Revisiting The Darreh-e Gaz (Dargaz) Plain: Cultural Contacts between Northeastern Iran and Southern Turkmenistan
Subject Areas : ArchaeologySaeed Baghizadeh 1 , Aliakbad Eshghi 2 , Hamid Karami 3 , Rezvan Ahrar 4
1 - عضو هیئت علمی گروه فقه و مبانی حقوق اسلامی، واحد دامغان، دانشگاه آزاد اسلامی، دامغان، ایران
2 - Department of Art & Architecture, University of Guilan, Guilan, Iran
3 - Department of Archeology, Islamic Azad University of Tehran, Central Branch, Tehran, Iran
4 - Department of Art & Architecture, University of Guilan, Guilan, Iran
Keywords: Central Asia, Dargaz Plain, Archaeological Survey, Prehistoric Interaction, Settlement Pattern.,
Abstract :
Central Asia is a key unit of archaeological studies of the Ancient Near East and an issue for important questions such as primary states, Aryan people immigration has a unique role in archaeological activities. Considering the geographical location of Dargaz (Dargaz) Plain at the periphery of Central Asia, it is a vital area in the archaeology of the northeastern part of the Iranian Central Plateau and Central Asia. The region is ideally situated to research regional relationships and inter-regional interactions between those cultural-geographical regions due to its ecological potential and geographic location. Archaeologically, to comprehend Cultural Similarities in Dargaz Plain, many studies and surveys have been done since the beginning of the 20th Century. However, because of the lack of more detailed excavation in this area, the quality of cultural material of Central Asia and the Iranian Central Plateau is reassessing continuously. The first archaeological survey by Kohl and Heskel in 1978 reveals the similarities between Central Asia and this area. The Following works were done for the sake of making known the prehistoric Sites, their interaction with neighboring regions, and their ecosystem but it remains incomplete. Twenty-one prehistoric settlements have remained in the area, dating from the Neolithic to the Iron Age I/III, according to archaeological studies carried out during these years. The majority of the locations that have been found are the ruins of dispersed villages and seasonal camps that were scattered throughout the plain, as well as at inaccessible heights and other locations. With an emphasis on the material culture, particularly the local ceramic traditions and the settlement patterns of the prehistoric site, this current work investigates the connection and interconnectedness of the Dargaz Plain and proposes novel prospects for future works. A study of the Dargaz Plain may shed new light on the social and cultural history of a larger region.
Askarov, A., (1992), “The Beginning of the Iron Age in Transoxiana”, In History of Civilization of Central Asia, Vol. I, edited by A.H. Dani and V.M. Mason, UNESCO Publishing, Pp. 441-459.
Ataee, M.T., & G. Abbasi, (2009), “Narges Tepe and Signs of the Median and Achaemenid Period in Gorgan”, Archaeology and History, no. 44: 42–55 (In Persian).
Baghizadeh, S., (2011), “A survey and analysis of Settlement pattern of Darreh Gaz Plain from the Neolithic period until Iron Age IV”, Unpublished Thesis of M.A., Islamic Azad University of Tehran (Central Branch) (In Persian).
Bakhtiyari Shahri, M., (1996), “A preliminary report of surveying and analyzing of ancient remnants of Dargaz County, First Stage”, Iranian Cultural and Heritage Organization of Khorasan, Unpublished Reports, December (In Persian).
Basafa, H., M.S.Davari, and M.Mousavi Nia,(2022),“An Analysis of the Cultural Landscape and Settlement Pattern of the Kashafrud Basin (Mashhad Plain) in the Iron Age”, Iranian Journal of Archaeological Studies, 12(1), pp. 41-52, DOI:10.22111/IJAS.2022.7493.
Basafa, H. and Hedayati, Z., (2020), The Iron Age in The Dargaz Plain (Northeast Khorasan), The Site of Kohne Ghale, A Case Study, Iranica Antiqua, 55, pp. 129-143, DOI: 10.2143/IA.55.0.3289193.
Basafa, H., & F. Masih Nia. (2020), “Investigation and Analysis of Pottery Characteristics of Milad Tape in Nishabur Plain in the Perspective of Khorasan Iron Age”, Parseh Journal of Archaeological Studies 6 (20): pp. 85-106, DOI:10.30699/PJAS.6.20.85, (In Persian).
Basafa, H. & M.H.Rezaei, (2018), “Preliminary Report of the Third Season of Se Tepe Site”, Iranian Cultural and Heritage Organization, Unpublished Reports, December (In Persian).
Bendezu-Sarmiento, J. & J. Lhuillier, (2019), “Habitat and Occupancy during the Bronze Age in Central Asia”, in Urban Cultures of Central Asia from the Bronze Age to the Karakhanids, ed. by Ch. Baumer and M. Novák, Harrassowitz Verlag, pp. 97-115.
Berking, J., B. Beckers, T. Reimann, S. Pollock, and R. Bernbeck, (2017), “Modern impacts on an ancient landscape, the Piedmont Plain in southwest Turkmenistan”, Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Water, 4(2), p.e1202, DOI:10.1002/wat2.1202.
Bernbeck, R. & S. Pollock (2016), “Scalar differences: temporal rhythms and spatial patterns at Monjukli Depe, southern Turkmenistan”, Antiquity 90-349: 64–80, DOI:10.15184/aqy.2015.197.
Bonora, G.L.& M. Vidale, (2008), The Middle Chalcolithic in southern Turkmenistan and the archaeological record of Ilgynly-depe; Ancient Iran and Its Neighbors: Local Developments and Long-Range Interactions in the Fourth Millennium BC, edited by Cameron A. Petrie, pp.145-170.
Boucharlat, R., Francfort, H.P. and Lecomte, O., (2005), The citadel of Ulug Depe and the Iron Age archaeological sequence in southern Central Asia. Iranica Antiqua, 40, pp.479-514, DOI 10.2143/IA.40.0.583223.
Cattani, M. & B. Genito, (1998), The pottery chronologicalseriation of the Murghab delta from the end of the Bronze Age to the Achaemenid Period: A Preliminary Note, [In:] A. Gubaev, G. A. Koshelenko, M. Tosi (eds), The Archaeological Map of the Murghab delta. Preliminary Reports 1990–95, Rome: Istituto Italiano per l’Africa e l’Oriente, 75–87.
Coolidge, Jennifer (2005), Southern Turkmenistan in the Neolithic: a petrographic case study (British Archaeological Reports International series 1423). Oxford: Archaeopress.
Dana, M. & A. Hozhabri, (2013), "The Settlement Pattern of Prehistoric Sites of Jajarm, North Khorasan", in Proceedings of the International Conference of Young Archaeologists, University of Tehran, Pp. 295-322.
Dana, M. & A. Hozhabri, (2018): The Role of Cultural Factors in Locating Archaeological Sites: The Settlement Patterns of Prehistoric Sites in Jājarm, Khorasan, Iran, Iran, Journal of Iran, Journal of the British Institute of Persian Studies, DOI: 10.1080/05786967.2018.1532770.
Dana, M., (2020) The Bronze Age of Greater Khorasan Culture the Formation a Concept: Khorasan. Parseh Journal of Archaeological Studies 4 (12), pp: 75-98, DOI: 10.30699/PJAS.4.12.75.
Dell ‘Unto, N. and Landeschi, G., 2022. Archaeological 3D Gis (p. 176). Taylor & Francis.
Dupont-Delaleuf, A. (2013), Évolution des techniques céramiquesdurant la Protohistoireen Asie centrale: l’exempled’Ulugdépé”. L’archéologie française en Asie centrale. Nouvelles recherches et enjeuxsocioculturels, Cahiers d’Asie Centrale, n° 21-22, J. Bendezu- Sarmiento (ed.), 317-334. Paris: De Boccard.
Ghaempanah, N., A. Hejebri Nobari, S.M. Mousavi Kouhpar, J. Neyestani, (2020), Sasanian Feudalism in North-East Iran (according to Bandian Site and Recently -Founded Sasanian Sites in Dargaz Plain), Journal of Great Khorasan, Volume 10, Issue 37, October, Pp.1-16.
FallahMehne, M. and Y. Mohammadi Far (2015), The Parthian periods at Northeastern Asia: The New Founded Sites of Darreh-Gaz Plain, The Second National Conference of Iranian Archaeology, University of Birjand.
Francfort, H.-P. (2005), "Asie Centrale", in "L'archeologie de l'empireachemenide: nouvellesrecherches", P. Briant, R. Boucharlat (eds), Paris, De Boccard.
Garazhian, O., (1998), “Archaeological survey of prehistoric places of the vicinity of Daroungar river on northeastern Khorasan province”, Unpublished MA thesis, Tarbiat Modarres University, Tehran.
Garazhian, O., (2008), "The Transition process from Chalcolithic cultures to Bronze age on the eastern of the north of Iranian Plateau", Ph.D. Dissertation on prehistoric archaeology, University of Tehran.
Garazhian, O., (2015), "The formation and development of village culture (Neolithic-Chalcolithic Period) of Khorasan", In "A review on the archaeology of Khorasan, selections of archaeological findings and historical-cultural relics of Khorasan", Edited by Meysam Labbaf-Khaniki, ICHTO, Pp. 25-41.
Harris, D.R. (2010), Origins of agriculture in western Central Asia: an environmental-archaeological study. Philadelphia (PA): University Museum.
Hedayati Minayi, Z. (2017), Analytical Recognition of Iron Age Characteristics in the Dargaz Plain According to the Systematic Survey of site Kohne Qaleh, unpublished M.A. thesis of archaeology, Department of Archaeology, University of Nishabur.
Heibert, F. and K. Kurbansakhatov, (2003); “A Central Asian Village at the Dawn of Civilization, Excavation at Anau, Turkmenistan”, University Museum Monograph, 116, Philadelphia, Pp. 458.
Hodder, I. & C. Orton, (1976); “Spatial Analysis in Archaeology”, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press.
Jafari Khan Bebin, M. (2018), A study on the Oxus Civilization Evidence in Dargaz Plain According to the Material Culture of Yarim Tepe, unpublished M.A. thesis of archaeology, Department of Archaeology, University of Sistan and Baluchistan.
Kircho, L.B. (1988), The Beginning of the Early Bronze Age in Southern Turkmenia based on Altyn-depe Materials, East and West 38, 33–64.
Kircho, L. (2019), Altyn-Depe, The Formation of the Earliest Urban Centre in Central Asia, in Urban Cultures of Central Asia from the Bronze Age to the Karakhanids, edited by Christoph Baumer and Mirko Novák, Harrassowitz Verlag, Wiesbaden, Pp. 9-29
Kohl, Ph. L. and D. L. Heskel, (1980), “Archaeological Reconnaissance in the Darreh Gaz Plain: A Short Report”, Iran, Vol. 18, P. 160-172.
Kohl, Ph., L. (1984), Central Asia: Paleolithic beginnings to the Iron Age (Editions Recherche sur les Civilisations 14). Paris: Editions Recherche sur les Civilisations.
Kohl, P.L., R. Biscione and M.L. Ingraham (1981), "Implication of recent Evidence for the prehistory of Northeastern Iran and Southwestern Turkmenistan", Iranica Antiqua XVI: 185-204.
Khlopina L. I. (1981) Namazga-depe and the Late Bronze Age of Southern Turkmenia, Soviet Anthropology and Archeology, 19:1-2, 35-60.
Kuzmina, E. (2007),The Origin of the Indo-Iranians,BRILL, ISBN 978-90-474-2071-2.
LabbafKhaniki, R., 2012, Reviewing the history of archaeological research in Khorasan, in Eighty Years of Iranian Archaeology, Vol. 1, ed. By Y. Hasanzadeh & N. Miri, Pazineh Press Center&National Museum of Iran, pp. 137-159.
Lhuillier, J., J. Bendezu-Sarmiento and O. Lecomte, (2013), Ulug-Depe in the Same of Turkmenistan Iron Age: an overview, Iranian Archaeology, No. 4, Pp.78-90.
Lhuillier, J. (2019) The Settlement Pattern in Central Asia during the Early Iron Age, in Urban Cultures of Central Asia from the Bronze Age to the Karakhanids, edited by Christoph Baumer and Mirko Novák, Harrassowitz Verlag, Wiesbaden, Pp. 115-129.
Masson, V. M. and V. I. Sarianidi, (1972), Central Asia: Turkmenia before the Achaemenids, Thames and Hudson, London.
Motarjem, A., (2009), Survey and analysis of settlement pattern of the bronze period at plains of Alvand Mountains, Hamedan, and unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, Department of Archaeology, University of Tehran.
Nami, H., (2015), Archaeological Survey of Arsacid sites of Dargaz plan based upon the excavation results of Shahr Tepe, Chapeshlo, unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, Department of Archaeology, University of Tehran
Nami, H. & S. M. Mousavi Nia (2019), ArchaeologicalSurvey of Parthian Sites of Dargaz Plain, Northeastern Iran, Journal of Archaeological Studies, Volume 11, Issue 1, Spring and Summer, pp. 232-252.
Napier G. C. and S. A. Kazi, (1876), “Extracts from a Diary of a Tour in Khorasan, and Notes on the Eastern Alburz Tract; with Notes on the Yomut Tribe”; Journal of the Royal Geographical Society of London, Vol. 46, pp. 62-171.
Orton, C. (1982). stochastic process and archaeological mechanism in spatial analysis. journal of archaeological Science, 1(9), 1-23. https://doi.org/10.1016/0305-4403(82)90002-4.
Rahbar, M., (1998), Decouverte d’un monument d’Époque Sassanide Á Bandian, Dargaz (Nord Khorassan) fouilles 1994 et 1995, Studia Iranica 27 (2): 213-250.
Rawlinson, S. H., (1879). The Road to Merv, Proceedings of the Royal Geographical Society and Monthly Record of Geography 1(3): 161-191.
Rezaei, M.H., J. Zanganeh Ebrahimi and H. Basafa, (2018), The Settlement Patterns in Roshtkhar Plain, Northeastern of Iran, Journal of Iran, https://doi.org/10.1080/05786967.2018.1557388
Ricciardi, R. V., (1980), “Archaeological Survey in Upper Atrak Valley (Khorasan, Iran): Preliminary Report”, Mesopotamia, XV (15), Revista del archeologia, epigrafia e storiaorientaleantica, pp.51-72.
Sadraei, A., & Azar, M. (2023), New Discovery of Paleolithic Evidence in Dargaz Plain, Northeastern Iran. Journal of Historical, Archaeological and Anthropological Studies, 1: 1, pp. 31-45. https://doi.org/10.47509/JHAAS.2023.v01i01.03.
Saeedi, A. (1998). The Basics of Rural Geography. Tehran: Samt.
Seyed Sajadi, S. M. 2016. Central Asian Archaeology, (In Persian), Vol. I. Tehran: Samt.
Sheikh, M. (2014), The Systematic survey of Yarim Tepe Dargaz, unpublished M.A. thesis of archaeology, Department of Archaeology, University of Sistan and Baluchistan.
Sheikh, M., M. Jafari Khan Bebin & R. Shirazi, (2023), Identification of Yaz I Culture (Early iron age) in Yarim Tappeh Dargaz, Khorasan, Journal of Bastan Pazhouh, No. 1, Vol. 22, Serial No. 27 / winter 2023, pp. 1-22. DOI: https://doi.org/10.22059/jarcs.2019.71116
Tahmasbi Zave, H. and Falaki, M., (2022), The Chronology of BMAC in the Bactria. Journal of Archaeology and Archaeometry, 1(1), pp.57-69. DOI: 10.30495/JAA.2022.695253.
Vahdati, A. (2015), "The Bronze and Iron Age in Khorasan (3000-500 BCE)", In "A review on the archaeology of Khorasan, selections of archaeological findings and historical-cultural relics of Khorasan", Edited by Meysam Labbaf-Khaniki, ICHTO, Pp. 41-52.
Velayati, S., (1991), about the underground Water sources of Dargaz plain, Geographical Researches journal, No. 4.
Warren R.E. & D.L. Asch, (2000), “A predictive model of archaeological site location in the Eastern Prairie Peninsula”, in Westcott, Brandon 2000, Pp. 5-32.
Yousefi Zoshk, R. & S. Baghizadeh, (2012) “Application of GIS in Analysis of Settlement Pattern Case Study of Dargaz Plain’s Sites from Neolithic to Iron Age IV”, Journal of Pazhuhesh-haye BastanShenasi, Bu-AliSina University, Vol. 2 No.2, Spring-Summer.
Zadneprovsky, Y. A., 1995; “Early Urban Developments in Central Asia”, Iran, Vol. XXXIII (33), Pp. 155-159.
