DOCSLIB.ORG

Insights Into a Late Sixth Millennium BCE Sherd Scatter Site in the Shahroud Plain, Northeast Iran Kourosh ROUSTAEI

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Insights Into a Late Sixth Millennium BCE Sherd Scatter Site in the Shahroud Plain, Northeast Iran Kourosh ROUSTAEI doi: 10.2143/ANES.55.0.3284689 ANES 55 (2018) 143-182 Beyond the Mounds: Insights into a Late Sixth Millennium BCE Sherd Scatter Site in the Shahroud Plain, Northeast Iran Kourosh ROUSTAEI Abstract This article deals with the results of an excavation at a sherd scatter site of the Cheshmeh Ali culture, Ghaf Khāneh, in the Shahroud Plain, northeast Iran. The site was sounded in five trenches in 2006 and yielded a rather large collection of stratified ceramics. Two 14C dates suggest that the site was occupied in the late sixth millennium BCE. Based on the thin archaeological deposits and almost identical time range of the two absolute dates, it is proposed that the site was in use for a short period of time. Furthermore, the evidence suggests that Ghaf Khāneh cannot be considered an ordinary village site, but instead was a site with a specific function, such as a ceramic manufacturing workshop. The site also provides evidence of an unprecedented early occurrence of the Grey Ware which was destined to be the hallmark of the Bronze Age cultures of the region in the fourth to second millennia BCE.* Introduction The last centuries of the sixth millennium BCE witnessed a turning point in the archaeological record of the Central Plateau and the northeastern region of Iran.1 The appearance of a distinct black-on-red painted ceramic assemblage has been considered the hallmark of this cultural change. The new culture, known as Cheshmeh Ali,2 completely replaced the earlier, local Neo- lithic cultures of the region. Although our current knowledge about the social and political * I would like to thank the Ghaf Khāneh excavation team members who participated in various stages of the field- work: Majid Kouhi Gilavan, Ali Sharifi and Keivan Amiri. I would also like to express my gratitude to two anonymous reviewers for their useful comments. The project was funded by Iranian Center for Archaeological Research. 1 By the term ‘Central Plateau’ we refer to a region south of the Alborz and east of the Zagros Mountains, encom- passing a roughly triangular piece of terrain, with Qazvin Plain on the west, Semnan Plain on the east and the Kashan/ Natanz Plains to the south (for a detailed discussion of the name and extent of the Central Plateau, see Roustaei 2011–2012). Our delimitation of the region closely follows that proposed by Y. Majidzadeh (1976), who defined and characterised the region for the first time. In some literature, the region is called ‘Central Northern Iran’ (for example, Voigt and Dyson 1992, p. 164). 2 The period under consideration in this paper was first identified and briefly characterised during Erich Schmidt’s excavations at Tappeh Cheshmeh Ali in Ray, a major suburb in the south of Tehran (Schmidt 1935, 1936). The same materials were uncovered by R. Ghirshman at the north mound of Tappeh Sialk in Kashan Plain in the 1930s (Ghirshman 1938), where he dubbed it the “Sialk II” period, underlying the earlier Sialk I deposits. Later, in the 1970s, Y. Majidzadeh, a prominent Iranian archaeologist working on the prehistory of the Central Plateau, proposed “Early Plateau B” for this 144 K. ROUSTAEI Figure 1. Approximate extent of the Central Plateau and northeastern regions in Iran. 1. Zagheh; 2. Jeyran Tappeh; 3. Moushelan Tappeh; 4. Tappeh Cheshmeh Ali; 5. Qomroud; 6. Sialk; 7. Huto and Kamarband caves; 8. Shir Ashian; 9. Ghaf Khāneh; 10. Siah Tappeh; 11. Aq Tappeh; 12. Anau North (Map adapted from commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Iran_relief_location_light_map.jpg). infrastructures of the Cheshmeh Ali culture — that is, its impetus for expansion — is meagre, it spread across a vast terrain, from the Central Plateau to the northeastern region. In its final stages, Cheshmeh Ali culture reached as far as the northern piedmont of Kopet Dagh as the earliest material from Anau suggests.3 Such cultural uniformity did not exist during the earlier Neolithic or later Bronze Age of the region. Yet the crucial question of Cheshmeh Ali culture’s origins remains open. The striking uniformity apparent in its ceramic assemblages and the vast extent of its terrain was not seen again in the cultural development of prehistoric northern Iran. It encompassed great tracts of land, both south and north of the Alborz Mountains. In terms of proposed prehistoric cultural regions of Iran,4 Cheshmeh Ali culture occupied the whole of period (Majidzadeh 1981). In the last two decades another term, with no elaboration on its raison d’être, has been coined for the period, ‘Transitional Chalcolithic’ (Fazeli Nashli 2001, pp. 39–43). 3 See Dyson and Thornton 2009, pp. 19–20. 4 Voigt and Dyson 1992. BEYOND THE MOUNDS 145 the Central Plateau and the western portion of the northeastern region, including the Gorgan Plain, southeast of the Caspian Sea (Fig. 1). Its extent measured some 700 × 400 km. Temporally, Cheshmeh Ali culture emerged in the last centuries of the sixth millennium BCE (c. 5300/5200 BCE) and faded out around 4400/4300 BCE.5 This time range is proposed almost solely on the basis of absolute dates available from several sites that were excavated in the Central Plateau during the past two decades.6 Cheshmeh Ali culture was preceded by the Sialk I culture in the Central Plateau and the Chakhmaq culture in the northeastern region.7 These two cultures, essentially spanning the sixth millennium BCE, differed substantially in almost every aspect. Large excavations at several mounded sites of this period on the Central Plateau (Fig. 1), such as Cheshmeh Ali, Sialk, Jeyran Tappeh, Moushelan Tappeh (Esmaeil Abad), Pardis and Qareh Tappeh Qomroud,8 revealed a huge corpus of cultural material, mainly ceramics, allowing researchers to partially characterise the physical manifestation of this extensive prehistoric culture. Information obtained for the northeastern region, however, has been minimal, with data obtained only from soundings at a few sites.9 This article is intended to address this gap in the record by interpreting the results of an excavation at a sherd scatter site, Ghaf Khāneh, in the Shahroud Plain, northeast Iran. The northeastern region and Cheshmeh Ali culture The northeastern region of the Iranian Plateau stretches from Damghan Plain in the west to the Iran-Afghanistan border in the east, and from the northern edge of Dasht-e Kavir in the south to the Iran-Turkmenistan border in the north (Fig. 1).10 Juxtaposition of some major geographical features, like the Alborz and Kopet Dagh mountain ranges and the Great Dasht-e Kavir and Karakum deserts, means that the region incorporates various landscapes, with striking environmental differences. These landscapes fall into three major categories: foothill plains; mountains and intermontane plains; and alluvial plains.11 Mountains and intermontane plains comprise major parts of the region, the Gorgan Plain, southeast of the Caspian Sea, is its major alluvial plain, while almost the whole southern extent of the region is occupied by semi-arid foothill plains, facing the desert landscape to the south. General aspects of the prehistoric sequence of northeastern Iran were first established through E. Schmidt’s large-scale excavations at Tappeh Hesar, a major Bronze Age settlement near Damghan, in the 1930s.12 Using a ceramic typology based on vessels recovered from hundreds of graves, Schmidt divided the excavated sequence into three main periods: I, II and III bottom-to-top. 5 See Dyson and Thornton 2009, p. 19. 6 For example, Fazeli et al. 2004, pp. 18–20; Fazeli et al. 2005; Pollard et al. 2013. 7 See Roustaei 2014, 2016a. 8 For example, Schmidt 1935, 1936, Fazeli et al. 2004 (Cheshmeh Ali); Ghirshman 1938 (Sialk); Madjidzadeh 2010 (Jeyran Tappeh); Talaii 1983, 2000 (Moushelan Tappeh [Esmaeil Abad]); Fazeli et al. 2007 (Pardis); Kaboli 2015 (Qareh Tappeh Qomroud). 9 For example, Rezvani 1990; Malek Shahmirzadi and Nokandeh 2000. 10 For an overview of the extent, geography and landscape of the northeast region, see Roustaei 2014, 2016a. 11 Roustaei 2016a. 12 Schmidt 1937. 146 K. ROUSTAEI Nevertheless, it was the Restudy Project, directed by R. Dyson and M. Tosi, in the 1970s that significantly enhanced our understanding of various aspects of the Hesar culture,13 especially its significant role as a major manufacturing centre and its part in the third–second millennium metallurgy of the eastern and northeastern Iranian Plateau.14 The Restudy Project established an absolute dating framework for most of the Hesar sequence, spanning more than two millennia from c. 4300/4200–1800 BCE.15 The earlier part of the prehistoric sequence of the northeastern region was first roughly established by the Japanese excavations at Sang-e Chakhmaq, near Shahroud, in the 1970s.16 During the last decade, however, thanks to a number of targeted Neolithic field projects, our understanding of the Neolithic of the region has been significantly enhanced.17 Sang-e Chakhmaq is the type-site of the Neolithic in the northeastern region, and it consists of two mounds: West Mound and East Mound. The West Mound represents a partially aceramic settlement dated to c. 7100–6700 BC, while the East Mound contains a ceramic Neolithic sequence dated to c. 6200–5300 BC.18 Overall, the pottery assemblage of the East Mound, especially its lower levels, the lithic collection, and certain items among the small finds are closely comparable to those of the Jeitun culture of southern Turkmenistan.19 Further information on the Neolithic of the northeastern region has come from a number of excavations, both stratigraphic20 and large expo- sure.21 The least known period of the northeastern region is Cheshmeh Ali, which falls between the Chakhmaq Neolithic period (c. 7100–5300 BCE) and the Hesar period (c. 4300/4200–1800 BCE); that is, the period from c.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • See the Document
    IN THE NAME OF GOD IRAN NAMA RAILWAY TOURISM GUIDE OF IRAN List of Content Preamble ....................................................................... 6 History ............................................................................. 7 Tehran Station ................................................................ 8 Tehran - Mashhad Route .............................................. 12 IRAN NRAILWAYAMA TOURISM GUIDE OF IRAN Tehran - Jolfa Route ..................................................... 32 Collection and Edition: Public Relations (RAI) Tourism Content Collection: Abdollah Abbaszadeh Design and Graphics: Reza Hozzar Moghaddam Photos: Siamak Iman Pour, Benyamin Tehran - Bandarabbas Route 48 Khodadadi, Hatef Homaei, Saeed Mahmoodi Aznaveh, javad Najaf ...................................... Alizadeh, Caspian Makak, Ocean Zakarian, Davood Vakilzadeh, Arash Simaei, Abbas Jafari, Mohammadreza Baharnaz, Homayoun Amir yeganeh, Kianush Jafari Producer: Public Relations (RAI) Tehran - Goragn Route 64 Translation: Seyed Ebrahim Fazli Zenooz - ................................................ International Affairs Bureau (RAI) Address: Public Relations, Central Building of Railways, Africa Blvd., Argentina Sq., Tehran- Iran. www.rai.ir Tehran - Shiraz Route................................................... 80 First Edition January 2016 All rights reserved. Tehran - Khorramshahr Route .................................... 96 Tehran - Kerman Route .............................................114 Islamic Republic of Iran The Railways
    [Show full text]
  • Page 1 of 27 PODOCES, 2007, 2(2): 77-96 a Century of Breeding Bird Assessment by Western Travellers in Iran, 1876–1977 - Appendix 1 C.S
    PODOCES, 2007, 2(2): 77-96 A century of breeding bird assessment by western travellers in Iran, 1876–1977 - Appendix 1 C.S. ROSELAAR and M. ALIABADIAN Referenced bird localities in Iran x°.y'N x°.y'E °N °E Literature reference province number Ab Ali 35.46 51.58 35,767 51,967 12 Tehran Abadan 30.20 48.15 30,333 48,250 33, 69 Khuzestan Abadeh 31.06 52.40 31,100 52,667 01 Fars Abasabad 36.44 51.06 36,733 51,100 18, 63 Mazandaran Abasabad (nr Emamrud) 36.33 55.07 36,550 55,117 20, 23-26, 71-78 Semnan Abaz - see Avaz Khorasan Abbasad - see Abasabad Semnan Abdolabad ('Abdul-abad') 35.04 58.47 35,067 58,783 86, 88, 96-99 Khorasan Abdullabad [NE of Sabzevar] * * * * 20, 23-26, 71-78 Khorasan Abeli - see Ab Ali Tehran Abiz 33.41 59.57 33,683 59,950 87, 89, 90, 91, 94, 96-99 Khorasan Abr ('Abar') 36.43 55.05 36,717 55,083 37, 40, 84 Semnan Abr pass 36.47 55.00 36,783 55,000 37, 40, 84 Semnan/Golestan Absellabad - see Afzalabad Sistan & Baluchestan Absh-Kushta [at c.: ] 29.35 60.50 29,583 60,833 87, 89, 91, 96-99 Sistan & Baluchestan Abu Turab 33.51 59.36 33,850 59,600 86, 88, 96-99 Khorasan Abulhassan [at c.:] 32.10 49.10 32,167 49,167 20, 23-26, 71-78 Khuzestan Adimi 31.07 61.24 31,117 61,400 90, 94, 96-99 Sistan & Baluchestan Afzalabad 30.56 61.19 30,933 61,317 86, 87, 88, 89, 90, 91, Sistan & Baluchestan 94, 96-99 Aga-baba 36.19 49.36 36,317 49,600 92, 96-99 Qazvin Agulyashker/Aguljashkar/Aghol Jaskar 31.38 49.40 31,633 49,667 92, 96-99 Khuzestan [at c.: ] Ahandar [at c.: ] 32.59 59.18 32,983 59,300 86, 88, 96-99 Khorasan Ahangar Mahalleh - see Now Mal Golestan Ahangaran 33.25 60.12 33,417 60,200 87, 89, 91, 96-99 Khorasan Ahmadabad 35.22 51.13 35,367 51,217 12, 41 Tehran Ahvaz (‘Ahwaz’) 31.20 48.41 31,333 48,683 20, 22, 23-26, 33, 49, 67, Khuzestan 69, 71-78, 80, 92, 96-99 Airabad - see Kheyrabad (nr Turkmen.
    [Show full text]
  • The Aegean in the Early 7Th Millennium BC: Maritime Networks and Colonization
    The Aegean in the Early 7th Millennium BC: Maritime Networks and Colonization B. Horejs, B. Milić, F. Ostmann, U. Thanheiser, B. Weninger & A. Galik Journal of World Prehistory ISSN 0892-7537 Volume 28 Number 4 J World Prehist (2015) 28:289-330 DOI 10.1007/s10963-015-9090-8 1 23 Your article is published under the Creative Commons Attribution license which allows users to read, copy, distribute and make derivative works, as long as the author of the original work is cited. You may self- archive this article on your own website, an institutional repository or funder’s repository and make it publicly available immediately. 1 23 J World Prehist (2015) 28:289–330 DOI 10.1007/s10963-015-9090-8 The Aegean in the Early 7th Millennium BC: Maritime Networks and Colonization 1 1,5 1 3 B. Horejs • B. Milic´ • F. Ostmann • U. Thanheiser • 4 2 B. Weninger • A. Galik Published online: 10 December 2015 Ó The Author(s) 2015. This article is published with open access at Springerlink.com Abstract The process of Near Eastern neolithization and its westward expansion from the core zone in the Levant and upper Mesopotamia has been broadly discussed in recent decades, and many models have been developed to describe the spread of early farming in terms of its timing, structure, geography and sociocultural impact. Until now, based on recent intensive investigations in northwestern and western Anatolia, the discussion has mainly centred on the importance of Anatolian inland routes for the westward spread of neolithization. This contribution focuses on the potential impact of east Mediterranean and Aegean maritime networks on the spread of the Neolithic lifestyle to the western edge of the Anatolian subcontinent in the earliest phases of sedentism.
    [Show full text]
  • Review of Rare Birds in Iran, 1860S–1960S
    Podoces, 2009, 4(1): 1–27 Review of Rare Birds in Iran, 1860s–1960s CEES S. ROSELAAR 1* & MANSOUR ALIABADIAN 2 1. Zoological Museum & Institute of Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics, University of Amsterdam PO Box 94766, 1090 GT Amsterdam, THE NETHERLANDS 2. Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Mashhad, IRAN * Correspondence Author. Email: [email protected] Received 27 March 2009; accepted 7 October 2009 Abstract: Based on original literature reports covering the period 1860 –1969, details of 362 records of 102 bird species considered rare in Iran are presented. This fills a gap in knowledge of Iran’s birds from a period between research by Gmelin and Hablizl in the 1770s (reviewed by Mlikovsky 2008) and an overview of the observations of rare birds in Iran in the 1960s and 1970s (presented by Scott 2008). Attention is drawn to two new species for Iran (Eastern Marsh Harrier Circus spilonotus and Blue Whistling Thrush Myophonus caeruleus ). Published details validate the records of Light-bellied Brent Goose Branta hrota , Upland Buzzard Buteo hemilasius , Great Knot Calidris tenuirostris , and Oriental Cuckoo Cuculus saturatus , formerly considered as of dubious occurrence in Iran. Information on six species (Yellow-breasted Tit Cyanistes cyanus flavipectus , Falcated Duck Anas falcata , Indian Nightjar Caprimulgus asiaticus , Güldenstädt’s Redstart Phoenicurus erythrogaster , Cirl Bunting Emberiza cirlus and Eurasian Nutcracker Nucifraga caryocatactes) was considered insufficient or unreliable and the occurrence of these species in Iran has been rejected. We recommend that these species be omitted from the last revised checklist of the birds of Iran (Scott & Adhami 2006).
    [Show full text]
  • Autotüren Werden Zugeschlagen. Ein Metallisches Schlüsselgeräusch Im Zündschloss. Der Motor Wird Gestartet. Die Handbremse Gelöst
    30 Autotüren werden zugeschlagen. Ein metallisches Schlüsselgeräusch im Zündschloss. Der Motor wird gestartet. Die Handbremse gelöst. Ein leichtes Quiet- schen der Kupplung. Das Verschieben der Gangschal- tung, das Dröhnen des Gaspedals. Farrukh beißt sich in die Wange: Das Auto fährt los. Pamir hat nachge- geben. Sie sind auf dem Weg in den Iran! Seit zwölf Tagen bereitet er seinen Plan vor, Far- rukh kennt die Route auswendig. Jede Stadt auf dem Weg ist eine Wegmarke entlang eines Traums. Viele sind es nicht, wenn man bedenkt, dass sie 1809 Kilo- meter zurücklegen werden. Vor allem auf der afgha- nischen Seite. Vor Chaghcharan, der ersten größeren Ortschaft in 400 Kilometern Entfernung, sind es nur drei: Maydan Shahr, ca. 20 Kilometer nach Kabul, Behsud, noch einmal 130 Kilometer. Dann nichts bis Panjab, das weitere 100 Kilometer entfernt liegt. Nach Chaghcharan: Awbeh, Poshtun Zarghun, Herat, eine größere neue Stadt, dann Gurian, die letzte Ortschaft vor der Grenze. Im Iran verdichtet sich das Netz aus exotischen Namen, die zu wiederholen Farrukh nicht 149 müde wird: Taybad, Kariz, Torbat Jam, Nasrabad, Fariman, Farhadgerd, Malekabad, Neyshabur, Sabze- var, Davarzan, Meyamey, Shahrud, Basjam, Sarkhon Kalateh, Gorgan, Kordkuy und Bandar Gaz kurz vor dem Mian Kaleh See. Ein Glücksmantra. Farrukh wirft einen Blick in den Rückspiegel, um ein letztes Bild des Hauses zu erhaschen. Aber Son- nenstrahlen blitzen im Spiegel, unmöglich irgendet- was zu erkennen. Farrukh wendet den Blick geblen- det ab und schaut geradeaus. Zu dieser frühen Stunde ist Kabul menschenleer. Nur einige Busse sind schon unterwegs, voll mit Ar- beitern auf dem Weg zu ihren Baustellen, bevor es zu heiß wird.
    [Show full text]
  • Gorgan Bay Environmental Consequences Due to the Caspian Sea Rapid Water Level Change
    Gorgan Bay environmental consequences due to the Caspian Sea rapid water level change Homayoun Khoshravan1,2*, Alireza Naqinezhad3, Tahereh Alinejad-Tabrizi2, Tamara Yanina4 1. Caspian Sea National Research Center, Water Research Institute, Ministry of Energy, Tehran, Iran 2. Environment Research Management Group (EMRIRAN), Ministry of Science, Research and Technology, Unit 5, Kaj Building, Shahid Amini Alley, Babol, Iran 3. Department of Biology, Faculty of Basic Sciences, University of Mazandaran, Babolsar, Mazandaran, Iran 4. Faculty of Geography, Lomonosov Moscow State University, Moscow, Russia *Corresponding author s email: [email protected] ABSTRACT The rapid Caspian Sea level fluctuations have caused unstable conditions for coastal areas during the 20st and 21st centuries, and have led to significant losses for economical and social infrastructure. The main objective of this study was to assess the impact of the Caspian Sea level fluctuations on the environment of the Gorgan Bay coasts, which is a large, shallow inlet at the extreme south-east corner of the Caspian Sea. So that, studying required documentations have made it possible to become acquainted with the geographical, geological and environmental conditions of Gorgan Bay. The morphological conditions of coastal lines and diversity of coastal habitats were also assessed in field observations. The geometric structure of coast, their sediment types and the physicochemical properties of soils belonging to coastal habitats were evaluated by determining three transects and nine study sites in the spring and summer 2017. Changes in the coastline of Gorgan Bay were also processed using Land-Sat satellite imagery from 1977, 1995 and 2017. The results exhibited that the environmental vulnerability of the Gorgan Bay coasts depends on the morphological conditions of coastal habitats and alterations in the Caspian Sea level.
    [Show full text]
  • Rapid Change Versus Long-Term Social Change During the Neolithic-Chalcolithic Transition in Central Anatolia
    Volume III ● Issue 1/2012 ● Pages 75–83 INTERDISCIPLINARIA ARCHAEOLOGICA NATURAL SCIENCES IN ARCHAEOLOGY homepage: http://www.iansa.eu III/1/2012 Rapid Change versus Long-Term Social Change during the Neolithic-Chalcolithic Transition in Central Anatolia Peter F. Biehla aDepartment of Anthropology, College of Arts and Sciences, State University of New York at Buffalo, 380 MFAC-Ellicott Complex Buffalo, NY 14261- 0005, USA ARTICLE INFO ABSTRACT Article history: The paper scrutinizes the process of cultural, social, economic and symbolic transition between the Received: 31 May 2012 Neolithic and Chalcolithic in Central Anatolia as revealed at the Çatalhöyük East and West Mounds. Accepted: 29 August 2012 It will discuss both rapid change and long-term social and palaeo-environmental changes in the Ko- nya plain and will examine how humans responded to the climate change that occurred during the Keywords: “8.2k cal BP climate event”. The key hypothesis is that the change in climate and environment caused Neolithic people to move westwards into Western Anatolia and across Europe. Çatalhöyük offers a microcosm Anatolia that may help us unlock some of the key questions surrounding this time period. At Çatalhöyük, settle- climate and culture change ment shifted from the East to the West Mound at exactly this time. The two tell sites sitting side by side Çatalhöyük offer the exceptional chance to analyse human responses to this event on a micro-scale and give us the possibility to answer the question of why and how does the shift from the East to the West Mound take place at this time.
    [Show full text]
  • Secrets of the Red Snake
    current world archaeology world DIGS & DISCOVERIES FROM AROUND THE WORLD No.27 The 'Red Snake', Gorgan Wall Wall Gorgan Snake', The 'Red SecretsSecrets ofof thethe RedRed SnakeSnake The great wall of Iran revealed • Jerablus and Carchemish Jerablus • USA • Lawrence's Jordan Jordan Lawrence's • Tutankhamun Also inside: Tutankhamun revisited LAWRENCE'S JORDAN THE GREAT ARAB REVOLT DIG Issue 27 SYRIA'S FORT OF JERABLUS No.27 February/March 2008 GUARD ON THE EUPHRATES www.archaeology.co.uk £4 001_Cover_Final_CWA27.indd 1 9/1/08 17:07:58 This page A view from the air reveals the true proportions of the ‘Red Snake’: photo of fort 7 with its massive platform and the associated ditch. TheThe enigmaenigma ofof thethe 'Red'Red Snake'Snake' Revealing o n e o f t h e W o r l d ' s Greatest Frontier Walls PHOTOGRAPH: Georg Gerster/Panos Pictures current world 12 archaeology 27 012-022_Iran_CWA27.indd 1 10/1/08 14:39:07 Iran TheThe enigmaenigma ofof thethe 'Red'Red Snake'Snake' It is longer than Hadrian's Wall and the Antonine Wall taken together. It is over a thousand years older than the Great Wall of China as we know it today. It is of more solid construction than its ancient Chinese counterparts. It is the greatest monument of its kind between central Europe and China and it may be the longest brick, or stone, wall ever built in the ancient world - and yet few have ever heard of it. This wall is known as ‘The Great Wall of Gorgan’ or ‘the Red Snake’.
    [Show full text]
  • Review of Karin Bartl (Ed.), 2018. the Late Neolithic Site of Shir / Syria I
    Book Review Rosenstock, Eva Review of Karin Bartl (ed.), 2018. The Late Neolithic site of Shir/ Syria I. The excavations at the South Area 2006 - 2009. Damaszener Forschungen 18. Darmstadt: Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft/ Zabern. ISBN: 978-3-8053-5190-4. € 92.50. With this volume presenting the results of the South Area excavations between 2006 and 2009, Karin Bartl starts the publication of her fi eldwork at the Late Neolithic ( c. 7000-5000 BCE) Syrian site of Shir under the auspices of the German Archaeological Institute’s Orient Department (Deutsches Archäologisches Institut, Orientabteilung) between 2003 and 2010. The volume, comprising almost 760 pages, is substantial in both content and weight. Its layout makes it comfortable to read, but the sizes of fi gures are, in many cases, slightly too small, such as the detailed maps in the fi rst chapters. Unfortunately, the affi liations and contact addresses of the 23 contributors to the 19 total chapters (including a summary chapter) are not disclosed in an author list or after their respective chapters. cess version under a hyperlink 1 instead of the cumber- The initial research schedule and how it ended some loose foldout attachment sheet of olden days is abruptly in early 2011 with the start (1) of what led much appreciated. However, inconsistencies between to a still ongoing war is outlined along with a short the published version and the digital one would require research history in Karin Bartl’s fi rst subchapter. This cross-checking by the authors. The graph was created subchapter, together with Karin Bartl’s and Thomas using yEd2 (37), a freeware originally designed for very Urban’s subchapter on the methods applied (7-12), diff erent graph types such as fl owcharts, but certainly serves as an introduction to the volume.
    [Show full text]
  • 23 Contextualising Neolithic Cyrpus: Preliminary
    23 CONTEXTUALISING NEOLITHIC CYRPUS: PRELIMINARY INVESTIGATIONS INTO CONNECTIONS BETWEEN CYPRUS AND THE NEAR EAST IN THE LATER NEOLITHIC Joanne Clarke Introduction that was both internally homogeneous and lacking in any It is widely held that connections between Cyprus and the clear evidence of links with contemporary mainland cultures Levant ceased around 7000 BC when the expansive world (Clarke 2003, 212). My view then was that “the absence of the Pre-pottery Neolithic B (PPNB) contracted and of any evidence for external influences [in the Ceramic dislocated into a number of smaller ‘worlds’ during the later Neolithic period] appears to have been socially prescribed Neolithic period (all dates referred to in this paper are cal rather than any real absence of contact” (Clarke 2003, 215). BC). In northern Syria and upper Mesopotamia, a dynamic As circumstantial evidence for contact between Cyprus and and continuously changing, east/west sphere of influence the mainland subsequent to the PPNB continues to accrue can be documented through the post-PPNB/ Halaf /Ubaid (Clarke 2007; see also Erikh-Rose 2004; McCartney 2007) traditions of the 7th to 5th millennia. Likewise, in the south it seems appropriate to return to the question of how Cyprus a largely disconnected, east/west sphere of influence existed, negotiated its relationships with the outside world and beginning with the Yarmoukian around 6200 BC and con- whether human agency, in the form of social identity, was tinuing into the Wadi Rabah and Chalcolithic traditions of the only factor shaping interaction. the 6th and 5th millennia. Between these two geographically delineated spheres of influence is the less well documented region of the central Levant, comprising the Syrian and Connections: What Connections? Lebanese coastal zone, the Ansariyah, Zawiyah, Lebanon and Anti-Lebanon mountains, the Homs Gap and the Beqa’a In order for connections between Cyprus and the Levant valley (Fig.
    [Show full text]
  • Three New Fusarium Taxa Isolated from Gramineous Plants in Iran
    () ∗ Three new Fusarium taxa isolated from gramineous plants in Iran ∗∗ /. - *+ , ) ' ( $ "&# ... " "# $! &, -./0123 +''(" )* &$ # $ % !" /;/ :8!59: // :%45 01 B A"!$ &$ @ 0$ ? > -= ) -52 ! )&< D$H/ B$ H 3 !H" BH2 3 GH I$ 2F F&5 &4 )5 ;; $C D<E ) & % M($ PDA ->&<L$ % M($ 5!3 CA < )J )K )K&= ) 5 M M H($ R H H F& H5 &4 )H&3 HL" . H$C % ) Nash & Snyder -NO P T H5 H NUV & !5 -5 " CLA 3C ?SC + KCl SNA PDA 2% )H ? H$ H ;?V UH: -5 H" %EH -5 / %E H/ -5 / 2 )&3 X ./ -5 / -5 W&>&4 &$ +OI$ # ! !3- / Z H "!" )H F. proliferatum Fusarium verticillioides )H Y& !$ -!4 X5! )HH Y&HH !$ -HH!4 X5!HH < (!HH \!HH + [ FHH 3 HH/ HH) HHN ;/V &H F 3 / } N ;/ ;/V Z"!" ) F. buharicum F. sporotrichioides F. globosum F. proliferatum var. minus 2 )5 C .& {]^&5 (aegilops) U1 \! XH _<2 . &H/ H$ 8 0H3 B! H5 H X *I ! F. sublunatum var. elongatum Archive of SID B!" # $ % !" ) / )5 0E ! KC -5< 2 ) ` ! , )> -I ∗ )J".$ `&a*$ ∗∗ www.SID.ir B .<2 b5 -RcO$ def !H" BH23 B!H5 H XH> !H F. buharicum F. sporotrichioides H2 )H&3 .&/-$ B$ 3 B!5 B$ 3 F&5 &4 &4&$ :- &3 - 2 4 ! F&3 & ]^&5 \! + [ & F 3 )< B$ 3 !" ) gL $ B23 -5^ %<2 -23 b/&: kP %Jj" F B* 9i X$h" 2# !3 U .(ll M -<o lln B <2 -m& ll F- ) &P! D$/ 5 O K %<2 ) % 0P %*$&R2 2p K Fusarium $ B 0$ B23 -L ) $ ) / -$ -23 05 < 2) &3 * ]^&5 & F 3 )< B$ 3 !" TI$ +^&' - $ Z -!4 )&3 -$ &>C B23 !5 2 0J * ! + [ F<" -L U X5 2) &3 .(Nelson et al.
    [Show full text]
  • Qozloq Route (Astrabad to Shahrud) Impact on Economic Developments of the Region (Safavid Course)
    Journal of Politics and Law; Vol. 11, No. 2; 2018 ISSN 1913-9047 E-ISSN 1913-9055 Published by Canadian Center of Science and Education Qozloq Route (Astrabad to Shahrud) Impact on Economic Developments of the Region (Safavid Course) Dr. Mustafa Nadim1 & Ghorbanali Zahedi2 1 Associate Professor, Department of History, Shiraz University, Iran 2 Ph.D. student of Islamic History of Shiraz University, Iran Correspondence: Dr. Mustafa Nadim, Associate Professor, Department of History, Shiraz University, Iran. E-mail: [email protected] Received: January 28, 2018 Accepted: March 8, 2018 Online Published: March 28, 2018 doi:10.5539/jpl.v11n2p6 URL: https://doi.org/10.5539/jpl.v11n2p6 Abstract The Qozloq Route was one of the branches of the famous Silk Road in the northeast of Iran, which linked two important and strategic regions of Shahrud and Astrabad. This road constituted rough and smooth paths and was the passage of different nations with different goals. In this context, various cultures have also been published and exchanged in line with the trade of various goods. The presence of different caravansaries around the road indicates its importance and prosperity in the Safavid course, but with all of this, there is little information available on the importance of this route in the existing travel books and historical books. Despite all the inadequacies, in this research, with the descriptive-analytical approach based on the research data, it is concluded that the Qozloq Route has been of great importance in the Safavid course, strategically, and in term of the publication of the culture and prosperity of the economy, and the dynamism of development and awareness.
    [Show full text]