A reflection on neolithization in the plains of Behshahr and Neka in Eastern Mazandaran, Iran

Abstract

About 70 years ago, C. S. Coon reported the sudden presence of domesticated animal species following a gap between the Mesolithic/Epi-Paleolithic and the Pre-Pottery Neolithic (PPN), based on data from excavations of the Hotu and Kamarband (Belt) Caves in the southeastern littoral of the Caspian Sea. Then, the first scientific step towards Neolithization studies in the region was taken by proposing a hypothesis that emphasized the import of Neolithic culture and domestication packages from the eastern wing of the Fertile Crescent, within the framework of diffusion theory. More recently, another hypothesis has been proposed that Neolithization in eastern Mazandaran is due to endogenous factors. These hypotheses were proposed despite serious weaknesses in both field studies and analyses. Lack of reliable evidence of domesticated species, inconsistency of paleo-climatology chronologies and data with archaeological periods, lack of subsistence and settlement data, problems of Mesolithic/Epi-Paleolithic to Neolithic chronology, and weaknesses in processing and analyses of archaeological data, are some of the problems in Neolithization studies in the region. The present paper intends to provide a proper analysis of the Neolithization studies in this region, and proposes the theory of low-level food production as a key component.