Seasonal Settlement System and Architecture of the Agro-Pastoralist Communities of Southern Fars in Late Antiquity

Abstract

.The present study examines a wide range of material components of agro-pastoralist communities in late antique Iran who inhabited an area of 250 thousand hectares in the southwest of Fars province. The components include residential buildings, walls, terraces, qanats, unidentified structures, and pottery sherds that exhibit characteristics of the late antiquity era. The structure of these componentsas well as climatic variables during the late antiquity era provide compelling evidence that the componentswere utilized by mobile societies who inhabited the regionseasonally. Furthermore, the architectural structures and seasonal settlements and their direct relationship to pastures and water-control systemsfor dry farming on steep slopes serve as additional proof of the social structure and economic approach (pastoral/agricultural) of the intended society. The primary goal and objective of this study are, respectively, to ascertain the socio-economic characteristics of agro-pastoralist societies in late antiquity, and explore their capacity to establish economic, social, and political institutions. The need for this research comes from the fact that most archaeological studieson this period focus on evidence from urban and rural settlements. Thus, analyzing data through GIS to interpret the systems of settlements and the correlation between material components and environmental behavior can provide a deeper understanding of the socio-economic structures of late antiquity for scholars of this field. The results of the study indicatethat the agro-pastoralist societies of this era had attained a level of complexity in their socio-economic systems and played a significant role in the broader socio-economic framework.