TEHRAN – The Mehran plain, situated west of the Zagros Mountains, is home to important archaeological hubs with evidence of human settlement dating back to prehistoric times, an archaeologist said on Monday.

Habibollah Mahmoudian, a specialist in prehistoric archaeology, told ISNA that it is a place where Elamite and Uruk pottery reveal cultural links with eastern Mesopotamia.
Mahmoudian said that Mehran County is located in a lowland area on the edge of the Iranian Plateau and is connected to the relatively flat lands of eastern Mesopotamia. 
He added that in terms of historical and archaeological developments, this region is dependent and intertwined with the cultures of eastern Mesopotamia.

The archaeologist noted that the Mehran plains and their satellite hill areas are located in the rugged western foothills of the Zagros, including the Kabirkuh Mountains and its parallel heights.

He explained that with the settlement of humans on the slopes and the beginning of plain settlement, the formation of early villages should be sought in the marginal plains connected to the mountains, such as the Hijdaneh and Golan regions. 

Pointing to the effective factors in human settlement in this region, he said the proximity to the mountain as a source of food, water resources, proximity to villages and summer cottages, forest wood, natural shelters, the presence of stone for building settlements, and a suitable climate were among the vital factors for settlement in this region.

He added that the archaeological findings and evidence in sites such as Chogha Golan and Seyyed Hassan confirm the human settlement in this county in prehistoric times. 

Mahmoudian explained that initial studies indicate that it is possible to observe the continuity and sequence of settlements of the Shushan and Musian plains in the city of Badra, Iraq, the Seyyed Hassan A and B mounds in Mehran plain, and the Golan mound on the banks of the Konjan Cham River.

He added that the Uruk and Susa pottery samples (Elamite period) in Mehran indicate the cultural connection between southwestern Iran and eastern Mesopotamia. 

The investigations were continued by Director of National Museum of Iran Director Jebrael Nokandeh and led to the identification of 62 ancient sites spanning the time period from the Upper Paleolithic to the Late Islamic period, he said. As a result of these investigations, the important site of Chogha Golan entered Iranian archaeological literature and was later designated as a protected area by Nokandeh, he added.

Mahmoudian said that the results of the archaeological studies of Mehran attracted the attention of researchers such as Abbas Alizadeh, and Alizadeh submitted a research plan to the Cultural Heritage Organization of the time and requested archaeological studies of Mehran Plain.

He continued that Mohsen Zaidi surveyed the eastern and buffer zone between the Mehran and Dehloran plains in 2003 and identified sites from the early writing period to the historical period. In 2010, Zaidi began excavations and excavations at Golan Hill with the aim of stratigraphy, which continued for two seasons.

The archaeologist said that the dating of carbon-14 samples from this site indicates a long habitation from about the middle of the 10th millennium to the end of the 8th millennium BC. 

Mahmoudian said that new archaeological excavations have been carried out in this city, especially in the village of Golan, and the results have not yet been published.

KD