Archaeological sediments from settlement mounds of the Sagzabad Cluster, central Iran: Human-induced deposition on an arid alluvial plain

Abstract

We outline results of a pilot geoarchaeological study of three settlement mounds (tepe) in the Qazvin Plain, near Tehran (ca. 7350 to 2450 cal BP), conducted as part of a wider investigation of the interaction between prehistoric human communities and their environments in western Iran. The aim of the geoarchaeological study was to assess the potential of settlement sediments as records of past human practices and to guide future systematic sampling for geoarchaeological analyses. Here, we integrate bulk sediment (sediment texture, organic matter) with thin section-based (thin section micromorphology, SEM) analyses in order to characterize human inputs in settlement deposits and infer human practices that drove sediment deposition. Plinth degradation and various kinds of burning byproducts and domestic and manufacturing waste furnished distinctive inputs to settlement sediments. Different types of fuel (wood – perhaps Tamarix, straw, dung) may reflect diverse domestic and manufacturing contexts of fire use.