Bronze Age Iran is the (missing) link between the Yamnaya and modern day Iran. (pink in diagram, especially squares).

My old question: did they come via the Caucasus or via the Oxus is hereby resolved: they came the eastern route. Or via the Caspian/Black sea by boat?

Zazaki is a Northwestern Iranian language with very strong connections to known forms

In contrast to Anatolia (Halaf, Ubaid) or the Caucasus (Shulaveri-Shomu, Kura-Araxes), the Chalcolithic cultures of Iran are generally not labeled with broad, supra-regional names. Archaeologists usually designate them after their type-sites or excavation loci: • Dalma → after Tepe Dalma (Lake Urmia basin). • Sialk III–IV → after Tepe Sialk (Kashan). • Seh Gabi / Godin Tepe sequence → Central Zagros. • Tepe Hissar I–II → Damghan plain, south Caspian. • Hajji Firuz, Dinkha Tepe, Pisdeli → Urmia basin and Zagros valleys. • Proto-Elamite → later, in Fars and Khuzestan (Tepe Yahya, Anshan, Susa I).

• Fragmentation of terminology
• Less recognition in syntheses
• Missed pan-regional framing (like “Halaf,” “Ubaid,” or “Kura-Araxes.”)

Qazvin Kashan Gutium Lullubi, Simurrum

𒈥𒄩𒅆𒆠 Marḫaši is the one eastern name, but its location is debated (Kerman Baluchistan Jiroft Mehrgarh)

𐎘𐎁𐎗 ṯbr Ṯebran > Tehran 𐎌𐎁𐎗 šbr Šúbari 𒋙𒁀𒊑 Šú-ba-ri < Šúbaritum <> Separation separate parted lands

Subartu < Šúbaritum < 𐎘𐎁𐎗 < ṯupartu > Parthia … Persia Subartu > 𒋢𒂔𒆠 SU.BIR₄ki “Subir” < 𐎘𐎁𐎗 ṯbr

⚠️ Historically, Subartu shifted meaning: 3rd millennium = vague northern highlands 2nd millennium = synonymous with Assyria.

𒋚 ŠUBUR 𒂄 ŠUL •sýr 𓃟 Assyria Subartu 𒋢𒂔𒆠 SU.BIR₄ki “Subir” <> Eber

Persia ≈ Porkia 𒋚 ŠUBUR 𒋚𒌈 šuburtum > सुअर suar txerriki 𒋚 derr ≈ Tehran tier डुकर ḍukar (בְּשַׂר) חֲזִיר b'sar khazír בָּשָׂר לָבָן basár

Tauran 𓃓 @ Oxus Turkmania Turkmenistan Turan (Avestan: Tūiriiānəm; Middle Persian: Tūrān; Persian: TajikТӯрон توران, romanized: Turân, pronounced [tʰuːˈɾɒːn], lit. 'The Land of Tur') is a historical region in Central Asia. The term is of Iranian origin[1][2] and may refer to a particular prehistoric human settlement, a historic geographical region, or a culture. The original Turanians were an Iranian[3][4][5] tribe of the Avestan age. Tūr or Turaj Tuzh => Turks

• Tebran Horizon (anchored in Tehran/Qazvin plain, neutral and archaeological). • Turanian Chalcolithic (anchored in Iranian epic geography, linking plateau to Oxus and steppe).

⚠️ 💡 Proto-Elamite to Elamite script sphere in Sialk and Sofalin down to Yahya 💡 ⚠️

Metallurgy • True copper smelting: furnace slags and crucibles (Dalma, Seh Gabi, Sialk) prove transformation from ore, not just cold-hammered native copper. • Casting in open molds: copper pins, awls, and flat axes produced by controlled casting rather than hammering. • Early lost-wax (cire perdue) casting? — disputed, but some small ornaments suggest it may have been attempted at Sialk and Hissar. • Early alloying experiments: trace arsenical bronzes appear at Sialk IV and Tepe Hissar II, pushing beyond pure copper.

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Ceramics and Kiln Technology • Chaff-Faced ware kilns: evidence for updraft kilns, reaching higher firing temperatures than open hearths. • Painted pottery traditions (Sialk painted ware, Dalma ware) with complex geometric and zoomorphic motifs. • Fine burnished grey wares at Tepe Hissar, requiring careful reducing atmospheres, a technological milestone that anticipates later “grey ware horizons.”

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Architecture and Urban Form • Rectilinear multi-roomed houses (Dalma, Seh Gabi, Tepe Sialk III). • Mudbrick platforms and large storage rooms (Sialk IV), foreshadowing proto-urban layouts. • Centralized storage facilities at Godin Tepe — evidence of collective economic management.

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Textiles and Tools • Spindle whorls (Sialk, Seh Gabi, Hissar), showing organized spinning and weaving. • Bone and antler tools specialized for textile production (needles, awls). • Stone querns and mortars in standardized sizes, suggesting household-scale cereal processing efficiency.

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Seals and Administration • Stamp seals appear at Sialk IV and Godin Tepe, with geometric and animal motifs — precursors to the glyptic systems that culminate in Proto-Elamite administration. • Sealings on storage jars and doors show concern with controlling surplus, a hallmark of emerging complex societies.

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Other Innovations • Bead production workshops (Tepe Hissar, Sialk), using lapis lazuli, carnelian, turquoise — indicating long-distance exchange networks into Afghanistan and Baluchistan. • ⚠️ 💡 Proto-script precursors: at Tepe Sialk IV and Tepe Yahya VI (slightly later), numerical clay tokens and sealings foreshadow and adopt the Proto-Elamite writing system. • Wide cultural spread from Hissar via Sialk to Anshan to Yahya(Jiroft) to Anau(Turan) • Standardized burial goods (copper pins, beads, vessels) indicating social differentiation.

Great Khorasan Road / Khurasan Road / Kings Road

Each region still keeps its ceramic identity, despite convergence in administration Magan 𒈣 𒃶 𒆠 ≈ "Makkan" "Makran" ≈ Baluchistan ≈ West Pakistan vs Indus 𜧞 ≈ 𒃶 🐃 Afghanistan Lapis lazuli outpost