Sasanian Walls, Hinterland Fortresses and Abandoned Ancient Irrigated Landscapes: The 2007 Season on the Great Wall of Gorgan and the Wall of Tammishe

The 2007 season yielded significant new insights into settlement expansion into the land north of the line of the Gorgan Wall and the later abandonment of these sites in the steppe, prior to the construction of the Wall. It also provided us with a better understanding of Sasanian hydraulic engineering and the date and strategic role of large square fortifications south of this linear barrier. Via underwater archaeology, we explored installations associated with the Tammishe Wall and now submerged in the Caspian Sea. A detailed study of the pottery from a variety of sites associated with the Walls, as well as of settlements in the hinterland, is beginning to provide us with a clearer picture of pottery typology and the sequence of building projects and settlement patterns in the Gorgan Plain.