Tappeh Sang-e Chakhmaq: A 2000-year Neolithic sequence in the Shahroud area, Northeast Iran (International)

This volume is the final report of the 2009 archaeological excavations at the twin mounds of Sang-e Chakhmaq, the type site of the Neolithic of Northeast Iran. The site's cultural sequence spans nearly two thousand years, beginning with the establishment of the West Mound at the end of the late eighth Millennium BCE, and ending around 5300 BCE at the East Mound. Archaeological and bioarchaeological data from the West Mound suggest that the Neolithic way of life spread into Northeast Iran from the eastern Fertile Crescent. By presenting a thorough study of archaeological and bioarchaeological data, the volume articulates the various components of the "Chakhmaq Culture", the dominating Neolithic entity of Northeast Iran. The long sequence of the site not only represents one of the few pieces of evidence for eastward Neolithic dispersal from the Zagros, but also provides ample evidence about cultural interaction with the Jeitun Culture of southern Turkmenistan, a possible derivative of the Chakhmaq Culture.