Mostafa Dehpahlavan; Saman Babazadeh
Abstract
Qanat is one of the most important human-developed technologies that played a significant role in the growth and development of the communities residing in Iran. Most researchers believe ...
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Qanat is one of the most important human-developed technologies that played a significant role in the growth and development of the communities residing in Iran. Most researchers believe that the first qanats were built in the first half of the first millennium BC. Iran is considered the most important candidate for the emergence, and spread of this valuable technology due to the large number of qanats the advanced construction technology and the culture associated with them. Nevertheless, independent archaeological research on the origins of the earliest qanats in Iran is very limited, and the Qazvin Plain is no exception to this. From the written records and the available archaeological evidence, it can be deduced that this technology was utilized by the communities residing in the Qazvin Plain during the Achaemenid period. Although there is no direct evidence of pre-Achaemenid qanats in the region, factors such as a climatic drought event, population growth, intensified political competition, the expansion of livestock farming (particularly horse breeding), the development of orchards, and the construction of paradises (royal gardens) suggest that the necessary motivations and incentives for the construction of this technology were present in the second half of the 7th century BC in the region.
