Abstract/Summary

The issue of Neolithization in the eastern Mazandaran region has once again become an attractive topic for archaeologists and researchers after 70 years of silence. Excavations and field surveys have been carried out during these years to examine various hypotheses for the origins of plant and animal domestication in this important crossroads region. However, despite the clarification of some issues, more questions have been raised that remain unanswered. Past field surveys could not fully represent the Neolithic capacities of eastern Mazandaran. Therefore, a field survey program titled “Investigation and Identification of Neolithic Settlements in the Lowlands and Highlands of Eastern Mazandaran” was proposed. In this field program, two main goals were considered: 1) regional connections between sites in the highlands and plains of eastern Mazandaran; and 2) relations with adjacent regions of Northeastern Iran and South Turkmenistan. The first goal sought to provide evidence of an endogenous transition to Neolithic lifeways, while the second examined possible routes for an exogenous origin. In the survey, 53 sites were investigated and pottery collections from previous excavations and field surveys were also reviewed. The result was the identification of 30 Neolithic sites in both the highlands and plains, which increased the number of Neolithic settlements in eastern Mazandaran to 42 sites. Study of the collected pottery indicates that there is a clear connection between the plains and the highlands, which is likely related to seasonal grazing of herding communities. According to the evidence, inter-regional relations with adjacent regions should be searched not through intermontane valleys, but through the lowland Caspian littoral region, especially the Gorgan Plain, which may argue for a Neolithization process based on exogenous factors.