Teppe Zagheh (Persian: تپه زاغه) is an early urban settlement located near Qazvin, Iran.
In Persian, Tappeh means "tell, mound". It was first excavated by a team from the University of Tehran under the direction of Ezzat Negahban in the early 1970s [1]
Important finds
- Discovery of a shrine with interior decoration.
- 23 graves of adults and infants with local and imported goods.
It is suggested that the Painted Building was a special place for women to give birth
Chronology
After the re-excavation of Zagheh in 2001, new radiocarbon dates were obtained. The radiocarbon estimations for the occupation of Zagheh between 5370–5070 BC and 4460–4240 BC. They indicate that the site was settled c. 5370–5070 BC and abandoned c. 4460–4240 BC. Thus, it may belong to Transitional Chalcolithic.[3][4]
Tepe Zagheh stone tools, c.7000 BC
There were also many small clay 'tokens', used as counting objects, that were found at Zagheh; these are variously-shaped, and are similar to such tokens at other Neolithic sites. These Zagheh tokens are dated typologically to 6500–5500 BC.[5] Thus, there were probably two periods of occupation.
Zagheh archaic painted ware (ca. 6000-5500 BC) was found in Tepe Sialk I, sub-levels 1-2. This is the early painted ware, that was first excavated at Teppe Zagheh.[6]
Clay figurines found in Mehrgarh (Pakistan), an important precursor to the Indus Valley civilization, resemble those discovered at Teppe Zagheh, and at Jeitun in Turkmenistan (6th millennium BCE).[7]
The faunal remains from the site were studied by Marjan Mashkour who identified Sheep, goats, wild goats, cattle, Gazelles, boars, dogs, and foxes. [8]
^Negahban, E. O. (1979). A brief report on the painted building of Zaghe (late 7th-early 6th millennium BC). Paléorient, 5(1), 239-250.
^FAZELI, H., Wong, E. H., & Potts, D. T. (2005). The Qazvin Plain Revisited: A Reappraisal of the Chronology of the Northwestern Central Plateau, Iran, in the 6 th to 4 th Millennium BC. Ancient Near Eastern Studies, 42, 3-82.
^FAZELI NASHLI, H., E.H. WONG & D.T. POTTS. 2005. The Qazvin Plain revisited: a reappraisal of the chronology of the northwestern Central Plateau, Iran, in the 6th to the 4th millennium BC. Ancient Near Eastern Studies 42: 3–82
^Jarrige C (2008) The figurines of the first farmers at Mehrgarh and their offshoots. Pragdhara 18: 155–166
^Mashkour, Marjan., Fontugne, Michel., Hatte, C. 1999. "Investigations on the Evolution of
Subsistence Economy in the Qazvin Plain (Iran) from the Neolithic to the Iron Age." Antiquity 73: 65–76.
References
Sabk Shenasi Mi'mari Irani (Study of styles in Iranian architecture), M. Karim Pirnia. 2005. ISBN964-96113-2-0
