Tepe Khodai, a Settlement of Several Thousand Years in the Eastern Part of Central Zagros

Tepe Khodai is located in the central part of Sonqor, about 8.80 meters above thesurrounding agricultural land. Besides determining the area and proposing theboundaries of the site, achieving the extent of the site across different ancientperiods, preventing further destruction by illegal diggers, implementing astratigraphic program, and developing long-term plans for the site and an agendawas established to address these issues. Questions were raised regarding the sizeand extent of the site in different ancient periods, as well as how the culturalevidence from these periods was formed. The systematic survey of the siterevealed that over 70% of the original estimated area (13,200 m²) has beendestroyed, compared to the remaining "healthy" part. Sixteen trenches werearranged in two rows: the first row consisted of trenches 001 to 008, and thesecond row included trenches 009 to 016.  The size of the site was determined bythe excavated trenches. Due to the site's topography and the lack of nearby naturalor human-made structures, there were no complications affecting this task. Thelevel 1 area and the tape’s privacy based on the excavated trenches is 8,780 squaremeters, while the boundary line of the site is 24246 square meters. The studyrevealed that this site holds valuable cultural artefacts from various periods,including the Chalcolithic, Bronze, Historical, and Islamic eras. It featuressignificant artefacts from notable cultures in the Zagros and Northwestern Iranregions, such as Dalma, Seh Gabi, and Kura-Araxes/Early Trans-Caucasian(ETC), from the 1st millennium BC onward. Furthermore, the site's suitableenvironmental conditions illuminate various cultural changes that occurred duringthe Chalcolithic and Bronze Ages in the region. By examining the sequence of itsdistinct cultural periods, it will be possible to review and revise several aspects ofthe chronology pertaining to the eastern Zagros region.