The Persepolis Basin (SW Iran): a System Model to investigate Human-Climate-Ecosystem interactions during the Holocene

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The Persepolis Basin is a unique natural laboratory to investigate human-climate-ecosystem interactions in the interior plateaus of the Middle East during the Holocene. It attests to a near-continuous history of human occupation since Neolithic times at 7000 BC and has witnessed the emergence of several great civilizations (Elamite, Achaemenid-Persian, Sasanian) with the Royal Palace of Persepolis and other monuments still well-preserved. South-western Iranian empires have played a key role in the geopolitical configuration and cultural evolution of SW Asia, with the Achaemenid Empire as the first superpower state and the largest Near Eastern empire in antiquity. The rise of such a civilization thus necessitates the exploitation of natural resources, with potentially intensive impacts on the ecosystems. Although the Basin receives water from small rivers and karstic springs, its setting in the rain-shadow of the Zagros Mountains renders its hydrology very sensitive to climatic variations. Recently, numerous deposits of lake and wetland origin were found all around the Basin. Many of them appear to have been desiccated in more ancient times. This suggests that the Persepolis plain was once a wetter place with a great number of surface water resources making it a more attractive place for prehistoric human communities. However, the extent to which the plains water resources responded to climatic variations and their consequent impacts on the lifestyle and socio-economy of humans is still largely equivocal. Though the number of investigations on human-climate-ecosystem interactions in Europe and the Eastern Mediterranean is increasing, no comprehensive investigation has so far been undertaken in the interior parts of the Middle East including the Iranian Plateau. This project aims at applying an inter-disciplinary research approach, by bringing together Natural Sciences (Palaeoecology) and Humanities (Ancient History and Near Eastern Archaeology), to develop a system model for the Persepolis Basin. The aims are to (1) evaluate the availability of water resources to past human societies by the mapping, description and dating of palaeo-wetlands, (2) evaluate human impact on ecosystems by an analysis of lake and mire archives (pollen, charcoal, fossil insects), soils and soil sediments (charcoal), epigraphic and literary sources, and bioarchaeological remains from plants and animals from a long chronological sequence, and (3) establish human-independent high-resolution hydroclimatic records using biological proxies (chironomids, cladocera) correlated with available geochemical records. Palaeoenvironmental data will be cross-checked with evidence from epigraphic and historical documents. The outcome will be contrasted with the rich archaeological data available for the region, and then be placed in a more regional context to better understand the interactions of climate, human civilizations and ecosystems.