Settlement Patterns of the Late and Middle Bronze Age Sites of Sarfirouzabad Plain of Kermanshah, West Central Zagros, Iran

Archaeological landscape of western Iran is representative of great and important socio-cultural changes in various periods of prehistory in Iran. The region that the Central Zagros range comprises its most parts has attracted many archaeologists’ attentions who have conducted many archaeological surveys and excavations in this region since the early 20th century. Despite its environmental characteristics، Sarfirouzabad Plain in southern Kermanshah has just been the subject of surface surveys and studies. To collected reliable data a systemic field survey by a team from Tehran University in 2009، was conducted in Sarfirouzabad Plain which yielded important results and added most to our limited knowledge of the history of the region. Among the various explored sites، there have been 24 sites of the Middle and Late Bronze Ages (Godin III). Distribution of such sites and their patterns in the plain has been connected to the environmental factors specially access to the water resources، while other factors presumably affecting the settlement formation were based on the cultural and political issues. The goal of this article is to improve the quality of techniques in the understanding of archaeology of the region as well as the regional and cultural systems of Bronze Age.