The Evidence of Use of Sever and Impassable Caves in the West of Iran in the Dalma Period

Subject Areas : Prehistoric Archaeology

Amir  Saed Mucheshi ¹ (Assistant Professor, Department of Preservation and Maintenance of Historical Buildings, Payam-e Noor University, Hamedan Branch, Hamedan, Iran.)
Alireza  Azarshab ² (CHHTO of Kurdistan Province, Sanandaj, Iran.)

Received: 2023-07-08 Accepted : 2023-07-08 Published : 2014-02-20

Keywords: Nomadism, Sever Caves, Dalma Period (Middle Chalcolithic), Western Iran, Transhumance,

Abstract :

This article is an attempt to introduction and studying if dozen caves that used of them in the period of Dalma (Middle Chalcolithic). The use of caves is one of the sign of the pastoralism (both permanent and temporary), nomadism and especially transhumance pastoralism. In the base of available evidences in this study area could be posed the transhumance pastoralism strategy in the life in this period. The position of the caves and the sever accessibility of them is showed that use of this caves is probably impermanent and limited in the special season and when the nomadic pastoral have taken their flocks to the mountains. One of the property of these caves are their height, sever accessibility and narrow entrance and seems that safety (wild animal of cold temperature at night), accessibility of different pastures have been involved at the use of them. There caves include the Kona Shamsham in the highlands of Marivan county and Samangan and Koolan Gawra in the county of Divandareh in the Kurdistan province in the west of Iran that surveyed in the late archaeological investigations.