جستجوی مقالات مرتبط با کلیدواژه « bronze age » در نشریات گروه « تاریخ »

The potential vulnerability of primitive societies to natural disasters, such as droughts, floods, and famines caused by climate change, is an important issue that requires careful study. The main aim of this research is to investigate the possible effects of ancient environmental and climatic changes on Bronze Age settlements in southeastern Iran, as well as the main dynasties that ruled Iran based on archaeological and historical evidence of territorial boundaries, economic and political prosperity. Adaptation of climatic and cultural changes in the southeast of Iran can provide valuable information for researchers. In this regard, this article aims to answer the question of whether climate change has affected the ancient societies of Jiroft, and to what extent climate change has affected the economic prosperity and political influence of the ruling dynasties that have affected Iran. In the present study, using a combination of geochemical and pollinological indicators, we examine paleoclimatic changes of the southeastern plateau of Iran during the past 4000 years. Significant agricultural activities existed between 3900 and 3700 years ago in the southeast of Iran during moderate climatic conditions. Dry conditions with increased dust prevailed over the region from 3300 to 2900 years ago. Wet conditions from about 2900 to 2300 years ago facilitated extensive agriculture and coincided with the flourishing of regional governments such as the Medes, Urartos, and Mannas in the western Iran, and after that the Achaemenid Empire throughout Greater Iran. The decline of the Achaemenid Empire coincided with the beginning of a dry period that made agriculture less prosperous in Jiroft for nearly 200 years. Southeast Iran experienced humid conditions between 1550 and 1300 years ago, which coincided with the economic prosperity of the middle to late Sassanid Empire.

The southeast region of Iran, especially the Hirmand civilization area, played a key role in regional and inter-regional trade during the late 4th and 3rd millennia BC. During this period, we witness the formation of large urban centers with numerous related settlements, workshops, and specializations, followed by administrative management, and social and economic complexity. So far, many archaeological studies have been conducted in this region, but little has been done to study administrative management systems based on archaeological evidence. The Department of Archaeology at Zabul University conducted six seasons of fieldwork at Tepe Taleb Khan in the framework of the student’s educational excavations. As a result, and due to the fact that this mound is a representative of the Hirmand Civilization, the recovered evidence helped us to examine the cultural, social, and economic aspects of this civilization. Ample archaeological evidence related to administrative management was documented at the site. Here, an attempt is made to read such evidence that was recovered in the fifth and sixth seasons of excavation. According to the objectives, the main questions are as follows: What was the nature of administrative-related evidence that was recovered from Tepe Taleb Khan? And what are their cultural significance? During the excavations, numerous pieces of evidence related to accounting and administrative management were found, including seals, sealing-related material, and tokens, which could reflect social hierarchy in the region during the third millennium BC. In addition, the production of such various materials was controlled by the elites. In this research, the administrative structure of the Hirmand civilization was studied within the framework of the administrative management system. The archaeological findings obtained from Tepe Talebkhan include seals, sealing, tokens, bullae, and numerical clay tablets. They could collectively be considered as important evidence related to the management and administrative systems, correlated to what happened in the related settlement of Shahr-i Sukhta during the third millennium BC.

In archaeological terminology, small portable objects made of stone, mud, bone, and metal, usually 1-5 cm in diameter, with carved patterns are called seals. This tool probably had different functions in prehistoric times, but the economic function of the seal is more important. The greatest variety of cylindrical and metal mesh seals can be seen in the Bronze Age. The present article seeks to answer the following questions: What are the characteristics of Tepe Hissar seals in terms of typology and iconography? Are the typological and iconographical changes of the seals of Tepe Hissar related to the arrival of other cultures in this region? Have the cultural and religious evolutions of the native people of the region caused the changes in seals? This research is of documentary type and based on the descriptive-analytical method, which was carried out with the aim of typology and iconography of the seals discovered from Tepe Hissar, Damghan. The seals of the Hissar I and II periods have been often discovered from grave contexts and the seals of the Hissar III period have been often discovered from architectural contexts. This study shows that most of the seals are of the stamp type and most of the engraved patterns are geometric. The seals of Tepe Hissar were made of various stones and materials, some of which were local and some imported from other regions. This shows the extent of commercial and economic activities in Tepe Hissar.

The Kurgan and the megalith tombs were common graves in the Bronze and Iron Ages. The vast geographical area is central Europe, central Asia, Anatolia, and Northwest Iran. The size of Kurgans and the objects discovered from these graves represented the deceased’s social status. Animal burial was also common in the late second millennium BC in the Caucasus, Eastern Anatolia, and Northwest Iran. This study explains the Kurgans, megalith tombs, and the traditional victim animals for particular social classes in the Bronze Age. One of the questions in this research is about trade relations between the South Caucasus and Northwest Iran in the Bronze Age. And why the Kurgans of this period in size and number of objects discovered inside graves differ. In answer to these questions, the represented research hypothesis found the Obsidian bows and Urmia ware of the Bronze Age in northwestern Iran. In this period, close relations existed between the South Caucasus and the Northwest of Iran. Also, the large size of the Kurgans and the objects discovered inside these graves represented the deceased’s social status. Ordinary people had a simple coffin grave, and their graves had no funeral gifts. But the high-ranking people in this community have huge graves and, along with the owner, discovered a lot of funeral gifts.  The Kurgans of the South Caucasus and Northwest of Iran were studied using observation and library surveys. The results show that the Kurgans discovered in the South Caucasus are older than those in the Northwest of Iran, and in the Late Bronze Age, there was a cultural and commercial connection between the two regions. In the Late Bronze Age, most Kurgans were discovered in the Aslandooz and Pars Abad in Ardabil, Ahar, and Khodaafarin in Eastern Azerbaijan. Most of them had a circular shape, and many of these graves found animals deceased, such as cows, horses, and dogs, with funeral gifts.

The third millennium BC marked a period of significant cultural, economic, and commercial exchanges between Iran and neighboring regions, including the Indus Valley, Mesopotamia, the Persian Gulf, the Oman Sea, and Central Asia. This article aims to investigate the cultural semiotics and connections between the Bronze Age sites of Southeast Iran, with an emphasis on Shahr-e Sukhteh, Shahdad, and Tepe Yahya. In this research, the seals and seal impressions of sites in the southeast of Iran, including Shahdad and Shahr-e Sukhteh, will be studied and analyzed based on comparative studies with important sites in Central Asia, including Balkh, Merv, Mondigak, Altintepe, Gonor Tepe, Dashlitepe, Tughlaq, and Ordos region. Therefore, in the framework of the signs studied on seals and seal impressions, a suggestion is made that there have been cultural connections between these regions in the Bronze Age. Based on this, the research questions have been raised as follows: What are the similarities between the motifs of pottery and seals? What are the similarities between the cultural artifacts found in the southeastern region of Iran and the Central Asian region? Were the visible similarities connected and serving a common purpose? Knowing the cultural interactions of these societies requires the study of the material evidence left by them. According to the distances between the ancient sites of the third millennium BC, these signs can be the result of a specific and guided thought that appeared in the sites of the eastern half of the Iranian plateau. The transfer of ideas from one place to another has occurred due to extensive commercial connections between societies. This shows that the cultural interactions between Central Asia and the eastern and southeastern regions of Iran and part of the Indo-European culture in the Bronze Age could have originated from common beliefs and ideas.

Archaeologically, the northeast region of Iran is one of the least-known regions in the Iranian Plateau. The reasons for this situation is multifold; some of these include rarity of archaeological investigations, its vastness and the associated restrictions such as desert areas and impassable mountainous areas. The present paper deals with the chronology of and investigations at one of the key sites of the eastern Iran: Tappeh Mokhar. This is site is located to the east of the town of Torbat-e Jam, by the river of Jamroud. Archaeological finds from this site include a vast spectrum of items, including chipped-stone artefacts, ceramics, stone vessels, and clay figurines, of which ceramics are the most numerous. These finds have been recovered from delimitation soundings, and archaeological reconnaissance. The main objective of this paper is to introduce this important, multi-period site through the recovered materials before it suffers from further damage which at present made it as a depot of waster of modern construction materials. In this paper, a classification and typology of the ceramic collection from the site has been provided and then, based on comparative studies, their relative dating has been suggested. This research follows a historical approach and has been fulfilled with a descriptive-comparative method. The main queries are: which periods can be inferred from the studies of the recovered materials of Tappeh Mokhar. What are the characteristics of Mokhar ceramic assemblage and which types of ceramics of which periods can be identified in this assemblage? The preliminary studies of the ceramic assemblage, however, suggest that the site was occupied during Chalcolithic period, Bronze Age, Achaemenid and Parthian periods, and its ceramic types are comparable with sites of the northeast region, Turkmenistan and eastern region, and then with those of north, south, southwest and west of Iran.

Due to irrigating the Mashhad plain, Kashafrud River has created a fertile bed and suitable ecosystem during the past, which has been the basis for the absorption and formation of prehistoric settlements in Khorasan. Also due to little and limited of archaeological excavations in Khorasan, our knowledge of the prehistoric cultures of this region is not the same in all parts. Understanding the cultural Characteristic and introducing the Bronze Age settlements as a statistical community for future supplementary researches, is one of the aim and necessities of archaeological studies in the region. At this research the most important questions are understanding the cultural aspects, especially pottery traditions, evaluating the internal and external communications with the perspective of this period in Kashafrud zone. The basis of the this research is the introduction of settlement centers, understanding of pottery traditions and denotation the cultural rather than geographical landscape of the Kashafrud Basin (Mashhad plain) in the Bronze Age in a comparative approach. The results indicate the heterogeneous pottery characteristics in the Early Bronze Age with the surrounding areas as well as similar species in the Middle Bronze Age with neighboring areas. Also, the study of settlement centers indicates that in the early and middle bronze age, sites has gradual growth and continuity of settlement in addition to the increasing population. In addition, unlike other regions of Northeast Iran and Turkmenistan, Middle Bronze Age settlements (simultaneously with the Namazga V) not been abandoned or diminished in the region, but settlements in the Mashhad plain have continued in the Late Bronze Age. The potteries also homogeneous with neighboring areas and in most cases has local property that can be dated only by construction techniques.