Archaeologial Study on the Neolithisation in the Zagros Region

2019 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 17K03228
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Archaeology
• Research Institution: Independent Administrative Institution National Institutes for Cultural Heritage Tokyo National Research Institute for Cultural Properties
• Principal Investigator: ABE Masashi 独立行政法人国立文化財機構東京文化財研究所, 文化遺産国際協力センター, 研究員 (50583308)
• Project Period (FY): 2017-04-01 – 2020-03-31
• Keywords: メソポタミア / イラン高原 / ウルク / カレ・クブ / 文明形成 / 農耕の起源 / 農耕の拡散

Outline of Final Research Achievements

Kale Kub is situated 140km to the northwest of Birjand in eastern Iran. Several trenches were opened and the trenches yieleded a number of non-local Urukian pottery such as beveled rim bowls.
The oldest civilization in the world arose in southern Mesopotamia in the 4th millennium BCE (Uruk period). Southern Mesopotamia is a huge alluvial plain and lacks important resources such as metals, woods, and precious stones.Therefore, Urukian city states needed to acquire these resources from neighbouring regions. It is assumed that Urukian culture spread beyond the southern Mesopotamia because the city state in southern Mesopotamia competitively advanced to neighbouring regions in order to get the resources.
Currently Kale Kub is the north easternmost Urukian sites. The distribution range of the Urukian culture was expaned further 600km to the east than previously known by the discovery of Kale Kub.

Free Research Field

考古学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

南メソポタミアは文明揺籃の地であり、前4千年紀に最古の文明メソポタミア文明が誕生した。なぜ、この地に最古の文明が誕生したのか？現在、主要な要因として、金属や貴石、木材などの資源が不足していたこと、それを補うために長距離交易が発展したことが挙げられている。カレ・クブ遺跡は、南メソポタミアが建設した最果ての交易拠点である可能性が高く、今後発掘が進めば文明形成に関して多くの知見を得られると期待される。