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University Microfilms International 300 N ZEEB ROAD, ANN ARBOR, Ml 48106 18 BEDFORD ROW, LONDON WC1R 4EJ, ENGLAND / 791734*
MIRAGLIUOLC, JUEITH THOMPSON NON-URBAN SITES AND MOBILE SETTLEMENT PATTERNS: A SURVEY OF AN UNKNOWN CORNER BALUCHISTAN.
THE AMERICAN UNIVERSITY* PH.D., 1979
University Microfilms International 300 N. ZEEB ROAD, ANN ARBOR, MI ABIO6
© 1979
JUDITH THOMPSON MIRAGLIUOLO
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University Microfilms International NON-URBAN SITES AND MOBILE SETTLEMENT PATTERNS:
A SURVEY OF AN UNKNOWN CORNER OF BALUCHISTAN
by
Judith Thompson Miragliuolo
Submitted to the
Faculty of the College of Arts and Sciences
of The American University
in Partial Fulfillment of
the Requirements for the Degree
of
Doctor of Philosophy
in
Anthropology
Signatures of Committee:
Chairman: UA«*^ LA)- i^'- l>'-'4//l viv
Dean of the College
Dale"/ ' ^~r
1979
The American University Washington, D.C. 20016
THE AMERICAN UNIVERSITY LIBRAEY ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
While the responsibility for any inconsistencies in analysis or errors in interpretation in this dissertation is mine alone, the assis tance of many others in earlier stages of the research in Iran should be acknowledged. Foremost among these are three sources of funding which made the whole project possible: The National Science Foundation (Dis sertation Improvement Grant #75-00173), the American Association of
University Women (Fellowship), The American University (Dissertation
Fellowship).
The crew which accompanied me into the field consisted of my former husband, Joel R. Marucheck; John W. Graham, M.A. in anthropology,
University of Missouri; and Mohammed Movvadet, representative of the
Iranian Center for Archeological Research, who was with us for the first half of the season. Mr. Graham was especially invaluable as an experi enced field archeologist and professional surveyor.
Fieldwork in Iran was conducted under the auspices of the Iran ian Center for Archeological Research. Thanks is extended to the Di rector of the Center, Dr. Firouz Bagherzadeh, whose assistance and en couragement of this work was appreciated. The Provincial Director of the Ministry of Culture in Zahedan, Hanom L. Behnam, rendered both as sistance and hospitality. Captain Sahmshirzan of the Baluchistan Gen darmerie took an interest in the research, as did Ali Foroughi of the
Education Department in Khash, and the companionship and assistance of
ii both is greatly appreciated. Numerous informants of the Shah Nawazi
Baluch provided data without which much of this research could not have been completed.
In Tehran, logistical and administrative support was received from the American Institute of Iranian Studies; many thanks are extended to Directors David and Orrick Peterson, Colin MacKinnon, and Hassan
Sepheri. For housing in Tehran and moral support throughout the re search, Dr. Brian Spooner and Mary Martin are due thanks. Library facilities and assistance were given me by the British Institute for
Persian Studies and the German Archeological Institute, both in Tehran.
The U.S. Peace Corps supported my project in the form of housing in Khash and the loan of a Dietzgen transit. Assistance with supplies in the field and repairs to the Land Rover were given by the Page Cor poration and Iransauti Company in Baluchistan. Plate 7 in this disser tation was furnished by Mark Howland of the McGill University Anthropo logical Expedition to Sangan. Geom. Domenico Stassi assisted me with
Map 12.
During fieldwork in Baluchistan and my residence in Tehran, valuable advice was received from many individuals who took an interest in my work and allowed me to tap their experience in informal discussions of my material. Among these I would like to thank Dr. Henry Wright,
Dr. Brian Spooner, Dr. Philip Salzman, Mansour Sajjadi, Dr. Maurizio
Tosi, Dr. John Speth, and Dr. Chris Hamlin. For hospitality extended during my visits in the field, additional thanks are given to Dr. Mau rizio Tosi and Dr. George Dales.
The final manuscript benefited from the several valuable sug gestions of my committee members, Dr. Charles McNett, Dr. Brian Hesse,
iii and Dr. John J. Bodine. Dr. Bodine was most helpful in his long-distance assistance with administrative matters. Much of my inspiration and en thusiasm for this research is due to Dr. Gary W. Hume, my advisor for many years.
Last, but by no means least, I thank my husband, Luigi Miragli- uolo, for his constant encouragement in the completion of the disserta tion.
iv TABLE OF CONTENTS
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ii
LIST OF TABLES viii
LIST OF FIGURES ix
LIST OF MAPS xi
LIST OF PLATES xii
SECTION ONE THE SETTING
Chapter I. INTRODUCTION 1
Objectives 1 Choice of Area 5 The Archeological Background 6 Field Operations 10 Organization of the Dissertation 14
II. THE ECOSETTING 15
Northern Baluchistan: The Sarhad Plateau 16 Geology and Topography 16 Hydrology 18 Soils 19 Climate 21 Vegetation 23 Fauna 26 Mineral Resources 27 Past Environments 28 The Human Factor 29 Agriculture 30
SECTION TWO ARTIFACTS AND CHRONOLOGY
III. CERAMIC ARTIFACTS 34
Analysis 34 Analytical Categories 36 The Types 39 Minor Types 69
v LITHIC ANALYSIS AND SMALL FINDS 80
The Khash Collection ...... 80 Non-Flaked Stone 85 Small Finds 89
CHRONOLOGY 92
Analytical Problems 92 Prehistoric Pottery 95 Late Prehistoric and Early Historic Pottery 106 Islamic Pottery 110 A Hypothesized Ceramic Sequence 117 Lithic Correspondences 119
SECTION THREE SYNTHESIS AND INTERPRETATION
RESEARCH DESIGN 124
Surface Surveys 124 Site Pattern Recognition 126 Ethnoarcheology 129
SITE DISTRIBUTIONS AND SETTLEMENT SUBSYSTEM 131
Units of Analysis 131 Locational Analysis . 132 Estimating Past Conditions 134 Estimating Density of Settlement 137 Roles within a Settlement System 138 Site Size 145 Locational Variables 145 The Settlement System of the Khash Survey Area: A Model . 151 Sites of the Survey Area 155 Sub-Areal Distribution of Sites 158 Temporal Distribution of Sites 166 Summary of the Settlement Pattern of the Khash Area . . . 172
PAST0' Pastoral Nomadism 184 Ethnoarcheological Investigations 186 Culture History of the Sarhad 188 The Baluch: An Ethnographic Sketch 192 Archeological Evidence for Pastoral Nomadism 212 Conclusion 250 vi IX. CONCLUSIONS AND A PROCESSUAL INTERPRETATION 262 Chronology 266 The Socio-Cultural Milieu 267 The Sarhad Plateau 273 The Khash Model 279 Conclusion 287 APPENDIX A. THE KHASH SPRING SITE 290 The Eastern Slope 290 Collection Procedure 292 Architectural Remains 292 Artifacts 294 APPENDIX B. THE SITES 301 Special Function Sites 302 Permanent and Semi-Permanent Village Sites .... 305 Seasonal Campsites 313 Temporary Campsites and Transient Stations .... 317 REFERENCES CITED 322 vii LIST OF TABLES Artifact Associations 118 Suggested Time Ranges of Khash Valley Ceramic Types 120 Distribution by Period of Sites with Flaked Stone and Those with Only Groundstone and/or Modified Tuff 122 Types of Sites by Ecozones 167 Types of Sites by Chronological Period 173 Chronological Period by Ecozone 174 Baluch Nomadic Patterns 255 Seasonal Connotations of Archeological Sites Found in the Khash Area (Suggested) 257 Total Artifacts Collected from Each Square of Grid 295 Tabulation of Pottery Types Present at Khash Spring 299 viii LIST OF FIGURES 1. Painted Compact Paste Ware from Rows A and B at Khash Spring . 51 2. Painted Compact Paste Ware from the Lower Grid at Khash Spring 51 3. Black Painted Coarse Ware from the Surfaces of Cairns at Site 22-20 53 4. Monochrome Glazed Ware 55 5. Underglaze Painted Ware 56 6. Painted Gray Ware 61 7. Painted Gray Ware from Khash Spring 61 8. Red Painted Coarse Ware 63 9. Painted Baluch Ware 65 10. Red Painted Fine Ware from Khash Spring 68 11. Incised Buff Ware 70 12. Incised Red Ware 73 13. Punctated Ledge Ware 77 14. Slash-Incised Neck Ware 78 15. Flaked Stone Artifacts 82 16. Lithic Artifacts from Site 10-1 (Tugar) 83 17. Blades 84 18. Modified Tuff 88 19. Design Motif Correlations 99 20. Cross-Section of the Survey Area 156 21. Site 40-1 (Sitharo Spring) 206 22. Baluch Tent Interiors 210 ix 23. Circular Stone Structure Remains 229 24. Tent Pattern Remains at Site 33-12 245 25. Portion of Site 32-3 247 26. A Hypothesized Cultural Sequence for the Khash Area 275 x LIST OF MAPS 1. The Iranian Plateau with Survey Area and Major Prehistoric Sites Indicated 9 2. Ecozones of the Khash Area 31 3. Survey Area Grid 130 4. Khash Area 160 5. Sangan Area: Sites of Taftan Upland Watered Valleys 163 6. Shori Area: Sites of the Taftan Upland Slopes 164 7. Site 33-12 (Shandala Locality 4) 205 8. Vadiabad Camp 207 9. Site 25-4 (Earthwork Camp) 243 10. Dahnag 244 11. Site 25-1 (Shori) 246 12. Khash Spring 293 13. Tudi Gorge 303 14. Sites 33-13 and 33-14 303 15. Tugar 312 16. Paniki Sites 320 xi LIST OF PLATES Cup Found on the Surface of a Burial Cairn at Site 22-20 (Nosratabad) 42 Basket Impressed Ware from Khash Spring and Nearby Sites . . 47 Corrugated Ware from Khash Spring and Nearby Sites 71 Stamp Impressed Ware from Khash Spring and Nearby Sites . . 74 Tents of a Summer Camp Are Set in a Linear Pattern near the Base of Takhte Rostrom Close to a Well 197 Semi-Permanent Village of Kor Koh with Mortarless Stone Wall Extending into Dry Stream Bed in Foreground 200 Baluch Woman Weaving a Goat Hair Bag on a Horizontal Loom . 200 Bedding Piled on a Stone Platform inside a Baluch Tent . . . 201 Site 43-2 201 Tent Enclosure Areas at Site 25-4 (Earthwork Camp) 222 Rectangular Tent Outline at Site 35-1 222 Rectangular Stone-Lined Structure at Site 24-1 (Taftan) . . 226 Line of Boulders at Site 32-5 (Dahnag) 226 Circular Feature at Site 22-1 (Haidar Camp), cleared of Gravel and Lined with Stones . 232 Stone-Outlined Circle at Site 22-1 (Haidar Camp) 232 Disturbed Stone-Bordered Circle at Site 22-1 (Haidar Camp) . 233 Stone Circle at Site 24-1 (Taftan) 233 Gravel-Cleared Circular Area at Site 22-1 (Haidar Camp) . . 234 Stone-Outlined Semi-Circle in the Shadow of Boulder X at Site 22-3 (Haidar) 234 Large Stone Circle in Tudi Gorge (Site 35-9) 235 xii Small Double Circles of Stone at Site 32-5 (Dahnag) 235 Small Circular Structure of Unmortared Stone on Ridge above Khash Spring 236 Small Collapsed Circular Structure at Site 35-1 (Kor Koh) . . 236 Unmortared Stone Circular Structure inside a Larger Stone Circle at Rostrom Tower (Site 23-1) 237 Ruins of a Circular Tower at Site 40-3 (Sitharo Tower), probably of Early Baluch Origin 238 Rock Shelter in Tudi Gorge with an Unmortared Stone Wall . . 239 Hearth at Site 25-3 (Shori Locality 3) 239 Two Stone-Lined Desert Mosques at Site 31-5 (Paniki) .... 240 Desert Mosque in Campsite at Site 33-12 241 Unfinished Desert Mosque at Site 33-10 (Shah Nawazi) .... 242 Khash Spring at the North End of Kuh-i Panj Angosht 291 Mud and Stone House at Khash Spring Which is Falling into Ruin 296 Square Feature in the Grided Area at Khash Spring Which May Be the Remains of a Structure Like That Pictured in Plate 32 296 Stone-Outlined Circle on a Terraced Portion of the Grid at Khash Spring 297 The Head of Tudi Gorge with Taftan Volcano in the Background 297 Pamazar Tepe with a Later Islamic Shrine at Its South End . . 306 Site 43-3 with Collapsed Mud Brick Structures and Qanats Visible 308 A Dry Stream Channel Which Cuts through the Talus Fan at Site 32-5 (Dahnag) 315 xiii SECTION ONE THE SETTING CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION This paper is a report of an archeological survey conducted by the author on the Sarhad Plateau of Iranian Baluchistan in 1975. The following chapters present the objectives of the research program, the data collected during the survey, the results of analyses of these data, and the interpretations of the data based on these analyses. While it is hoped that in the following pages salient information collected dur ing the field program is not camouflaged by unnecessary detail, as much of the original data as is practicable is included here in order that the reader might be equipped to draw his own conclusions either in sup port of, or in contradiction to, those presented in this paper. The research discussed here resulted from interests developed by the author during graduate study under Dr. Gary Hume, who had conducted a survey of Paleolithic sites in Iranian Baluchistan. These interests, in an area which was literally virgin territory archeologically, were complemented by an earlier undergraduate interest in pastoral nomadism. The 1975 survey was undertaken primarily to determine the viability of an archeological investigation of pastoral nomadism. Objectives The primary objective of the research is more fully explained in Chapter VIII but may be briefly defined here as an attempt to test 2 3 diachronically a model of pastoral nomadic subsistence based on settle ment and material culture patterns which have an archeological visi bility. By archeological visibility is meant the degree to which pas toral nomadic artifacts and features of campsites remain particularly identifiable after the abandonment of a site and the disappearance of perishable elements of the material culture. By a diachronic examina tion is meant determination of the time span during which identifiable pastoral nomadism was practiced within the survey area. A second objective was an analysis of locational criteria em ployed in site location which could contribute toward a reconstruction of settlement systems. This objective is the subject of Chapter VII. During the research, these criteria were also employed to aid in the identification of pastoral nomadic sites based on locational criteria employed by modern Baluch nomads. The third major objective was to correct what the investigator viewed as a major failing of previous research in Iran and the Indo- Iranian Borderlands: the preoccupation with large urban sites to the virtual exclusion of small non-urban sites, particularly on surface surveys. The research reported here focused specifically on such small non-urban surface scatters which have been habitually and deliberately ignored by most archeological field programs. Traditional archeologists have viewed these sites as contributing little or nothing in the way of valuable data to the stated aims of those programs which were most often concerned with the amplification of distribution studies of ceramic types and the problems of the rise of urbanism and the spread of trade networks between major centers. Too often relegated to secondary 4 importance was the reconstruction of the entire cultural and subsistence patterns in a limited area, for which an examination of small non-urban sites is an absolute necessity. A fourth objective, and one easier to implement, was to fill in a large blank on the archeological map of Iran and the Borderlands by reporting on the cultural and temporal range of sites in an area which has been hitherto completely unknown archeologically. An integral part of such an objective is the need to place this new archeological data in a larger perspective by relating the area to other, better-known archeo logical sites elsewhere. In this study an attempt is made to place the Sarhad Plateau in its proper archeological relationship to other regions of the Iranian Plateau and the Indo-Iranian Borderlands such as the Makran, Sistan, and Pakistan. The fifth objective was one central to the project and a neces sary prerequisite to the other objectives: the establishment of at least a tentative chronology for the survey area. Dating methods employed were, in all cases, relative rather than absolute; their results are discussed in Chapter V. The general, but paramount, aim of explaining culture processes was the sixth objective of this study. This involved reconstructions and interpretations of both the culture history and the settlement sys tems of the survey area. Another objective was to formulate hypotheses which could be tested in subsequent research and to provide the groundwork for future, more detailed surveys as well as excavations. This study attempts to isolate problems crucial to the archeology of the area, which could be 5 tested by excavation programs. A final objective, and one tangential to the rest of the research,rwas to provide data on Paleolithic habitation of the Khash area to supplement the only other archeological work under taken on the Sarhad Plateau. Choice of Area The selection of the geographic area for a surface survey was made with the above research objectives in mind. The area chosen, the Khash Plain and adjacent Taftan Uplands on the Sarhad Plateau of Baluchistan Province in southeast Iran, was suitable for several rea sons, all of which are related to those objectives: 1. The entire Sarhad Plateau is a blank on the archeological map so that any archeological data a survey could provide would be of value in illuminating the prehistory of this portion of Iran. While a survey here focusing on small non-urban sites could possible answer some of the specific questions asked with regard to the objective of deter mining the archeological visibility of the pastoral nomadic way of life, it would, at the same time, almost certainly provide data of a more general and more traditional nature. 2. The survey area, as demarcated after arrival in the field, consisted of several different ecotypes. The area included several vegetational, hydrological, and topographical zones, thus ensuring an archeological sample in which the role of ecological factors on settle ment location and site types could be studied. 6 3. The area selected for the survey has the very important advantage of having also been the focus of an ethnographic study of the Yarmohammodzai Baluch in 1968 by Philip Salzman (1972a). This laid a firm foundation for the ethnoarcheological portion of this research design. 4. The survey area encompasses the Khash Valley, which is located on what must have been a natural route for contact between Sistan and the Jaz Murian Basin throughout much of the prehistory and history of the regions. In the fourth and third millennia B.C. , com munication between the Chalcolithic centers Shahr-i Sokhta and the sites in the Bampur Valley may have filtered through the Khash area, creating the possibility that material related to these sites could be found there. 5. Most important from a logistical perspective was the fact that the survey could be conducted from a base in the town of Khash, where lodging and other facilities would be available. The Archeological Background Southeast Iran, although geographically intermediate between the Mesopotamian and Indus centers of early civilization, has received rela tively little archeological attention. The first survey of Iranian Baluchistan, with selected test excavations, was conducted by Sir Aurel 7 Stein in the early 1930s. Before Stein, a sparse assortment of British military officers, geographers, and gentlemen explorers of varied Euro pean backgrounds had journeyed through Baluchistan and adjacent regions, providing the only descriptions of this zone available to Western scholars. When reports were made and published of these journeys, they were sometimes mere travelogues with an occasional mention of "ancient ruins" in the desert. A few, however, made careful observations of geo graphic conditions and ancient finds which laid the foundation for the present archeology in the area. Among these contributors to our knowl edge of Iranian Baluchistan are: Sir Frederick Goldsmid on the 1870-72 Boundary Settlement Mission; Major P. Sykes in 1897-1901; Sir Henry MacMahon on the 1903-1905 Boundary Settlement Mission; Ellsworth Huntington (who studied the Jaz Murian Basin) in 1903-1904; R. E. H. Dyer in 1920; and C. P. Skrine in 1930. The latter two visited the Sarhad Plateau and provided vivid geographic, economic, and social descriptions of the Khash Plain and the Taftan Uplands. Although Sir Marc Aurel Stein never reached the Sarhad Plateau, he did visit the Bampur Valley, where he personally investigated at least 11 prehistoric settlements. His reports of his finds until re cently provided the only archeological knowledge of the province. The ceramics he found in the Bampur Valley confirmed that this area was in habited in later prehistoric times by a people who shared some general culture traits with those of the better-known areas of Iran to the west. In 1966, Bampur was excavated again by the British archeologist Beatrice deCardi, who expanded our knowledge of this area. Aside from a study of grave goods from Damin by Maurizio Tosi in 1970 and brief surveys of the 8 Makran coast near the Pakistan border, no other systematic archeological work has been conducted in Iranian Baluchistan except for a survey for Paleolithic sites in 1966-67. This Paleolithic survey was conducted by Gary W. Hume for his dissertation research at the University of Minnesota and was the only archeological program prior to my own to touch on the Sarhad Plateau. Hume recorded Paleolithic sites from the Ladiz Valley north of the Taf tan Massif to the Mashkel Valley in the south. Within the Khash Survey Area of my 1975 program, Hume briefly visited three sites which I, in turn, examined nine years later: Khash Spring No. 1, the major site of the Khash Area; Khash Spring No. 2; and Khash Spring No. 3, all at the base of Kuh-i Panj Angosht. Although Hume did not examine the slope to the east of the spring at Khash Spring No. 1, where I located my grid and where the densest concentration of artifacts was found, he collected from the spring area below 487 potsherds, of which 54 were decorated (Marucheck 1972:29), and 40 stone artifacts, including chert microblades and limestone flakes. At Khash Spring No. 2, he collected a single coarse-textured sherd; and at Khash Spring No. 3, he collected seven gray, coarse-textured sherds. As a consequence of this lack of research on the Sarhad Plateau and, indeed, in all of Iranian Baluchistan with the exception of the Bampur drainage and the Makran coast, one must look to other areas for excavated sites where artifacts are found in a stratified context. The only sources of comparative data for the Khash Survey Area lie off the Sarhad Plateau, the closest being the sites in the Bampur River Valley some 200 km south. Other major sites to which reference is made in the Map 1. The Iranian Plateau with Survey Area and major prehistoric sites indicated. 10 following pages are Tal-i Iblis and Tepe Yahya in Kerman Province and Shahr-i Sokhta in Sistan. Comparable material is also drawn from sites in Afghani Sistan, Kandahar, the Quetta and Zhob Valleys of Pakistani Baluchistan, and the Kej Valley of Pakistani Makran. Only within the framework provided by data from these sites can those of the Sarhad Plateau be viewed with the proper perspective. Field Operations Because the Khash area contained no excavated sites and no pub lished systematic archeological evidence existed for the area, the 1975 survey was necessarily of a reconnaissance nature. It was felt that a more intensive survey, designed to locate all sites, could only be profitable in an area where excavations have outlined a cultural se quence and specific questions can be answered by a survey. A reconnaissance survey was indicated also by the facts that there would be only one field season and that the field crew varied from four persons to, on a few occasions, the author alone; and, in order to sample the different ecozones of the survey area and to investigate a large number of small seasonally-occupied sites, it was impossible to concentrate fully on only a small portion of the survey area. The crew, with the addition of an Iranian representative from the Iranian Center for Archeological Research, arrived in Baluchistan in late April and established the survey headquarters in Khash, 200 km south of the provincial capital of Zahedan. In addition to the survey for archeological sites, the first month was also spent in acquiring ethnoarcheological data by visiting Baluch camps and questioning infor mants. 11 The areas chosen for investigation by the Site Pattern Recogni tion method and stratified sampling techniques discussed in Chapter VI were reached by Land Rover where possible and were then traversed on foot with the crew spread out in order to discover the smallest and most difficult-to-spot sites, even those with only a handful of sherds. After a short time in the field, the crew became more adept at recogniz ing the remains of seasonal campsites, and progress became more rapid as the field season advanced. The spotting of small surface scatters was facilitated by the arid climate and the hard rocky ground, which to gether ensured that artifacts remain on the surface and quite often in an undisturbed state. This was as true of Paleolithic sites as it was of more recently abandoned campsites. Because of the unstratified and undisturbed nature of many of these sites, it is hoped that the collec tions made—where not total—represent a reliable sample of the whole site assemblage. As Judge (1973:57) noted, there is no way of assessing the reliability of a sample in the absence of actual excavation of the site: "It is simply an assumption which is inherent in a survey which derives data from surface collections." Because of the variety of sites investigated in the field, several different methods of collecting the site were employed. A few larger sites with late Islamic ceramics, which were encountered late in the survey, were collected randomly just to obtain enough artifacts for identification. Wherever possible, however, a complete pickup of arti facts was attempted in order to eliminate the biases inherent in random sampling. This is particularly true of areas such as the Sarhad Plateau, where no ceramic sequence or studies of any kind have been made. 12 In cases where the site consisted of a small surface scatter, a total pickup technique without controls was possible. To obtain a total collection of larger sites, six different sets of controls were used. One consisted of dividing the site into areas which were clearly marked and then collected separately with artifacts bagged according to collec tion area. A second method was followed when facilitated by site topo graphy: the crew fanned out in one meter intervals and paced the entire site while maintaining their alignment. A third method involved shoot ing in a grid (7 or 15 meter squares depending on artifact density) by surveyor's transit and bagging artifacts of each grid square separately. For many sites, particularly those with Paleolithic or later prehistoric artifacts, the location of each artifact was shot in by surveyor's tran sit and marked on the contour map. At two sites which were too large for complete pickup techniques (sites 43-2, Shagbond; and 43-4, Kamal), perpendicular one-meter wide north-south and east-west transects were shot in by transit and collected, with artifacts bagged at every one meter interval. Systematic controlled collections on a reconnaissance survey such as this one are not as important as in an intensive survey because their most valuable function is to provide information for subsequent excavation. However, controlled collections can help pinpoint activity areas and can help future investigators decide which sites to excavate. In September 1975, the artifacts were packed into six large wooden crates and sealed in the presence of representatives of the Ministry of Culture, the gendarmerie, the Zahedan police, and the Province's Director of Customs before being shipped to the Mus£e Iran 13 Bastan in Tehran. In October and the following six months, the author was allowed access to this material in Tehran in order to complete the artifact analyses of 100% of the collection and to preclude shipping any of the material out of the country. Resident in Tehran until May 1976, the author finished labeling the ceramics and completed analyses of both the ceramic and lithic collections. In November and December 1975, the author visited the sites of Shahr-i Sokhta and Dahan-i Ghulaman in Sistan at the invitation of Shahr-i Sokhta excavator, Dr. Maurizio Tosi, before the end of the ex cavation season there. In February 1976, a visit was made to Tal-i Bakun near Shiraz; and in the summer of 1976, one was made to the site of Bampur south of the survey area. In October 1976, the author joined the excavation crew of Balakot in Pakistan under the direction of Dr. George Dales. From all of these visits, information was obtained for a comparative analysis of the Khash material. On return trips to Washington, D.C., in March and October 1977, the ceramic and locational data were compiled, coded, sorted, and sub jected to various statistical tests at The American University computer center. The results of these tests are incorporated into some of the following chapters. The author left Iran in February 1977. Interpretations of the analyses which had been completed there, as well as the text and illus trations of tuis paper, were completed during residence in the Philip pines and Peru. 14 Organization of the Dissertation This introduction is followed by a chapter on the ecosetting, which describes briefly the vegetation, topography, hydrology, geology, and climate of the Sarhad Plateau. Section Two discusses the artifacts collected in the field and their chronological implications. Chapter III, Ceramic Artifacts, and Chapter IV, Lithic Artifacts and Small Finds, describe the entire arti fact assemblage by selected attributes and are followed by a chapter entitled Chronology, in which data obtained from these artifact analy ses are employed to suggest the first chronological sequence for the Sarhad Plateau. Section Three deals with the research design, the interpreta tions of the data, and the conclusions drawn from the analyses. Chapter VII discusses the distribution of seasonal campsites and the sequence of settlement systems in the Khash area, emphasizing changes in the occupation patterns of the area by chronological period. The ethnoarcheological contributions to the paper lead to conclusions of the archeological visibility of pastoral nomadism in Chapter VIII, while the final chapter presents the conclusions reached through the cumulative processes of description, analysis, and processual interpretation. Ap pended to the dissertation are two sections presenting the site data in > the form of a site gazetteer which describes the setting, the features, and the artifact assemblages of each of the 106 sites found on the sur vey and suggests a time period to which each can be assigned. The site of Khash Spring, the major site of the survey and a standard for the other sites, is treated separately. CHAPTER II THE ECOSETTING The Central Plateau of Iran is one vast elevated basin rimmed by mountain ranges and composed of numerous smaller secondary basins. Most of this larger Tertiary basin is over 1,300 meters above sea level and separated from the Mesopotamian lowlands by the Zagros Range, from Cen tral Asia by the high Elburz Range and cold steppes, from the Persian Gulf area by the Makran Range, and from the Indus lowlands by vast des erts and the Mashkid Range. Being a sheltered basin, the plateau re ceives very little moisture from rain-bearing clouds which lose their burdens before passing over the mountain rim. Annual rainfall on the Plateau is, therefore, quite low, ranging from 150 to 50 mm, its tempera tures are extreme, and in the central interior are empty deserts which extend into Afghanistan and Pakistan on the east. These Dasht-i Lut and Dasht-i Kavir depressions are among the most arid in the world. Most human occupation, both past and present, has been concen trated on the relatively fertile strip bordering these desert depres sions at the foot of the high mountains, where water runoff sustains a high water table. Drainage on the Plateau is to the interior with all courses disappearing into playas or hamuns. As a consequence, most of the surface of the Plateau consists of hard salt crusts, stony wastes, sand dunes, and alluvial fans. The southeastern part of the Plateau consists of the province of Baluchistan, which has several habitable portions, one of which is the elevated Sarhad Plateau. 15 16 Northern Baluchistan: The Sarhad Plateau Northern Baluchistan is located on an upland border region be tween the Central Plateau and the Makran coastal range. In a wider use of the term, Baluchistan proper refers to the zone transitional between the Central Iranian Plateau and the Indus lowlands, incorporating both southeastern Iran and western Pakistan. Most of this zone is composed of desert, with human occupation confined largely to narrow valleys with a sufficient ground-water supply for small-scale agriculture. Spooner (1964:55) divides Persian Baluchistan into five sub divisions: (1) Coastal plain, (2) the Makran Range, (3) the Jaz Murian Depression, (4) Saravan, and (5) the Sarhad Plateau. The last subdi vision, the Sarhad Plateau, is still within the Central Iranian Plateau and is characterized by immense barren plains with scattered sharp mountains; the water sources are almost entirely intermittent. It is composed of the Zahedan Plateau in the north and the Khash Basin or Plain in the south. Between the two is the Taftan volcanic massif with twin cones reaching a height of 4,030 meters. The 1975 survey was con fined solely to the south of this plateau, specifically to the Khash and Shah Nawazi Valleys (within the larger Khash Plain) and the lower eastern part of the Taftan Massif. Geology and Topography The geologic structure of the Sarhad may be described as Eocene Flysch with some Cretaceous sandstones, shales, reef limestones and some lavas and intrusives; in the Sarhad west and south of Zahidan, "granite and gabbro intrusives related to the Volcanic Belt have resulted in a 120 by 20 km area of mild metamorphism" (Hume 1976:31). The last uplift 17 of the vertically-inclined shale underlying most of northern Baluchistan occurred during the Pleistocene and resulted in the formation of valleys and basins characteristic today of that area. The Sarhad terminates some 13 km south of Khash on the rim of the eastern part of the Chah-i Ghaibi Depression. This low-lying basin is just north of the large Jaz Murian Depression, one of the major endoreic basins of Iran, which is fed by the Bampur-Karvandar drainage. The Sarhad Plateau, and especially the Khash Valley, is domi nated by the centrally-located Kuh-i Taftan (Fiery Mountain), an active volcano which can be seen for a great distance. Lava extends outward from the cones as a mantle capping pediment formations. Over extensive areas comprising the slopes and foot of the massif are found layers of hardened yellow and pink tuff with an abundance of pumices and lava lapilli "alternating with tongues of incohesive volcanic conglomerates with intercalations of trachytic lava streams" (Italconsult 1959:Vol. 3, 90). A few stratum springs are found between conglomerates and the tuffs or lava layers. This geologic structure is characteristic of the survey area from the Sangan Valley east of Taftan to the Khash-Kamalabad track, well to the south. Underlying the volcanic formations over this entire area are finely-scaled marl-clay schists with stoney intercalations, identical to those in the immediate neighborhood of the town of Khash (Italconsult 1959:Vol. 3, 91). The Khash Valley, where the 1975 survey was focused, is part of the larger Khash Plain, which extends west-southwest from Taftan to In the Bampur River Valley are located many prehistoric sites such as Bampur, Khurab, Chah-Hussaini, and Damin. On the northern rim of the Jaz Murian Depression, I found the prehistoric site 10-1, Tugar (p. 311). 18 Chah-i Ghaibi Basin with an average elevation between 1,340 and 1,450 meters. This plain is broken by a series of sharp, jagged mountain ridges which rise abruptly from the floor, generally running north- northwest to south-southeast and enclosing wide valleys and depressions. These ridges are formed of finely-laminated scaly clay shales with large intercalations and cappings of compact grayish limestone, often thick with nummulites (Italconsult 1959:Vol. 3, 88). The Khash Valley is one such valley, or elliptical basin, which for the purposes of the 1975 survey was defined as extending from the south apron of the Taftan Mas sif, contained on the west by Kuh-i Panj Angosht (a massive, non- volcanic mountain ridge rising to a height of 2,271 meters), and open on the south where a contiguous plain is marked by lower, scattered ridges. On the east, the Valley is contained by the 2,107 meter-high Kuh-i Dahnag; but the related Shah Nawazi Valley connects with the Khash Val ley north of this mountain; and the resulting plain, included in the sur vey area, extends east to the Morpish Range and north to the Taftan foothills. As are other Sarhad depressions, the Khash Valley is character ized by alluvial fans with coarse detritus, including large boulders grading into playas of impermeable silty sand accumulations at the cen ter of the valley. Hydrology Not a single perennial stream exists within the survey area. The landscape of the Sarhad is scarred by hundreds of intermittent or dry drainage channels, many of these representing remains of former braided streams from the last pluvial period. Alluvial fans along the 19 valley margins are formed by these irregular, often deeply-incised, channels; but runoff rapidly evaporates at the rate of 500 mm/month during the summer in the Khash Valley (Italconsult 1959:Vol. 3, 72). Most of the drainage in the Khash Valley is to the south as the valley itself has a low gradient to the southeast. These are largely dry, stony courses in which water flows only after rainfall or runoff of melting snow from Taftan in the spring. At other times, surface dis charge is slight to non-existant, and the channel beds are completely dry for most of the year. The runoff from Taftan, however, together with the permeability of the surrounding limestone strata and the ele vation at the foot of Taftan, is sufficiently dependable to make the Khash Valley one of the main agricultural areas in Baluchistan, with subterranean water down to a depth of 100 meters. This underground waterflow is low-gradient beneath the dry surface channels, rarely com- 2 ing to the surface except intermittently. In other places, this sub terranean water comes to the surface as sumps and springs, particularly at the foot of the mountains where the water table is high. On the valley floor where the depth of the water table is greater, water is obtained through wells sunk into the alluvium or is tapped by qanat systems. Soils The margins of the Khash Valley and neighboring Shah Nawazi Val ley consist of gravel slopes and talus fans which hold runoff water from 2 The deeply-incised Tudi gorge in the survey area is one such intermittently flowing stream, where water is sufficient to maintain a heavy concentration of water plants at the floor of the gorge. 20 the mountains. These fans are both alluvial and residual (products of weathering and deflation) with permeable gravel aprons often displaying scattered boulders. Toward the center of the valleys, however, a finer- grained, sandy silt has accumulated which, depending on its permeability and depth, can provide fertile soil for cultivation. The soils of the Sarhad, as in most of Iran, are lithosols pri marily, which are generally favorable for the development of natural rangelands. An alluvial-colluvial soil subject to steady erosion, lithosols consist of a very thin layer of topsoil over consolidated rock, especially limestone or gypsum, sometimes sandstone or shale (Dewan and Famouri 1964). Present in smaller areas of the Khash Valley are regoliths or residual stone desert plains, with concentrations of cherty limestone, and regosols, characterized by scattered areas of sand dunes without any profile development. The Sarhad lithosols may be classified as typical sierozems, of a shallow profile with little organic content. In some areas of the plateau, these are covered with desert pavement. In a patchy distribu tion throughout the valley are extreme saline soils with salt crusts, which are completely bare of vegetation. Often such areas are charac teristic of the several small playas found in the valley. Milder saline soils, because of their humidity retention, provide some of the best natural pastures. The hardrock mountain formations of the Khash Plain are less susceptible to erosion, as is demonstrated by the often very coarse detritus fans at their bases, and do not lend themselves to the forma tion of deep soil profiles. Nevertheless, these formations provide some protection to vegetation (Pabot 1967:20); flora is richer on hard 21 limestone than on other types of subsoil. On alluvial fans, where soils are more fine textured and strewn with a fine pebble cover, vegetation is generally meager, with a number of halophytic species and at times a halophytic ecotype of Artemisia herba alba (Zohary 1963:9). On the desert pavements (a calcareous soil of silt and clay covered with peb bles) , wind erosion often removes the finest particles; therefore, vege tation is made up of dwarf shrubs mainly of the Artemisia class. Climate The survey area falls into Pabot's Irano-Turanian mild-to-cold steppic zones, with all the concomitant flora and fauna. The Sarhad is an upland country, cooler and somewhat wetter than the surrounding lower-lying deserts. The Taftan Massif itself is a small, isolated al pine region (Skrine 1931:322) which is responsible for effecting the moderate climate of the Sarhad. Off the plateau to the west, south, and east are the hot, arid lowlands of the Chah-i Ghaibi, the Jaz Murian Depression, and the Mashkid Basin, where occupation is clustered in oases dependent on date palm cultivation. These hot areas of the qarmsir and the cooler areas of the Sarhad are separated by a visible boundary marked by the limits of date palm cultivation. The tree grows only as far north as the village of Gusht, 94 km south-southeast of Khash on the Khash-Saravan road and at Irandegon, approximately 80 km south of Khash. The wetness of the Sarhad Plateau is only relative; on the whole, it is part of the arid Iranian Desert zone. As in all arid regions, unpredictability is the chief characteristic of precipitation, which varies widely not only from area to area, but also from year to 22 year. Generally, over half of the annual precipitation occurs in winter and 25% in the spring (Hume 1976:130). Scattered light showers, however, occurred occasionally during the summer months of the 1975 survey, and one major thunderstorm caused flash floods in the area in mid-August. The years 1975 and 1976, when I was resident on the Sarhad, were both unusually wet years; a large capping of snow was visible on Kuh-i Taftan until late May 1976. The Sarhad, including Khash, lies within the 200 mm isohyet, well over the threshold required for the maintenance of con tinuous vegetation (100 mm, according to Zohary) but well below the 300 mm level necessary for dry farming. According to the 1959 Ital consult study, a five-year average rainfall for Khash was 140 mm; in 1975, there was a 256 mm rainfall. The temperature range is also characteristic of interior deserts with considerable fluctuation in temperature during a single 24-hour period and with annual extremes of temperature. Although warmer than the Kerman and Birjand regions, the Sarhad has temperatures consistently lower than those of immediately adjacent areas off the plateau. Accord ing to Italconsult figures (1962:10), Khash recorded January tempera tures ranging from 27°C to 48°C, and October temperatures generally within the 20°C isotherm. Mean daily temperatures for the year of 15°- 20°C are characteristic of the area. Hot summer temperatures are somewhat mitigated by strong winds, which may be affected by the summer "Wind of 120 Days" which blows out of Afghanistan to the northeast. The mean annual average for all winds on the Khash Plateau is 8 mph (12 km/hr [Italconsult 1962:10]). Con vection currents produce eddies, squalls, and dust funnels in the summer. 23 Vegetation Zohary (1963:19) has outlined five phytogeographical regions in Iran which do not necessarily coincide with climatic regions and which are probably characteristic of past arid conditions in Iran. The Irano- Turanian region covers most of Iran, including the Sarhad Plateau. The vegetative landscape of the zone is one of steppe or desert, according to moisture and salt content of the soil. Throughout most of this zone, vegetation is xerophytic, with Artemisia herba alba communities predomi nating in cool upland areas. The climax vegetation of the Irano- Turanian zone included open forests of pistachio and juniper trees, both of which were associated with Artemisia herba alba and species of Astra galus. Except for scattered remnants of pistachio stands, most of these forests have disappeared, particularly in areas occupied by pastoral nomads. Today the Sarhad Plateau, with the notable exception of the Taftan Massif, may be designated as Bobek's (1968) Artemisia steppe, which is concentrated at medium altitudes on stony plains and hilly landscapes within a precipitation range, of 100-250 mm (Hume 1976:150). On the Sarhad Plateau the cold variant of this steppe, with a January temperature mean below 5°C, encompasses the survey area. Characteristic vegetation includes Artemisia and non-halophilous Chenopodiaceae. Mea dow grass (Poa bulbosd) is common on non-eroded soils, while perennial grass (Aristida plumosa) and feather grass (Stipa) are found on sandy, granular soils. Spiny species of Acantholium and Aaanthophyllum as well as spiny and herbaceous species of Astragalus, thorny dwarf-shrubs, are common. On slightly saline soils, Chenopodiaceae include Anabasis articulata, Haloxylon (especially sp. salicornicvm, referred to as 24 "taroht" by the Baluch), and Salsola. Sand dune areas support Aristida plumosa and Pennisetum diohotomum, and in better-watered spots, tamarix {Tamarix striata) and acacia (Zizyphus spina-christi) trees are found. Where steppic grasslands have been severely depleted, perennial species have been replaced by annuals. Much of the Taftan Massif, on the other hand—apart from many small well-watered valleys—is characterized by Bobek's tragacanthic or astragaleta Steppe I, especially above 2,600 meters where precipitation reaches 300 mm. Within the survey area, however, it is more meaningful to speak of vegetation in terms of the micro-environments created by four cate gories of factors described by Pabot (1967:16) as: (1) climatic, in cluding precipitation, temperature averages and extremes, air humidity, and winds; (2) edaphic, including lithology, chemical, and physical nature of soils; (3) topographical, including altitude, exposure, and slope; (4) b'iotic, referring to the action of man and animals. Topo graphy, with its varied micro-relief, is often the major factor affect ing vegetation. On gravelly fan slopes, vegetation is sparse and con sists mainly of dwarf shrubs and xerophytic plants. The rocky upper slopes and ridges of mountains are usually bare of vegetation. On gentler hill slopes, Artemisia herba alba is often associated with Zygophyllum atriplicoides} while perennial grasses occur primarily on the southern slopes. At the base of hills and talus fans more shrubs are found, usually of the Artemisia-Pteropyvum community (Zohary 1963:8), with some elements of Astragalus and Amygdalus. Poorly-drained flatlands are characterized by halophytic species, well-drained ones by Artemisia steppes. Areas of hamads and sand dunes may often be plant- less. Below the 1,500-meter contour in Baluchistan, the qarmsir lowland 25 vegetative cover is significantly different from that of most of the Sarhad, being dominated by different steppe species and scattered with trees and large shrubs. Bobek (1968) describes in greater detail three azonal types of vegetation reflecting altitude and edaphic factors: sand brushwoods, riparian forests, and salt-marsh brushwoods. Sand brushwood vegetation is found where sandy areas have accumulated enough moistures for the maintenance of shrubs, low trees, and bunch grasses. Typical flora may include bunch grass, Aristida pennata; various xerophytic species which grow along irrigation channels; scented oleander reeds; the Euphrates poplar, Populus euphratioa; tamarix and Haloxylon ammondendron. Riparian or wadi forests colonize stream channels, whether water is on the surface or is subterranean. On the Khash Plain, these forests occurring along drainage channels are small stands of poplar, tamarix, and oleander. The salt-marsh brushwoods mark moderately saline areas along watercourses and between sand dunes. Here are found both xerophytic and halophytic species, including Tamarix maorocarpa, Haloxylon ammondendron, the fleshy-leafed Fagonia, and Zygophyllum (common around many sites). Many of the habitats described above for the Khash Plain are good grazing land for herds or flocks of caprids, particularly goats. Much of the Artemisia Steppe, including the rocky fan slopes, could be classified as a natural rangeland, with deeply-rooted perennial grasses as well as edible woody shrubs. Some areas taken over by the tragacan- thic species are unsuitable for grazing and browsing, but this very fact may indicate a reverse situation for the past; tragacanthic vegetation succeeds in an area which has been depleted by previous overgrazing, 26 where the passage of herds and flocks has compacted the soil so that it does not receive enough aereation for the development of fodder vegeta tion. Fauna Most of the indigenous faunal species of Baluchistan are similar to forms elsewhere on the Central Plateau, with some Indian faunal ele ments also represented. On the surrounding desert plateau, the gazelle is encountered; and the ibex inhabits some areas of the Sarhad. Common mammalian forms observed during the survey were a species of desert fox, sand rats, wild dogs, and gazelles. Heptofauna encountered during the survey sessions were large geckoes, indigenous to the area; numerous small lizards; an unidentified snake; and land tortoises. Two types of scorpions were common in the survey area; and the insect population, particularly the various large beetles of Khash (referred to by Dyer [1921]), were particularly—and unfortunately—noteworthy. Crows and hawks were observed often in the area, and at least one spring (Sitharo) was observed to support a large migratory bird community. Domestic animals in the Khash area are numerous and appear to be far more important economically than agricultural crops. By far the most predominant are caprids—with goats being more numerous than sheep. It is difficult to find a part of the landscape in the survey area which does net bear traces of recent grazing activity. Camels are the next most numerous domestic animals, being used for transportation and, less 3 often, for meat. During a foot survey of the floor of the narrow Tudi 3 Baluch informants denied this use of the camel; but evidence was found during the survey to dispute them, including the left mandible of a camel found on the edge of a recent hearth with striations made by a cutting tool to remove the tongue. 27 gorge at the foot of Taftan, a number of cattle were encountered in rock shelters. Some of these shelters were walled with stone. Mineral Resources The fact that much of Iran's wealth stems from her mineral re sources is just as true of the past as it is of the present. As has been argued on numerous occasions (see Lamberg-Karlovsky [1972a]), its mineral riches gave Iran importance as a source of valuable raw mate rial in a widespread prehistoric trade network. One of the most important of these riches was copper, which ap pears scattered in small deposits all around the rim of the Central Pla teau. The nearest sources to the survey area occur 60 km northwest of Khash, 50 km north-northeast of Nosratabad, and 50 km south of Khash (15 km north-northwest of the peak of Taftan). Italconsult investiga tors (Italconsult 1959:Vol. 4) noted metallurgical slag heaps at the latter location and the presence of lead and calcium in the copper. Other economically important minerals have been located not far from the survey area. Tosi (1969:368) speaks of "veritable quarries" of alabaster within sight of Shahr-i Sokhta; another source is within one day's walk east of Tepe Yahya (Beale 1976:136). Obsidian is reputed, t though not confirmed, to exist in the volcanic mountains of Baluchistan; chlorite or steatite was an export item of third millennium Tepe Yahya; carnelian has been found near one of the Helmand's extinct branches; turquoise is found in the mountains near Tal-i Iblis in Kerman; lapis lazuli comes from Afghanistan; and several species of shell, including 4 None was found during this survey. 28 fluted dentalium and mother of pearl, were transported north from the Persian Gulf. Past Environments A map by Butzer (1971) shows the Sarhad Plateau as an area of semi-desert and shrub during the last glacial period. According to re search by Hume (1976), the Sarhad had a mean annual temperature during the Wiirm and Riss maximums lower than the present. Winters were more severe, with frost into the present qarmsir areas; groundwater resources were consequently greater. More and larger springs existed in the area, including Khash Spring No. 3, where a fossil tufa cone formed by the spring travertine is evidence of a larger, more active spring in the past. Glacial vegetation was similar to that of today but more abundant with dry forests covering the slopes of the Sarhad. Fauna were con comitantly more abundant and varied, well capable of supporting Paleo lithic hunters and gatherers. During the interglacials, the Sarahad climatic pattern was that of greater aridity and somewhat warmer tem peratures. With the recess of the last pluvial period in Iran, Zohary (1963:17) postulates a renewed intensive speciation within many impor tant genera of xerophytic flora. Butzer (1971) believes that a markedly greater humidity and rainfall throughout the dry zone of Africa and western Asia occurred from the sixth millennium to the end of the third millennium B.C. Before 2000 B.C., he postulates that a severe desiccation occurred which lasted to the end of the last millen nium B.C., when climatic improvements began. Since that time only short-term variations have occurred; no evidence exists for climatic 29 deterioration in historic times, but wide abandonment of areas occurred due to human intervention. Stein's (1931) archeological surveys sug gested to him a significant decrease in precipitation in Baluchistan since prehistoric times. The same indications seem to be present at Tal-i Iblis in Kerman and in Sistan, where scores of abandoned prehis toric and later sites may be found in completely desolate areas. A strong possibility exists that the increased desiccation noted throughout so much of the region following the third millennium B.C. may be due entirely to human factors, such as overgrazing and clearing of forests, rather than to changes in climate. Supporting evidence for later prehistoric changes in climate is rare, and the question of climate vs. human intervention will probably remain a thorny one for some time to come. It may be assumed in closing, however, that the Sarhad Pla teau's climate has not undergone any significant changes at least since the first millennium B.C. The Human Factor Often overlooked as an important component of the total ecosys tem is the socio-cultural subsystem. The entire ecosystem may be viewed as a biotic food network consisting of a multitude of different niches. Because culture is man's means of adapting to the environment, he has greater possibilities both for variety within the niches and for chang ing those same niches. The subsistence activities of cultural groups since food production began with the domestication of plants and animals has resulted in alterations in the environment which, in turn, affect the ongoing process of human adaptations. 30 In the survey area, these subsistence activities are of two main types: agriculture and'pastoralism. The area is dotted with some two dozen villages and homesteads whose inhabitants engage in agricultural activities for at least part of the year. The rest of the area is ex ploited by Baluch practicing a form of pastoral nomadism, a subsistence pattern which is discussed in detail in Chapter VIII. With regard to the pastoral nomads' relationship with the environment, it may suffice to say at this point simply that due to the abuse of rangelands by an increasing population of domestic sheep and goats and the denudation of forests for i-uel, pastoral nomadic subsistence practices have, in ef fect, created their own environment. Agriculture Agriculture is currently practiced at many localities on the Khash Valley floor, primarily concentrated within a 8 km radius of the town of Khash and 30 km to the northeast near the Rud-i Gazu drainage. Other cultivated localities are scattered throughout the area where small springs or wells ensure a continuous water supply. Nowhere within the survey area was dry farming possible due to insufficient rainfall. It was observed that the most common means of irrigation in the valley was in the form of artificial channels for water obtained from wells and springs and often kept flowing by means of power-driven pumps. In addition, qanats (underground irrigation chan nels) were in use in some places, while many more qanat lines were aban doned and in various stages of ruin, pointing to locations where 31 LEGEND :Taftan upland slopes Highland plains -3W Lowland plains Broken terrain * •*•.•. Mt. base •"•Ha^r Taftan valley, ,, watered Mt. spring Map 2. Ecozones of the Khash area 32 agriculture had once been practiced and then abandoned. Another sign of former cultivation on the flat valley floor was square plots, some averag ing 15 meters square, marked by the remnants of stone or earthen boundar ies. Now being covered in places by drifting sand dunes, these "waffle"- like areas are often associated with Parthian and Islamic sherds. For merly cultivated areas may also be marked by the presence of floral species absent in the natural vegetation and by the presence, in more recently cultivated areas, of tamarix shrubs. On the lower slopes of Kuh-i Panj Angosht around springs and in the Tudi gorge at the foot of the Taftan Massif, small terraced fields with stone walls had been cultivated. At one location on the Khash Plain, a probable gabarband (earth and stone dam for collecting silt and moisture) structure had been built across a flat valley near Kuh-i Ashkan to collect moisture and silt for agriculture; and it remains standing in places to a height of one and one-quarter meters. Agricultural produce from the Khash Plain includes small amounts of wheat, tomatoes, eggplants, and melons. On the slopes of Taftan, grapes are produced and Sangan has fruit orchards and extensive wheat fields. In the better-watered areas, pistachios, pomegranate, and almond trees are cultivated. South and east of the survey area in the qarmsir, dates are the most important crop. SECTION TWO ARTIFACTS AND CHRONOLOGY CHAPTER III CERAMIC ARTIFACTS Analysis Judge (1973:6) points out that, while an intensive survey by it self is important in supplying basic descriptive information, it is im portant that the original survey researcher provide a complete analysis of all his raw data because he is the one most familiar with the data and its sources. Because the weakest point in survey archeology is the lack of adequate controls over much of the context of the data (e.g., stratig raphy, environmental data), "it is imperative that the survey archeolo- gist utilize efficient analytic techniques" (Judge 1973:320). The analysis of ecological factors was important in the investi gation of locational variables. The analysis of architectural and other features was important for the identification of susbistence practices and the interpretation of culture history; and the analysis of artifacts, primarily ceramics, was important for establishing cultural and temporal relationships. Each analysis was made as intensive as possible with the means at the disposal of the author, and the results of each were then applied to the final interpretive chapters. Of major importance to the research was the analysis of data for delimiting a chronology. Relative dating methods were employed to indi cate intercultural relationships in cumulative phases. First, ceramic collections from individual sites were thoroughly analyzed, and then the results were combined to give a picture of the cultural and/or temporal 34 35 variety reflected in the total ceramic assemblage. Finally, the ceramic inventory of the survey area was compared with those of other areas where stratified deposits have been excavated to reveal a sequence. A seriation of the ceramic data was then employed to suggest a chronologi cal sequence for the Khash area. The problems encountered in dating the surface sites are discussed in Chapter V. As had been anticipated, ceramic typology of the Khash collec tion was seriously hindered by the lack of stratigraphic controls and other points of reference on the Sarhad Plateau. During the ceramic analysis of the survey material, however, it was possible to divide the ceramic collections into general categories by grouping together sherds similar in fabric, surface treatment, decoration, and construction tech nique. Intersite types were established by combining groups of sherds which were virtually indistinguishable from one site to another. This was accomplished by first creating types from the large collection (28,000 artifacts) made at the major site of Khash Spring. This range of types was then employed as a standard for other sites. The number of occurrences of these pottery types at each of the other sites located on the survey were recorded with a description which provided a control for the range of variation for each type. Whenever a site was encountered which exhibited a ceramic which could not be grouped with any types of the major control site, a new ceramic type was established. The only Doubts about the reliability of seriation of surface collec tions as a technique for the definition of temporal changes in ceramic assemblages led Johnson (1976:197) to test excavation results against surface seriations by Spearman's rank correlation. A high and very significant degree of comparability led him to conclude that "seriation of surface collections can be a reliable technique for the investigation of problems of relative chronology." 36 pottery not included in the typology were plain medium and coarse- textured sherds, which were too anomalous to be categorized. This proc ess yielded a total of 27 types. Analytical Categories The criteria to which the analysis of ceramics was addressed are described as follows: Paste. The clay matrix was examined for texture, porosity, density, size of particles, and hardness. Temper. Non-plastic inclusions deliberately added to the clay to modify its properties so as to minimize shrinkage and cracking of the vessels during drying are termed "temper." Temper is used to adjust the clay to the correct composition and consistency (Wulff 1966:151). Helene Balfet (1965:164) has demonstrated that North African potters use more temper when a pot is being constructed in a manner which involves much handling of the clay and demands greater plasticity. Wheelmade and smaller vessels often require lesser amounts of temper. This observa tion seems to be generally borne out by this study of the Khash Valley collection. Most of those sherds with particularly heavy amounts of temper are the thicker-walled and hand-shaped varieties. Color. As this criterion is one of the most important employed in ceramic analysis and is often one of the most abused, color designa tions in this study were standardized using the Munsell Soil Color Charts in order to facilitate comparisons. The color divisions proposed by Anna Shepard were followed to mark a somewhat arbitrary, but at least 37 2 consistent, boundary between red and buff wares. Because weathering and chemical reactions to soil often discolor the sherd surfaces, fresh breaks were made to obtain color readings from the interior of sherds. Firing. Sherds were categorized on the basis of color, uniform ity, and carbon streaks as either oxidized (consistent, warm colors such as red, pink, buff, or yellow), incompletely oxidized (a carbon streak in the cross section of the sherd or gradations of color from one sur face to the other), or oxidized (dark brown to dark gray to black uni form color). The latter are referred to as unoxidized rather than re duced because the same color which results from a reducing atmosphere (in which combustion is incomplete and carbon monoxide destroys oxygen atoms) may also be obtained in a neutral atmosphere by charring the car bonaceous matter in the paste (Shepard 1968:104) and also by an oxidiz ing atmosphere when the amount of carbon in the clay is so great that the time allowed for firing was not sufficient to oxidize the pot. At tributes were also noted (greenish cast to surface, firing clouds, and smudges) which point to extremely high firing temperatures or minimal controls over the firing atmosphere. Thickness. Maximum thickness of each sherd was measured by calipers, while separate measurements were taken for bases and rims. For ceramic types, the range of thickness and the averages are given. Construction. Where a determination was possible, sherds were designated as either wheelmade (including the tournette) or handmade. In addition to wheel striations, evenness of vessel walls, fingerprints, 2 Buff - any hues more yellow than 2.5YR but less than 7/0 in value; red - 2.5 YR and redder hues under 7/0 in value. 38 and other telltale signs of construction technique, attention was given to the shape of sherds. Surface treatment. The category of surface treatment refers in this study to the presence of a slip or wash applied to one or both sur faces, as well as subsequent burnishing or polishing of the slipped sur faces. Two significant cautionary notes must be added here: (1) extreme weathering and erosion often erases traces of slips, especially those found on the surface; and (2) what are referred to as cream slips may actually be a thin layer of clay drawn to the surface by wet-smoothing and which separates from the body due to differential drying. In ad dition, the identification of slips in the Khash Valley collection is made even more difficult by the fact that the surfaces are often ob scured by a salt crust impossible to remove.This crust may be derived from the water used to moisten the clay, which in the Khash Valley is highly mineralized with alkalai salts. Decoration. Decorated sherds were those with surfaces altered by plastic techniques such as incising, impressed with basket or stamp tool, punctated, or molded and by such non-plastic techniques as glazing or painting. Decoration is further described by design motif or pattern employed, or by color of paint or glaze. Forms. Although the nature of the ceramics (small sherd frag ments from surface collections) precluded any detailed analysis of ves sel form, some overall generalizations were made based on base forms, rim profiles, aperture and basal diameters, shoulders, necks, decoration placement, and surface finishing of the interior vessel walls. 3 Van der Leeuw (1976) notes that wheelmade pottery usually breaks into triangular patterns, while handmade pottery usually breaks into rectangular sherds. 39 Three general varieties of vessels were noted: (1) bowls, with rim diameters at least twice as large as basal diameters (consequently yielding many more rim sherds than basal sherds), often with paint or glaze applied to the interior surfaces; (2) jars, vessels with small, closed mouths, whose interior surfaces are often unfinished and which often have high necks and shoulders with basal diameters approximating those of rims; (3) vases, vessels intermediate between jars and bowls, often with straight sides, undecorated interiors, and open mouths with apertures larger than basal diameters. Only on one site was it possible to completely reconstruct a vessel; all other designations of vessel form are necessarily tentative or projected. The Types Having employed these criteria on the ceramic collection from each site, the following 27 ceramic types were then established by the procedure outlined above and are listed below in order of frequency of occurrence. 1. Plain Fine Ware 8,888 sherds, 78% of these from Khash Spring with 44 sites represented Paste. Sherds in this category exhibit a fine to very fine tex tured fabric and are hard, never friable. Temper. Over 80% of the sherds in this category exhibited a volcanic ash temper in varying amounts and textures. This temper is characterized by scattered bits of basalt rock fragments, glassy parti cles, and tiny pockets of white to yellow ash. Volcanic ash is a readily available material which, being relatively soft, is easily 40 ground and used for temper. It occurs throughout the Kuh-i Taftan and Panj Angosht areas and, therefore, is especially convenient to most of the Sarhad Plateau sites visited on the survey. A smaller percentage of this category has no discernible temper, and a very few were tempered with sand (fine particles of temper—1 mm or less—predominately quartz, but including other types of rounded rock as well). Color. This category may be divided almost equally between buff wares (usually 5YR 6/4 or 6/6) and red wares (2.5YR greater in chroma than 2). Firing. Ninety-five percent of this category is completely oxi dized under conditions which maintain a constant temperature. Thickness. The range of maximum thickness of the vessel walls is 2-13 mm, with an average estimated to be 7mm. Construction. Vessels were constructed in most cases on a wheel. Surface treatment. Twenty-six percent of the sample from sites other than Khash Spring are slipped (14% of the Khash Spring sample is slipped); and of these, 70% are light cream colored (55% of the Khash Spring sample), 30% are red (37% at Khash Spring), and 1% black (7% gray at Khash Spring). These percentages may be misleading because of the extremely eroded surfaces of many of the sherds which may once have been slipped. Slips referred to as cream include those designated on the Munsell scale as 7.5YR and 10YR with values of 7/2, 7/3, and 7/4. Often these are simply thin coats of the same clay used for the paste of buff-firing vessels. This slip appears never to have been burnished, in contrast to the red (including brown and dark buff) slips, which were often burnished. The so-called red slips include the designations 2.5YR 4/4, 4/6, 5/6 and 5YR 6/6 and 5/6. 41 Decoration. None Forms. From Khash Spring there are 335 rims and 266 bases, in dicating that not many of the sherds in this category are lower portions of painted vessels. Of the rims, 75% are tapered or plain-lipped; and of the bases, 68% are flat, 24% ring, and 7% platform. Vessel forms ap pear to be primarily bowls or vases; little evidence of restricted ori fice vessels was found. Eight portions of large handles were recovered. Additional remarks. At least four sherds of plain fine ware were shaped into discs and perforated h the center, possibly for use as spindle whorls or loom weights. These four came from sites 33-3 (Vadiabad Camp), 35-3 (Tudi Locality 3), 23-1 (Rostrom Tower), and 10-1 Tugar). Three are buff, one is red; and they range in thickness from 6-13 mm. The edges have been smoothed by grinding. 2. Plain Fine Compact Ware 3,263 sherds, 80% from Khash Spring with 22 sites represented Paste. This classification is similar in most repspects to the Plain Fine Ware with the notable exception of texture and density of matrix. The paste is extremely hard and dense with a very fine to fine texture. It is a very refined and well-depurated paste of a structure so tightly compact that sherds may be easily flaked into new shapes and, when struck, often exhibit a concoidal fracture. The density of the paste often imparts an almost greasy appearance to the sherds. Matson (1965:212) has observed that sherds were often flaked and reused as scrapers at early village sites. In the Khash Valley collection 15 such flaked and reshaped sherds of the Plain Fine Compact variety were 42 T3 cd td •u cd u CO o IS o CM I CN CM •H CO •U cd uC •H cd o cd •H u o OJ u cd w a) 6 o x) § o m & cu •u cd rH PH 43 found, including three definite scrapers and one denticulate. Two sherds have drilled notches. Temper. All sherds in this category are untempered. Color. Fifty-six percent of these sherds are red ware (2.5YR with chroma between 4 and 8 and values greater than 3) and 44% buff (5YR with chroma greater than 1 and values between 4 and 7). Firing. Almost all (99%) of this type were fired evenly in an oxidizing atmosphere. Only two were unoxidized and 29 incompletely oxidized. Thickness. Thickness of vessel walls ranges from 2-18 mm, with an average of 5 mm. Construction. Only 1% is handmade; 99% appear to have been thrown on a wheel. Surface treatment. Six sherds, less than 1% of the total, bear evidence of having been shaved with a hard instrument in a leather-hard state before firing. Of the Plain Fine Compact collection at Khash Spring, 21% were slipped (23% from sites other than Khash Spring). Seventy-five percent of these slips were the cream-colored variety, 21% were red, often burnished, and 1% black. (Slips on this type from sites other than Khash Spring were 50% cream and 50% red burnished.) Decoration. None Forms. There are three times as many bases as rims, suggesting that many Plain Fine Compact sherds may actually be lower, undecorated portions of Painted Fine Compact Ware. Many bowls appear to be repre sented, and most sherds seem to be from small vessels. At Khash Spring, 162 base and 51 rim sherds were collected. Eighty-eight percent of the bases are flat, 9% ring, and of the rims, 69% are simple tapered. 44 3. Black Painted Fine Ware 2,514 sherds, 87% from Khash Spring with 16 sites represented Paste. The clay matrix is fine textured and relatively hard. Temper. Sixty-nine percent of the Black Painted Fine Ware is untempered, 30% is ash-tempered, and 1% has a sand temper. Color. Of the Khash Spring sherds of this type, 79% are red ware (all are 2.5YR except for 72 which are 10R), 20% is buff ware (pri marily 5YR 6/4 and 6/6), and the remaining 1% is dark gray. The corre sponding figures for sites other than Khash Spring in this category are 68% red ware and 32% buff ware. Firing. Vessels were fired mainly in an oxidizing atmosphere which produced clear, consistent, and warm colors. Only 7% were incom pletely oxidized and less than 1% unoxidized. Thickness. The range of thickness is from 2-12 mm, with an ap proximate average of 5 mm. Construction. Ninety-nine percent of this type is wheelmade; 1% handmade. Surface treatment. Of the Khash Spring sherds, only 12% bear traces of a slip under the paint. A few sherds of this type were shaved on the exterior with a hard instrument while in a leather-hard state. Decoration. Decoration consists of a black organic paint ap plied in broad strokes over a usually unslippeu surface. Almost 9% of this type is painted in strokes which have faded edges, producing an ink-blotter effect similar to that on the earlier painted ceramics at Shahr-i Sokhta, Tepe Yahya, and Bampur. Another 9% have painted decora tion only on the interior surfaces, pointing to open vessels; while less than 3% are painted on both surfaces. The remaining 88% are painted 45 only on the exterior surfaces. In most cases, the pigment is applied only to the upper portions or shoulders of the vessels and in horizontal panels or bands, which may be correlated with the use of the wheel during the decoration process. The design elements include horizontal bands (especially on rims and around flat bases), saw-toothed vertical lines, cross hatchings, zigzags, chevrons, checkerboards, feathered lines, diagonal bands, dots, spirals, and wavy lines. Occurring rarely were star and leaf motifs. Forms. Black Painted Fine Ware is represented by three times as many rims as bases, suggesting that many basal fragments from vessels painted on the upper portions were classified as Plain Fine Ware. Of the rims, 45% are plain tapered, the remainder divided between inverted, everted, rounded, flattened, and modeled or rolled. Three quarters of the bases are flat, 12% ring, 12% platform, and one is rounded. Approx imately three-fourths of the painted vessels are jar forms, indicated especially by restricted orifices with necks. Very few vessels appear to have been carinated. Some open bowls or plates are evidenced by basal sherds, rim diameters, curvatures, and by placement of painted decora tion on the interior walls. 4. Basket Impressed Ware 1,238 sherds, 99% from Khash Spring with six sites represented Paste. Medium to coarse, sometimes crumbly, but more often hard and dense in fabric. Only four basket impressed sherds were of compact paste. Temper. A large majority (91%) of the basket impressed sherds were tempered with grit (particles coarser than sand, more angular, and 46 often highly micaceous) in heavy amounts. As this type of handmade pot tery requires considerable handling, the addition of a tempering material is necessarily deliberate. Six percent of the sherds bear traces of an organic, possibly chaff, temper; and the remaining 3% have been tempered with grog (ground sherds) or hard clay, ranging in color from red-brown to black. Color. Most sherds (91%) are red ware, mostly in the 2.5YR range of hues, although a few are 10R in hue. The remaining 9% are classified as buff ware. Firing. An oxidizing atmosphere appears to have been utilized, although many basket impressed sherds are only incompletely oxidized and have carbon streaks. Only a few specimens were reduced. In many cases, the vessels were unevenly fired, and the surfaces are sometimes mottled with firing clouds. Thickness. The range of vessel wall thickness is from 5-24 mm, with an average of approximately 12 mm. Construction. Handmade. It may be surmised that the clay was first hand molded in a basket frame and then removed from the mold in a leather-hard state after drying before being fired. Surface treatment. Only one basket impressed sherd appears to have a cream-colored slip, which may be a self-slip. Approximately one- third of this type has an exterior surface which has been smoothed. (In these cases, the details of the basketry weave are obliterated except for the troughs where the smoothing instrument did not come in contact with the clay.) Decoration. Whether or not it was deliberately intended as decorative, the exterior surfaces of this type bear the markings of • ,^!*.WiT>. 4> 0 1 2 3 4 5 Basket impressed ware from Khash Spring and nearby sites 48 basket impressions, usually covering the entire sherd. Several differ ent basketry weaves are represented, the most distinctive one a simple loop construction coiled clockwise over a cylindrical material using stiff multiple plant fibers. This weave is identical to one illustrated in a recent article on methodological problems at Shahr-i Sokhta (Biscione et al., 1973), which identifies the fibers used in Sistan as Sairpus littoralis, a swamp plant. It is unknown if this plant was like wise available in the Khash Valley in the second and third millennia, or whether a similar plant was used. The weave is easily recognizable be cause of the resulting tight, linear pattern. It occurs on 23% of the Basket Impressed fragments and was given the designation "Khash Weave" during the preliminary sorting to distinguish it from other weaves. Forms. Bases are 50% platform, 38% rounded, and 12% simple flat, all with basket markings. Rims are 71% deep and overhanging, simi lar to rims of Basket Impressed sherds recovered by Dales at Balakot (personal observation 1976) , Shaffer at Said Qala (Shaffer 1972), Fair- servis at Quetta Valley sites (Fairservis 1956:259), and deCardi at Bampur (deCardi 1970:292). Some rims are rounded and slightly inverted. Typical forms appear to be steep-walled, open-mouthed vases. 5. Black Painted Compact Fine Ware 1,241 sherds, 69% from Khash Spring with 17 sites represented Paste. This type has a very fine to fine textured dense paste with the compact quality described for Plain Compact Fine Ware. Temper. Virtually none of these sherds appeared to be tempered. Color. Black Painted Compact Ware is 89% red ware (primarily 2.5YR hues; 10R hues are rare) and 11% buff ware (primarily 5YR 6/4 and 6/6; 7.5YR hues are rare). 49 Firing. Most (92%) of these sherds were fired in an oxidizing atmosphere at constant temperatures. Seven percent were incompletly oxi dized, and only two sherds were reduced. Thickness. The vessel wall thickness ranges from 1-12 mm, with an average of 4 mm. Construction. Wheelmade Surface treatment. Sixteen percent of the Painted Compact Ware from Khash Spring is slipped, as opposed to only 6% from sites other than Khash Spring. Of the slips, 84% are cream colored, 10% are red (burnishing is extremely rare), and infrequently occurring are gray, buff, and white slips. Five of this type were shaved with a hard in strument. Decoration. A black pigment was applied, in most cases, directly to an unslipped surface. On 10% of this category, the paint is faded on the edges in ink-blotter fashion. Eighty-eight percent of the exterior surfaces are painted, often on the upper portions of the vessel bodies above carinations. Six percent of the interior surfaces were decorated; and, on 6% of the sherds, both surfaces were painted. Design motifs include bands, chevrons, cross-hatched triangles, feathered lines, dots, and abstract geometric motifs. Forms. From Khash Spring alone, 120 rims and 17 bases were recorded, suggesting that many bases of painted vessels may have been subsumed under the Plain Compact Fine heading. Sixty-eight percent of the rims are simple tapered, 18% everted, while a few are flattened, rounded, modeled, and inverted. Bases are approximately half ring and half flat, with very rare occurrences of platforms. Dominant vessel 50 forms appear to be mainly open-mouthed jars or vases with a few cari- nated, steep-walled vases represented. Additional observation. One sherd was retouched into a borer. 6. Black Painted Medium/coarse Ware 451 sherds, 83% from Khash Spring witu five sites represented Paste. Medium to coarse texture. Twenty-one percent is compact in density, and none of this type is friable. Temper. Seventy percent sand, 26% grit, 2% crushed rock, and 1% ash. Color. Of this type, 72% is red ware (a small number of which is 10R in hue), and 27% is buff ware (mostly 5YR 6/4 and 6/6). Firing. Vessels were fired in a controlled oxidizing atmosphere. Only 2% were incompletely oxidized and two sherds unoxidized. Thickness. The range of thickness is from 4-22 mm, with an average of 8 mm. Construction. Eighty-two percent are handmade; 18% wheelmade Surface treatment. Twenty-eight percent are slipped, 74% of these in cream color, 14% in red, and the remainder in white or gray. Few red slips are burnished. Decoration. Black organic pigment has been applied to the sur face of the sherds either directly or over a slip. Thirteen percent of the sherds are painted only on the interior, 4% on both surfaces, and the rest only on the exterior surfaces. Design motifs include chevrons, dots, horizontal and diagonal bands, wavy vertical lines, cross-hatching, and some painted raised bands. 51 Fig. 1. Painted Compact Paste Ware from Rows A and B at Khash Spring. Scale 1:1.5. Fig. 2. Painted Compact Paste Ware from the lower grid at Khash Spring. Scale 1:1.5. 52 Forms. There are half again as many rims as bases. This im proved ratio may indicate that more vessels may have been painted over the entire body than in other painted wares. Forty-nine percent of the rims are plain tapered, 19% rounded, 15% modeled, and 13% everted. Eighty-four percent of the bases are flat, 16% ring. Predominant vessel forms are jars or steep-walled vases. 7. Glazed Ware 343 sherds, 12% from Khash Spring with 30 sites represented Paste. Fine textured, but often granular. Paste is often hard, rarely friable. Temper. Of this type, most are untempered, although a small number have a light sand temper, and some appear to be tempered with ash. Color. The paste is, in most cases, buff in color. Many glazed sherds, however, are yellow ware, and a few are red ware. Firing. Glazed ware was fired in an oxidizing atmosphere at high, constant temperatures. Thickness. The range of maximum vessel wall thickness is from 4-20 mm, with an average of approximately 7 mm. Construction. Most vessels appear to have been thrown on a wheel. Surface treatment. Often, the unglazed surface opposite the glazed surface has a pale yellow or cream slip, which is sometimes also evidenced under a glaze. Decoration. Both lead and alkaline glazes are found in the Khash Valley collection, although the latter prevails. These alkaline 53 5 cm. Figure 3. Black Painted Coarse Ware from the surfaces of cairns at site 22-20. 54 glazes are often turquoise or green and badly crazed. A large variety of glazed ware was collected, especially from the sites of 36-1 (Sangan) and 21-1 (Pamazar). The monochrome glazes are broken down as follows: 95 turquoise, 82 green or yellow, 19 black to reddish black, 2 blue. Polychrome glazes include: 27 mixtures of green, brown, and black, which are referred to in this paper as Nishapur; 48 amber glazes over brown decoration; 7 black and blue under white; 4 blue and black; 2 white and green; 2 white with a green-black band; 1 pale green on black; 1 dark green with dark sienna; 1 red, yellow, and brown; 1 green, blue, and white. In addition, 54 turquoise glazed sherds were found with black painted designs under the glaze; 4 sherds were glazed in blue over black paint; 1 sherd has black designs on a white and sienna background; and 1 oddly-shaped sherd has been painted in a wing motif in pink, white, and purple. Forms. Base forms are mainly ring or platform; rims are often tapered or flattened. Many small bowls are suggested by the rim and base fragments. 8. Quetta Tempered Ware More than 320 sherds with nine sites represented Paste. The fabric is medium to very coarse textured, with 4% made of compact, well-depurated paste. More often, sherds of this type have a friable, crumbly paste. Temper. The diagnostic characteristic of this type is the tem pering material employed. This material in the Khash Valley collection may be described as crushed rock particles which are long, angular, pris matic, and have a tendency to turn black or red in correlation with 55 Figure 4. Monochrome glazed ware. A = 31-3, B = 36-1, C = 43-7. CTv 0 1 2 3 4 5 S 7 • 9 10 11 12 11 14 IS It 17 16 19 30 Figure 5. Underglaze painted ware. A-C = 32-5, D = 43-4, E-F = 36-1, G = 21-1. 57 firing conditions. Fairservis describes this temper in wares from the Quetta Valley in Pakistani Baluchistan, identifying it as "probably slate, size 2 to 30 mm." He further notes that a "frequent procedure in the manufacture of this ware was the use of a kind of double paste, i.e., the vessel was completed, allowed to dry partially, and then coated with another layer of the same paste. . . . The vessel was then fired" (Fairservis 1956:250). This procedure also appears to have been fol lowed in the Khash area. Color. This type is mainly a dark red ware, although buff ware is also represented. Firing. This ware is often incompletely oxidized or unoxidized, with an uneven distribution of color throughout the paste. Thickness. The range of maximum thickness is from 5-15 mm, with an average of 12 mm. Construction. Handmade Decoration. None Surface treatment. A small number of sherds have dark red-brown slips, never burnished. Forms. Bases are flat, rims rounded or flattened. Most vessels with this temper appear to be larger than the finer wares, though it is not possible to reconstruct the forms themselves. 9. Plain Gray Ware 308 sherds, 70% from Khash Spring with seven sites represented Paste. The matrix is dense, compact, hard, and very fine to fine textured. The paste contains no impurities and is completely depurated. 58 Andrews (1925:307) defines this type of pottery found by Stein in Baluch istan as "almost porcelain in its density and freedom from impurities." Temper. None Color. The color of the paste is more uniform than in most other types: 90% is a light gray (mostly 10YR 6/1, although 10YR 5/1, 10YR 7/1, 7.5YR 6/0, and 5YR 6/1 are also recorded), and 10% is a light gray-brown (10YR 7/3, 10YR 5/2, 7.5YR 6/2, and 5YR 6/2). Color is markedly uniform and even throughout the sherd. Firing. Vessels are evenly fired at a high temperature in an oxidizing atmosphere. Fairservis (1956:264) suggests that the hardness and the fine texture of this ware "perhaps indicate a change in the iron molecules brought about by oxidation." Thickness. Maximum thicknesses of vessel walls range from 2- 8 mm, with a 4 mm average. Construction. Wheelmade Surface treatment. The exterior surfaces of many Gray Ware sherds have been shaved with a hard instrument. Eighteen percent is slipped in a light reddish brown (2.5YR 6/4) or reddish brown (5YR 4/3). These are rarely burnished. Decoration. None Forms. A preponderance of bases over rims may indicate that these vessels were painted on their upper portions, which were then in cluded in the Painted Gray Ware category. Bases are flat, rims plain and tapered. Vessel forms appear to be primarily bowls., small vases, or plates. 59 10. Painted Gray Ware 212 sherds, 58% from Khash Spring with nine sites represented Paste. The same as Plain Gray Ware. Temper. None Color. The colors are the same as those of Plain Gray Ware, although the proportions differ somewhat. Among the painted wares, ap proximately half are gray and half light gray-brown. Firing. The same as Plain Gray Ware. Thickness. The same as Plain Gray Ware. Construction. The same as Plain Gray Ware. Surface treatment. Like the Plain Gray Ware, many of these sherds were shaved with a hard instrument. Thirteen percent of the painted sherds bear slips in the same colors as those on the plain sherds. Decoration. Red or Black paint has been applied, in most in stances, directly to the surface. Almost one-third are painted in red, 4 somewhat less than that in black with a sienna halo or faded effect. Over one-third are painted in crisp, clearly-demarcated black designs. Approximately half the sherds are characterized by the ink-blotter ef fect, as if the paint was applied to a wet surface and diffused slightly before drying. At least half are painted on the interior surfaces, ap proximately one-third on both surfaces, and the remainder only on the 4 In experiments with Painted Gray Ware and different pigments, Hegde (1975:188) came to the conclusion that the pigment used was not carbon, but only iron oxide, such as red ochre. When fired, this pig ment turned yellow, orange, and, finally, red. Black color was obtained when the pigment was reduced to magnetite at about 800°C for at least 12 hours. Black paint with a sienna halo may result from incomplete reduc tion of the pigment to magnetite. 60 exterior surfaces. Red painted designs consist mainly of a band on the rim with geometric motifs, especially wavy lines, below. Design motifs in black consist of similar banded rims with geometric motifs below, some fringed wing motifs, horizontal, vertical, and diagonal bands, wavy lines, and abstract motifs. Forms. Bases are flat and occasionally ring. Rims are plain tapered, in only two instances inverted. As indicated by the rims, the bases, and the placement of painted decoration, the vessel forr/.s were almost exclusively open bowls, platters, or dishes. Additional observation. At least one sherd has been retouched by flaking. 11. Red Painted Coarse Ware 187 sherds, 59% from Khash Spring with 16 sites represented Paste. The matrix of this type ranges from medium to coarse in texture. Many are composed of a crumbly or friable paste. The coarser sherds are porous. Temper. Light to heavy concentrations of grit. Color. Red Painted Coarse Ware is two-thirds buff ware, one- third red ware. Firing. Vessels were fired in an oxidizing atmosphere. Firing clouds are present, and sherds bear traces of uneven firing. Few are in completely oxidized. Thickness. Maximum thickness of vessel walls ranges from 3- 15mm, with an average estimated to be 8 mm. Construction. Handmade 61 Fig. 6. Painted Gray Ware. D is from 33-14, the re mainder from Khash Spring. Scale 1:1.5. B \gn/ D Fig. 7. Painted Gray Ware from Khash Spring. Scale 1:1.5. 62 Surface treatment. Thirteen percent are slipped, most of these in a cream-color slip (7.5YR 7/4 or 10YR 7/3). Decoration. Red paint is applied, in most cases, directly to the surface. The exterior surface is usually painted, and in most in stances the pigment has faded considerably so that it is often difficult to discern the rather crudely-executed motifs. The most predominant motif is that of spiraling circles (see Fig. 8, p. 63). Also noted are bands, loops, wavy bands between horizontal bands, and geometric ab stracts. Forms. The available evidence points to a predominance of jar forms. Rims are either rounded, simple tapered, or everted with short necks. No bases were found, so it is likely that only the upper por tions of these jars were painted. Additional observation. One sherd was deliberately flaked after breaking. 12. Baluch Ware Approximately 190 sherds, 10% from Khash Spring with 16 sites represented Paste. The fabric of this ware is medium-textured, soft, crumbly, and friable. Temper. Sand Color. Red ware (2.5YR 6/8 and 5/8) Firing. Vessels were unevenly fired in an oxidizing atmosphere. Many sherds have firing clouds. Thickness. Thickness ranges from 3-10 mm, with an average of 8 mm. Construction. Handmade 63 B F 8 1 a 3 4 5 * 7 • 9 10 11 12 11 14 IS 16 17 1« Figure 8. Red painted coarse ware 64 Surface treatment. The exterior, and sometimes both surfaces, are slipped in red (2.5YR 4/6) and then unevenly burnished. Decoration. Black paint is often applied to exterior surfaces on the upper portions of bodies in characteristic intricate patterns of hachures and dots, the more recent vessels bearing the more minute de signs. Forms. Bases are platform and ring. Rims are sometimes rolled, flattened, or rounded. Vessels appear often to have been rather large and heavy bowls or open-mouthed vases. Additional observation. Similar pottery is made by the Baluch today in two or three small villages in Irania Baluchistan. One, Kalparakun, was visited by the author to observe construction techniques. The Baluch Ware collected on the survey can be readily subdivided into recent, intermediate, and archaic varieties based on changes in rim forms and design. The Baluch design element of dots and hachures was also paralleled on a glazed sherd from one Islamic site in the Khash area. 13. Brick-Like Textured Ware 169 sherds, none recorded from Khash Spring, with 11 sites represented Paste. Texture of the fabric is extremely rough. The clay ap pears to be highly vitrified throughout, imparting a brick-like texture to the fabric. This characteristic could point to deliberate alteration of the clay during firing, or to a mineral content with a high percentage of alkaline material. Temper. Tempering material employed is mainly organic (fiber or chaff), although a few sherds have grit and crushed rock. 65 ^01 I jC • • 1 * « 1 * ' • 1 ti II II U M II U 17 IS Iff ]« Figure 9. Painted Baluche ware. A-B = 31-3, C-E = 22-6, F = 32-5, G = 36-1, H = 21-1, I = 22-21, J = 40-1, K = 12-1, L = 33-9, M = 40-1, N = Khash Spring. 66 Color. Predominantly red, often a deep shade (10R). Firing. Sherds of this type were fired in an oxidizing atmos phere at very high temperatures, allowing some vitrification of the clay. Many instances of incomplete oxidation are noted, with large carbon cores in the thick cross sections of the sherds. Thickness. Maximum wall thicknesses range from 8-37 mm, with an average of about 25 mm. Construction. Handmade Surface treatment. Surfaces are unslipped and unmodified. Decoration. None Forms. Vessel forms are invariably quite large and heavy with steep-sided walls and thickened rims. Many sherds are more probably actual bricks, particularly from sites on the eastern rim of the narrow Khash Valley at the foot of Khash Mountain. When vessel forms can be ascertained, they are usually large, immovable storage containers. 14. Red Painted Fine Ware 141 sherds, 53% from Khash Spring with ten sites represented Paste. Very fine to fine textured. Twenty percent of the paste is compact. Temper. None Color. Approximately two-thirds red ware, one-third buff ware. Firing. Vessels were fired in an oxidizing atmosphere. Incom pletely oxidized sherds are infrequent. Thickness. Two to 9 mm, with an average of 4 or 5 mm. Construction. Most are wheelmade. Two are handmade. 67 Surface treatment. Only 6% were slipped, all, except for one red-slipped sherd, in a cream color. The exterior of one sherd had been shaved with a hard instrument. Drcoration. Red paint was applied to exterior surfaces, with the exception of two sherds painted only on the interior surfaces. In contrast to Red Painted Coarse Ware, the red pigment has not faded and is as well preserved as black pigments on fine wares. Design elements include diagonal bands, multiple chevrons, and looped bands. One sherd has a raised serpentine band painted red. Forms. The evidence for vessel forms points to jars and open bowls. Most rims are plain tapered, one is rounded, and one is everted. One ring base was recorded. Additional observation. One sherd is perforated from the ex terior to the interior. 15. Incised Buff Ware 95 sherds, 25% from Khash Spring with 18 sites represented Paste. Fine to medium textured, often sandy and sometimes rather porous. Paste is more hard than friable. Temper. Material used for tempering is primarily sand with a few sherds exhibiting ash temper. Some sherds were untempered. Color. Buff, often in the lighter values, occasionally with a greenish tint. Many are Yellow Ware. Firing. Most sherds are completely oxidized, those with a greenish cast overfired at extremely high temperatures. Only one is unoxidized. 00 Fig. 10. Red Painted Fine Ware from Khash Spring. Scale 1:2. 69 Thickness. Maximum thickness has an approximate range of 5-10 mm. Construction. Wheelmade Surface treatment. No slips are apparent. Decoration. This type is usually decorated with finely-incised multiple lines, often wavy, and sometimes in zigzag patterns between multiple banded lines. In some cases, a comb tool was used to incise. One sherd has incised circles. One is also punctated. Forms. Characteristic forms are high-necked jars. Rims are plain tapered or everted. The complete absence of basal sherds indicates that only the upper portions of vessels were incised. Minor Types 16. Corrugated (Ribbed) Ware 59 sherds, 12% from Khash Spring with 15 sites represented This fine-to-medium-textured, hard-fired ware is tempered with either sand, ash, or grit, and can be either red or buff in color. This usually unslipped pottery is constructed by coiling, possibly finished on a wheel. The corrugated ribs are often flattened and approximately 4 mm wide separated by narrow troughs. Vessels are between 6 and 14 mm in thickness and may be corrugated only in midsections, as no bases or rims were found. 17. Incised Red Ware 57 sherds, 44% from Khash Spring with ten sites represented This red ware is tempered with ash or sand (rarely untempered or grit tempered) and has fine-to-medium sandy texture. Approximately 70 Figure 11, Incised buff ware. A = 04-2; B, E-G D = 43-4; H-I = Khash Spring; J = 33-3. 1*i*****Sfflail^Etf 2 S 4 S ciM'tMitiai Plate 3. Corrugated ware from Khash Spring and nearby sites 72 one-fourth is handmade. Incised designs are primarily multiple lines, wavy combed lines, or single lines, with one sherd incised in a flower pattern. One-quarter of these sherds are slipped in a cream color and then incised with a leaning wavy line. No rims or bases were recovered, but jar forms are suggested. 18. Porcelain 42 sherds, 67% from Khash Spring with eight sites represented This recent ceramic is thin, hard, and fine textured, well depurated, and white in color. Surfaces often bear colorful designs. The oldest variety appears to be white with a dark blue band around a ring base. All rims are plain tapered. 19. Stamp Impressed Ware 40 sherds, 30% from Khash Spring with ten sites represented This ware is decorated with designs stamped into the wet clay in abstract or flower motifs. The sherds are variably red, buff, or yellow ware with sand temper. Vessels are thin walled, wheel thrown, fine to medium textured, and rarely have a light slip. Designs were probably confined to midsections as there are no rims or bases. 20. Polychrome Ware 32 sherds, 72% from Khash Spring with two sites represented A hard, fine-textured, sometimes compact ware, Polychrome Painted Ware is thin and wheel made, 90% red ware, and sometimes bears a cream- colored slip. Decoration consists of black and red paint applied to the exterior, often with a black horizontal band along the base or shoulder u> 0 ' a 14S * 7g 9 1* 11 12 11 14 IS U 17 U 19 99 Figure 12. Incised red ware. A, B, F = 43-2; C, E = Khash Spring, D = 33-4. £&***- -P- 0 1 2 3 4 5 CSNTIMITIM Plate 4. Stamp impressed ware from Khash Spring and nearby sites 75 and red painted ground above. Sometimes there is a black geometric motif on a light slip with an adjacent red-painted field. In several instances, a red band is bordered by two black bands. Bases are flat, rims are plain tapered. Dominant forms appear to be jars with carinated shoulders and walls which meet the flat bases at right angles. 21. Punctated Ware At least 30 sherds, none from Khash Spring, with seven sites represented Punctated sherds are primarily medium-textured sandy ware either buff or red in color. The friable sherds are approximately 9 mm thick and handmade. Vessels, at least one of which was a large jar, are often unevenly fired and incompletely oxidized. Several rims are everted, but no bases were found. Punctate marks are often produced by a tool which leaves a tear-shaped mark along the neck or finger-impressions on a ridge or lug. 22. Punctated Ledge Ware 31 sherds, 10% from Khash Spring with nine sites represented This medium-to-coarse-textured sand- or crushed-rock-tempered ware is usually an unslipped red ware. The pottery is handmade and character ized by a distinctive row of punctated dots on the tip or upper edge of a wide ridge modeled around or appliqued to the exterior of the vessel, often just below the rim. One specimen also has a Slash-Incised neck. 76 23. Slash-Incised Neck Ware 30 sherds, 3% from Khash Spring with eight sites represented This ware is a fine-to-coarse sandy texture, ash- or crushed- rock tempered, and red in color. It is characterized by a criss-cross series of incised marks around the neck of the vessel, often hastily executed and uneven. The rims of these vessels are large and everted; vessel walls average 6 mm in thickness. Vessel forms are invariably large jars. 24. Yellow Ware 19 sherds, none from Khash Spring, with five sites represented This plain ware is similar in texture, color, temper, and con struction to some of the Buff Incised Ware and may indeed represent lower portions of incised vessels. The color of the calcareous paste ranges from light yellow (10YR 7/3, 2.5YR 8/4) to light greenish-yellow (5Y 8/2). Vessels are wheel constructed. One ring base and one spout were found. 25. Compact Black-Centered Ware 12 sherds, all from Khash Spring Markedly different from all other sherds in the Khash Valley collection, these are distinguished by their very compact, homogeneous fabric, which fractures almost like glass. The matrix is black (7.5YR 4/0) with surfaces oxidized to 2.5YR 5/6. Some are 5 mm in thickness and are wheelmade; others 8 mm thick and handmade. Three of these sherds are painted in a very bright, almost glossy, black paint in abstract designs. 0 ' 2 * 4 S * » • » » 11 11 11 14 U 16 17 11 19 29 Figure 13. Punctated ledge ware. A = 23-2, B = 43-11, C = 21-1, D-E = 43-4, F = 24-1, G = 12-1, H = Khash Spring. W\ ^A/px ~~4 oo l« It 11 11 l« 11 Ik 17 U 1« Figure 14. Slash-incised neck ware 79 26. Serpentine Ridged Ware Five sherds, four from Khash Spring, one from 43-2 (Shagbond) Fine to medium textured and sand tempered, this ware is charac terized by raised ridges or bands which are either modeled or appliqued and placed on the vessel in horizontal serpentine patterns below the rim. These rims are folded and of wide diameter. Walls are approximately 9 mm thick, and vessels were very large vases. 27. White Painted Ware Three sherds, two from Khash Spring, one from 32-8 (Khash Mountain Locality No. 9) These sherds are similar to Black Painted Fine Ware except that the pigment used is white (10YR 8/4). The ware is red (2.5YR 6/4). Vessels were wheelmade. One neck portion has a painted "V" which may be part of a chevron motif, another has a white diagonal band on the exterior, and the third has a white fringed wing design on the interior floor of a platform base. CHAPTER IV LITHIC ANALYSIS AND SMALL FINDS The Khash Collection Apart from Paleolithic material, the collection of artifacts from the sites in the Khash area included 681 pieces of stone, 526, or 77%, of which fall into the flaked stone category, consisting of modi fied and unmodified flakes and blades, cores, chunks, and chips. One- third of the flaked stones are chert, 18% are jasper (usually the brown to dark red variety), and 15% are chalcedony. Retouched pieces account for 21%. Modified flakes. One-third (88) of the 267 flakes were retouched. This represents 17% of the entire collection of chipped stone. Of these, 56 (64%) were collected from the surface of Khash Spring. Re touch occurred in steep continuous, nibbled, squamous, notches, and den ticulate fashion. Signs of wear or utilization on the edges in the form of small nicks, smoothing, or nibbling visible to the naked eye were in cluded in this modified flake category. Eleven flakes were notched. No arrowheads and only a single lunate and a single definite burin were present. The distribution of burins in eastern Iran reveals an interest ing pattern. They are absent at Shahr-i Sokhta and rare at Tepe Yahya, two of the closest sites to the Sarhad, whereas they constitute 12.3% of the Iblis I lithics and 20% of the lithic material at Hissar. In south east Iran, then, this evidence suggests that burins served few functions. 80 81 Unmodified flakes. The remaining two-thirds of the flakes in the Khash collection qualify as debitage as they exhibit neither retouch nor signs of wear or use, suggesting that some stone tool manufacture may have taken place in situ. The Khash Spring site surface collection pro vided 66% (118) of the flakes; the site of 32-5 (Dahnag) accounted for another 16% (29). Blades. The blade collection consists of 65 specimens, the majority (58, or 89%) of which are microblades. Khash Spring accounted for 54% of all blades and site 32-5 (Dahnag) for 37%. Only nine complete blades were recovered, 26 proximal fragments, 17 medial fragments, and 13 distal fragments. Twenty-four blades, 37% of the total, were retouched, most of these in a unifacial squamous or nibble fashion. Five of the microblades were notched; and of the nine larger blades, one was dentic ulated, one was notched, and one was steeply retouched into a scraper. No end scrapers or truncated blades were recorded; and, in contrast to Tepe Yahya VI and V, no lunated shapes were found. A large proportion, 38.5%, of the blades were of jasper. The dimensions of microblades ranged from 6-13 mm in width with a thickness from 1-4 mm. The average length of complete blades was 2 cm. The small number of sickle blades (2) is in marked contrast to Tepe Yahya, where their frequency is 25%, and this may, subject to the findings of future excavations of the site, 2 reflect a relative lack of importance for grain harvesting at the site. Cores. Cores comprise 11% of the Khash collection. Of the 57 specimens, 41, or 72%, are from Khash Spring, 10, or 19%, are from site 10-1 (Tugar). At least three discoidal cores, one of which is 2 The abundance of groundstone mortars and grinding slabs at this site, however, indicates otherwise. A 33-7 00 I 32-2 K 32-2 L 35-5 M 32-2 Figure 15. Flaked stone artifacts. Scale 1:1.5. 83 O re 2P .3 c O u re u JZ vo •r) 84 H Fig. 17. Blades. A = 32-2, B-C = 33-12. D = 10-1, E = 33-7, F-I = Khash Spring, J = 32-5. All are jasper except F, which is chalcedony. To scale. 85 cylindrical, are included. Core tools showing intentional retouch are absent. Chunks. Eighteen percent of all flaked stones are classified as chunks (modified stones lacking flake characteristics), with 56% of these coming from the site of Knash Spring. Chips. Chips, less than 1 cm in maximum dimension, number 43, or 8% of the total flaked stone collection. Of these, 37% come from Khash Spring and fully 56% from site 32-5 (Dahnag). This latter site also yielded very fragmentary potsherds; both the ceramic and the lithic chips appear to be due to heavy trampling by caprid flocks. Non-Flaked Stone 3 Groundstone. Groundstone implements collected on the Khash sur vey are fashioned from the local igneous rocks or from a granite with hornblende, quartz, and feldspar inclusions. Ninety groundstone imple ments and fragments were recorded, 79% of which were found at the Khash Spring site. At least 3 complete and 14 fragmentary mortars were found. These were often 30-40 cm in diameter and hollowed in the center; 1 mor tar was almost a half meter in diameter. In addition, several pestles, hammerstones, and grinding stones were present. One perforated fragment was found on the surface of site 33-7 (Masharek), and a celt 18 cm long was collected from the surface of Khash Spring. The remaining ground stone pieces were of flattened oval or round shape or were too frag mentary to allow reconstruction of the function. Grinding stones and slabs are used for pounding such items as date pits, nuts, medicines, 3 Many of the groundstone implements were too large, heavy, and cumbersome to transport from the sites and were left in situ. This is especially true of Khash Spring, where 71 fragments of large groundstone implements littered the gridded surface. 86 and spices; but the abundance of groundstone fragments at Khash Spring suggests that larger amounts of grain were being processed and that the settlement was a permanent one based at least in part on agriculture. Groundstone artifacts accounted for 58% of the non-flaked lithic mate rial. Tuff. Tuff is a fossilized volcanic ash found throughout the Taftan Uplands. Its properties are similar to those of pumice, and it was ground into a fine powder for use as tempering material by potters. In the Khash area, pieces of this material were fashioned by grinding and smoothing into various shapes for unknown functions, although the smaller round ones may have served as polishing tools. Tuff contains inclusions of glass and tiny black fragments; and its very porous nature, due to pockets of gas, makes it extremely lightweight material. It was noted, however, that the weight of the fashioned tuff pieces varied on a continuum from extremely light to a weight approaching that of granite. This material obviously requires further mineralogical study. At present, all that can be definitely stated is that both granite and volcanic ash (tuff) were utilized in the survey area. Not a single piece of deliberately modified or fashioned tuff was found at Khash Spring. Twenty pieces, 55.5% of the tuff, were found at the site of 33-4 (Allahabad), mostly in the form of small rounded discs. Five were found at 32-5 (Dahnag) and four at 33-9 (Shandala Camp). Nine of the pieces are indented or hollowed on one or both sur faces, althoug only two were heavy enough to have served as mortars. Six were perforated, two were grooved as if for hafting, and a few of the heavier ones have evidence of battering and may have served as ham mers. Forms are either round (flattened or spherical), oval, or 87 irregular; one "bow-tie" shape was recorded. Sizes range from 2.2- 11.6 cm in diameter, with an average of around 5 cm. Thickness ranges from 0.7-7 cm. The largest was 11.6 cm in diameter with a perforation 2 cm wide in the center. The smallest two were rings 1.5-3 cm in diam eter; these were too lightweight to have functioned as loom weights, and their function is unknown. Tuff comprised 23% of the total non- flaked lithic material. Alabaster. Eighteen fragments of alabaster vessels are included in the non-flaked lithic category and comprise 12% of this category. Most of the specimens (72%) come from Khash Spring and are generally yellow, amber, or tan in color with veins of darker orange and red. Al though fragmentary, the alabaster sherds appear to have come from small, unrestricted, wide-mouthed vessels similar to those of Kili Ghul Moham- men, Damb Sadaat, and Shahr-i Sokhta. In the Khash collection, thickness of the pieces ranged from 4-8 mm, with an average of 6 mm. Steatite/Chlorite. While what was formerly thought to be stea tite at Tepe Yahya has been shown to be chlorite, the mineralogical status of this material in the Sarhad Plateau has not been determined; and it will be referred to here as steatite. Only seven fragments of carved vessels were found, three from Khash Spring, two from 22-21 (Khash Mountain Locality 6) and two from 21-1 (Pamazar). One of the Khash pieces was the flat base of a vessel; one of the Pamazar fragments was a thick everted rim. The two Khash Mounton Loc. 6 steatite sherds 4 As with alabaster, the small proportion of steatite/chlorite in the Khash collection fits well with the general distribution pattern of this material in Iran. It is rare at Shahr-i Sokhta to the north of the Sarhad, while to the west at Tepe Yahya it is abundant and is known also at the site of Tal-i Iblis. However, the two pieces from 21-1 (Pamazar) were found in an Islamic, not a prehistoric, context. oo CO 35 -1 C = 33 - 9 Fig. 18. Modified tuff. Scale 1:2. 89 were of a slight bluish or turquoise color; one had incised horizontal lines and a drilled perforation. Thicknesses of the steatite fragments ranged from 4-9 mm. Other stone objects. Three stone items were found which could be classified in none of the above categories. At site 25-1 (Shori), what appears to be a whetstone made from rough-textured unidentified material has a trough for a long, thin object. A flat, waterworn stone at the site of 43-15 (Ashkan Locality 10) was obviously imported; and at Khash Spring, a cylindrical piece of beige-greenish material, possibly lime stone, measured 7.6 cm long by 3.3 cm wide and 2 cm thick and bore traces of red paint applied in indistinguishable patterns. Small Finds Beads. Nine beads were found on the surface of sites in the Khash Area. From site 32-2 (Dahnag Locality 2) came a turquoise ceramic "donkey" bead. At site 43-3 (Qanat), a turquoise glass tube bead, tri angular in section and 2 cm long, was found. Site 32-5 (Dahnag) yielded three beads, including one oblong, unidentified, green and yellow stone and one cylindrical, amber-colored glass bead. From the Khash Spring site came four beads, including one sphere of turquoise and three of un identified beige stone ranging from 5-8 mm in diameter and from 5-4 mm thick. Drilled holes range from 1.5-2.5 mm. Glass. From eight sites, 38 fragments of glass were collected. The tally was: 20 from 21-1 (Pamazar); 6 from 32-5 (Dahnag); 5 from Khash Spring; 2 each from 35-8 (Tudi Locality 7) and 43-2 (Shagbond); and 1 each from 12-1 (Panj Angosht), 22-16 (Khash Mountain Locality 2), and 43-3 (Qanat). Green was the predominating color (24 pieces) with 2 turquoise, 1 purple, 1 white, 2 blue, and 5 clear; 25 (66%) of the glass 90 fragments were hazy or cloudy. In addition, fragments of eight arm bangles, five from Khash Spring which yielded no other form of glass, two from Pamazar 21-1, and one from Dahnag 32-5, were collected. Wood. Eight wooden artifacts were collected from seven sites, three of which were relatively recent campsites of pastoral nomads. Four of the specimens were combs made of tamarisk wood. A probable spin dle of conical shape with 20 progressively smaller ridges was found on the surface of site 33-7 (Masharek). A piece of tamarisk wood carved in a zigzag pattern with incised lines was collected from 33-9 (Shandala Camp), and one grooved oblong piece of wood was found at 32-5 (Dahnag). An irregularly-shaped carved piece of tamarisk was located under an over hang in the limestone outcrop of site 10-1 (Tugar). Metal. Only five pieces of metal were collected. From Khash Spring, a twisted piece of metal was identified as an artillery mortar fragment, probably from the military reservation on the valley floor. A metal button was on the surface of site 22-3 (Haidar), a small iron horseshoe was found at 32-5 (Dahnag), and a long bent nail came from site 12-1 (Panj Angosht). A long fragment of iron at 33-3 (Vadiabad Camp) was bent and curled at one end. All the metal specimens appear to be of recent origin. Shell. Nine shells, obviously imported, were found on the sur faces of sites 12-1 (Panj Angosht), 32-5 (Dahnag), and Khash Spring. Four of the shells were cowrie, still used by the Baluch pastoralists as decorations for their woven bags, three were snail, and two were frag ments of a large unidentified shell. The one shell from Khash Spring had 5 These appear to resemble similar bangles of glass from Bampur and Kulli sites in southern Baluchistan. 91 been perforated and was 2.3 cm long and .6 cm in diameter. Ceramic. Twenty-three potsherds, particularly those with a paste of compact quality, had been deliberately modified. Five of these had been shaped into discs by grinding the edges and were then perfo rated, possibly for use as spindle whorls or loom weights. Similar ground disc sherds at Tal-i Iblis were regarded by Chase (Chase et al. 1967:165) as diagnostic artifacts of the transition between Iblis I and II. In the Khash collection, these discs came from Khash Spring, 33-3 (Vadiabad Camp), 35-3 (Tudi Locality 2), 23-1 (Rostrom Tower), and 10-1 (Tugar) and ranged in thickness from 6-13 mm. The remaining 18 altered potsherds had been deliberately flaked with the same retouch patterns employed in the chipped stone industries. The compact paste sherds lent themselves well to this technique by virtue of their hardness and the concoidal fractures they yield. Three appeared to be scrapers with steep retouch, one may have been used as a borer, one had two drilled notches, and one had been given a denticulated edge. Bone. No artifacts fashioned from bone were found. From site 22-20 (Nosratabad), two fragments of a human occipital bone were found on the surface of a cairn, confirming the hypothesis that these rectan gular features were burial cairns. At site 33-7 (Masharek), the left mandible of a camel was found in a hearth area with butchering marks on the alveolar surface where the tongue had been detached. CHAPTER V CHRONOLOGY Analytical Problems An archeological survey such as this one is, of necessity, heavily dependent on the relative dating of ceramics. As opportunities for obtaining absolute dates are scant or nonexistent, the necessity of defining a chronological framework based on identifiable ceramic indica tors is the only means by which sites may be assigned to approximate time ranges. This must be accomplished by correlating the ceramic indicators —by fabric, method of manufacture, decorative technique, and stylistic details—with ceramics obtained in a clearly stratified context from nearby excavated sites. In surveys of portions of Luristan or Khuzistan, for instance, where much archeological work has been concentrated over several decades, it is possible to date sites on surface surveys by the presence of pottery identical in all respects to pottery excavated from major sites such as Susa, Tepe Guran, Nush-i Jan, Tepe Giyan, and numer ous others. In the valleys of Dolatabad and Soghun in Kerman, a fully defined ceramic sequence is available for comparison from Tepe Yahya. On the Sarhad Plateau of Baluchistan, however, the situation is quite different, and the problems posed by its state of archeological isolation should be emphasized before any tentative steps are taken to ward relative dating. The major problems which make for caution in dat ing the sites are: the lack of any ceramic sequence confirmed by exca vation; the consequent tentativeness of the types used as temporal 92 93 markers; the presence of purely local wares unknown elsewhere; the presence of several small sites exhibiting only plain wares; and, more common to all surveys, the difficulty in determining whether a surface mixture of ceramics represents different time periods. A brief discus sion follows of the ways in which these problems were met during the ex amination of the Khash area: 1. The most limiting problem, and the one from which the others stem, is the complete absence of an excavated site anywhere on the Pla teau. Not even a test trench exists to point to any stratified ceramics. The survey of the Khash area operated under a survey permit from the Iranian Center of Archeological Research, which precluded even small soundings. Consequently, for ceramic comparisons, I was forced to look to the nearest stratified sites, known from off the Plateau: Bampur in Iranian Baluchistan; Shahr-i Sokhta in Sistan; Shahdad, Tal-i Iblis, and Tepe Yahya in Kerman; and sites in the Baluchistan Province of Pakistan and in the Kandahar and Sistan regions of Afghanistan. The closest of these sites to the Khash Valley is Bampur, 180 km south-southwest. 2. In spite of the lack of a ceramic sequence, some broadly de fined types can be used in the Khash area to indicate rough time ranges, as Stein used painted pottery to identify prehistoric sites and orna mented glazed pottery to identify Islamic sites. For prehistoric peri ods, fourth through third millennia, an abundant collection of painted pottery in buff, red, and gray ware exists with design motifs found throughout the Indo-Iranian Borderlands. In addition, alabaster vessels and basket-impressed pottery may be considered characteristic of pre historic sites. Islamic, if not earlier, periods are indicated by various glazed wares, while the most recent pottery is similar to that 94 made today by Baluch potters. The full range of Khash ceramic markers will be discussed below. 3. The Baluch ware, although in this case its provenience and date are well known, illustrates the third problem, that of the presence of local wares which cannot be identified or dated by reference to com parisons with other areas. On the Sarhad Plateau (which was not a major crossroads for east-west traffic and may have been, if not an outright cultural backwater, at least a region subject to sustained periods of relative isolation from any cultural mainstreams), the development of strictly localized ceramic traditions would have been encouraged. Par ticularly is this so if the area was largely occupied by small settle ments and by people who practiced some form of transhumance. It is often possible only to identify a pottery type as local and, in the absence of a stratified sequence, impossible to assign a date to the type. As a result, time ranges of these local wares could only be estimated by ex amining their co-occurrences with the more datable pottery types indi cated above. 4. Related to the problem of localized pottery traditions is that of the prevalence of small seasonally occupied sites characterized only by small scatters of plain ware sherds. Undecorated wares are gen erally more utilitarian and more likely to be locally produced and not widely distributed. These small sites are often impossible to date. 5. At many sites, a mixture of different time periods was indi cated by the presence of both prehistoric and Islamic or earlier historic ceramics. In most cases, a multi-component site was more difficult to define in the absence of clearly known pottery types from all time periods. Care had to be exercised in correlating previously unknown 95 pottery types with those types possessing more certain affinities. The smaller and more impermanent the settlement type appeared to be (e.g., transient stations of nomadic groups), the more likely it was that a safe assumption could be made for contemporaneity of the different ceramic types found on the site. Prehistoric Pottery Several Paleolithic sites were located on the survey, but the earliest ceramic site which it has been possible to date is probably late fourth millennium B.C. Of Neolithic periods on the Sarhad Plateau, there are no traces. Whether this is due to the fact that the plateau was largely unoccupied in that time, or whether its surviving ceramics and lithics are simply unrecognized, is unknown. Prior to its third millennium florescence, Iranian pottery was generally characterized by marked regional stylistic and material differences, hand construction, coarse texture, and fiber tempering. Most early pottery was friable, porous, unevenly fired, and bare of decoration. This type of coarse, handmade pottery, however, had a long life and is impossible to date without more refined analyses based on exca vated sequences. Most of the plain coarse pottery collected on the Khash Valley survey, because of its wide variety and anomalous nature, was omitted from both the ceramic typology and the tests for association. Only a small fraction of the plain coarse ware has been illus trated or described in this report since only a few of the sherds in this category can be definitely typed by temper. These sherds are of the Quetta Temper variety, similar to (and named after) a ware described from the Quetta Valley by Fairservis (1956:250). The Quetta Tempered Ware from the Khash Valley appears to be significantly associated with 96 prehistoric wares (as in the Quetta Valley it is concentrated in Period G2, approximately 2000 B.C.). Aside from this one type, the plain coarse wares remain diffi cult to categorize. Coarse, handmade pottery was also in use as local domestic ware in the Islamic periods and is thus difficult to place. The coarse wares of the Khash Valley range from an unoxidized gray to buff and red. Usually hand-constructed, coarse ware can be either hard or soft and crumbly. It is often poorly fired with clouds and smudges. The temper, as in much hand-modeled pottery, is often heavy and ranges from fiber or chaff through heavy grit to various categories of crushed rock. A hard clay temper is present in some sherds and may range in color from dark brown to red, as does the Quetta Temper, and is consid ered by Fairservis to be among the first made by ceramicists in the Quetta Valley during Period I (it survives to Period G [Fairservis 1956:249]). By the late fourth millennium (the so-called Chalcolithic peri od) , it is possible to identify the ceramics based on both widespread design elements and by the fact that most major ceramic innovations of this period are exemplified in Baluchistan by the finer wares from the sites of Bampur and Damin. In many parts of Iran, these begin to appear during the Chalcolithic with the introduction of the wheel and continue with minor changes for more than two thousand years. In the late fourth or early third millennium, the wheel appears to have been introduced into southeast Iran and is largely correlated with larger, heavier vessels, especially among the undecorated wares. Caldwell (1967:182) suggests that this association may be due to the diffusion of the wheel construction as a trait complex which included string-cut bases and specific types of vessels. With the introduction 97 of a perfected and truly fast potter's wheel at a somewhat later date, burnished pottery begins to surpass the traditional painted pottery in quantity. Such a replacement, perhaps indicating a turn to mass produc tion of finer wares and a corresponding lack of time to devote to deco ration, has been noted by Tosi (1970a: 13, 45) at both Damin and Shahr-i Sokhta. Because fine, wheel-thrown, plain wares do not require much handling and thus often lack the addition of deliberate homogeneity, they may be even more difficult to date than coarse, plain, handmade pottery. The presence of slips, burnished or not, does little to help the matter; red-burnished red ware existed in some areas from the earliest ceramic periods. In Baluchistan today, the locally made pottery is a friable red ware with a burnished dark red slip. Much of the third millennium pottery consists of fine plain ware, often unslipped and untempered. Likewise, much of the corpus of Islamic pottery was probably an unglazed, fine plain ware. Caldwell (1967:41) laments the difficulty he encoun tered in dating plain ware "because fairly similar techniques, shapes, and decorative patterns persisted for several centuries and were em ployed over vast areas." During the course of my own analysis, I have found that perhaps the only good indications of variety (temporal, cultural, or both) in the Khash Valley Fine Plain Ware are found in the paste itself. The densely compacted paste so characteristic of the prehistoric painted wares is easily recognizable. At this point, however, it is not possi ble to make finer divisions of plain wares based on attribute variation. 98 Fine Painted Pottery By the end of the fourth millennium B.C.in Baluchistan and Makran, the fine, wheel-thrown pottery is decorated by painted, geo metric designs similar to those found to the west at Sialk III, Bakun A, Susa I, and Giyan V; to the east in the Quetta and Kej Valleys; to the south in Bahrain in the Persian Gulf. In contrast to later periods in the Indo-Iranian Borderlands, the third millennium is characterized throughout by a widespread and roughly comparable form of painted pot tery. In later periods, regionalism becomes more marked. Painted ceramics are the most valuable of all artifacts for the archeologist in Iran. Andrews (1925:304) described this value as fol lows: With the knowledge of vitrifiable pigments and the ability to apply them in lines and masses the inventive faculty directed toward design would be stimulated to produce greater varieties of pattern. As pattern becomes more complicated the occurrence of similar combinations of form and treatment in widely separated localities suggests a connection between the people of such places, explainable either by migration of the patterns or by the interchange of ideas. Mellaart (1965:230) is of the additional opinion that no country has had such a long tradition of painted pottery as Iran. As in India (Khan 1964a:22), there is a general trend in southeast Iran to group design elements in horizontal panels on shoulders and necks rather than the vertical bands which are so common in western Iranian pottery. This horizontal repetition of motifs stems from "the use of the potter's wheel, which we may presume was turned as the horizontal lines were drawn: (Fairservis 1961:103). The design motifs utilized in the Khash area which correspond with those of other sites are illustrated in Figure 19. 99 A J") <31 Jg 26 BfflffljK 4BW 32 X Figure 19. Design motif correlations. Item 4 = 10-1; 6, 11, 18 = 32-8; 12 = 32-5; 17 = 33-14; 23 = 33-4; 28 = 32-2; the remaining sherds are from Khash Spring. Item 2 is polychrome; 16, 17, 18, and 28 are gray ware. 100 Some of the most serious dating problems exist with the painted wares because of their duration into proto-historic and historic periods, often perpetuating or repeating design motifs noted in the third millen- ium B.C. The "fine orange painted wares" found at Tepe Yahya I and IA and across the Persian Gulf in Oman have been called by Lamberg-Karlovsky a sign of "clear Achaemenian presence" (deCardi 1975:57). At Fanuch in southeast Iran, Stein (1937:101) found a painted pottery which he classed as Late Prehistoric and which is associated with "ribbed" and relief-decorated pieces and a few fragments of 9th and 10th century A.D. glazed ware. Painted wares are often predominant in assemblages of Islamic pottery; one of the most distinctive pottery types at Siraf is a painted ware of the 14th and 15th centuries (Whitehouse 1970:156). Painted "Julfar" pottery is produced today in two areas of Oman (deCardi 1975:66), and the hatched triangle motif so common in prehistoric de signs is still employed on modern pottery in Sind (Mackay 1930:135). Without a firmly based familiarity with the full range of painted wares from various periods, it is often difficult to distinguish between painted prehistoric pottery and painted wares of later periods. Until excavations are undertaken in the Sarhad Plateau region, it is possible that attempts to date sites there based on the presence on the surface of painted pottery will be subject to errors. Even in the Khash Valley, however, some qualitative differences between painted wares may be noted: the painted sherds of site 22-20 (Nosratabad [see Figure 3]), although they bear the familiar cross-hatched hanging triangle motif, appear significantly different from the painted wares of prehistoric sites in fabric, texture, thickness, and the matte nature of the paint itself. In addition, the plain ware found on the Nosratabad site appear 101 to be of Iron Age or Parthian derivation if forms and rim profiles are any ind ic a t ion. Gray Ware, Plain and Painted Painted gray wares were common throughout late prehistoric and early historic times within a wide area composed mainly of the Indo- Iranian Borderlands. It was first identified by Stein at Khurab in the Bampur Valley and is found in many late third millennium levels of sites from Sistan to Pakistani Baluchistan and into India. Its sphere of dis tribution does not seem to extend far to the west beyond Tepe Yahya; and it occurs in only a small percentage in Turkenistan, indicating that its concentration was to the south. Despite its widespread distribution, the ware itself remains remarkably homogenous; and from its first de scription by Fairservis (1956:263), subsequent analyses of the ware from areas as far away as the Bampur Valley, Sistan, and the Indus Valley have been remarkably consistent. Fairservis' description of what he labeled Faiz Mohammed Grayware was of a thin, hard, fine wheelmade ware ranging in color from 7.5YR 6/0, 7/0 to 10YR 6/2 and in the form of platters or plates with ring bases and interior decoration. Designs of bold geometric and floral motifs are painted in both black and red paint. (No parallels for the naturalistic motifs are found to the west in Iran.) This ware was identified from the sites of Damb Sadaat and Faiz Mohammed, but not from the earlier site of Kili Ghul Mohammed, and is dated roughly from approximately 2500 to 1900 B.C. (Fairservis 1975: 401). Enault and Jarrige (1973:181) describe a hard, porcelaneous ware near the Bolan Pass in Pakistan which they consider identical to Fair servis' Faiz Mohammed Grayware. Shapes are mostly shallow bowls or 102 dishes with ring bases with geometric designs such as chevrons, stepped ovals, and triangles with denticulate edging. Some of the pottery is painted in red, with motifs of pipal leaves, groups of sigmas, or comb like motifs and varies somewhat from Faiz Mohammed ware in the origin ality of its designs (Enault and Jarrige 1973:194). In India's Sutlej Valley and Gastinapura, Hegde (1975:187) has defined a painted gray ware: wheelmade, small, ash-gray, usually in the form of straight-sided bowls and dishes. This ware is fine-grained, uniformly thin, and evenly baked. Radiocarbon dates point to a time span of 500 years from early to middle centuries of the first millennium B.C. In the Sistan at the site of Shahr-i Sokhta, Tosi refers to a porcelaneous paste, fired in kilns reaching a very high temperature. The clay is completely depurated, permitting thin walls and slender forms. The color is a uniform dark gray with a monochrome painted deco ration applied directly to the surface (Tosi 1969:312). The Shahr-i Sokhta gray ware appears to be more differentiated from the gray ware of Baluchistan, but Tosi maintains the relationship between them: . . . r^e gray ceramics . . . are probably to be considered as a product, related to mature stages of the process of urbanization that had the Hilmand Basin as its center, and spread into the val leys of Baluchistan, influencing a whole series of cultural centers that had been settled bit by bit along the perennial watercourses. The gray ware is almost as useful as a fossil guide, and, if oppor tunely analyzed, will supply a useful basis for comparison for the reconstruction of a relative chronology based on the evolution of the ceramic types [Tosi 1970b:42]. Again from the Bampur Valley, Andrews described a gray ware ranging from dove gray to almost black, "porcelain in its density and freedom from impurity" (Andrews 1925:307). This black-painted ware is often quite thin walled and of delicate craftsmanship. Stein found the 103 Damin gray ware of special interest because of the contact it suggested with sites to the east and northeast. He referred specifically to the similarity of fabric and the "was^y" colors of the painted designs (Stein 1937:115). At Damin, the gray ware has an approximate date of 2000 B.C. and is painted with swastikas, compositions of fringed lines, and vertical hatched geometric figures. The gray ware collected in the Khash Valley fits well with these descriptions of the ware from other areas. As in all sites where it is found, the gray ware occurs in relatively small percentages (5% at Shahr-i Sokhta, 8% at Damin, 4% of the painted ware at Khash Spring) and thus ap pears to be fine ware of some function other than that of common, every day domestic use. Its utility as a temporal marker for the late prehis toric period—the second half of the third millennium and all of the second millennium—seems amply supported by widespread evidence. The later gray ware seems to be the highly polished variety, found at Shahr-i Sokhta, Nad-i-Ali, and Bampur. None of the later variety was found in the Khash Valley as was none of the incised gray ware known from Tepe Yahya and Bampur. Basket-Impressed Ware The basket-impressed sherds collected from six sites in the Khash Valley (most of them from the major third millennium site of Khash Spring), appear to be markedly similar to the Burj basket-marked pottery described by Fairservis in the Quetta Valley report (Fairservis 1956: 259). Found in the early levels of Lili Ghul Mohammed and Damb Sadaat, this handmade pottery comes in a wide range of colors with hard clay and sometimes crushed rock, temper, and a coarse texture. Forms are "rather squat open vessels, with straight or slightly sloping sides and flat 104 bottoms. Rims are frequently raised from the line of the body." The basketry coils are thick and horizontal and often deliberately smoothed. At the Harappan site of Allahadino in Pakistan, Shaffer reports that basket-impressed ware comprises over 5% of the total ceramics, with the highest percentage in the earliest level. This pottery is very sim ilar to the Burj basket-marked ware. Its paste color varies from dark brown to red, and most vessels had a heavy black carbon deposit on the surfaces "as if used over an open fire" (Shaffer 1974b:70). This was the only handmade pottery type found on the site; it was coiled within a basket, and the basket then removed after drying. In most cases, the basket impressions were smoothed and obliterated, although in the ear liest level many unsmoothed sherds were found. The vessels were largely "straight-constricting walled" jars tempered with grog (or hardened clay). At Sotka Koh, a fortified Harappan site on the Makran coast, Dales found that the presence of basket-impressed sherds pointed to the Baluchistan hill cultures (Dales 1962:91). At Balakot in Pakistan, basket-impressed sherds are found in a firm Harappan context, often in Mature Harappan levels (Dales, personal communication, 1976). To the north in Swat, Stacul has found a coarse, handmade basket- impressed ware produced in a restricted number of shapes and similar to the Neolithic I pottery at Burzahom in Kashmir (Stacul 1974:240). At Ghar-i Mar in Afghanistan, Dupree has found a few basket-impressed sherds in a "Neolithic" context with crude, soft limestone-tempered wares (Dupree 1964:640), and in Hammond's survey of the Helmand Valley of Afghanistan, a single basket-impressed sherd was found on the surface; this sherd is a buff color with the basket marking on the interior (Hammond 1970:457). 105 In Iran, basket-impressed sherds again markedly similar to those of the Khash Valley have been found in limited quantities by Stein and deCardi in the Bampur Valley at the sites of Chah Husaini, Qasimabad, two other small sites, and Bampur itself, as well as in Saravan at the site of Robahok (deCardi 1970:292). DeCardi has found similar sherds at Anjira in central Kalat, Pakistan. Other than these limited occurrences in Baluchistan, and now in the Khash Valley, basket-impressed pottery is unknown in Iran. It has never been found in Sistan (M. Tosi and R. Biscione, personal communica tion, 1976), and Henry T. Wright knows of only unintentional basket im pressions in Iran (personal communication, 1976). Vince Piggott (per sonal communication, 1976) claims to have found the basket-impressed sherds on the surface of Tepe Hissar in northeast Iran, but he cautions that none have appeared to date in the excavations there and that none are mentioned by Schmidt in his original site report on Hissar. While rather firm limits may be set to the geographic distribution of basket-impressed ware in the Indo-Iranian Borderlands, no such para meters can yet be definitively pinpointed for the chronological range of the ware. Stein (1937) viewed the basket-impressed pottery of Chah Husaini as a fourth millennium ceramic marker. Farther north the basket- impressed pottery is found in a Neolithic context where Stacul sees a transition from the basket-impressed ware phase to a black-gray burnished ^hase at Tureng Tepe and other sites. However, he sees the basket- impressed ware phase surviving into later periods in the Swat Valley and continuing as a tradition in neighboring zones to the south (Stacul 1974:241). DeCardi found the basket-impressed ware at Bampur in level IV2 (dated approximately 2000 B.C.), while the same ware at Anjira in 106 Pakistan occurred in a "considerably earlier context" (deCardi 1970: 292). In Dales' 1968 review of chronology, basket-impressed pottery was considered to be a fairly reliable indicator of the Neolithic or at least early Chalcolithic. However, with the data accumulated in the few years since then, Dales now cautions that basket-impressed ware can no longer be used as an indicator of early periods as it seems to be much more widespread in time (personal communication, 1976). In short, the widespread similarities in the rim profiles, vessel shapes, fabrics, and basket plaiting found on this ware from all the areas mentioned above occur in spite of an apparent widespread distribu tion through time. Dates ascribed to the ware range from the sixth mil lennium B.C. Neolithic in Afghanistan to the early third millenium at Kili Ghul Mohammed and the end of the third millennium at Bampur. Con tinuity evidenced by this basket-impressed pottery may not be due solely to regional traditions or cultural continuity but, as Shaffer (1974a) suggests, to a mode of subsistence, such as pastoral nomadism, which required a handmade, easily constructed utilitarian ware. This question will be examined further in Chapter VIII. Late Prehistoric and Early Historic Pottery The second millennium B.C. was a period of disturbances and up heavals among all the cultures of the Iranian Plateau and South Asia. During the Late Prehistoric, one of the most prominent wares is the gray ware discussed above. Many forms of painted wares—particularly buff wares—continue and, in the Achaemenian period, new types of pottery emerge as well. In the early first millennium, Dyson (1965:197) notes a shift away from firing in a reducing atmosphere and toward an oxidizing 107 one, "with a consequent shift from gray to a brown and buff product." During the Achaemenian period in Iran there is a continued increase in buff wares, the finest vessels slipped in red, along with a prolonged decline in painted pottery marked by a brief resurgence of the cross- hatched or solid hanging triangle motifs which disappear by mid-millen nium (Dyson 1965:212). The overall decrease in finer wares in this period may be due to the prosperity of Achaemenian Iran where the use of copper, brass, and more precious metal vessels reduced the need for finer ceramics. Unfortunately, ceramics from this period are little known in the Borderlands; Iron Age pottery is only poorly recognized even in more western areas of Iran. Through much of the second millennium, for ex ample, Tepe Yahya appears to have been abandoned. Pottery is rare in this period (III) but includes both the red and gray burnished wares. The Achaemenian ware in the Helmand Valley of Afghanistan is represented by a hard red ware of an average thickness of 4.5 mm, some times slipped and burnished in red and with small white mineral inclu sions (Hammond 1970:451). At Tepe Yahya in Period II, Achaemenian wares dated to the mid to late first millennium B.C. are represented by high- necked jars and everted rim bowls. Painted wares were also present, often with a single red-brown horizontal band below the rim and rarely with meandering motifs, loops, or more complex designs (Lamberg-Karlovsky 1970:22). Early Iron Age pottery, dated to the first millennium (200- 400 A.D.) in Afghanistan is characterized by much plain ware, red streak- burnished ware, a hard buff ware stamped with rosettes, incised circle ware, and painted ware, especially red on buff decorated with simple rim 108 banding and rarely with cross-hatching, checkerboards, and other designs. In the Late Iron Age (around 600 A.D.) in Afghanistan, painted wares are less common and are decorated with a single red band or a repeated spiral. Most of the ware of this period is plain domestic utility ware, especially cream-slipped, highly-fired, neckless jars and coarse, thick- walled wares tempered with crushed limestone, grog, and grit (Dupree 1972:35). In the Khash Valley collection, many of the plain wares and pos sibly a small fraction of the painted wares (such as those found at site 22-20 [Nosratabad]) date from this period of Late Prehistoric through Early Historic, or Iron Age through Achaemenian. The periods which follow the Achaemenian are even more difficult to delineate ceramically, largely because of the absence of a set of ceramic market types which could be easily recognized. Generally, the lack of development of the potter's craft which began with the Achaemen ian period continues through Parthian and Sasanian periods when most pottery was coarse, thick-walled, and utilitarian (and easy to confuse with the utilitarian wares of other periods). In many parts of Iran these were heavy, straw-tempered, and had a brick-like texture. Rims are often rolled or folded. Haerinck (1976) found much regional variation in Parthian ceramics throughout Iran, naming seven main ceramic provinces for that period. Instead of typical Parthian pottery, the Parthian ceramics in each prov ince are characterized by a continuity in local traditions from previous periods. In northeast Iran, painted pottery with zoometric designs is still frequent and similar to the earlier Iron Age pottery. A red- burnished ware is also typical for the Gorgan area. In Sistan, a common 109 ceramic included a carinated, flat-rimmed bowl, a monochrome painted ware with carefully applied designs, and the well-known ribbed ware which continued through the Sasanian period. In Haerinck's Baluchistan Province, based on such sites as Tepe Yahya, Fanuch, and Damba Koh, the dominant Parthian ware is seen as a monochrome painted ware which disap pears in the first century B.C. and is followed in the next century by a black-on-orange slip-painted ware. Bowls and beakers are typical shapes up to the fifth century A.D. At Tepe Yahya I, this painted ware is a black on a fine red-tan "reminiscent of the so-called Londo ware (coarse) in Pakistan" (Lamberg-Karlovsky 1970:8). Designs include curvilinear motifs, particularly hanging spirals. This type of pottery was previ ously known only from cairn burials in the Borderlands (site 22-20 in the Khash Valley is a cairn burial site which has a similar painted ware) and has been dated to the early first millennium B.C. Its presence at Tepe Yahya in sealed levels "secures its context as Partho-Sasanian" (Lamberg-Karlovsky 1970:8). In addition, some glass fragments and a few pieces of bluish-green glazed ware were recovered from Yahya I. The corrugated (ribbed) ware, the brick-like textured ware, and some of the painted wares (such as the black-on-coarse found at 22-20) in the Khash Valley collection appear to date from the Partho-Sasanian period. Ribbed or Corrugated Ware Among the plastic-decorated Partho-Sasanian wares, corrugated pottery is quite prominent in the collections from historic sites in 1 At the site of Nad-i Ali, first examined by Ghirshman, the painted ware was identified as Chalcolithic. Upon re-examination of this site, Dales (personal communication, 1976) found this painted ware to be later, the earliest material at the site dating from the Median period in the first millennium. 110 eastern Iran. In Sistan this technique has been especially well defined and is described by Fairservis under the type heading "Sistan Ribbed." This ware has a time range in Sistan and Kandahar from the first century A.D. to Early Islamic times or at least to the tenth century (Fairservis 1961:88). Dupree has found Sistan Ribbed ware at Shamshir Ghar in Af ghanistan in a Late Kushan (100-300 A.D.) context. Scerrato, excavator of the site of Dahan-i Ghuleman in Iranian Sistan, confirms Fairservis' dating of the ware as "referring exclusively to the period of known history" (Scerrato 1962:189). Corrugated wares, then, occur primarily in a pre-Islamic context and are seldom found in association with any but the earliest monochrome glazed wares. This ceramic type has also been found in the Helmand Valley in Afghanistan, where Hammond (1970:452) refers to it as "the common domes tic ware of this part of the world." Outside of Sistan, however, it ap pears to have played a less prominent role in the functional corpus of pottery. In the Khash Valley, corrugated ware represents only a small fraction of the pottery at any one site. Islamic Pottery Following the Arab invasion of Iran, ceramic arts underwent a great revival when Islam forbade the use of luxurious metal vessels. Although most pottery, especially outside of the urban areas, was still the grit-tempered unglazed buff and white ware, press-molded and stamp- impressed decorations continued, and alkaline glazes were revived and improved. Glazed wares under Islamic Seljuk rule in the eleventh cen tury were particularly abundant and varied. The dating of the glazed wares is simplified by this variety. On the other hand, unglazed wares are difficult to date because of the lengthy time ranges of decorative Ill techniques such as comb incising, applique bands, and stamp impressions. While the Islamic technique of glazing persisted into the eighteenth century, the under-glaze decorations and the mineral constituency and color of the glazes themselves aid in differentiating wares from differ ent periods. Many of the unglazed vessels of the later historic periods are decorated with painted and plastic designs. These Sasanian to late Safavid wares, designed for heavier use than the more fragile glazed ware, are often impressed with stamp or cylinder seals or have repetitive motifs in molded relief. Incised wares are prevalent and some appliqued decorations were employed. As in all periods, much Islamic pottery is plain, undecorated. Glazed Wares The most important change in Iranian pottery since the introduc tion of the wheel was the development of the technique of glazing, which appears in Iran between 1750 and 100 B.C. (Wulff 1966:138). During Parthian and Sasanian times, most trade wares consisted of glazed ves sels. The undecorated blue-green alkaline glazes were earliest to ap pear, probably in the Parthian period in southeast Iran. It is this type of glazed pottery which occurs most frequently with corrugated ware. In the latter half of the first millennium B.C., lead glazes be gin to predominate in many colors and were often applied over a carved or molded surface (Wulff 1966:141). The monochrome, unornamented glazed ceramics range from Parthian to relatively recent times and are almost as difficult to date as un glazed pottery. Hobson (1937:244) describes some of the glazed ware collected by Stein in the Bampur Valley as a "red or reddish-buff 112 pottery with a thick siliceous glaze varying from leaf-green through dark bottle green to blue, a type which was current in Sasanian times and has continued almost indefinitely." A green-glazed pottery from Siraf is dated from the eighth and ninth centuries A.D. (deCardi 1975). Hobson also describes a thick turquoise blue glaze on a sandy white body as of "pure Islamic character" in spite of its "archaic appearance." Both types of monochrome glazed ware—the dark green on a red body and a thick turquoise on a white body—were found at many sites in the Khash Valley. Something similar to the so-called "Nishapur" ware, with a mot tled green-yellow-brown glaze has also been recovered from the Khash Valley. This type has been dated in other areas to the ninth and tenth centuries. A distinctive glazed ware in a "splashed" pattern of yellow-green and brown with sgraffito decoration, dated in Iran from the ninth cen tury A.D. at the site of Eshkevar, is found at several localities in the Khash Valley. These and other sgraffito wares with etched designs have been dated elsewhere to the eleventh to fourteenth centuries (deCardi 1975:36). Blue and turquoise glazes over black painted designs can be dated with some certainty to post-Mongol times, especially to the Timurid and Safavid periods of the thirteenth to seventeenth centuries, although Hobson (1937:246) assigns a tenth to twelfth century date to this under glaze painted ware at Bampur. Several sherds of this type are in the Khash Valley collection. A similar underglaze painted ware, also post- medieval, is the Safavid blue-on-white with blue paint outlined in black 113 beneath a transparent glaze on a white background. At least two of these sherds were found in the Khash area. Other glazed wares found during the Khash Valley survey in lim ited quantities were: amber-colored glaze over brown painted and/or sgraffito designs (found in a ninth to tenth century A.D. context at Qobeiyra in Iran); solid black to reddish-black glaze; white glaze with green banding; pale yellow glaze, often eroded; green glaze over black paint; a mixture of green, yellow, and blue glazes; clear transparent glaze over red, yellow, and brown paint; white glaze with blue designs; dark green with dark sienna paint. Two particularly unusual glazed sherds were recorded: a design with a feathered wind pattern in white, lavender, light blue, and black from site 36-1 (Sangan); a glazed sherd in black, white, and sienna bearing a design motif similar to the char acteristic Baluch motif still in use today from site 21-1 (Pamazar). Incised Ware In Afghanistan (Dupree 1972:33) and Pakistan (Shaffer 1974b:82), incised pottery in patterns of multiple and single horizontal bands and zigzags are found in Chalcolithic and Harappan levels. At the site of Allahadino, incised ware comprises 1% of the total pottery. A medium to coarse pottery with incised designs applied between rim and shoulder of high-necked vessels and often with cream-colored slips is found in I and IA Partho-Sasanian levels at Tepe Yahya (0-500 A.D.) and across the Gulf in Oman (deCardi 1975:54). In Sistan, the first millenium site of Dahan-i Ghulaman has yielded a red to buff ware with clear slips infrequently incised with straight or wavy lines (Scerrato 1966:26). In the Swat Valley of Afghanistan, thin-walled, flat-based incised vessels "show influence from North Iran" and date from 114 the beginning of the first millennium B.C. to the fourth century B.C. (Stacul 1974:242). In his survey of the Helmand Valley in Afghanistan, Hammond (1970:454) describes a red ware, sometimes with light slips and 7 mm thick, decorated with incised, evenly-spaced parallel lines, as being Late Kushan-Sasanian or Early Islamic. Likewise, a red or brown ware, 6-12 mm thick and decorated with incised zigzags and lozenges is considered by Tosi to be Islamic but is found unrelated to the Islamic by Hammond, who speculates that the ware may belong to Central Asian pastoralists who entered the area at the beginning of the Islamic period. Islamic levels at Iblis yielded fine white to light buff pottery incised with lines and fine combings. From Oman, a fine incised ware with dense red paste is known. These vessels are thin-walled, high- necked jars with sharp shoulder angles and globular bodies, often cream slipped. DeCardi (1975:64) considers these vessels imports from Minab in Iran. Designs include quartered diamonds with dots which are remark ably similar to modern Baluch design motifs in Iranian Baluchistan. Also in Oman, a coarse red ware crudely incised with meanders between bands is dated to the eleventh to twelfth centuries A.D. In the Quetta Valley, both fine and coarse incised wares were found, often with comb incising. Similar sherds in Sistan are asso ciated with first millennium corrugated ware, although the incised pot tery is quite often found in an Islamic association. Hammond designated Early Islamic the 10 mm thick, buff ware sherds of large, rolled-rim bowls which he found in the Helmand area with light slips and wavy in cisions made by combs of 8-10 teeth. Wright, however, cautions that the wavy combed motifs are common ones, found in western Iran from Uruk times until the Timurid dynasty 115 (personal communication, 1976). This wide temporal span is a result of the ease with which the motif may be reproduced. One of the few ways in which it may be possible to establish diagnostic criteria for dating is by examination of variation in rim profiles. In the Khash Valley, incised wares are found in association with both Islamic wares and presumably with earlier wares. There appear to be no differences between the Incised Buff type and Incised Red type as far as associations are concerned. It is possible that this division, between buff fine ware and red coarse to medium ware could be a largely artificial one. Impressed Ware Another type of pottery common during Islamic times is stamp- impressed and molded ware, which in this report have been lumped to gether. In the Quetta Valley, Fairservis (1956:338) made a distinction between them: Stamped Ware is both fine and coarse, both handmade and wheelmade. Decoration is usually on the neck or shoulder and in the form of concentric circles, leaf impressions, etc. This type is common on Buddhist and Hellenistic sites in Afghanistan and dies out in the Muslim period. Mold-made ware, on the other hand, Fairservis considers Islamic in the Quetta Valley and Sistan, although in the Swat Valley it also occurs in a Buddhist context. A fine ware between 4 and 8 mm in thickness, it is apparently rarely found in northern Baluchistan (Fair servis 1956:339). A small number of similar fine buff sherds were found in the Helmand Valley which Hammond (1970:455) calls "recess-molding"— impressions which appear like excisions or deep stamping. In the Bampur Valley, many vessel fragments richly decorated with molded reliefs have been collected. These Hobson (1937:247) identifies as the porous water 116 vessels in general use throughout the Near East. In Oman, deCardi (1975: 64) records a molded, relief-decorated ware as an import from the Jiruft area sometime after the thirteenth century A.D. At the site of Jorgan in Iran, impressed ware is also dated to the thirteenth century. The stamp-impressed and molded-relief decorated sherds found in the Khash Valley, based on this review of the literature, could be placed roughly in the early to medieval Islamic period. Punctated Ledge Ware This Khash Valley type resembles the "Jabbed Row" pottery of the Helmand Valley (Hammond 1970:453), which is a domestic ware, not fine textured, probably of local origin during the Kushan period, as well as the Rope Ware of the Quetta Valley. This latter type is thick, coarse, wheelmade, often with hard-clay temper, and frequently slipped in cream or red-brown. The raised bands on the shoulder bear parallel oblique incisions made either with a finger or cutting implement. Most of these vessels were quite large. In Sistan, Rope Ware is associated with Ribbed or Corrugated Ware, suggesting an early first millennium A.D. time range. Applique Ware One of the most common appliqued designs is the raised wavy band, often between horizontal bands, which is applied to the surface below the rim. This fits pottery from Shahi-Tump (Stein 1931:P1. 11), the lower levels of Bampur (Stein 1937), and Kulli (Stein 1931:124) but V 't also seems to apply to later historic pottery such as that of the Quetta Valley (Fairservis 1956:338) and Rana Ghundai V (Ross 1946:310). Motifs include curvilinear designs of loops and circles, sometimes punctated or 117 incised. The examples of appliqued ware in the Khash Valley, except possibly for the Serpentine Ridged Ware, appear to be associated with pottery from the later post-Chalcolithic periods. Other Historic Pottery Markers Porcelain is a definite indicator of the modern period. Often in the Khash Valley, it is painted in floral designs of red and gold. The plain undecorated wares of the historic periods following the Par thian are more difficult to pinpoint. One characteristic of historic pottery noted by Fairservis (1956:343) is a handle with a single broad groove down the center, several of which were found during the survey of the Khash area. Yellow paste is common during the Islamic time range, often found in the Khash Valley in association with glazed wares. The Baluch Ware, still manufactured today in the village of Kalparakan, approximately 180 km southeast of Khash, is a distinctive and easily recognizable ceramic type. It appears to have had a lifespan at least as long as the Baluch ethnic group has occupied Iranian Baluchistan, some 300 or more years. In this amount of time, enough slight changes appear to have occurred in the rim profiles and painted designs to indi cate some measure of cultural drift or change in this ceramic tradition. A Hypothesized Ceramic Sequence To summarize the above discussion of general ceramic develop ments and comparisons, a workable, if highly tentative, sequence of Khash Valley ceramics may be postulated. This sequence has been tested by a matrix analysis (Table 1) in which similarity of distribution, or rate of co-occurrences, of 23 ceramic types were computed for 105 sites TABLE 1 ARTIFACT ASSOCIATIONSt J_ • X 3 J" Ul > o rv 0 < i I i U. o H u -I X Ul 2 o CO o v!) < •< 0 O cc CO a) A 4 CO 100 u cu • • • • • u ALABASTER s B S2 loo 5o 50 loo So JO • • • So So BASKET - IMFRESSSD 5°°- 19°) * >< • * m 9 So (00 57 7? So • S&> • • • 67 GRAY WARE (w • • • • <*<, So 5? [loo 1 »; s « l» 71 QUETTA TJIMPERED N • 55 • 0 PAINTEP Fine WARES 100 I0O (kjoo Hjoq Hi 75 47 5fc 54 55 SO 4,7 • 100r w £.7 56 • JQf su * • 47 COMPACT T^STS u a 7? W i» 57 • m • • • • BLACK- pAii^reD CoARse 50 75 75 J00 > 50 s> So 5o • • • GPOUNDSTONC 5o &? 6? PUNCTATED Ltbae 100 50 • 50 • e • GRAZED WARE U 50 (.1 71 • 54, 57 41 57 47 ^^ 50 71 65 fe7 CoRRU&ATED WARE So "js • 5o 5? 55 • 71 100 4'/ • • » o • • • • » IOC I*OSEt> BUFF WAR£ 50 • • 54 50 4 2 on a presence/absence basis. Associations of pairs of types were ranked by percentages of the maximum possible co-occurrences and then sorted into a matrix which shows a significant cluster of associated prehistoric types (including—together with the ceramic types—ground stone implements, alabaster vessels, and chipped stone). A recognizable corpus of prehistoric, primarily Chalcolithic, traits emerges from the analysis. The associations between later types of Iron Age and histori cal traits is less significant, and no clear clustering of later traits is evidenced. This fact may be due to the vagaries of ceramic sampling itself, or it may reflect different patterns of settlement in the Val ley. If, in the first millennium B.C., there was a significant shift in population, based on either ecological or social-cultural factors, or both, a resultant settlement pattern may have placed more emphasis on small impermanent sites such as those of pastoral nomadic groups. The artifactual remains of sites briefly occupied by small groups of people would result in a meager pottery assemblage with fewer types co-occur ring. (See Chapter VIII for a fuller description.) The postulated Khash Valley ceramic sequence is briefly outlined in Table 2. Lithic Correspondences The chipped stone collection from the Khash Survey Area consists primarily of flakes (51%), two-thirds of which are unretouched and lack signs of utilization. Blades comprise 12% of the total, and almost 90% of these are microblades. While it is perhaps meaningless to compare 2 The major prehistoric site, Khash Spring, was not entered into the matrix as it would have skewed the results. The apparent use of this spring, although reduced in importance, in later periods, has re sulted in the presence there of almost all the 23 ceramic types. 120 TABLE 2 SUGGESTED TIME RANGES OF KHASH VALLEY CERAMIC TYPES 1. Plain Fine Ware - Primarily associated with prehistoric artifacts, although the time range of this very broad category appears to ex tend into the Islamic period 2. Plain Fine Compact Ware - Primarily a prehistoric type 3. Black Painted Fine Ware - Primarily prehistoric 4. Basket-Impressed Ware - Prehistoric 5. Black Painted Compact Ware - Appears to be exclusively prehistoric 6. Black Painted Medium-Coarse Ware - Appears to range from prehistoric to Parthian 7. Glazed - Sasanian through Islamic 8. Quetta Tempered Ware - Possibly late prehistoric 9. Plain Gray Ware - Prehistoric 10. Painted Gray Ware - Prehistoric 11. Red Painted Coarse Ware - An indefinite range from prehistoric to Islamic 12. Baluch Ware - Modern (the last 300 years) 13. Bricklike Textured Ware - Suggested range is Iron Age to Early Islamic 14. Red Painted Fine Ware - Prehistoric 15. Incised Buff Ware - Suggested time range is Iron Age through Islamic 16. Corrugated Ware - Partho-Sasanian 17. Incised Red Ware - Appears to extend from prehistoric to Early Islamic or Parthian 18. Porcelain - Modern 19. Stamp-Impressed Ware - Early to Medieval Islamic 20. Polychrome Painted Ware - Prehistoric 21. Punctated Ware - Suggested range is Iron Age to Early Islamic 22. Punctated Ledge Ware - Iron Age through Partho-Sasanian 23. Slash-Incised Neck Ware - Iron Age through Partho-Sasanian 24. Yellow Ware - Islamic 25. Compact Black-Centered Ware - Prehistoric 26. Serpentine Ridged Ware - Prehistoric 27. White Painted Ware - Prehistoric 121 these figures derived from the combined surface collections from 32 sites with figures from single stratified and excavated sites, it is nevertheless interesting to note that the preponderance of flakes over blades in association with prehistoric sites in the Khash Area is in marked contrast to Iblis, where blades outnumber flakes 687 to 255 (Evett 1967:266), and Tepe Yahya, where blades are also more numerous. At the site of Hissar, however, there is a low frequency of blades and microblades (as in the Khash Area) and a high frequency of burins (only a single definite burin is included in the Khash collection). Retouched and utilized pieces account for 21% of the collection, while the remainder fall into the category of debitage and rejects, supporting the view that on-site manufacturing of lithic implements took place on several of the Khash sites. The rarity of blades with sickle sheen and arrowheads or points might suggest that both agriculture (or grain collection) and hunting may have been of only supplementary impor tance to a third subsistence form, in this case pastoralism. All of the sites with flaked stone artifacts date, on the basis of the associated pottery which is always present with the lithic mate rial, to the Prehistoric period (fourth, third, and second millennia B.C.), the Partho-Sasanian period, or are multi-component with both periods represented. None of the sites with only Early Islamic or later periods represented has flaked lithic material. In contrast, those sites which had no flaked stone, but only groundstone or modified tuff, could be dated to the Late Islamic, Early Islamic, and Partho-Sasanian. It may be concluded that the flaked stone industries of the Khash Area are late prehistoric industries which persist with undetermined degrees of change up to as late as Sasanian times, while the groundstone and tuff 122 industries, particularly the latter, appear to be associated with later periods. While the groundstone industry is abundantly represented at the prehistoric site of Khash Spring, the utility of these implements far outlived those of the flaked stone industries, with groundstone per sisting even up to recent times. Flaked or chipped stone was replaced by more efficient metals in Islamic times, but the groundstone industry suffered from no such competition. Most of the groundstone occurs on sites which are classified as permanent, semi-permanent, or large sea sonal campsites, emphasizing the tendency of such artifacts to point to relatively sedentary occupation. Particularly at Khash Spring, ground stone mortars suggest the processing of large quantities of grain. TABLE 3 DISTRIBUTION BY PERIOD OF SITES WITH FLAKED STONE AND THOSE WITH ONLY GROUNDSTONE AND/OR MODIFIED TUFF Sites with Sites with Groundstone Period Flaked Stone or Tuff Only Prehistoric * * * * * * * Two Components: Prehistoric A s'c s'< >'c ft >'< * it and Partho-Sasanian Partho-Sasanian * * * * * * * * * * * Early Islamic Late Islamic NOTE: * = one site. SECTION THREE SYNTHESIS AND INTERPRETATION CHAPTER VI RESEARCH DESIGN From the outset, it was recognized that the amount as well as the type of archeological information obtained from the survey would be determined by the quality of the fieldwork itself. The construction of a research design was carried out with this in mind. An attempt was made to protect the quality of the work by establishing and maintaining adequate controls over both the data collection and the data analysis. For the data-collecting stage of research, sampling is of major impor tance in this regard; for the analysis of the data, the research design sought to consider the data ultimately on the level of cultural subsys tems and whole systems. Surface Surveys The first decision made in formulating the research design was to aim for a surface survey rather than excavation. Aside from strategic reasons, this decision was also prompted by purely logistical concerns: the limitations of funds, time, and personnel made controlled horizontal excavation, while of great value to the study of small non-urban sites, impractical, if not impossible. The Iranian Center for Archeological Research was embarking on a policy of encouraging sorely needed archeo logical surface surveys and granted the author a survey permit which specifically excluded the excavation of even small test pits. At the same time, it was recognized that any and all future excavations in the 124 125 area would be based on regional surveys. Surveys, not test trenches, provide the firmest groundwork for subsequent archeological work in any given area. Surveys are an integral part of regional studies and pro vide more meaningful goals than isolated excavations: . . . short trenches or testings, even when expertly executed, can never supply a series of data sufficient for being usefully employed; these methods have had the direct result, in Iran and adjoining regions, of a proliferation of cultures .... only research carried out over an ample span of time and on wide areas permits us to determine a chronological sequence, or study a complex historical process, such as that relative to the development of the prehistoric agricultural communities . . . [Tosi 1974:14]. On the other hand, it has often been assumed that surface sur veys can contribute little useful information about a site, particularly a small one, but this is largely a function of the field methods em ployed. Surveys may even, by the sheer bulk of sites investigated and material recovered, provide more information on the ceramic and lithic variety than a stratified site yields through excavation. It is probable that many data available on the surface have been ignored and consequently lost. It is equally probable that many investigators have failed to extract as much information from a survey as they could have had they not held a preconceived notion about the limited utility of a survey [Judge 1973:15]. Thomas (1974:32) calls the surface site, an area in which remains have simply lain on the ground surface rather than becoming buried by sands, silts, and gravels, "an untapped archeological resource": "In areas which have not been extensively plowed, archeologists have the unparal leled opportunity of collecting artifacts literally where they were dropped, often thousands of years ago." To graduate to processual interpretations from a surface survey, the investigator must define problems and should complete intensive analyses of all the data. The Khash survey was planned with this in 126 mind. The objectives stated in Chapter I provided the problems to be investigated for an ultimate examination of culture process; and the research design sought to provide for analyses as complete as possible of artifacts, ecological, and ethnoarcheological data. As Plog (1968:6) has stated: "Survey archeology is the discovery and use of variation in the location of sites of prehistoric activity to test hypotheses con cerning the cultural processes which produced the sites." Judge, however, would disagree with the formulation of a test able hypothesis prior to the initiation of the survey and believes that the survey itself should be the first step in supplying the problems from which testable hypotheses can be deduced (Judge 1973:7). The Khash survey was predicated on the problem-oriented approach, but the research design also recognized the role of the survey in formu lating hypotheses and defining problems for future research. This is made possible by the analysis of all the data possible, not just those pertinent to the aforestated problems of hypotheses. Site Pattern Recognition Because of the orientation of the research toward the determina tion of the archeological correlates of pastoral nomadism, as well as time and personnel limitations, the survey methodology placed a heavy emphasis on efficiency in obtaining a large sample of small sites. An intensive controlled survey was neither possible nor desirable under the circumstances; neither the crew, the funds to support them, nor the time required for such a survey was available. Judge (1973:46) found inten sive controlled surveys to be impractical: "Objective sampling proce dures often result in much hard work with little to show for it, thus 127 the emphasis has been on the excavation and/or collection of the most productive areas." The nature of the survey techniques employed on this Khash sur vey, in sum, was dependent upon the type of problem with which the re search was concerned. As the area had long been viewed as a cultural backwater, it was not expected that large urban sites or significant tepes would be found. And in an area where pastoral nomadism is an ad vantageous mode of subsistence and the population is, therefore, largely sparse and mobile, large permanent settlements would be fewer than the small, often single component non-urban sites with which the survey was primarily concerned. Many archeological surveys in other parts of Iran have made note of such sites, but often assumed them to be either not worth further study or, when pottery was absent, to have been the loci of hunting and gathering cultures. A pastoral nomadic culture was rarely, if ever,envisaged by the archeologist. As these sites would necessarily have a low artifact yield, it was recognized that on the Khash survey as many small non-urban sites should be investigated as possible to ob tain a sample of adequate size for meaningful analysis. In order to focus on sites with the greatest likelihood of being pastoral nomadic in character, as well as to amass as large as possible a sample of such sites, the locational criteria of modern-day pastoral nomads were employed to assist in locating sites in the field. The techniques deemed most appropriate were those developed by Jim Judge (1973), who sought to locate Paleo-Indian sites by recognizing the basic locational criteria of Paleo-Indian hunters and gatherers. Three steps were employed, the first being that of Site Pattern Recognition. In its simplest terms, this technique consists of carefully analyzing the 128 topographic variables of the known sites in an area in an effort to iso late consistencies. In Judge's study, Paleo-Indian sites tended to be located on ridges near playas and suitable grazing areas not far from major drainage. The second step was to locate these constellations of features on aerial photos and maps. The third step was to note the po tentially suitable site areas derived from the first two steps and then visit these areas to examine them for sites. During the Khash survey, this technique was altered by basing the locational criteria upon observations of modern Baluch pastoral nomadic camps and interviews with Baluch informants. In this manner, several constellations of environmental features «2re suggested for emphasis in the field, primary among them low hills or ridges, springs and wadis, and the base of talus fans where grazing vegetation is supported by a higher water table. Except for the open plains and valley floor where water was available or dry stream beds cut through the sand and alluvium, the survey concentrated on higher land where the water table was gener ally high for additional reasons: prior to the adoption of sophisticated irrigation techniques, earlier sites would most likely be located there; and, at lower elevations, shifting sands and hard clay and salt playas can either obscure sites by burying them or make settlement difficult in the first place. The locational analysis is more fully discussed in the following chapter. As Judge was careful to note (1973:50), the Site Pattern Recog nition technique had a built-in sampling bias as only those sites which satisfy the pattern requirements would be located. For this reason, a supplementary technique was employed during the Khash survey to correct this bias by placing a five-kilometer grid over a map of the survey area 129 and using a table of random numbers. The 12 randomly selected squares were then examined in the field in order to detect sites which might not conform to the Site Pattern Recognition formula. The combination of Site Pattern Recognition and Probability Sampling techniques was effec tive in the Khash survey as it resulted in over 100 sites, including several which did not conform to the constellation of features identified by ethnoarcheological methods. Also important during the field research was the process of noting the location and number of existing camps, villages, and homesteads as well as areas where present habitation and evidence of past occupation did not exist. Ethnoarcheology Basic to the research design was a combination of archeological and ethnoarcheological methodology in data collection and data analysis stages of the research. A reference to ethnographic procedures was a natural prerequisite of any program designed to investigate pastoral nomadism, either in a modern or a prehistoric context. The use of these techniques, such as visits to Baluch camps, interviews with informants, and inventories of material culture were employed on the Khash survey; and their implementation, results, and the problems encountered in carry ing them out are discussed in Chapter VIII. 130 Zahedan Mirjaveh (§) = water source Saravan Map 3. Survey Area grid. Indicated are the 5-kilometer squares which constituted a 15% sample. CHAPTER VII SITE DISTRIBUTIONS AND SETTLEMENT SUBSYSTEM One major objective of this survey, and one of all surveys which purport to contribute toward an understanding of cultural change and sys tematic relationships on a regional level, is an examination of settle ment and subsistence patterns. An analysis of locational criteria em ployed by various cultural groups in their selection of sites for habi tation or specialized activities allows consideration of all subjects— under both cultural and environmental headings—in a systematic whole. From such an analysis, conclusions may be drawn concerning the articula tion of cultural and environmental factors through time, while the im mediate value of a locational analysis is that it provides the basis for the construction of predictive models. The following section will out line the assumptions of locational analysis, define its criteria, and examine the Khash Valley sites for locational data which can be used in a settlement-subsistence model for the region. Units of Analysis All of the localities investigated during the Khash Valley survey are component parts of a settlement system or, more correctly, a sequence of settlement systems. At any one point on a cultural trajectory, a settlement system consists of those component parts interacting in a patterned, systematic manner. This settlement patterning itself may be viewed systematically as a subsystem of a larger whole with both cultural 131 132 and environmental aspects. The cultural aspects of a settlement sub system include social, economic (subsistence), and material culture com ponents, while the environmental aspects refer to physical, biotic, and sociocultural (neighboring cultural systems) components. The principal investigator of a survey, while addressing himself to all these subsys tem components, will necessarily, due to the very nature of his data, find it most profitable to concentrate on the material culture and phys ical components; knowledge of the other cultural and environmental as pects is dependent on the quality and quantity of information derived from the first two. The basic unit of investigation during a settlement subsystem analysis is the individual site. Referred to by Binford (1964) as an "activity locus," a site may thus include a single habitation unit or a large complex of many different activity loci. In this report, "site" will refer to any location which has evidence of human activity, thus including isolated "find spots" of only a handful of sherds and loca tions with no artifacts but with human-constructed features, as well as the more conventional larger sites with complex distributions of both artifacts and features. Both in research design, methodology, and analy sis, no distinctions were made in the Khash area between habitation sites, where primary maintenance activities were carried out, and limi ted activity sites, which existed for a specific purpose. The very na ture of a pastoral nomadic subsistence system makes such a distinction dubious, as will be explained more fully below. Locational Analysis The basic assumption ascribed to by all locational analyses is that human settlements are not randomly distributed over the landscape. 133 This was the premise on which the Southwestern Archeological Research Group (SARG) study of the distribution of prehistoric population aggre gates was based (Gumerman 1971). The group was formed for the investiga tion of a problem central to all archeological research: the distribu tional patterns of archeological sites. This distribution, the group agreed, is based on the "relationship of sites and settlement systems to significant natural and social regional variability." Sites, in other words, are located with respect to natural resources and to each other. In formulating an outline within which all archeological in vestigations could function, the SARG members agreed on three basic hypotheses (SARG 1974:111): (1) Sites are located with respect to critical on-site resources. (2) Sites are located so as to minimize the effort expended in acquiring required quantities of critical resources. (3) Sites are located so as to minimize the cost of resources and information flow among sites occupied by interacting populations. The ultimate goal of the group was to establish regularities of predic tive value to archeologists. Specific types of archeological sites should exhibit a regular, patterned relationship to the distribution of economic resources used by the human group who occupied the site. This should be particularly true of sites which were limited to specific functions or which were based on a small number of resource-extractive or processing activities. A potential secondary function of locational analysis is to al low an approximation of the subsistence base, or at least any special ized functions, derived from site and resource location data. Ideally, 134 locational analysis may be so complete in detail and environmental data that it is possible to reconstruct a prehistoric diet based on the floral and faunal sources of necessary vitamins and minerals which can be iden tified in the catchment area of a site. As Plog and Hill (1971:183) have pointed out, the distribution of sites in a settlement system may also reflect the role which the site played within that system. Estimating Past Conditions While locational variables and their relative significance for site distribution may vary through time, it is the predictability of re sources, rather than their quantity or variety, which may play the more important role in cultural adaptation. This factor has even greater significance in arid regions like Baluchistan, where the predictability of water resources is all-important. Raikes (1967:22) has suggested that one may estimate the climate of a prehistoric period in an arid zone from the present rainfall pattern of the same area, which in turn will allow approximations of runoff and groundwater conditions. It is generally accepted, moreover, that present environmental conditions (such as climate and the type and abundance of vegetation) bear strong resemblances to conditions which prevailed in the same area in the past. A basic assumption of the SARG is that "prehistoric biotic boundaries were not significantly different from modern ones" (SARG 1974:112). To determine the degree of correspondence between past and present environ ments, archeologists may turn to evidence presented by paleo-environ- mental data, prehistoric cultural activities, and ethnographic analogies. By the second millennium B.C. in the Near East, patterns of land use were established which have remained little changed in the present, 135 pointing to the absence of drastic environmental changes. During a "dessication" period, of which there is some indication in the first millennium B.C., these established land use patterns in the Near East may have become modified more than significantly changed. Pastoral nomadism, for instance, seems to have been intensified at the expense of sedentary agriculture in many areas; this intensification occurred as a gradual process rather than as a revolutionary change. Culture has also played a major role in maintaining continuity of settlement patterns through time in any given area. In arid lands, cultures are particularly conservative, perhaps because the low predict ability of environmental conditions in severe climates serves to limit the success of cultural experimentation and change. Desert cultural traditions tend to persist over long periods with little change. Gould (1971), in his ethnoarcheological study of cultural patterns in the Western Desert of Australia, concluded that the same patterns may have been present from early post-Pleistocene times to the present. In western Botswana, Yellen (1977:270) reports that the distribution of Late Stone Age surface scatters conforms to the historic Bushman camp distribution pattern, pointing to a continuity between historic popula tions, as well as between past and present environmental conditions. Throughout much of the Near East in later prehistoric times, this continuity meant that sites were often reoccupied, resulting in the familiar mounds or tepes observable as distinct proof of settlement pat tern stability in these arid lands. Many mounds, in fact are located Levine (1976a:285), for example, examined current land use patterns in the Mahidasht area of Iran to determine the agricultural potential of an area, which he then used as a base line for projecting back into the past. 136 adjacent to present-day villages, demonstrating a similarity of economic . 2 requirements over millennia. Where conditions have changed enough to produce a displacement of previous biotic boundaries, "residual zones" (SARG 1974:112)—with too many or too few sites in comparison with the remainder of a plant community—will aid in the identification of such displacements. In such cases, an abundance of ancient sites in areas now unable to support large populations is clear evidence of changes in environmental condi tions. One such area is Sistan, where kilometers of ruined settlements, silted canals, and abandoned irrigation channels and qanats indicate more favorable conditions for settlement in the past. Stein (1937:112) found similarly suggestive patterns in the Bampur River Valley. Through out Iranian and Pakistani Baluchistan, he considered abandoned sites and garabands as evidence for dessication, as Fairservis (1959:252) consid ered a shift in the water table a possible cause for the abandonment of Peshawarun in Afghanistan. In other instances, however, human interfer ence may have played just as important a role in the change of settle ment patterns as natural causes. This interference could come in the form of the ravages of wars or depradations or, more insidiously, in the form of over-grazing and soil exhaustion. Man's role in effecting changes in his environment, and thus in his own settlement patterns, has been summed up by Zohary (1963:14), who states that, over eight millen nia, "man's collecting of plants and grazing of animals has basically 2 In the Quetta Valley of Pakistani Baluchistan (Fairservis 1956), 36 prehistoric sites representing villages are comparable in both loca tion and number to the present-day villages in the valley. In the Mahidasht, Levine (1976b:490) believes that the settlement pattern has "remained fairly constant over the last 6000 years. Sites tend to cluster together, and many of the clusters are associated with modern villages." 137 changed the original makeup of vegetation and turned it into a series of anthropogenic communities, i.e., communities steadily equilibriated by man's activities." Estimating Density of Settlement The apparent density of settlements in an area may reflect a number of different factors, some of which serve to distort reconstruc tions of settlement patterns. As one possible example of such distor tion, the abundance of small sites found distributed throughout the area on my 1975 survey of the Sarhad may be partially a function of the re quirements of brush collection for fueling fires. The collection of brush from the vicinity of a camp so depletes the immediate area that the site may not be occupied again for some time. Where other locational criteria (such as water or communication necessity) offset the disadvan tages of a depleted brush resource, an improved means of transportation, such as a camel or automobile, may provide a means for supplying fire wood fuel from other areas and thereby allow a longer duration of occu pation in a campsite. Another factor which may affect the distribution and density of campsites, resulting in a profusion of temporarily-occupied sites with thin cultural deposits, is the criterion of hygiene and pest problems. Camps were most likely shifted from one location to another within the same areas—as they are at present by the Sarhad Baluch—to remove the community from decomposing organic matter. In other words, the small community which possesses ease of movement may reinforce its own mobil ity by the creation of an unsuitable habitat. The Hadza in Africa re flect such a settlement mobility: they return to favorite campsites with in the course of a year but prefer fresh sites "even though this may be 138 only 100 yards or less from where they were previously camping" (Woodburn 1972:194). Similar views were expressed by Baluch informants during the Khash area survey. One Hadza campground exhibited the remains of some 20 camps within a one mile diameter. All had been occupied within the pre vious few years. It is likely that some temporary or seasonal campsites are results of similar settlement processes in the Khash region, thus making it difficult to determine if extensive but thin surface scatters of features and artifacts resulted from simultaneous occupation by one large group or from successive contiguous occupations by smaller groups. Recent views (Biscione et al. 1973) also give importance to hygiene fac tors for minor shifts of large tepe sites, which are viewed as expanding "spirally" in horizontal drifts. Dickson (1975:161) suggests that total site "weight" of an area is a better expression of density of the settlement pattern than is the number of sites and population. This concept of site weight is drawn from the biological concept of "biomass" and stresses the differential importance of different types of sites rather than a comparison of total numbers of sites for each time period in a region. Such a weighted analysis was attempted for the Khash survey area and is discussed below. Roles within a Settlement System To repeat a basic tenet of locational analysis, the location of sites will depend to some extent on the distribution of social and cul tural resources. The location of a specific site, in other words, will bear a relationship to the locations of different types of sites; all sites tend to be situated within a settlement system in the locus in which the specific role of each may be maximized. The distribution of social resources (all other sites within a given settlement system) 139 functions with their natural resource counterparts to affect the location of specific sites. In this regard, it is important to emphasize the difference in roles, and thus in requirements, between the different types of sites. Two types of distinctions between sites may be made, one based on func tion, the other on duration. Functional site types The primary division of sites is habitually based on the func tional distinction between habitation and limited activity. Habitation or "main living" sites are defined by Hill (1971:55) as villages or camps occupied by men, women, and children and within which are carried on "maintenance" type activities (i.e., storage, tool manufacture, food processing). Longacre (1971:109) defines them as non-mobile residences with the total range of domestic activities (i.e., production, consump tion and disposal), permanent structures, large storage facilities, and a means of adapting to changes in annual climate. Limited activity sites, on the other hand, lack a full range of domestic or maintenance activities and may be devoted solely to one or a few activities, such as food preparation, artifact manufacture, butcher ing, storage, transportation, domesticated animal maintenance, or dis posal. Permanent domiciles would be located elsewhere. The significance for locational analysis of this functional di vision of sites into maintenance and limited activity loci is that it should enable the archeologist to identify sites by virtue of their dif ferential proximity to certain resources. Main habitation sites will tend to be located with respect to optimizing the exploitation of a whole series of resources (SARG 1974:111), whereas limited activity sites 140 may be located with respect to one or a few resources necessary for the specific activity. Thus, limited activity sites will exhibit discrete patterning which is tied to resource distribution. Habitation sites will be far more flexible with respect to resource zones but, as Plog (1971:47) stresses, they will exhibit much stronger patterning with re spect to social environmental factors. Limited activity sites may have tended to occur near the edges of settlement clusters (Plog and Hill 1971:13) and should normally be smaller in terms of both areal extent and artifact density. In addition, the natural topography and ground surface of a limited activity site may be less conducive to habitation, as they may be found on unprotected, poorly drained or uneven surfaces. The functional division of sites has a classificatory utility for the archeologist but presents amajor difficulty to one who is con cerned with cultures based on mobile subsistence patterns. In the case of pastoral nomads, the differences between main habitation and limited activity sites are more difficult to pinpoint. A campsite of pascoral- ists, lacking permanent structures and large storage systems, may fit both definitions: it may be located with respect to the distribution of one resource (i.e., pasturage) but may exhibit a full range of domestic activities. While some pastoralist sites may correctly be termed "limited activity" (e.g., a transient camp on a migration, a small iso lated shelter for a shepherd and his flock, a resource—water, lithic, brush—extraction locus), a main habitation site is more difficult to distinguish, particularly when permanent architectural structures and large storage features are absent. 141 Descriptive site types It is advisable, then, in a study such as this one, to devise another means of typing sites. One purely descriptive method was em ployed in a typology of prehistoric sites in Cyprus (Adovasio et al. 1975:342), which defined sites as: (1) special find, (2) cemetery, (3) household, (4) settlement, (5) large settlement with surface scat ters greater than 200 meters square, (6) lithic resource area, (7) set tlement with cemetery, and (8) other. The disadvantages of this de scriptive typology are that it is subjective, imprecise, and liable to vary from one area to another without providing a basis for compara bility. Often desirable, however, is the most specific site typology possible for one region. This would be a descriptive typology which is adapted to the particular requirements of one area whose cultural se quence has been defined by excavation and intensive research. In such cases it is possible to construct a stratified typology, based on dis tinct periods of settlement development. In Khuzistan, for instance, Henry T. Wright (1976 unpublished manuscript) proposed a settlement sys tem outline which emphasizes changes in settlement patterns through each major period: Paleolithic sites are classified as base camps, hunting camps, and stations; Early and Developed Villages of the Neolithic and Late Chalcolithic were designated small centers (2-10 ha) or village ham lets (.1-2 ha); Early Urban sites of the Bronze Age were central towns (5-20 ha), subsidiary centers (2-10 ha), village hamlets, or shepherds' camps; Imperial Regional Developed sites were typed as planned towns (20-100 ha), planned subsidiary centers, other small centers, Qaleh or 142 other fortifications, palaces or tombs, village hamlets, shepherds' camps, roads, qanats, bridges, or barrages. While Wright's stratified typology relays relevant cultural data as well as settlement date, this typology is practicable only in areas which have been well defined archeologically. Unfortunately, the Sarhad Plateau of Baluchistan does not qualify as a well-defined archeological area and another typological framework must be substituted. Site typology based on duration A typology better adapted to archeological studies of peoples like pastoral nomads, who do not maintain permanent habitation sites, is one which uses as its primary criterion mobility or relative permanence rather than criteria such as size or special function, which are less directly related to a mobile subsistence base. A pastoral nomadic camp site, as observed during the Khash area survey, may range from one tent to scores of ten units and may include a full range of domestic mainte nance activities, as well as one or more specific resource extractive activities. A classification of settlement types utilized by Butzer (1964:340) is based on duration of site occupation: Type Duration Ephemeral a few days Temporary several weeks Seasonal some months Semi-permanent some years Permanent several generations While it is difficult to determine duration of the occupation without proper excavation of a site to reveal depth of deposit, a clas sification based on duration of occupation retains a certain utility even for a surface survey. Estimations of duration may be attempted 143 based on extent and density of artifact and feature distributions and by the range of artifact types represented. A fine distinction between oc cupations of several weeks and those of some months, of course, will not be possible, but broader divisions, such as the ones below which were devised for the Khash area survey, may be attempted: 1. Transient Stations - Duration of less than one day or, at most, a few days. Examples may include overnight shelters for single herders and their animals, momentary stops on a migration, kill spots, isolated find spots, and similar ephemeral sites. These sites are usu ally quite small, often less than 25 meters in diameter. 2. Temporary Camps - Duration of no more than a few weeks. Such sites would lack dense artifact and feature scatters and may be located some distance from perennial water sources. The site is usu ally small but often has remains of features such as stone-outlined shelters and hearths. 3. Seasonal Camps - Duration of a few months in one season. Feature evidence will point to occupation during a single season of the year, although the extent of the site may be large and the artifact density greater than that in a temporary camp. 4. Semi-permanent Settlements - Evidence of duration may be mixed, with both permanent architectural structures and some temporary habitation units indicated. These settlements are not inhabited perma nently year-round, although a small number of residents may remain in a caretaker role. This type is rather difficult to identify archeologi cally, particularly from a surface survey, but may be surmised on the basis of site location and extent and type of remains. 144 5. Permanent Settlements - Duration of several generations. These sites will display a wide range and greater density of artifactual remains, as well as significant evidence of permanent architectural fea tures. Location will be near a perennial source of water, arable land, and/or a communication route. 6. Special Function - Of variable duration. Cemeteries, relig ious or ceremonial sites (such as Baluch desert mosques), and isolated structures (shrines, towers) may be included. Specific locational criteria assume greater importance the longer a site is occupied. Of prime importance for a permanent village site is a dependable water supply in the form of a well or spring, arable land, even terrain, ease of access, and distribution of other communities and communication routes. An ephemeral site (i.e., transient station), on the other hand, will often be located without much delibera tion as to specific locational criteria. Such a site may be located on rocky, difficult terrain far from water and communication routes. These short-term site locations are made viable by shortness of duration and ease of mobility. As is the case with main habitation sites discussed earlier, the more centrally located a settlement is with respect to resource distri bution, the less likely that settlement will be seasonally occupied. Longacre and Reid (1971:108) have defined seasonal sites as those which exploit seasonally specific flora and fauna, especially those nearer the site; exhibit tools specific to the exploitation of these seasonal flora and fauna with the absence of other tools; have limited storage facili ties; and possess evidence of seasonally specific climatic advantages in site location such as elevation or protection from prevailing winds. 145 Site Size Throughout the Sarhad Plateau, well-watered areas are scarce; and, therefore, most settlements are small. The largest site, Khash Spring, coincided with the most abundant spring located in the survey area. While, as mentioned above, site size may be distorted by the fre quency and duration of occupation on a site, size in itself may be an important indicator of population size, subsistence base, and site func tion. During the excavation of a site, it is possible to determine the number of economic activities carried out on the site and to make esti mates, based on floor space of dwelling units, of population size. These observations are lacking in a surface survey, and the investigator is left with only the assumption of a direct proportional relationship between the areal extent of a site and its population. Locational Variables The null hypothesis adopted by the Southwestern Archeological Research Group (Plog and Hill 1971:15) is that site distributions will vary as plant community, landform, and water resources vary. The hope of the group in initiating this line of research in numerous regional archeological programs was to find that one or more of these categories accounted for a significant amount of variation in site location. In large measure, this hope was realized. In many instances, archeologists utilizing the methodology sug gested by the SARG and others for locational analysis have found signif icantly high frequencies of occupations related to preferences with re gard to vegetation or climatic zone, drainage patterns, and topography. Often, however, a site may be located not with reference to one or two 146 variables but to a whole range of differing ecotypes. In other words, the site may have been occupied by people who exploited a variety of microenvironments (e.g., grasslands, salt marsh, mountain slopes, river ine brushwoods). For the pastoral nomadic campsites of Baluchistan, this diversity of variables appears to have played an important role in determining settlement patterns and should be kept in mind during the discussion of individual locational criteria below. Water In Baluchistan, as in most of the Near East, water—its abun dance, predictability, and dependability—has been the chief determining factor influencing the patterns of settlement. Much of this area is desert and semi-desert dotted with oases or small fertile areas near the mountains where the water table is high. Only small populations can be supported on these scattered and scanty water reserves. In a locational analysis, the criteria of water resource must encompass such variables as annual precipitation, distribution of sites with regard to water sources, volume and quality of water available, and drainage rank. Although it is probably not possible to identify all areas where water was available in the past, either because of a shifting water table or denudation by over-grazing, it is useful to record all current sources noted within a survey area so that at least an approxi mation may be made of past conditions. In addition to recording springs, streams, seeps, marshy ground, potholes, wells, and playas where sea sonal water runoff collects, the survey archeologist must note dry gullies or wadis and other evidence of drainage patterns, such as alluvial fans and terraces, even if they are no longer associated with water in 147 modern times. For the Khash area, water resource evidence noted on the 1975 survey is illustrated in Map 2. For archeological surveys, it is important to distinguish between natural and artificially-maintained sources of water. Modern agricul tural villages in the Sarhad are dependent on water supplied from qanat systems and pumps. In past times, the Sarhad would also have lacked sufficient rainfall for dry farming; thus, agriculturalists would have required some perennial water source to support their farming activities until artificial means (i.e., irrigation and water storage) were intro duced. Only at this point, the appearance of irrigation, could perma nent settlements have been established on the plains of the valley floor away from the perennial springs of the mountains. The situation in the Sarhad may have been similar to that of the Quetta Valley in Pakistan where, prior to and during the Kili Ghul Mohammed I period, sites were located in the proximity of a water course (Fairservis 1975:137). Like wise, in the Rud-i Gushk drainage of Kerman Province in Iran, late sixth and early fifth millennium sites are clustered on the edge of silts, in dicating the use of natural floodwater inundation for agriculture (Prickett 1976b :9). During this period before the introduction of irri gation and water storage, Dickson (1975:166) sees, in the prehistoric American Southwest, a correlation between the nature of the water supply and the order of settlement by agriculturalists—a correlation which could well apply to Iranian Baluchistan and was indeed a factor which influenced the field research design of the 1975 survey: first settle ments would be near perennial stream flows, next in those watered by perennial springs, and last in those with only intermittent or no water. 148 This pattern would only be broken by the stabilization of the water re source by artificial means. It was not until the late fifth millennium that evidence of irri gation is found in much of the Near East and perhaps not until the late fourth millennium B.C. in the eastern portions of the Iranian Plateau such as Sistan. Early irrigation, especially shallow canals and ter raced fields, left few archeological traces; often the irrigation agri culture of past periods must be deduced on the basis of clues of site location where dry farming would not be possible. Reservoirs, qanat systems, and elaborate irrigation channel networks—all of which require a certain level of social organization—would have come later in time and been reflected in a settlement system in which urban sites are found. The water variable, undoubtedly of primary importance for set tlement patterns in arid lands, is also significant for both the origin and maintenance of pastoral nomadism. Indeed, Raikes (1967:143) calls water the "determining factor in man's choice of either a nomadic cir cuit or a settled home." If the water supply was far from the habitat of cultigens, the chances were "that man would sooner or later evolve into a herdsman." Droughts could also play a large role in changing economic and social subsystems, forcing a sedentary people to take up nomadism to make the most of the supplies of water within a large area and to adopt a dependence on pastoralism. Under conditions of scarce or unpredictable water supply, pastoralism is favored as a means of adapting to the environment because water is simply insufficient for sustaining sedentary agricultural life. Grazing and browsing animals require a wide expanse of territory, especially in semi-arid regions where the grass cover varies greatly not only from area to area but also from week 149 to week, thus making it advantageous for pastoral groups to adopt a form of nomadism or transhumance. The abandonment of irrigation systems and apparent depopulation of large areas in late prehistoric-early prehistoric times could point to an increase in pastoral nomadism at the expense of agriculture. In the Rud-i Gushk area (Prickett 1976b:13), for instance, the late pre historic phase (3400-3200 B.C.) is characterized by a shift in settle ment patterns to fewer, lower mounds "frequently little more than sherd scatters." At the same time, there is abundant evidence of the collapse of the irrigation system, which leads Prickett to suggest a partial shift to a more nomadic lifestyle until the introduction of the qanat system in Achaemenian times. A similar depopulation of agricultural areas appears to accompany a rise in the number of pastoral nomadic campsites in the Khash area, as is discussed later in this chapter. Pastoral nomadic cultures are consequently less dependent on water as a locational variable for settlement than are agriculturalists; herds of the pastoral nomad can be brought to water, and the nomad him self is often accustomed to bringing water to his camp from a distant source, often over a kilometer away. While water may play a determining role in the maintenance of a particular mode of subsistence, it may be secondary in importance to pasturage as a criterion for camp location. This appears to be the case in the Khash area. Other variables Water—however important—is only one of many factors affecting locational patterns. The abundance, diversity, accessibility, and dis tribution of other natural resources are also important variables which may exert an influence on site selection. These resources may include 150 game, pasturage (as mentioned earlier), brush for fuel, lithic outcrops, clay pans, minerals, salt, or trade items such as lapis lazuli or sulphur. The criterion of pasturage, important for pastoral nomadic sites, is closely related to the drainage patterns and precipitation of an area (and hence is indirectly a hydrological variable). Pastures located on interfluves will depend directly on the amount of rainfall and will be available before pastures based on watercourses, floodplains, and allu vial fans (Walton 1969:135). The former pastures, however, will not last as long since the grasses will soon exhaust the available soil moisture. In addition to natural resources proper, other, often interrela ted, variables may affect site location. Temperature, prevailing winds, precipitation, and soil conditions can influence the preference of one microenvironment over another. Topographic variables may include rough ness of terrain; drainage; protection from or exposure to sun, wind, and rain; physical restraints to site expansion; fine-grained material such as sand or shale powder from streams for living floors; potential for defense; view of surrounds and protection from the view of others. Prox imity to marshy land may be important if a community retains a dependence on hunting; proximity to arable land if the community is based on agri culture. Where cultivable land is scarce, sites may be located not on such land proper, but rather adjacent to it, on eroded terraces, gravel fans, floodplain borders, or hillsides. Such an interpretation of site location could be made for the Khash Spring site, where the concentra tion of artifacts and features is found on a steep hill adjacent to the gentler slope where land is cultivated in terraces; the site may have 151 been located on the steeper slope to free the flatter, better-watered land for agriculture. Social factors also play a role in the selection of site loca tions. Such variables as distance and access to other communities and to communication and trade routes may be important to particular sites. In fact, in many areas of the Near East, including the northern and eastern rims of the Iranian Plateau, one may see a correlation between major communication routes and the location of major sites. In like manner, a correlation may be postulated between smaller sites and trails or routes of access, particularly for those sites situated in mountainous regions. Considering all of the locational variables discussed here, it is possible to subdivide a survey area into more or less discrete units to facilitate the analysis of the locational and settlement patterns. Such subdivisions were made for the Khash survey area and are described in the following section. The Settlement System of the Khash Survey Area: A Model To reiterate, the sites examined in this study cannot ultimately be explained as isolated entities by themselves. To the contrary, they must be viewed as integral parts of settlement systems, dependent both on the location of other sites and the location of various natural re sources. In this respect, the location of sites is closely related to physiography, hydrology, and vegetational zones and can best be studied by a division of the survey area into subareas based on variations in these three elements. The resulting subareas defined in this report are termed "ecozones." 152 The Site Pattern Recognition technique employed in the research design for this survey (see Chapter VI) lends itself easily to the examination of natural subareas or ecozones as it focuses on specific constellations of environmental features and their resultant patterns. Within the Khash survey area, seven major ecozones were identified and are described in terms of their dominant characteristics: I. Lowland Plains. This ecozone is located below an altitude of 1,400 meters and is found primarily north, south, and southeast of the town of Khash and to the east and northeast near the Rud-i Gazu drainage. The main characteristic of this zone is the cover of small but mobile sand dunes which can be clearly discerned on satellite photo graphs produced by the Earth Resources Technology Satellite program. It is in these Lowland Plains that most of the modern agricultural efforts are concentrated and on which most (20) present-day villages and hamlets are located. There is also abundant evidence, in the form of abandoned qanat lines, of agriculture being practiced here in the past. Natural vegetation ranges from moderately abundant pasturelands of scrub brush to small sand-covered playas with scarce vegetation. Water is obtained primarily from well and qanats; artificial means appear to be required to reach the water table beneath the alluvium. Terrain is generally flat, although isolated low hills and exposed outcrops of bedrock are scattered through the zone. Fourteen sites were located within these Lowland Plains, and five of these obtained water from wells. II. Highland Plains. Found largely north and northeast of Khash above 1,400 meters in elevation, this ecozone is similar to the Lowland Plains with a cover of small shifting sand dunes which in places expose bare playa surfaces. The water table is generally tapped by artificial 153 means, but these wells and qanat lines appear to be less prevalent than in the Lowland Plains. Many dry sandy stream channels crisscross this ecozone. The flat floor of the Highland Plain is often marked by iso lated small hills and outcrops of limestone and shale bedrock, and the natural vegetation ranges from negligible to abundant rangelands domi nated by Artemisia herba alba and Haloxylon salioorniown. North of Khash, some areas of Highland Plains bear scatters of lava lapilli. Twelve sites and approximately 14 modern villages (including the town of Khash itself) are situated in the survey area within this ecozone and several modern Baluch camps were noted. III. Taftan Upland Watered Valleys. In the Sangan and Kuche Valleys and in the Tudi Gorge, the lushest vegetation found on the 1975 survey was encountered. The Sangan Valley, at approximately 1,650 meters in altitude, was well watered, and green with wheat fields and orchards. A remarkable 300-year-old cypress which towers over the mosque is a Baluchistan landmark. The Kuche Valley, 2,050 meters above sea level on the west side of Taftan, has a government-maintained forest preserve. The Tudi Gorge, approximately 1,650 meters in elevation, is cultivated where the width of the floor allows; and its intermittent water flow supports a thick growth of rushes, lavender, and riverine bushes. All of these valleys are located on the rocky sides of the volcanic massif and receive more precipitation than the lower elevations of the survey area. Eight sites were found in this zone which is favor able for the cultivation of wheat, fruit trees, and grapes. IV. Taftan Upland Slopes. The eastern slopes of the Taftan massif above 1,500 meters in elevation are characterized by stony, un even ground frequently incised by seasonal runoff channels. Lava 154 lapilli often covers the ground surface, and vegetation is abundant with many grazing species prevalent. Precipitation is somewhat greater and temperatures slightly cooler than the lower Khash Plain and mountains, thus creating better conditions for pastures than in the lower altitudes. Fourteen sites were located in this ecozone, with short-term occupation campsites predominating. Little or no agriculture is practiced on the Taftan Slopes; and only three present-day villages were noted in the sur vey area, although several seasonal camps of Baluch and Kurds were noted. V. Mountain Springs. The microenvironmenrs provided by natural springs which are dependable enough to support limited agriculture and a few trees were found in only three places within the survey area, all at the base of Kuh-i Panj Angosht on the western edge of the Khash Val ley. Khash Spring No. 1, at the north end of the mountain, was the largest and most prolific site found during the field survey. Khash Spring No. 2, at the mid-point of the mountain, was small and yielded only a minor site. Khash Spring No. 3, at the southern end of Panj Angosht, was large but evidenced few artifacts. A small seep at Kuh-i Kalhur to the south of Khash was almost barren of vegetation and produced only a few potsherds. A few signs of current cultivation were present at the Khash Springs, but no one inhabited the sites permanently. VI. Mountain Bases. At the foot of the numerous mountains scattered through the survey area below the Taftan massif, 43 sites were located. In this mountainous ecozone, topography was varied but gen erally consists of rocky slopes cut by gullies and runoff channels. Alluvial fans are characterized by thin, rocky soil and often abundant covers of Artemisia steppe vegetation. The numerous wadis often have more dense vegetation, consisting of tamarix shrubs and oleander. The 155 slopes and fans are covered with rock talus gravel and exposed limestone bedrock and often have scattered large boulders which afford some shade and protection for herders. Several rock shelters were found in this ecozone, but few have any artifacts or appreciable deposits. On the western edge of the Khash Valley, most sites at the base of the mountain are Paleolithic find spots; on the eastern edge of the Khash Valley proper, many of the sites appear to date from Partho-Sasanian and Early Islamic times and may have been related to more permanent agricultural settlements on the Khash Valley floor below. No present-day settlements were noted in this ecozone, although herds of goats and sheep passed through daily; and evidence existed of earlier campsites. The sites found were generally small and impermanent in nature. VII. Broken Terrain. Rugged terrain dissected by gullies and faults and hilly terrain with sheltered hollows characterize the physio graphy of this ecozone. Vegetative cover is sparser than that of the Mountain Bases, and water is present only in a few sumps and seep holes. Often vegetation is entirely absent, and bedrock is bare without soil. Pasturage is generally poor in this rugged terrain. Only 11 sites were found in this inhospitable zone during the survey. No modern settle ments and only one small Baluch camp (three tents) were noted in this ecozone. Sites of the Survey Area Types of sites Of the 106 sites examined during the survey, a few represented multi-component sites which were classified during this analysis as two distinct types rather than one. Site 33-10 (Shah Nawazi), for example, TAFTAN HIGHLAND LOWLAND UPLANDS PLAIN PLAIN Fig. 20. Cross-section of the survey area. 157 consisted of campsite remains and a graveyard, both of which were dis crete units. Thus, while based on a total of 106 sites, Table 4 on page 167 consists of 111 typed site units. The majority of the sites, 64%, may be categorized as impermanent in nature (transient stations, temporary camps, and seasonal camps); 22% appear to be semi-permanent or permanent; the remaining 14% are of a special function. Of the 71 impermanent sites, fully 34% contained modern debris of Baluch pastoral nomads (rubber, metal, cloth, and palm fronds) in addition to earlier artifacts, confirming that the sites were camps of pastoralists. The major portion, then, of the sites in the Khash Survey Area points to a pastoral, nomadic subsistence pattern in volving mobility. Transient stations account for 31 sites, 28% of the total. These are generally small, often less than 20 square meters, and occur mainly at the bases of mountains where wadis cut through the gravel fans or where no water source is evident. Temporary camps number 21, accounting for 19% of the total. Like the transient stations, these are located primarily at the foot of mountains where dry runoff channels are present and are predominately small, less than a quarter of a hectare, with stone footings. None is found in watered Taftan Valleys or at Mountain Springs. Seasonal camps, of which 19 were found, comprise 17% of the total sites. The largest number were found on the slopes of the Taftan massif, followed by the open plains. Often dry stream channels were nearby and grazing vegetation in the area was always good. Most sea sonal camps range in size from 1 to 15 hectares, but four such camps were 20 hectares or more. Most exhibited stone footings, including tent outlines and storage platforms. 158 Fifteen semi-permanent sites, 13% of the total, were identified. These were often less than a hectare in size and located primarily at the bases of mountains and on open plains. None was found on the slopes of Taftan Uplands or in Broken Terrain. Permanent village sites, numbering nine (8% of the total), are often large, more than 10 hectares. Frequently located on open plains, they are most often found where a dependable water source is present. None occurs in Broken Terrain, on the slopes of Taftan, or at Mountain Bases. Sixteen special function sites, 14% of the total, are mostly small sites, less than one hectare, and are located primarily at the base of mountains and on the slopes of the Taftan Uplands. Sub-Areal Distribution of Sites The resulting areal patterning of the analysis of site distribu tions in the survey area reveals, as predicted, a correspondence between subsistence requirements and site locations. Transit stations are gen erally located with respect to, if any, a single specific resource (e.g., chert outcrops), topographic features (e.g., rock shelters), or paths and passes. Seasonal campsites are located where pasturage is good for sheep and goats, and permanent sites are concentrated on flat plains where silt has collected and arable land can be irrigated. The settlements of the various ecozones varied in terms of the type of sites as well as their number and density. Within each ecozone, specific locational variables play roles of varying magnitude in accor dance with the type of sites involved. I. Lowland Plains. One-third of the 15 sites in this subarea were permanent, 20% were large seasonal campsites, and only one transient 159 station was found here. All of the permanent sites were located near a dependable water source or at least showed evidence of artificial means (wells, qanats) of acquiring water. The same was true of seasonal camp sites, while the two temporary campsites were located where no water source, even in the form of intermittent drainage channels, was evident. The permanent sites were also located where arable land, even if only marginally arable, was found. Most were located where the north-south tending valleys provided natural channels for communication ro-ites and movements of goods and peoples. The majority of the sites in this eco zone, even those with arable land, were covered with sand or were being encroached upon by drifting sand dunes. Vast stretches of the Lowland Plains were completely covered with sand, which may skew the settlement data by burying thinly-deposited sites. II Highland Plains. The settlement patterns of the Khash Valley plains above an altitude of 1,400 meters were of a markedly different character. Here one-third of the sites were transient stations and one- fourth were seasonal campsites. Only one permanent village site is in cluded. Sites are correspondingly smaller than in the Lowland Plains. Dependable perennial water sources are few, and most sites were located far from any known source. However, of more apparent importance as a locational criterion in this subarea was the grazing potential offered by the often abundant spreads of Artemisia steppe grasses and shrubs. Present-day villages based on agriculture are located within the vicin ity of Khash and to the north on the open plains, but earlier agricul tural villages appeared to be absent or else were obscured by the drift ing sands. III. Taftan Upland Watered Valleys. The narrow valleys on the flanks of Taftan are less centrally located with regard to communication 160 161 and trade routes and, despite their advantages for agriculturalists, ap pear to have played secondary roles in the settlement system of the Sar had. While somewhat isolated from larger permanent villages on the plains, the valleys are nevertheless in close proximity to some of the favored seasonal pastures of pastoral nomads; consequently, the sites found in these valleys appear to bear a closer relationship to pastoral nomadic groups than to agricultural communities on the Khash Plains. The modern settlements are of Baluch and Kurds whose pastoral nomadic cousins join the settlements only during certain seasons (usually winter) of the year. (The Kurd population of Sangan, for instance, grows con siderably every winter.) The majority (33%) of the sites investigated during the survey of these valleys are likewise semi-permanent in nature. Two sites were classified as permanent villages in the Sangan and Kuche valleys where relatively cool pockets of well-watered arable land existed. Two transient stations were recorded for the narrow Tudi Gorge in areas less favorable for agriculture. IV. Taftan Upland Slopes. In this ecozone, the relatively cooler summers and greater precipitation have produced extensive grazing land which is more abundant and dependable than many of the neighboring regions at lower altitudes. As a consequence, almost half (47%) of the sites on these eastern slopes are seasonal campsites often greater than a hectare in size. Another 27% are special function sites, such as the fortified tower of Rostrom overlooking the route south from the Zahedan Plateau into the Khash Plain, and cemeteries. Water is almost exclu sively in the form of seasonal runoff from Taftan; and pockets of arable land, at such villages as Kor Koh and Pooch Gelli, are scarce. As might be expected in such a situation, permanent and semi-permanent village 162 sites were completely absent. Terrain in this subarea is undulating and rocky, and the smaller impermanent campsites were often sheltered from view and located at the bases of gullies cut by seasonal drainage from the volcano. V. Mountain Springs. The dependable water supply afforded by the natural springs at the foot of Kuh-i Panj Angosht have supported permanent and semi-permanent villages which depended in whole or in part on the cultivation in terraces of the surrounding arable slopes. The largest and most dependable spring in the survey area, Khash Spring No. 1 (called Cheshmah Ali by the local Baluch), has the largest archeological site and the densest cover of surface artifacts of all sites in the sur vey area. Additional factors which may have contributed to the location of a major site here are the ease of access and the commanding view of the Khash Plain as far north as Taftan. In contrast, Khash Spring No. 2 and Kalhur are difficult of access and considerably smaller. Like Khash Spring No. 1, Khash Spring No. 3, at the southern end of the Kuh-i Panj Angosht, may have had some importance as a stopover or waystation on the major route from Sistan and the Zahedan Plateau into the Karvandar and Bampur drainage to the southwest. VI. Mountain Bases. Forty percent of all sites investigated were located in this ecozone. This high percentage was influenced in part by the Site Pattern Recognition method which was adopted in the sur vey's research design but also reflects the fact that, while large per manent village sites may be found on the Lowland Plains below the moun tains, the greatest site densities may be found elsewhere. Of the 44 sites located at the bases of mountains in the Khash Valley or on their talus fans, 39% are transient stations and 29% are temporary campsites. 163 % N«, KOR KOH.- ^ i • HUSH A v-''" /• Map 5. Sangan area: sites of Taftan Upland watered valleys. 164 Map 6. Shori area: sites of the Taftan Upland slopes. 165 All are small, less than a hectare in extent. Arable land is lacking and permanent village sites are, consequently, absent. Some small, pos sibly semi-permanent, sites are located at the base of the mountain form ing the western border of the Khash Valley proper; but these may repre sent limited activity loci of larger, more permanent village sites which are undetected under the silt and sand on the valley floor below. Nosra tabad, site 22-20, is an extensive special function site, which consists of cairn graves scattered over an area greater than one linear kilometer along the foot of the mountain and which must have serviced a settlement of the same period on the plain below. The majority of sites in this eco zone, however, are impermanent transient stations and temporary camps which were located with respect to intermittent drainage patterns and grazing vegetation. Almost all the sites were located on the banks of channels or gullies downcut by seasonal wash from the mountains. Not only do these drainage channels provide water during short periods of the year, they also are sources of more abundant brush growth, such as tamarix shrubs and other firewood fuel sources, and fine "shale powder," carried down from the upper slopes, which is used by nomads as a fill for the floors within their tents and other structures. Grazing vegeta tion is not so abundant here as on the Taftan slopes, but it has the ad vantage of being far enough removed from the agricultural villages on the valley floor to prevent damage to crops by grazing herds. At the same timej none of the sites in this ecozone are too far from these agricultural villages to preclude interaction and trade between the sites. Such sites at Mountain Bases, then, may have been occupied by peoples exploiting more than one ecozone simultaneously. 166 VII. Broken Terrain. Like the Mountain Base Ecozone, this sub- area is characterized by small transient stations and temporary camp sites; but the density of sites is much less than in the former. Not a single permanent or semi-permanent village site was found within the broken or hilly terrain. Both water sources and vegetative cover are minimal, and grazing conditions are generally not good. No arable land was noted, and no modern settlements are located in this ecozone. Haidar Camp and the Sitharo sites were located in areas of broken terrain which may have served as passes between mountainous areas or physiographic zones. Temporal Distribution of Sites Paleolithic The discovery of Paleolithic sites was not one of the goals of this survey; as a consequence, only a few Paleolithic sites were inves tigated. Eight sites were designated as Paleolithic on the basis of an inventory of lithic artifacts, primarily representing a flake industry on chert. Six of these sites were located on the eastern foot of Kuh-i Panj Angosht on gravel tongues between deeply incised gullies. They are small and appear to represent isolated find spots or small flaking lo calities. At two locations in the Lowland Plains, at Kamal and Bozan, flaking stations were discovered at the base of chert outcrops which rise from the sandy floor of the plain. Site 50-1 (Bozan), is quite ex tensive and is discussed in a paper in progress. Later Prehistoric None of the sites found within the survey area could be labeled Neolithic. It is possible that the area was uninhabited during the TABLE 4 TYPES OF SITES BY ECOZONES Ecozone Site Type I II III IV V VI VII Lowland Highland Taftan Taftan Mountain Mountain Broken Plains Plains Valleys Slopes Springs Bases Terrain Transient Stations 1 4 2 2 1 17 4 Temporary Campsites 2 1 2 13 3 Seasonal Campsites 3 3 1 7 3 2 Semi-permanent 2 2 3 2 6 Permanent villages 5 1 2 1 Special Function 2 1 1 4 5 3 168 Neolithic period and was populated by people from neighboring areas in succeeding periods. Alternatively, it may be that artifacts of such an early period have simply gone undetected. Which possibility is the more likely can only be determined by controlled excavation to expose strata beneath the third and fourth millennia B.C. levels of selected sites. Definitive occupation of the survey area can be demonstrated be ginning with the fourth millennium B.C. at the major site of Khash Spring No. 1, which—by virtue of a dependable water source—may have been a way station on a route between the Sistan area, where Shahr-i Sokhta flourished in the fourth and third millennia, to the Bampur drainage, where the Chalcolithic sites of Bampur, Khurab, Damin, and several others date from the same period. Yet the Khash area itself appears to have lacked any major cultural centers. Of the 17 Chalco lithic sites recorded on the survey, only three are larger than five hectares, and nine are less than a half hectare. Five were designated semi-permanent villages and five seasonal campsites. Two permanent vil lage sites and two small temporary camps were recorded, two transient stations and one special function site. Six of the 17 sites were lo cated in the Mountain Base Ecozone. Five were located on plains, most of them small sites where no water sources were evident. In Ecozones VI and VII, most of these Chalcolithic sites were situated near the banks of large dry stream beds. Three of the campsites which date to the third millennium were found in Ecozone IV on the slopes of the Taftan Massif. Only one prehistoric find was made in Ecozone III in the Tudi Gorge. Iron Age As throughout eastern Iran, the Iron Age period is neither well known nor (not coincidentally) well represented. Only seven sites in 169 the survey area were tentatively attributed to this period. These do not vary measurably in size from those of the preceding Chalcolithic period. Three are classified as seasonal campsites, two as semi-perma nent villages, one as a temporary campsite, and one as a special function site. Neither permanent village sites nor transient stations dating to this period were recorded. It is not known whether the special function site, Nosratabad, with its kilometer or more of stone burial cairns, dates from the Iron Age or the later Partho-Sasanian period. Three of the Iron Age sites were located on the Lowland Plain; two were found at the Base of Mountains, and two on the slopes of the Taftan Massif. None was found in the Watered Valleys of the Taftan or at Mountain Springs, unless, as is likely, occupation continued at Khash Spring No. 1. Partho-Sasanian The Achaemenian is another poorly-defined period in southeast Iran, and the Parthian and Sasanian periods have been lumped together in this report as the ceramic differentiation between them is uncertain in the survey area. More sites (29) are attributed to the Partho-Sasanian than to any other period in the Khash area. Of these, 16 are greater than one hectare, and 8 of these are greater than 15 hectares. Eight are semi-permanent villages, 5 are large permanent villages, 7 are sea sonal campsites, 5 small temporary campsites, 2 special function sites, and 2 transient stations. Eleven Partho-Sasanian sites were located on flat plains, eight of these in Ecozone I, Lowland Plains. Nine sites were situated at the Base of Mountains, five on the Slopes of the Taftan Uplands, three in Broken Terrain. Only two were found in Watered Taftan Valleys and only one at a Mountain Spring, unless the Khash Spring No. 1 occupation 170 continued into this period. Seven appear to continue from earlier Chal colithic occupations. Early and Medieval Islamic A drop in the number of sites occurs in the next period, the Early and Medieval Islamic, which runs from the eighth century through the Seljuk, Mongol, and Timurid rules to 1500 A.D. Twenty sites are re corded. Most of these (12) are less than one hectare in size, although five are larger than 15 hectares. These five larger sites are permanent village sites. Three are classified as semipermanent villages, four as transient stations, four as small temporary camps, and three as seasonal campsites. Only one special function site was included. Half of the Early Islamic sites are located in Ecozone IV, Mountain Bases, 30% on the Lowland Plains, 10% on the Taftan Slopes. No Early Islamic sites were situated at Mountain Springs and only one each in Ecozones II and III. Four Early Islamic sites appear to continue from the Partho- Sasanian while two co-occur with Chalcolithic artifacts. Late Islamic A further drop in sites, from 20 to 16, occurs in the Late Islamic period (Safavid rule from 1502 to 1722) in the survey area, while no major variations in size are evidenced. Differences in the types of sites, however, do appear. Almost one-third (5) of the Late Islamic sites are transient stations, three are small temporary campsites, three are seasonal campsites, three are semi-permanent villages, and two are special function sites. No permanent village sites occur in this period. Seven sites are situated on open plains, although only two of these occur in Ecozone I, Lowland Plains. Five are in Ecozone VI, Mountain Bases; 171 four in Ecozone VII, Broken Terrain; three in Ecozone IV, Taftan Slopes; and one each in Ecozones III, Watered Taftan Valleys, and V, Mountain Springs. Recent The period covering the last 250 years, when the Baluch inhab ited the survey area, is designated the Recent Period. Nineteen sites were recorded with either Baluch pottery, modern debris, or signs of re cent habitation, such as dung or brushwood fuel. These are predomi nantly small, less than a half hectare, although one is larger than 15 hectares. Except for one semi-permanent village, sites are impermanent in nature: seven small temporary camps, six seasonal camps, and two transient stations. Three special function sites were found, excluding the town of Khash itself with its ruined Baluch fort. No recent perma nent village sites were investigated from this period, although at least 28 modern agricultural villages and hamlets or homesteads and three ruined villages were counted in the survey area. More than half of the sites were located at Mountain Bases, often on the banks of gullies or dry channels; three each were found in the Lowland Plains, the Taftan Slopes, and in Broken Terrain. Two occurred in Taftan Watered Valleys and one on the Highland Plains. None was found at Mountain Springs. None of the recent sites appear to be continuous from the Late Islamic, although five co-occur with evidence from earlier periods. Undated It has not been possible to date or to attribute to any one period the remaining 27 sites recorded on the survey. Either the sites yielded features but no artifacts, or the ceramics were lacking in 172 diagnostic or chronological significance. This was the case with both undecorated medium- or coarse-textured ware sherds and with such deco rated, but undated, wares as the Red Painted Coarse Ware described on page 60. All but six of these undated sites were less than one hectare in size. Ten are transient stations, three small temporary camps, four seasonal camps, two semi-permanent villages, two permanent villages, and four special function. Nine of these were located at the base of moun tains, four in Taftan Valleys, four on the Highland Plains, three on Lowland Plains, three in Broken Terrain, two on the Taftan Slopes, and one at a Mountain Spring. Summary of the Settlement Pattern of the Khash Area The earliest evidence of human activity within the survey area is from the Middle Paleolithic and possibly also, based on comparisons with the Ladizian industry found at Ladiz just over 100 km to the north (Hume 1976), from the Lower Paleolithic. Hunter-gatherers were able to support themselves on game in the mountainous zones and possibly large herd ungulates on the floor of the Lowland Plains. While none of the caves or rock shelters encountered on the survey had apparently seen Paleolithic occupation, the small Panj Angosht sites are situated high on the flanks of the mountain where unobscured vistas of the entire Khash Valley from Taftan south to Kalhur would allow hunters to follow the movements of herd animals on the plains below. The large flaking station, Bozan, was located in the Lowland Plain zone at an outcropping of fine-grade chert. No evidence of an Upper Paleolithic period is found in the Valley, and this may point to a dessication of the area near the end of the Pleistocene and a concurrent disappearance of large game. TABLE 5 TYPES OF SITES BY CHRONOLOGICAL PERIOD Site Type Period Transient Temporary Seasonal Semi- Special Permanent Station Camp Camp Permanent Function Paleolithic 5 2 Chalcolithic 2 2 5 5 2 1 Iron Age 1 3 2 1 Partho-Sasanian 2 5 7 8 5 2 Early-Medieval Islamic 4 4 3 3 5 1 Late Islamic 5 3 3 3 2 Recent 2 7 6 1 3 Unknown 10 3 4 2 2 4 174 TABLE 6 CHRONOLOGICAL PERIOD BY ECOZONE Ecozone Period II III IV V VI VII Paleolithic 2 6 Chalcolithic 2 3 1 3 6 3 Iron Age 3 1 1 2 2 Partho-Sasanian 8 3 2 5 9 3 Early Islamic 6 1 1 2 10 1 Late Islamic 2 5 1 3 5 4 Recent 3 1 2 3 8 3 Unknown 3 4 4 2 9 3 175 Unless Neolithic settlements have gone undetected, which is en tirely possible, it may be that human occupation of the survey area was 3 resumed only in the fourth millennium. Because of the abundant artifact yield of Khash Spring No. 1 and the well-documented excavations of sites of the same period in neighboring areas of Baluchistan, Sistan, and Ker man, the evidence of the fourth and third millennia collected from the surface of sites on the Khash survey appears conclusive. Sites of this period, which numbered 17, were generally small; no tepes such as those of Tepe Yahya or Bampur accumulated in the area. In fact, except for Khash Spring No. 1, no large population centers were located in what must have been a cultural backwater throughout much of the history of Iran. The economy of the area during the fourth and third millennia may have been that of small villages which combined limited agriculture with caprovine herding; trade does not seem to have played a major role in the economy of the area. Agriculture seems to have been practiced on a small scale using simple irrigation techniques such as terraced fields at places where dependable water sources were assured, as at Khash Spring No. 1. Most of these small farmsteads or camps, such as site 32-8 (Khash Mountain Locality 9), were located in Ecozone IV j Mountain Bases, on alluvial fans where the water table is higher and on the High land Plains near intermittent streams or springs. The Chalcolithic is the period least represented on the Lowland Plains, possibly because ir rigation techniques were not yet sophisticated enough to support farming where the water table was low (100 meters). 3 If present, Neolithic artifacts might be mixed on the surface with later Chalcolithic artifacts; or some of the 27 undated sites, es pecially those with coarse, handmade pottery, may actually date from the fifth millennium or earlier. 176 The sites of this period, being small and scattered hamlets, may have been inhabited by extended family units which were largely economically independent units but which, nevertheless, maintained some degree of interaction, as is shown by the similarity of the ceramic traditions. The absence of a perennial stream or sizeable oasis seems to have precluded the development of any major prehistoric population center; Khash Spring No. 1 appears to have been unique in this region for its size but is still small compared with the sites of Bampur, Shahr-i Sokhta, and even Yahya. The succeeding Iron Age is problematic for the interpretation of the Khash area settlement pattern. Sites attributed to this period are few (no more than seven), and their identification is by no means cer tain. If their number and designation are correct, then the Chalcolithic occupation of the survey area was followed by a sharp decrease in popu lation. However, it may be more likely that the Iron Age remains are mixed in with the Chalcolithic material, especially as some sites indi cate a continuity of occupation from Chalcolithic to Parthian times. The economy of the period was a mixed one not markedly different from that of the preceding prehistoric period, but there may have been a slight movement onto the Lowland Plains for the first time. The Partho-Sasanian period ushered in what might be referred to as the Khash Valley florescence, with a growth in the number of sites to 29, more than any other period. Movement onto the floor of the Lowland Plain occurred simultaneously with the appearance of irrigation agri culture—based on the qanat system—which became economically important for the first time. A mixture of marginal agriculture and caprovine herding continued in importance elsewhere in the area. In addition to 177 increasing in number, Partho-Sasanian sites increased in size, especially those semi-permanent and permanent village sites on the flat plains. However, villages were not of sufficient size and duration (or were too extended) to produce tepes. Occupation extended for the first time into the relatively inhospitable Ecozone VII, Broken Terrain, which may have been a result of population pressure on the plains and the increasing movements on the part of a segment of the population which was beginning to depend more heavily on nomadic pastoralism. In the Early and Medieval Islamic periods, from approximately the eighth century through the fifteenth century, the number of sites falls from 29 to 20; but five permanent village sites are over 10 hectares in size, suggesting that a reduction in settlements was accompanied by a slight nucleation of villages on the Lowland Plains as these population centers increased in importance in the areas of irrigation agriculture. Pamazar, south of modern Khash, where a small mound or tepe attests to the presence of a probable fortified administrative center, is one such large dispersed village center. While the agricultural settlements of the Lowland Plains were important, at least half of the Early Islamic sites were still located at the base of mountains and on the Taftan Slopes and were impermanent campsites, indicating that the Khash area continued to support both agriculturalists and a variety of nomadic pas toralists, most probably in some form of symbiotic relationship similar to what is observed in the area at present. It is possible that the semi-permanent sites located at the base of mountains may have served as economic pivots in an increasingly systematized interaction between ag riculturalists and pastoralists. 178 The Late Islamic period, after 1500 A.D., ushers in what appears to be a significant economic and population shift. The number of vil lages drops to 16, and permanent village sites seem to be completely ab sent. There are fewer sites measuring over one hectare in size, and only two sites are located on the Lowland Plains. Apparently sometime around the sixteenth or seventeenth centuries, a decline in population occurred, qanat systems throughout the area fell into disuse, and irrigation agri culture, declined drastically in importance while pastoral nomadic camp sites appear to have proliferated at the base of mountains, on the High land Plains, and in Broken Terrain. Most of these sites are quite small transient stations. While there does appear to be some continuity from the earlier period, the economic shift from a mixed farming-herding to a predominantly pastoral economy is suggested by both the nature and the locations of the Late Islamic sites. During this period, it is also believed that the Baluch ethnic group, with a pastoral nomadic subsis tence base, became firmly entrenched in the area. The patterns evidenced in the Late Islamic continued into the Recent period and intensified. The 19 archeological sites, although these do not include inhabited modern villages and Baluch camps, are small and impermanent, temporary and seasonal campsites. Most sites again are found at the base of mountains near intermittent drainage channels, while other camps are scattered through the Plains, the Taftan Slopes, and Broken Terrain. Underlining the impermanent nature of the pastoral nomadic sites, none is continuous from the preceding period, and most are single component. Fortified structures are small, Baluch in origin, and scattered, suggesting a regional autonomy rather than a strong administrative presence on the part of the Iranian state. In 179 recent years, an influx of population from other areas of Iran has spurred the growth of Khash and other small villages, while the Baluch population continues to exploit the hinterlands in its pastoralist rounds. The settlement model suggested above for the Khash area is made more complicated by virtue of the fact that 27 sites are undated and, therefore, cannot be given their proper places in any settlement recon struction. These sites are almost exclusively small, primarily single component transient stations and are located at the base of mountains between 1,450 and 1,550 meters in elevation. However, no progress can be made toward the identification of such sites and their ceramics until excavations in the Khash Valley and Taftan highlands make known the ceramic and cultural sequences of the region. In such an event, the en tire settlement model as outlined in this chapter will be subject to re vision. Until then, the Khash Valley and Taftan highlands may be viewed as a semi-arid region which supports only limited agricultural settle ments while being more suitable, throughout its history, to exploitation by peoples practicing mixed forms of pastoralism. Until more data can be obtained both from excavations and con tinued surveys employing random and stratified sampling techniques, settlement system analyses using nearest neighbor or central place theories will not be possible. In the interim, the settlement system analyses of the Khash area will have to stand on the evidence presented in this chapter, which illustrates a succession of cultures which strongly emphasize a mixed economy where herding is more important than agriculture. CHAPTER VIII PASTORAL NOMADISM: AN ARCHEOLOGICAL INVESTIGATION The major aim of the field research on which this paper is based was an examination of pastoral nomadism from an archeological viewpoint. The original grant proposal, entitled "An Archeological Investigation of Pastoral Nomadism in Iranian Baluchistan," called for a research design which could test the feasibility of an approach which asked archeological questions of ethnographic data and used archeological field and analyti cal methodology to provide answers to these questions. To what degree may the adaptive strategy in which a mobile population is dependent chiefly on pastoralism be successfully studied by the anthropologist? My interest in this question began during my undergraduate intro duction to anthropology when I read Richard Beardsley's 1955 article "Functional and Evolutionary Implications of Community Patterning," in which the author examined the archeological visibility of various sub sistence modes on a scale of mobility of settlement. The article at tempted to establish functional links between (1) types of mobility, (2) level of subsistence, and (3) the rest of the culture, which together would result in distinct community patterns. In the process, he stated that "incipient pastoral nomadism" was impossible to detect archeologi cally, "equestrian pastoral nomadism" was unknown archeologically, and evidence of "diversified pastoral nomadism" was likely to be found only in the form of monuments and not in the form of campsites. More recent anthropological literature continued in the same vein: "By its very 180 181 nature a surface survey ... is unable to reveal traces that might have been left by prehistoric nomads, whose refuse would not have mounded up" i (Hole 1962:524). Butzer (1971) saw no direct archeological proof for pastoral nomadism, and Bridget Allchin (1972:117) was frankly pessimis tic about the likelihood of ethnographic and archeological correlations being established for pastoral nomadism. At the same time, reviews of prehistory, as well as archeologi cal studies limited in time and space, largely ignored the question of pastoral nomadic subsistence: Prehistoric studies have . . . consistently avoided addressing the problem of placing nomads in a prehistoric context. The usual excuse is that remains cannot be identified or the sites would have been too thin to have left noticeable remains [Shaffer 1974b:155]. Simultaneously, however, with literature which dismissed the utility of pastoral nomadic studies for archeology, the typical under graduate in anthropology read article after article discussing the Paleolithic living floors in Olduvai Gorge and other locations where minute details of the life of simple hunters and gatherers were recon structed from the archeological evidence. Even open air sites exposed to the elements for millennia and found on surveys could reveal rela tively undisturbed surfaces from which cultural data could be gleaned. It began to seem incongruous that similar approaches had not been taken toward the identification of pastoral nomadic sites. Until recent years, the silence on this question in archeological literature was al most absolute. 1 Hole's recent excavations in Iran have produced different re sults. See Hole 1974 and 1978. 182 As I began the formulation of a research problem, it seemed in creasingly evident to me that a substantive gap existed in the arche ology of areas such as Iran where pastoral nomadism has played a histor ically important role. Attention was largely devoted to excavations of large urban sites, and what surveys were undertaken usually concentrated on the plotting of tepes and sites of specific periods. Small, shallow, impermanent sites were not investigated or were dismissed as unimportant or unlikely to provide the desired cultural data. Yet such sites, like their more recent counterparts, can be essential elements in a larger sociocultural system—so much so that prehistoric studies which omit them are incomplete and distorted. The survey of the Khash area in Iranian Baluchistan was designed to test the feasibility of rectifying this balance. In more general terms, it was an underlying assumption of the Khash study that even a surface survey could discover site data reveal ing subsistence practices. A temporary campsite of pastoralists would leave some traces, even if only a living floor similar to those identi fied for Paleolithic hunters and gatherers. The problem became one of determining the archeological correlates of a pastoral nomadic subsistence pattern. What type of archeological remains would be left behind by pastoral nomadic groups to provide identification? More basic still, what leads the archeologist to expect that pastoral nomadism similar to that practiced today existed in prehistoric times? As for all other subsistence strategies—complex irrigation ag riculture, maritime trade, hunting and gathering, etc. archeologists must extrapolate from the known to the unknown. No past aspect of cul ture has existed in isolation and may survive in fossil form. In much 183 of the Near East, for instance, the precarious nature of water supplies has severely restricted the spread of agriculture and encouraged the prevalence of pastoralism and seasonal mobility over sedentary residence patterns. Areas considered marginal for settlement by agricultural peoples may have provided optimal pasturelands for herders. The idea of pastoralism as an early subsistence strategy is gaining in archeological credibility: Hole (1974:237), for one, now sees nothing in the present evidence to suggest that a specialist pastoralist economy "was not part of the early experiments with domestication which are most abundantly represented archeologically by settled farming villages." His most re cent research (1978), based on ethnoarcheology, amplifies on this theme. Fairservis sees the settlement of northern and central Baluchi stan by simple food producers "perhaps at first more pastoral than agri cultural" (Stigler 1974:148), and Stein (1937) voiced the opinion that large tracts of his survey areas where he found no tepes were occupied by non-sedentary peoples. According to Hole (1974:236), it seems highly likely that "patterns of transhumance which took people and their herds from the Khuzistan Plain into the pastures and forests of the mountains seasonally were already developed in the seventh millennium." Mortensen (1972:296) concurs: The earliest villages in an area should be preceded by semi permanent camps established by herders or farmers exploiting the ecological possibilities of the new environment. It has recently been suggested that the earliest habitations on the northern Meso potamian plain were seasonal camps for herders who were attracted by the Assyrian steppe because of its great potential as winter grazing land, and that the first permanent villages in the area (Hassuna and Matarrah)—like Tepe Guran—developed on the basis of such seasonal camps. 184 Pastoral Nomadism An essential first step is the definition of the term "pastoral nomadism." Before the application of the term in an archeological con text, it should be clearly understood just what the archeologist is re ferring to when he employs such an ethnological/economic category. This is, however, far from an easy matter. Cultural anthropologists have yet to attain a semblance of unanimity on either the definition or the usage of the term "pastoral nomad." To some degree, the many anthropological debates over the proper definitions of pastoral nomadism are laudable and contribute to mutual comprehension and clarification. On the other hand, such debates sometimes succeed merely in creating a spurious prob lem by scholasticism exercised beyond the point of utility. In this paper, my concern is archeological and will attempt to avoid becoming embroiled in ancillary arguments. For ethnographic and economic discus sions of pastoral nomadism, transhumance, and variations in patterns of movement and subsistence, the reader is referred to more general sources: Barth (1961), Cohen (1968), Dyson-Hudson (1969), Johnson (1969), Salzman (1971), and Spooner (1973). Simplicity will be maintained in the definition of terms used in this paper. Nomadism implies movement and, in its cultural context, has usually connoted a fixed pattern of purposeful movements of communities with no permanent habitation or fixed residence. Pastoralism refers to a primary economic dependence on the herding of domesticated animals. While it is recognized that pastoralism may be practiced by sedentary agriculturalists and that nomads may include hunter-gatherers as well as pastoralists, the term "pastoral nomadism" will refer in this paper to a subsistence strategy in which a primary—not necessarily exclusive—de pendence on herding of domesticated animals is accompanied by periodic 185 movement of residence throughout the year to accommodate the requirements of the herded animals. In other words, no inherent contradiction is seen in the combination of the terms "pastoralism" and "nomadism" to connote a general type of subsistence pattern; pastoralism describes a method of resource extraction, and nomadism refers to a cultural adaptation which facilitates the maximum utilization of those same resources. The two are complementary. For the purposes of this paper, however, it is necessary to exercise a certain flexibility in describing the subsistence pattern. First, pastoral nomadism does not imply an exclusive dependence on ani mal products; few pastoral nomadic societies exist in isolation from sedentary peoples. In 1961, Barth was the first anthropologist to sug gest that "nomad" and "agriculturalist" were not fixed, mutually exclu sive categories. Since that time, the literature has emphasized the often symbiotic nature of the relationship between the two niches: The nomadic element would have provided important economic func tions such as surpluses of the flock (meat, wool, and dairy prod ucts), seasonal labor, a market for village products, a source of trade goods, communications and important political alliances. Pastoral nomads and agricultural villages can and do exist in vital symbiotic relationships which are crucial to the total ecological adaptation and exploitation of the area. Because of these impor tant relationships the pastoral nomad plays a fundamentally impor tant role in the cultural development of any area where they exist [Lattimore 1962]. One difference between pastoral nomads and agriculturalists, most scholars would agree, is one of "econiche." Pastoral nomads in the Near East are found in areas which are unsuitable or marginal for the pursuit of agriculture. Where security for agriculture is not possible, a mobile resource such as goats, sheep, or camels can serve as a hedge against famine. When severe drought conditions make survival in an area precarious, the pastoral nomad can move his resource to a more favorable 186 area; the agriculturalist normally does not move his fields. In mar ginal areas such as the Sarhad of Baluchistan, pastoral nomadism is thus a surer and more practical form of subsistence than agriculture, par ticularly if the animals herded are the hardy goat; and other means of subsistence can be turned to for periodic compensation of the often meager returns of pastoralism in a harsh environment. The Sarhad Baluch exemplify this type of adaptation, as will be shown below. Ethnoarcheological Investigations Because no irrefutable and direct proof of pastoral nomadism exists archeologically, and because the archeologist must always draw on the known to explain the unknown, an archeological investigation of pastoral nomadism must turn to cultural analogies. Archeological models do not have to be based on strict ethnographic analogies; but, as Binford (1968) asserts, the archeologist can employ ethnographic data as inspiration for his models. Referred to as "ethnoarcheology," the use of ethnographic data in archeological model construction is gaining in popularity in archeo logical circles as the utility of the method is increasingly recognized. Lamberg-Karlovsky (1974:291) predicts that the most enduring failure of his work at Tepe Yahya will be the lack of ethnoarcheological research. The disappearance of traditional cultures such as those represented by nomadic tribes in Iran is the primary impetus for increased awareness of 2 the value of ethnoarcheological research. 2 In Qatar, deCardi (1974) notes that the interpretation of a Bedouin encampment of the 18th century can be made on the basis of pres ent surface indications and that this should be followed by a study of "20th century camping grounds for nomadism is fast disappearing with Bedouin families translated from the traditional tents to modern homes . . . within the space of a week." 187 Ethnographic literature has generally been of only limited util ity for archeologists because most ethnographic studies do not address the problems of material culture in a manner appropriate for archeologi cal analysis. Most ethnographers, for example, fail to report a mate rial culture inventory complete with raw materials used, settlement plans showing locations and spacing of residential units and other features, and the distribution of items in relationship to various activity areas. Thus, while ethnographic data can be of immense value to the archeolo gist, he must often attempt to make the necessary ethnographic field ob servations himself. These ethnoarcheological practices, in addition to direct obser vation of settlements and material culture, may include the use of in formants to provide information on recently abandoned sites (see Longacre and Ayres 1968). In 1971, Gould, a pioneer in ethnoarcheological tech niques, urged archeologists to map modern settlements and compare these with prehistoric ones, as he did in Australia and to use direct ethno graphic analogy for tool function, manufacture, and raw material sources. His studies demonstrate the value of these techniques for explanations of site locations and the interpretation of specific problems. For a consideration of the dangers of misinterpretation inherent in archeolog ical studies of settlement remains and the value of informants, the reader is referred to Bonnichsen (1973), who tested the intuitive method employed in the ethnoarcheology of Longacre and Ayres (1968) and finds it wanting. In devising a research design for the Khash survey, it was recognized that the Sarhad Plateau had great potential for ethnoarche ological investigations due to the juxtaposition of modern Baluch camps 188 which conform to traditional patterns and recently abandoned sites. The results of ethnoarcheological observations made during the survey are 3 discussed below. Culture History of the Sarhad The Sarhad Plateau of Baluchistan is the home today of the Baluch, a mixed ethnic group found throughout both the Pakistani and Iranian Baluchistan Provinces as well as in Sistan Province and Afghan- 4 istan to the north. The central Iranian government has shown an active interest in the development of this southeastern corner of their country only since Pahlavi times beginning in 1926. The Baluch themselves use that date to demarcate the end of the Baluch Period and the beginning of the Post-Baluch Period. During the last century in the Baluch Period, the economy of the Sarhad was based on goat and sheep pastoralism, date palm arboriculture to the east off the Sarhad Plateau, and raiding of Iranian peasant villages and caravans. The present economy of the Ba luch on the Sarhad is essentially unchanged with the exception of mi grant labor, on a seasonal basis, being substituted for raiding. The stability of the Baluch subsistence system throughout the duration of The pursuit of ethnoarcheological research during my field pro gram was severely hindered by the uneasiness of some Baluchistan provin cial officials and by a lack of appreciation of the value or the neces sity of such activities on the part of my Iranian Center for Archeologi cal Research representative. Although a representative of the Baluch istan Province's branch of the Ministry of Culture in Zahedan was sup portive of this aspect of my research, after little more than a month in the field I was forbidden by the captain of the gendarmerie in Khash and the ICAR representative to visit or photograph any more Baluch camps or to converse with Baluch in the field. As a consequence, most of the ethonoarcheological observations detailed here were made in late April and May of 1975. 4 Also present on the Sarhad Plateau are a sizeable pocket of Kurds, primarily in the Taftan Uplands, and agricultural settlements of Yazdis and Kermanis and other Iranians who immigrated into the region in the last fifty years. A large Sikh merchant class is found in Zahedan. 189 their residence in Baluchistan is underlined by typonomy: names of Baluch origin are "almost exclusively names of natural features, e.g., streams, rocks, mountains . . . these can be seen to suggest the typonomy of a pastoral, nomadic people" (Spooner 1971). Before Safavid times, the name Baluchistan was not in use; practically nothing is known of the inhabitants of the Sarhad before the arrival of the Baluch in the area in probably the Late Islamic pe riod. Spooner (1964:53), one of the few scholars versed in the history and ethnography of the Baluch, believes that this ethnic group originated near the southwestern shores of the Caspian and migrated southeast, pos sibly under Seljuk pressure, into Kerman, where they are mentioned in medieval sources from the tenth and eleventh centuries A.D. From Kermaas a migration eastward took them into Sistan and from there into the Sindh of Pakistan by the sixteenth century. Spooner (1967:18), on the basis of large numbers of Indian loan words in all Baluch dialects, contends that the present Baluch population entered the Sarhad from the east, probably not much earlier than 300 years ago. The date groves in the Mashkel Basin on the Pakistan border have been documented in Baluch pos session for only 100 years (Salzman 1972a:53). Since the death of Nadir Shah in 1747, Iranian Baluchistan was briefly under the suzerainty of Afghan rulers, but by the early 19th century was independent, and by 1892 the British report the Baluch re sisting control by the Qajar government of Iran. The final pacification Spooner (1964) reports that Baluch still refer pejoratively to all Iranians as "Qajar." This could perhaps account for the fact that while the Baluch refer to the mound at site 21-1 (Pamazar) as a "Qajar fortress," only sherds from earlier periods were found on the surface. It is possible that the Baluch make no terminological distinction be tween "Qajars" and Iranians from earlier periods. 190 of the Baluch did not occur until 1935, and only in the last 20 years has there been substantial effort on the part of the national government to improve socio-economic conditions in the area. Northern Iranian Baluchistan, throughout its history, seems never to have had a large political or economic center. Until the Pahlavi reign, the main route into Baluchistan was from the southwest via the Jaz Murian Basin (Spooner 1969:147) so that the Sarhad Plateau was effectively isolated from the mainstream of Iranian Plateau communi cations and tended to be regarded as a cul de sac. Not until the Pahlavi period was Zahedan, 200 km north of Khash, established as a pro vincial capital and a road built south to Khash; a new asphalted road was completed in 1976. The Baluch of the Sarhad prior to this century, however, had no functioning bazaars and traveled north to Sistan for trade goods (see Salzman 1972a:132), using a caravan route which was al most certainly the same used by the inhabitants of the area in antiquity and in Bronze Age times as a route between the Sistan and Bampur commun ities. The area was probably always of a low population density "and what population there was must have been almost exclusively pastoral and therefore nomadic" (Spooner 1971:522). Although evidence exists on the Sarhad Plateau for agricultural communities in the past, it is unlikely that the province as a whole was ever prosperous. "It is very doubtful whether [Baluchistan] has ever been rendered capable of producing over any significant period more than a subsistence level of existence for the majority of its inhabitants" (Spooner 1964:66). The main evidence for previous agriculture in the area exists in the form of disused qanat systems and a few garabands. Modern qanats in 191 the Sarhad Plateau are relatively recent and the previous ones the local Baluch appear to have no knowledge of, calling them products of primeval or supernatural forces (Spooner 1964:62). Reinforcing the view of past agricultural efforts being those of pre-Baluch inhabitants is the observation made by Spooner (1969:150) that all the major agricultural centers of Baluchistan "bear names which we know have remained unchanged since a time well before any people called Baluch arrived in the area." Most of these names are pre-Islamic and Spooner (1971) conjectures that some are pre-Iranian and a few of even greater antiquity: "it is possible even that some may derive fr^m o;ie of the pre-Iranian strata of population which having once benefited from commercial relations with the Harappans, perhaps their cousins, and pro duced the Bampur wares, are now disguised as Baluch peasants." There are few permanent villages in the Sarhad which date before the Pahlavi regime; towns such as Zahedan and Khash in their present commercial and industrial state are relatively new developments. Formerly, there were simply centers of influence: the seat of the sardar, which was often a fort or castle on a hill, artifi cial or natural, surrounded by the mud houses or tents of his immediate attendants and ghulams. Any cultivated plots, palm groves or fruit gardens might or might not adjoin. Bazaars had no place in the settlement. Any trade that existed was by no means a conspicuous activity, and was normally conducted by aliens rather than the Baluch themselves. The main factor in the selec tion of the site would have been its suitability for a fort in the first instance [Spooner 1964:57]. Two traditional settlements referred to in early texts were located near Taftan: one is present-day Tamindan, 20 km northeast of Khash, and the The names of new agricultural settlements in Baluchistan end mostly in "-abad," as do Afzalabad, Mohammadabad, Vadiabad, Nosratabad, and Tostamabad in the Khash area; these are villages which originated in the present century. 192 other is Khash itself. Spooner (1971:522) suspects that they owe their antiquity to their proximity to the mines of the Taftan complex. The Baluch: An Ethnographic Sketch Although some settled Baluch are found today as agricultural villagers and as shopkeepers in the new towns of the Sarhad Plateau, the Baluch exercise considerable pride in their pastoral nomadic heritage; and the majority of them today are without permanent residence and con tinue to herd goats and sheep in much the same manner as they did in the Baluch Period. The Yarmahadzai and Rigi Baluch inhabit the Khash Valley and lower Taftan slopes of the survey area and were studied by an Ameri can anthropologist, Philip Salzman, in 1967 and 1968. (For a brief sum mary of the results of his work, see Salzman 1972b.) Salzman describes what he refers to as a "multi-resource" economy of pastoralism, date cultivation, and the sale of migrant labor, with some grain cultivation and a limited amount of hunting and gathering. Because of the paucity of water and natural resources in the Khash area, the Yaramadzai Baluch must supplement their pastoral nomadism with these other resources. The camel is the primary means of transportation; and during most of the year, the tribesmen live in black goathair tents, moving off the plateau into sun-dried mud huts in the Mashkel Basin to harvest dates in the summer. They are patrilineal, live in herding units of from 2 to 20 tents, and are Sunni Muslims. Baluch herds are composed of goats and sheep, with goats pre dominating two to one as they are the hardiest species capable of sur viving in the marginal environment of the Khash area. Water is often available for the animals only in rainwater pools at the end of the win ter and in wells, small springs, and irrigation channels. During the 193 summer, the shepherds must search for seep holes of water in the dry runoff channels. The staples of the Baluch diet reflect their economic rounds: bread is made from grain which is raised by the Baluch themselves on a limited scale or is purchased; milk products are obtained from their goats and sheep; dates are harvested in their Mashkel groves; tea and sugar are purchased. Meat is eaten, usually on special occasions, and vegetables are rarely consumed. Agriculture on the Khash Plain provides grain for the bread staple of the Baluch, but it is practiced only on a small scale by the Baluch and never engaged in by the whole community. In the Baluch Pe riod, agriculture on the Sarhad was even more negligible. Baluch agri cultural settlements in the survey area are few: Gorchan, Shagbond, Vadiabad, and Kamalabad were visited during the field program. These have permanent residential structures and small irrigation channels and are characterized by their enlargement periodically by Baluch who come during the harvest and during the irrigation of the fields and set up their tents next to the permanent mud houses. The Baluch themselves, then, have no permanent villages or towns, only what this report refers to as "semi-permanent" villages. They com bine a few mud houses and structures with the familiar black goathair tents which are part of the village for only three months during the year. Often these tents are adjacent to the mud houses but may just as often be set up several hundred meters distant. In addition, the mud 7 Also in the Taftan valleys this pattern is followed. In late July 1975, we observed Baluch at Kuche and Kor Koh who lived in tents not far from permanent houses of the year-round occupants (or occupants who were also seasonal). These Baluch, while stationary at these locations for the harvest, were engaged both in winnowing grain and in weaving black goathair tents for their pastoral rounds. 194 structures themselves may be strung out along a stream bank, a ravine, or in separated clusters of two or three houses. This village plan creates difficulties for the archeologist, who might be confronted with a sizeable habitation area in hectares but with very sparse cultural re mains. As in the tent camps of the Baluch, these semi-permanent villages have clearings bare of tents or houses which, nevertheless, serve as functional activity areas. The subsistence economy of the Yarahmadzai may perhaps best be illustrated by a brief summary of their yearly migration pattern. In winter (December, January, February) the camps are usually stationary for the whole season in a location to which they often return year after year. The herds are taken out daily, but the pastures are usually dead or dormant (following the summer drought and winter frosts) even though water at this time is not a problem. Spring (March, April, May) brings the pastures back to life, but their abundance varies widely from place to place and year to year; and they are easily exhausted, necessitating frequent unplanned movements which result in large numbers of camping groups moving in all directions. In June and July, some herds are moved to higher altitudes, while others are moved onto harvested grain fields to graze on stubble and fertilize the fields. Milk production during this season is high, and the camps must stay close to the herds for fre quent milkings. From August to October, the Yarahmadzai migrate east to their date groves, leaving the animals behind with shepherds on the higher, cooler Sarhad Plateau. In November, the Baluch move back to the Plateau and join the herds, while men will leave either to plant grain in their fields (near Shagbond , for instance) or to hire themselves out 195 for seasonal labor in other areas of Iran or in Pakistan or the Persian Gulf states. Thus, in the survey area, the present-day Baluch subsistence pattern results in large seasonal camps in the winter; many temporary camps of various sizes in the spring; semi-permanent settlements near agricultural plots in the summer; and until late fall, only small tran sient stations of shepherds. Locations of Camps A locational analysis of modern Baluch campsites was an important element in the construction of a field methodology for the archeological survey. (See Chapter VI.) Three sources of information were utilized: (1) data collected by Salzman during his residence with the Yarahmadzai in the Khash area was combined with (2) observations made by my field crew during our own field work and with (3) interviews with Baluch in formants. During the seasonal movements of the Baluch camping unit or halk with which Salzman lived in 1967-68, new locations were chosen for a combination of the following reasons: the need for adequate pasture, the desire to avoid disease, the need for water, selection of herding per sonnel, avoidance of cultivated areas, the need to be near cultivated areas for agricultural labor and fertilization of the fields by the animals, and the desire to cement social relations. Also important were access to water, access to brush for firewood, the need to avoid fouled campsites, and the need to avoid overcrowding of pasturelands. During my own questioning of Baluch informants, additional rea sons were given for the choice of specific locations: flat surfaces for ease in setting up tents, some protection from winds in dips and hollows 196 or against hillsides, the presence of fine "shale powder" stream fill for spreading on the floors of the living areas in the tents. Sandy surfaces were preferred to rocky ones as considerable efforts had to be made to clear rocky ground for the tents and animal pens. Camp locations were often changed or bypassed in order to avoid areas which were con sidered unlucky or which were associated with the death of family mem bers. Except for the winter months when there were no pastures to be found, the need for proximity to adequate pastures was considered para mount in camp location; the proximity to a water source was often secon dary. For this reason, many camps were located on open plains during the spring and early summer when vegetation was abundant. In particularly green areas, large camps were congregated. In late summer and fall, when grasslands began suffering from drought and heat, camps were often smaller and more dispersed to allow the herds to graze over a larger territory. In winter, when all pastures are dormant, access to water for the camp which remains stationary for as much as three and a half months assumes a greater importance, and winter campsites were usually located a convenient distance from wells or Baluch semi-permanent vil lages such as Shagbond and Vadiabad. Campsites visited or observed during the 1975 survey are re ferred to here by ecozone and season of occupation. On the Lowland Plains, winter and spring camps were often located on the Neelagu Plain northeast of Khash and north of Kuh-i Dahnag near the village of Vadia bad, which has a source of water. In this year 30 camps had been lo cated in this vicinity, many on the lower talus slope of Dahnag. Site 33^3 (Vadiabad camp) was one. A large camp locates every winter east of 197 Plate 5. Tents of a summer camp are set in a linear pattern near the base of Takhte Rostrom close to a well. 198 Gorchan at site 43-1 (Komfelan), where a well is maintained. At site 33-7 (Marsharek), approximately 21 tents had been congregated during the early spring, with more tents located a quarter of a kilometer north in Area D. On 2 May 1975, sixteen camps were observed on the Lowland Plains between Khash, Sitharo, and Garonchin, at least half of these in unpro tected locations on the open plain. Two weeks later, 27 camps were within sight of the road between Khash and Gusht to the south. These were alternately in the open on the flat plain or next to small hills with no orientation preferred as to northeast or southwest slope. By late August, camps were much fewer in number, often having disappeared from the lowlands as the Baluch migrated off the plateau to the date groves. Those which were observed, such as the one bordering site 33-4 (Allahabad), had few tents (fewer than ten) and were situated near wells or water holes. On the Highland Plains, several camps were noted during the early summer months which were rarely more than 15 tents and which moved locations frequently, seldom remaining in the same spot longer than ten days. On the Taftan Slopes, spring and early summer months provide good grazing for the herds. The first Baluch camp we visited was on our way from Zahedan to Khash in late April; it was located on the northwest Taftan Slope at the crest of a hill overlooking a deep dry channel where water was obtained from a sump hole. On 31 April, a Land Rover recon naissance of the eastern slopes of the Taftan Massif as far as Sangan revealed five camps in the open, exposed from all sides, four located near the base of hills, one near the edge of a deep dry ravine, and two in hollows or depressions which were not readily visible. All of these 199 camps were composed of several tents (never fewer than four, often as many as 20). On 1 May, a visit was made to a camp located in a hollow depression surrounded by low hills approximately a half kilometer from the village of Pooch Gelli some 37 km northeast of Khash. This halk returned to this specific area every summer, while in winter many of them left their tents and moved into mud houses in Pooch Gelli. Two weeks later another camp was visited on the western slope of the Taftan Massif near site 04-1 (Marshin Camp). These pastoralists were Jamshidzai Baluch who have camped within the vicinity of the Marshin well for at least 50 years, according to two informants. The remains of an old camp located east of the modern one were six years old. In early August, two large camps were noted on the eastern Taftan Slopes, and 19 tents were pitched at Kor Koh next to the agricultural fields and the few mud houses (see Plate 6). In the Watered Taftan Valleys, only a few tents were observed at Kuche in July, and the nomadic Kurds were not present in Sangan in May but were camped higher up the slopes of Taftan near Tamin. In early August, folded and stored black goathair tents were found in the Tudi Gorge near a mud house. Their owners had migrated to an unknown loca tion, possibly the Mashkel date groves. At the base of mountains on the Khash Plain, only small and widely scattered camps were noted, often with as few as two tents. An exception was the winter campsite of site 12-1 (Panj Angosht), located in a hollow at the northern end of Kuh-i Panj Angosht. The pattern of modern campsite locations fits well with the pat tern which resulted from the locational analysis of presumed campsites found during the archeological survey and which are summarized in the preceding chapter. These correspondences between modern and earlier 200 $88.. >'JC»«A* ^ ....SLW.- , -,-* ,„-"^. Plate 6. Semi-permanent village of Kor Koh with mortarless stone wall extending into dry stream bed in foreground. 7. Baluch woman weaving a goat hair bag on a horizontal loom, have been used to weight down palm matting a lower edge of tent. 201 Plate 8. Bedding piled on a stone platform inside a Baluch tent Cowrie shells are used for decoration. "* •'V^WRIi _ Plate 9. Site 43-2. Village of Shagbond is in the background with mud houses on the left and tents on the right. 202 campsite locations point to a similarity of both locational criteria and subsistence patterns. Camp Patterns Modern Baluch camps, it is seen, may. range from one to over 25 tents, depending on the duration of occupation, season of the year, quality of pasturage, and purpose of the camp. Among the Marri Baluch in Pakistan, camps are composed of from one to ten small households, usually three or four. When translated into social terms, however, the actual number of tents means little: One of several of these households may . . . lack any kind of tent of shelter as visible evidence of their permanent existence as a unit. Furthermore, various degrees of jointness in ownership, pro duction, and consumption, as well as the separation of sexes for eating and even partly for cooking, make the separation into house holds somewhat ambiguous [Pehrson 1966:72]. It is also perilous to infer seasonality of a camp on the basis of size. On the Sarhad, winter camps, while of greater duration than summer and autumn camps, may range from five to over 20 tents. Most of the winter camps encountered during the Khash survey had evidence of at least eight tent enclosures. In any season, the tents may be spread over several hundred meters, with large camps exhibiting slight cluster ing of tents which reflects kinship associations. In a particularly favorable area, different camps may be found as close together as a half kilometer or, as in the case of site 04-1 (Marship Camp), 315 meters separated by a small rise. Differences in the structure of camps were noted for the differ ent seasons, resulting in more or less distinct cold- and hot-weather patterns. In the winter, tents were often observed in linear patterns. Although, in July, one camp at the foot of the inselberg formation Takhte Rostrom displayed 26 tents stretching a considerable distance in one line (see Plate 5). While animals are housed inside the tents for 203 greater protection from cold in the winter, in the spring, the animals are housed in a pen or a clearing outside the tents and tents then ar ranged in a protective pattern around them. This pattern often results in a U-shaped alignment, observed frequently on our survey in April and early May. Features Throughout this paper, the term "feature" is used to refer to evidence of human occupation other than artifacts. Features include ar chitecture, hearths, dams, and simple human-modified ground surfaces (e.g., clearings, leveled terraces). Also included in this category are what geographer Philip Wagner calls "facilities," which serve to store up potential energy or impede its transfer (e.g., storage pits, wells, canals, garbage dumps [Flannery 1972:26]). Around every tent enclosure area in an abandoned Baluch camp several different features can be identified by former occupants. Often these will have little archeological visibility, as in the case of out side sleeping areas or the physically undefined "area of privacy" around every household's tent: "Visible signals or modifications of the natural landscape are few or lacking, yet space for a variety of different ac tivities has been allocated, and invisible barriers and divisions have been created ..." (Pehrson 1966:72). More definable by the archeologist are such features as male hearths removed from the immediate vicinity of the tents, corrals for Q animals, burial cairns of stone, and activity areas such as those for weaving or animal slaughter. Often outside Baluch tents in the Khash Q Several informants told us that goats and sheep, which had died of disease before they could be slaughtered, were buried. The locations were made evident by small heaps or cairns of stone. 204 area, we observed several rarnada-like structures in which were housed young goats, rabbits, or chickens. These generally consisted of four long corner poles covered with palm mat, some strips of goathair felt, and some cloth. Several of the camps which we visited in the spring were aligned in vague rectangular or U-shaped patterns around a corral or pen for goats and sheep (both to protect them from predators and to keep them from consuming more of their mothers' milk) which consisted of a ring of stones piled one-third to one-half meter high and often ten meters in diameter. The stones were topped with a thick ring of brush, resulting in a total corral height of somewhat less than one meter. Informants Nine recently abandoned campsites were identified by modern debris such as rubber, cloth, metal, palm fronds and matting, and camel or donkey dung (see Maps 7 and 8). Informants identified by function many features outside of the tent enclosures. What appear to be randomly scattered, small (one meter), oval clearings were identified as places where individuals knelt to pray after clearing away gravel. Small piles of ash, sometimes mixed with shale powder from streams, resulted from sweeping out tents and hearths, and small shallow pits, sometimes bor dered with stones, were for sheltering young animals at night. Other features were identified as garbage pits and children's play areas. As Barth found when he visited the late ethnographer Robert Pehrson's host Baluch in Pakistan, the pastoralists' memories of past habitations can be quite specific: Even at relatively impermanent campsites, the memory of these spatial arrangements remains. Thus people regarded it as impor tant to show me, five years later, the exact location of the Pehrsons' tent and otak at sites where they had spent only two 205 Map 7. Site 33-12 (Shandala Locality 4). Fig. 21. Site 40-1 (Sitharo Spring). 206 AREA A AREA B t a +h O i i'to tertt o mud wal 1m. Hlgl-i i i SITE 401 SITHARO SPRING -^»z O ^1 X. Map 8. VADIABAD CAMP site 33 3 ) ISW HOI I HUH % HHIIH scale l:80O j"**- OtMISWI & • wm. c cuss u win 208 or three weeks and to point out the three rocks over which the griddle for frying had been laid and the place where the water- skins had been stored [Pehrson 1966:74]. The memories of the Rigi and Yarahmadzai Baluch in the Khash survey area were just as specific, whether the campsites were a few months old (sites 33-3 [Vadiabad] and 33-7 [Masharek]) or abandoned six years before (site 04-1 [Marshin Camp]). Tent Interiors During visits to Baluch camps where observations were made of tent interiors in the spring and summer of 1975, it was recognized that potential archeological visibility varied considerably from one tent to another. A number of tents visited by the crew would have left little or no imperishable remains to help a future archeologist identify them. In the headman's tent at a large Rigi Baluch camp visited on the south west Taftan Slope in April 1975, the only feature of probable archeolog ical visibility noted were two large flat rocks (.3 meters in diameter) on which the two center poles of the ten were braced. Between Shagbond and Afzalabad, the tent pictured in Plate 9 could probably be identified after abandonment only by the rocks which ringed the hearth and those which were used outside to weight down the palm mats. These mats were placed between the ground and the black goathair walls to keep out the sun and allow air to circulate. At the camp we visited near the village of Pooch Gelli east of Taftan, the rectangular tents were open only on the east and were char acterized on the north and south short ends by large piles of stones which extended at least one meter into the tent interior. Informants said their tents always had such features at this time of the year to protect the interior from winds. Those portions extending into the 209 tents were used for storage of bags of food staples and other posses sions such as blankets and clothes. In areas where stones were not readily available, the short ends of tents were often protected by earthen embankments between the ground and the lower edge of the tent cloth. Stone platforms used for storage were also occasionally employed as backrests and as space dividers inside tents to separate sleeping, cooking, and other areas. From our observations of tent interiors, it may be surmised that excavations of campsites would provide additional evidence of tent loca tions such as post molds for the two or three central tent poles and the eight to twelve side poles, pits dug for the protection of animals, and ash lenses from cooking hearths. On the surface of all but the most re cently abandoned campsites, these traces would not be evident. Different seasonal patterns were noted in tent interiors, and many elements of these patterns may be reflected in the archeological remains. In summer, for instance, cooking hearths are located either outside the tents or to one side of the tent to remove the heat from the sitting areas. In winter months, to increase heat retention in the tents, the hearths are moved to the center of the tent, and provision is made to house goats and sheep to protect them from the cold. The animal pens may occupy one-third of the tent and are separated from the rest of the tent by palm rope webbing or stacked stone dividers. Separate shelters of sticks and palm matting covered with earth are often built inside the tents for additional protection of young animals and chick ens. Diagrams of the cold and warm weather interiors are given in Figure 22. 17" pile of < area for shrep and goats rofu 0 from cooking nnlmi 1 I gand floor ) area tripod area main tent pole Q for t ) hetak main tnnt pol^ /J\ o ^ fence of ropo wnbblnp: • 00 slde__ i o old's ^f ) pans " r.trait i poles piah matting polea (cloth struc- matting ) turo for Ibiby she &-goats J \ and floor 26> chicken area for wood house fire acooking (j)maln tent pole ® nnln trnt UO ; polo ' o_ heightBi o twigs nt side polea t i|'/i*-center o J'8"-ond- metal ) door of netal 0 nnln tent poleai cboat o pi ah—3 cheat B*6"-ceiiter mot storage , 0« A 7 7"-alde boga donr of goat ekl ) pi ah for wet o mater on stlcl main tout baps of o bag polo o jilsh-4 @ supplies^ ) mn t •0 pJTo of mattroflaca "E (S) main tent pole o pish •• blnnknts, etc. (purr) > •0 pile of nattreasna, r..-!d mat blonl-rta» etc. for anlnal ) pi Ins of brush For firo.i j cnmnl saddles Fig. 22. Baluch tent interiors: cold weather pattern (left) and • • warm weather pattern (right). From Salzman (1972a). 211 Material Culture The simplicity of the material culture of Baluch nomads reflects their mobile life style. Household equipment is sparse and consists mainly of cooking utensils and implements for weaving goathair bags. Im ported or purchased items are few (teapots, clothing, needles), and most of the metal and wooden items are obtained from the itinerant Lurie craftsmen. Metal goods include griddles, boxes, agricultural tools, knives, ladles, pots, bowls, cups, pins, pot stands, and funnels. Wooden items may include horizontal looms for weaving goathair bags, small hand spindles, frameworks for camel saddles, and rectangular pieces used as crowns for main tent poles (Salzman 1972a:84). Other possessions are made by the Baluch themselves; bags, carpets, and tentcloths woven from goathair; sheepskin or goatskin bags for churning and for storing clar ified butter, milk, and water; palm rope for securing tent poles and saddle bags; and palm matting for floors and walls. Pottery has been replaced by metal containers among the Baluch nomads. Elderly Baluch informants said the characteristic Baluch ware is no longer used on the Sarhad and was last used "not by our fathers or grandfathers but by our great-grandfathers." The material component of a pastoral nomadic campsite, then, would leave only sparse traces of occupation after abandonment of the site and the disappearance of perishable items such as those made from leather, palm fiber, or wood. While nomads proceeding to a new camp ground would take with them all useful Sterns of their meager material culture, only broken or worn-out items would be left in situ. Modern metal utensils are durable and can be easily repaired for reuse and so 212 will not often be found at abandoned sites, whereas older campsites would be marked by sherds of broken ceramic vessels. Especially in a culture which relies heavily on perishable raw material (leather churning bags, wooden looms), activity areas may be difficult to identify archeologically, even while the pastoral nomadic nature of the site can be determined. They can, however, be distin guished on the basis of remaining stone structures and features like ash dumps and hearths. Archeological Evidence for Pastoral Nomadism Throughout the Borderlands, archeologists have often made pass ing references to "evidence for caprovine herding" (see Fairservis 1975: 71). Little, however, has ever been done with this evidence, and the continued emphasis of many archeological field programs in the entire region has been on the urban at the expense of the rural or non-urban. Yet throughout the Near East, and specifically in Baluchistan, the regional economies are dominated by pastoralism. Since many of these areas, such as the Sarhad Plateau, have existed in relative isolation for considerable periods of time, it is likely that traditional aspects of former subsistence practices have survived into the present with little change. The primary purpose of the 1975 Khash survey, as stated in Chapter I, was to establish correspondences between present-day Baluch pastoral nomads and their predecessors in the Sarhad, an area which had no more potential for intensive agriculture in the past than it does to day. The semi-desert grasslands of the lower Taftan Slopes and the Khash Plain were better suited for habitation by nomads on a seasonal basis than by the earliest settled peoples requiring dependable water sources. 213 Soon after fieldwork began in April 1975, it became rapidly apparent that this was indeed the case in the Khash area. As in the Karun Valley of western Iran, "almost every meadow and rock overhang has been used as a tent site or camp in recent years" (Wright 1976:430). Interspersed with these was evidence of earlier occupation of the same areas. And as Baluch pastoralists today live in a varied but generally symbiotic relationship with permanent agricultural villages, so were both seasonal campsites and small village hamlets found to be contemporaneous in ear lier periods in the Khash area. The varied micro-environments of the Borderlands are motivators for equally varied economic dependencies . . . The village network not only includes the settlements of cult'vators on the local alluvial plain but extends to semicultivators, semipastoralists, and pastoralists whose stable situation in one or another ecologi cal niche requires varied degrees of dependence on those in another niche [Fairservis 1975:237]. Archeologists in other regions of Iran have occasionally recog nized the value of small non-urban sites in reconstructing whole cultural systems but have also emphasized the interpretive difficulties inherent in this type of study. Peder Mortensen (1972:293) sorted Deh Luran sites of 10,000 to 5500 B.C. into four categories similar to those used in this paper for the Khash study: (1) permanent mud-walled villages, (2) semi-permanent seasonal camps or villages occupied seasonally either for planting or harvesting or for herding, (3) pastoral camps in caves, (4) transitory camps of herding units on migration. At the same time, however, Mortensen recognized the difficulty in determining whether early Hassuna sites should be interpreted as seasonal camps reflecting a cir culating annual subsistence pattern or as pastoral camps connected with more permanent villages. An additional difficulty in the reconstruction of whole cultural systems in all geographic regions is the impossibility of demonstrating 214 that the same people used different sites and that these sites were thus complementary loci in an annual migratory round. In many cases, it is acknowledged that only careful excavations—particularly those which emphasize faunal analysis—can demonstrate which activities were carried out at small non-urban sites. Because excavation in the Khash area was not possible, the identification of seasonal sites was more difficult to accomplish but was carried out based on data gathered from the surface— artifacts, location, architectural features, extent and density of re mains. Artifacts As outlined on page 211, the inventory of material goods re quired for a pastoral nomadic subsistence is not extensive and consists mainly of containers, cooking implements, bedding, and a few tools. Therefore, pastoral nomadic camps leave behind little in the way of artifactual evidence of their passing. Most of what is left behind which does not perish is fragmentary. One would not expect to find com plete ceramic pots or functional stone implements. In addition, what little material that is left behind may have been imported from seden tary agricultural communities and may not, therefore, be identifiable as pastoral nomadic. It is necessary, then, not only to inventory the arti facts present on a site, but also to note their condition (trampling by herd animals may result in shattered and very fragmentary sherds and bone, while stone may be accidentally flaked or retouched), what items are missing and could have been made of perishable materials, and with what features and architectural structures they are associated. There is some debate in the archeological literature as to whether pastoral nomadic tool kits and ceramic assemblages are distinct 215 from,or similar to5those of other economies. In the Sahara, J. D. Clark (1972:132) records pastoral nomadic occupation debris from Adrar Bous differing markedly from the previous hunter-gatherer occupants. Dupree found that pottery types from levels in Afghanistan rockshelters repre senting occupation by pastoral nomads or semi-pastoral nomads were quite different from what would be found at a village site of the same period (Dupree 1972:33). On the other hand, these differences are not always so marked. Adovasio (1975:362) contends that early pastoralists retained more con servative stone-working techniques as they made the transition from hunt ing to herding. Similarly, Hays (1973:9) noted in his study of Saharan pastoralist sites a continuity in microlithic industry from Mesolithic hunters to Neolithic herders which indicated the "succession of the same ethnic population." Compared with permanent village sites, Hole (1974: 235) noted of the sixth millennium pastoral nomadic site of Tulai that "there is nothing in the collection which would be out of place at con temporary sites on the Deh Luran Plain. Indeed all of the artifacts are indistinguishable from their counterparts in Deh Luran." It is more likely, however, that pastoral nomadic artifact assemblages retain an overall similarity of style and type with perma nent village-farming artifact assemblages, while at the same time dif fering in quantity and proportion. At Tulai, Hole found a blade-making technique identical to that used in contemporary village sites on the Deh Luran Plain, the tool kits differing only in the remarkably low pro portion of sickles at Tulai (less than one percent versus four to eight percent). While the sequence of ceramic types at Tulai was the same, the proportion differed from Chagha Sefid in Deh Luran. 216 In general, cost as well as differences in consumption may ac count for the fact that ceramics are more abundant, proportionately, on urban sites. Lithic industries of pastoralist economies transitional from hunting economies as in sub-Saharan Africa, may be characterized by the "introduction of new forms into what is otherwise a traditional tool kit, rather than by the complete replacement of this tool kit by another" (Clark 1972:128). Lithics The lithic component of the material culture in a pastoral econ omy is often considered of major importance in identifying such econo mies. In peninsular India, and possibly Pakistani Baluchistan as well, pastoralists left traces of their presence typically in the form of microliths (Leshnik 1968:309; Allchin 1972:116). In East Africa, where rock art identifies pastoral nomadic sites of the first millennium B.C., "hollow-based arrowheads" were an important part of the lithic industry (Clark 1972:137), while Saharan sites of the Herder Period in the second millennium B.C. are characterized by pottery, grinding stones, and micro liths (Hays 1973:3). Likewise in Qatar, deCardi (1974:198) records pos sible pastoral nomadic sites on the coast which have no architectural remains except postholes for t_nts and stone-ringed hearths and a mate rial culture remnant consisting predominately of barbed arrowheads and a few Ubaid sherds. Field (1960:69), during a survey in Saudi Arabia, found a rockshelter with flint flakes which he views as a former habita tion of probable "nomad shepherds." Hoffman (Shaffer 1974b:153) sees a firm association between micro- lithic flakes (and associated lunates) and a nomadic element in Pakistan: "Such an interpretation accounts for the lack of depth in deposits, 217 scarcity of ceramics, and the presence of microliths in association with domesticated animals." At the site of Allahabad, the transition from a pastoral nomadic base to one of sedentary agriculture is thus largely supported by differences observed in the lithic industry. In the Khash area, microlithic flake and blade industries were present, but the microliths never constituted more than a small propor tion of the total artifactual assemblage at any one site (see Table 8). Most of the seasonal campsites identified during the survey were without microliths, although some yielded larger flake tools and groundstone im plements (e.g., sites 04-3 [Pulshah], 33-3 [Vadiabad Camp], and 33-9 [Shandala Camp]). It may be that the identifiable pastoral nomadic sites in the vicinity of Khash were late enough in time so that the need for lithic tools was obviated by an access to metal tools. Indeed, the raw materials of chert and jasper were abundant in several locations in the 9 area if the need for them arose. Ceramics On the Khash survey, no microlithic sites were found exclusive of pottery. Most of the seasonal campsites identified had scatters of sherds; and the distinctive Baluch ware still made today in Kalparakan, 180 kilometers to the southeast, was used by Baluch nomads on the Sarhad Plateau until around the turn of the century. That nomads need and obtain containers for their goods, both those which they produce and those traded for, is clearly evident from 9 One Baluch man was observed idly flaking chert near site 32-5 and then discarding it. When questioned, he knew of no functional uses for stone among the Baluch and never attempted to make any implement from the chert. Large flat rocks or groundstone mortars and hammers, however, are still employed by the Baluch for crushing date pits, seeds, and spices and may still be found in some camps. 218 ethnographies or simple observations. Therefore the presence of ceramics, even ceramics in quantity, does not negate the existence of nomads [Shaffer 1974a:154]. As Shaffer asserts, the type of ceramics present can either sup port or refute interpretations of nomadic presence: 1. A large proportion of the vessels represented on a pastoral nomadic site would be likely to display Shaffer's "constricted orifice." Deep, small-mouthed vessels would be more useful for nomads for holding milk and water. In this study, restricted orifice vessels appear to increase after Partho-Sasanian times, when the analysis of settlement patterns in the Khash region points to an increase in small, mobile, seasonal sites. 2. A significant number of the sherds found on a pastoral no madic site may be of simple hand construction, often requiring more and coarser tempering material and resulting in thicker and more uneven walls as well as in a coarser texture. Vessels would be more likely to exhibit evidence of uneven firing, often in the absence of oxidizing conditions. This is certainly true of the small seasonal campsites found in the Khash Valley as it is of the Middle Karun Valley in western Iran where Wright (Wright et al. 1976:433) records a corpus of soft-bodied, straw-tempered pottery at two large, open-air campsites of the Archaic period. For earlier periods in the Khash survey area, basket-impressed pottery may represent the most likely ceramic for a nomadic people: This is a simple handmade ceramic, easily manufactured and replaced without the need of a specialized craftsman. The presence of such vessels among a culture which obviously had access to a sophisti cated ceramic industry gives rise to the speculation of a need in the culture for an easily manufactured type of pottery one would expect to find associated with a mobile settlement pattern [Shaffer 1974a: 155]. 219 3. Vessel forms may provide additional evidence; a paucity of shallow bowls and cumbersome pedestal bases might be expected in a pas toral nomadic ceramic inventory as these forms would be bulky and have limited storage capacity (Shaffer 1974a:155). In the Khash sites, in fact, pedestal bases were practically nonexistent. 4. On pastoral nomadic sites, the archeologist would expect to find few, if any, complete vessels; and' a large proportion of the sherds present may be very small: "Open sites have been nearly pulverized by sheep traffic, a process that reduces potsherds to thumbnail size" (Lindsay and Dean 1971:114). At the site of Dahnag, 32-5, in the Khash area, for instance, most sherds were less than 30 mm across, and many ceramic "chips" of less than 5 mm were discarded. Surface sites Small seasonal camps are almost always shallow with no appreci able deposits. " In Iranian Baluchistan where wind erosion and aridity prevail, this is true also for campsites which are favorably located and occupied seasonally year after year. Temporary campsites and transitory stations of pastoral nomads may leave few traces to identify themselves unless non-perishable arti facts were left behind. Pastoral nomadic sites may, then, be revealed only by a surface scatter of sherds and perhaps lithic artifacts. Ar chitectural structures of any kind may be entirely absent, and features such as hearths and pits may or may not be discernible on the surface. While it is generally true that depth and stability may be equated, with urban sites exhibiting a well-developed stratigraphy, the site of Rana Ghundai in Pakistani Baluchistan is a thick mound with no structural remains which may have been inhabited by a succession of herders. 220 In the Holailan Valley of the Zagros, Mortensen (1976:48) noted fourth millennium open-air sites which consisted of "areas with a concentration of sherds on the surface, but without any apparent accumulation of occu pational debris underneath." Mortensen interpreted these sites as repre senting seasonal campsites of specialized pastoral nomads. Wright has found several "transhumant" sites in Khuzistan char acterized by fire-cracked rocks and sherd scatters and not even the slightest hint of a mound on the flat surface. These sites range from pre-Elamite to later periods, with long gaps where there are none and settlements seem to concentrate on villages. (Henry Wright, personal communication, 1976). Six miles north of Kot Diji in Pakistan on a sandy stretch of ground, Harappan artifacts were found in a large scatter; but excavation of only a few inches revealed virgin soil. "There was no indication of structures of any kind. The excavator surmises, then, that the place was a temporary camp" (Fairservis 1975:267). In some cases, sherd scatters may be particularly dense or ex tensive, although no sign of architectural structures exists. Specific locations, whether because of a dependable water source, a strategic crosspoint, favorable topography, or lush pasturelands, may have afforded pastoral nomads a convenient camping place over a considerable time, accounting for a varied range and large quantity of sherds covering the area. Such locations may also be documented ethnographically: Woodburn (1972:194) noted that the most popular camping grounds of the Hadza in Africa had the remains of some 20 camps within a circle of one mile diameter. A similarly popular campground was noted north of Khash dur ing the 1975 survey around the well at site 04-1 (Marshin Camp). 221 Excavation of quite shallow sites may still reveal traces of no madic habitation such as hearths, soil changes, and arrangements of rocks. At the site of Tulai in Khuzistan, ashy areas were exposed by backhoe and brushed and scraped with trowels to reveal stone alignments in association with prehistoric artifacts. In all, 20 cm of sparse cul tural deposits lay above Pleistocene river deposits. No trace of struc tures or fireplaces were found, but enough of the stone alignments re- amined to suggest tent outlines similar to those in use today in the same area (Hole 1974:224). It is probable that similar evidence could be uncovered in the Khash Valley by horizontal excavation of some of the surface scatters found during our survey. A potential problem with sites of this type is that misinterpre tation can result from the mixing of artifacts of different periods on the bare rocky ground. With a lack of stratification, sherds from occu pations widely separated in time may become mixed. In his ethnoarcheo logical examination of Turkana settlements in Africa, Robbins found that "Late Stone Age flaking debris was liberally scattered about the surface, demonstrating the possibility that Stone Age debris could become incor porated with modern artifacts in a future archeological content and in the same soil horizon" (Robbins 1973:212). In my Khash study, such pos sible misinterpretation and mixing of cultural data may be compounded by the fact that no ceramic sequence has been established for northern Iranian Baluchistan. Only future excavation can reveal and correct these mistaken identities. Camp structures Throughout those areas of the Near East where pastoral nomadism has long been a viable and important subsistence strategy, archeologists 222 Plate 10. Tent enclosure areas at site 25-4 (Earthwork Camp) -•4 i ,n&t . •*%».» ' £^-> Plate 11. Rectangular tent outline at site 35-1. Only the short ends are lined with stone, and the far end is partitioned for animals. 223 have noted the existence of sites which consist simply of man-made alignments of stones or small boulders, often accompanied by sherd scatters. Such alignments are the remains of the rudimentary and im permanent architecture of nomadic communities. In the Khash area, sites with impermanent structural remains vary from recently abandoned campsites of Baluch pastoralists, scattered with modern debris of palm matting, cloth, paper, glass, rubber, and metal, in which the stone outlines are clearly those of rectangular tents and circular animal pens (corroborated by Baluch informants), to similar but less clearly defined and partially destroyed stone alignments some- 11 times associated with sherds of earlier periods. These stone outlines are often remarkably well preserved but are subject to disturbance by wind and occasionally water erosion, the passage of animals, and rear rangement by man. In places where rocks are scarce, they may be reused by nomadic campers many times over the centuries, thus making reconstruc tions difficult for archeologists who try to recreate the sequence. As ethnoarcheological methods in the Khash area have supported the interpretation of stone alignments as pastoral nomadic tent footings, so is ethnographic data from elsewhere supportive of the same. Nomadic Kurds in the Zagros Mountains set up their tents at the same spot year after year, leaving, and often reusing at these sites, stone-lined hearths and stone storage platforms; nearby animal pens may be con structed of low, unmortared stone. In some parts of the Borderlands, goathair tents of pastoral nomads may be surrounded by low pise walls. 11 In Deh Luran, where Neely found many sites with stone outlines associated with Susiana pottery, the antiquity and undisturbed nature of these features were attested by the moss or lichen covering on the stones (Wright, personal communication, 1976)- 224 In northern Arabia (Field 1960:49) Bedouin nomads can identify isolated and unmarked stone circles as belonging to a specific tribe. The archeological evidence for these structures is likewise widespread in Southwest Asia. On the Sarhad Plateau, rocky ground sur faces are often marked by cleared rectangular spaces bordered with lines of stones. In the Quetta Valley, an "apparent campsite" with a scatter ing of sherds had a horseshoe-shaped feature measuring five by eight feet. The center was cleared, but the stones were piled around its borders. "A few sites consist merely of deposits of sherds strewn on flat ground, or a few of boulders usually laid out crescentically with a scattering of sherds. The latter structures were usually used for de fense" (Fairservis 1956:195). Similarly, many Khuzistan sites—Seleuco- Parthian, Islamic, and recent—were described by Wright (1976:436) as campsites having "stone footings." Structural types on prehistoric sites in Oman (Meadow et al. 1976:112) include "wide scatters of sherds with a few rectangular and circular stone alignments." A site on Ras Abaruk in Qatar ... is best interpreted as the temporary tented camp of a sizeable group of people who visited and almost certainly returned periodically to the area. . . . Camping grounds marked by cleared areas and concentrated groups and lines of stones occur in certain parts of Qatar [deCardi 1974:200]. The excavation of a seasonal campsite in the Khuzistan Plain by Hole confirmed the antiquity of pastoral nomadic campsites. The align ments of stones and ashy areas which were revealed by backhoe appeared to be tent or temporary shelter sites by analogy with modern practices; tribal workmen hired by the excavator, in fact, saw many similarities between the stone alignments and modern camp features. In both cases, the length of a tent was oriented east-west, ash areas were identified 225 as the result of cleaning of hearths, stone platforms could still be identified as storage features for bedding, the season of occupation was determined by the placement of tent openings in accordance with the pre vailing winds and by the location of hearths inside or outside the tent outlines. One tent outline still had a line of stones four meters long across the back and a line two and a half meters long along one edge. Great variation in the preservation of stone outlines was attributed to the "nomad custom of collecting rocks for reuse in new sites," but on the whole, the stone alignments seem to have "lain undisturbed for 8000 years" (Hole 1974:236). That the site was prehistoric is confirmed by the fact that prehistoric pottery was found during the excavation in association with the alignments, along with groundstone mortars and pes tles. The correspondences between present practices of pastoral nomads in this area and their predecessors of 8,000 years before are remarkable: At least part of Tulai is a campsite identical in its layout to modern nomad camps. The alignments of stones and the spacing between alignments leave no question of the nature of this part of the site. Moreover, there is no question that the campsite is prehistoric [Hole 1974:236]. To confirm the dating and the nature of surface sites in the Khash area with similar stone alignments, horizontal excavations like that of Tulai are necessary. Until these controlled excavations are possible, the antiquity of the assumed pastoral nomadic sites in the survey area will remain conjectural, albeit supported by strong evi dence. The model can be constructed; only testing by excavation can establish its validity. On the basis of the surface data which is available, one may say that the antiquity of the present pastoral nomadic pattern on the Sarhad Plateau is not as great as that of Khuzistan. Rectangular stone outlines 226 '*•*."<• tfi. SgF»\ Plate 12. Rectangular stone-lined structure at site 24-1 (Taftan) Jh JT" ''i~n J~i. 3fci*£rz**t Plate 13. Line of boulders at site 32-5 (Dahnag) 227 suggestive of the black goathair tents in use today are not found in as sociation with pottery earlier than the Sasanian period in the Taftan Uplands and the Khash Plain. Prehistoric pottery is found either with rectangular boulder foundations evocative of permanent structures or of circular stone alignments suggestive of temporary structures. On a few sites which are particularly favorable for pastoral nomads, relatively recent camp remains of rectangular tent outlines are juxtaposed with earlier, more disturbed, circular stone alignments, as at site 12-1 (Panj Angosht). Most pottery fragments on these sites are found in the area of the circular features. When questioned, Baluch in formants claimed that "in ancient times," tents were circular in shape, although still made of black goathair, and that a stylistic change to rectangular tents occurred about a century before. As in Oman, however, other informants disagreed: local villagers "disagreed as to the nature of the circular buildings, some claiming that they were old houses, others that they had been used for animals ..." (deCardi 1975:49). Whatever the truth of the matter is, there appear to be two types of circular stone structures present on the Khash-Taftan sites: one consists of small, special purpose structures bewteen one and four meters in diameter which saw use as animal pens or Islamic prayer areas; another is larger, over three meters in diameter and often associated with several other large circles of stone and with prehistoric pottery. Sites with the latter type of circle in the Khash area are Haidar (23-3), Rostom Circle (23-2), Shori (25-1), and Tugar (10-1). (See Figure 23.) Flannery contends that rectangular structures replaced earlier circular ones through time in many archeological areas around the world (Flan nery 1972:29), but his contention that circular dwellings tend to 228 Fig. 23. Circular stone structure remains. 229 ROSTROM CIRCLE i^b. a ?£> $6° ce-s <$$8i'~%> i.!-">m. - TUGAR CJ rf 2.f ro. 0 0 \l/ £> CAIRNS AT SITE 22-20 230 correlate with nomadic societies and rectangular ones with fully seden tary societies does not, obviously, fit with the data from Baluchistan. References to stone circles of one type or another are abundant in the archeological literature. The site of Burzahom in Kashmir is marked by a group of large stones arranged in a rough semi-circle dated prior to the third century A.D. and associated with polished stone and a coarse handmade pottery which is often "mat-impressed or cord-marked" (Fairservis 1975:312) and similar to pottery found on small seasonal sites on the Sarhad Plateau. Neolithic herds in the southern Sahara in Niger left stone circles and semi-circles which mark the base of fea tures: Structures were clearly light and so easily transportable so that it appears likely that the Tenerian population practised regular transhumance and such sites may have been strictly seasonal en campments set up anew each year as among the pastoralists of the Sudanese belt or the Horn today [Clark 1972:132]. Hays (1973:8) also describes Tenerian Neolithic sites which had circles of stones which "may have formed the basis of shelters" and "suggest a long-term seasonal occupation." Stone circles have been noted in northern Arabia, in the coastal Levant, in Mesopotamia, in India, in Pakistan, and in the Zagros Moun tains at Tepe Asiab and Zawi Chemi Shanidar. Both large and small cir cular enclosures were found on surveys in Oman; the large ones are situ ated atop low, rocky outcrops, have one meter thick walls, 50 meter di ameters, and few material remains (Meadow et al. 1976:112). Ethnographic data often point to explanations for isolated cir cular stone structures. On the Sarhad Plateau, the Baluch put their tents in storage in August and migrate to their date groves for three months, leaving the herds in charge of a few shepherds. These shepherds 231 follow the grazing herds without the shelter of tents and often build small, loose circular constructions of stones to shelter the young ani mals at night on hillsides. Remains of such shelters may be present at sites 32-1 (Dahnag Loc. 6), 32-2 (Dahnag Loc. 2), 35-1 (Kor Koh), and 22-5 (Dahnag Loc. 9). Often the walls of these shelters may be two meters high; and the smaller ones, after collapsing, may resemble stone cairns. Other mortarless stone structures may be intended as summer shelters for the herders themselves (although no such use of stone huts could be determined in the survey area today) and may be located as in Oman (deCardi 1975:19), on "small ridges or in the open beds of larger wadis to take maximum advantage of any breezes." In place of specially-construeted huts or pens, shepherds will use rockshelters when these are available, often constructing terraces or walls of dry stone construction in front of these shelters as at sites Tudi Loc. 2 (35-3) and Tudi Loc. 5 (35-6) in the Taftan Uplands of the survey area. Similar walled rockshelters in the Sahara date to the post- 4000 B.C. Neolithic Herder Period (Hays 1973:6). Terraced areas have been called possible cattle pens at the site of Piklihal on the Central Deccan Plateau (Fairservis 1975:325). Evidence from excavations Controlled excavations of sites will yield more data than can be gleaned from surface collections and are more likely to reveal relation ships between different classes of data. Evidence of pastoralism and nomadic subsistence practices may be derived from several types of data: (1) faunal remains - their abundance, proportions of different species, ages, sex, and domesticated status 232 Plate 14. Circular feature at site 22-1 (Haidar Camp), cleared of gravel and lined with stones. Vw-^biK^-^ ' '1* V Plate 15. Stone-outlined circle at site 22-1 (Haidar Camp) 233 J-'-TI .* Plate 16. Disturbed stone-bordered circle at site 22-1 (Haidar Camp) • "**,.*,***' Plate 17. Stone circle at site 24-1 (Taftan) 234 l- Plate 18. Gravel-cleared circular area at site 22-1 (Haidar Camp) >*-s#si& Plate 19. Stone-outlined semi-circle in the shadow of Boulder X at site 22-3 (Haidar). Enclosed area is cleared of gravel. 235 •r Plate 20. Large stone circle in Tudi Gorge (site 35-9) e 21. Small double circles of stone at site 32-5 (Dahnag) 236 Plate 22. Small circular structure of unmortared stone on ridge above Khash Spring. .J, {*$&'& -" - - .j —* •. -.*.»_ Plate 23. Small collapsed circular structure at site 35-1 (Kor Koh) 237 i#i*$*» " ** ** Plate 24. Unmortared stone circular structure inside a larger stone circle at Rostrom Tower (Site 23-1). oo Plate 25. a circular tower at site 40-3 (Sitharo Tower), probably of early Baluch origi 239 Plate 26. Rock shelter in Tudi Gorge with an unmortared stone wall. Plate 27. Hearth at site 25-3 (Shori Locality 3) -*'~ i •• 11 i a ^f*" **** *ayt. ^taeub^aaSMttnMM0Sdin>l!nB&MSlWiUi ^JJS r niisimm n fii • .3^9 «**- .V"* - Plate 28. Two stone-lined desert mosques at site 31-5 (Paniki. Centers are spread with a fine shale fill from a stream bed. * >.• ~V- -• "'-1'- - " .1" - - NJ ' * "• •• •?"•: ^4.— r 4>- .*- j 'S'**'^ *< 4*."-- ;V, . ^ .PJate ?9* DeS£rt m°Sque ln camPsite at site 33-12. Knoll in the background was scat tered with prehistoric pottery. issss**"ags^ - NJ N> ..sews."***" >• Plate 30. Unfinished desert mosque at site 33-10 (Shah Nawazi) 243 "^ n SITE 25'4 s °Q° Map 9. Site 25-4 (Earthwork Camp). 244 245 .-•o- &L 0- «** N-^ ^ 4£s I b ^7K' © B^' O© oC 0 3» I t S@9 N .f #—-^y 10 ^N £> £3 3 I i?«e> I a- *-* IK ~ i i !N ^.. 4? o& N — — — . -yfflTm ^ ^--#-" - Stone - Hearth it 7$? - Hole ^ %$ ' Depression N • Extent of fine gravel-sand fill 0 5 m. Figure 24. Tent pattern remains at site 33-12 246 PORTION OF 1 »5 SITE 32-3 #9 BAMK 6P GOLUY Fig. 25. Portion of site 32-3. 248 (2) architecture - presence or absence of permanent dwellings and other structures; remains of tents or temporary huts (3) features - animal pens, hearths, ash dumps, etc. (4) artifacts - absence of large, immobile storage jars and the finer, delicate wares; presence of artifacts which could function in dairy production or shearing and weaving (5) layers of dung, hoofprints A few examples of excavated pastoral nomadic sites may be cited from South and Southwest Asia, primary among them the site of Tulai de scribed above. An analysis of the faunal remains from this site revealed that 95% were caprovine bones, almost all of them goats (Hole 1974:235; Pires-Ferriera 1977). This is the proportion one would expect to find in a herding camp whether independent of, or attached to, a sedentary village. At Tepe Sarab in Khuzistan, all faunal remains were those of goats and sheep, and their ages showed that the site was occupied in the late winter or early spring: "In this case we suspect that the camp at 1260 meters may have been occupied by seasonal herders who obtained their grain from more permanent farming villages at 750 meters" (Flan- nery 1965:1255). Excavations at Ali Kosh suggest a herding village co existing symbiotically with farming villages in adjacent areas. Also in Deh Luran, ash lenses, coarse handmade pottery, and the bones of domes ticated caprovines suggest that Kunji and Ghamari Caves were pastoral camps. The earliest levels at Tepe Ganj Dareh reveal a "seasonally- occupied encampment . . . perhaps by semi-nomadic pastoralists and hunters" (Smith 1976:17). In Afghanistan, excavation of the cave of Ghar-i Mar, still used by pastoral nomads, revealed two Kushan layers (sixth and seventh 249 centuries A.D.) which represent "periodic occupation by nomadic groups following a north-south route" (Dupree 1964:639). Also in Afghanistan, the site of Deh Morasi Ghundai was probably occupied from the fourth to the mid-first millennium by a semi-sedentary group of pastoralists who appear to have dwelt in tents surrounded by low pise walls. Level I at Kili Ghul Mohammed in the Quetta Valley dates to 3100-3500 B.C. and dis plays evidence of caprovine herding with impermanent architecture, bone and stone tools, and no pottery: "It was thus an extremely primitive pastoral society which depended upon plentiful forage and water for their flocks in the central portion of the Valley" (Sankalia 1962:177). The site of Rana Ghundai in Baluchistan yielded living surfaces with hearths and bones of domesticated goats, sheep, and cattle but no structures; in its final phase, the occupants of Rana Ghundai appear to have shifted from a sedentary lifestyle to a nomadic one. At Utnur in southern India, F. R. Allchin (1963) defined an early culture of nomadic cattle pastoralists on the basis of faunal data, cattle pens, and ash and dung layers. Cited above are only a few examples of excavations which have re sulted in the demonstration, or at least the strong suggestion, of pas toral nomadic occupation. Combined with intensive surveys, which can assist in the reconstruction of seasonal patterns of movement and sub sistence by outlining settlement sequences, controlled excavations of small, non-urban sites—when specifically designed to answer questions regarding pastoral nomadic adaptations—can be of even greater value. This is particularly true of the Khash survey area, where the presence of promising non-urban sites has been established by our survey. Any future archeological programs in this area should be addressed to these questions of adaptation. 250 Conclusion The essence of this investigation has been an attempt to deter mine archeological correlates for ethnographic observations. Specifi cally, data have been presented and examined in such a way as to outline the archeological visibility of pastoral nomadic subsistence patterns and to demonstrate the feasibility of surface surveys as an effective means of obtaining this data. The archeological visibility of pastoral nomadic remains encoun tered on the surfaces of sites consists of four separate but related sets of data: (1) site size, (2) locational criteria, (3) features, (4) artifacts. 1. The size of a campsite as opposed to a permanent urban site (and by virtue of its temporary nature) in most cases can be assumed to be small in extent and shallow in cultural deposit. In excavating a seasonal campsite, one would expect to find a discontinuous stratigraphy with sterile lenses interspersed between occupation strata. With the possible exceptions of Deh Morasi Ghundai in Afghanistan and Rana Ghundai in Pakistan, campsites of pastoralists who lack permanent architectural structures do not leave telltale tells or artificial mounds; they are found on the natural ground surface. None of the sites in the Khash area, except 21-1 (Pamazar), showed traces of artificial mounding; and 88% of all the sites were less than a hectare in size. 2. Locational data alone can be revealing of pastoral nomadic subsistence; and, when combined with the presence and absence of archi tectural features and certain artifact types, locational criteria can be confirming factors. In semi-arid regions, soil conditions, water avail ability, vegetation type and density, and topography are so closely 251 inter-related that, as Colwell and Carnegie (1971:177) have noted, merely by inventorying one factor such as topography (landform), one can reconstruct the other factors. This method functions quite well on a surface survey where topographical features are easy to spot and water, soil, and vegetation conditions can be deduced and appropriate areas rapidly identified for closer inspection. The correlation of these fea tures is especially important in a pastoral nomadic context, where water conditions determine the abundance and quality of pastures. The bases of alluvial and talus fans, for instance, generally had many runoff channels, higher water tables, and permeable soils which support good pastures. This was one of the premises on which the Site Pattern Recog- 12 nition technique was based (see Chapter VI). On a micro level, loca- 13 tional criteria such as level ground, sandy surfaces, and protection from prevailing winds can underline pastoral nomadic preferences. Urban sites, on the other "iand, appear to give more value to locational cri teria based on economic and social factors such as arable land, ease of access, defense advantages, and proximity to trade and communication routes. 3. In the realm of features, both the presence of identifiable pastoral nomadic traits and the absence of urban traits (permanent archi tecture, public or monumental buildings, large storage facilities) are important factors. Specific pastoral nomadic architectural remains 12 On the Khash Survey, 20.8% of the sites were located within one kilometer of a water source, 53.8% near dry drainage channels, and the rest near no known source of water. 13 Of the sites found on the Khash survey, 25.5% were on sandy ground, while approximately 70% were on rocky surfaces. 252 include tent outlines in stone, stone-outlined animal pens, hearths and 14 ash dumps, and desert mosques. 4. The material culture of pastoral nomads differs from that of urban or agricultural settlements in the number and density of artifacts as well as in the proportion of types. As would be expected, temporary campsites yield relatively few artifacts, and these are rather sparsely distributed throughout the site; from only 10% of the sites in the Khash area did the artifacts collected total more than 300, and only 14.2% had 2 an artifact density of one or more per 10 m . In general, the absence of agriculture-related implements such as sickle blades, grinders, and mortars is notable from pastoral nomadic sites. In the Khash area, most of the lithic tool kits pointed primarily to a cutting and scraping function which one would expect to find in a pastoral context with an absence of sickle blades and arrowheads for agriculture and hunting. Ceramic data is abundant, and it is hypothesized here that pastoral nomadic use of pottery may lean heavily toward easily-manufactured hand made varieties and restricted orifice vessels. Fine wheel-made decorated pottery would be found in smaller quantities than in urban agricultural sites and may reflect trade contact (as well as social contact) between the practitioners of two complementary subsistence modes. These four factors, then, are the bases of the pastoral nomadic archeological visibility on surface surveys. Excavation of sites, of course, can produce even more revealing evidence of seasonal habitation 14 Desert mosques (see Plates 28-30) are found abundantly scat tered throughout the Sarhad Plateau and were used exclusively by the nomadic Baluch. It is possible that some large flat stones with indented sur faces may have functioned to brace and support tent poles—as was ob served in several Baluch camps—rather than as mortars. 253 and pastoral subsistence, most notably in the form of faunal remains. However, even a surface investigation is not completely lacking in this information; and much can be deduced about herding activities on the basis of identifiable camel and caprid bones on the surface as well as indirect indications such as dung concentrations, clusters of clearings in the gravel made by the animals, and the condition of potsherds ground to small fragments by the continuous passing of hooved animals. Ethnoarcheology None of these data, however, can be attributed validity as pas toral nomadic indicators without the corroboration of, or the analogies found in, ethnographic observations. The archeological visibility frame work discussed here derives its validity from the ethnoarcheological methods employed in the original research. The combination of investi gative techniques of the complementary disciplines of ethnography and archeology establishes correlates of past and present behavior and pro vides a means of testing diachronically a synchronic pattern of adapta tion. In ethnoarcheological research adaptation is the key word. In this paper a continuity or at least a close similarity of environmental conditions on the Sarhad Plateau has been assumed and appears to be sup ported by ecological evidence. The area has always been better-suited to pastoral pursuits and not conducive to agricultural success, particu larly before the arrival of the qanat system of irrigation. The depen dence upon identical resources can foster cultural conservatism and a continuity of adaptive responses. The persistence of pastoral nomadic forms of subsistence in Baluchistan from at least Sasanian times into the present is an indication of the efficiency of the cultural essentials 254 of pastoral nomadism in adapting to a marginal environment in a semi- arid zone. Table 7 describes the expected archeological visibility of the modern form of Baluch pastoral nomadism and may be juxtaposed with the accompanying Table 8, which describes the actual archeological data ob tained on the surface survey of the same area inhabited today by the Baluch nomads. By drawing comparisons with modern camps, even specula tions as to season of occupation can be made for archeological sites in the Khash area. The results The pastoral nomadic nature of the sites in Table 8 is strongly suggested by the evidence found on the surface. As further corrobora tion, at five of these sites Baluch tent camps were set up in almost identical locations, often on the periphery of sherd scatters; and, in addition, informants were found who had actually lived in seven of the sites. In other cases, the sites, when compared with modern Baluch camps, were in similar locations, of similar areal extent, and with fea tures and stone-outlined enclosures similar to those observed by the sur vey crew in actual Baluch camps. In general, a seasonal pattern appears to emerge from the data which consists of large camps in sheltered areas near water during the winter months and a profusion of smaller camps in the spring months scattered throughout the ecozones (the people appear to value pasturage more than water as a locational criterion); the congregation of tents around the fields of semi-permanent villages in the summer months; and the proliferation of small transient stations in areas where shelter and TABLE 7 BALUCH NOMADIC PATTERNSf Migrations Economic Activities Locati'-' To winter campgrounds Dropping of kids and lambs Camps usually at bas.-, oc hills or (usually up to five Foddering in hollows for protection from u months in one place) Gathering of firewood elements; on the Taftan Uplands, Q) 4-1 Briefly to fields Sowing and irrigation of wheat they are near semi-permanent •S villages !3 Important: water, firewood, shelter To areas of pasture on Animals taken to pastures Open plains, open Upland Slopes, Wl the Sarhad (usually Milking and dairy processing alluvial fans •5 less than 10 days in Pollinization of dates Important: pastures far from fields !-l one place) Irrigation of wheat avoid crowding pastures ft C/3 Gathering of wild grasses To pastures, to fields, Animals taken to pasture Open plains, hillsides, open Upland and onto fields (usu Fertilization of fields by animals Slopes, alluvial fans U ally less than 10 days Irrigation, harvest, threshing and Semi-permanent villages near fields Main camp moves off the Off the plateau: harvest and proc Semi-permanent villages at date Sarhad Plateau to date ess dates, collect salt, collect groves q groves; animals and few palm fibers On plateau: transient stations at 3 herders remain and move On the plateau: take animals to Base of Mountains, springs, 4J 3, every day find water and pasture shelters Large camps - up to 30 Closed with stones or earth em Stone and earth borders leave out tents bankments all around base except line of tent and animal parti Arranged in linear pat at entrance tions u terns Hearths and animals' pens are Hearths inside tent outlines sur 4J 3 located inside tents rounded by rocks; sand floors •H Bones - more meat is consumed Stone-lined paths, desert mosques, communal fire pits, ash dumps Camps break up into Separate animal pen is constructed Stone-lined hearths inside and out smaller units - must in center of camp side tent enclosures M be more mobile Hearths both inside and outside Stone outlines of tents; sand 3 Tents form U-shapes tents floors P. around animal pen Milk-processing and weaving areas Prayer ovals for individuals C/J inside tents Desert mosques scattered through area Small camps in pastures Tents are open at base except for Incomplete rock outlines of tents Larger camps at fields palm mat sun shades weighted down Separate shelters for young ani M and semi-permanent with stones mals, chickens, and rabbits CU villages Hearths outside tents Hearths outside; entrance to fea 3 U-shaped in pastures, Short ends often protected by tures often on east; mosques c/o next to mud houses in stones; east long side open scattered villages Mud-stone house foundations Very small transient sta Most tents packed away until Novem Hearths and prayer ovals scattered tions on the plateau ber; shepherds build crude rock throughout area g and a few small camp shelters around boulders or in Stone-walled rock shelters 3 sites; often no tents natural shelters Stone-bordered clearings around 4-1 are pitched boulders < Small stone shelters for young animals tBased on Salzman (1972a:28) and personal observations in the field. 257 TABLE 8 SEASONAL CONNOTATIONS OF ARCHEOLOGICAL SITES FOUND IN THE KHASH AREA (SUGGESTED) Sites Locations 12-1 Base of Mountains on talus fans near water 32-5 and in hollows J-l 33-12 Open plains near water and shelter of low .5 33-3 hills 13 43-1 04-1 04-2 40-1 Highland and Lowland Plains in open and in 04-3 22-1 40-2 hollows 33-2 35-1 33-9 Broken Terrain near water Base of Mountains far from fields u 25-3 24-1 33-7 Pu 24-2 25-4 31-6 Hilly areas in Taftan Uplands CO 10-1 22-19 33-13 Often near dry channels 33-12 33-10 04-1 40-2 40-1 Open plains near fields and semi-permanent 33-1 32-3 06-1 villages and water 43-2 10-1 31-6 Base of Mountains on migration routes and near drainage channels CD 33-8 12-2 12-3 12-4 12-5 12-6 Taftan Upland Watered Valleys near fields 3 12-7 35-2 35-3 and water CO 35-5 35-6 35-7 35-8 35-9 22-16 22-17 12-2 12-3 12-4 Highland Plain at the base of outcrops 12-5 12-6 12-7 Broken Terrain 22-4 22-5 32-1 Base of Mountains, often near dry channels 32-6 32-7 22-2 g 32-3 43-10 43-11 3 43-6 43-14 43-15 34-J 43-7 33-11 22-18 43-8 22-21 22-22 43-9 22-23 32-4 22-9 31-8 31-2 31-3 31-4 31-7 258 TABLE 8—Continued Features Artifacts Dates Sites are large, over 2 hectares Extensive sherd 3 Recent Stone-outlined rectangular scatters 2 Islamic cleared and sand-filled areas, Some flaked stone 3 Partho- mosques, hearths inside, stone and groundstone Sasanian platforms, stone-lined paths 2 Prehistoric ash dumps, pits 1 Unknown Tent clearings, earth and stone Sherd scatters range 9 Recent outlines, hearths inside and from extensive to 5 Late Islamic outside, stone circles, ash sparse; some flaked 2 Early Islamic dumps, pits, size of sites stone, groundstone, 5 Partho- varies from small to large, tuff Sasanian often U-shaped camp pattern, 4 Prehistoric desert mosques, fire pits, 3 Unknown clearings, mud walls Small camps in pastures Extensive sherd 4 Recent Larger camps near semi-permanent scatters around 3 Late Islamic villages semi-permanent 2 Early Islamic Stone circles, rectangular tent villages 3 Partho- outlines, hearths in open, Other sites have few Sasanian stone terraces, dams, col artifacts 2 Prehistoric lapsed stone house founda 5 Unknown tions, desert mosques, mud walls All sites are small, most less Very few; scatters 3 Recent than 1/4 hectare of sherds are very 4 Late Islamic Isolated hearths, small stone small 3 Early Islamic? circles, small clearings, 3 Partho- stone arcs and semi-circles Sasanian built around boulder over no Prehistoric hangs, stone-walled rock 12 Unknown shelters, scattered desert mosques and prayer areas Cleared areas under boulder overhangs 259 water can be found in the fall months before the dispersed camping units regroup for their winter camps in December. In addition to the sites listed in Table 13 is site 31-5 (Paniki Locality 4), which consists of three large desert mosques situ ated on a level ridge in Broken Terrain and of unknown date and several small Partho-Sasanian to Early Islamic sites which have no firm seasonal connotations: 43-4 (Kamal), 43-12 (Ashkan Locality 7), 43-13 (Ashkan Locality 8), 23-2 (Rostrom Circle), and 50-1 (Bozan). Some of the ear liest sites are the most difficult to place in terms of either subsis tence base or duration and season of occupation. These sites generally have an abundant cover of potsherds and often flaked stone artifacts dating from the fourth and to the second millennium B.C. and may be sum marized as follows: 1. 25-1 (Shori): Taftan Upland Slopes in a sheltered wadi; large stone circles and low stone wall remnants; much pot tery and some lithic material (see Map 11) 2. Shori Locality 2: Upland Taftan Slopes in a sheltered wadi; no features, little pottery 3. 32-8 (Khash Mountain Locality 9): Base of Mountains around large boulders; 1 stone semi-circle around boulder; much pottery and some stone artifacts 4. 22-3 (Haidar): Base of Mountains around large boulders; one large circle and cleared stone-lined area around boulders; much pottery and some stone artifacts 5. 32-2 (Dahnag Locality 2): Base of Mountains on talus fan; stone circles and stone-outlined terrace; much pottery and lithic material 260 6. 33-4 (Allahabad): Highland Plains at the base of a hill near a spring; no features but much pottery and modified tuff 7. 33-14 (Shandala): Highland Plains against low hill; square stone foundation (collapsed), lines of stones, petroglyph; much pottery On the present evidence, determining the economic role played by these seven sites is not possible. Although they are not large urban sites, they lack evidence of the temporary shelters of pastoral nomads familiar to the area today (rectangular stone or earth outlines). The stone circles found at many of these sites are generally larger than those used by the Baluch as animal pens or habitations, but their actual function is unknown. The density and the numbers of artifacts found on the surfaces of the sites point to habitation by complete family units for at least part of the year; but artificial mounding as well as evi dence of many residential units is lacking, as are sources of permanent water supplies and evidence of agricultural activities. It is hoped that future excavation of such prehistoric sites might provide more il luminating data. On the whole, however, it may nevertheless be reasonable to suppose some degree of seasonal occupation of almost all the sites in the Khash area, even the earliest prehistoric sites. The area lacks any dependable perennial water source apart from small springs like that of Khash Spring No. 1 and thus lacks a basis for dry cultivation. The rainfall in this area, while not sufficient for agriculture without ir rigation, is enough for continuous vegetation (and thus pasturage), even where saline soils are encountered. For this reason, the Khash Plain and Taftan Uplands have always been more favorable for pastoral—and. 261 therefore, nomadic—than for agricultural pursuits. In fact, the large majority of sites located during the survey appear to have been seasonal or impermanent ones, and it is hypothesized here that most of these were the loci of the habitations and activities of pastoralists who had adopted by necessity a mobile settlement pattern. CHAPTER IX CONCLUSIONS AND A PROCESSUAL INTERPRETATION The data presented and analyzed are drawn from a wide range of site types differing in size, temporal period, and economic function and scattered through several ecozones; but the emphasis throughout the re search has been on the small non-urban site. In New World archeology, particularly in North America, such sites have been successfully and pro fitably studied for decades, furnishing prehistorians with a generous body of information which has served to foster a painstaking but thor ough approach to archeological data. This New World approach, utilizing data largely from small, non-urban, pre-Columbian sites, was concerned by the 1960s with interpretation of cultural remains and explanation of cultural processes rather than the description of artifact assemblages and the comparisons of ceramic and architectural variations which were so prominent in archeology of the Near East until recent years. An em phasis on interpretation and explanation in American archeology led rapidly to the integration of different types of data—artifactual, eco logical, social, economic—and a concomitant reliance on multidisciplin- ary cooperation. The work of Binford (1965, 1968) and that of the Brit ish archeological theorist David Clarke (1968) have spurred a growth in the appreciation of both systemic studies of prehistoric culture and the use of ethnoarcheological research methodology. The archeology of much of the Old World, most notably that of the Near East, was formulated on quite different lines, due as much to 262 263 the difference in the quantity and nature of archeological remains available as to different academic traditions. In this area of the world, where urban civilization had its earliest known beginnings, the academic emphasis has necessarily and understandably been on the study of the large urban sites of prehistoric periods. However, in the proc ess of formulating reconstructions of cultural sequences, smaller non- urban sites were too often bypassed; and the resultant mosaic of prehis toric culture, therefore, lacked some important elements. Until the last decade or so, archeological surveys in Iran, Pakistan, and Afghan istan were essentially tepe hunts, designed to discover artificial mounds and evaluate their potential for excavation. The result of this approach was that our knowledge of the prehistoric past in these areas was one which consisted of the chronicling of technological, economic, and polit ical events (e.g., the rise and fall of civilizations/states, the inva sions of new peoples, the invention of the potter's wheel, the advent of metallurgy). These chronicles were followed by comparative studies which sought to integrate events from different sites by establishing rela tionships based on shared ceramic and other traits. The tracing of trade networks led to questions of how cultural elements diffused from one area to another and by which means cultural influences traveled across the Iranian Plateau. Overlooked by these macro-level studies were the internal dynamics of functional cultural systems. In order to understand a whole system, one must first look at all of the constituent parts. In the case of urban systems, this necessarily includes the eco nomic, social, and political roles played by the urban hinterlands. The 264 primary unit of investigation in these hinterlands must be the small non-urban site. As it became increasingly apparent that systemic processual in terpretation of entire cultures could not be accomplished on the basis of single sites alone, no matter how large and important they were, how lengthy their temporal spans, and with what number of other large urban sites they had had contact, many archeologists working on the Iranian Plateau began to adopt a different approach. Intensive surveys were undertaken to provide information on a regional basis to outline the se quence of settlement systems in the region and/or to provide a framework within which a major excavated site could be better interpreted. Two such regional surveys have been completed in the past ten years in south east Iran: (1) the survey of the Helmand Basin in Sistan by the Italian Archeological Mission, which acquired supplementary regional data for its multidisciplinary study of the prehistoric site of Shahr-i Sokhta and the nearby Achaemenian site of Dahan-i Ghulaman; and (2) the intensive survey of the Dowlatabad Valley and the neighboring Rud-i Gushk drainage by members of the Harvard University team excavating Tepe Yahya. In southwest Iran, survey programs have been undertaken with the express aim of gathering as much information as possible from all sites encountered—small non-urban ones as well as urban tepes and agricultural villages. During my residence in Iran, two methodologically important surveys in Khuzistan were in progress: Dr. Louis Levine's survey inven toried and sampled all sites encountered, regardless of size, and in cluded the ruins of recently abandoned villages; Dr. Henry T. Wright led a small survey team from the Iranian Center for Archeological Research in sampling and recording all sites in a limited survey area from small mounds to sherd scatters. 265 On questions of systemic relations, the old subject of trade net works and contacts has been given a more sophisticated treatment by Tosi (1973, Lamberg-Karlovsky and Tosi 1972) and Lamberg-Karlovsky (1972a, 1972b), both of whom considered the interrelationship of internal and external cultural subsystems in their discussions of lapis lazuli proc essing and distribution at Shahr-i Sokhta and steatite/chlorite process ing and distribution at Tepe Yahya. Two of the most notable processual interpretations of data have been made by Dr. Gregory Johnson (1973, 1975) in southwest Iran and Dr. Jim G. Shaffer (1972, 1974a)in Baluch istan. The Khash survey discussed in this paper was aimed toward, as Shaffer (1972:246) urges, "delineating cultural growth and processes rather than just location of more sites." Since the Khash survey re search design was addressed to problems of small non-urban sites, a sur face survey was the only efficient means of investigating the area be cause of the large number of sites and the variety of artifact collec tions which could contribute to the data base. An emphasis was placed on small non-urban sites in order to give a different slant to the pic ture of prehistoric life in one portion of Baluchistan and to investi gate the questions of the archeological visibility of pastoral nomadism (discussed in the preceding chapter). The survey area was selected primarily on these bases: it was expected to insure an adequate supply of both small non-urban sites and pastoral nomadic data. In addition, it was an area in which ethnoarcheological methods could be easily em ployed. Far from being handicapped by the Sarhad Plateau's reputation as a cultural backwater or a cul de sac, our field research took advan tage of the presumed isolated cultural status of the Sarhad. We were 266 able to concentrate on a promising area to which were attached pre conceived notions of prehistoric cultural patterns. The result has been a substantial corpus of data from small, non-urban, seasonally-occupied sites. In the entire survey area, only one small tepe (of probable Sasanian or Early Islamic date) was found, and no major urban centers of any period were located. The Khash Spring site was the major site of the area, and only three prehistoric sites were larger than five hec tares. The surface collection obtained from Khash Spring was just what had been hoped for: it was large enough and contained enough diagnostic design elements to allow relative dating by comparison with othdr pre historic sites. In addition, it contained sufficient parallels with the collections from the other sites of the Khash area to be used as a stan dard against which these sites could be measured. Chronology Because the cultural and ceramic sequence of the Sarhad Plateau is unknown, the establishment of a chronological framework was paramount for the analysis of the Khash material. The approach to chronology em ployed here was two-pronged: on the one level the ceramic collection from the survey area was considered independently in terms of internal vari ability and ordered on its own merits according to information about the general sequence of ceramic technology on the greater Iranian Plateau. This resulted in the ceramic sequence described in Chapter>V. On another level, the Khash ceramics were compared with specific pottery from the sites and areas off the plateau. The comparative analysis of design motifs from prehistoric sites was especially rewarding (see Figure 19). This latter comparative approach strongly suggests a mid- fourth millennium to mid-third millennium B.C. date for the main 267 occupation at the site of Khash Spring based on ceramic parallels with Iblis 1-4, Tepe Yahya VA and IVC, Chah Husaini, Bampur I-V, Shahr-i Sokhta I, Deh Morasi Ghundai, Kili Ghul Mohammed I-III, Damb Sadaat II, Hissar I and II, and even Kulli and Namazga III. By establishing a position in the prehistoric sequence of eastern Iran for the Khash survey area, we may then proceed to tentatively re construct the trajectory of culture change for the area by reviewing the generally accepted reconstructions of regions surrounding the Khash and then looking at ways in which the blank (Khash) in the resulting scheme can be sketched in. The closest sites to the survey area about which enough is known to permit the reconstruction of cultural sequences are those in the Bampur Valley to the south. By piecing together the pat terns of cultural associations between Bampur and areas west, north, and south, we can prepare a foundation for a discussion of the Khash area, located between Bampur and regions to the north, including Sistan, the Khorassan Plain of northeast Iran, and eventually Turkmenia. The Socio-Cultural Milieu The Halil Rud-Bampur River Valley in the Jaz Murian Depression forms an east-west corridor through which contact with central and western Iran filtered into Baluchistan. In fact, in 1955, Gordon noted that "it is here that we find a succession of ancient sites revealed by the reconnaissances of Sir Aurel Stein, producing a great wealth of painted sherds [in which] the original influence of Iranian painted pot tery is . . . quite definite" (Gordon 1955:159). Prior to the third millennium B.C., the cultural orientation of the Bampur sites appeared to be to the west, even beyond Yahya as far as Mesopotamia (deCardi 268 1970). Design motifs on painted ceramics have even pointed to parallels between Bampur and Bakun A. In recent years, Lamberg-Karlovsky (1971, 1972a and C. C. and Martha Lamberg-Karlovsky 1971) postulated that a cultural axis formed by Tepe Yahya, Bampur, Iblis, Shahdad, and even Shahr-i Sokhta can be iden tified as "Proto-Elamite" and dated to as early as around 3400 B.C. However, he rejects the idea of outside influence from the west and argues instead for an indigenous development in the highlands of south eastern Iran. Lamberg-Karlovsky (1972b) and Beale (1973) see the simul taneous development of urbanization in at least four "culturally distinct but interrelated areas east of Mesopotamia" (Beale 1973:133) between 3400 and 3000 B.C.: Tepe Yahya, Shahr-i Sokhta, Namazga (Turkmenia), and Dilmun (the Persian Gulf). Some scholars—notably deCardi (1968:152)—envisaged Bampur on "the fringe of a fairly homogenous culture—as yet undefined—which spread eastwards across Afghanistan." Diffusion of culture traits in prehistoric periods following 3500 B.C. is generally thought to have come to Baluchistan via northeast Iran (and possibly Turkmenia). This view is supported by a whole series of major sites (including Sialk, Hissar, Shahr-i Sokhta, Namazga, Mundigak) and radio carbon dates which appear to progress eastward and then southward. This route skirting the northern and eastern edges of the Iranian Plateau appears to have been linked with the Persian Gulf area through the orographic corridor in which Bampur is located: Evidently the agricultural communities of the river system of Bampur were culturally integrated at the end of the third mil lennium, and there is no reason to doubt that this small focal point of proto-urbanization, despite its relatively peripheral nature, may have carried out a determining historical role, 269 especially on the north-south exchange axis that linked Hilmand, and perhaps Turkmenia indirectly, to the Persian Gulf shores [Tosi 1970a:45]. Tosi, furthermore, views the Helmand Valley as the cradle of a third millennium civilization of which "Mundigak III-IV in the northeast and Bampur I-IV in the southwest were probably expressions of the same his torical phenomenon . . . more distant localities such as Shahi Tump in the Makran and the Quetta Valley . . . only reveal a partial convergence and may have represented outlying areas of urbanization in relation to the Helmand Valley" (Tosi 1969:380). The archeological record of this time shows a surge in contacts between the Bampur Valley and Sistan which Dales (1973) describes as il lustrating changes in international spheres of influence which culminate around 2500 B.C. in a cessation of contacts between Turkmenia and the Indus region. This major change, Dales contends, is due to a "serious disruption" along the land routes between the two regions as is evi denced by the abandonment of every site in between and was followed by a dramatic shift in the avenues of contact to the south into southern Baluchistan and along the Indian Ocean coastline. In the latter half of the third millennium and the beginning of the second millennium, seafar ing trade of Mesopotamia and the Harappan civilization flourished, and Bampur shows signs of contact with both the Persian Gulf (Oman, Makran Coast) and Sistan. Tosi (1970a :14) views Bampur and Sistan in this period as "parti cipants in the same cultural phenomenon, which sees the agricultural communities settle down and prosper, where climatic and hydrological conditions made it possible." As he points out, the Bampur river is the first perennial flow of water one encounters moving south from Sistan (through the Sarhad Plateau and the Khash Plain). 270 To what degree the Bampur Valley and the Sarhad Plateau to the north can be identified with either the Helmand urban sphere to the north or the Harappan-Mesopotamian trading sphere in the south, and to which degree they may be characterized by specifically localized or re gional developments, is a question which has yet to be answered satis factorily by the archeological data at hand. It may well be the case that all of the Indo-Iranian Borderlands functioned as a mosaic of pre historic cultures of which none were truly isolated from the others. The geographic characteristics of this region are such that mountain ridges, interior drainage, and narrow valleys fostered the development of myriads of scattered, distinctly local cultures which, nevertheless, were not prevented from interacting by any insurmountable geographic barriers. In like manner, the whole region was open to cultural ex changes from neighboring Turkmenia, the Central Iranian Plateau, and the Indus Valley. This would have provided, as Tosi (1970a:15) put it, a "stimulating interchange, clearly reflected in the dynamism of cultures which flourished during the whole of the third millennium . . . ." The late third and the whole of the second millennium B.C. was a period of culture change and population shifts throughout the Indo- Iranian Borderlands, where many sites were abandoned. Shahr-i Sokhta is greatly reduced in size around 2000 B.C. and ends in the early part of the second millennium; other settlements in Sistan disappeared at the same time. Damb Sadaat has a rapid decrease in population, Deh Morasi Ghundai is abandoned in the first half of the second millemmiun, the Kulli culture disappears around 1800 B.C., and Bampur ends at the same time. The Harappan civilization ended, and sites as far west as Tepe Yahya were abandoned. The Borderland region did not see any significant 271 resurgence in population until the first millennium. Archeologists seeking to explain this pattern of settlement disruption have favored invasion theories (deCardi 1951, Gordon 1955) and the movements of Indo- Aryans from Central Asia through the Borderlands and into the Punjab. Fairservis (1975:349-350) cites the widespread painted gray ware, glass bangles, the spread of horses, and the Vedic accounts as evidence of this southward movement. Little continuity with the Harappan is seen in the immediately succeeding levels at sites throughout the Indus Valley and southern Baluchistan. Because evidence is lacking for permanent structures in the Painted Gray Ware levels of these sites, Fairservis concludes that these remains represent the impermanent settlements of "an essentially pastoral people possessing a limited agriculture." Es chewing the old theories of violent invasions, Fairservis instead sug gests that these Indo-European-speaking pastoral tribes slowly infil trated the areas in a series of pastoral migrations and "were unlikely to settle in large permanent sedentary settlements ... in the thickly settled Punjab of today traces of old campgrounds probably have long since disappeared; it is only the more permanent settlements of a later stage which will be found" (Fairservis 1975:357). For the changes occurring in prehistoric sites farther from the Punjab area in the second millennium, other explanations have been sought, including climatic changes such as long droughts, which lower the water tables and shift the drainage patterns in areas like the Hel mand Basin, or over-grazing and over-population, which could have ex hausted the soil resources. As a possible explanation of the internal collapse of Tepe Yahya at the end of IVA, Lamberg-Karlovsky (1974:285) has suggested that the Akkadian conquest of Sumer could have ended the 272 Mesopotamian demand for raw materials, resulting in the internalization and localization of cultures on the Iranian Plateau. The Proto-Historic periods, for whatever the cause, saw a decided reduction in settlement; and the archeological remains from this period in eastern Iran are con sequently scanty and not well defined. Tepe Yahya was not reoccupied, and its neighboring regions did not see an increase in population until the early first millennium. Throughout the Achaemenian period in western Iran, the Indo-Iranian Bor derlands were only sparsely populated and appear to have no large-scale economic role with the exception of Sistan, which supported Achaemenian administrative centers. When settlement did resume, new patterns emerged: in the Soghun Valley from Yahya periods III to I, settlements are located close to qanats, suggesting that a demographic shift was made possible by the introduction of the qanat system of irrigation (Beale 1976:175). The Partho-Sasanian periods, in particular, ushered in a dramatic in crease in population throughout the eastern Iranian Plateau (Sistan, Kerman, and the Khash area). In Pakistani Baluchistan, the first mil lennium B.C. and the early first millennium A.D. is characterized by a number of "cairn sites" (Fairservis 1975:358) on hillsides. These low stone cairns contained fragments of human bones and are associated with a coarse whitish pottery and a few iron objects and are found in the Zhob and Quetta valleys. Fairservis is of the opinion that these sites (similar to site 22-20 [Nosratabad] in the Khash area) indicate the ar rival of "a new people" with a sedentary culture. The Sarhad Plateau itself, according to Skrine (1931:322), formed a part of the kingdom of Sakistan (Sistan) in Arsacid and Sasanian times around A.D. 29-70. In the Early Islamic period, sedentary settlements and external political 273 control continued until the Baluch pastoralists entered present-day Iranian Baluchistan some 300 years ago. The Sarhad Plateau Within the framework outlined above, an examination can be made of the cultural processes at work on the Sarhad Plateau of southeast Iran throughout its periods of human occupation. During the course of this research, an attempt has been made to avoid seeking explanation for culture change in cataclysmic phenomena and instead to look at cultural developments from the viewpoint of indigenous processes. "An attempt must be made to understand an area's cultural development on an indige nous basis first and then, if diffusion did occur, seek the reasons why" (Shaffer 1972: 248). To understand the cultural dynamics of the Sarhad Plateau of Baluchistan, it is necessary to set aside for the moment any preconceived notions of urban mechanisms being determining factors in any cultural development. To the contrary, it becomes self-defeating for archeologists to dismiss marginal areas such as the Sarhad as being so poor in natural and human resources that cultural development is severely restricted. The picture is more complicated than such a dis missal would suggest: it can be argued that even these non-urban hinter lands of the major population centers have internal processes which can be studied on the basis of small non-urban sites. Areas such as Khash are not mere weak reflections of major political and economic events elsewhere in some nebulous mainstream but can be studied on their own merits as functioning systems subject both to internal and external mechanisms of change. The following model seeks to make explicit a se quence of cultural developments postulated on the basis of data examined in this discourse. The model derives from the processual interpretation 274 of the data available at present. While any or all parts of this model may be challenged by subsequent research in Baluchistan, it provides a basis for a dialect in the interim. For a depiction of this model, see Figure 26. A multivariate approach The model presented here is a multivariate one which treats culture as an adaptive mechanism x^hich, as Binford (1965:205) describes it, is "employed in the integration of a society with its environment and with other sociocultural systems." By thus viewing culture as a system in which functioning subsystems attempt to maintain an equilib rium within a temporal trajectory, the multivariate model seeks to iden tify causative factors and combinations of factors which activate the mechanisms of culture change. The aim is to suggest explanations for culture change by invoking the processes responsible for these changes. The environmental framework As stressed elsewhere, Baluchistan, in general, and the Sarhad Plateau, in particular, are semi-arid zones in which cultural adaptation must insure man's survival in the face of the scarcity and unpredict ability of natural resources. Because the Sarhad Plateau is a marginal environment for domesticated plants due to insufficient rainfall and the absence of perennial streams, the most dependable insurance against scarcity has been the mobile resource of domesticated animals. In the Khash area, agriculture without irrigation is not possible because no perennial rivers are present and runoff from the many mountain ridges rapidly evaporates. There exists no riverine environment in the survey area which could have served to consolidate agricultural settlement and Communication between 3rd Breakdown in contact millennium urban centers.. between urban centers CShahr-i Sokhta, Bampur) •> and decrease In use of wayscations In Intermediate areas Meed for Ia waystatio n on route through Sarhad Plateau JL \/ a: m Terrace cultivation at Abandonment of sedentary < 2; springs; small villages and semi-sedentary zH Su and waystation on N-S prehistoric settlements u H a £-> communication routes u < w a. Possible drought or desiccation § Decrease In I 'population s en Nomadic pastoralists Small groups of pastoral nomads involved as middlemen occupy Sarhad in "trickle trade" only seasonally A 4th and 3rd millenniue g interaction spheres of — 2000 B.C. prehistoric Baluchistan 275 Nucleation of Sedemtary agricultural administrative/ settlements move one agricultural Lowland Plains centers Fortification Need for greater -> control over access to resources / Symbiosis Symbiosis of More efficient (pastoralists and *\J of pastoral use of resources* ~~~P\ nomads and agri- X agriculturalists j \ culturalists + , V+ mixe. d ec. \ mixed ec. Need for Pastoral nomads remain Population on plUteau for longer increase expansion of Pastoral nomads annual periods for -> > production move into more increased interaction marginal areas with sedentariata % Population pressure on grazing lands Partho-Sasanian Period. -Arrival of Islam- Figure 26. A hypothesized cultural sequence for the Khash area Population decrease New towns; agricultui Agricultural Pahlavi control centers abandoned; revives; established on - irrigation networks ^ irrigatior Sarhad Plateau fall into disuse networks rebuilt Soil exhaustion and decreased production capacity of land A ergraazin g /1\ Pastoral nom Baluch pastoral continue mul Decreased capacity nomads compete Pacification resource eco of pastures to with predecessors; —^of predatory- ^ but substitu -> support herds ^ become predatory Baluch sale of labo raiders for raiding Arrival of Baluch^ -1500 A.D. -1977 in 17th century •1926- 276 foster the development of urbanism, as appears to have been the case in both the Helmand drainage to the north in Sistan and the Bampur drainage to the south. Although many sedentary agricultural sites are undoubtedly present on the floor of the Lowland Plains in the survey area where they may be buried under silt accumulations or obscured by sand, the main mode of adaptation to the environment of the Sarhad appears to have been pastoral nomadism. The pastoral nomadic element It is beyond the scope of this research to discuss the origins of pastoral nomadism in the Neolithic beginnings of food production. The archeological literature is replete with arguments promoting the advent of agriculture before pastoralism or vice versa, rather like argu ing the primacy of the chicken or the egg. It may suffice to say simply that pastoralism, in one form or another, is known from the earliest Neolithic sites and that agriculture and pastoralism were probably always closely linked as is suggested by archeological evidence. Tosi (1976b) posits a growing tendency towards sheep and goat grazing throughout the whole of eastern Iran beginning in the fourth millennium B.C. This is documented by osteological material from Tepe Yahya, where a dramatic shift from cattle to caprovine herding occurs in Period V. In all exca vated sites of the Borderlands, caprid bones are found in large quantities suggesting that pastoralism played an important role in the Baluchistan economy, even that of sedentary communities and that urban civilizations had pastoral foundations as well as bases in agriculture and trade. The exact characteristic of the earliest pastoral nomadism in the Borderlands is more difficult to determine. Fairservis (1975:210) is of the opinion that future fieldwork should reveal evidence "of 277 pastoral nomads who, with more than a little likelihood, roamed these hills much as they do at present." In fact, the present-day pattern of pastoral nomadism such as that of the Baluch utilizing camel transporta tion and even engaging in date palm arboriculture may have more anti quity than has been generally supposed. Evidence now exists (see Tosi 1976b, Beale 1976:144) for the domestication of the camel and the date palm from the fourth millennium and possibly even earlier. Raikes and Dyson (1961) find it difficult to believe that separate, isolated, but contemporary Baluchistan cultures existed—as was commonly inferred from ceramic styles. They considered it more likely that a complex of small tribes distributed in a mosaic pattern populated this semi-arid zone: They would be the ancient parallels to the modern Baluchis, Brahuis, Pathan, etc., probably following tribal and familial traditions in their pottery-making. Such a picture might ac count for the wide scatter and intermingling of pottery types which makes the present designations a little misleading [Raikes and Dyson 1961:270]. Trade and interaction spheres as explanatory vehicles Several models attempting to explain cultural processes in the Indo-Iranian Borderlands have noted the key role of trade and interac tion spheres, with intercultural contacts often in the hands of pastoral nomads. Lamberg-Karlovsky, who calls trade an "intensifier which moti vates the rise of urbanism" (1972a:229), has suggested a Central Place Trade in which Tepe Yahya's urban development can be attributed to its role in east-west trade and its control of at least one natural resource (steatite or chlorite). The intensifying mechanism in his model is activated by the demand for raw materials from Mesopotamia which were supplied by indirect means through a number of central processing and distribution places such as Tepe Yahya. Beale (1976) expanded on the 278 Central Place model and noted four types of trade: (1) long-distance trade, with a profit motive and direct export; (2) regional organized trade; (3) local redistributive trade; and (4) trickle trade, based on balanced reciprocity rather than profit and in which goods trickle gradually across long distances, often by means of pastoral nomads. Tosi (1976b) maintains that the roles of pastoral nomads in the mountainous zones of the Borderlands could have included acting as mid dlemen in trade and as transporters from one side of the divide to the other. In like manner, Dales (1968) earlier noted the possibility that nomads, perhaps Kulli peoples, could have functioned as middlemen for the indirect Mesopotamian-Harappan trade. A processual model developed by Shaffer (1972, 1974a) carries the role of pastoral nomads even farther. To summarize his model briefly, Shaffer visualized two levels of trade: (1) long-distance trade connect ing all regions of Baluchistan and (2) short-distance trade which func tioned on a local level and was concerned primarily with subsistence goods. Local trade resulted from the exchange of surpluses created by the two complementary elements of Baluchistan's bimodal adaptation: pastoral nomadism and agriculture. As the seasonal variations in the availability of pasturage and water forced the migrations of pastoral nomads from one region to another, they came into contact with various cultural traditions and obtained access to items with limited sources of origin (such as widespread intrusive ceramic types like Quetta Wet Ware and Faiz Mohammed Gray Ware). Pastoralists and agriculturalists became reciprocal markets for mutually exclusive surpluses, and pastoral nomads also became the middlemen and transporters not only of raw materials and goods but also of ideas and intersocietal communion. The fourth 279 millennium pastoral nomads would have gained knowledge of the points of consumption as well as sources of supply during their seasonal migra tions. By facilitating exchanges between regions of Baluchistan, pas toral nomads thus "reinforce the development of a commonality of re sponses to crisis situations" (Shaffer 1972:228). The resulting wide spread distribution of artifacts beyond their zones of origin can thus be explained without invoking the mechanism of diffusion. With an increase in population during the fourth millennium, Shaffer postulates the "intensification of all existing interaction spheres." The increased utilization of more marginal land, for instance, produced an inverse ratio between the desire for surpluses and the pos sibility for producing them. A result of this discrepancy could have been an intensification of short-distance trading spheres to obtain more subsistence goods. Trade in itself, by amplification, becomes a "secon dary zone of optimum production" when the first, subsistence-based on domesticated plants and animals, is no longer adequate. The Khash Model Chalcolithic and Bronze Age No evidence exists for a Neolithic occupation of the Khash area. The first sites appear to date from the fourth millennium and are pri marily small in extent, although many have traces of stone foundations for dwellings. The settlement pattern appears to have consisted of small village-hamlets and/or campsites which may have been seasonally occupied by people who were at least part-time herders. There is no evidence that perennial streams existed in the prehistoric periods to support year-round habitation based on agriculture. The only location 280 where agriculture was almost surely practiced was at the site of Khash Spring where one of the few perennial water flows known for the Khash Plain existed; and here the cultivation was not extensive, only covering the lower slopes of Kuh-i Panj Anghosht which could be terraced and ir rigated by simple means. There is no evidence in the prehistoric periods for any large major political or economic centers or, indeed, any sites which could be described as urban. I have postulated that Khash Spring could have functioned as a way station on the communication route between Sistan and Bampur third millennium sites, as there exists evidence for some degree of contact between the two areas. The degree to which the fourth and third millennium sites in the Khash area are dependent upon domesticated animals cannot be determined here, but it does not seem unreasonable to suppose that the patterns of pastoral nomadism evident in the area today had their genesis in these earliest occupations. Most of the prehistoric camps and farmsteads are located at the base of mountains on talus fans where the water table is high and springs may be found or in open areas on the banks of small, but deeply incised, seasonal drainage channels. As most of these areas are unarable due to lack of water but have a sufficient vegetative cover to support caprovine grazing, a subsistence form emphasizing pastoralism is suggested. If, however, environmental conditions were the same as the present ones, pastoralist activities would have to have been sup ported by additional means of subsistence. Perhaps hunting and gather ing and, as is suggested by the ceramic evidence of fine painted pot tery, some exchange with sedentary communities based on agriculture either off the plateau or in small pockets of arable land like that of Khash Spring constituted this supplementary subsistence. 281 During the fourth and third millennia it is likely that the bimodal adaptation—pastoralism and agriculture—characterized the Indo-Iranian Borderlands. The two economies were in all likelihood never mutually exclusive. To the contrary, they were probably interdependent from the earliest periods, with pastoralists supplying dairy products, leather, hides, and hair and agriculturalists supplying food staples, pottery, and other goods. Fairservis (1975:233) speaks of these symbiotic rela tionships as "commonplace" of the prehistoric Borderlands. On the Sarhad Plateau and in other marginal environmental zones, however, the relationship of pastoralists and agriculturalists may have been much more complex than that of mutually beneficial contacts between pastoral nomadic camps and agricultural villages. The natural resources used by both groups are based on the seasonal rhythm of rainfall and, therefore, it is reasonable to assume, as does Walton (1969) that there was a coincidence of landforms and water supplies used by both subsis tence forms. They probably not only shared the same resources but also many of the same locations (e.g., springs, valley margins). To carry this one step further, it may be hypothesized that pas toralists and agriculturalists may have been members of the same kinship group and their residences may often have coincided, as they do among the Sarhad Baluch today. Many of the prehistoric (as well as later sites) in the Khash area may actually represent dual function locali ties where the tents or huts of mobile pastoralists were juxtaposed with the more permanent architecture of cultivators. This would account for the remains of stone structures few in number found in large potsherd scatters in the Khash Plain and the Taftan Uplands. The semi-permanent sites discussed in Chapter VII may have exemplified this pattern. In 282 much of Baluchistan, truly compact villages are few or nonexistent, and thus semi-permanent villages and the pastoral practices which character ize them may have been widespread. Raikes and Dyson (1961:270), in fact, hypothesized that many of Baluchistan's tested sites were the regular seasonal habitations of migratory tribes. It may even be con jectured that the settlements spreading over the Iranian Plateau between 4400 and 3500 B.C. were also the seasonally occupied sites of nomadic pastoralists and/or part-time agriculturalists. These sites have been described by Tosi (1976b:301) as "rarely exceeding one hectare in size, even under optimal environmental and resource conditions. Their numbers and distributions are quite impressive and they are often found in areas that were never again permanently occupied in later periods." This de scription could fit many of the Khash area sites characterized by pre historic painted pottery. Although ceramic parallels suggest contemporaneity and some de gree of contact—however indirect—with Tepe Yahya VA and IVC, Bampur I-V, Shahr-i Sokhta I and IV, Deh Morasi Ghundai, Kili Ghul Mohammed, and Damb Sadaat, trade does not appear to have played a major role in the economics of prehistoric Khash, at least insofar as supporting urban distribution centers. While the Taftan massif could have been a source for copper and sulphur, trade in these commodities was not a major eco nomic activity in Chalcolithic and Bronze Age Khash. What trade existed may have been in the hands of full or part-time pastoral nomads and would thus have been similar to Beale's "trickle trade" rather than a direct long-distance trade between different traditions or interaction spheres. 283 The Proto-Historic Period By the early second millennium, the Khash area was probably sub ject to the same pattern of disruption which was occurring elsewhere in the Borderlands. Khash Spring, like other sites, underwent a dramatic change when communication between Sistan and Bampur ceased and the site lost its importance as a way station on the north-south route which passed through the Khash Valley. Occupation decreased, if not ceased altogether, never to be re-established on the same scale. In succeeding periods, the spring was used mainly as a watering place for herds of goats and sheep and as a source of water for the qanats feeding culti vated fields on the plains below. A decrease in population appears to have been likely throughout the Khash Plain, and sites are extremely few and difficult to identify. One possible activating mechanism for these widespread changes in settlement subsystems, apart from the Indo-Aryan invasion theory, could have been a slight desiccation or a long period of drought, which could have curtailed agricultural subsistence (and the towns based on it), causing large regions to convert to pastoral nomadism and the set tlement patterns to shift with the abandonment of sedentary sites. This desiccation could be a widespread climatic phenomenon as suspected by Butzer (1964) for the end of the third millennium throughout the Near East, or it could have occurred in a more patchwork fashion from one re gion to another due to human factors such as overgrazing or land ex haustion. Whatever the ultimate causative factor or factors, it appears that pastoral nomadism took up the demographic slack in the area when the sedentary population declined. Archeological evidence points to a 284 localization of ceramic traditions. The Sarhad Plateau becomes more isolated, and with an absence of even part-time agriculturalists for subsistence supplements, pastoral nomads would necessarily have had to turn to longer migrations off the plateau—perhaps to date groves in the Mashkid or other low-lying areas—returning to the Sarhad only when pas tures and water would be available. Such an economic shift on the part of pastoral nomads would result in even fewer seasonal sites for the second millennium in the survey area, which does indeed seem to be the case. The Early Historic Period In the first millennium B.C., population increased as is evi denced by the growth in the number of sites, more in the Parthian and Sasanian than in any other periods. One factor in this increase appears to have been the introduction of qanat irrigation, perhaps by the same agents who introduced Parthian administration into the area, which al lowed the spread of agricultural settlements onto the plains where the more fertile soil, but deeper water table, is found. For the first time, settlements move onto the Lowland Plains. The innovation of the qanat system led to an increase in efficiency of the use of resources and a subsistence base which could support a larger population. The change in the resource base to full-scale irrigation agriculture, then, caused a change in the carrying capacity and the growth of population to a new equilibrium (see Zubrow 1971). The establishment of sedentary The fact that no strong correlations can be made between ceram ic types in the Khash area following the prehistoric period (see Table 2) may be due to the predominance of more impermanent pastoral nomadic sites where many different pottery types would probably not be present; the variation in the pottery corpus of pastoral nomadic as opposed to seden tary sites is meager. 285 agricultural communities in the Khash area in Partho-Sasanian times is confirmed by typonomic evidence noted by Spooner (1971): geographic names, associated with agriculture rather than pastoral nomadic loca tional criteria, have names of pre-Baluch and pre-Islamic origin. While agricultural settlements appear in the lowlands and in crease in importance, pastoral nomads, maintaining a close relationship with the sedentary settlements, also increase in numbers, with their subsistence base now supplemented by exchanges with agricultural com munities. With no longer a necessity for migrating off the plateau for much of the year, pastoral rounds could have become shorter to maintain the pastoralists for longer periods on the Sarhad in interaction with the sedentary communities where the herds were able to graze on stubble in the fields while fertilizing them with their droppings. This change in migration patterns would have contributed to the increase in the num bers of impermanent campsites found in the survey area from this period. A symbiosis between pastoralists and agriculturalists may also, as in all periods, have included some form of mixed economy, although the de gree to which this is true is difficult to determine on the basis of evidence from surface surveys. In the latter half of the first millennium A.D., the more effi cient use of land in the Khash area resulted in a population increase which also led to a need for greater control of access to these re sources because of a diminishing ratio between the growing population and the ability of the land to support it and still produce desired sur pluses. While the increased population required stronger political con trols and led to a slight nucleation of farming communities on the low lands and the first fortifications (e.g., Pamazar Tepe), the increased 286 demand both for subsistence production and surpluses resulted in the in creased utilization of more marginal land for agriculture to expand pro duction. This in turn led to population pressure as agriculturalists moved into zones which previously had been pasture lands for pastoral ists. This pressure is evidenced by the first movements of pastoral nomads into the most marginal ecozone, Broken Terrain, in the Early Islamic period. The Islamic Periods By medieval times, the pressures of population on the unpre dictable natural resources of this portion of the Sarhad had begun to strain the balance maintained by the inhabitants of the area between scarcity and sufficiency of subsistence requirements. The effects of the decreased carrying capacity of the available resources (water, pas turage, arable land) and the increased population and demand were over grazing and the depletion and exhaustion of the soil. This process would have been self-amplifying as overgrazing meant the survival of less vegetative cover which meant a subtle increase in the overall aridity of the area. It meant more types of vegetation disappeared and more overgrazing occurred. This cyclical process also meant a reduced agricultural yield and a competition between agriculturalists and pas toralists for dwindling resources. A decrease in population followed, and this is evidenced by the widespread abandonment of the qanat irriga tion systems in the lowlands. The whole series of disintegrative proc esses was accelerated by the arrival of the nomadic Baluch from the east in approximately the seventeenth century. The Baluch added a new competitive element for pasture resources. In order to supplement their meager pastoral subsistence, they turned to 287 direct competition with the politically and economically weakened seden tary agricultural communities. In addition, the arrival of a new pas toral nomadic element may have upset the symbiotic balance maintained between the indigenous pastoralists and their agricultural neighbors. Arable land may have been converted to grazing land with the outcome of this competition being that agricultural villages were unable to survive and soon disappeared. The Baluch, a militant and mobile society, became the politically dominant people on the Sarhad Plateau and, with the dis appearance of agricultural villages, soon turned both to seasonal date palm cultivation and to predation upon sedentary communities off the Sarhad. They are known to have ranged as far as Khorassan in northeast Iran raiding villages and caravans. This multi-resource pattern of adaptation to the Sarhad's mar ginal environment continued until the Pahlavi reign in 1926 and the forcible pacification of the Baluch by 1935. The Iranians re-established economic and administrative control over Baluchistan, founded the first market towns, brought in agriculturalists from Kerman and Yazd, and re built the qanat irrigation system. The Baluch, prevented from raiding as a means of supplementing their pastoral products, turned to the sale of labor on a seasonal basis in the new towns and agricultural areas to continue their pastoral nomadism with a new multi-resource base. Conclusion The primary concern here has been the presentation of new data and the examination of ways in which the different types of data have been interrelated. The model constructed for the cultural developments within the Khash survey area is one which has emphasized the interaction between the economic, political, social, technological, and environmental 288 subsystems and then viewing these in a framework of processes which were activated by the changing equilibrium between the pastoral and agricul tural elements of a population which shared scarce and unpredictable natural resources. The cultural processes affected by changes in this equilibrium included cooperation, symbiosis, and competition between the bimodal population. The model, of course, is tentative and will remain so until data from excavations can confirm or repudiate it. Future research on the Sarhad Plateau should be directed toward testing the validity of the ceramic chronology set forth and testing the assumptions made about the seasonal and pastoral nature of the small non-urban sites. Until such tests are made, the proposed model has value as a logical synthesis of data which attempt an explanation of cultural processes in a region about which nothing was previously known. It is hoped that from this founda tion future investigators interested in Iranian Baluchistan and/or the interaction of pastoral nomads and agriculturalists in prehistory will have a basis from which to draw testable hypotheses. APPENDIXES APPENDIX A THE KHASH SPRING SITE The major site of the Khash Survey Area, and the one used as a source of artifact standards against which other sites in the survey area could be compared, was Khash Spring No. 1 at the northern foot of the 2,102-meter high Kuh-i Panj Angosht at a point approximately 8 km west-northwest of the town of Khash. The site extends 267 meters east- west across the slope of the mountain and 486 meters north-south from the rock rubble at the foot of the dolomitic limestone cliff face and the point at which the lower slope levels off to meet the Khash Plain. Above the spring immediately to the south was a disturbed area of disused qanat openings and collapsed qanat trenches. Here an allu vial deposit ranged from one to three meters thick but was being eroded by landslip. Gullies bounded this disturbed area on both the east and west and across both gullies were rock-strewn steeper slopes. The Eastern Slope Khash Spring was briefly visited by the Hume party in 1966 (see page 8) on their search for Paleolithic sites. On this visit, 487 potsherds and 40 stone artifacts were collected. Because Hume had al ready called the site Khash Spring No. 1, I retained this name and his catalogue identification symbol "Kl." During my own field program on 3 May 1975, I revisited the site in order to see if any pastoral no madic campsites could have been located in the vicinity of the spring 290 291 . Khash Spring at the north end of Kuh-i Panj Angosht 292 and to see if any additional artifacts could be found. A few sherds and one microlith were found on the surface of the disturbed area and then, on a cursory examination of the slope to the east across the gully, a thick surface scatter of sherds was discovered. Collection Procedure Because this site was to be employed as a standard for other sites in the unexplored survey area, it was deemed of paramount impor tance to minimize as much as possible an injection of bias in the sam ple. Accordingly, a "total pickup" method was followed in the artifact collection. A total of 27,024 artifacts were collected from the site (22,102 of these from within the grid shown on Map 12) by a crew of four. Collection and mapping required 14 work days, and each square required at least one and a half hours for collection by one person. Average density of the artifacts was 1.8 per square meter. Architectural Remains On the grided surface of the slope at Khash Spring, no less than 21 circles of stone, 18 incomplete outlines of rectangular stone struc tures, and 17 lines of stone are discernible. In addition, there are four distinct stone-bordered terrace lines, one pit, and three stone piles. Most of these structures are located in the uppermost five rows (A through F) of the grid while one of the stone circles in row G is on level ground which is clear of much of the rock rubble and appears to be an artificial terrace lined with stone. Except for this circle and a X During a two-day absence from the site, goats consumed the orange flagging used to designate grid points. Much of the grid had to be reshot with the surveyor's transit, this time with each point marked with a pile of stones. 293 HUffi tmm ma in— inyir - >—I ItBKHiWI C71_sua - KHASH SPRING ""^ rr*"irrrnir nrr-'r"" BW nwir Map 12. Khash Spring J - ".V> J=" k - v .r*.— ^nv«- jJ^fMSft \.~ •*- /.. \ .. N •- / £3 .'.•'• •*«.\k \ T •- z „ „ ,r \ -. \~ •r-1 \ 294 few of the other circular enclosures which are outlined in small stones, the architectural remains at Khash Spring consist of larger stones, often a half meter in maximum dimension. Circles appear to average 5 meters in diameter, although the largest measures 8 meters. Only two complete rectangular structures can be traced, and these are approxi mately 7 meters long by 5 meters wide. At least three structures may have been divided into rooms or may represent adjacent houses. The houses appear to have been constructed of unmortared stone mixed with dried mud, as are the four more recent structures on the site, one of which is pictured in Plate 32. Whether large stones were used for the entire wall as in the photograph, or whether they served only as a foundation for a mud wall, is unknown. After years of erosion of the dried mud by wind and rain, a wall of unmortared stone will collapse, leaving only heaps of stone to mark where a house had been. These heaps may only vaguely resemble their original shape. Plate 33 shows one of the more distinct linear patterns of stones which may have originally been a house foundation. Artifacts The 22,102 artifacts collected from within the grid constitute 81.7% of the entire sample from Khash Spring. Of these, only 2% are lithic, 98% are ceramic. Fully 80% of the artifacts are plain, undeco rated pottery, 11.5% are painted red and buff wares, 4.5% are basket- impressed, and 1.5% are plain and painted gray wares. The heaviest con centration of artifacts occurred in rows E and D, with almost 6,000 arti facts collected from squares numbered 2, 3, and 4 alone. (See indicated area on Table 9.) The breakdown of the grid squares by type of artifact is presented on the following page. 295 TABLE 9 TOTAL ARTIFACTS COLLECTED FROM EACH SQUARE OF GRIDt 6 5 4 3 2 1 0 00 X I Total A 15 98 420 243 259 151 M S 1,186 B 186 118 415 365 570 288 1,942 ^ C 74 185 474 463 / 922N 402 2,520 ^ D 31 544 (883 666 1,397 232 3,753 ^ ^ E 179 263 542 V 893 1,658 508 554 v\ 4,597 F 38 45 451 274 S. 715/ 155 192 1,868 ^ G 27 234 374 392 229 482 177 1,915 N^N H 106 79 296 216 433 151 314 1,595 XV J 64 160 f 64o) 137 89 94 1,184 \\ ^ ^ L \\ 28 125 194 236 134 126 90 933 M ^ v> \^ 10 118 100 84 124 § 436 N 16 65 11 39 18 , 149 X w ^ 1 656 1,566 3,947 3,828 7,198 2,853 1,583 362 90 22,078 tCircled are the heaviest concentrations of artifacts on the site. 296 *Ar. •<&H jjg^s^s- ^^'•*, iy*-.:'•'• v..*&. ':**»-<*; j ;vJlSiiliii* l Plate 32. Mud and stone house at Khash Spring which is falling into ruin. /-' ••**«'>>»/ Plate 33. Square feature in the gridded area at Khash Spring which may be the remains of a structure like that pictured in Plate 32. 297 •SUL^^ i J# &W"W :•'-:-;-. J i^^^^-t^-^m^^f^W »i(n. Plate 34. Stone-outlined circle on a terraced portion of the grid at Khash Spring. 'A+Pu «KE g..-«. 'A*V*} sfe?8RS L ^W». Sate Plate 35. The head of Tudi Gorge with Taftan Volcano in the background. Stream flows on the right. 298 The 408 lithic items include 35 microblades, 71 pieces of ground stone (several of which are large mortars and one of which is a celt), 13 pieces of alabaster from carved vessels, and 3 pieces of steatite. All of the groundstone and steatite at Khash Spring was found within the grid, and most came from the upper portion of the grid (above row F7) where the bulk of the collapsed stone structures were located, indica ting that this portion of the grid may have housed the main residential area. Small finds at the site include four beads, five glass bangle fragments, a perforated shell, and several perforated ceramic discs and flaked and reshaped sherds. The ceramic component is fully described in Chapter VII and con sists of the types listed in Table 10. On the basis of the ceramics and their suggested chronological sequence as set forth in Chapter VIII, it appears that the site of Khash Spring is primarily a late prehistoric one, probably dating from the late fourth millenium and much of the third millennium B.C., which was followed by smaller occupations in later periods, as is evidenced by the small numbers of Partho-Sasanian and Islamic sherds present on the surface. Ceramic connections are seen with Yahya V and IV, Bampur I-IV, Chah Husaini, and Shahr-i Sokhta I and IV; specific parallels between Khash Spring pottery and the ceramic se quences of other sites based on painted design motifs are presented in Chapter VII. Conclusion Khash Spring is a multi-period site which in all probability has been an important focus of human activity on the Sarhad Plateau by vir tue of two main factors: its constant flow of sweet water and its loca tion at the head of the Khash Corridor between two mountains. The 299 TABLE 10 TABULATION OF POTTERY TYPES PRESENT AT KHASH SPRING Type of Pottery Number of Sherds Plain medium and coarse 12,208 Plain fine 6,933 Plain fine compact paste 2,610 Black painted fine 2,187 Basket impressed 1,245 Black painted fine compact paste 856 Black painted medium/coarse 374 Plain gray 216 Painted gray 123 Red painted coarse 110 Red painted fine 75 Glazed 41 Porcelain 28 Incised red 25 Incised buff 24 Polychrome painted 23 Baluch 19 Compact black-centered 12 Stamp impressed 12 Corrugated or ribbed 7 Serpentine ridged 4 Punctated ledge 3 White painted 2 Slash-incised neck 1 300 spring is one of the few sources of dependable water between Sistan and the Bampur Valley and thus could have been an important waystation on the route between the late prehistoric communities in these two regions. The spring could also have served as a watering place for pastoralists moving between the lowland plains and the Taftan uplands, especially in later periods such as the Sasanian and the Early and Late Islamic periods when communication between the Sarhad Plateau and areas to the north and the west were inhabited. In prehistoric times a small settlement may have grown up on the hillside adjacent to the spring area to serve trav elers passing along the Khash Corridor on the north-south route. The hillside would have been preferred as the main habitation area to free the more level area of the spring where silt had accumulated from agri cultural efforts. Here cultivation with the simplest irrigation methods could have been practiced in small terraces, as it is to a limited de gree today. Terraces had also been constructed on a portion of the sloping area as is evidenced so clearly in rows G and H of the grid. In historic times, whether or not a change in climatic condi tions was involved, settlement at the spring—judged on the basis of surface indications—appears to have decreased considerably, perhaps serving merely as a campsite for pastoral nomads or as the location of a small farming homestead. With the growth of limited qanat irrigation on the Sarhad, settlements may have shifted from the base of mountains and alluvial fans to the floor of the plain. (See Chapter IX.) The re mains of qanats visible on the surface of the spring area may have ex tended north down the slope of Parij Angosht to water fields on the plain where the ruins of two small recent villages are present. The age of these qanat works, however, is unknown. APPENDIX B THE SITES Each site found on the Khash Survey was given two designations, one numerical and one a place name. The numerical designations refer to Zone 41, International Spheroid, of the 10,000 meter Universal Trans verse Mercator Grid and have been used to provide a means of locating sites which can easily be related to other areas of Iran. The first two digits in a numerical designation such as 36-1, for example, refer to the southwestern corner of the grid square in which the site is located. The first digit is the vertical; the second, the horizontal. Thus, the number 36 immediately places a site at the eastern foot of the Taftan Massif on U.S. Topographic Command Map Series 1501, Sheet NH 41-13. The number following the hyphen simply describes the place of this site in the sequence of discovery in that particular grid square. In the case of 36-1, the site was the first to be located. The site's place name, on the other hand, is purely descriptive as it refers to the name of the nearest geographical area or feature ac cording to current Baluch usage or to the records of the British Survey of India as shown on the "Vasht" map of the Lambert Conical Orthomorphic projection of India Zone 1 Grid. For instance, in the case of 36-1, the site is called "Sangan" as that is the name both of the valley in which it is found and of the village which it overlooks. Following are very brief descriptions of the major sites, other than Khash Spring No 1, which were found during the survey. They are 301 302 grouped according to site type classification beginning with those which qualify primarily as Special Function Sites. Special Function Sites 35-4 Tudi Locality 3 (Map 13). Above Tudi Gorge, on the edge of the bluff which forms the southern side of the gorge, site 35-4 was lo cated. Approximately two kilometers east of the Mirjaveh road and 37.5 kilometers north of Khash, the site covers about two hectares. At least five or six cairns 1.5 meters square were constructed of flat upended slabs of shale placed in box manner around earth packed with stone. The pottery at the foot of these cairns is undated. 23-1 Rostrom Tower (Plate 24). Rostrom Tower is situated 23 kilometers north of Khash and three kilometers north of Takhte Rostrom, an inselberg formation which rises from the plain south of Kuh-i Taftan. The site covers a half hectare atop a low hill which is noticeable on the flat plain and is marked by a ruined tower or fortress which has an interior diameter of 50 meters with a smaller five-meter stone circle in its center. A few sherds suggest a Partho-Sasanian date. 22-20 Nosratabad. One of the most unusual sites investigated during the survey, Nosratabad consists of a number of stone cairns which are scattered over a rough, rocky terrain of Khash Mountain where the fan is broken by deeply incised wadis. Approximately 150 widely scat tered cairns are found over a distance of one kilometer and are situ ated on gravel tongues of the dissected talus, often atop exposed bed rock. That these cairns appear to be burial mounds was confirmed by the presence of a human parietal bone fragment which was partially exposed on the surface of one cairn. In many cases ceramic vessels were SITE 35-4 oiet 10 gfAtg S />'/'// Snil/HRS Willi p«TRoti.irttS SITES 33 13 TUDI GORGE AND 33-14 I NT T« SeAU ^ ARTirACTS Map 13. Tudi Gorge Map 14. Sites 33-13 and 33-14 304 deliberately placed on tops of mounds; several heavy basal sherds and one almost complete cup (see Plate 1) were found embedded in situ on top of some cairns. Cairns are generally flat-topped and consist of earth covered with rocks and bound by boulders or are box-shaped with flat slabs of slate of shale used as walls. In a few cases, a rectangular cavity was carved out of shale of limestone bedrock and then filled with earth. Average dimensions of the cairns are two and one-half meters north-south by one meter east-west. It can be speculated that the burial cairns date from the Iron Age or the Achaemenian period, perhaps as late as the Parthian. They may be associated with one or more communities of the same period on the valley floor below where irrigation agriculture was possible. Sites with pottery similar to that of site 22-20, however, have not been found elsewhere on the survey, so that one of two possibilities may be valid: (1) the pottery recovered from this site represented special "grave wares" which would not be found in habitation areas, or (2) the settle ments of this period were too small to have accumulated tepes and may be buried under sand and silt in the valley center. 33-10 Shah Nawazi (Plate 30). Eight kilometers north of the village of Vadiabad a series of localities were found with features and artifacts over a distance of one-half kilometer. These are 23.5 kilo meters north-northeast of Khash in an area of low hills. No villages, permanent water sources, or agricultural areas are present anywhere in the region. Features consisted of desert mosques, geometric designs drawn in the gravel, and vague configurations of stone. 40-3 Sitharo Tower (Plate 25). This tower is visible south of the Saravan road atop a hill 29.5 kilometers south of Khash. Four 305 additional towers, smaller and in greater disrepair, were visible on nearby hilltops, as was one ring of one meter high. On hills and crests all around the site were lines of stones of uncertain function. Pottery is of an unknown date, but Sitharo Tower itself appears to be of Baluch construction. 33-6 Masharek Cairns. This prehistoric site is located at the southern end of the small Kuh-i Hara Masharek on the floor of the plain about three kilometers northeast of Kuh-i Dahnag and is dominated by a large terrace bordered with stones. Below the terrace are several stone cairns, some as much as four meters long, others less than two meters long. Permanent and Semi-Permanent Village Sites 21-1 Pamazar (Plate 36). The only mound or small tepe found during the survey, Pamazar is located five kilometers south of Khash on the flat Khash Valley floor (Lowland Plain). The tepe is 10 meters high, 330 meters in circumference, and 110 meters north-south. Pottery is scattered over approximately 60 hectares. Cultivated areas are pres ent within one kilometer southwest and northwest of the site and disused qanats extend in all directions. Adjacent to the tepe on a small rise is a ruined mud brick domed shrine. The tepe itself, according to in formants, is the remnant of a Qajar fortress; the fact that the perime ter of the surface of the mound rises above a sunken interior may be taken as evidence that the site is indeed a fortress. However, nothing exists above ground level to indicate the nature of any structure. De spite its local Qajar reputation, the site appears to date to an earlier period, perhaps beginning as early as Partho-Sasanian times and continu ing through much of the Islamic period. Because of its size, position 306 , .^yJr, i-l Plate 36. Pamazar Tepe with a later Islamic shrine at its south end. 307 on the valley floor, and its association with qanat systems, the site could represent the remains of one or more villages which may have been centered around a small fortress. 43-2 Shagbond (Plate 9). Shagbond is the name given to the site which covers approximately 58 hectares of flat sandy ground between the vilages of Afzalabad on the east and Shagbond on the north. Agriculture is practiced on a limited scale at both villages, which are largely de serted by the Baluch every summer. The site of Shagbond may have existed in the past much as it does today, being an area with a source of de pendable water enough to support both part- or full-time agricultural ists and pastoral nomads. Ceramics suggest a Partho-Sasanian to Early Islamic date. 43-3 Qanat Site (Plate 37). One kilometer south of site 43-2, this site is located just to the north of a track which runs westward from Afzalabad to the west. The location is a flat, narrow valley ori ented east-west between two of the low ridges scattered throughout this area. The site is characterized by an extensive scatter of sherds which may date anywhere from Partho-Sasanian to Early or Medieval Islamic times. 43-12 and 43-13 Ashkan Localities 7 and 8. These two sites were found on the sand-dune covered plain to the west of Kuh-i Ashkan 22 and 23 kilometers east-northeast of Khash. Site 43-13 is located at the south end of Kuh-i Ashkan and is characterized by a wall of boulders and rocks mixed with mud and ranging from 1.3 meters in height to ground level. This wall extends east-west across the plain for over 100 meters to another smaller rocky rise and appears to have served as a gabarband for collecting silt and moisture. Near this structure were found sherds 308 ,^jr%5»* .fs^" «,.•>, Plate 37. Site 43-3 with collapsed mud brick structures and qanats visible. 309 of an unknown date. 22-3 Haidar (Plate 19). At the foot of the east wall of a large shale ridge, Haidar is clustered around several large boulders. The site is one kilometer north of the track to Kamalabad. Features are sug gestive of a pastoralist camp, but the density of the artifact scatter is considerable. There appear to be two components, the primary one Chalcolithic, a secondary one Islamic. 33-1 Durban Chah. Approximately a half-hour's walk north from the Khash-Kamalabad road on the flat sandy plain a half kilometer south of the village of Durban Chah, this site was found near a braided dry stream bed. While the nearest modern agricultural area is one-third kilometer north, there is considerable evidence of past agriculture in the form of square plots bounded with shallow earthwork which are now mostly obscured by sand dunes. A disused qanat line runs just north of these plots. Many disturbed stone-ringed hearths were found south of the qanat in an area of sand dunes. The site appears to be the remains of a Sasanian to Early or Medieval Islamic site where irrigation agri culture was practiced. Features in one portion suggestive of tent en closures may be related to a village site which was not discovered on the survey and which may be buried beneath the sand. 32-2 Dahnag Locality 2. Twelve kilometers east-northeast of Khash, this primarily Chalcolithic site is located on a small talus fan at the foot of the sheer limestone face of Kuh-i Dahnag. The area is on the east side of the mountain near its northern end 183 meters south of the Kamalabad road. Sherd scatters cover approximately one hectare and do not extend beyond the slope of the small fan. 310 43-4 Kamal. Kamal is two kilometers west of Afzalabad in a flat, narrow valley oriented east-west between two of the low ridges scattered throughout this area. The site measures about 20 hectares and is char acterized by an extensive scatter of sherds which may date anywhere from Partho-Sasanian to Early or Medieval Islamic times. 25-1 Shori (Map 11). Shori is located in a shallow, sand-filled wadi or gulley 27 kilometers north of Khash and 60 meters west of the Mirjaveh road just before the road passes over a low rise 7.24 kilome ters south of the village of Kor Koh. Terrain is gently undulating; Kuh-i Taftan is visible to the west. The site is actually located on the sloping sides rather than on the level floor or banks of a dry chan nel which carries seasonal runoff from Taftan. Several different types of stone features were present, including low walls, intersecting lines, and rings. The nature of the site is not easy to determine as the fea tures are difficult to define. No definite pastoral nomadic tent-like outlines are present; and although some features may point to stone foundations of houses, this is by no means certain. The one definite statement that can be made about the site is that the features and the Chalcolithic ceramic and lithic artifacts are found in a firm context of association. 23-2 Rostrom Circle (Figure 25). One kilometer south of site 23-1 on the plain at the southern foot of the Taftan massif, this open site has three large distrubed circles of stone. The only circles of comparable size observed in use today by the Baluch are animal pens, although there is no indication of that use on this earlier site. Neither is there any indication of its use for habitation. The ceramics point to the Partho-Sasanian or Early Islamic period. 311 10-1 Tugar (Map 15 and Figure 25). Tugar is actually located outside the main survey area but was included because of its interme diate position between the Khash Plain and the Jaz Murian Depression and the possibility that it might provide a link between the other sites of this survey and the Chalcolithic sites of the Karvander-Bampur drainage to the south. Tugar is 32.5 kilometers southwest of Khash at the base of a large isolated bedrock outcrop on a relatively flat plain. No source of water is known in the area. To the south is an area of hard- packed clay playa with no vegetation. In front of several cavities or shelters in the outcrop are stone-outlined cleared ledges and hearths. Thirty meters north of the outcrop, where its talus slope approaches the level of the surrounding plain, were collapsed stone foundations of at least four adjoining circular structures in an area nine meters in diam eter. Among and around these features in a radius of 18 meters were found most of the prehistoric artifacts. 22-16 to 22-18 Khash Mountain Localities 2 to 4. Three sites were found along the base of the talus slope on the western side of Khash Mountain where large boulders had fallen to the edge of the talus. Around several of these boulders, stone-outlined semicircles had been built. Two of the sites could date from the Iron Age or Parthian and have large storage jars which suggest a sedentary community. 32-8 Khash Mountain Locality 9. Seven kilometers southeast of Khash, this site is located at the head of the talus fan on the west flank of Khash Mountain; above it is a steep limestone cliff with three small rock shelters. The site covers approximately two hectares on a gravel tongue demarcated by two dry, deep wadis. Access to the site is difficult, only by foot across the deeply dissected gravel apron. The 312 / •I 4 STONE ci WILES •wis. TUGAR SITE 10-1 s 313 density of the prehistoric artifacts here suggests a habitation site, but no architectural features are evident to support such a suggestion. 33-14 Shandala Locality 1 (Map 14). This site, characterized by a heavy concentration of artifacts, is located at the southern base of the same hill which overlooks site 33-13. It is 4.83 kilometers north of the village of Vadiabad. Pottery is scattered 75 meters east-west paralleling the slope of the hill and 45 meters north-south onto the level plain as far as an area of salt crusts. On the lower slopes just above the artifact concentrations was a collection of stones in a 4.5 meter radius and a pile of rocks 1.5 meters in diameter. Somewhat higher on the slope were portions of square stone outlines and disturbed lines of rocks. Near the crest of the hill on an outcrop of black patinated rock was a series of petroglyphs, including an outlined hand, a dog or goat figure, and others more difficult to identify. Ceramics point to a Late Chalcolithic and possibly also an Achaemenian or Parthian occupation. The absence of flaked stone artifacts is unusual for a site of the pre historic period in the Khash Area and remains unexplained. The site appears to have had permanent stone structures on the slope of the hill, as at Khash Spring No. 1, and thus suggests a small sedentary community. Seasonal Campsites 12-1 Panj Angosht. Located 8.2 kilometers west of Khash, this winter campsite at the northern foot of Kuh-i Panj Angosht had been re cently abandoned by a group of Rigi Baluch but appears to have, in addi tion, an earlier Sasanian or Early Islamic component. 04-1 Marshin Camp. Located 26 kilometers north-northwest of Khash in the Pir Sir area near the southwestern foothills of Taftan, 314 this site was on a flat plain near a well. It covers 25 hectares of level ground between two modern Baluch camps. 22-1 Haidar Camp (Plates 14, 15, 16, 18). Six kilometers north east of Khash in a hilly area between the Khash and Dahnag Mountains, this site is on a gravelly area south of a large isolated ridge of hori zontally-banded shale. Ceramics point to an Iron Age or Parthian date, but the campsite features could be later in time. 32-5 Dahnag (Map 10, Plates 13, 21, 38). Dahnag, one of the major sites investigated by the survey crew, is approximately 13 kilome ters east of Khash at the head of a large dry stream channel which issues out of a gap in Kuh-i Dahnag. The campsite is located on the fan out side the mountain gap where the channel immediately widens into a de pressed area which is strewn with many very large boulders for a distance of some 100 meters. Ceramics and small lithic artifacts are abundant. Because of its proximity to seasonal water flow, this campsite has ap parently been used in several different periods, the Chalcolithic, Sasanian, and Early Islamic, and possibly also in the Parthian and the Late Islamic periods. 33-3 Vadiabad Camp (Map 9). Two kilometers downslope from site 32-5 near the base of the Kuh-i Dahnag fan, the site called Vadiabad Camp is one-third kilometer west of the village of Vadiabad. Ceramics point to Partho-Sasanian occupation, but some campsite features date back only a few months. 43-1 Komfelan. A Baluch informant guided us to Komfelan, 38 kilometers east-northeast of Khash on a flat sandy plain near the foot of the vast alluvial fan of the Morpish Range. Evidence of camps ex tends for some distance to the north, east, and south of a small well. 315 J^ M^J&SS&SI. -TLL^ . .» t .... - _ _ Plate 38. A dry stream channel which cuts through the talus fan at site 32-5 (Dahnag). 316 Here the water table is approximately 9 meters below the surface; and Rud-i Gazu, an intermittent stream, is less than one kilometer east. 24-1 and 24-2 Taftan Localities 1 and 2 (Plates 12, 17). One kilometer south of site 25-1 and over one-half kilometer west of the Mirjaveh road, sites 24-1 and 24-2 are situated on level ground on the banks of a wadi which carries seasonal runoff from Taftan. This channel cuts through a region of undulating foothills, and the sites may actually be on a small terrace of the channel. Artifacts suggest a Sasanian or Early Islamic date. Rectangular tent outlines are abundant. 25-4 Earthwork Camp (Map 8, Plate 10). A half kilometer north of site 25-1, this site is in a narrow, shallow channel cut by seasonal drainage from Kuh-i Taftan. The channel is 30 meters wide north-south, and the site extends for 90 meters east-west. 33-7 Masharek. Masharek is located two-thirds kilometer west of the village of Vadiabad in a level sandy area sheltered by Kuh-i Hara Masharek on the west. It is a multi-component site including recent and older Baluch pastoral nomadic campsites and a sheltered Chalcolithic oc cupation without features. 33-9 Shandala Camp. In the northern portion of the Khash Plain 18.25 kilometers northeast of Khash and 3.21 kilometers north of Vadiabad, a campsite was found on the plain some two kilometers east of Kuh-i Shandala. This is a pastoral nomadic campsite which ranges from the Late Islamic to 1975, when eight families, according to an infor mant, left here in the spring to go to the Mashkel Basin to harvest dates. 33-12 Shandala Locality 4 (Map 12, Figure 24, Plate 29). This site is one-fourth kilometer north of site 33-10. The surrounding low 317 eroded hills are the lowest reaches of the Taftan foothills; the site is located in a level hollow of these hills. A dry wadi, wide and shallow, forms the eastern border of the site and a bare rocky ridge the southern border. The site has at least three components. The eastern portion represents a recent pastoral nomadic campsite; the western portion, cen tered around a small knoll, has artifacts dating from the Chalcolithic and the Partho-Sasanian. 33-13 Shandala Locality 5 (Map 14). West of the track 1.7 kilo meters north of site 33-9 and 4.83 kilometers north of Vadiabad is a large hill of metamorphic bedrock which rises from a flat, open plain. Northwest of this hill is a campsite area 135 meters east-west by 90 meters north-south. Sherds were found some distance from the features and appear to be unassociated, indicating an earlier occupation of the site. Alternatively, they could be intrusive from nearby 33-14. The campsite is recent Baluch. Temporary Campsites and Transient Stations 04-2 Marshin. Some 26.2 kilometers northwest of Khash, this site with two stone circles and Partho-Sasanian ceramics was found in the low rolling hills at the northern foot of the shale ridge overlooking site 04-1 and unevenly covers approximately ten hectares of hollows and small rises. 33-2 Durban Chah Campsite. One-half kilometer southeast of site 33-1, this site is located on the bank of a large (15 meters wide) dry stream bed. One rectangular stone enclosure with a hearth and one oval lined with earthen embankments were associated with Islamic pottery. 35-1 Kor Koh (Plates 8, 11, 23). On the road to Mirjaveh at a point 32 kilometers north of Khash is the village of Kor Koh, which is 318 located on the lower eastern slope of Taftan and is bounded on the east by a deep (6.5 meters deep by 13 meters wide), dry ravine, crossed and paralleled in places by stone walls. Site 35-1, with remains of two tent enclosures, an animal pen, and Baluch pottery, was found across this ra vine in a hollow in an area of small hills one-third kilometer south of the village. 35-2 to 35-3, 35-5 to 35-9 Tudi Localities 1, 2, and 4 to 8 (Map 13, Plates 20, 26, 35). Three kilometers north of Kor Koh and approximately 250 meters east of the track to Mirjaveh is the head of a deep, narrow valley or gorge which the Baluch call Tudi. The survey crew followed this gorge for more than three kilometers and located seven sites on its floor and sides. At the bottom of the gorge there is run ning water which disappears under the alluvium for short stretches only to reappear farther downstream. The banks of Tudi gorge are steep and rocky, with several small caves and rockshelters. These all had very thin deposits, and some of them housed zebu cattle. Most of the sites are suggestive of semi-sedentary peoples who mixed pastoralism with part-time agriculture, while some appear to be transient stations. Some of the sites have Partho-Sasanian ceramics, but most are of indeterminate date. 25-3 Shori Locality 3 (Plate 27). This site was found on the south bank of the wadi in which 25-1 is located. The area of a prehis toric artifact scatter and at least ten hearths extends south 150 meters to another small wadi. 22-8, 22-10 to 22-13, and 21-3 Dagulan Localities 1, 2, 4 to 7. These six sites are locations of Paleolithic finds on the eastern side of Kuh-i-Panj Angosht. 319 31-2 to 31-8 Paniki Localities 1 to 7 (Map 16, Plate 28). These six sites are found at the southern end of Khash Mountain. One site with three distinct desert mosques was found in a depression between crests of angular limestone in the mountain gap which serves today as a pass negotiable only by foot from the Khash Valley to the Paniki Plain— a vast extent of salt crusts and sand flats—below to the east. At least one of the sites exhibited Partho-Sasanian pottery. 40-1 and 40-3 Sitharo Spring Localities 1 and 2 (Figure 21). These sites were found 31 kilometers southeast of Khash just north of the Saravan road in an area of broken terrain where water comes to the surface and flows sluggishly for about 30 meters in a dip between low hills and rises of angular bedrock. Here an area of 16.5 meters north- south by 27 meters east-west is enclosed in mud walls. Pottery and large stone features may be Late Islamic. 50-1 Bozan. Bozan in 6.44 kilometers northeast of the Sitharo sites at the northwest end of a ridge of bare bedrock which rises from the flat, sandy plain of the southern Khash-Shah Nawazi Valley. 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