Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-gb8f7 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-26T23:10:14.823Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

CHALLENGES OF THE FARS NEOLITHIC CHRONOLOGY: AN APPRAISAL

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 December 2020

Morteza Khanipour Open the ORCID record for Morteza Khanipour [Opens in a new window] ,
Kamalaldin Niknami  and
Masashi Abe
Morteza Khanipour*
Affiliation:
Department of Archaeology, University of Tehran, Iran
Kamalaldin Niknami
Affiliation:
Department of Archaeology, University of Tehran, Iran
Masashi Abe
Affiliation:
Tokyo National Research Institute for Cultural Properties, Tokyo, Japan
*
*Corresponding author. Email: [email protected].
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Over the past few decades, several excavations that have been performed in the Fars Neolithic sites have resulted in the presentation of different chronologies for the region. Most of the research in Fars centered on the Kur River Basin (KRB). Fars has always had a different environment for the formation of different cultures over time, therefore, in order to reach a better understanding of the prehistoric cultures of the region it is necessary to make a brief review of the geographical zones of the plains and valleys of Fars province. Taking into account the existence of several questions and ambiguities regarding Neolithic Fars, the Hormangan site, located in the Bavant River Basin, was excavated. During the excavation, two settlement phases were identified that contained cultural materials relatively comparable to Tol-e Mushki, Tol-e Jari B, Kushk Hezar, and Rahmat Abad sequences. The goal of this paper is to explore the absolute chronology of the Hormangan site as well as other Neolithic sites located in the northern half of the Fars region with a special reference to the local cultural and technological sides of different Neolithic sites throughout the region. Bearing in mind the similarities of Bashi materials with Hormangan, Rahmat Abad, and Mushki regions and the absolute chronology of these regions, consideration of Bashi phase does not seem logical. Therefore, by comparing the cultural materials and absolute chronology done in other regions, a sequence chronology including Rahmat Abad (7500–7000 BC), formative Mushki (7000–6400 BC), Mushki (6400–6000 BC), Jari (6000–5600 BC), and Shams Abad (5600–5200 BC) for the Neolithic period of Fars can be presented. According to the excavation of Rahmatabad and Tal-e Sangi, it seems that Fars was inhabited in the middle of the 8th millennium BC and the Neolithic package entered this area, and there is no evidence of the Neolithization process. In the past, the Mushaki period was introduced as the oldest pottery Neolithic period, but with new excavations, it seems that the use of pottery had become common in Fars, as in many parts of Southwest Asia, around 7000 BC.

Keywords

absolute chronologyFars cultural basinHormangan siteNeolithic period
Type
Case Study
Information
Radiocarbon , Volume 63 , Issue 2 , April 2021 , pp. 693 - 712
Check for updates
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2020. Published by Cambridge University Press for the Arizona Board of Regents on behalf of the University of Arizona

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Abe, M. 2011. Geometrics from the Neolithic settlement of Tall-i Mushki, southwest Iran. In: Healy, E, Campbell, S, Maeda, O, editors. The state of the stone: terminologies, continuities and contexts in Near Eastern Lithic. Manchester: Manchester University. p. 163–169.Google Scholar
Alden, J, Abdi, K, Azadi, A, Biglari, F, Heydari, S. 2004. Kushk-E Hezar: A Mushki/Jari period site in the Kur River Basin Fars Iran. Iran 42:25–45.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Alidadi Soleimani, N, Fazeli Nashli, H. 2018. The re-evaluation of Kerman Neolithic Chronology based on the excavation of Tepe Gav Koshi Esfandagheh-Jiroft Journal of Research on Archaeometry 4(2):61–79. In Persian.Google Scholar
Alizadeh, A. 2004a. The Origins of State Organizations in Prehistoric Fars Translated by Rustaei K Tehran: CHTOI and Parse-Passargad. In Persian.Google Scholar
Alizadeh, A. 2004b. Recent archaeological investigations on the Persepolis plain. The Oriental Institute News and Notes 183:1–7.Google Scholar
Alizadeh, A. 2006. The origins of state organizations in prehistoric highland Fars southern Iran. Oriental Institute Publications 128. Chicago.Google Scholar
Alizadeh, A. 2003. Excavation at the prehistoric Mound of ChogaBonut Khuzestan Iran. The University of Chicago Oriental Institute Publication 120.Google Scholar
Alizadeh, A, Zeidi, M, Askari, A, Niakan, L, Atabaki, A. 2004. Excavations at Tall-e Bakun A and B Jari A and B and Mushki: reconstruction of the prehistoric environments in Marv Dasht. The Oriental Institute Annual Report 2003–2004:94–106.Google Scholar
Aurenche, O, Galet, P, Régagnon-Caroline, E, Évin, J. 2001. Proto-Neolithic and Neolithic cultures in the Middle East: the birth of agriculture livestock raising and ceramics: a calibrated 14C chronology 12500–5500 cal BC. Radiocarbon 43(3):1191–1202.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Azizi Kharanaghi, H, Fazeli Nashli, H, Nishiaki, Y. 2014. The second season of excavations at Tepe RahmatAbad southern Iran: the absolute and relative chronology. Ancient Near Eastern Studies 51:1–32.Google Scholar
Azizi Kharanaghi, MH, Khaloei, F, Khanipour, M. 2012a. Excavations at Tape Qasre Ahmad in abstracts the 11th Annual Symposium of Iranian Archaeology. Tehran: ICAR: 321. In Persian.Google Scholar
Azizi Kharanaghi, MH, Khanipour, M. 2014. New evidence from the Neolithic and Bakun period based on the third season of archaeological excavations at Tape Rahmat Abad Pasargadae. In: Azizi Kharanaghi, MH, Khanipour, M, Naseri, R, editors. Proceedings of the International Congress of Young Archaeologists. Tehran: University of Tehran Press. p. 67–86. In Persian.Google Scholar
Azizi Kharanaghi, MH, Nishiaki, Y, Khanipour, M. 2012b. Tepe Rahmatabad Pasargadae: the absolute and relative chronology. Iran Nameh 27/2–3:78–101. In Persian.Google Scholar
Azizi Kharanaghi, MH. 2014. Analyses of Fars Neolithic period based on archaeological evidence of Tape Rahmat Abad [unpublished PhD dissertation]. University of Tehran. In Persian.Google Scholar
Azizi Kharanaghi, MH, Fazeli Nashli, H, Nishiaki, Y. 2013. Tepe Rahmatabad: a pre-pottery and pottery Neolithic site in Fars Province. In: Matthews, R, Fazeli Nashli, H, editors. Neolithisation of Iran –the formation of new societies. Oxford: Oxbow Books. p. 108–123.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bernbeck, R. 2017. Merging clay and fire: earliest evidence from the Zagros Mountains in the emergence of pottery in west Asia. Oxford: Oxbow Books. p. 97–118.Google Scholar
Bernbeck, R. 2010. The Neolithic pottery. In: Pollock, S, Bernbeck, R, Abdi, K, editors. The 2003 Excavations at Tol-e Baši Iran: social life in a Neolithic village (Archäologie in Iran und Turan Band 10). Berlin: Deutsches Archäologisches Institute. p. 65–151.Google Scholar
Bernbeck, R, Pollock, S, Abdi, K. 2004. Reconsidering the Neolithic at Tol-e Bashi (Iran). Near Eastern Archaeology 66:76–78.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Binford, L. 1968. Post-Pleistocene adaptation. In: Binford, S, Binford, S, editors. Chicago: Aldine Publishing Company. p. 313–341.Google Scholar
Boaretto, E, Wu, X, Yuan, J, Bar-Yosef, O, Chu, V, Pan, Y, Liu, K, Cohen, D, Jiao, T, Li, S, Gu, H, Goldberg, P, Weiner, S. 2009. Radiocarbon dating of charcoal and bone collagen associated with early pottery at Yuchanyan Cave Hunan Province, China, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA 106:9595–9600.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Braidwood, RJ. 1960. Seeking the world’s first farmers in Persian Kurdistan: a full scale investigation of prehistoric sites near Kermanshah, illustrated. London News 237:695–697.Google Scholar
Braidwood, RJ. 1961. The Iranian Prehistoric Project 1959–1960. Iranica Antiqua 1:3–7.Google Scholar
Campbell, S. 2017. Absolute dating and the early pottery of south-west Asia in the emergence of pottery in west. Oxford: Oxbow Books. p. 133–154.Google Scholar
Cauvin, J. 1974 Les débuts de la céramique sur leMoyen Euphrate: nouveaux documents Paléorient 2:199–205.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Darabi, H. 2015. An Introduction to the Neolithic Revolution in the Central Zagros. BAR International Series 2746. Archaeopress.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Darabi, H. 2016. Excavation at Mahtaj Tape in Behbahan: a PPN site in Southwest Iran. Proceedings of the 15th Annual Symposium on the Iranian Archaeology Tehran: RICHT. p. 188–192. In Persian.Google Scholar
Darabi, H. 2018. Revisiting stratigraphy of Ali Kosh Dehloran plain. Pazhouheshhaye Bastanshenasi Iran 8:27–42. In Persian.Google Scholar
Darabi, H, Bahramiyan, S, Mostafapour, S, Khademi Bami, M, Yari, A. 2017. Re-excavation at Tapeh Ali Kosh Deh Luran Plain, Iran. Neo-lithics 2/17.Google Scholar
Darabi, H, Fazeli, H, Naseri, R, Riehl, S, Young, R. 2013. The Neolithisation process in the Seimareh Valley: excavations at East Chia Sabz, central Zagros In: Matthews, R, Fazeli Nashli, H, editors. The Neolithisation of Iran, the formation of new societies. Oxford: Oxbow Books. p. 55–75.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Darabi, H, Naseri, R, Young, R, Fazeli, H. 2011. Absolute chronology of East Chia Sabz: a Pre-Pottery Neolithic site in western Iran. Documenta Praehistorica 38:255–265.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ebrahimi, S, Zare, M, Abolahrar, A, Aminpour, B. 2014. Primary report of the three season excavation in Tol-e Mianrodan. In: Azizi Kharanaghi, MH, Khanipour, M, Naseri, R, editors. Proceedings of the International Congress of Young Archaeologists. Tehran: University of Tehran press. p. 78–98. In Persian.Google Scholar
Egami, N. 1967. Excavations at two prehistoric sites Tepe Djari A and B in the Marv-Dasht Basin. In: Pope, U, editor. A survey of Persian art: from prehistoric times to the present. London: Oxford University Press. p. 2936–2939.Google Scholar
Egami, N, Masuda, S, Gotoh, T. 1977. Tal-i Jarri A: a preliminary report of the excavations in MarvDasht 1961 and 1971. Orient 8:1–14.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Flannery, KV. 1965. The ecology of early food production in Mesopotamia. Science 147:1247–1256.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Fukai, S, Horiuchi, K, Matsutani, T. 1973. Marv Dasht III: Excavations at Tall-I-Mushki 1965 (Tokyo University Iraq-Iran Archaeological Expedition Reports 14). Tokyo: Institute of Oriental Culture of the University of Tokyo.Google Scholar
Ghasidian, E, Azadi, A, Pollock, S. 2010. Chipped stone artefacts. In: Pollock, S, Bernbeck, R, Abdi, K, editors. The 2003 excavations at Tol-e Baši Iran: social life in a Neolithic village (Archäologie in Iran und Turan Band 10). Berlin: Deutsches Archäologisches Institute. p. 163–174.Google Scholar
Hole, F. 1987. Chronologies in the Iranian Neolithic. In: Aurénche, O, Evan, J, Hours, F, editors. Chronologies in the Near East: relative chronologies and absolute chronology 16.000–4.000 B.P. C.N.R.S International symposium Lyon (France) 24–28 November 1986. Oxford: BAR International Series 379. p. 358–379.Google Scholar
Hole, F, Flannery, KV. 1962. Excavations at Ali Kosh Iran 1961. Iranica Antiqua 2:97–154.Google Scholar
Hole, F. 1984. A reassessment of the Neolithic revolution Paléorient 10/2:49–60.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hole, F. 2000. New Radiocarbon Dates for Ali Kosh Iran Neo-lithics 1/00:13.Google Scholar
Hole, F, Flannery, KV, Neely, JA. 1969. Prehistory and human ecology on the Deh Luran plain, memoirs of the Museum of Anthropology. No. 1. Ann Arbor (MI): The University of Michigan Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hori, A. 1988–1989. Chipped stone artifacts from Tape Djari B. Iran Bulletin of the Ancient Oriental Museum 10:21–46.Google Scholar
Housley, RA. 1994. Eastern Mediterranean chronologies: The Oxford AMS contribution Radiocarbon 36:55–73.Google Scholar
Huysecom, E, Rasse, M, Lespez, L, Neumann, K, Fahmy, A, Ballouche, A, Ozainne, S, Maggetti, M, Tribolo, C, Soriano, S. 2009. The emergence of pottery in Africa during the tenth millennium cal BC: new evidence from Ounjougou (Mali) Antiquity 83:905–917.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Javari, M, Abdi, K, Bernbck, R. 2010. Small finds in the 2003 excavations at Tol-e Baši Iran: social life in a Neolithic village. In: Pollock S, Bernbeck R, Abdi K. (Archäologie in Iran und Turan Band 10). Berlin Deutsches Archäologisches Institute. p. 191–203.Google Scholar
Jesse, F. 2003. Early ceramics in the Sahara and the Nile valley in cultural markers in the later prehistory of northeastern Africa and recent research. In: Krzyzaniak L, Kobusiewicz M, editors. Poznań: Archaeological Museum Poznań. p. 35–50.Google Scholar
Khanipour, M. 2016. Description report of the first season excavation Hormangan site [unpublished report]. Archive of the Cultural Heritage Organization of Tehran Province. In Persian.Google Scholar
Khanipour, M. 2015. Description report of the first season archaeological survey at Central and Mazaijan district Bananat [unpublished report]. Archive of the Cultural Heritage Organization of Tehran Province. In Persian.Google Scholar
Khanipour, M. 2019. Description report of the first season excavation. Tol-e Sngi ICAR archive. In Persian.Google Scholar
Khanipour, M, Niknami, K. 2017. Sequence Chronology Evaluation of the Neolithic Period at Fars on the Basis of Hormangan Site Journal of Research on Archaeometry 3(2):15–29.Google Scholar
Langsdorff, A, McCown, DE. 1942. Tall-i-Bakun A: season of 1932 Oriental Institute Publications LIX. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Le Mière, M, Picon, M. 1998. Les débuts de lacéramique au Proche-Orient Paléorient 24(2):5–26.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Maeda, A. 1986. A study on the painted pottery from Tepe Djari B Bulletin of the Ancient Orient Museum 8:55–86.Google Scholar
Mashkour, M, Mohaseb, A, Debue, K. 2006. Towards a specialized subsistence economy in the Marvdasht Plain: preliminary zoo archaeological analysis of Mushki Jari B, Jari A, and Bakun A. In: Alizadeh, A, editor. The origins of state formations in prehistoric Highland Fars Southern Iran: Excavations at Tall-e Bakun (Oriental Institute Publications 128). Chicago: Oriental Institute. p. 101–106.Google Scholar
Matthews, R, Matthews, W, Mohammadifar, Y. 2013. The earliest Neolithic of Iran: 2008 Excavations at Tappeh Sheikh-e Abad and Tappeh Jani: Central Zagros Archaeological Project. Oxford: Oxbow Books.Google Scholar
McCorriston, J, Hole, F. 1991. The ecology of seasonal stress and the origins of agriculture in the Near East. American Anthropologist 93/1:46–69.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mortensen, P. 1991. The Neolithic period in central and western Persia In: Yarshater, IE, editor. Encyclopaedia Iranica. Vol. 5. Costa Mesa (CA): Mazda Publishers. p. 276–278.Google Scholar
Nishiaki, Y. 2010b. The development of architecture and pottery at the Neolithic settlement of Tall-i Jari B Marv Dasht, southwest Iran. AMIT 42:113–127.Google Scholar
Nishiaki, Y. 2003. Material Reports No 51. University Museum, University of Tokyo Catalogue of Archaeological Materials, Department of Archaeology of Western Asia. Part 6: Prehistoric Pottery from the Marv Dasht Plain, Iran. Tokyo.Google Scholar
Nishiaki, Y. 2010a. A radiocarbon chronology of the Neolithic settlement of Tall-i Mushki Marv Dasht plain Fars, Iran. Iran 48:1–10.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nishiaki, Y. 2013. A reappraisal of the Pottery Neolithic flaked stone assemblages of Tall-i Jari B the Fars Southwest Iran. In: Borrell, F, Ibáñez, J, Molist, M, editors. The Proceedings of the International Conference PPN7. Barcelona: University of Barcelona. p. xx.Google Scholar
Peters, J, Vonden Driesh, A, Helmer, D. 1999. Early animal husbandry in the Northern Levant Paleorient 25/2:24–48.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pollock, S. 2010a. Radiocarbon dates. In: Pollock, S, Bernbeck, R, Abdi, K, editors. The 2003 Excavations at Tol-e Baši Iran: social life in a Neolithic village (Archäologie in Iran und Turan Band 10). Berlin: Deutsches Archäologisches Institute. p. 262–264.Google Scholar
Pollock, S. 2010b. Miniature cylindrical objects. In: Pollock, S, Bernbeck, R, Abdi, K, editors. The 2003 Excavations at Tol-e Baši Iran: social life in a Neolithic village (Archäologie in Iran und Turan Band 10). Berlin: Deutsches Archäologisches Institute. p. 182–190.Google Scholar
Pollock, S, Bernbeck, R, Abdi, K. 2010. The 2003 Excavations at Tol-e Baši Iran: social life in a Neolithic village. Archäologie in Iran und Turan 10 Verlag Philipp von Zabern Mainz.Google Scholar
Potts, DT, Roustaei, K. 2006. The Mamasani Archaeological Project Stage One: a report on the first two seasons of the ICAR-University of Sydney Expedition to the Mamasani District, Fars Province, Iran. Tehran Iranian Centre for Archaeological Research.Google Scholar
Riehl, S, Zeidi, M, Conard, N. 2013. Emergence of agriculture in the foothills of the Zagros Mountains of Iran. Science 341:65–67.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Smith, PEL, Crépeau, R. 1983. Fabrication expérimentale de répliques d’un vase néolithique du site de Ganj Dareh. Iran: recherche technologique Paléorient 9(2):55–62.Google Scholar
Sumner, WM 1972. Cultural development in the Kur River Basin Iran, an archaeological analysis of settlement patterns [PhD dissertation]. University of Pennsylvania.Google Scholar
Sumner, WM. 1977. Early settlements in Fars province Iran. In: Levine LD, Young TC, editors. Mountains and lowlands: essays in the archaeology of greater Mesopotamia. Biblioteca Mesopotamica 7:291–305.Google Scholar
Sumner, WM. 1990. Full-coverage regional archaeological survey in the Near East: an example from Iran. In: Fish, SK, Kowalewski, SA, editors. The archaeology of regions: a case for full-coverage survey. Washington (DC): Smithsonian Institution Press. p. 87–115.Google Scholar
Tsuneki, A. 2017a. The significance of research on the emergence of pottery in West Asia. In: Tsuneki, A, Nieuwenhuyse, O, Campbell, S, editors. The emergence of pottery in West Asia. Oxford: Oxbow Books. p. 1–8.Google Scholar
Tsuneki, A. 2017b. The emergence of pottery in northeast Iran: the case study of Tappeh Sang-e Chakhmaq. In: Tsuneki, A, Nieuwenhuyse, O, Campbell, S, editors. The emergence of pottery in West Asia. Oxford: Oxbow Books. p. 119–132.Google Scholar
Vanden Berghe, L. 1951–52. Archaeologische opzoekingen in de Marv Dasht vlakte (Iran) Jaarbericht Ex Oriente Lux 12:211–220.Google Scholar
Vanden Berghe, L. 1953–54. Archaeologische navorsingen in de omstreken van Persepolis Jaarbericht Ex Oriente Lux 13:394–408.Google Scholar
Voigt, M, Dyson, RHJ. 1992. Chronology of Iran ca. 8000–2000 BC. In: Ehrich, RW, editor. Chronologies of Old World Archaeology I & II. Chicago: Chicago University Press. p. 122–178.Google Scholar
Weeks, L. 2013. The Neolithisation of Fars Iran. In: Matthews, R, Fazeli Nashli, H, editors. Neolithisation of Iran: the formation of new societies. Oxford: Oxbow Books p. 97–107.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Weeks, LR, Alizadeh, K, Niakan, L, Alamdari, K, Khosrowzadeh, A, McCall, B, Zeidi, M. 2006. The Neolithic settlement of Highland SW Iran: new evidence from the Mamasani district. Iran 44:1–32.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Zeder, MA, Hesse, B. 2000. The initial domestication of goats (Capra hircus) in the Zagros Mountains 10000 years ago. Science 287:2254–2257.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Zeder, MA. 2006. A critical assessment of markers of initial domestication in goats (Capra Hircus) in documenting domestication new genetic and archaeological paradigms. In: Zeder MA, Bradley DG, Emshwiller E, Smith BD, editors. Berkeley: University of California Press. p. 181–208.Google Scholar
Zeder, MA. 2008. Animal domestication in the Zagros: an update and directions for future research. In: Vila, E, Goucherin, L, Choyke, A, Buitenhius, H, editors. Archaezoology of the Near East. Volume VIII. Lyon: Travaux de la Maison de l'Orient et de la Méditerranée (TMO). p. 243–278.Google Scholar
Zeder, MA. 2009. The Neolithic macro-(r)evolution: Macroevolutionary theory and the study of culture change Journal of Archaeological Research 17:1–63.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Zeder, MA. 2010. Evolutionary biology and the emergence of agriculture: The value of co-opted models of evolution in the study of culture change. In: Prentiss et al., editors. Macro evolution in human prehistory. New York. p. 157–210.Google Scholar