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Sasanian Walls, Hinterland Fortresses And Edinburgh Research Explorer Sasanian walls, hinterland fortresses and abandoned ancient irrigated landscapes Citation for published version: Sauer, E, Usher-Wilson, LS, Ratcliffe, J, Shabani, B, Omrani Rekavadi, H, Wilkinson, T, Abbasi, GA, S, P, Safari Tamak, E, Ainslie, R, Mahmoudi, M, Galiatsatos, N, Roustai, K, Jansen Van Rensburg, J, Ershadi, M, MacDonald, E, Fattahi, M, Oatley, C & Shabani, B 2008, 'Sasanian walls, hinterland fortresses and abandoned ancient irrigated landscapes: the 2007 season on the Great Wall of Gorgan and the Wall of Tammishe', Journal of the British Institute of Persian Studies, vol. 46, pp. 151-178. <http://www.jstor.org/stable/25651440> Link: Link to publication record in Edinburgh Research Explorer Document Version: Publisher's PDF, also known as Version of record Published In: Journal of the British Institute of Persian Studies Publisher Rights Statement: © Sauer, E., Usher-Wilson, L. S., Ratcliffe, J., Shabani, B., Omrani Rekavadi, H., Wilkinson, T., Abbasi, G. A., S, P., Safari Tamak, E., Ainslie, R., Mahmoudi, M., Galiatsatos, N., Roustai, K., Jansen Van Rensburg, J., Ershadi, M., MacDonald, E., Fattahi, M., Oatley, C., & Shabani, B. (2008). Sasanian walls, hinterland fortresses and abandoned ancient irrigated landscapes: the 2007 season on the Great Wall of Gorgan and the Wall of Tammishe. Iran : Journal of the British Institute of Persian Studies., 46, 151-178 General rights Copyright for the publications made accessible via the Edinburgh Research Explorer is retained by the author(s) and / or other copyright owners and it is a condition of accessing these publications that users recognise and abide by the legal requirements associated with these rights. Take down policy The University of Edinburgh has made every reasonable effort to ensure that Edinburgh Research Explorer content complies with UK legislation. If you believe that the public display of this file breaches copyright please contact [email protected] providing details, and we will remove access to the work immediately and investigate your claim. Download date: 04. Oct. 2021 British Institute of Persian Studies SASANIAN WALLS, HINTERLAND FORTRESSES AND ABANDONED ANCIENT IRRIGATED LANDSCAPES: THE 2007 SEASON ON THE GREAT WALL OF GORGAN AND THE WALL OF TAMMISHE Author(s): Hamid Omrani Rekavandi, Eberhard W. Sauer, Tony Wilkinson, Ghorban Ali Abbasi, Seth Priestman, Esmail Safari Tamak, Roger Ainslie, Majid Mahmoudi, Nikolaos Galiatsatos, Kourosh Roustai, Julian Jansen Van Rensburg, Mohammad Ershadi, Eve MacDonald, Morteza Fattahi, Chris Oatley, Bardia Shabani, James Ratcliffe and Lucian Steven Usher-Wilson Source: Iran, Vol. 46 (2008), pp. 151-178 Published by: British Institute of Persian Studies Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/25651440 . Accessed: 16/12/2013 07:24 Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at . http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp . JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected]. British Institute of Persian Studies is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to Iran. http://www.jstor.org This content downloaded from 129.215.19.197 on Mon, 16 Dec 2013 07:24:24 AM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions SASANIANWALLS, HINTERLAND FORTRESSES AND ABANDONED ANCIENT IRRIGATED LANDSCAPES: THE 2007 SEASON ON THE GREATWALL OF GORGAN AND THE WALL OF TAMMISHE By Hamid Omrani Rekavandi (HO), EberhardW. Sauer (EWS), TonyWilkinson (TW), GhorbanAli Abbasi (GA), Seth Priestman (SP), Esmail SafariTamak (EST), Roger Ainslie (RA),Majid Mahmoudi (MM), Nikolaos Galiatsatos (NG), Kourosh Roustai (KR), JulianJansen Van Rensburg (JJ),Mohammad Ershadi (ME), Eve MacDonald (EM), Morteza Fattahi (MF), Chris Oatley (CO), Bardia Shabani (BS), JamesRatcliffe (JR) and Lucian StevenUsher-Wilson (SU) Iranian Cultural Heritage and Tourism Organisation (HO, GA, EST, MM, KR, ME and BS), University ofEdinburgh (EWS and EM), University ofDurham (TW and NG), BritishMuseum (SP), Abingdon Archaeological Geophysics (RA and CO), Cambridge Archaeological Unit (JJ),Universities ofOxford and Tehran (MF) et al Abstract The 2007 season yielded significantnew insights into settlementexpansion into the land north of the line of theGorgan Wall and the laterabandonment of these sites in the steppe, prior to the constructionof theWall. It also provided us with a betterunderstanding of Sasanian hydraulic engineering and the date and strategic role of large square fortificationssouth of this linearbarrier. Via underwater archaeology,we explored instal lations associated with theTammishe Wall and now submerged in theCaspian Sea. A detailed study of the pottery from a variety of sites associated with theWalls, as well as of settlements in the hinterland, is beginning to provide us with a clearer picture of pottery typology and the sequence of building projects and settlementpatterns in theGorgan Plain. Keywords Forts; landscape archaeology; linearbarriers; pottery; Sasanians; underwater archaeology; water supply. I. INTRODUCTION theWall aimed at shedding new light on their relative chronology. It was also with the question of dating in This results of on paper analyses ongoing research the mind thatwe explored a large three-aisled hall in a fort linear barriers of northern Iran.While our great previous near the Tammishe Wall. Diving expeditions in the fieldwork in 20051 and 20062 focused on the date of con Caspian Sea promised to provide furtherinsights into the structionof the linear barriers and the interioroccupation submerged remains of installations associated with this of the associated in 2007 the focus of our activities forts, shorterWall, its extent and sea-level changes in antiquity. shifted to exploring the relationship between thesewalls and sites in the hinterland and to the north of theGorgan Wall. We examined the extent, economic significance II. SASANIANAND EARLIER LANDSCAPES IN and chronology of settlements and other landscape THE HINTERLAND OF THE GORGANWALL features north of theGorgan Wall, as well as the date and (TW,HO, SP,NG AND KR) possible strategic role of one of the hinterland fortresses south of it.A comparative study of the pottery from one of theWall forts and the hinterland sites on either side of ILL Introduction 1 Nokandeh etal 2006. season The 2007 field of the Gorgan Wall landscape 2 Omrani^al 2007. survey benefited from the availability of a wide range of This content downloaded from 129.215.19.197 on Mon, 16 Dec 2013 07:24:24 AM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions 152 HAMID OMRANI REKAVAND ET AL 1 18 17 15 Fig-2 70 1Q 14^3J11 Gunbad 21_a~\ 16^X_y\^ i-Qabus \ *2/^7??^>^^^ 26 \ Qaleh" ?J -\ GorganWall ] VGumishan Kharabeh A7 _^ _ . kl \ j__ |_ CASPIAN\ ~y/_I ^* j _ D l^^s v^-^^-^ -\ Gumishan N _/ Area of underwater / in2007 __yy\ /Survey / ^-^ / G?rgan 0 20km ' ^ --^^ ^^^^^^^^^^ F/g. 7.Map of Gorgan Wall showing the location of the2007 investigations. remote sensing data, the most useful being the CORONA and GAMBIT3 and orthorectifiedLandsat 74 CORONA images taken in 1968 and 1969. These from theGlobal Land Cover Facility (GLCF) of the we images provide photographs of the earth's surface at a University of Maryland. Furthermore, downloaded resolution which is almost as good as air photographs, elevation data from the Shuttle Radar Topography and importantlyprovide a view of the landscape before Mission (SRTM) version 2.5 much of ithad been destroyed or disturbed by modern The SRTM 3-arcsec Digital Elevation Model (DEM) a source agriculture, urbanisation and industrialisation. is particularly valuable of height data for parts are The availability of satellite imagery and the incorpo of the world where topographic maps not readily ration of ceramic collection strategies into the survey available. The most up-to-date information suggests that on increased the data sources significantly so that it is now itsvertical accuracy is approximately 5m., depending possible to sketch trends of settlement associated with the relief of the ground.6 However, various applications theWall as well as in the dry steppe to the north. In from Hungary,7 Portugal8 and Turkey9 have all demon m. a addition, satellite images have made it possible to strated an accuracy of less than 5 in variety of unravel phases of development of theWall, as well as the terrain.The SRTM 1-arcsec is not yet available outside layout of the water distribution systems that were associated with it (Fig. 1). 3 Galiatsatos 2004. 4 Tuckers al 2004. 5 ftp://e0srp01u.ecs.nasa.gov/ II. 2. The use of satellite imagery 6 Farr 2004. 7 Kay et al 2005. 8 The satellite imagery used for this project included the Gon^alves and Fernandes 2005. 9 declassified imagery from the reconnaissance programs Jacobsen2005. This content downloaded from 129.215.19.197 on Mon, 16 Dec 2013 07:24:24 AM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions THE GREAT WALL OF GORGAN AND THE WALL OF TAMMISHE 153 ^ O GWS4 ^==^^^^^^^^^^ NorthCanalJ*f " ? ^_^?*-? <9GWS16 C ??T^^-^^^^^^v ^/^^^ River 0 Re.ictGorgan J -^^^^ SouthCanal Qaleh Kharabeh ? A O o ^ Q a J\ ^^^^C; Legend VQ ^ ^ ? -Modern_river QJ*^Palaeoriver selection = >-* Canal indeterminate 55=5 o Modern Gorgan River n SouthCanal ^s^mf/^r^ \ S^^lfy^^ \ J\ |Sites ofinterest \ r'-0 1.252.5 5 7.5 10 r?n Wv -- ^y^--^ =^^ ^^ Kilometers I -IForts F/g. 2. 77zewestern part of theGorgan Wall in relation to the north and south canals. theUnited States. A detailed description of the SRTM as former channels as broken lines. In addition to a minor well as an evaluation of theDEM product quality can be channel shiftnear Fort 23, therewas a major movement found inRabus et al.10 that resulted in the abandonment of a branch of the Unlike the 2005 and 2006 field seasons, the 2007 Gorgan River between Burak Tepe (GWS-2), Altin Tepe season benefited from the use of CORONA satellite (GWS-28) and Gumishan to a more southern course.
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