Pattern analysis of Chalcolithic settlements in the valley of Sarfirouzabad, Kermanshah, Iran.

The advent of new technologies has had a profound impact on the evolution of archaeological methodological approaches, allowing archaeologists to refine traditional assessments about the nature of past human societies and to expand their theoretical horizons. GIS-based technologies are among the new technologies aimed at reconstructing spatial-related aspects of past human communities. The paper illustrates the use of some ArcGIS tools supplemented with satellite low resolution images to produce a layered workable archaeological map suitable for analyzing specific issues such as ancient cultural ecology and landscape reconstruction. Integrated satellite imagery and GIS analyses are applied to reconstruct spatial distribution patterns of the Chalcolithic period in Central Zagros as seen from the Sarfirouzabad valley adjacent to Mahidasht inter-mountainous plain, near Kermanshah, Iran. The search for considerable changes in the settlement distribution patterns relating to the ecological attributes is one of the aims of the paper, using GIS-based methods such as Thiessen polygons analysis, site-point spatial distribution analysis and buffer analysis. The results are discussed through categories covering distribution of Chalcolithic sites over the different environs of the study area, spatial distribution of pottery styles, and spatial models of Chalcolithic distribution patterns.

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