New Evidence from Dalma and Kura-Araxes Culture at Tapeh Qal‘e-ye-Sarsakhti

Abstract

Tapeh Qal‘eh-ye-Sarsakhti is located between the Central Iranian Plateau and the Zagros Mountains, specifically in the entrance threshold to the Central Iranian Plateau from the eastern part of Central Zagros. It is a rich site including several periods: late Neolithic, Middle and Late Chalcolithic, Early and Middle Bronze Age, Parthian and eventually the Seljuk era. According to surveys conducted in the Central Zagros and in the Central Iranian Plateau, Tapeh Qal‘eh-ye-Sarsakhti appears to be one of the southeastern-most extensions of the Kura-Araxes and the eastern sphere of Dalma Culture influence in the Central Iranian Plateau and East Central Zagros. Here, we trace the nature of the arrival of these cultures to the East Central Zagros and Central Iranian Plateau, as well as the role this area played in transferring of these cultures from east to west, north to south and vice versa.