The Neolithisation of Fars: a preliminary report on the charred plant remains from Tol-e Sangi, in the Iranian southern Zagros, c. 7050-6650 BC

Journal article

The Neolithic of the eastern Fertile Crescent (EFC) has been understudied: excavation here has focused on the central Zagros region where de novo crop and livestock domestication is evidenced. However, there have been 50+ years of excavation in the southern Zagros of Fars, southern Iran, on a hypothesised corridor connecting the core Zagros with much of Asia. In 2009, the first evidence for Pre-pottery Neolithic (PPN) and PPN/Pottery Neolithic (PN) occupation in Fars was found at Rahmatabad. Like Rahmatabad, Tol-e Sangi has securely radiocarbon dated stratigraphy spanning the PPN/PN transition. Further, programmes of radiocarbon dating at each site suggest the commencement of the Fars PN (characterised by Neolithic pottery) at c. 6900-6800 BC, earlier than previously thought, and approximately coeval with the Zagros EFC core to the west. Both Rahmatabad and Tol-e Sangi evidence domesticated cultivation in the oldest deposits, without signs of crop progenitors or pre-domestication cultivation, suggesting importing of a package of predomesticated cultivars potentially from the EFC core. Unusually for the Iranian Neolithic, the domesticated crop spectrum at Tol-e Sangi seems to exclude barley: contributing to an emerging picture of localised pathways to Neolithisation. Pistacia shell is abundant at Tol-e Sangi. Not a canonical founder crop, pistachio was clearly crucial to local plant exploitation. Analysis suggests much of the assemblage may be derived from dung burnt as fuel. Strategically located and occupied during the PPN/PN transition, Tol-e Sangi and Rahmatabad are key sites for understanding Neolithisation within southern Iran and, thereby, all of southwest Asia.

Authors: Caroe, H; Khanipour, M; Matthews, R; Charles, M

• Publication status: Accepted
• Peer review status: Peer reviewed
• Publisher: Taylor & Francis
• Journal: Iran
• Acceptance date: 2025-08-26
• EISSN: 2396-9202
• ISSN: 0578-6967
• Language: English
• Keywords: Fars; Eastern Fertile Crescent; archaeobotany; Neolithic; domestication