antiquity 2017 Ltd, Publications Antiquity © ni bu w eae g,teNoihco ot-atIa a nw nyfo few (Stronach a Tappeh from Yarim only known of was sites Iran (Deshayes the north-east of reports: Neolithic excavation the brief ago, decades two about Until Sea Roustaei Kourosh Caspian the of south-east Plain, Gorgan the in developments Neolithic ∗ 2 1 h lozMutisrsetvl.A euto xaain ttrestsi particular— in sites of three north at and excavations south of the result to a Plains, DehKheir(Rezvani&Roustaei As Gorgan respectively. Mountains and Shahroud Alborz the the on mainly region, north-east to relate to ( considered Turkmenistan were southern and of BC, Culture’ millennium ‘Jeitun sixth so-called the the to assemblages ceramic by dated tteti on fSn- hkmqi h otenfohlso h atr Alborz eastern the of foothills southern the in Chakhmaq Masuda Sang-e (e.g. of Mountains mound twin the at hkmq(Roustaei Chakhmaq odaon fpeiiain( precipitation of this amount of good Neolithic the of characterisation the on Plain Gorgan region. the from that than influence edtdt h elti ntebsso eaiscmaal ihtoefo qTappeh Aq from those can with sites comparable these ceramics of of basis 57 a the that on previous 2009 (Abbasi indicated Neolithic through the In results identified to the periods Plain. dated Surprisingly, various on be visits. Gorgan of (J.N.) occasional sites authors the current and 850 the around surveys on of of one sites collections by ceramic directed other the and launched from was material programme reappraisal Neolithic the & site Shahmirzadi identifying the (Malek at Kavous Gonbad-e Shahmirzadi of Malek town S. the of by east Nokandeh conducted 15km about was Tappeh, Revolution Aq Iranian of Plain Gorgan 1979 Rekavandi the the Omrani on & since occupation (Nokandeh 1998 Neolithic in of survey evidence 1998 archaeological first an during the discovered 1970s, investigations was unproductive and the 1960s After the highlands. eastern in and southern the from originating ic h 90,a nraignme fNoihcstshv enietfidi the in identified been have sites Neolithic of number increasing an 1990s, the Since h ognPanle otesuhes fteCsinSa hsfriepanejy a enjoys plain fertile This Sea. Caspian the of south-east the to lies Plain Gorgan The h eai sebaefo qTpe rvddfrtefis ieabssfor basis a time first the for provided Tappeh Aq from assemblage ceramic The ainlMsu fIa,SyeTrSre,Ia hmiiAeu,13971 ern rn(Email: Iran Tehran, 1136917111 Avenue, Khomeini Imam Street, Tir Siy-e Iran Tehran, Iran, 1136917111 [email protected] Avenue, of Khomeini Imam Museum Street, Tir National Siy-e Research, Archaeological for Center Iranian uhrfrcrepnec (Email: correspondence for Author .Toyasltr h rtecvto faNoihcst ntenrhes region north-east the in site Neolithic a of excavation first the later, years Two ). 2011 138 3(07:16doi: 1–6 (2017): e3 358, 91 1967 2000 a 5). map : nteGra li,adpeiiayrprso ag-cl excavations large-scale of reports preliminary and Plain, Gorgan the on ) ). ) tal et 1, ∗ 1984 . ere Nokandeh Jebrael & 2015 [email protected]) .I h bec faslt hooois hs ie were sites these chronologies, absolute of absence the In ). > —h vdnefo h hhodPanhshdgreater had has Plain Shahroud the from evidence )—the 600mm 2016 ,KlthKa (Roustaei Khan Kalateh ), e annum per 1 n swtrdb ueosstreams numerous by watered is and ) 2 iue1 Figure 1972 Roustaei ; n uagTappeh Turang and ) 2016 10.15184/aqy.2017.124 )adSang-e and b) 2016a ).

Project Gallery Kourosh Roustaei & Jebrael Nokandeh

Figure 1. Map of the north-east region of the Iranian Plateau showing the location of three Neolithic sites excavated before 1979 (map generated by M.R. Rokni).

A second development in the study of the Neolithic of the north-east region was a series of excavations on the Shahroud Plain, opposite the Gorgan Plain to the south of the Alborz Mountains (Roustaei 2016a). Excavations at three Neolithic sites (Deh Kheir, Kalateh Khan and Sang-e Chakhmaq) between 2005 and 2009 have provided a wealth of information by which various aspects of the Neolithic culture of the wider region can be defined (Roustaei 2014). The challenges of integrating two sets of evidence—from the Gorgan Plain, based primarily on the collections from archaeological surveys, and the Shahroud Plain, obtained through stratigraphic excavations enhanced with interdisciplinary and laboratory analyses— in order to achieve a more detailed understanding of the Neolithic period of the north-east region has prompted the current authors to launch a new project. This aims to verify the attribution of the newly identified Neolithic sites of the Gorgan Plain on the basis of the absolutely dated ceramic assemblages from the sites of the Shahroud Plain. The first step of the Gorgan Neolithic Project has involved visiting the sites with suggested Neolithic activity. During two short seasons in March 2015 and March 2016 (each of two weeks), we visited all of the sites that had been previously identified as Neolithic by our colleagues. In the course of these visits, additional information was recorded, including accurate geographic coordinates, the nature and extent of the sites, surface collection and preliminary environmental observations. After visiting the sites and examining the newly collected surface ceramics, 45 sites proved to be Neolithic, while 12 others produced no certain Neolithic ceramic evidence (Figure 2). Instead, we were able © Antiquity Publications Ltd, 2017

2 oabte nesadn fteepnino elti aso iefo h oeaesin areas core the from life of ways Zeder Neolithic (cf. of Crescent expansion Fertile the the of understanding better a to ( extent in 2ha than the less to however, valleys are, the sites in some are there but ( itself, ( plain east local the and the on located south in are colleagues these of our majority by The reported not but visited were that offices. Heritage sites Cultural new 10 identify to Plain. Gorgan the of sites various from ceramics Neolithic typical of selection A 2. Figure hnw oeta h aletkonstlmn fteNoihci h ot-atregion, (Roustaei north-east BC) millennium the seventh in early Neolithic al to the et eighth (late of Mound Plain settlement West known Chakhmaq Gorgan important Sang-e earliest the more the the even of that becomes sites note This the Neolithic we information. of of when identified parts source newly significant inner potentially the the a east, Mountains—into provide Zagros farther the and is, Plateau Crescent—that Iranian Fertile the of wing (Roustaei ntevs rna eta lta ewe h arsMutisadtenorth-east the and Mountains Zagros the between Plateau Central Iranian region. vast the on iue4 Figure nawdrcnet h el eonsdNoihcstso h ognPancontribute Plain Gorgan the of sites Neolithic recognised newly the context, wider a In 55. to rises therefore Plain Gorgan the on sites Neolithic confirmed of number total The . 2015 ,cmlctn seseto hi iedrn h elti.Tefwsingle-period few The Neolithic. the during size their of assessment complicating ), 2014 ,i lot70mfo h etcneprnosst nteZgo Mountains Zagros the in site contemporaneous next the from 700km almost is ), elti eeomnsi h ognPan ot-ato h apa Sea Caspian the of south-east Plain, Gorgan the in developments Neolithic .Ti ugssta ale u sytudsoee ie ih eexpected be might sites undiscovered yet as but earlier that suggests This ). iue3 Figure .Ams l ftestsaemuddadms r multi-period are most and mounded are sites the of all Almost ). 2011 .Asmn neswr xaso rmteeastern the from expansion eastward an Assuming ). iue5 Figure 3 ). niut ulctosLd 2017 Ltd, Publications Antiquity ©

Project Gallery Kourosh Roustaei & Jebrael Nokandeh

Figure 3. Map of the Gorgan Plain showing the location and distribution of the newly recognised Neolithic sites (by permission of Google Earth).

Figure 4. A typical, multi-period mounded site, partly washed away by the Sarisou River.

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4 Nokandeh Masuda Abbasi ae Shahmirzadi Malek Deshayes ovrosprso h rjc,epcal .Orn eaad,E aai .Atgi .Agai M. Asghari, Z. Arteghi, B. Safari, E. Rekavandi, References Omrani H. Amirinezhad. A. especially and Rezaei contributed project, who H. Gonbad Mousavi, the and M. Gorgan Rahmani, of of M. Office Mahmoudi, Heritage parts Cultural the various in colleagues to our thank to like would We site. mounded single-period a of example An 5. Figure Acknowledgements of reconstruction Iran. our of of of societies east aspects Neolithic the social the to and demographic plain subsistence, small environmental, Sumner comparatively varied concentration see a unparalleled (although on almost Mountains sites better this Zagros BC north, a the sixth-millennium and to to west seventh- the contribute as Finally, to late also Culture’. regions of ‘Jeitun the can with the Iran Turkmenistan: links southern as north-east well of of Neolithic Neolithic the the of understanding of picture emerging the sdsusdi ealeswee(..Roustaei (e.g. elsewhere detail in discussed As eerh ern(nPersian). (in Archaeological Tehran for Research, Center Iranian the for Report prepared Golestan. Jangal-e of survey Archaeological 209–12. Chaxmaq. raiain(nPersian). (in Organization Tappeh Tépé. Persian). (in Jahan Naghsh-e Plain Gorgan Tappeh, Narges , G.A. , S. , Iran ern rna utrlHeritage Cultural Iranian Tehran: . J. , 94 xaaina aphSang-e Tappeh at Excavation 1984. J. 97 éaiuspitsd Tureng de peintes Céramiques 1967. 2011. rhv ü Orientfurschung für Archive & :123–31. 5: elti eeomnsi h ognPan ot-ato h apa Sea Caspian the of south-east Plain, Gorgan the in developments Neolithic .Orn Rekavandi Omrani H. h nlrpr fecvtosat excavations of report final The , S. & .Nokandeh J. ern Ganjineh Tehran: . 1998. . 2000. . 31: Aq 5 1990 06.Kal 2016b. – Roustaei Roustaei Rezvani lta:rcn research recent Plateau: (ed.) Mashkour M. & Sh the 21–55. Iran. northeast of Neolithic Persian). (in University Modares Tarbiat dissertation, PhD Unpublished Plateau. Iranian northeastern research recent Plateau: & (ed.) Roustaei Mashkour K. M. in Iran, Kheir, Deh north-east Tappeh Plain, at Bastam excavations of seasons two on a.2 a motn mlctosfor implications important has 2) tab. : 2014 , , , H. hodPan ot-atIa,i .Roustaei K. in Iran, north-east Plain, ahroud ¯ K. K. thKh ateh ¯ & , 06.A mrigpcueo the of picture emerging An 2016a. the of neolithisation The 2014. 2016 .Roustaei K. niut ulctosLd 2017 Ltd, Publications Antiquity © n it-ilnimB iein site BC sixth-millennium a an: ¯ ;Roustaei a; h elti fteIranian the of Neolithic The 38.Bri:e oriente. ex Berlin: 53–84. : oriente. ex Berlin: 15–52. : h elti fteIranian the of Neolithic The 06 rlmnr report Preliminary 2016. . rnc Antiqua Iranica tal et . 2015 51: ),

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Roustaei, K., M. Mashkour & M. Tengberg. 2015. Sumner, W.M. 1990. Full-coverage regional Tappeh Sang-e Chakhmaq and the beginning of the archaeological survey in the Near East: an example Neolithic in north-east Iran. Antiquity 89: 573–95. from Iran, in S.K. Fish & S.A. Kowalewski (ed.) https://doi.org/10.15184/aqy.2015.26 The archaeology of regions: a case for full-coverage Stronach, D. 1972. Yarim Tappeh, in P.R.S. Moorey survey: 87–115. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian (ed.) Excavations in Iran: the British contributions: Institution. 21–23. Oxford: Organizing Committee of the Zeder, M.A. 2011. The origins of agriculture in the Sixth International Congress of Iranian Art and Near East. Current Anthropology 52(S4): S221–35. Archaeology. https://doi.org/10.1086/659307

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