Palaeolithic Period (800-11 kya)
Oldowan-type stone artefacts have been discovered along the shoreline of a vast palaeolake in the Kashafrud basin in northeast Iran. Acheulean type tools have been found in Ganj Par in the western Alborz range in northern Iran. Evidence of Lower Palaeolithic cave occupation has been found in the Darband Cave in the Gilan Province in northern Iran.
Khorramabad Valley in Loristan, west Iran, contains a series of Middle and Upper Palaeolithic sites, some of which (Gar Arjeneh, Ghamari, Kunji, Pa Sangar and Yafteh) have provided a sequence of Mousterian, Baradostian and Zarzian industries that span the Pleistocene, a sequence replicating that of the Shanidar Cave.
Mesolithic Period (c.9000-c.7000 BC)
The caves of Ali Tappeh, Belt and Hotu situated near the southern shore of the Caspian Sea provide a stratigraphic sequence that spans Late Glacial and Early Holocene times, i.e. from about 12.4 to 10 kya.
Neolithic Period (c.7000-c.5500 BC)
Tepe Sialk near Kashdan on the Iranian Plateau has provided an interrupted cultural sequence that spans from the Neolithic to the Iron Age. The early four phases (Sialk I-IV) form an unbroken sequence succession from the early sixth to the early third millennium BC; the various subphases of which all exhibit external connections. Most of these are to other upland sites of Iran, and provide a stratigraphic anchor for regional chronologies. The subphases of Sialk IV indicate involvement in the Late Uruk and proto-Elamite phenomena. On the Dehluran Plain in lowland Khuzestan, southwest Iran, excavations at Tepe Ali Kosh, Tepe Sabz, Choga Sefid and other sites have produced a cultural sequence that begins around 8000 BC and runs through the Uruk period into historic times. Its early phases down to about 6200 BC show the transformation of morphologically wild but herded goats and sheep into domesticated forms; domesticated cereals are present throughout. At the same time, the settlement at Ali Kosh becomes increasingly sedentary and grows in size.
Chalcolithic Period (c.5500-c.3300 BC)
Tepe Hissar in the Damghan Plain in north Iran has eight occupational phases which can be dated to between the late fifth and early second millennium BC. Evidence from Hissar II (later fourth to early third millennium BC) suggests that this community was involved in the proto-Elamite phenomenon. The material culture at the end of the sequence (Hissar IIIc) marks the appearance of pottery that figures prominently in discussions of Indo-Aryan movements and the origin of western Iranian Iron Age.
Tepe Yahya in the Soghun Valley in southeast Iran has provided a long, if interrupted, cultural sequence of seven periods (Yahya I-VII), with subphases) which span the mid-fifth to early first millennium BC). In Yahya IVc (third millennium BC) there is evidence of proto-Elamite activities, including texts, seals and sealings, Jemdet Nasr painted wares, bevelled rim bowls, etc. In a large building, Yahya IVb has evidence for the production of chlorite vessels, which have extensive distribution in western Asia.
Tal-i Iblis in the Kerman district in southeast Iran has revealed a long (but interrupted) sequence from the early fourth to first millennium BC). The importance of the site rests on the documentation of early copper smelting operations with the context of a village architectural sequence; metallurgical activity seems particularly important in the mid-fourth millennium; but extends into the early third millennium when some ceramic evidence indicates contacts with the proto-Elamite world to the west.
Godin Tepe in the Kangavar Valley of Loristan, western Iran, has provided a cultural sequence running from the early fifth millennium BC to the Late Iron Age that provides the basic framework for the culture history of this section of the Zagros. Godin V has Late Uruk materials (pottery, seal styles and tablets) along with local materials, within the ‘oval enclosure’ in the centre of the town.
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