Chia Jani
Chia Jani is an archaeological site in Iran, located along the Qouchemi stream, which flows to the Ravand River about 3 km (1.9 mi) south, in south central part of the Islamabad Plain in the Central-West Zagros Mountains.
Excavation
The site was discovered by Kamyar Abdi during his archaeological surveys in the plain in 1999. This site dates to the Early (Aceramic) and Middle Neolithic period. Parts of the site are washed off by the Qouchemi stream and damaged due to expansion of agricultural land. Its lithic industry is characterized by bladelet production which some are made from obsidian. Other notable material include the so-called "tad pole ware" of the Middle Neolithic period and Plano-convex bricks reported from Early to Middle Neolithic sites in the region, including Sarab and Ganj Darreh to the east and Jarmo to the west.
Plans for excavations at Chia Jani, funded by a grant from the National Geographic Society, came to a halt with the 2003 invasion of Iraq that rendered Islamabad Plain, only 150 km (93 mi) from the Iraqi border, unsafe for an international archaeological expedition.
References
- Abdi, K., 2000 Islamabad 1999. Iran 38:162.
- Abdi, K., 2003 "The Early Development of Pastoralism in the Central Zagros Mountains", Journal of World Prehistory, Vol. 17, No. 4: 395-448