Hasanlu is quite an impressive ruin, the largest tepe in the Qadar River valley (37°00'N 45°35'E). The site consists of a High Mound, approximately 25 meters in height and 3.14 HA in area, surrounded by a Low Mound 8 m in height and covering at least 33 HA. The exact extent of the Low Mound has been obscured by modern agricultural activity and the villages of Hasanlu and Aminlu located on the eastern and southern Low Mound respectively. The ruin mounds of Hasanlu were formed through deposits of stone, earth, and debris left from the repeated construction and destruction of stone and mudbrick architecture and the accumulation of occupational debris. The excavators of Hasanlu and sites in the surrounding region distinguished 10 chronological periods based on archaeological remains, primarily changes in ceramics. The Hasanlu Sequence became one of the main chronological periodizations for northwestern Iran. It spans the Pottery Neolithic to the Iron Age, although it contains many gaps and has since been divided into subperiods and phases based on further analysis of the stratigraphy, architecture, and artifactual remains. Hasanlu periods are designated by roman numerals. During the early years of excavation, Dyson referred to the various periods with provisional popular names, such as the ‘Button Base Period’ rather than a sequential scheme since knowledge of the site’s stratigraphy was incomplete and the archaeological chronology of northwestern Iran was in its infancy.
The following chart represents the results of a recent reappraisal of occupation deposits and graves from Hasanlu. The published results from Dinkha Tepe (Muscarella 1968, 1974; Hamlin 1974; Rubinson 1991) were also incorporated into this study. An overview of this resarch will be available soon in the series Subartu (Danti, In Press.) and a more detailed presentation will appear in the monograph Hasanlu V: A Re-evaluation of the Late Bronze and Iron I Periods scheduled to go to press in May 2011.
Hasanlu Period |
Iranian Periodization |
Dyson’s Initial Phases |
Cultural Designation/Horizon |
Notes |
I |
Medieval |
Islamic Phase |
Ilkhanid |
|
|
-- Hiatus -- |
|
|
|
II |
Iron IV |
Mystery Phase |
Seleucid |
Badly eroded in most locations |
IIIa |
Iron IV |
Triangle Ware Phase |
Achaemenid |
Badly eroded in most locations |
|
--Hiatus -- |
|
|
|
IIIb |
Iron III |
Triangle Ware Phase |
Urartian |
At lease two phases |
|
--Hiatus -- |
|
|
|
IVa |
Iron II |
‘Squatter Occupation’ |
|
Comprised of traces of post-destruction use of the site |
IVb |
Iron II |
Grey Ware Phase |
Late Monochrome Burnsised Ware |
The Burned City |
IVc |
Iron I |
Grey Ware Phase |
Middle Monochrome Burnished Ware |
This subperiod refers to early architectural phases found in the standing architecture of Period IVb |
Va |
Late Bronze II |
Button-Base Phase |
Early Monochrome Burnished Ware |
Five exposures on the High Mound |
Vb |
Late Bronze I |
Button-Base Phase |
Early Monochrome Burnished Ware
(also Incised and Impressed MBW at Dinkha) |
Not previously reported |
VIa |
Middle Bronze III |
|
Dinkha Polychrome and Incised Monochrome Burnished Ware and Impressed MBW |
Not well attested at Hasanlu Tepe |
VIb |
Middle Bronze II |
Dinkha Ware or Ring Ware |
Painted Khabur Ware |
|
VIc |
Middle Bronze I |
|
Unpainted Khabur Ware |
Not previously reported |
VIIa |
Early Bronze Age |
Orange Ware |
Late Orange Ware |
Not previously reported |
VIIb |
Early Bronze Age |
Orange Ware |
Early Orange Ware |
The earliest material reached on the Low Mound, directly on sterile soil. |
VIIc |
Late Chalcolithic/ Early Bronze Age |
|
Streaky Ware and Early Transcaucasian |
The earliest strata reached in controlled excavations in the U22 Sounding |
VIII |
Late Chalcolithic |
Pisdeli |
Pisdeli |
Not reached in controlled excavations at Hasanlu, but present in the Well Sounding |
IX |
Chalcolithic |
Dalma |
Dalma |
Not reached in controlled excavations at Hasanlu, but present in the Well Sounding |
X |
Pottery Neolithic |
Hajji Firuz |
Hajji Firuz |
Not attested in primary contexts at Hasanlu Tepe |
