Environmental Effects of the World Hyper-Landslide on Ancient Settlements

Subject Areas : Prehistoric Archaeology

Siamak Sharafi ¹ , Masoud Sadeghi Rad ²

1 - Assistant Professor, Department of Geographical Sciences (Geomorphology), Lorestan University, Khorram Abad, Iran.
2 - M.A. in Archaeology, Islamic Azad University, Abhar Branch, Abhar, Iran

Received: 2023-05-01 Accepted : 2023-05-01 Published : 2015-08-23

Keywords: environmental change, Kabirkuh Landslide, Dam Lakes, Saymareh, Kashkan, Jaydar, Settlements Pattern,

Abstract :

The occurrence of the world's largest landslides on the Kabir-Kuh anticline and on the path of Sayamareh and Kashkan river drainage network has created many wide environmental changes. The most important changes caused by the landslide include blocking the path of Saymareh and Kashkan rivers and creating two lakes which are world’s largest and most stable barrier lakes in the world. Geoarchaeological studies of this region utilizing physical and conceptual tools, laboratory methods, software tools as well as using statistical cluster analysis have led to the landslide fourstage recognition on the Kabir-Kuh anticline and the subsequent formation of four lakes within the Saymareh valley and a single-stage lake within the Kashkan valley; in addition, the results of these studies include detecting settlement patterns of archaeological sites in each periods from Epipaleolithic to Islamic in connection with the formation of the lake and the recognition of the ongoing changes in settlement patterns associated with fluctuations in the lake level. Based on the results of lake sediments dating, the occurrence of the primary Kabirkuh landslide and the formation of Seymare and Kashkan barrier lakes happened about 85000 years ago. Therefore, from the Middle Paleolithic to the Islamic era the human settlement patterns have been environmental changes caused by Kabirkuh landslide and also caused by the formation of barrier lakes.