Excavations at the prehistoric mound of Chogha Bonut, Khuzestan, Iran: Seasons 1976/77, 1977/78, and 1996 (Oriental Institute Publications)

This volume presents the results of three seasons of excavations at Chogha Bonut, Lowland Susiana, in the modern-day province of Khuzestan, southwestern Iran. Susiana was a major contributor to the cultural development of the ancient Near East, and thanks to more than a century of archaeological investigation, it is also the best known region in the entire area. Excavations at numerous sites, but primarily at Susa and Chogha Mish in Susiana, have provided a long sequence of archaeological phases that span some 8,000 years, from early prehistoric times to the early Islamic period. The initial phases of the colonization of Susiana by early farmers, however, remained unknown until a series of excavations at Chogha Bonut pushed the earliest period of occupation of Susiana to the aceramic phase, ca. 7200 BC. The results of these excavations add to the already rich picture of cultural development in the region, the initial chapter of human adaptation in the early phases of village life in the Near East.