Tepe Rahmatabad, Pasargadae: The Absolute and Relative Chronology

Tepe Rahmatabad is located near Pasargadae, in Fars province, southwestern Iran. This site is just in front of Bolaghi Valley and Pulvar River spanning approximately five hundred meters of east Rahmatabad. The second season of archaeological excavation at Tepe Rahmatabad was carried out in the summer of 2009. The main goal was to define the absolute and relative chronological sequence of the site by cutting a stratigraphic view into the mound. The excavation revealed nine meters of cultural deposits dating to several periods: the Islamic period (Qajar graves (19th century AD), the Achaemenian period (5th century BC), the Middle Bakun phase (early 5th century BC), the Pottery Neolithic period (late 8th to the middle 7th centuries BC), andthe Prepottery Neolithic period (late 8th to early mid-7th centuries BC). Rahmatabad provides us with the first evidence for pre-pottery Neolithic occupation in Fars Province and therefore provides critical new insights into the spread of the Neolithic across Iran.