학술논문

Khorezmian Walled Sites of the Seventh Century Bc—Fourth Century Ad: Urban Settlements? Elite Strongholds? Mobile Centres?
Document Type
Article
Source
Iran: Journal of the British Institute of Persian Studies; January 2013, Vol. 51 Issue: 1 p71-100, 30p
Subject
Language
ISSN
05786967; 23969202
Abstract
AbstractPrevious interpretations have reconstructed late Iron Age Khorezm as a sedentary, urban, agrarian state, and its largest fortified sites as urban centres following the hydraulic state model. This paper surveys the assumptions underlying this interpretation, and examines the archaeological evidence for urban settlements in relation to the fortified enclosures or kalas.A closer examination of these fortified sites reveals that they may have played a different role from that of centralised settlements. The lack of evidence for significant permanent, intra-mural housing and other factors requires the consideration of a greater influence of the steppe world and mobile strategies in the oasis during this period.