Spatial Analysis of Bakun Period Settlements in Kazeroun and Nurabad Mamasani Counties in Fars Province, Southern Iran

Fars Province south of the country has an area of 122000 square kilometers, forming 7.4% of total surface area of Iran area is allocated. Nurabad mamasani and Kazeroun counties in Fars Province have had an important location and strategic status in prehistoric times. On the one hand, they are associated with the other prehistoric cultures of Marvdasht Plain and on the other with Khuzestan cultures. Geography (climatology) has an essential role in the formation and dispersal of sites, such that location, extent, subsistence economy, political-social relations and somewhat culture have been a function of it. However, in addition to environmental and geographical factors, other factors affect the formation of settlements, their expansion and development. Identifying the Bakun period settlements in Kazeroun and Mamasani region, determining the role of ecosystem in the development course of settlements in this period and describing a model for the distribution of Bakun settlements in the studied region. Data analysis in this study was performed using GIS. During the study period, 17 sites were identified from Bakun period in Kazeroun Plain, and Bakun pottery was also found from 15 sites in Dashte Rostam 1 and 2 in Mamasani County. Half the Bakun sites in Kazeroun Plain 1 and 2 and Dashte Rostam 1 and 2 in Mamasani region are less than half an acre in extent. The largest of the prehistoric settlements in Kazeroun Plain is Tale Dehdaran (SK023) with an area of approximately 10 hectares, which has been continuously settled from middle Neolithic to historic period, and Tole Nurabad with an area of approximately 9 acres is the largest Bakun site in Mamasani region.