The Chalcolithic and Bronze Age Periods in the Khorramabad Valley: A Reassessment of the Pottery Assemblages from Judith Berman's Survey and Frank Hole's Soundings

Mostafa Pour, Saman; Hasanpur, Ata

doi:10.22034/jinm.2026.2084695.1113

The Chalcolithic and Bronze Age Periods in the Khorramabad Valley: A Reassessment of the Pottery Assemblages from Judith Berman's Survey and Frank Hole's Soundings

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

Saman Mostafa Pour ¹

Ata Hasanpur ²

¹ University of Tehran

² General Department of Archaeology of Lorestan Province, Khorramabad

10.22034/jinm.2026.2084695.1113

Abstract

Thanks to its favorable environment and strategic location, the Khorramabad Valley supported continuous human settlement from prehistory through the Islamic era. This long-term occupational sequence offers a valuable opportunity to examine the transition between successive cultural horizons. Yet, despite considerable archaeological interest in the valley, published data remain heavily concentrated in the Palaeolithic period, leaving significant gaps in the record for later eras. Situated between the distinct cultural spheres of the Khuzestan lowlands and the Central Plateau, the valley likely served as an important prehistoric corridor for trade and cultural interaction. However, key datasets from this region remain unpublished—most notably, Judith Berman’s 1979 survey and the ceramic assemblage from Frank Hole’s 1960s excavations at Ghamari Cave. Berman’s survey identified occupational evidence from the Palaeolithic through the late Islamic periods, including 15 sites dating between the Palaeolithic and the Bronze Age. Similarly, Hole’s excavations at Ghamari Cave yielded materials that bridge the late Chalcolithic and Bronze Age, with the Gelal (Khorram) River apparently serving as the primary catalyst for settlement in this area. This article introduces these prehistoric sites by synthesizing previously unpublished materials from Berman’s survey and Hole’s excavations.

Keywords

Lorestan

Khorramabad Valley

Pleistocene

Holocene

Judith Berman

Frank Hole

Subjects