquiry arises regarding the processes of formation and distribution of sites, particularly in the northeast, central, and southwestern areas, which exhibit the highest population densities. Given the region’s defining characteristics—such as altitude, slope, water availability, and land utilization, most inhabitants reside at elevations below 2000 meters. These environmental conditions underpin the establishment of permanent settlements that rely on agriculture (both irrigated and rainfed), livestock rearing, and seasonal-nomadic lifestyles, leading to the development of herding practices. 

Qareh Tepe in Sagzabad is the only Iron Age site in the Qazvin Plain that has been extensively excavated. Unfortunately, due to the destruction of the upper layers of this mound, the information from the end of the second and first millennia BC of the area is insufficient. A new cemetery, in the east of Qareh Tepe, was found in the archeological excavations during 2016. The graves in this cemetery belonged to the first half of the first millennium and the end of the second millennium BC. Since cemeteries are valuable archaeological contexts to study various social aspects, the finds from this new cemetery could provide valuable information on the social structure of the resident society in the area during the timeframe mentioned. According to the existing theoretical models about social evolution, the present study aimed to evaluate the archaeological findings and compare them with the information obtained from the Neo-Assyrian accounts. The results revealed the existence of a hierarchical society with the transmission of hereditary social status at least since the end of the second millennium BC in the area. Furthermore, the finds from the first half of the first millennium BC indicated evidence of the separation of the cemetery space, emphasis on genealogy, population growth, sizeable mud-brick buildings, extensive trans-regional relations, and the intensification of metal production in the area. These findings indicated the increasing social complexities at the beginning of the first millennium BC. In addition, in their accounts, some Neo-Assyrian kings mentioned a place called “Bit- Kapsi”; this place was probably in the Qazvin Plain. “Bit- Kapsi” was a kind of regional polity or chiefdom during the 8th century BC in the area. The archaeological evidence indicates increasing social complexities at the beginning of the first millennium BC in the area, which could be associated with the emergence of “Bit- Kapsi”.

Music is a type of human behavior that is very powerful in impact. Music should be considered the first tool of instinctual human expression. From the beginning of creation, man has used dance and song to describe his inner modes. The study of documents shows the high of music in ancient Iran, which has been effective in Iranian religious ceremonies. Music is a phenomenon that is part of the national identity and the basis of a society’s culture. One of the essential issues related to the position of women in prehistoric Iran is their role in music. The purpose of this study is to identify musical instruments in ancient times, primarily the tool discovered in the Iron Age cemetery of Gohar Tepe, and the importance of the role of women in music, dancing, and singing. The research hypothesis is that no such musical instrument has been discovered, according to the excavations and studies in the Iron Age sites of Mazandaran and Gilan. This study uses the analytical–experimental method and fieldwork. The results show this instrument which is similar to the clarinet, is a wind instrument and is one of the oldest musical instruments of ancient times. This musical instrument is unique and interesting, which consists of deer antlers and silver with seven nails riveted to each other. In addition to the musical instrument and this burial, a bronze mask, metal objects, pottery, and ornaments have been also discovered, showing women's high position in music in the Iron Age of Iran.

The beginning of iron using in construction of metal objects has always been one of the important topics in the archeology of Ancient Near East in late second millennium and the early first millennium B.C. In Iran, researching on this issue is not homogeneous for different regions and Ancient Elam is one of the regions that have received less attention. The city of Susa, one of the important centers of Elam, has played a prominent role in production of metal artifacts and transit of various metals to Mesopotamia, based on the material data and cuneiform sources. However, in various conducted researches, either this issue has been ignored or has not been studied independently with considering both types of material evidence and cuneiform texts; Therefore, in present study, an attempt has been made to get a general overview of the progress of iron using and making iron objects in Elam and the role of both material and textual sources in this issue by studying archeological records, cuneiform texts and researches conducted on both types of sources. The results of this research show that using iron in Elam in second millennium B.C and early first millennium B.C was very limited and it is only from the beginning of the Neo Elamite II period that we see its prevalence. The current research also points out that cuneiform documents, despite some limitations, can be used as supplement to cultural materials as they provide us the oldest evidence of an iron object in ancient Elam. In the interim, the administrative texts related to the late Neo Elamite from Susa (MDP 9) have special importance because they mention issues such as existence of blacksmith workshops and also the manufacture and delivery of various iron objects in Susa and its suburbs. Moreover, the comparison of the information obtained from both types of evidence about iron will clarify the shortcomings and capabilities of the material and textual sources.

The legend of Kava Ahangar tells the story of a blacksmith who rushes to the help of the mythical warrior Fereydon and defeats the demonic kingdom named Zahhak and disappears. There were many discussions about the origin of this myth for a long time; to the extent that some researchers thought that this mythological narrative was added to the text of the main myth of the battle with the dragon. With the expansion of the knowledge of comparative mythology, similar mythological narratives of Indo-European were investigated and the essence of the blacksmith's narrative was recovered with the help of a mythological hero in the battle with the dragon. This narrative similarity as well as lexical etymology confirmed the ancient origin of this myth, which seems that iron weapons were added to the legend of the battle with the dragon in the Iron Age. Based on this, this research investigates the impact of the Iron Age developments on the origin of the myth of Kava Ahangar. In this article, with the descriptive-analytical method and the analysis of the mythological texts of Indo-European peoples and other nations, the author argues that the myth of Kava Ahangar is an ancient narrative of the evolution of the battle of the storm god with the drought dragon, which was in the Iron Age. A social and ritual has occurred in many ancient tribes and nations, during which the blacksmith helps the storm gods in the battle with the dragon by making an iron weapon.

So far, the settlements of the Iron Age of Sarakhs plain have not been studied archaeologically, and on the other hand, the Iron Age of Plain Sarakhs represents the Yaz culture in the region and owes its name to the Yaz Hill area in southwestern Turkmenistan. Studies of the Iron Age culture of the Sarakhs Plain can reveal the basic information of this period and help to understand the general Iron Age of the Iranian plateau and the land of Turkmenistan. The purpose of this study, while identifying Iron Age settlements, is to analyze environmental factors to explain the patterns of Iron Age settlements in the Sarakhs plain. For this purpose, a field study was conducted in the plain and by studying the collected works and library studies. It was found that 16 sites have Iron Age artifacts. Some settlements are single-period and some have chronological sequences. The necessity of the present study is the unknown culture of the Iron Age of Sarakhs plain. Therefore, the identified Iron Age settlements of Sarakhs plain were analyzed from the perspective of environmental factors and their role in explaining settlement patterns. The output of maps and data of Iron Age settlements in Sarakhs plain showed that among the environmental factors influencing the determination of settlement patterns, Distance and proximity in the range of 300 to 900 meters above sea level, Location of settlements along the rivers of Sarakhs plain (linear settlement pattern) and large urban or rural centers (Mir Ahmad and Bazangan) up to 65 hectares (central location), Communication routes (communication route of Greater Khorasan in the Iron Age), In the formation and distribution of settlements have been more influential than other environmental factors. One of the most important results of the present archaeological study, Identifying the Iron Age settlements represents the culture of Yazd Plain Sarakhs, which will be used to measure the distribution of Iron Age settlements in this area to draw a very accurate and comprehensive perspective for understanding the social life of the people of that period.

The concentration of activities and sites Iron Age excavations carried out in Iran in the quarter-northwest Iran. It covers the west, northwest, north of the center, and the west bank of the Caspian Sea. The important point is that the chronological basis of the Iron Age in Iran is also based on the excavation of several sites in a small part of the northwest and its extension to the whole of Iran. Thus we see the Iron Age archaeological activities at the eastern part of Iran and especially North East is very unknown. Iran has long been the entry point for people without a nomadic component steppes of northeastern North Asia region is the Iranian plateau. According to written sources the oldest nations that have entered the Iranian plateau, known as the Indo-Iranian or Aryan tribes from the steppes of northern Asia to the south and in the land of the Pamir Mountains to Anatolia widely dispersed. Many scholars consider the gradual movement of these tribes to be from the second millennium. A period that is almost synonymous with the Iron Age in the region. But our knowledge of the Iron Age northeastern Iran today virtually all North Khorasan Province and the northern part of Khorasan Razavi province involved is negligible. This paper is based on the latest research picture of the Iron Age northeastern part of the country, with emphasis on the upper basin Atrak be provided. According to the study and identification carried out in this basin, the Iron Age of the upper Atrak basin is part of the Yaz 1 culture.

In the archaeological research of the Iron Age of Iran, the study of human-environment interaction has been largely neglected. Besides, due to the occurrence of climatic oscillations over the cultural period, conducting research with this approach seems necessary. The biggest limitation of this study was the shortage of absolute datings and reliable relative chronologies for most Iranian Iron Age sites. In addition, the studied sites, which are mainly cemeteries, do not allow for cultural stratification. In this research, the abundance and spatial distribution of the Iron Age cemeteries and settlements excavated and surveyed in the North Central, North, Northwest, and West regions of Iran are analyzed from the perspective of climate change. Paleoclimate researches in Southwest Asia indicate the intensification of arid climatic conditions during the Iron Age II (1250-800 BC). Based on the analysis, it is probable that the decrease of population in some regions and the displacement of human communities, as well as the subsistence system relying on mainly pastoral-nomadic during the Iron Age, were related to arid climatic events.