The iron age sites in the northern area of Sabalan mountain and current migration routes of the Shahseven tribes: a comparative study

The current migration routes may represent an excellent record while studying nomadic populations in the past. And although we can only extrapolate the current situation or the results of comparative studies to the past without equating them, migration routes may be used as research contexts of high reliability. The slopes of Sabalan Mountain in the northwest of Iran is among principal summer pastures used by the herders of the Shahseven tribes. Here, the vast majority of Iron Age sites are cemeteries not associated with settlements, so in the past the area was used by the nomads for their summer camps. During the research of migration routes of the modern-day Shahseven leading to the summer pastures, multiple Iron Age cemeteries, as well as fortified settlements and campsites, were discovered. In large-scale field investigations, archaeological sites were thoroughly surveyed to locate them in relation to current migration routes and to verify possible relationship between them. In the research area, sites were studied both by number and by categories, and the sought-for relationship has been established. It is obvious that the sites are concentrated along migration routes. Both on the mountain slopes and adjacent plains, traces of ten pathways of primary and secondary importance were recovered, and Iron Age sites are found throughout along them. Hence, some modern migration routes appeared to have been in use during the Iron Age, although the traditional ancient pathways may not have been entirely the same as modern ones.