Abstract
The settlements of human societies have always undergone cultural changes in their place over time. One of the reasons for this alteration is the change in livelihood strategies as a result of climate change, in the social organization seeks change in production, technology and.... Among these, the most important factor should be considered livelihood and a kind of biogeography-dependent determinism in meeting basic needs, in the structure of the pattern of human settlements, so economic, social and environmental frameworks complement each other to analyze why change. Or lack of it in the biological patterns of humans throughout their historical life. Kabudrahang plain has been one of the northern plains of Hamedan province and one of the most important ways of communication between the cultures of the Central Plateau, the northwest and the Central Zagros during different periods. This plain in the summer of 2007, under the title: “Study and identification of the ancient sites of Gol Tappeh and the central part of Kabudrahang” has been studied in a survey by collecting cultural materials from the area, in two seasons. The result of field studies includes 140 sites from different periods of Chalcolithic Period to late Islam, which shows environmental and cultural changes in the settlement patterns from the period of Chalcolithic Period to the Qajar era. One of the main topics addressed in archeology is the study of changes in ancient sites and, finally, the attempt to analyze the changes and developments of habitat patterns and their causes over time. In this regard, to examine the trend of changes in settlement patterns, hypotheses based on the influence of factors such as: “space”, “time” and “place” in the process of these changes are presented. However, the main question of this research is that what were the influential factors in the cultural changes of the settlements of Kabudrahang plain from the Chalcolithic Period to the Qajar era? The method selected in the present study will be the use of “Kennethe F. Watt” theory strategies based on GIS analysis with a historical-analytical approach. The results of the study of Kabudrahang plain settlements from the Chalcolithic Period to the Qajar era, show a change in the adaptive strategies of human groups present in it, based on livelihood patterns in location with the impact of the geography of the study area on the needs of human communities..
Keywords: Kabudrahang Plain, Archaeological Study, Settlement Pattern, Location, Geography.
Introduction
Human settlements have always undergone various changes in location over time. Among the reasons for that are changes in livelihood strategies as a result of climate change, changes in social organization following cultural changes, technology, and so on. In addition to socio-economic reasons, cultural issues and a kind of determinism related to environmental geography could also affect the structure of human settlement patterns; Thus, economic, cultural, social, and environmental frameworks complement each other to explain why human life patterns have changed, throughout their historical life. Kabudrahang plain with the length of 50 km northwest-southeast and north, including the northern plains of Hamadan province and has been one of the most important communication routes between the inhabitants of the Central Plateau, northwest and central Zagros. Kabudrahang, with its diverse geography including mountainous areas, high slopes, lagoon (Shirinsoo) and mid-mountain plain on the northeastern slopes of Alvand Mountains, has experienced various biological and climatic changes over time. In the summer of 2007, Kaboudrahang plain was intensively surveyed by collecting cultural materials from the region during two seasons, with a field project entitled “Study and identification of the ancient sites of Gol- Tappeh and the central part of Kabudrahang”, which resulted in 140 sites being identified. Different types of Chalcolithic Period have been identified from the period to the end of the Islamic period, which includes different types: hills, caves, castles, cemeteries, stone paintings, baths, bridges, etc. In this research, the location changes of settlements, cultural effects and developments of archaeological findings in this cultural field will be studied, which is one of the main objectives of this research.
Settlements and Sites of Kabudrahang Plain
As mentioned in the introduction, Kabudrahang plain was studied for the first time in two stages with the research project “Study and identification of the ancient sites of Gol Tappeh and the central part of Kabudrahang” (NazariArshad, 2007). in the first stage (Summer 2007) 60 works and in the second stage (Autumn 2007) 80 ancient works were identified. Accordingly, in the study of the area in the first Season, for each area, a location code number after the letter “KA”, which is derived from the name “Kabudrahang” was considered; So that after the investigation in the first Season 60 codes and in the second Season, 80 codes (140 codes in total in two Seasons) were allocated for all identified works. The identified ancient sites include: caves, stone carvings, baths, bridges, cemeteries, mountain castles with stone and brick materials for residential and governmental use, and other items in the form of ancient hills from the Chalcolithic period to the Qajar period. In the following, information about the typology of different places and ancient hills of Kaboudrahang based on known archeological periods and cultures will be provided.
Chalcolithic Period: The oldest artifacts and common cultures identified from Kabudrahang plain belong to the Chalcolithic periods, among which, from 13 sites, the artifacts of the period have been identified.
Bronze Age: Bronze Age artifacts of Kabudrahang plain have been identified in 16 settlements.
Iron Age: Iron Age artifacts in Kabudrahang plain are limited and have been identified from only 5 settlements.
Parthian and Sassanid Period: The settlements of the historical period of Kaboudrahang plain have been identified from 106 sites, which can be considered more related to the Parthian and Sassanid eras.
Islamic Period: Remains of the Islamic era of Kaboudrahang plain were identified from 125 sites. These sites belong to different periods of the early, middle and late Islamic centuries and include different types of monuments such as baths, castles, bridges, cemeteries and ancient hills.
Conclusion
The ideas and analysis of the settlement patterns of Kabudrahang plain can be discussed from two perspectives; First: livelihood economy, which has caused spatial changes in order to benefit and adapt its different communities to the environment, which sometimes includes livestock with a semi-integrated approach and sometimes agriculture and permanent settlement in different areas of the plain. These environmental compromises have been manifested in all prehistoric periods (Chalcolithic Period) to the late Islamic period (Qajar) in Kaboudar plain. Second: Roads and communication spaces and the location of the region have been political, cultural and commercial borders. In different historical periods, roads, trade and economic prosperity have always been considered as a component of the durability and stability of governments. Road surveillance, awareness and prevention of possible movements of military attacks, required important infrastructure such as: military bases along the way, proper access roads and most importantly security. Therefore, the construction of castles has always been considered important and serious by the rulers and the city government, which in the Kabudrahang plain has shown the most in the Parthian and Qajar periods based on the type of settlements (Fortifications Castle). Existence of surface waters such as seasonal and permanent wetlands and rivers and being located in communication roads and borders of different cultures in the northwest, central plateau and central Zagros has made Kaboudrahang plain more important in different periods (from prehistoric to Islamic period). Finally, it can be said that the main areas of this plain are occupied by settlements of less than half a hectare and a limited area of one to three hectares, which indicates the existence of small and large villages to supply their core in prehistoric times and central governments in the emerging historical period. Feudalism (especially in the Parthian and Qajar periods) has been with the approach of master and servant using geography, ecology and environmental capabilities of the region.