In: Coming to Terms with the Future. Concepts of Resilience for the Study of Early Iranian Societies, edited by Reinhard Bernbeck, Gisela Eberhardt & Susan Pollock, 131–150. Leiden: Sidestone Press, 2023
The people of Iran underwent various cultural adaptations in the early third
millennium BCE, inc... more The people of Iran underwent various cultural adaptations in the early third
millennium BCE, including a rise and collapse in cultural complexity. The Caspian Sea
region was distinctive in terms of society-environment interactions, and societies had
to take measures to be resilient in the face of change. The onset of new forms of social
organization from Gīlān to Mazandaran or from the central plateau to the Gorgan plain
could look very different during the Bronze and Iron Ages, especially in terms of resource
extraction and transformations in prehistoric societies. In Mazandaran, such social
transformation began during the late fourth millennium BCE and continued during the
Bronze and Iron Ages. In this paper, we evaluate long-term resilience and adaptability
from the Bronze Age to the Iron Age in Mazandaran and examine how the societies of the
south-central Caspian Sea changed through time and space.
Keywords: resilience; Mazandaran; Bronze Age; Iron Age; Caspian Sea shorelines;
Ghal-e Ben; Shahne Posht
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millennium BCE, including a rise and collapse in cultural complexity. The Caspian Sea
region was distinctive in terms of society-environment interactions, and societies had
to take measures to be resilient in the face of change. The onset of new forms of social
organization from Gīlān to Mazandaran or from the central plateau to the Gorgan plain
could look very different during the Bronze and Iron Ages, especially in terms of resource
extraction and transformations in prehistoric societies. In Mazandaran, such social
transformation began during the late fourth millennium BCE and continued during the
Bronze and Iron Ages. In this paper, we evaluate long-term resilience and adaptability
from the Bronze Age to the Iron Age in Mazandaran and examine how the societies of the
south-central Caspian Sea changed through time and space.
Keywords: resilience; Mazandaran; Bronze Age; Iron Age; Caspian Sea shorelines;
Ghal-e Ben; Shahne Posht
has been one of the important cities of Tabaristan in the early Islamic centuries. This city had a military function in the Abbasid period. In
historical sources, Toranjeh has been recognized as Borji, Toranji, Torji,
Tariji, Toranjir, and Tazhir which is located in the lowland zone between
Mamatir (Babol) in South, Mileh (Southeast of Amol) in West and Sari in
the East. The noteworthy political and military aspects have focused on
the localization of Toranjeh city in early and medieval Islamic periods
by historical sources and archaeological findings. On the base of documentary evidence, it can be given that the cultural sequence of the city of
Toranjeh is divided into three phases. The formation of the Espahbodan
Tabarestan reign, the development phase, and finally the collapse of the
Samanid rule in the Mazandaran Marashyan period. The authors in the
framework of a program of archaeological research surveyed Abolhasan
kola-i- Babol located in the province of Mazandaran. The findings and
review of archaeological and historical evidence suggest that the studied
area (the village of Abolhasan kola-i- Babol) is the probable location of
the city of Toranjeh.
Keywords: Tabaristan, Early Islamic Centuries, Toranjeh Historical
City, Abol-Hasan-Kola village Written Sources
Mazandaran province has been a suitable environment for forming communities during prehistoric times due to its environmental characteristics such as abundant water, fertile soil, and rich marine and forest resources. In addition, this area is considered a bridge between the northwestern regions, the northeastern regions, and the southern lands of Alborz and has been influenced by neighboring cultures over time. In this essay, by examining geomorphology, sedimentation, and climate change in the study site and its impact on the lives of the people of the Ghal-e-ben, the environmental developments and historical gaps created in this site have been studied. The essential questions and hypotheses in this research are: The occurrence of earthquake and flood flow of Khoshroud Pey River, what effect has it had on the transformation of the settlement of Ghal-e-ben site? What is the reason for the deposition of the Khoshroud Pey River in the Ghal-e-ben site? Based on the archaeological findings obtained from contexts 306, 307, and 309 of Trench Q31 and context 107 of Trench X-35, we found that in context 306, there is clay with limestone, and the thicker the layer, The silty texture becomes. In context 307, the type of clay-calcareous texture with a high percentage of clay along with the remains of shells and river snails is of the freshwater species type, indicating sedimentary and river flows to a depth of 1 meter, which is due to the proximity of Khoshroud Pey River. In the west Ghal-e-ben site, these changes can be considered the result of these river flows. Since the lower context (309) has natural subsidence or seismic stress, the reason for the formation of sediments in the upper layers was probably the presence of regional natural seismic stress.
Research Method
In this study, to answer fundamental questions, in addition to archaeological excavations, geological and geomorphological analyzes by sampling various experiments such as morphotropic studies, XRD experiments, granulation analysis and determination of sediment tissue code, granulation Calcular experiments applied to the collected sediment samples to achieve sedimentological analysis. Then the results were compared and analyzed.
Analysis of environmental data in Ghal-e-ben site
In Context 306, the Ghal-e-ben site has a dense clay texture of light gray color with limestone fragments. In the upper part of this texture, it is dense, but gradually in the lower parts of the soil texture, this context becomes more porous and silty, which indicates the presence of flow sediments. Today, the bed of the Khoshroud Pey River locates a short distance from the west of the site. In the past, this river passed through Ghal-e-ben, or according to morphological characteristics of the Khoshroud Pey River and the shape of its tributary bed, one of the branches connected to it is in the site. In context 307, the texture of the soil is light yellow and of clay-limestone type with a high percentage of clay and without any cultural materials and organic plant bone residues. The texture of this soil is very dense, and the remains of shells and river snails, freshwater aquatic species, have been abundantly obtained from this texture. The lower parts of this context reduced the number of freshwater snails, shells, and silt. The soil in this context has very low porosity and appears utterly free of bone and without any fertile Lum structure. In fact, from a depth of about 190 cm in contexts 307 and 107 in trenches Q-31, X-35 with a thickness of 1 m, the remains of fine-grained natural silty sedimentary deposits were observed with abundant remnants of tiny freshwater snails that lack cultural guarantees, probably context 307. The remnants of the gradual cessation of the canal of the old Mandar transformed into a watercourse or Axolic. They have covered the whole area, causing a cultural interruption in this period with a thickness of one meter. Also, Context 309, located southwest of the trench, is probably a geological phenomenon of subsidence or natural seismic stress along the two sides or gaps and seams caused by a sub-fault, which causes the layers to settle and move about 60 cm in 1: 1 dimension. This phenomenon has caused the rapid evacuation of the lake and the creation of abundant detrital sediments on the lake bed and contexts 307, 107 in the trenches Q-31and X-35. Also, by examining Paleolithic seismic studies in the Gohar tepe in Behshahr (this site is the same horizon as the Ghal-e-ben) in the Late Bronze Age (3500 years ago), the effects of this fault activity in the formation of a seismic phenomenon in the Bronze Age have been evident. Considering the 60 cm displacement of cultural layers due to the movement and activity of sub-faults observed in Trench Q31, the impact of Caspian fault activity in Ghal-e-ben (Bozroodpi) can be seen. Therefore, after this date (3500 years ago), the Axolic layer of cultural interruption caused by the Mandar Reservoir occurred during the gradual closure of the river channel at this site, and a Mandar Reservoir was formed. The materials deposited over time are more sand type when the sediments cut off after the old river (in the Mandir rivers), and the Axolic lake formed fine-grained particles such as silt and clay deposits.
Conclusion
Ghal-e-ben locates in the Khoshroud Pey town in one of the cities of Babol city in Mazandaran province. This site is near the Caspian Fault and the Khoshroud Pey River. This site belongs to the Bronze Age in Mazandaran Due to the morphological channel of the river, which reduces the energy intensity of river sediment transport, and according to archaeological findings from contexts 306, 307, and 309 from trench Q31 and context 107 from trench X-35, in context 306, the soil is dense and the thicker the context, the higher the silt percentage. In context 307, the soil texture changes to a clay-calcareous type with a high rate of clay, along with the remains of oysters and river snails of the freshwater species, indicating sedimentary and river flows to a depth of 1 meter due to the proximity of the river. These changes can be attributed to Khoshroud Pey west of the Ghal-e-ben site. Contexts (309 and 308) are covered with 307 context folds despite an obvious fault and a displacement of sixty centimeters. Based on the dating results, the seismic fault observed in Trench Q31, simultaneously with the large earthquake reported at the Gohar Tappeh site, can be considered the reason for the evacuation of a large area of prehistoric settlements in the southeastern coastal plain of the Caspian Sea. And it seems that the Ghal-e-ben site has been abandoned forever due to this earthquake. It is necessary to conduct geological studies and studies in this site and other sites of this period in Mazandaran to get the answers to these questions.
Keywords: Geomorphology, Faults, Sedimentation, Archeology, Ghal-e-ben
Hassan Fazeli Nashli , Mojtaba Safari , Judith Thomalsky , Xiaohong Wu , Hedayat Kalvari
Abstract
While the center of the Iranian plateau suffered from cultural disruptions and social crises during the third millennium BC, and its settlements declined, parts of the northern strip (ie Mazandaran province) and northeastern of Iran experienced one of the brightest periods of their lives and had another life. Mazandaran province is located in the middle of the northern front of the central Alborz and is one of the most unknown parts of Iran in term of the establishment texture in third millennium. Lack of independent and purposeful researches in the northern parts of the Central Alborz and the southern shores of the Caspian Sea, especially in Mazandaran province, has led to an insufficient and inappropriate understanding of the Bronze Age developments, and following that has made us not have a favorable opportunity for comparative research and study of cultural interactions with the surrounding areas, compared to other regions of the Iranian plateau. Do not have a culture with the surrounding areas. Therefore, the need to review previous archaeological activities and the results of excavations of key sites of the Bronze Age such as Ghal e -Ben in Babol, to study the chronology of this area was felt, Therefore, this article tries to provide a framework for the chronology of Central Alborz by studying and analyzing the results of the Bronze Age excavations in the region as well as the information obtained from the excavations of the Bozroud pey area (Ghal e -Ben) of Babol.
Keywords: Chronology, Northern Alborz, Bronze Age, Ghal e -Ben.
Introduction
We consider Mazandaran province as a part of the cultural area of northeastern Iran, which has extended to the Sombar valley in western Turkmenistan. Although Mazandaran province has been influenced by the cultures of Gorgan plain and northeastern Iran in its starting point, but over time we see that Mazandaran should be considered as a special cultural territory whose pottery composition reflects the cultural territory of this part of Iran. Which slowly spreads to other parts of Alborz and outside its geographical environment, so that if we look at large parts of the southern front of Alborz, from the valley of Taleghan to the lower plains of Damghan and Semnan, the people of this region are well in Mazandaran language and dialect They talked and we believe that traces of cultural development of Mazandaran in the Bronze and Iron Ages can be seen in the southern parts of Alborz. Therefore, the formation of the historical geography of Mazandaran started from the Bronze Age and evolved in the Iron Age and accommodated very rich cultures over time and space. As we will discuss in this article, gray pottery was widespread in all bronze phases of Mazandaran, and unlike the Gorgan plain, where gray pottery was very diverse in shape and form, Mazandaran had a lower intensity during the Bronze Age.
Bozroud pey (Ghal e -Ben) Area of babol province
This area is one of the index areas of the Bronze Age in the central part of Mazandaran in the city of Khoshroudpey, Babol province, located in the western part of Band pey country (Figure 1), which is 66 meters above sea level and has following longitude and latitude coordinates. N: 36 23.17 / 84 E: 52 34.12 / 55. Also, this area has been registered in the list of national monuments with the number of 31367. In the first chapter of the excavation of the of Ghal e -Ben of the Bozroud pey site project in 1397, four boreholes named X-35, stepped test borehole in the north of the area for layering, borehole Q-31 with dimensions of 2 × 2 meters vertically in the northeast of the site to study geological developments and also the W-32 borehole with dimensions of 5×5 meter for horizontal excavation and also the borehole AB-27 with dimensions of 2 × 2 meter for the purpose of recognizing cultural layers in the southwestern part of the site have been considered. In this paper, in order to know more about the chronological status of the area, we will deal with the results of two layering boreholes whose cultural layers have been absolutely dated.
Data Analysis and Conclusion
The present article can be considered as the most serious research in Mazandaran chronology that allows us to more accurately depict the appearance of human societies in Mazandaran, how human societies arised in this part of Iran and went through the process of social and cultural complexities and desist in the middle of the second millennium. We do not know much about the origin and manner of migration and population explosion in the third millennium BC and based on studies in northern Alborz, evidence of the influence of Silk III culture has been reported (Heidari, 2016), it seems that in the early Hesar II period (3600 -3400) Sialk culture III3-7 has penetrated east of Mazandaran through the Damghan region. However, Barbara Helwing (Helwing 2006) and Christopher Thornton (Thornton et al. 2013) precisely depict the "cultural orientation" of the hesar from West (north of the central plateau) to the north / northeast of Iran, generally in the late fourth millennium BC, Hesar hill, unlike previous periods that were associated with the central plateau, in this period with the northern basin East, Gorgan plain and southern Turkmenistan established cultural ties. (Thornton, 2013; Thornton et al., 2013).
At the end of the fourth millennium BC, the southern and southeastern basins of the Caspian Sea, especially Mazandaran province, established their cultural interactions with the Gorgan plain and the northeast. From signs of this interaction in this area we can mention "Caspian Black on Red Ceramic". Due to the fact that in the lower layers of areas such as Gohar tapeh, Qaleh Kesh and Ghal e -Ben (related to the late fourth millennium BC) in Mazandaran province, this type of red pottery with black motifs has been identified, this type of pottery can be referred to as Caspian type pottery. This pottery is same with its similar type in Gorgan plain in areas such as Shah Tepe III-IIb, Turang Tepe IIA, Hesar tepe and in Sombar cemetery in the second half of the 4th millennium BC (Olson, Thornton, 2019: 18). Gray pottery of Ghal e -Ben area on an intra-regional scale are comparable with samples obtained from Gohar Tapeh excavation (Mahforouzi, 2007), Yaghoot Tapeh (Mahforouzi, 2006), Tepe Kelar (Mousavi Kouhpar and Abbasnejad Sarasti, 2007), Qaleh Kesh hill (Amirkalaei, 2009), Qaleh Pey (Mahforouzi, 2009), Terkam Tapeh (Mahforouzi, 2010) and Tapeh Abbasi (Abbasnejad Sarasti, 2009) in Mazandaran province. On the other hand, on a trans-regional scale, this interaction with examples of Hesar IIB-IIIA-BC (Schmidt, 1937), Shah tepe IIA-B (Arne, 1945), Turang tepe (Deshayes, 1976) and Narges Tapeh III (Abbasi, 1390), can be seen. Also, the existence of several pieces of pottery of Yaniqh type (Kora-Aras) has been found among the pottery of the old Bronze Age in the area of Ghal e -Ben. In terms of construction technique, color, elegance and patterns, these potteries are to a large extent compatible with Yaniqh type pottery discovered from kelar Hill (Mousavi Kouhpar and Abbasnejad Sarasti, 2007). Therefore, during the third millennium BC, the presence of works of beyond the Caucasus culture (about 2500-2400 BC) in Mazandaran province and Gorgan plain can be seen, which shows the attractiveness of this style of pottery in the northern region of Iran and although the cultural connection of these areas During this period with the northwest of Iran can also be considered.
Mojtaba Safari , Rahmat Abbasnejad ,Hassan Fazeli Nashli ,Christopher P. Thornton , Judith Thomalsky
Abstract
Heretofore, no comprehensive chronological study has been conducted on the northern side of the Central Alborz mountains, including the modern provinces of Mazandaran and Gorgan, based on technological and typological study of pre-historic pottery. This is especially true of the Bronze Age (ca. 3000-1500 BCE), for which we have no sites with an unbroken stratigraphic sequence that have been excavated and fully published. The majority of pottery, especially the gray wares, in this region have been discovered in the course of illicit investigations and their description, classification, and chronological analyses have been influenced by cultural history approaches. As a result, some Bronze Age pottery has been attributed to the Iron Age, or assigned to the wrong stage of the Bronze Age (i.e., early, middle, and late). The lack of scientifically-based ceramic classification and typology is an important archaeological issue in our understanding of the Bronze Age in this region. The authors of the present article here attempt a comparative chronology for this area based on typological studies and classification of ceramics discovered in explorations of the site of Ghal e-Ben of in Babol, Mazandaran. Bronze Age pottery discovered in this area can be compared to those discovered in Gohar Tepe, Tepe Ghale Kosh, Tepe Ghale Pey, Tepe Tarkam, and Tepe Abbasi in eastern Mazandaran, and those discovered in Shah Tepe, Tureng Tepe, and Narges Tepe in Gorgan as well as Tepe Hissar in Damghan. In spite of the fact that the results of comparative studies on Ghal e -Ben ceramics are indicative of cultural ties between central and eastern regions of Mazandaran, Gorgan Plain, and Damghan during the Bronze Age, discovery of few Yanik (Kura-Araxes) ceramics in this site leads to a new investigation on the possible relationship between this region and the origin of these ceramics (possibly in northwest of Iran) in the Third Millennium B.C.
Keywords: Mazandaran, Bronze Age, Gray Pottery, Relative Chronology, Typology.
Introduction
In spite of the fact that the classification and typology of pre-historic ceramics of northeastern Iran began in the 1930s (e.g., Wulsin 1932; Schmidt 1937), some remarkable articles have been published in the recent years that contribute significantly to understanding chronology of the said areas (Olson 2020; Olson & Thornton 2019). Indeed, these studies have been particularly useful for understanding the relative chronology of Mazandaran Province. More recently, stratigraphic studies at Ghal e-Ben site have given us a more realistic understanding of cultural changes in this region during the Bronze Age. Ghal e-Ben site is located in the central part of Mazandaran Province, in Khoshrudpey southwest of Babol city in West Bandpey County. The altitude of the region is 66 meters above the seas level, and geographical coordinates are N: 36 23. 17/84 E: 52 34.12/55. The site is recorded under registration number 31367 in the list of National Historical Monuments. A stratigraphic sounding was done in 2018 to learn more about the chronological status of the site (Fazeli, 2018). Results of this stratigraphic sounding showed that the upper layers (upper two meters), consisting of artifacts from Islamic and historic eras, are unfortunately disturbed due to agricultural activities as well as unauthorized excavations is some parts of the hill. Below the depth of two meters there is a layer with a thickness of one meter containing fine silt natural-sediment deposit and abundant remains of small freshwater snails. No cultural materials were found in this layer. This layer possibly suggests the remains of the old meander river flow channel, which eventually turned into an oxbow lake marsh or pond, resulting in a cultural gap at the site. The gap could be the period between end of the Bronze Age or beginning of the Iron Age and re-establishment of the site during the Historic Era. At a depth of 3 to 10 meters from surface, the archaeological site of Ghal e-Ben contains undisturbed Bronze Age deposits. The Carbon-14 test results on 36 samples discovered from these layers show that Ghal e-Ben was inhabited from 3300 to 1500 BCE.
Typological and Chronological Investigations Based on the Ceramics of Ghal e-Ben Site in spite of the fact that typological and chronological investigations based on pottery data are quite common in most archaeological studies across Iran, the prehistoric era of Mazandaran province has a very small share of such studies. Indeed, no established typology has been proposed for ceramics of this region. On the other hand, although the archaeological excavations in Mazandaran Province contain more comprehensive information about the Bronze Age, compared to the other historic eras, no accurate chronology had been presented for the excavated sites of this era before excavations at Ghal e-Ben. However, excavation of Ghal e-Ben provided the authors of this article with the chance to investigate and prepare a preliminary typology of Bronze Age ceramics in Mazandaran region using the absolute chronological sequence of this site.
The typology of Ghal e-Ben ceramics was based on four main indicators including: production technique, ornamentation, form of the rim, and form of the body. This study led to reproduction of ceramics and comparing them to those discovered in other sites across Mazandaran Province and the Gorgan Plain.
Conclusion
The present article is the first comparative study of the Bronze Age in Mazandaran Province based on the information acquired from stratigraphic excavation of Ghal e-Ben archaeological site. It presents a relative chronology of the Bronze Age in Mazandaran Province based on the ceramics from excavated, C14-dated contexts. The results show that gray ware ceramics were decorated with diverse ornamentation, from polished and burnished patterns to carved patterns, which can be compared in terms of form and pattern to the ceramics found in the type-sites of northeastern Iran including Hissar IIB-IIIC, Shah Tepe IIA-B, Tureng Tepe IIA- IIIC, and Narges Tepe III as well as at major Bronze Age sites of Mazandaran including Gohar Tepe, Taghut Tepe in Behshahr, Tepe Kelar in Kelardasht, Tepe Ghale Kosh in Amol, Ghale Pey and Tepe Turkam in Sari, Gomishan Cave, and Tepe Abbasi in Neka. It is also interesting to note that material remains of Transcaucasian culture (Kura-Araxes) from the third millennium BCE (ca. 2500-2400 BCE) are observed in Mazandaran and the Gorgan Plain, which indicates cultural ties between these regions and the northwest of Iran during the Bronze Age. A number of ceramics were found in the Early Bronze Age layers at Ghal e-Ben archaeological site that compare to Kura-Araxes ceramics discovered at Tepe Kelar in terms of production technique, color, fineness, and patterns. To what extent these foreign ceramics found together with local types can be indicative of the influence of Transcaucasian cultures must be the subject of further studies, and horizontal explorations can help in this regard. However, it is clear that the comparative study of ceramics discovered in Ghal e-Ben and other Bronze Age sites of Mazandaran suggests cultural ties between this region and both the northwest and northeast of Iran.
Ghal e-Ben archaeological site in Babol was inhabited during the late fourth millennium BCE and was abandoned gradually around 1500-1400 BCE. Such abandonment events have been observed in most other archaeological sites in the north and northeast of Iran, and we do not know exactly how to connect the Iron Age in Mazandaran to the Bronze Age, as the Iron Age emerged in northern Iran around 1100 BCE. These are the questions that will be hopefully answered by future studies on cultural sequence of Mazandaran during the second and first millennia.
References
• Fazeli Nashli, Hassan, (2018). The first chapter explores the area of Qhal e-Bin and Shahneh Peshteh in the city of Babel, the documentation center of the Cultural Heritage Organization
• Olson. K, G. (2020). Models of Trade and Polity Formation Dissertation, In Anthropology, Degree of Doctor of Philosophy, Presented to the Faculties of the University of Pennsylvania.
• Olson. K. G, Thornton. C, P. (2019): Tureng Tepe, a Bronze Age Centre in Northeastern Iran Revisited, Iran, PP:1-33
• Schmidt, E. F. (1937) Excavations at Tepe Hissar: Damghan. Philadelphia: The University Museum
• Wulsin, F. R. (1932) Excavations at Tureng Tepe, near Asterabad. New York: Supplement to the Bulletin of the American Institute for Persian Art and Archaeology, v. 2.1
.
millennium BCE, including a rise and collapse in cultural complexity. The Caspian Sea
region was distinctive in terms of society-environment interactions, and societies had
to take measures to be resilient in the face of change. The onset of new forms of social
organization from Gīlān to Mazandaran or from the central plateau to the Gorgan plain
could look very different during the Bronze and Iron Ages, especially in terms of resource
extraction and transformations in prehistoric societies. In Mazandaran, such social
transformation began during the late fourth millennium BCE and continued during the
Bronze and Iron Ages. In this paper, we evaluate long-term resilience and adaptability
from the Bronze Age to the Iron Age in Mazandaran and examine how the societies of the
south-central Caspian Sea changed through time and space.
Keywords: resilience; Mazandaran; Bronze Age; Iron Age; Caspian Sea shorelines;
Ghal-e Ben; Shahne Posht
has been one of the important cities of Tabaristan in the early Islamic centuries. This city had a military function in the Abbasid period. In
historical sources, Toranjeh has been recognized as Borji, Toranji, Torji,
Tariji, Toranjir, and Tazhir which is located in the lowland zone between
Mamatir (Babol) in South, Mileh (Southeast of Amol) in West and Sari in
the East. The noteworthy political and military aspects have focused on
the localization of Toranjeh city in early and medieval Islamic periods
by historical sources and archaeological findings. On the base of documentary evidence, it can be given that the cultural sequence of the city of
Toranjeh is divided into three phases. The formation of the Espahbodan
Tabarestan reign, the development phase, and finally the collapse of the
Samanid rule in the Mazandaran Marashyan period. The authors in the
framework of a program of archaeological research surveyed Abolhasan
kola-i- Babol located in the province of Mazandaran. The findings and
review of archaeological and historical evidence suggest that the studied
area (the village of Abolhasan kola-i- Babol) is the probable location of
the city of Toranjeh.
Keywords: Tabaristan, Early Islamic Centuries, Toranjeh Historical
City, Abol-Hasan-Kola village Written Sources
Mazandaran province has been a suitable environment for forming communities during prehistoric times due to its environmental characteristics such as abundant water, fertile soil, and rich marine and forest resources. In addition, this area is considered a bridge between the northwestern regions, the northeastern regions, and the southern lands of Alborz and has been influenced by neighboring cultures over time. In this essay, by examining geomorphology, sedimentation, and climate change in the study site and its impact on the lives of the people of the Ghal-e-ben, the environmental developments and historical gaps created in this site have been studied. The essential questions and hypotheses in this research are: The occurrence of earthquake and flood flow of Khoshroud Pey River, what effect has it had on the transformation of the settlement of Ghal-e-ben site? What is the reason for the deposition of the Khoshroud Pey River in the Ghal-e-ben site? Based on the archaeological findings obtained from contexts 306, 307, and 309 of Trench Q31 and context 107 of Trench X-35, we found that in context 306, there is clay with limestone, and the thicker the layer, The silty texture becomes. In context 307, the type of clay-calcareous texture with a high percentage of clay along with the remains of shells and river snails is of the freshwater species type, indicating sedimentary and river flows to a depth of 1 meter, which is due to the proximity of Khoshroud Pey River. In the west Ghal-e-ben site, these changes can be considered the result of these river flows. Since the lower context (309) has natural subsidence or seismic stress, the reason for the formation of sediments in the upper layers was probably the presence of regional natural seismic stress.
Research Method
In this study, to answer fundamental questions, in addition to archaeological excavations, geological and geomorphological analyzes by sampling various experiments such as morphotropic studies, XRD experiments, granulation analysis and determination of sediment tissue code, granulation Calcular experiments applied to the collected sediment samples to achieve sedimentological analysis. Then the results were compared and analyzed.
Analysis of environmental data in Ghal-e-ben site
In Context 306, the Ghal-e-ben site has a dense clay texture of light gray color with limestone fragments. In the upper part of this texture, it is dense, but gradually in the lower parts of the soil texture, this context becomes more porous and silty, which indicates the presence of flow sediments. Today, the bed of the Khoshroud Pey River locates a short distance from the west of the site. In the past, this river passed through Ghal-e-ben, or according to morphological characteristics of the Khoshroud Pey River and the shape of its tributary bed, one of the branches connected to it is in the site. In context 307, the texture of the soil is light yellow and of clay-limestone type with a high percentage of clay and without any cultural materials and organic plant bone residues. The texture of this soil is very dense, and the remains of shells and river snails, freshwater aquatic species, have been abundantly obtained from this texture. The lower parts of this context reduced the number of freshwater snails, shells, and silt. The soil in this context has very low porosity and appears utterly free of bone and without any fertile Lum structure. In fact, from a depth of about 190 cm in contexts 307 and 107 in trenches Q-31, X-35 with a thickness of 1 m, the remains of fine-grained natural silty sedimentary deposits were observed with abundant remnants of tiny freshwater snails that lack cultural guarantees, probably context 307. The remnants of the gradual cessation of the canal of the old Mandar transformed into a watercourse or Axolic. They have covered the whole area, causing a cultural interruption in this period with a thickness of one meter. Also, Context 309, located southwest of the trench, is probably a geological phenomenon of subsidence or natural seismic stress along the two sides or gaps and seams caused by a sub-fault, which causes the layers to settle and move about 60 cm in 1: 1 dimension. This phenomenon has caused the rapid evacuation of the lake and the creation of abundant detrital sediments on the lake bed and contexts 307, 107 in the trenches Q-31and X-35. Also, by examining Paleolithic seismic studies in the Gohar tepe in Behshahr (this site is the same horizon as the Ghal-e-ben) in the Late Bronze Age (3500 years ago), the effects of this fault activity in the formation of a seismic phenomenon in the Bronze Age have been evident. Considering the 60 cm displacement of cultural layers due to the movement and activity of sub-faults observed in Trench Q31, the impact of Caspian fault activity in Ghal-e-ben (Bozroodpi) can be seen. Therefore, after this date (3500 years ago), the Axolic layer of cultural interruption caused by the Mandar Reservoir occurred during the gradual closure of the river channel at this site, and a Mandar Reservoir was formed. The materials deposited over time are more sand type when the sediments cut off after the old river (in the Mandir rivers), and the Axolic lake formed fine-grained particles such as silt and clay deposits.
Conclusion
Ghal-e-ben locates in the Khoshroud Pey town in one of the cities of Babol city in Mazandaran province. This site is near the Caspian Fault and the Khoshroud Pey River. This site belongs to the Bronze Age in Mazandaran Due to the morphological channel of the river, which reduces the energy intensity of river sediment transport, and according to archaeological findings from contexts 306, 307, and 309 from trench Q31 and context 107 from trench X-35, in context 306, the soil is dense and the thicker the context, the higher the silt percentage. In context 307, the soil texture changes to a clay-calcareous type with a high rate of clay, along with the remains of oysters and river snails of the freshwater species, indicating sedimentary and river flows to a depth of 1 meter due to the proximity of the river. These changes can be attributed to Khoshroud Pey west of the Ghal-e-ben site. Contexts (309 and 308) are covered with 307 context folds despite an obvious fault and a displacement of sixty centimeters. Based on the dating results, the seismic fault observed in Trench Q31, simultaneously with the large earthquake reported at the Gohar Tappeh site, can be considered the reason for the evacuation of a large area of prehistoric settlements in the southeastern coastal plain of the Caspian Sea. And it seems that the Ghal-e-ben site has been abandoned forever due to this earthquake. It is necessary to conduct geological studies and studies in this site and other sites of this period in Mazandaran to get the answers to these questions.
Keywords: Geomorphology, Faults, Sedimentation, Archeology, Ghal-e-ben
Hassan Fazeli Nashli , Mojtaba Safari , Judith Thomalsky , Xiaohong Wu , Hedayat Kalvari
Abstract
While the center of the Iranian plateau suffered from cultural disruptions and social crises during the third millennium BC, and its settlements declined, parts of the northern strip (ie Mazandaran province) and northeastern of Iran experienced one of the brightest periods of their lives and had another life. Mazandaran province is located in the middle of the northern front of the central Alborz and is one of the most unknown parts of Iran in term of the establishment texture in third millennium. Lack of independent and purposeful researches in the northern parts of the Central Alborz and the southern shores of the Caspian Sea, especially in Mazandaran province, has led to an insufficient and inappropriate understanding of the Bronze Age developments, and following that has made us not have a favorable opportunity for comparative research and study of cultural interactions with the surrounding areas, compared to other regions of the Iranian plateau. Do not have a culture with the surrounding areas. Therefore, the need to review previous archaeological activities and the results of excavations of key sites of the Bronze Age such as Ghal e -Ben in Babol, to study the chronology of this area was felt, Therefore, this article tries to provide a framework for the chronology of Central Alborz by studying and analyzing the results of the Bronze Age excavations in the region as well as the information obtained from the excavations of the Bozroud pey area (Ghal e -Ben) of Babol.
Keywords: Chronology, Northern Alborz, Bronze Age, Ghal e -Ben.
Introduction
We consider Mazandaran province as a part of the cultural area of northeastern Iran, which has extended to the Sombar valley in western Turkmenistan. Although Mazandaran province has been influenced by the cultures of Gorgan plain and northeastern Iran in its starting point, but over time we see that Mazandaran should be considered as a special cultural territory whose pottery composition reflects the cultural territory of this part of Iran. Which slowly spreads to other parts of Alborz and outside its geographical environment, so that if we look at large parts of the southern front of Alborz, from the valley of Taleghan to the lower plains of Damghan and Semnan, the people of this region are well in Mazandaran language and dialect They talked and we believe that traces of cultural development of Mazandaran in the Bronze and Iron Ages can be seen in the southern parts of Alborz. Therefore, the formation of the historical geography of Mazandaran started from the Bronze Age and evolved in the Iron Age and accommodated very rich cultures over time and space. As we will discuss in this article, gray pottery was widespread in all bronze phases of Mazandaran, and unlike the Gorgan plain, where gray pottery was very diverse in shape and form, Mazandaran had a lower intensity during the Bronze Age.
Bozroud pey (Ghal e -Ben) Area of babol province
This area is one of the index areas of the Bronze Age in the central part of Mazandaran in the city of Khoshroudpey, Babol province, located in the western part of Band pey country (Figure 1), which is 66 meters above sea level and has following longitude and latitude coordinates. N: 36 23.17 / 84 E: 52 34.12 / 55. Also, this area has been registered in the list of national monuments with the number of 31367. In the first chapter of the excavation of the of Ghal e -Ben of the Bozroud pey site project in 1397, four boreholes named X-35, stepped test borehole in the north of the area for layering, borehole Q-31 with dimensions of 2 × 2 meters vertically in the northeast of the site to study geological developments and also the W-32 borehole with dimensions of 5×5 meter for horizontal excavation and also the borehole AB-27 with dimensions of 2 × 2 meter for the purpose of recognizing cultural layers in the southwestern part of the site have been considered. In this paper, in order to know more about the chronological status of the area, we will deal with the results of two layering boreholes whose cultural layers have been absolutely dated.
Data Analysis and Conclusion
The present article can be considered as the most serious research in Mazandaran chronology that allows us to more accurately depict the appearance of human societies in Mazandaran, how human societies arised in this part of Iran and went through the process of social and cultural complexities and desist in the middle of the second millennium. We do not know much about the origin and manner of migration and population explosion in the third millennium BC and based on studies in northern Alborz, evidence of the influence of Silk III culture has been reported (Heidari, 2016), it seems that in the early Hesar II period (3600 -3400) Sialk culture III3-7 has penetrated east of Mazandaran through the Damghan region. However, Barbara Helwing (Helwing 2006) and Christopher Thornton (Thornton et al. 2013) precisely depict the "cultural orientation" of the hesar from West (north of the central plateau) to the north / northeast of Iran, generally in the late fourth millennium BC, Hesar hill, unlike previous periods that were associated with the central plateau, in this period with the northern basin East, Gorgan plain and southern Turkmenistan established cultural ties. (Thornton, 2013; Thornton et al., 2013).
At the end of the fourth millennium BC, the southern and southeastern basins of the Caspian Sea, especially Mazandaran province, established their cultural interactions with the Gorgan plain and the northeast. From signs of this interaction in this area we can mention "Caspian Black on Red Ceramic". Due to the fact that in the lower layers of areas such as Gohar tapeh, Qaleh Kesh and Ghal e -Ben (related to the late fourth millennium BC) in Mazandaran province, this type of red pottery with black motifs has been identified, this type of pottery can be referred to as Caspian type pottery. This pottery is same with its similar type in Gorgan plain in areas such as Shah Tepe III-IIb, Turang Tepe IIA, Hesar tepe and in Sombar cemetery in the second half of the 4th millennium BC (Olson, Thornton, 2019: 18). Gray pottery of Ghal e -Ben area on an intra-regional scale are comparable with samples obtained from Gohar Tapeh excavation (Mahforouzi, 2007), Yaghoot Tapeh (Mahforouzi, 2006), Tepe Kelar (Mousavi Kouhpar and Abbasnejad Sarasti, 2007), Qaleh Kesh hill (Amirkalaei, 2009), Qaleh Pey (Mahforouzi, 2009), Terkam Tapeh (Mahforouzi, 2010) and Tapeh Abbasi (Abbasnejad Sarasti, 2009) in Mazandaran province. On the other hand, on a trans-regional scale, this interaction with examples of Hesar IIB-IIIA-BC (Schmidt, 1937), Shah tepe IIA-B (Arne, 1945), Turang tepe (Deshayes, 1976) and Narges Tapeh III (Abbasi, 1390), can be seen. Also, the existence of several pieces of pottery of Yaniqh type (Kora-Aras) has been found among the pottery of the old Bronze Age in the area of Ghal e -Ben. In terms of construction technique, color, elegance and patterns, these potteries are to a large extent compatible with Yaniqh type pottery discovered from kelar Hill (Mousavi Kouhpar and Abbasnejad Sarasti, 2007). Therefore, during the third millennium BC, the presence of works of beyond the Caucasus culture (about 2500-2400 BC) in Mazandaran province and Gorgan plain can be seen, which shows the attractiveness of this style of pottery in the northern region of Iran and although the cultural connection of these areas During this period with the northwest of Iran can also be considered.
Mojtaba Safari , Rahmat Abbasnejad ,Hassan Fazeli Nashli ,Christopher P. Thornton , Judith Thomalsky
Abstract
Heretofore, no comprehensive chronological study has been conducted on the northern side of the Central Alborz mountains, including the modern provinces of Mazandaran and Gorgan, based on technological and typological study of pre-historic pottery. This is especially true of the Bronze Age (ca. 3000-1500 BCE), for which we have no sites with an unbroken stratigraphic sequence that have been excavated and fully published. The majority of pottery, especially the gray wares, in this region have been discovered in the course of illicit investigations and their description, classification, and chronological analyses have been influenced by cultural history approaches. As a result, some Bronze Age pottery has been attributed to the Iron Age, or assigned to the wrong stage of the Bronze Age (i.e., early, middle, and late). The lack of scientifically-based ceramic classification and typology is an important archaeological issue in our understanding of the Bronze Age in this region. The authors of the present article here attempt a comparative chronology for this area based on typological studies and classification of ceramics discovered in explorations of the site of Ghal e-Ben of in Babol, Mazandaran. Bronze Age pottery discovered in this area can be compared to those discovered in Gohar Tepe, Tepe Ghale Kosh, Tepe Ghale Pey, Tepe Tarkam, and Tepe Abbasi in eastern Mazandaran, and those discovered in Shah Tepe, Tureng Tepe, and Narges Tepe in Gorgan as well as Tepe Hissar in Damghan. In spite of the fact that the results of comparative studies on Ghal e -Ben ceramics are indicative of cultural ties between central and eastern regions of Mazandaran, Gorgan Plain, and Damghan during the Bronze Age, discovery of few Yanik (Kura-Araxes) ceramics in this site leads to a new investigation on the possible relationship between this region and the origin of these ceramics (possibly in northwest of Iran) in the Third Millennium B.C.
Keywords: Mazandaran, Bronze Age, Gray Pottery, Relative Chronology, Typology.
Introduction
In spite of the fact that the classification and typology of pre-historic ceramics of northeastern Iran began in the 1930s (e.g., Wulsin 1932; Schmidt 1937), some remarkable articles have been published in the recent years that contribute significantly to understanding chronology of the said areas (Olson 2020; Olson & Thornton 2019). Indeed, these studies have been particularly useful for understanding the relative chronology of Mazandaran Province. More recently, stratigraphic studies at Ghal e-Ben site have given us a more realistic understanding of cultural changes in this region during the Bronze Age. Ghal e-Ben site is located in the central part of Mazandaran Province, in Khoshrudpey southwest of Babol city in West Bandpey County. The altitude of the region is 66 meters above the seas level, and geographical coordinates are N: 36 23. 17/84 E: 52 34.12/55. The site is recorded under registration number 31367 in the list of National Historical Monuments. A stratigraphic sounding was done in 2018 to learn more about the chronological status of the site (Fazeli, 2018). Results of this stratigraphic sounding showed that the upper layers (upper two meters), consisting of artifacts from Islamic and historic eras, are unfortunately disturbed due to agricultural activities as well as unauthorized excavations is some parts of the hill. Below the depth of two meters there is a layer with a thickness of one meter containing fine silt natural-sediment deposit and abundant remains of small freshwater snails. No cultural materials were found in this layer. This layer possibly suggests the remains of the old meander river flow channel, which eventually turned into an oxbow lake marsh or pond, resulting in a cultural gap at the site. The gap could be the period between end of the Bronze Age or beginning of the Iron Age and re-establishment of the site during the Historic Era. At a depth of 3 to 10 meters from surface, the archaeological site of Ghal e-Ben contains undisturbed Bronze Age deposits. The Carbon-14 test results on 36 samples discovered from these layers show that Ghal e-Ben was inhabited from 3300 to 1500 BCE.
Typological and Chronological Investigations Based on the Ceramics of Ghal e-Ben Site in spite of the fact that typological and chronological investigations based on pottery data are quite common in most archaeological studies across Iran, the prehistoric era of Mazandaran province has a very small share of such studies. Indeed, no established typology has been proposed for ceramics of this region. On the other hand, although the archaeological excavations in Mazandaran Province contain more comprehensive information about the Bronze Age, compared to the other historic eras, no accurate chronology had been presented for the excavated sites of this era before excavations at Ghal e-Ben. However, excavation of Ghal e-Ben provided the authors of this article with the chance to investigate and prepare a preliminary typology of Bronze Age ceramics in Mazandaran region using the absolute chronological sequence of this site.
The typology of Ghal e-Ben ceramics was based on four main indicators including: production technique, ornamentation, form of the rim, and form of the body. This study led to reproduction of ceramics and comparing them to those discovered in other sites across Mazandaran Province and the Gorgan Plain.
Conclusion
The present article is the first comparative study of the Bronze Age in Mazandaran Province based on the information acquired from stratigraphic excavation of Ghal e-Ben archaeological site. It presents a relative chronology of the Bronze Age in Mazandaran Province based on the ceramics from excavated, C14-dated contexts. The results show that gray ware ceramics were decorated with diverse ornamentation, from polished and burnished patterns to carved patterns, which can be compared in terms of form and pattern to the ceramics found in the type-sites of northeastern Iran including Hissar IIB-IIIC, Shah Tepe IIA-B, Tureng Tepe IIA- IIIC, and Narges Tepe III as well as at major Bronze Age sites of Mazandaran including Gohar Tepe, Taghut Tepe in Behshahr, Tepe Kelar in Kelardasht, Tepe Ghale Kosh in Amol, Ghale Pey and Tepe Turkam in Sari, Gomishan Cave, and Tepe Abbasi in Neka. It is also interesting to note that material remains of Transcaucasian culture (Kura-Araxes) from the third millennium BCE (ca. 2500-2400 BCE) are observed in Mazandaran and the Gorgan Plain, which indicates cultural ties between these regions and the northwest of Iran during the Bronze Age. A number of ceramics were found in the Early Bronze Age layers at Ghal e-Ben archaeological site that compare to Kura-Araxes ceramics discovered at Tepe Kelar in terms of production technique, color, fineness, and patterns. To what extent these foreign ceramics found together with local types can be indicative of the influence of Transcaucasian cultures must be the subject of further studies, and horizontal explorations can help in this regard. However, it is clear that the comparative study of ceramics discovered in Ghal e-Ben and other Bronze Age sites of Mazandaran suggests cultural ties between this region and both the northwest and northeast of Iran.
Ghal e-Ben archaeological site in Babol was inhabited during the late fourth millennium BCE and was abandoned gradually around 1500-1400 BCE. Such abandonment events have been observed in most other archaeological sites in the north and northeast of Iran, and we do not know exactly how to connect the Iron Age in Mazandaran to the Bronze Age, as the Iron Age emerged in northern Iran around 1100 BCE. These are the questions that will be hopefully answered by future studies on cultural sequence of Mazandaran during the second and first millennia.
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