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The domestication of plants and animals is believed to have commenced around 9500 BCE in the Near East. If the timing of the westward diffusion of the Neolithic transition is well documented, the precise mechanisms by which agriculture emerged between the Iranian Plateau, Central Asia, and South Asia remain unclear. In this context, the archaeological site of Mehrgarh (Pakistan) represents an essential point of reference. It is the sole site in the region where Neolithic occupation deposits have been extensively excavated, thereby providing the most essential insights into this period in northwest South Asia. Nevertheless, the accurate dating of these deposits remains a matter of contention, with implications for the most critical question of the emergence of agricultural life in the regions between the Fertile Crescent in the west and the Indus Valley in the east. Bayesian modelling of new radiocarbon dates performed on human tooth enamel from 23 Neolithic burials indicates that the aceramic Neolithic cemetery at Mehrgarh started between 5200 and 4900 BCE and lasted for a period of between two and five centuries. This result is in stark contrast with the previously proposed chronology of Neolithic Mehrgarh, which had not only suggested an early beginning around 8000 BCE but also a much longer duration of three millennia. This new, younger chronology implies that agriculture emerged in the Indus Valley as the result of a late diffusion of farmers into this region. Additionally, the data suggest that the thick Neolithic occupation deposits of Mehrgarh were formed at a faster rate than previously assumed, and that pottery production and its utilization in present-day Pakistan emerged not before the mid-fifth millennium BCE.

This paper provides an updated view of the chronology of and cultural complexes present in the Bampur Valley, south-eastern Iran, during the Chalcolithic period (fifth and fourth millennia BC). It is based on a reexamination of ceramic assemblages from six sites located in this valley investigated by Aurel Stein in the 1930s-assemblages that are held by the Peabody Museum at Harvard University-and comparisons with additional available data from the south-eastern Iranian Plateau during this period.

The Bam Archaeological Mission aims to investigate ancient settlement in the Bam-Narmashir region of Iran. Preliminary survey has identified over 200 new archaeological sites, with renewed excavation at the key site of Tell-e Atashi revealing structural evidence of Neolithic occupation.

This article reports results from an archaeological survey conducted along the Sarbaz Valley and in adjacent areas in parts of Sarbaz and Chahbahar counties in the Sistan and Baluchestan province of south-eastern Iran. The surveyed area is located in the south-eastern greater periphery of the Jazmurian Basin, in-between the Bampur Valley ca. 120 km. to the north-west and the Kech-Makran region less than 100 km. to the south-east in Pakistan. Both these two regions were investigated in the past and yielded abundant archaeological records dating to the Chalcolithic and Bronze Age periods. It was particularly interesting to explore the area considered in this article to understand how it connected with these two archaeologically-rich neighbouring regions during these periods. From a broader perspective, this survey also aimed to contribute to the reconstruction of the ancient cultural spheres - the location of their spatial boundaries and intra- and inter-regional interaction routes - in the south-easternmost territories of the Iranian Plateau. As a result, twenty sites dating to the Chalcolithic and/or Bronze Age periods were found. These sites and their surface materials are here presented and discussed with reference to the broader context of these periods in these territories.

This paper presents cultural dynamics of southern Middle-Asia during the fifth and early fourth millennia BC on the basis of the ceramic traditions identified in this area at this time. It is an attempt to reconstruct and connect the situations observed from the Southeastern Iranian Plateau and in the Indo-Iranian Borderlands to the development of the Ubaid and “ black-on-buff” ceramic cultures in Mesopotamia, southwestern Iran, and the Persian Gulf. Three main conclusions result from this synthesis. First, the picture of southern Middle-Asia during the fifth and early fourth millennia BC was varied in terms of production and use of ceramics. Secondly, the inception of pottery in this area was a gradual and diverse process that took place both in the Neolithic and Chalcolithic periods. Finally, some patterns that emerged at this time appear to be relevant for an understanding of the later developments in the late fourth and third millennia BC. Cet article est un essai de synthèse portant sur les principales traditions céramiques du Sud de l’Asie moyenne lors du cinquième millénaire et au début du quatrième millénaire av. J.-C. La Mésopotamie, le sud-ouest de l’Iran et le Golfe persique, caractérisés alors par le développement de l’Obeid et de productions céramiques peintes en noir sur pâte claire, sont comparés aux situations observées dans le sud-est du Plateau iranien et au Pakistan. Trois principales conclusions résultent de cette synthèse. Premièrement, l’Asie moyenne méridionale à cette époque intégrait des situations très différentes en termes de production et d’utilisation de vases en céramique. Deuxièmement, la céramique est apparue dans cette région de façon graduelle et selon des processus variés au cours du Néolithique et du Chalcolithique. Enfin, certaines reconstitutions déduites des données du cinquième millénaire et du début du quatrième millénaire av. J.-C. semblent montrer que certains aspects des développements observés par la suite, à partir de la fin du quatrième millénaire, étaient déjà en place au cours des périodes précédentes. Mutin Benjamin. Cultural Dynamics in Southern Middle Asia in the fifth and fourth millennia BC: A reconstruction based on ceramic tradition. In: Paléorient, 2012, vol. 38, n°1-2. pp. 159-184.

This paper presents cultural dynamics of southern Middle-Asia during the fifth and early fourth millennia BC on the basis of the ceramic traditions identified in this area at this time. It is an attempt to reconstruct and connect the situations observed from the Southeastern Iranian Plateau and in the Indo-Iranian Borderlands to the development of the Ubaid and \"black-on-buff\" ceramic cultures in Mesopotamia, southwestern Iran, and the Persian Gulf. Three main conclusions result from this synthesis. First, the picture of southern Middle-Asia during the fifth and early fourth millennia BC was varied in terms of production and use of ceramics. Secondly, the inception of pottery in this area was a gradual and diverse process that took place both in the Neolithic and Chalcolithic periods. Finally, some patterns that emerged at this time appear to be relevant for an understanding of the later developments in the late fourth and third millennia BC. Cet article est un essai de synthèse portant sur les principales traditions céramiques du Sud de l'Asie moyenne lors du cinquième millénaire et au début du quatrième millénaire av. J.-C. La Mésopotamie, le sud-ouest de l'Iran et le Golfe persique, caractérisés alors par le développement de l'Obeid et de productions céramiques peintes en noir sur pâte claire, sont comparés aux situations observées dans le sud-est du Plateau iranien et au Pakistan. Trois principales conclusions résultent de cette synthèse. Premièrement, l'Asie moyenne méridionale à cette époque intégrait des situations très différentes en termes de production et d'utilisation de vases en céramique. Deuxièmement, la céramique est apparue dans cette région de façon graduelle et selon des processus variés au cours du Néolithique et du Chalcolithique. Enfin, certaines reconstitutions déduites des données du cinquième millénaire et du début du quatrième millénaire av. J.-C. semblent montrer que certains aspects des développements observés par la suite, à partir de la fin du quatrième millénaire, étaient déjà en place au cours des périodes précédentes.

This article presents the results of the first systematic archaeological survey of the Bampur Valley in south-eastern Iran. This survey discovered 39 Chalcolithic sites dating to between the mid-to-late fifth and mid-to-late fourth millennium BC and collected numerous archaeological ceramics. These new data include substantial evidence for relationships with cultural complexes extending in the neighbouring regions of Kerman to the north-west and Kech-Makran in Pakistan to the south-east, as well as materials with styles never previously seen. Analysis of this data provides important, new details as to the chronology and archaeological cultures of the Bampur Valley and enables a first assessment of settlement pattern in this valley during the Chalcolithic period. Data of this survey are also critical for comprehending the cultural spheres and interactions at the level of southern Middle Asia at that time.

Cet article est un essai de synthèse portant sur les principales traditions céramiques du Sud de l’Asie moyenne lors du cinquième millénaire et au début du quatrième millénaire av. J.-C. La Mésopotamie, le sud-ouest de l’Iran et le Golfe persique, caractérisés alors par le développement de l’Obeid et de productions céramiques peintes en noir sur pâte claire, sont comparés aux situations observées dans le sud-est du Plateau iranien et au Pakistan. Trois principales conclusions résultent de cette synthèse. Premièrement, l’Asie moyenne méridionale à cette époque intégrait des situations très différentes en termes de production et d’utilisation de vases en céramique. Deuxièmement, la céramique est apparue dans cette région de façon graduelle et selon des processus variés au cours du Néolithique et du Chalcolithique. Enfin, certaines reconstitutions déduites des données du cinquième millénaire et du début du quatrième millénaire av. J.-C. semblent montrer que certains aspects des développements observés par la suite, à partir de la fin du quatrième millénaire, étaient déjà en place au cours des périodes précédentes. This paper presents cultural dynamics of southern Middle-Asia during the fifth and early fourth millennia BC on the basis of the ceramic traditions identified in this area at this time. It is an attempt to reconstruct and connect the situations observed from the Southeastern Iranian Plateau and in the Indo-Iranian Borderlands to the development of the Ubaid and “ black-on-buff” ceramic cultures in Mesopotamia, southwestern Iran, and the Persian Gulf. Three main conclusions result from this synthesis. First, the picture of southern Middle-Asia during the fifth and early fourth millennia BC was varied in terms of production and use of ceramics. Secondly, the inception of pottery in this area was a gradual and diverse process that took place both in the Neolithic and Chalcolithic periods. Finally, some patterns that emerged at this time appear to be relevant for an understanding of the later developments in the late fourth and third millennia BC.