Chogha Bonut (Persian Choghā bonut) is an archaeological site in south-western Iran, located in the Khuzistan Province.

The site is about 20km southeast of Dezful, and 5km west of Chogha Mish, another ancient site.

It is believed that the site was settled as early as 7200 BCE, making it the oldest lowland village in south-western Iran.[1][2]

This settlement on the Susiana Plain played a big role in the early Elam civilization. Later, this area became dominated by Susa. The site is important because it preserves a record of preceramic period settlement in Iran.

Archaeology

The site has an area about 50 meters in diameter and about 5 meters in height.[3] It was accidentally discovered in 1976 when the mound was being leveled for agribusiness development. Helene Kantor, then working at Chogha Mish nearby, hurried to the site and received a permit to investigate it.[4]

Kantor remained for two seasons (1976/77 and 1977/78), but was unable to return in 1979 due to the Iranian Revolution.[2][5][6][7][8] Abbas Alizadeh continued investigations at the site in 1996.[2] His findings were published in 2003.[1] It is one of the few Neolithic sites excavated since the Iranian revolution.[9]

Among the finds were 41 clay tokens.[10]

Settlement

Five phases of occupation are documented at the site:

  1. the Aceramic phase,
  2. the Formative Ceramic phase, (Film Painted Ware)[11]
  3. the Archaic Susiana 0 phase (includes the Early Susiana period, ca. 5900 BCE),
  4. the Late Middle Susiana phase (ca. 5200 BCE)
  5. the Late Susiana 2 phase. (ca. 4400-4000 BCE)[12]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b Alizadeh, Abbas (2003). Excavations at the prehistoric mound of Chogha Bonut, Khuzestan, Iran : seasons 1976/77, 1977/78, and 1996, Oriental Institute Publications 120 (PDF). Chicago, Ill.: Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago in association with the Iranian Cultural Heritage Organization. ISBN 1-885923-23-6. OCLC 53122624.
  2. ^ a b c [1]Alizadeh, Abbas., "EXCAVATIONS AT CHOGHA BONUT: THE EARLIEST VILLAGE IN SUSIANA, IRAN", The Oriental Institute News and Notes, No. 153, Spring 1997
  3. ^ Curtis, Vesta Sarkhosh, and St. John Simpson. “Archaeological News from Iran: Second Report.” Iran, vol. 36, 1998, pp. 185–94
  4. ^ Alden, John R. (2005). "Review of Excavations at the Prehistoric Mound of Chogha Bonut, Khuzestan, Iran: Seasons of 1976/77, 1977/78, and 1996". Journal of the American Oriental Society. 125 (1): 109–111. ISSN 0003-0279.
  5. ^ [2]Helene J. Kantor, "Excavations at Chogha Mish and Chogha Bonut", Oriental Institute 1976-1977 Annual Report, 1977
  6. ^ [3]Helene J. Kantor, "Chogha Mish and Chogha Bonut", Oriental Institute 1977-1978 Annual Report, 1978
  7. ^ [4]Helene J. Kantor, "Chogha Mish and Chogha Bonut", Oriental Institute 1978-1979 Annual Report, 1979
  8. ^ [5]Helene J. Kantor, "Chogha Mish and Chogha Bonut", Oriental Institute 1979-1980 Annual Report, 1980
  9. ^ Hole, Frank. Neolithic Age in Iran], The Circle of Ancient Iranian Studies, Retrieved July 21, 2010
  10. ^ Overmann, Karenleigh A.. "CHAPTER 9. THE NEOLITHIC CLAY TOKENS". The Material Origin of Numbers: Insights from the Archaeology of the Ancient Near East, Piscataway, NJ, USA: Gorgias Press, 2019, pp. 157-178
  11. ^ BERNBECK, Reinhard. “MIGRATORY PATTERNS IN EARLY NOMADISM: A RECONSIDERATION OF TEPE TULA’I.” Paléorient, vol. 18, no. 1, 1992, pp. 77–88
  12. ^ Abbas Alizadeh, "Excavations at Chogha Bonut, an Aceramic Neolithic Site in Lowland Susiana, Southwestern Iran", Neo-Lithics: A Newsletter of Southwest Asian Lithics Research, 1997

32°13′19″N 48°30′18″E / 32.222°N 48.505°E / 32.222; 48.505

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