Abstract
Understanding the Synchronicity between the Shagha-Taimuran culture and the Elamite period in Fars province requires a close look at the mentioned culture. In the Elamite texts, Anshan is mentioned as the place of the name which is the main part of Elam. Anshan is located in the northwest of the Kur River Basin of Fars province. On the other hand, in compiling the prehistoric chronology of Fars, it is the main basis of technological changes. The cultures before the rise of the Achaemenids in Fars were classified according to the changes and developments of pottery. The mentioned issues raised the necessity of accurate dating of the Shagha Taimuran culture. Tol-e Taimuran is one of the main sites of the cultures of the 2nd millennium in Fars and focal in the east of the Kur River Basin, eighty kilometers southeast of Anshan. In this article, we first try to deal with the relative and absolute chronology of this region then, according to the absolute chronology of the given region and neighbors during 2nd millennium of Fars, comparing cultural materials, and recognizing cultural features, to evaluate the cultural sequence of the 2nd millennium in this region and neighbors in 2nd millennium. Dating of Tol-e Taimuran, there are 3 samples of charcoal were sent to the laboratory of Campania University (INNOVA SCaRL),on which the results show the period in between 1550 to 1100 BCE.
Keywords: Kur River Basin, Elam, Shagha Taimuran Culture, Tol-e Taimuran, 14C Dating.
Introduction
The Anshan is definitively identified at Tol-e Malyan, which is situated at the Kur River Basin (Reiner, 1973), which is one of the main centers for the formation of prehistoric cultures in Fars province, and the importance of Anshan as one of the main location in Elam and on the other hand, the identity of Elam as a cultural and political concept that has played a significant role in the Middle East for a thousand years (Alvarez Mon, 2018); The main question is the role and position of Fars prehistoric cultures in the centuries parallel to Elam in Fars. Geographically, Elam covers large parts of the southwest of the Iranian plateau. Part of Elam is located in the south of the Zagros Mountain range with distinctive features. These Sites are often ideal for pastoralism; and a limited number of areas were suitable for extensive and intensive settlement, which have an irregular distribution (Petrie 2013: 4).
Fars during the Second Millennium BCE
A plethora of chronological periodization has been proposed for Fars over the past 60 years, each with its strengths, weaknesses and terminological idiosyncrasies (Vanden Berghe, 1954; Sumner, 1972; Hole, 1987; Voigt and Dyson, 1992; Miroschedji, 2003). Vanden Berghe is the first researcher who, based on his extensive studies and speculations, has compiled a relative chronology of Fars cultures from the 7th millennium B.C to the Achaemenid period (Vanden Berghe, 1954). The Darvazeh Tepe is one of the main sites of Shagha Taimuran culture; 32 cases of radiocarbon dating in 1976 by Nicole on the charcoal samples of the Darvazeh Tepe show the time between 2140 to 640-500 BCE (Jacobs, 1980: 54). The chronological sequence of castle cultures, Shagha Taimuran in the VI chronological periods of the Kur River Basin in the Sumner study includes the 2nd half of the 2nd millennium and the beginning of the 1st millennium BCE (Sumner, 1974). In Tol-e Nurabad, absolute Chronology indicates the sequence of prehistoric Fars cultures from the Neolithic to the first half of the 2nd millennium of Fras. Tol-e Spid has a sequence from the Bakun period to the end of the Kaftari period. In these two Sites, we see a gap from the middle of the second millennium to the Achaemenid period (Potts and Roustai, 2009). Concerning the Tappeh Qasrdasht in the north of Marvdasht plain, the absolute dating of the area has been done by thermoluminescence and radiocarbon dates methods. Among the 16 samples tested by thermoluminescence method, 3 samples are completely related to the period of the second millennium, 1 sample shows the date of 2025± 250 BCE and 1 sample shows 965 ± 170 BCE (Atayi et al, 2019).
Absolute Chronology of Tol-e Taimuran
Tol-e Taimuran (Timaran) consists of two ridges at a distance of 90 meters from each other. The main oval Site with an area of 7 hectares with a west-east slope (Emadi et al, 2020), is located in the southwest of the Koushk-e Tavabeh village neighborhood and 100 km northeast of the center of Fars province, with geographical coordinates 39 R X: 0718341, Y:3292841 and 1579 m ASL. During the excavation in Tol-e Taimuran, 10 samples of charcoal were found from different phases, of which 3 samples were sent to the dating laboratory for C14. The results are based on the depth of the sample in the table (Table, 1). According to the experiment, the sample of Taimuran 1 shows the time between 1271-1450 BCE, Taimuran 3 shows 1746-1891 BCE, Taimuran 5 shows 1434-1620 BCE (Fig, 1). Important findings in the site excavation process include ivory cylindrical seals, bronze vessels, and stone weights. Tol-e Taimuran including a large corpus of pottery and well-defined architecture. This is clear evidence for a settled community in Fars, most of the findings of Tol-e Taimuran are common in the areas of the second millennium of Fars.
Conclusion
From the beginning of archaeological research in Fars, the presented chronologies have always faced challenges; Here, an attempt has been made to first express the chronological challenges of the Shagha Taimuran period of Fars, then to evaluate the presented chronologies using the results of the absolute chronology of the Tol-e Taimuran obtained by accelerating mass spectrometry with other areas of the Shagha Taimuran Fars. The results of radiocarbon dates of 3 charcoal samples in the Tol-e Taimuran show a date between 1550 to 1100 BCE. Comparing the dates obtained from radiocarbon dates in the Darvazeh Tepe area, the results of chronology by absolute thermoluminescence method of Tappeh Qasrdasht , and the materials found from this area in the 2nd millennium with Tol-e Taimuran and summarizing the results of 3 absolute chronological samples of radiocarbon dates at the Tol-e Taimuran suggest that the beginning of a culture that Vanden Berghe called the Shagha Taimuran is older than previously thought by researchers; It is noteworthy that the Shagha Taimuran can be considered as a continuation of the process of prehistoric cultures, apart from the political changes of the lowlands or the arrival of new tribes. However, the end of this culture in Tol-e Taimuran, 1100 BCE.
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