Which ancient army boasted the largest fortifications, and how did the competitive build-up of military capabilities shape world history? Few realise that imperial Rome had a serious competitor in Late Antiquity. Late Roman legionary bases, normally no larger than 5ha, were dwarfed by Sasanian fortresses, often covering 40ha, sometimes even 125-175ha. The latter did not necessarily house permanent garrisons but sheltered large armies temporarily – perhaps numbering 10-50,000 men each. Even Roman camps and fortresses of the Early and High Empire did not reach the dimensions of their later Persian counterparts. The longest fort-lined wall of the late antique world was also Persian. Persia built up, between the fourth and sixth centuries AD, the most massive military infrastructure of any ancient or medieval Near Eastern empire – if not the ancient and medieval world. Much of the known defensive network was directed against Persia’s powerful neighbours in the north rather than the west. This may reflect differences in archaeological visibility more than troop numbers. Urban garrisons in the Romano-Persian frontier zone are much harder to identify than vast geometric compounds in marginal northern lands. Recent excavations in Iran have enabled us to precision-date two of the largest fortresses of Southwest Asia, both larger than any in the Roman world. Excavations in a Gorgan Wall fort have shed much new light on frontier life, and we have unearthed a massive bridge nearby. A sonar survey has traced the terminal of the Tammisheh Wall, now submerged under the waters of the Caspian Sea. Further work has focused on a vast city and settlements in the hinterland. Persia’s Imperial Power, our previous project, had already shed much light on the Great Wall of Gorgan, but it was our recent fieldwork that has thrown the sheer magnitude of Sasanian military infrastructure into sharp relief.

• Cover
• FM
• Halftitle
• FM1
• Title
• Copyright
• Contents
• Volume 1
  • Acknowledgements
  • Section A: Preliminaries
    • Chapter 1. Introduction
      • 1.1. An ancient arms race – shaping world history to the present day?
      • 1.2. Scope and context of the project
  • Section B: Terrestrial excavations and survey
    • Chapter 2. Sasanian landscapes of the Gorgan Plain: new insights from remote sensing and field survey: Kristen Hopper, Hamid Omrani Rekavandi, Andrea Ricci, Lynn Welton, Dan Lawrence and Graham Philip
      • 2.1. Introduction
      • 2.2. The Gorgan Wall Survey 2014–2016
      • 2.3. Sasanian site types: geometric fortified sites
        • 2.3.1. Geometric fortified enclosures over 6 ha
        • 2.3.2. Geometric fortified enclosures of 2–6 ha
        • 2.3.3. Geometric enclosures of 1 ha or less
      • 2.4. Sasanian rural settlements: intensive survey at GWS-79
      • 2.5. Investigations of features in the vicinity of Gorgan Wall Forts
      • 2.6. Hydrological features associated with the Gorgan Wall and geometric fortified sites
      • 2.7. Conclusion
    • Chapter 3. The Gorgan Wall
      • 3.1. Introduction
      • 3.2. The Gorgan Wall Bridge and a Sasanian reservoir between Forts 2A and 2
        • 3.2.1. Sasanian hydraulic installations in the Sari Su River Valley
        • 3.2.2. A new section of the Gorgan Wall, discovered by geophysical and pedestrian survey, leading towards a bridge
        • 3.2.3. The Gorgan Wall Bridge (Trench b)
        • 3.2.4. Bridge design
        • 3.2.5. Protecting the bridge from erosion
        • 3.2.6. Alluvial deposits and circumstantial evidence for a Sasanian barrage and reservoir in the Sari Su River
        • 3.2.7. Chronology
        • 3.2.8. The purpose of the reservoir
        • 3.2.9. Brick robbing and sedimentation in post-Sasanian times
      • 3.3. Drone survey of the Gorgan Wall
    • Chapter 4. Forts on the Gorgan Wall
      • 4.1. Fort 2
        • 4.1.1. Introduction
        • 4.1.2. Remote, pedestrian, magnetometer and topographical survey of Fort 2
          • 4.1.2.1. The fort defences
          • 4.1.2.2. Interior occupation
          • 4.1.2.3. Results
        • 4.1.3. Excavation of an interval tower of Fort 2 (Trench c)
        • 4.1.4. The barracks in Fort 2 (Trench d)
          • 4.1.4.1. Introduction
          • 4.1.4.2. Construction and layout of the barracks, phase 1 (Trench d)
            • 4.1.4.2.1. The original barracks
            • 4.1.4.2.2. Attempted quantification of mud-bricks needed for barracks construction
            • 4.1.4.2.3. Barracks extension via annexes
          • 4.1.4.3. Chronology of barracks construction and occupation in Trench d
          • 4.1.4.4. The history of occupation of the barrack rooms
            • 4.1.4.4.1. The original barracks: rows 2 and 3
              • 4.1.4.4.1.1. The western row of rooms (2) in the original barracks
              • 4.1.4.4.1.2. The eastern row of rooms (3) in the original barracks
              • 4.1.4.4.1.3. Characteristics of the original barracks (rows 2 and 3)
            • 4.1.4.4.2. The western annexe: rows 0 and 1
              • 4.1.4.4.2.1. The eastern row of rooms (1) in the western annexe
              • 4.1.4.4.2.2. The western row of rooms (0) in the western annexe
            • 4.1.4.4.3. The eastern annexe: rows 4 and 5
              • 4.1.4.4.3.1. The western row of rooms (4) in the eastern annexe
              • 4.1.4.4.3.2. The eastern row of rooms (5) in the eastern annexe
            • 4.1.4.4.4. The area outdoors to the west of the barracks
            • 4.1.4.4.5. The area outdoors to the east of the barracks
          • 4.1.4.5. Life in Sasanian barracks on the Gorgan Wall
            • 4.1.4.5.1. Heating and cooking in Sasanian barracks
            • 4.1.4.5.2. Food storage
              • 4.1.4.5.2.1. Storage pits
              • 4.1.4.5.2.2. Storage vessels and possible reforms in provisioning the army
            • 4.1.4.5.3. Finds distribution over space and time
          • 4.1.4.6. The chronology of Fort 2’s occupation (Trench d)
            • 4.1.4.6.1. The start of occupation
            • 4.1.4.6.2. The end of occupation
            • 4.1.4.6.3. Occupation density over time
      • 4.2. Barracks in Fort 15
      • 4.3. Barracks in Fort 25
      • 4.4. Barracks in Fort 26
      • 4.5. Geophysical survey at a compound on the north side of the Great Wall: GWS-65 near Fort 28
      • 4.6. Remote survey of forts along the Great Wall
        • 4.6.1. Introduction
        • 4.6.2. Satellite survey
        • 4.6.3. Drone survey
    • Chapter 5. The Tammisheh Wall and associated forts
      • 5.1. Introduction
      • 5.2. Underwater survey of a submerged fort
      • 5.3. Remote survey of the Tammisheh Wall
    • Chapter 6. Post-Sasanian barriers
      • 6.1. The Jar-e Kulbad Earthwork: a basic clone of the Tammisheh Wall, decisive in modern warfare
      • 6.2. The Forud Wall near Kalat in Khorasan: Meysam Labbaf-Khaniki, Eberhard W. Sauer, Kristen Hopper, Davit Naskidashvili, Bardia Shabani and David Gagoshidze
        • 6.2.1. The Forud Wall
        • 6.2.2. The Arg-e Forud
        • 6.2.3. Pedestrian and aerial survey of the Forud Wall
        • 6.2.4. A sondage within the Arg-e Forud (Trench j)
        • 6.2.5. A sondage within a watchtower on the Forud Wall (Trench k)
        • 6.2.6. The date, historical context and function of the barriers around Kalat
      • 6.3. The valley of Landar: Meysam Labbaf-Khaniki and Kristen Hopper
      • 6.4. Walls, towers and a fort or caravanserai at Mozdouran: Meysam Labbaf-Khaniki, Kristen Hopper and Eberhard W. Sauer
    • Chapter 7. Hinterland forts
      • 7.1. Forts on the Gorgan Plain
      • 7.2. Buraq Tappeh
        • 7.2.1. Buraq Tappeh: siting and research potential of a strategic guard-post
        • 7.2.2. Geophysical survey
        • 7.2.3. Aerial and pedestrian survey
        • 7.2.4. A sondage at Buraq Tappeh (Trench g)
          • 7.2.4.1. Introduction
          • 7.2.4.2. Fort construction and the architecture of interior buildings
          • 7.2.4.3. Early occupation within the fort
          • 7.2.4.4. Levelling and living on higher ground
          • 7.2.4.5. Oven construction
          • 7.2.4.6. A new fireplace as a focus for domestic activities
          • 7.2.4.7. Temporary site abandonment and decay?
          • 7.2.4.8. Reoccupation with a reduced garrison living nearby?
          • 7.2.4.9. Latest occupation and renewed oven construction
          • 7.2.4.10. Disturbed horizons above the abandoned fort
          • 7.2.4.11. Garrison size
          • 7.2.4.12. History and chronology of Buraq Tappeh’s occupation
      • 7.3. Habib Ishan: a hinterland fortification with a corner citadel?
      • 7.4. Forts on the Old Gorgan River: parts of a Sasanian defensive network? The purpose of the Sasanian forts south of the Great Wall
    • Chapter 8. Campaign bases
      • 8.1. Introduction
      • 8.2. Qal‘eh Pol Gonbad-e Kavus: the largest Sasanian fortress on the Gorgan Plain
        • 8.2.1. Introduction and comparative analysis of Qal‘eh Pol Gonbad-e Kavus and other campaign bases
        • 8.2.2. The towered and gated walls
        • 8.2.3. The moat
        • 8.2.4. Surface scatter of finds
        • 8.2.5. Geophysical survey
        • 8.2.6. A section through the defences (Trench a)
        • 8.2.7. The stratigraphy of the ditch system
        • 8.2.8. The earliest ditches (1–4)
        • 8.2.9. The fifth ditch
        • 8.2.10. The sixth ditch
        • 8.2.11. The seventh ditch
        • 8.2.12. The Sasanian-era topsoil and land surface
        • 8.2.13. The wall
        • 8.2.14. Dimensions of the defences in phase 1
        • 8.2.15. The modern field boundary ditches
        • 8.2.16. The date of Qal‘eh Pol Gonbad-e Kavus
      • 8.3. Gabri Qal‘eh: from Sasanian campaign base to Ilkhanid town
        • 8.3.1. Introduction and topographical survey
        • 8.3.2. Geophysical survey
        • 8.3.3. A busy bazaar street in a medieval town (Trench e)
        • 8.3.4. The causewayed access to Sasanian and medieval Gabri Qal‘eh (Trench f)
        • 8.3.5. Gabri Qal‘eh’s origins and significance
      • 8.4. Qal‘eh Kharabeh
        • 8.4.1. Geophysical survey
        • 8.4.2. Drone survey
        • 8.4.3. Recalibration of radiocarbon samples
      • 8.5. Campaign bases on the Gorgan Plain
    • Chapter 9. Qal‘eh Iraj: a campaign base/command centre of the army’s northern division?: Mahdi Mousavinia, Mohammadreza Nemati and Eberhard W. Sauer
      • 9.1. Introduction
      • 9.2. Excavations within the south-eastern gate
        • 9.2.1. The first field seasons
        • 9.2.2. Dating the fortress: excavations within the south-eastern gateway in 2016
          • 9.2.2.1. Excavations in the gateway (Trench h)
          • 9.2.2.2. A side chamber of the south-eastern gate (Trench i)
      • 9.3. Geophysical survey
        • 9.3.1. Introduction
        • 9.3.2. Site A
        • 9.3.3. Sites B–D
      • 9.4. New insights into the fortress’s history of occupation: excavations on the southern fortress walls in 2017
        • 9.4.1. Introduction
        • 9.4.2. Trench F128
        • 9.4.3. Trench F129
        • 9.4.4. Trench G129
        • 9.4.5. Discussion
      • 9.5. The chronology of Qal‘eh Iraj
      • 9.6. Qal‘eh Iraj: nerve centre of northern Persia’s defensive network?
    • Chapter 10. A Sasanian city: fire temple, brick pillar avenues and residential quarters: geophysical and aerial surveys at Dasht Qal‘eh
      • 10.1. Introduction
      • 10.2. Remote surveys
      • 10.3. A fire temple
      • 10.4. Roads and residential quarters
      • 10.5. The region’s capital?
  • Section C: Marine survey
    • Chapter 11. Discovering unknown sections of the Great Wall of Gorgan near the shores of the Caspian Sea: C. Richard Bates, Martin R. Bates and Hamid Omrani Rekavandi
      • 11.1. Introduction
      • 11.2. Aims of the survey
      • 11.3. Methodology
      • 11.4. Results
        • 11.4.1. Survey results near the westernmost known location of the Gorgan Wall and the associated ditch (section 1)
        • 11.4.2. Geophysical survey of remains of the Gorgan Wall and its associated ditch exposed in an irrigation trench
        • 11.4.3. Survey results (section 2)
        • 11.4.4. Survey results (section 3)
      • 11.5. A bathymetric and sub-bottom investigation in the Caspian Sea across the alignment of the Gorgan Wall
        • 11.5.1. Introduction
        • 11.5.2. Sidescan sonar
        • 11.5.3. Sub-bottom profiling
        • 11.5.4. Results
      • 11.6. Discussion
    • Chapter 12. A bathymetric and sub-bottom investigation of the Tammisheh Wall’s northernmost section submerged in the Caspian Sea: C. Richard Bates, Hamid Omrani Rekavandi and Hossein Tofighian
      • 12.1. Introduction
      • 12.2. Aims of the survey
      • 12.3. Methodology
      • 12.4. Results
        • 12.4.1. The site
        • 12.4.2. Seafloor bathymetry
        • 12.4.3. Sidescan sonar
        • 12.4.4. Sub-bottom profiling
      • 12.5. Discussion
    • Chapter 13. Palaeoenvironments at the Caspian terminals of the Gorgan and the Tammisheh Walls: Suzanne A.G. Leroy, François Demory, Françoise Chalié, Martin Bates, C. Richard Bates, Hamid Omrani Rekavandi, Eberhard W. Sauer and Paula J. Reimer
      • 13.1. Setting and aims
      • 13.2. Previous palynological studies
      • 13.3. Material and methods
        • 13.3.1. Fieldwork and core description
        • 13.3.2. Magnetic susceptibility
        • 13.3.3. Palynology
        • 13.3.4. Radiocarbon dating
      • 13.4. Results
        • 13.4.1. Western end of the Gorgan Wall
        • 13.4.2. The vicinity of the northern end of the Tammisheh Wall
      • 13.5. Interpretation
        • 13.5.1. Western terminal of the Gorgan Wall
        • 13.5.2. The vicinity of the northern terminal of the Tammisheh Wall
      • 13.6. Caspian Sea level changes from pre-Sasanian to early modern times
        • 13.6.1. The era preceding wall construction
        • 13.6.2. Sasanian-period walls and the lowstand of the Caspian Sea
        • 13.6.3. From the late Sasanian era to the Early Middle Ages
        • 13.6.4. Medieval and Little Ice Age flooding
      • 13.7. The coastal environment in Sasanian times
        • 13.7.1. The Gorgan Wall west of the S2-V3 sequence
        • 13.7.2. Vegetation at the time of the walls and later
      • 13.8. Conclusion
• Volume 2
  • Section D: Specialist contributions: written documents, finds, building materials, biological and environmental evidence and scientific dating
    • Chapter 14. Ostraca and bullae from Qal‘eh Iraj: Carlo G. Cereti, Mohammadreza Nemati and Mahdi Mousavinia
      • 14.1. Introduction
      • 14.2. Catalogue
      • 14.3. Conclusion
    • Chapter 15. Comparative studies of the Sasanian ceramics from forts on the Great Wall of Gorgan and fortifications in its hinterland: Maria Daghmehchi, Seth M.N. Priestman, Gabriele Puschnigg, Jebrael Nokandeh, Emanuele E. Intagliata, Hamid Omrani Rekavandi and Eberhard W. Sauer
      • 15.1. Preliminaries
        • 15.1.1. Abstract
        • 15.1.2. Introduction
      • 15.2. Material and methods
      • 15.3. Classification
        • 15.3.1. Physical characterisation of the Sasanian period ceramics
        • 15.3.2. Firing groups of the ceramics
        • 15.3.3. Petrographic characterisation of the ceramics
          • 15.3.3.1. Coarse wares (western part of the Gorgan Wall and Buraq Tappeh)
          • 15.3.3.2. Coarse wares (eastern part of the Gorgan Wall, Fort 2)
        • 15.3.4. Typological characterisation of the ceramics
          • 15.3.4.1. Medium closed form
            • 15.3.4.1.1. Neckless jars
            • 15.3.4.1.2. Coarse fabric neckless jars
            • 15.3.4.1.3. Trefoil-mouthed jugs
          • 15.3.4.2. Large closed forms
            • 15.3.4.2.1. One-handled jars with narrow tall straight necks
            • 15.3.4.2.2. Storage jars
            • 15.3.4.2.3. Cooking pots
          • 15.3.4.3. Small open forms
            • 15.3.4.3.1. Bowls
        • 15.3.5. Alternative quantitative method
      • 15.4. Sites explored
        • 15.4.1. Sari Su Bridge (Trench b): Emanuele E. Intagliata
        • 15.4.2. Fort 2 (Trenches c and d; eastern part of the Great Wall of Gorgan)
          • 15.4.2.1. Materials and methods
          • 15.4.2.2. Ceramic assemblages from the barrack rooms (Trench d): a clue to their function over space and time
          • 15.4.2.3. Changes in the ceramic assemblage from the barrack rooms (Trench d) over time
          • 15.4.2.4. Results and discussion
        • 15.4.3. Buraq Tappeh (Trench g)
        • 15.4.4. Qa‘leh Pol Gonbad-e Kavus (Trench a): Emanuele E. Intagliata
        • 15.4.5. Gabri Qal‘eh (Trenches e and f)
        • 15.4.6. Qal‘eh Iraj
      • 15.5. Comparative studies
        • 15.5.1. Contemporary ceramics from forts on the Gorgan Wall and the fortifications in its hinterland
        • 15.5.2. Contemporary ceramics from neighbouring regions
      • 15.6. Conclusion
      • 15.7. Chemical and vibrational spectroscopic analyses of similar types of vessels from forts on the Great Wall of Gorgan and fortifications in its hinterland: Maria Daghmehchi, Behrouz Karimi Shahraki, Hadi Omrani, Masumeh Madanipour, Arianit A. Reka, Jebrael Nokandeh, Hamid Omrani Rekavandi, Mohammadamin Emami and Eberhard W. Sauer
        • 15.7.1. Introduction
          • 15.7.1.1. Outline
          • 15.7.1.2. Background
        • 15.7.2. Materials and methods
        • 15.7.3. Petrographic characterisation
        • 15.7.4. Chemical compositions of mineral grains and clayey paste
          • 15.7.4.1. Chemical analysis
          • 15.7.4.2. FTIR analysis
          • 15.7.4.3. TGA-DTA and XRD analyses
        • 15.7.5. Conclusion
      • 15.8. Appendix: pottery from the 2017 season at Qal‘eh Iraj: Mohammadreza Nemati and Mahdi Mousavinia
    • Chapter 16. Glass: Fiona Anne Mowat and Tim Penn
      • 16.1. Introduction
      • 16.2. Assemblage overview
      • 16.3. Fabric classes
        • 16.3.1. Blue-green
        • 16.3.2. Blue
        • 16.3.3. Green
        • 16.3.4. Yellow, amber and brown
        • 16.3.5. Opaque fabrics
        • 16.3.6. Colourless fabrics
        • 16.3.7. Indeterminate fabrics
      • 16.4. Securely dated vessels
      • 16.5. Findspots and distribution
    • Chapter 17. Vessel glass: an archaeometric approach: Mohammadamin Emami and Farahnaz Bayat Nejad
      • 17.1. Introduction
      • 17.2. Materials and methods
        • 17.2.1. Analytical methods
          • 17.2.1.1. Wavelength X-ray fluorescence (WXRF)
          • 17.2.1.2. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM)
          • 17.2.1.3. Simultaneous thermal analysis (STA)
        • 17.2.2. The sample
      • 17.3. Results and discussion
        • 17.3.1. WXRF analysis of bulk chemical composition
        • 17.3.2. Microstructural analysis through scanning electron microscopy (SEM)
        • 17.3.3. Simultaneous thermal analysis (STA)
      • 17.4. Conclusion
    • Chapter 18. Small objects and other finds: Eberhard W. Sauer, St John Simpson, Mahdi Jahed, Mohaddeseh Mansouri Razi, Marzieh Moslehi, Mohammadreza Nemati, Jebrael Nokandeh, Hamid Omrani Rekavandi, Tim Penn and Alireza Salari
      • 18.1. Introduction
      • 18.2. Weapons
      • 18.3. Tools
        • 18.3.1. Knives and other personal implements
        • 18.3.2. Whetstones
        • 18.3.3. Grinding stones
        • 18.3.4. Metal vessels
        • 18.3.5. Textile production
      • 18.4. Beads: Tim Penn
        • 18.4.1. Introduction, materials, style and chronology
        • 18.4.2. Spatial distribution, chronology and significance
      • 18.5. Other items of personal adornment, dress and furniture fittings
      • 18.6. Building materials
      • 18.7. Coins
      • 18.8. Miscellaneous objects, slag and metal debris
      • 18.9. Prehistoric stone tools
    • Chapter 19. Lime mortars from the Gorgan Wall Bridge over the Sari Su River: Martina Astolfi and Riley Snyder
      • 19.1. Introduction
      • 19.2. Materials and methods
        • 19.2.1. The samples
        • 19.2.2. Petrographic analyses of polished sections
        • 19.2.3. XRF analysis
      • 19.3. Discussion
      • 19.4. Conclusion
    • Chapter 20. Archaeozoology of Sasanian and Islamic sites from the Gorgan Wall to the Tehran Plain: Marjan Mashkour, Roya Khazaeli, Solmaz Amiri, Homa Fathi, Sanaz Beizaee Doost, Azadeh Mohaseb, Karyne Debue, Valentin Radu, Hossein Davoudi, Antoine Ruchonnet, Haeedeh Laleh, Jebrael Nokandeh, Hamid Omrani Rekavandi, Mohammadreza Nemati and Eberhard W. Sauer
      • 20.1. Introduction
      • 20.2. Material and methods
        • 20.2.1. Quantification and taphonomy
        • 20.2.2. Biometry
        • 20.2.3. Demographic analysis
      • 20.3. Consumption practices and animal use at Sasanian and later sites from the Gorgan to the Tehran Plain
        • 20.3.1. Fort 2
        • 20.3.2. The Gorgan Wall Bridge over the Sari Su River
        • 20.3.3. Gabri Qal‘eh
        • 20.3.4. Qal‘eh Pol Gonbad-e Kavus
        • 20.3.5. Buraq Tappeh
        • 20.3.6. Qal‘eh Iraj
      • 20.4. Species represented
        • 20.4.1. The morphology of sheep, goat and cattle populations
          • 20.4.1.1. Introduction
          • 20.4.1.2. Sheep
          • 20.4.1.3. Goats
          • 20.4.1.4. Cattle
        • 20.4.2. Suids and their status at Fort 2
        • 20.4.3. Equid remains
          • 20.4.3.1. Teeth
          • 20.4.3.2. Metacarpals and radius
          • 20.4.3.3. Horse remains: potential evidence for cavalry at Fort 2?
        • 20.4.4. Bird remains
        • 20.4.5. Fish remains: Valentin Radu, Marjan Mashkour and Eberhard W. Sauer
      • 20.5. The age at death of sheep and goats
      • 20.6. Craft activities
      • 20.7. Conclusion
      • 20.8. Appendices
        • 20.8.1. Appendix 1: Measurements
          • 20.8.1.1. Appendix 1.1: Measurements for Ovis (sheep)
          • 20.8.1.2. Appendix 1.2: Measurements for Capra (goat)
          • 20.8.1.3. Appendix 1.3: Measurements for Caprini (sheep/goat)
          • 20.8.1.4. Appendix 1.4: Measurements for Bos (cattle)
          • 20.8.1.5. Appendix 1.5: Measurements for Sus scrofa (pig/boar)
          • 20.8.1.6. Appendix 1.6: Measurements for Equidae (equids)
        • 20.8.2. Appendix 2: Comparative sites
        • 20.8.3. Appendix 3: Statistical test for suid teeth
        • 20.8.4. Appendix 4: Caprini (sheep/goat) tooth age attribution
    • Chapter 21. Palaeoenvironment: Lyudmila Shumilovskikh, Felix Bittmann, Brigitte Talon, Daniela Paetzold and Catriona Pickard
      • 21.1. Woodland use: the evidence from anthracological analysis: Lyudmila Shumilovskikh and Brigitte Talon
        • 21.1.1. Introduction
        • 21.1.2. Materials and methods
        • 21.1.3. Results
          • 21.1.3.1. Introduction
          • 21.1.3.2. Fort 2 (Trench d)
          • 21.1.3.3. Buraq Tappeh (Trench g)
          • 21.1.3.4. Qal‘eh Iraj (Trench i)
          • 21.1.3.5. Forud Wall (Trench k)
        • 21.1.4. Discussion
        • 21.1.5. Conclusion
      • 21.2. Archaeobotanical studies on the Gorgan Plain: Lyudmila Shumilovskikh, Felix Bittmann and Daniela Paetzold
        • 21.2.1. Introduction
        • 21.2.2. Materials and methods
        • 21.2.3. Results and discussion
          • 21.2.3.1. Qal‘eh Pol Gonbad-e Kavus (Trench a)
          • 21.2.3.2. Gorgan Wall Bridge over the Sari Su River (Trench b)
          • 21.2.3.3. Fort 2 (Trench d)
          • 21.2.3.4. Gabri Qal’eh (Trench e)
          • 21.2.3.5. Gabri Qal‘eh (Trench f)
          • 21.2.3.6. Buraq Tappeh (Trench g)
          • 21.2.3.7. Qal‘eh Iraj (Trench i)
          • 21.2.3.8. Forud Wall (Trench k)
      • 21.3. Vegetation history of the Gorgan Plain: the evidence from palynological analysis at Lake Kongor: Lyudmila Shumilovskikh
        • 21.3.1. Introduction
        • 21.3.2. Geographical setting
        • 21.3.3. Palaeoecological records from Kongor
        • 21.3.4. Human impact, climate and landscape change
          • 21.3.4.1. Climate
          • 21.3.4.2. Forest cover
          • 21.3.4.3. Agriculture and arboriculture
          • 21.3.4.4. Pasture
          • 21.3.4.5. Fire
      • 21.4. Molluscs: Catriona Pickard and Lyudmila Shumilovskikh
    • Chapter 22. Archaeomagnetic studies of features excavated along the Gorgan Wall: Cathy M. Batt, David P. Greenwood and Tehreem Kainaat
      • 22.1. Abstract
      • 22.2. Introduction
      • 22.3. Background
      • 22.4. Archaeomagnetic sampling in the field
        • 22.4.1. Qal‘eh Pol Gonbad-e Kavus
        • 22.4.2. Sari Su Valley: alluvial deposits
        • 22.4.3. Sari Su Valley: stream channels
        • 22.4.4. Fort 2: oven d.010
        • 22.4.5. Fort 2: oven d.114
        • 22.4.6. Fort 2: oven d.169
      • 22.5. Archaeomagnetic measurements
        • 22.5.1. Sample preparation
        • 22.5.2. Measurement procedures
      • 22.6. Results
        • 22.6.1. Sediments
        • 22.6.2. Fired materials
      • 22.7. Interpretation of the archaeomagnetic results and comparison with the global geomagnetic field model
      • 22.8. Previous archaeomagnetic studies in the region
      • 22.9. Summary and conclusion
      • 22.10. Further work
    • Chapter 23. Luminescence dating and micromorphological assessment: Lisa Snape and Ian Bailiff
      • 23.1. Introduction
        • 23.1.1. Samples
        • 23.1.2. OSL background
      • 23.2. Methodology
        • 23.2.1. Field sampling
        • 23.2.2. OSL measurements
        • 23.2.3. Micromorphology
      • 23.3. Results
        • 23.3.1. OSL Age
        • 23.3.2. Micromorphology
      • 23.4. Discussion
  • Section E: History
    • Chapter 24. New light on Sasanian military infrastructure
      • 24.1. Introduction
      • 24.2. Flexible strategies: distribution of different types of defences
      • 24.3. Learning from the past, adopting provincial traditions: the ancient world’s largest fortresses, inspired by Central Asian architecture
      • 24.4. Evolution of the ancient world’s grandest fortification programme
      • 24.5. Sasanian and Roman troop numbers and capabilities
      • 24.6. An ancient arms race
      • 24.7. Royal control of imperial defence
      • 24.8. Purpose and effectiveness of fortifying the empire
      • 24.9. The Sasanian army’s legacy
      • 24.10. Pax Sasanica
  • Section F: Conclusion and bibliography
    • Conclusion
      • Acknowledgements
      • Preliminaries
      • Terrestrial excavations and survey
      • Marine survey
      • Written documents, finds, building materials, biological and environmental evidence and
      • scientific dating
      • History
  • Bibliography
  • Title, Contents, Dedication, Acknowledgements and Conclusion in Persian