Analysis of prehistoric architecture in the northeast of the Iranian plateau: a study of architectural developments in the residential-ritual sections of Damghan’s Tappe Hessar

Tape Hissar in Damghan is an important site with architectural remains of residential-ritual parts belonging to Chalcolithic and Bronze Age (4500-1500 BC), which has been excavated with detailed maps by Schmidt (1937) and Dyson (1989) and others. The purpose of this study is to analyze the architecture of this site in different layers and the main questions are about identifying similar and distinctive features of architectural remains in relation to other findings affected by different cultural changes. The research method is monograph and begins with the analysis of texts and maps based on library studies and is completed by collecting and analyzing the artifacts left on the ground, especially layer IIIB. According to excavations, in the second half of the fourth millennium BC, Hissar was an important site for stone processing and production of copper. Hissar I pottery was also influenced from the west, and Hissar II from the northeast of Iran. The architecture of Hissar has changed along with cultural changes. Materials such as molded clay is used instead of Chine (periods II and III). Details such as the buttress is one of the most important structural features of the II period, which is changed into tower in Hissar III. During this period, decorative niches appeared for ritual or ceremonial buildings. The activity of each room, especially the burned building of IIIB, is separated. In the spatial organization of each house in Hissar II and III, there is a large room (about 4 by 5 meters) with a square heart in the middle, which has a right-angled geometry protected by buttress, and is linked with fire-related activities and perhaps metalworking. It is noteworthy that the general orientation of buildings in different layers remains constant in the form of northwest-southeast, which seems to correspond to the direction of the prevailing winds in the region.