Landlord villages of Iran as examples of political economy and materiality

SUMMARY: This paper uses a political economy framework to explore the role of external agents of change in Iran, and the impact of foreign trade during the 19th and 20th centuries, particularly with Russia and Britain. The results of an historical archaeology exploring landlord villages in the Tehran Plain are analysed here to show how the extremely long-lived landlord village form of land tenure and economic and social control offers a useful case study through which to approach an understanding of the impact of the political economy on rural populations of the period.     

Landlord Villages of Iran as Landscapes of Hierarchy and Control

This paper analyses the walled landlord villages of the Tehran Plain in terms of hierarchy and control, and how these structures are created and expressed through the spatial landscape of the villages. Drawing on original fieldwork, the ways in which landlords used the physicality of the villages to maintain and reinforce control over farmers is explored. We suggest that the “success” or at least longevity of the land tenure system in Iran prior to the later twentieth century can be attributed at least in part to the buildings and spaces of the villages themselves.     

The Evolution of Pottery Production During The Late Neolithic Period at Sialk On The Kashan Plain,Central Plateau of Iran

The prehistoric sherds recovered from the North Mound of Tepe Sialk were investigated using XRF, XRD and SEM/EDX analyses. These studies showed the occurrence of a gradual evolution in pottery‐making from the Sialk I to Sialk II periods, eventually leading to the production of bulk red pottery at the final phase of Sialk II. The relative similarity of compositions, homogeneous microstructures and the presence of high‐temperature phases demonstrated a high degree of specialization in the selection of raw materials and control of the firing temperature and atmosphere among the potters of Sialk in the sixth millennium bc , peaking at the final phase of Sialk II.