Invasion or Climate Change? What Changed Bampour Culture? - CAIS Archaeological & Cultural News of Iranian World©

LONDON, (CAIS) -- Archaeologists are intending to perform XRF tests on unearthed clays in Bampour to find out the traces of invasion on this historical site during the ancient times. Archaeological evidence shows that most probably some foreign tribes attacked Bampour historical site during the second millennium BCE and caused changes to the culture of the area. However, the effect of climatic changes can not be ignored and archaeologists are hoping that their research would finally reveal the real reason behind the changes seen in the culture of Bampour from 2000 BCE onward.

“Some clays belonging to six different cultural periods were found in Bampour historical site during archaeological excavations carried out by During Caspers in 1966. Based on archaeological evidence, Caspers concluded that foreign tribes must have attacked Bampour some 4000 years ago and settled there there after their victory. Since their clay productions were different from those of Bampour, they brought some changes in this industry. Now we are trying to find out this secret through XRF tests,” said Mehdi Mortazavi, member of the scientific board of Sistan va Baluchestan University.

X-ray fluorescence (XRF) analysis has been used to characterize a broad range of materials for over twenty years. Recent advances in digital electronics and semi-conductor technology has yielded very portable XRF analyzers for field analysis of many sample types including soils. This test will give the chance to archaeologists to find out whether these clays were produced in Bampour or they were made somewhere else and then brought to this region through testing the material used in producing the clay objects and compare it with the soil of the region.

“Since the excavations of Kari were carried out only in a very small area of Bampour, and considering that the modern archaeological studies have changed a lot compared to the traditional methods of that time, we can reach more accurate results through implementing scientific excavation methods,” added Mortazavi.

Recently a systematic survey was carried out by Mortazavi and a team of archaeology students on the historical path of Bampour, during which they succeeded in collecting all the surface clays of the region and identifying 20 historical hills in this area.

“It is possible that the cultural changes in the area were not caused by the presence of foreigners, and that climatic changes can be held responsible for these modifications that we see. Extreme changes in the climate, the impact of which can still be seen in this region, could have led the people abandon the centers of civilization in Bampour and thus regional cultures were formed as a result of this split of the larger community. Now we anticipate that performing XRF tests will uncover the truth,” explained Mortazavi.

Bampour is one of the most ancient places in Sistan va Baluchestan province constructed during the Parthian dynasty. Bampour Fortress is the most prominent historical monument in this area. Having more than 2000 years of history and despite the extensive damages caused by different natural disasters and wars, Bampour Fortress still catches the eyes of the visitors even from kilometers away in the desert. During the ancient times, Bampour Fortress was one of the strategic fortresses in Baluchestan province and was surrounded by 10 defensive towers. This fortress is one of the major tourism attractions of the province.