نوع مقاله : مقاله پژوهشی
عنوان مقاله English
نویسندگان English
Among the most prominent features of the Chalcolithic period is the production and use of stamp seals. Seals are significant finds in archaeological studies and excavations, possessing importance beyond their structural, physical, and typological characteristics. Their origin, use, artistic, and cultural values are crucial; they are considered authentic documents in the historical and cultural reconstruction of prehistoric societies. As a primary tool of administrative management, seals are a hallmark of complex prehistoric societies, evidencing the oversight of social groups over political, social, and economic affairs. Among the artifacts discovered during the excavations of Tepe Hissar, excavated in the 1930s under the direction of Erich Schmidt, a significant number of stamp seals dating back to the Chalcolithic period were found. The stamp seals of Tepe Hissar are important findings from this site and are studied with the aim of introducing, interpreting, and analyzing the stylistic features of their designs, and comparing them with the designs of seals obtained from other contemporary settlements. This is to investigate the roots of social and economic developments in Tepe Hissar and its intra-regional and extra-regional connections with other communities. In this regard, the background of cultural developments in the fourth millennium BC, with an emphasis on administrative management techniques in north-central Iran, is first examined, and then the seals from the Tepe Hissar excavations are introduced and interpreted. The motifs of the Tepe Hissar seals have the greatest similarity to the style of seals known at Tepe Sialk in the fourth millennium BC. They also have similarities with the seals of Susa in southwestern Iran and Mesopotamia, likely due to the rich metal ore deposits on the edge of the central desert of Iran and the transfer of these resources and goods produced in the workshops of ancient sites in north-central Iran, including Tepe Hissar, to southwestern Iran and southern and northern Mesopotamia. The existence of close cultural ties and the similarity of cultural remains among the communities living in north-central Iran and the trade network with southwestern Iran and Mesopotamia are evidence of societies with a stratified structure on the verge of entering the urbanization period. Consequently, they possessed social and political mechanisms and complexities, which are observed on the seals.
کلیدواژهها English