Tapeh Yahya () is an archaeological site in Kermān Province,

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

, some south of

Kerman Kerman ( fa, كرمان, Kermân ; also romanization of Persian, romanized as Kermun and Karmana), known in ancient times as the satrapy of Carmania, is the capital city of Kerman Province, Iran. At the 2011 census, its population was 821,394, in ...

city, south of

Baft Baft ( fa, بافت, also romanized as Bāft) is a city and capital of Baft County, Kerman Province, Iran. Baft is located southwest of Kerman. At the 2006 census, its population was 35,008, in 8,265 families. Notably, Baft is one of the highest ...

city and 90 km south-west of

Jiroft Jiroft ( fa, جیرفت, also Romanized as Jīroft; formerly, Sabzāwārān, Sabzevārān, Sabzevārān-e Jiroft, and Sabzvārān) is a city and capital of Jiroft County, Kerman Province, Iran. At the 2006 census, its population was 95,031, in ...

History

Habitation spans the 6th to 2nd millennia BCE and the 10th to 4th centuries BCE. In the 3rd millennium BCE, the city was a production center of

chlorite The chlorite ion, or chlorine dioxide anion, is the halite with the chemical formula of . A chlorite (compound) is a compound that contains this group, with chlorine in the oxidation state of +3. Chlorites are also known as salts of chlorous ac ...

stone ware; these carved dark stone vessels have been found in ancient

Mesopotamia Mesopotamia ''Mesopotamíā''; ar, بِلَاد ٱلرَّافِدَيْن or ; syc, ܐܪܡ ܢܗܪ̈ܝܢ, or , ) is a historical region of Western Asia situated within the Tigris–Euphrates river system, in the northern part of the F ...

n temples.

"Elaborate stone vessels carved with repeating designs, both geometric and naturalistic, in an easily recognizable “intercultural style”, were made primarily of chlorite; a number were produced at the important site of Tepe Yahya (Yaḥyā) southeast of Kermān in the middle and late 3rd millennium b.c.e. Some of these vessels were painted natural color (dark green) and inlaid with pastes and shell, and some have even been found with cuneiform inscriptions referring to rulers and known
Sumer Sumer () is the earliest known civilization in the historical region of southern Mesopotamia (south-central Iraq), emerging during the Chalcolithic and early Bronze Ages between the sixth and fifth millennium BC. It is one of the cradles of c ...
ian deities. More than 500 vessels and vessel fragments carved in this style have been recovered from sites ranging from
Uzbekistan Uzbekistan (, ; uz, Ozbekiston, italic=yes / , ; russian: Узбекистан), officially the Republic of Uzbekistan ( uz, Ozbekiston Respublikasi, italic=yes / ; russian: Республика Узбекистан), is a doubly landlocked cou ...
and the
Indus Valley The Indus ( ) is a transboundary river of Asia and a trans-Himalayan river of South and Central Asia. The river rises in mountain springs northeast of Mount Kailash in Western Tibet, flows northwest through the disputed region of Kashmir, ...
(e.g.,
Mohenjo-daro Mohenjo-daro (; sd, موئن جو دڙو'', ''meaning 'Mound of the Dead Men';Mari, in the west and to the
Persian Gulf The Persian Gulf ( fa, خلیج فارس, translit=xalij-e fârs, lit=Gulf of Persis, Fars, ), sometimes called the ( ar, اَلْخَلِيْجُ ٱلْعَرَبِيُّ, Al-Khalīj al-ˁArabī), is a Mediterranean sea (oceanography), me ...
, particularly Tarut and the
Failaka Island Failaka Island ( ar, فيلكا '' / ''; Kuwaiti Arabic: فيلچا ) is a Kuwaiti Island in the Persian Gulf. The island is 20 km off the coast of Kuwait City in the Persian Gulf. The name "Failaka" is thought to be derived from the ancie ...
s, in the south."

Steatite Soapstone (also known as steatite or soaprock) is a talc-schist, which is a type of metamorphic rock. It is composed largely of the magnesium rich mineral talc. It is produced by dynamothermal metamorphism and metasomatism, which occur in the zo ...

was also very common at this site. Nearby, a steatite mine has been discovered. Over a thousand steatite pieces belonging to Period IVB were found, indicating local manufacturing. The distribution of these vessels was very wide. They were found not only in Mesopotamia, but also in

Bampur Bampur ( bal, بُنپور, fa, بمپور, also Romanized as Bampūr and Bampoor) is a city in and capital of Bampur County, Sistan and Baluchestan Province, Iran. At the 2006 census, its population was 9,073, in 1,664 families. Location It is ...

IV, and in

Shahr-i Sokhta Shahr-e Sukhteh ( fa, شهر سوخته, meaning " heBurnt City"), c. 3200–2350 BCE, also spelled as ''Shahr-e Sūkhté'' and ''Shahr-i Sōkhta'', is an archaeological site of a sizable Bronze Age urban settlement, associated with the Helmand ...

. They were also found in the lower levels at

Mohenjodaro Mohenjo-daro (; sd, موئن جو دڙو'', ''meaning 'Mound of the Dead Men';Umm-an Nar in the Persian Gulf. The period of

Proto-Elamite The Proto-Elamite period, also known as Susa III, is a chronological era in the ancient history of the area of Elam, dating from . In archaeological terms this corresponds to the late Banesh period. Proto-Elamite sites are recognized as the oldest ...

influence lasted from about 3400 to 2500 BC.

Archaeology

Placa de piedra con águila grabada - MARQ

The site is a circular mound, around 20 meters in height and around 187 meters in diameter. It was excavated in six seasons from 1967 to 1975 by the American School of Prehistoric Research of the

Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology The Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology is a museum affiliated with Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1866, the Peabody Museum is one of the oldest and largest museums focusing on anthropological material, with ...

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

in a joint operation with what is now the

Shiraz University Shiraz University ( fa, دانشگاه شیراز ''Dāneshgāh-e-Shirāz'', formerly known as Pahlavi University دانشگاه پهلوی ''Dāneshgāh-e Pahlavi'') is a public university located in Shiraz, Fars, Iran, established in 1946. ...

. The expedition was under the direction of C. C. Lamberg-Karlovsky. Jane Britton was one of the excavators on the dig in 1968. Periodization is as follows: :Period I

Sasanian The Sasanian () or Sassanid Empire, officially known as the Empire of Iranians (, ) and also referred to by historians as the Neo-Persian Empire, was the last Iranian empire before the early Muslim conquests of the 7th-8th centuries AD. Named ...

pre: 200 BC-400 A.D. :Period II Achaemenian(?): 275-500 B.C. :Period III

Iron Age The Iron Age is the final epoch of the three-age division of the prehistory and protohistory of humanity. It was preceded by the Stone Age (Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic) and the Bronze Age (Chalcolithic). The concept has been mostly appl ...

: 500-1000 B.C. :Period IV A Elamite?: 2200-2500 B.C. :IV B

: 2500-3000 B.C. :IV C Proto-Elamite: 3000-3400 B.C. :Period V Yahya Culture: 3400-3800 B.C. :Period VI Coarse Ware-

Neolithic The Neolithic period, or New Stone Age, is an Old World archaeological period and the final division of the Stone Age. It saw the Neolithic Revolution, a wide-ranging set of developments that appear to have arisen independently in several parts ...

: 3800-4500 B.C. :Period VII: 4500-5500 B.C. Period VI in Yahya (4500-3800 BC, or perhaps 5000-4700 BC) is contemporary with the early Bakun culture in Fars Province.

Metallurgy

In Period IVB (3100-2700 B.C.), a copper-bronze dagger was found which contained 3.0% tin, seemingly representing an alloy of tin. This is a very early evidence for copper-tin alloying in southwestern Asia. A related site is Tal-i Iblis, where early metallurgy has also been attested.

Early writing

To Period IVC belong six proto-Elamite tablets that have been recovered. Also, eighty-four tablet blanks indicate that writing was being practised at Yahya. These finds are similar to the discoveries at Susa Cb and

Sialk Tepe Sialk ( fa, تپه سیلک) is a large ancient archeological site (a ''tepe'', "hill, tell") in a suburb of the city of Kashan, Isfahan Province, in central Iran, close to Fin Garden. The culture that inhabited this area has been linked t ...

IV. Also, an object was found similar to a writing

stylus A stylus (plural styli or styluses) is a writing utensil or a small tool for some other form of marking or shaping, for example, in pottery. It can also be a computer accessory that is used to assist in navigating or providing more precision w ...

Konar Sandal

Konar Sandal Konar Sandal is a Bronze Age archaeological site, situated in the valley of the Halil River just south of Jiroft, Kermān Province, Iran. Description The site consists of two mounds a few kilometers apart, called Konar Sandal A and B with ...

is located 55 miles north of Yahya and is culturally similar. Both cities traded with Mesopotamia. According to archaeologist Massimo Vidale,

Indus civilization The Indus Valley Civilisation (IVC), also known as the Indus Civilisation was a Bronze Age civilisation in the northwestern regions of South Asia, lasting from 3300 BCE to 1300 BCE, and in its mature form 2600 BCE to 1900& ...

weights, seals, and etched

carnelian Carnelian (also spelled cornelian) is a brownish-red mineral commonly used as a semi-precious gemstone. Similar to carnelian is sard, which is generally harder and darker (the difference is not rigidly defined, and the two names are often use ...

beads were found in the area, demonstrating the connections between these two cultures.Andrew Lawler
The World in Between
Volume 64 Number 6, November/December 2011 archaeology.org

Notes

References

*Clifford C. Lamberg-Karlovsky: ''Excavations at Tepe Yahya, Iran, 1967–1975, The early periods'', Cambridge, Massachusetts 1986, *Clifford C. Lamberg-Karlovsky: ''Excavations at Tepe Yahya, Iran, 1967–1975, The third millennium'', Cambridge, Massachusetts 2001 (Available online a

* Mutin, Benjamin, The Proto-Elamite Settlement and its Neighbors: Tepe Yahya Period IVC, ed. C.C. Lamberg-Karlovsky, Oxbow Books / American School of Prehistoric Research Publications, 2013 *Peter Magee: ''Excavations at Tepe Yahya, Iran, 1967-1975: The Iron Age Settlement'', *Peter Damerow, Robert K. Englund: ''The proto-elamite texts from Tepe Yahya'', Cambridge, Massachusetts 1989 *D. T. Potts, The Archaeology of Elam: Formation and Transformation of an Ancient Iranian State, Cambridge University Press, 1999, *M. L., Eda Vidali and C. C. Lamberg-Karlovsky, Prehistoric Settlement Patterns around Tepe Yahya: A Quantitative Analysis, Journal of Near Eastern Studies, vol. 35, no. 4, pp. 237–250, 1976

External links

Art of the Bronze Age: Southeastern Iran, Western Central Asia, and the Indus Valley
an exhibition catalog from The Metropolitan Museum of Art (fully available online as PDF), which contains material on Tepe Yahya {{Authority control Tells (archaeology) Archaeological sites in Iran Former populated places in Iran Buildings and structures in Kerman Province Elam Jiroft culture