Zoning Analysis of Iron Age Sites Using Analytic Hierarchical Process (AHP) Methods in the Middle Atrak River Basin, Northeast of Iran

Iron Age settlements in the Middle Atrak Basin in Iran have a particular distribution pattern due to environmental, social, and economic variables, among which geographical factors play an essential role in creating and dispersing settlements. Some of these factors play a more effective and stable role than others. The present study examines and evaluates the role of geographical factors in the distribution of Iron Age sites to determine factors that have a more significant role than others. Moreover, the zoning map of the Middle Atrak Basin should be presented using four different types of location, grouped in terms of those with a perfectly suitable, relatively suitable, suitable, and unsuitable location. To achieve this goal, seven natural factors, including the distance of sites from the river, altitude, slope, slope direction, distance from communication routes, soil type, and land use, were selected as influential factors in choosing the location of the Iron Age sites. In this study operating maps were prepared digitally using ArcGIS, and then the weight of each index was determined using the AHP model. The results of this study show that 46.7% of the Iron Age settlements (or 28 sites) were located in a perfectly suitable environment and geography, 24 sites (29.3%) in a relatively suitable location, seven sites (11.4%) in a suitable place, and one site (1.6%) in a completely unsuitable environment. This last type of location in the region’s landscape indicates the choice of different livelihoods, including agriculture and animal husbandry with both seasonal and permanent methods.