ارزیابی شرایط محیطی تاثیرگذار در مکان گزینی سکونتگاه های باستانی (مطالعه موردی: شهرستان کهک)

Extended Abstract



1. Introduction

The natural environment has played a fundamental role in the decision-making of past humans to choose a place to live. Factors such as access to water resources, soil fertility, land slope, altitude above sea level, proximity to food sources, and accessibility to communication routes are among the most important variables that have been effective in locating human settlements. Examining these factors using spatial models not only helps to reconstruct settlement patterns in the past, but is also useful in designing predictive maps of ancient sites. In recent years, the use of statistical methods and machine learning to model the archaeological potential of different areas has become increasingly popular. By analyzing environmental data and recorded data from known ancient sites, these models are able to predict areas where the likelihood of ancient settlements is high. In addition to saving time and cost of field excavations, these methods allow archaeologists to focus on areas with higher priority. Different areas have different potentials for establishing settlements, depending on their natural conditions and historical background. Among the areas with a long historical background and a density of ancient sites is the city of Kahak in Qom province. Accordingly, the aim of this research is to identify areas susceptible to establishing ancient settlements in Kahak city using environmental parameters and spatial analyses.



2. Research Methodology

In this research, the 30-meter SRTM digital elevation model, 1:100,000 geological map, and the layer of ancient sites identified in the region were used as the most important research data. The most important research tools were ArcGIS, TerrSet, and SuperDecisions. Also, the WLC-ANP integrated model was used in this research to identify areas susceptible to the establishment of ancient settlements. This research was conducted in several stages, in the first stage, the distribution of ancient sites was analyzed in relation to various environmental factors. In the second stage, based on the results obtained from the previous stages and using the WLC-ANP integrated model, the final map of areas susceptible to the establishment of ancient settlements in Kahak County was prepared. In the third stage, in order to verify the results obtained, the distribution status of the sites in the final classified map was evaluated.



3. Discussion and results

The results of the assessment of the distribution of identified sites in the subunits related to the parameters used have shown that 81 and 46 percent of the identified sites are located in the classes less than one kilometer from the river and spring, respectively, and with increasing distance from the river and spring, the density of sites has decreased. In terms of the slope parameter, 60 percent of the identified sites are located in the slope class less than 10 percent, and with increasing slope, the density of sites has decreased. In terms of the height parameter, 38 percent of the identified sites are located in the altitude class of 900 to 1300 meters, and in a general trend, the density of sites has decreased with increasing height. In terms of the lithology parameter, the highest density of identified sites with 27 percent was related to alluvial material units. Also, in terms of the geomorphology unit parameter, 70 percent of the identified sites were related to the alluvial fan unit. According to the results, it can be said that areas near rivers, areas near springs, low-slope and low-altitude areas, northern slope directions, alluvial lithology, and alluvial fan units had the highest density of ancient sites.









4. Conclusion

According to the assessments conducted regarding the potential for establishing ancient settlements in the city of Kahak, the results show that about 403 square kilometers of the city (equivalent to 48.6 percent) had a great potential for establishing human settlements in ancient times due to its proximity to water resources such as rivers and springs, as well as suitable natural conditions such as altitude and low slope. In contrast, 125 square kilometers of the area (equivalent to 15.1 percent) had little potential for such settlements due to its distance from water resources and unsuitable topographic conditions. In order to assess the accuracy of the results of this analysis, the spatial distribution of the identified ancient sites was compared with the potential classes. Accordingly, it was determined that 30 sites (equivalent to 81.1 percent of the total sites) were in the very high potential range and 5 sites (equivalent to 13.5 percent) were in the high potential class. While none of the identified sites fall into the low or very low potential categories. Considering the above, it can be concluded that the analysis method used in this study has high validity and accuracy and can be used as an effective scientific tool to identify and predict areas susceptible to ancient settlements in the Kahak region. These results can pave the way for future archaeological studies and better management of the region's cultural heritage.