Sedentism and Resource Management in the Neolithic of Western Iran

One of the most significant transformations in history took place after the last Ice Age, from c. 14,000 BC (all dates calibrated BC), when human communities began to settle down in villages and to exploit intensively the resources around them, including plants and animals. In time people changed from being mobile hunter-foragers to settled farmers and stock-keepers, with domesticated crops and animals. Often called the Neolithic transformation, this fundamental development in the human condition steadily spread across much of the world and led ultimately, through surplus accumulation and social differentiation, to the emergence of towns, cities, and empires, thus shaping the modern world.

One region where these developments occurred early is Southwest Asia (also called the Middle East or Near East). In recent decades there has been much work on Neolithic developments in this region through excavations in Turkey, Iraq, Syria, Jordan, and Israel, which have demonstrated the great variability in local trajectories of development from hunter-forager to village-farmer. One area that has not been investigated since the 1970s is Iran. Earlier work in Iran, particularly in the Zagros mountains of western Iran, was of key importance in exploring the Neolithic transformation, with excavations at sites such as Asiab, Sarab, Ali Kosh, and Ganj Dareh in the 1950s-70s. These researches indicated that Neolithic communities changed to sedentary lifestyles and began using fired ceramics, the earliest in Southwest Asia, by c. 7900 BC. Study of the plant and animal remains suggested that communities favoured use of lentils, peas, and nuts over cereals and that wild goat were intensively hunted. There was arguable evidence for domestication of goat by c. 7900 BC.

Since 1979 there has been almost no fieldwork concerning the Iranian Neolithic and the evidence from this area is now decades out of date compared to the rest of Southwest Asia and beyond. There have been repeated expressions of regret that modern excavations have been unable to contribute new evidence from the Zagros to the debate on the origins of human sedentism and animal/plant exploitation and domestication.

The re-opening of Iran to joint UK-Iranian research provides a valuable opportunity for investigation into the Neolithic transformation in the Zagros. The Central Zagros Archaeological Project (CZAP) is a UK-Iranian programme, focusing on the Neolithic period, run by UCL, University of Reading, and Bu Ali Sina University, Iran. Supported by the British Academy, excavations were conducted in 2008 at two Early Neolithic sites, Sheikh-e Abad and Jani, with highly productive results. 14C dates indicate that the sites were occupied from c. 10,000 to 7500 BC.

The objectives are to investigate research questions within the Early Neolithic of western Iran. How did early sedentism take place and did it develop from temporary and seasonal to permanent and year-round? How was architecture constructed and how was early village space used and socialised? What was the role of ritual and human burial in social cohesion at this time? What modes of animal husbandry were employed, including intensive hunting, herding, and domestication of goats, native in the wild to the Zagros? What plant resources were exploited and how? What is the absolute chronology of development in the Zagros Neolithic? These questions will be addressed through excavation at the sites of Sheikh-e Abad and Jani.

Results from this research will be of value in situating the Iranian Zagros within the Neolithic transformation in Southwest Asia, and will serve as a model for the application of inter-disciplinary approaches to archaeological questions. The research will assist in placing our own species within a rich context of ecological and social change that characterised the Neolithic transformation following the end of the last Ice Age, one of the most impactful episodes in human history.

Who will benefit from this research?

1. Those in government, and more widely, interested in improving UK-Iran relations
2. Museums and heritage bodies in Iran
3. Charities such as the British Institute for Persian Studies (BIPS), the Iran Heritage Foundation (IHF)
4. The wider public, in the UK, Iran, and globally, interested in an important episode in human history
5. Staff working on the project

How will they benefit?
The research will benefit wide sectors of society in the UK, Iran, and globally. At the broadest level, as a project of collaborative engagement with academics in Iran, the project stands as an example of how cultural and intellectual interaction can transcend the political barriers that are often imposed between our two countries. UK academics working in Iran are in the vanguard of diplomatic engagement, and can serve to improve the atmosphere of UK-Iran relations, thus to benefit the governments and peoples of both countries.

Local and national museums in Iran will benefit from the input of new material and interpretations to enhance their exhibitions. Iran's developing heritage industry will benefit from the presentation of Sheikh-e Abad as a visitor attraction, close to the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Bisotun.

Charities such as BIPS and IHF, as well as the British Academy, will benefit from involvement with a successful collaborative UK-Iran project, likely to enhance positive attitudes within the UK and Iran to such organisations and their work.

All staff working on the project, from Iran and the UK, will benefit from involvement in a collaborative engagement, both in terms of enhancing their knowledge and experience and as regards the development of specific and generic skills which will be of benefit to them in future careers, within archaeology and beyond. The wider public will benefit from a significant increase in the publicly accessible knowledge-base concerning the origins of sedentism and animal-management, a major episode in human history.

What will be done to ensure that they benefit?
All potential beneficiaries will benefit from a programme of outreach in the UK and Iran directed by the PI and Co-I and administered by the Data Manager/Project Assistant, whose remit will include administration of outreach. Meetings of the Steering Committee will prioritise impact and outreach as a recurrent agenda item to ensure that opportunities are being maximised.

Government officials and diplomats interested in UK-Iran relations will be engaged through invitation to public lectures, workshops, conferences, and exhibitions arising from the project, taking place in the UK and Iran. Museums in Iran and the UK will be kept informed of opportunities for engagement and displays relating to the project. As official government institutions, museums in Iran at local and national levels will be intimately involved in the project. Charities such as BIPS and IHF will be engaged and invited to support and participate in its public events.

Staff working on the project will develop skills and expertise through training and guidance provided by the PI, Co-I, and more senior members of the project, partly in-field in Iran and partly through established programmes of skills development at UCL and University of Reading.

The wider public will benefit from opportunities to attend lectures, workshops and exhibitions concerning the project, in the UK and Iran. A major exhibition will be mounted at the Institute of Archaeology UCL and University of Reading, with public opening ceremonies, to mark the conclusion of the project. The public will be able to engage with the project by means of the project website, components of which will be designed for the public, and through a programme of outreach via the media. Within Iran, the public will benefit directly from the creation of the site of Sheikh-e