The Gorgan Plain of northeast Iran : a diachronic analysis of settlement and land use patterns relating to urban, rural and mobile populations on a Sasanian frontier
The Gorgan Plain of northeast Iran was one of the northern frontiers of the Sasanian Empire (c. AD 225-640), and was marked by considerable investment in water management and defensive features such as canals, fortifications and the nearly 200 km long-wall known as the Gorgan Wall. However, in comparison we know very little about settlement and land use associated with urban, rural, and mobile pastoral communities in this period. What impact did Sasanian investment in this landscape have on settlement patterns, networks of movement, and subsistence economies of the communities inhabiting the plain, and how do these developments fit within the long-term settlement history of the region? This thesis reconstructs Late Iron Age through Islamic settlement and land use patterns utilising data obtained from historical (CORONA) satellite imagery, integrated with the available settlement data draw from field surveys conducted by the Gorgan Wall project, other published surveys, and historical and ethnographic information. At the local and regional scale, the observed trends are discussed in terms of changes in site type and location, subsistence strategies and agricultural investment. These trends are then compared
Hopper, Kristen Alicia
The Gorgan Plain of northeast Iran : a diachronic analysis of settlement and land use patterns relating to urban, rural and mobile populations on a Sasanian frontier. The Gorgan Plain of northeast Iran was one of the northern frontiers of the Sasanian Empire (c. AD 225-640), and was marked by considerable investment in water management and defensive features such as canals, fortifications and the nearly 200 km long-wall known as the Gorgan Wall. However, in comparison we know very little about settlement and land use associated with urban, rural, and mobile pastoral communities in this period. What impact did Sasanian investment in this landscape have on settlement patterns, networks of movement, and subsistence economies of the communities inhabiting the plain, and how do these developments fit within the long-term settlement history of the region? This thesis reconstructs Late Iron Age through Islamic settlement and land use patterns utilising data obtained from historical (CORONA) satellite imagery, integrated with the available settlement data draw from field surveys conducted by the Gorgan Wall project, other published surveys, and historical and ethnographic information. At the local and regional scale, the observed trends are discussed in terms of changes in site type and location, subsistence strategies and agricultural investment. These trends are then compared
plain northeast iran diachronic_analysis settlement_land use pattern relate urban_rural mobile population sasanian frontier plain northeast iran northern_frontier sasanian_empire mark considerable investment water_management defensive feature canal fortification nearly long wall know wall however comparison know_little settlement_land use associate urban_rural mobile pastoral community period impact sasanian investment landscape settlement_pattern network movement subsistence_economy community_inhabit plain development fit within long_term settlement_history region reconstructs late_iron_age islamic settlement_land use pattern utilise_data obtain historical corona satellite_imagery integrate available settlement data draw field_survey conduct wall project publish survey historical ethnographic information local_regional scale observed trend discuss_term change site_type location subsistence_strategy agricultural investment trend compare