The Re-evaluation of Kerman Neolithic Chronology Based on the Excavation of Tepe Gav Koshi Esfandagheh- Jiroft

Abstract

Recently, three season of archeological investigation on the Esfandagheh plain in Kerman province has been carried and several Neolithic sites back to seven and six millennium BC has been recorded in this region. Among these, Gav Koshi is a small Neolithic site less than one hectares and has been located in the northwest city of Jiroft. Based on the results of three season of excavations, the site has two important ceramic Neolithic phase of early seventh (with more than 500 years of occupation) and late seventh millennium BC with some gaps between on it. In recent chronological study, Khanipour and Niknami (2017) propose the following chronological tables for the Fars regions includes Transitional Rahmat Abad (7500-7000 BC), Formative Mushki (7000-6400 BC), Mushki (6400-6000 BC), Jari (6000-5600 BC) and Shams Abad (5600-5200 BC) and therefore, the first phase of Gav Koshi back to the Formative Gav Koshi (700-6500 BC) with local development. While the site abandoned for a short period of time, it was reoccupied again during the Gav koshi period (ca. 6400-6000 BC, see table 1). The ceramics of the first phase is completely local and handmade with a fine greyish slip covered on the surface. The red geometric broken lines applied on the exterior around the neck of bowls or diamond used the entire of surface???. The houses were made with mudbrick structures (35×12×12 cm), sometimes the thickness of mudbrick is 50 cm, and so three mudbrick contains the thickness of wall, where they have been usually joint to each other. The houses dimensions were usually between 2.50 m to 4 m, indicates enough space for each family. Usually, the floor was covered by red ochre. For the roof, they usually used local reed which is still grow in the region. One of the important discovery of Gav Koshi was a room with dimensions of 285×360 cm, with a floor raised look like a platform and the floor carefully painted with red ochre. The whole internal walls were also painted with red ochre. Numerous of animal bones and also lots of human and animal figuries were found inside the room, indicates that the room had been probably used for ritual practices. The second phase was very close to the surface and it seems by the time the archtectural remains have been destroyed. While the ceramic of the lower layers indicates local development, but chronologically, the ceramics of upper layers reveal regional chrecterestics similar with Kushk-e Hezar, Mushki/Bashi, Qasr e-Ahmad and Harmangan in the Fars region (Khanipour and Niknami, 2017). During the second phase of Gav Koshi, several samples of mortars and pestles found with the obsidian cores and blades, all indicates regionalization of Kerman Neolithic during the last quarter of seven millennium BC.