New multi-proxy record shows potential impacts of precipitation on the rise and ebb of Bronze Age and imperial Persian societies in southeastern Iran

Autor: Alireza Vaezi, Joyanto Routh, Morteza Djamali, Karolina Gurjazkaite, Vahid Tavakoli, Abdolmajid Naderi Beni, Patrick Roberts
Přispěvatelé: Geol Survey Iran, Res Inst Earth Sci, Azadi Sq,Meraj St, Tehran, Iran, Linkoping Univ, Dept Themat Studies Environm Change, Linkoping, Sweden, Institut méditerranéen de biodiversité et d'écologie marine et continentale (IMBE), Avignon Université (AU)-Aix Marseille Université (AMU)-Institut de recherche pour le développement [IRD] : UMR237-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Iranian National Institute for Oceanography and Atmospheric Sciences (INIOAS), School of Geology, University-College of Science, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran, isoTROP Res Grp, Max Planck Inst Geoanthropol, Jena, Germany
Rok vydání: 2022
Předmět:
Zdroj: Quaternary Science Reviews
Quaternary Science Reviews, 2022, 298, pp.107855. ⟨10.1016/j.quascirev.2022.107855⟩
ISSN: 0277-3791
Popis: The Achaemenids and Sasanian ‘Persian’ Empires were significant political, economic, and social forces in the Late Bronze Age and Late Antiquity Eurasia, respectively, which have left marks on the heritage of the Mediterranean and Middle Eastern world. While attention is often focused on military and political conditions when discussing the prosperity and decline of these imperial powers, their realms, which crossed a variety of environmental settings, were highly dependent on the predictability of rainfall that drove agriculture and effective provisioning. Here, we present a multi-proxy sedimentological, geochemical, and palynological record from a 2.5-m long peat deposit near the excavation site in Konar Sandal near Jiroft in southeastern Iran, covering 4000-850 cal yr BP. Around 3950 cal yr BP a wet period prevailed based on elemental ratios, stable C isotope, pollen, and diagnostic lipids. Between 3900 and 3300 cal yr BP, wet/semi-wet conditions developed with the appearance of Cerealia-type pollen. Dry and windy conditions followed (ca. 3300-2900 cal yr BP), which coincided with the Siberian anticyclones and climatic shifts developing in the Eastern Mediterranean region. Consequently, the Bronze Age settlements around Jiroft, dependent on agriculture, underwent a steady decline. A prolonged wet period followed (ca. 2900-2300 cal yr BP) with the abundance of Sparganium-type pollen and the aquatic lipid proxy (Paq). This change coincided with intensive agricultural practices and the flourishing of the powerful Median and Achaemenid empires. The shift to high Ti/Al ratios coeval with the lowest δ13COM values suggests an increase in aeolian activity and dry conditions ca. 2100-1650 cal yr BP. The Jiroft valley again experienced wet conditions between 1550 and 1300 cal yr BP, which overlapped with the economic prosperity of the middle to late Sasanian empire. The paleoenvironmental reconstruction indicates that wet periods and intensive agriculture coincide with the Persian empires' zenith, political influence, and economic affluence. Therefore, contextualized and detailed paleoenvironmental records are desirable to explore the interplay of political and climatic factors in the development and fragmentation of the ancient settlements and imperial powers in Eurasian history. 1. Introduction 2. Geographical setting 3. Materials and methods 3.1. Sampling, magnetic susceptibility, and grain size analysis 3.2. Radiocarbon analyses 3.3. Elemental and mineralogical analyses 3.4. C/N and stable isotope analyses 3.4.1. Lipid extraction 3.5. Pollen analysis 4. Results 4.1. Age-depth model and chronology 4.2. Units 4.2.1. Unit 1 (U 1; 250-189 cm; ca. 4000-3550 cal yr BP) 4.2.2. Unit 2 (U 2; 189-164 cm; ca. 3550-3300 cal yr BP) 4.2.3. Unit 3 (U 3; 164-134 cm; ca. 3300-2900 cal yr BP) 4.2.4. Unit 4 (U 4; 134-106 cm; ca. 2900-2300 cal yr BP) 4.2.5. Unit 5 (U 5; 106-61 cm; ca. 2300-1550 cal yr BP) 4.2.6. Unit 6 (U 6; 61-10 cm; ca. 1550-850 cal yr BP) 5. Discussion 5.1. Paleoclimate preceding the decline of the Jiroft civilization 5.2. The Late Bronze Age decline in Jiroft 5.3. Rise and fall of the Persian Empire 5.3.1. The pre-Islamic period and recent times 6. Conclusions
Databáze: OpenAIRE
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