eastern Iran

Located only 300 meters south of the village of Aso in a mountainous landscape, the so-called Aso petroglyphs were identified and analyzed as part of archeological and anthropological surveys in 2013. The 71 discrete examples recorded at the site consist of animal motifs and human figures alongside a series of abstract designs. The carvings were worked on igneous rocks in pecking technique, mostly as singular motifs, though a few composite themes also exist. The rock art was investigated via a field survey, where individual motifs were documented in photographs and drawings before comparing them to petroglyphs from around Iran through a desk research. The main aims of the study included introducing and examining the petroglyphs, anthropological analysis of the motifs, correlating the motifs with the local settings (e.g. flora and fauna), contrasting the motifs with those from other regions, and establishing a tentative date based on the evidence at hand. Chronology represents a most prominent and at the same time a most confusing issue while tackling rock art throughout the world. In this context, a basic strategy is comparing the concerned motifs with related material from the same span of time. The chronological determination of the Aso petroglyphs mainly relied on the dateable recovered tools, the involved technique, and the types of tools applied. Our results suggest that in quantity and quality the motifs parallel those attested in Jorbat, Tous and Marzbanik in eastern Iran, and in the northwest of Iran: Arasbaran (Songun), Central Zagros: Bauki (Luristan) and Zarrineh (Kurdistan).

During the fourth millennium BCE similar wares used to produce and use in the extended area in Near East which is so-called Beveled rim bowls. Its importance is for high quantity and similarity in production techniques. There are different studies on dating, function, and the main reason for the spread of this pottery style have been done. Although beveled rim bowls were found in many sites in west, south, south-eastern, and central plateau, hereby new finding from Kale Kub seems that this pottery style was spread in the more extended area than what we expect. Kale Kub is located in the eastern part of Iran, Southern Khorasan, and Sarayan county. By excavation in 2018 in this site, in two trenches for stratigraphy high amount of beveled rim bowls in addition to other pottery styles belong to fourth millennium BCE which are well-known from west south of Iran were found. In the second period of this site which is called Kale Kub II. This site is the eastern area that includes beveled rim bowls meantime. The current study would be clarifying the importance of the Kale Kub site for identifying the dispersal zone of Beveled rim bowl pottery style by an endeavor firstly to classification and typology of the potteries and then a comparison between the pottery style in this site with other sites related to this period and found the possible routes for this pottery style to the East and the interaction between east and west of Iran. Pottery collection from the excavation in Kale Kub includes a high amount of beveled rim bowls, Banesh tray, and some other pottery styles which are well-known from the fourth millennium BCE such as nose handle and spouted wares. Beveled rim bowls are about 15 percent of pottery collection in related contexts and other styles have a few quantities in the collection. In production techniques and style, Kale Kub finds it similar to samples from the southwest of Iran.

First season of archaeological excavation at the pre- and proto-historic site of Tepe Chalow in northern Khorasan Province, NE Iran, was carried out by a joint Irano-Italian expedition in autumn of 2011. The joint team opened 9 trenches in the core zone plus 28 small testing
pits in the periphery of the site to evaluate accumulation and extension of archaeological layers. Archaeological analysis of the material and data gathered through excavation show influence of different cultural areas including Damghan (Hissar I‑II) and Gorgan plain (Shah
Tepe III‑II) to the south and north of Alborz Mountain, respectively, as well as piedmont zone of the northern Kopet-dagh in southern Turkmenistan (NMZ III, VI).
One of the most important results of the first campaign is the discovery of a large mid‑late Bronze Age necropolis with the material culture of Namazga VI, the so-called “BMAC”.
A total of 6 graves with BMAC/GKC materials were excavated in the first season which yielded not only the luxury objects but also the ordinary, household objects and the pottery identical to the contemporary assemblages from Bactria and Margiana.
The bio-archaeological studies during the first season of excavation at Chalow show that agriculture and herding were important components of the economic activities of the site all through the occupational sequence.