The Eastern Iran Prehistoric Archaeological Project: The Second Season of Archaeological Excavation at Kale Kub, Southern Khorasan Province (2019)

After more than one hundred years from the beginning of archaeological studies in Iran, the eastern regions of the country have received scarce or no attention from archaeologists, and there are very limited publications resulting from archaeological activities in this part of Iran. The prehistoric site of Kale Kub Ayask is one of the few prehistoric sites of South Khorasan province, and indeed in the whole eastern Iran, containing sufficient cultural deposits to provide a reliable chronology of the prehistoric cultural sequence of this region. Excavations at the site have led to the identification of the unknown prehistoric cultures in the area. The most significant achievement of the excavation is the identification of cultural materials dating to the fourth millennium BCE with southwestern and Mesopotamian origins. This cultural evidence, which can be considered as horizons of the culture of Susa II or the Late Uruk period, includes the typical pottery types of this period, such as beveled rim bowls, coarse Banesh trays, tubular vessels, nose-handled jars, patterned, and fine wheel pottery. This evidence has been long known in the southwestern, western, northwestern, southeastern, and central plateaus of Iran, but this is the first time they have been identified in eastern Iran. Based on geophysical studies, pristine places were selected to survey during the second season of excavation at the Kale Kub site, and the excavation of trenches with wider dimensions has lead to the identification of the prehistoric architecture of the site