The site of Tepe Yahya in southeastern Iran is famous, among other
important aspects, for the Proto-Elamite complex dated to around 3000 BC
(Period IVC). The material culture of Period IVC is not exclusively
limited to its Proto-Elamite component, but is also characterized by the
presence of elements from other Middle-Asian cultural ceramic
traditions. In addition to a synthesis of the Proto-Elamite period and
the material assemblage at Tepe Yahya, The Proto-Elamite Settlement and
Its Neighbors provides an updated review and comprehensive discussion of
the Proto-Elamite sphere, its relations to Mesopotamia, and its eastern
Middle Asian neighbors. This innovative book illustrates that the
"multi-cultural" situation at Tepe Yahya Period IVC was present across
many sites in Middle Asia and that, in addition to the Proto-Elamite
sphere and the cities of Mesopotamia, Middle Asia around 3000 BC was
incorporated within an interactive "multi-players" network of
polities.
Benjamin Mutin, Author, is a Research Fellow for the American School of
Prehistoric Research, Harvard University. He is an archaeologist who
specializes in Middle Asian proto-history and who has worked in
Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iran, Tajikistan, and Oman. He holds a Ph.D. in
Prehistory, Anthropology, and Ethnology from University of Paris 1
Panthéon-Sorbonne.
C. C. Lamberg-Karlovsky, General Editor, and Project Director for Tepe
Yahya, is the Stephen Phillips Professor of Archaeology, Department of
Anthropology, Harvard University, Peabody Museum (Director 1977-1990).
