The Qom Plain at the End of Bronze and the Beginning of Iron Age

Abstract

From the cultural-geographical perspective, the Qom plain is part of the cultural area of ​​the Central Plateau of Iran. Archaeologically, this region had many contacts with other areas of the Central Plateau such as the plains of Kāshān, Sāveh, Qazvin, and Rey. It also had relations with the synchronous centers in the northeast, northwest, central Zāgros, and Khuzestān plain. This is due to its geographical position and its location on the path of cultural contacts during the third and second millennium B.C. The archaeological evidence points to the strategic position of the Qom plain as a significant factor in creating the opportunity for investigating the process of cultural interactions and changes of this period. The evidence confirms that there is no gap in the chronological and settlement sequence of the Qom plain, especially during the second millennium B.C. (i.e. from the new Bronze Age to the beginning of the Iron Age). This provides an opportunity for displaying a more obvious picture of the cultural developments of a vague period of archeology in the Central Plateau, i.e. transition from the Bronze Age to the Iron Age. Attained from the first phase of the Qom archaeological surveys and based on the comparison of the existing data with the results of the stratigraphy and excavation at Qoli Darvish, the present study investigates the cultural sequence of the Qom plain in the third and second millennia B.C. It also examines the manner of distribution and contacts of the sites of this era, emphasizing the role and influence of the strategic position and geographic features in shaping the settlement patterns of the region.