New Uruk finds in NW Iran> Hasanlu VIII-VII and no Kura-Araxes culture evidence in southern parts of Lake Urmia

Abstract

During 2007 archaeological survey of Little Zab River in Sardasht district in northwest Iran, six typical Uruk (Uruk-related) sites were brought to light. One of the important ones is Tepe Badamyar Rabat, with typical Bevelled Rim Bowls pottery that is considered as the first evidence of Uruk materials in northwest Iran. In addition to Rabat, the Uruk materials found in Tepe Baghi, Tepe Waliv, Tepe Molla Yousef, Tepe Lavin and Tepe Goman provide an opportunity for studying the one millennium gap between Hasanlu VIIIA (Pisdeli) and VIIC (Kura-Araxes) in the southern parts of Lake Urmia, which is seen as a key unknown period in the archaeology of NW Iran. The Uruk evidence found in the mentioned sites mainly belongs to the Middle and Late Uruk periods (3600/3500-3100 BC).