Dissertation: Early Socio-Economic and Organizational Developments in Highlands of Western Iran

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Under the direction of Dr. Henry Wright, Mr. Kamyar Abdi will collect data for his doctoral dissertation. He will conduct archaeological research in the Zagros Mountains region of Western Iran and combine geomorphological reconstruction and regional survey with excavation at selected sites. He will focus on the Neolithic and Chalcolithic (Copper Age) periods when plants and animals were first domesticated and the roots of civilization in the Near East were established. Prior work by Mr. Kamyar has indicated an abundance of sites attributable to both early settled and nomadic populations. Although it has been many years since archaeological research in this area has been possible, the region is importance because it has provided evidence for very early domestication and is seen as one of the hearths from which complex societies arose. Evidence indicates that both pastoralism, based on sheep and goat herding as well as settled village agricultural life developed at roughly the same time in the Zagros and prehistorians have speculated on the relationship between the two. Some have argued that these represent separate and competing ways of life and that the two groups were perpetually at odds competing for grazing and agricultural space. Others have postulated that the two types of subsistence are linked, that pastoralists were dependent on farmers for essential grain supplies and that animals grazed during winter months on remains in harvested fields. Likewise farmers obtained necessary protein through nomad supplied meat. Some researchers such as Mr. Abdi have also maintained that this very complexity and complementarity lead to the development of social complexity and to the mechanisms which regulated large scale social interaction. His research in the Zagros will evaluate this idea. Because climate and landform are not stable over time, a geomorphological survey will be conducted. Based on a time sensitive ceramic chronology already developed, Mr. Abdi and his colleagues will map and locate surface sites, both agricultural and pastoralist and determine their relative ages. Limited excavation at representatives of each type will provide information on the degree of social stratification as well as trade. Recovery of floral and faunal remains will permit dietary reconstruction. On this basis the interaction between groups and the degree of stratification within each can be determined.This research is important for several reasons. It will provide insight into the basic mechanisms which gave rise to complex society. It will provide data of interest to many archaeologists and contribute to training a promising researcher.