Mélissa Gao

Martin Vuagnat

Philippe Jubault

Tatiana Besset
email: tatiana.besset@insa-rouen.fr

N-Thiocyanato-2,10-camphorsultam Derivatives: Design and Applications of Original Electrophilic Thiocyanating Reagents

Keywords: Chiral sources, Difunctionalization of alkenes, Electrophilic reagent, Synthetic methods, Thiocyanation

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Introduction

Found in agrochemicals, pharmaceuticals and materials, [1] organothiocyanates are playing a pivotal role in chemistry. [2] In addition, they are often used as key intermediates for the synthesis of complex molecules. [START_REF] Guy | The Chemistry of Cyanates and their Thio Derivatives[END_REF] Two main approaches are usually employed to access these compounds of interest, relying either on the cyanation of sulfur-containing molecules [4] or the direct thiocyanation of derivatives. [5] In the latter case, a new trend has emerged over the last years with the design of electrophilic sources (Figure 1). [6] Aiming at developing 1) a bench-stable reagent with 2) a short, robust and efficient synthesis, which 3) might potentially act as a chiral source of SCN, we imagine a new class of electrophilic reagents to further explore the chemical space of thiocyanating molecules. Inspired by the recent advances made in the use of 2,10-camphorsultam based on reagents for the asymmetric fluorination, [7a-c] trifluoromethylthiolation [7d] and difluoromethylthiolation, [7e] we envisioned the preparation of enantiopure N-thiocyanato-2,10-camphorsultam. This will constitute the first chiral SCNcontaining reagent. Herein, the synthesis of an original family of thiocyanating reagents was achieved and the potential of these (chiral) electrophilic reagents was evaluated with different nucleophiles.

Results and Discussion

At the beginning of the study, the optically pure N-thiocyanato-2,10-camphorsultam 3a was straightforwardly synthetized in a two-steps process/no purification starting from the commercially available (1R)-(+)-2,10-camphorsultam, tBuOH and NaCl being the main waste of the synthesis (Scheme 1). First, the chlorinated reagent 2a was prepared in the presence of tBuOCl in 98% yield. [8] Then, 2a was treated with the inexpensive NaSCN at 0 °C to afford the expected reagent 3a in 73% yield. [9] The reagent 3a is bench stable, can be stored at room temperature under argon for at least three months. This inexpensive, efficient and easy-to-handle synthesis was then applied to the preparation of N-thiocyanato-(1S)-(-)-2,10-camphorsultam 3b and its dichlorinated analog 3c starting from the naturally occurring (1S)-(-)-2,10-camphorsultam 1b and the chlorinated derivative 1c. Worth to mention that for the synthesis of 3c, slightly modified reaction conditions were used, AgSCN being needed for the thiocyanation step. The structure of the compound 3c was ascertained by single crystal X-ray diffraction analysis (CCDC 2107860, Figure 2). Scheme 1. Synthesis of a new class of electrophilic thiocyanating reagents 3a-c. Isolated yields were provided. See supporting information for more details. [a] 10 mmol scale of 1a. [b] 1 mmol of 1b. [c] Reaction carried out on 2.35 mmol scale of 2c. [d] Using AgSCN (1.5 equiv.), CH2Cl2, 25 °C, Ar, 8h. 3c was obtained with 7% of 1c. ND: Not Determined. Quant. = quantitative. With the reagent 3a in hand, we first studied the electrophilic thiocyanation reaction of electron-rich (hetero)arenes (Scheme 2). In the presence of CF3SO3H in dichloromethane, the selective para thiocyanation [4c] of the aniline 4a was achieved and the expected acetylated product was isolated in 52% yield over two steps. [10] Interestingly, using 3c as the SCN source, a similar result was obtained (58% vs 52%). The regioselective thiocyanation reaction on the phenol 4b, the propofol 4c, a potent anesthetic, as well as anisole derivatives 4d-4e went smoothly. Hence, the corresponding products 5b-5e were isolated in good to high yields (up to 75%). Using slightly modified reaction conditions, the selective thiocyanation of benzothiophene 4f and thiophene 4g was possible, offering an access to the SCNcontaining heterocyclic compounds of interest.

Scheme 2. Thiocyanation of electron-rich (hetero)arenes. Reaction conditions: 4 (0.2 mmol, 1.0 equiv.), 3a (1.5 equiv.), CF3SO3H (1.0 equiv.), CH2Cl2 (0.2 M), 25 °C, air, 16 h. [a] 5a was obtained after thiocyanation then acylation reactions. [b] 3c was used instead of 3a. [c] The product was isolated with inseparable impurities. [d] 3a (1.5 equiv.), MeCN (0.2 M), 60 °C.

To further showcase the electrophilic potential of the source 3a, the difunctionalization of alkenes [11] was investigated (Scheme 3). First, in the presence of TMSCl under air at room temperature and using MeOH as the solvent, the concomitant formation of a C(sp 3 ) OMe and C(sp 3 ) SCN [START_REF] Angus | For selected examples of difunctionalization of alkenes with the SCN moiety, see: a)[END_REF] on the styrene 6a was successfully achieved and the reaction showed a good regioselectivity (93:7 ratio of 7a:8a) in favor of the Markovnikov product 7a as confirmed by 2D NMR. [13] Pleasingly, a similar regioselectivity was obtained using 3c, albeit 7a was isolated in a lower yield. Styrene derivatives with an electrondonating group (6b-6c) as well as halogens (6d-6f) at the para position were functionalized in good to high yields with a high regioselectivity (up to 94:6). meta-Substituted derivatives (6g and 6h) were also tested and the expected products were isolated in 73% yield and 40% yield, respectively with a good regioselectivity. The 2-bromostyrene 6i was also a suitable substrate in this transformation. Pleasingly, the methodology was successfully applied to α-methylstyrene 6j, affording 7j in 90% yield.

[12e], [14] 4-Phenylbut-1-ene 6k afforded the corresponding compounds 7k/8k in 46% yield and a lower regioselectivity (78:22). In addition, the difunctionalization of a disubstituted alkene (cyclohexene 6l) was smoothly conducted to provide 7l in 68% yield. Finally, the thiocyanation reaction was also possible on the vinylphthalimide 6m and the ethyl vinyl ether 6n. Then, these chiral electrophilic sources were used for the asymmetric thiocyanation [START_REF] Qiu | For selective examples of enantioselective thiocyanation reaction[END_REF] of the N-Boc-3phenyloxindole 9. First, using a catalytic amount of K2CO3 at room temperature, the expected C3thiocyanated product was isolated in 83% yield as a racemic mixture. Switching K2CO3 for Cs2CO3, the compound 10 was isolated in a lower yield. Then several parameters were studied to favor the formation of the enantioenriched product 10. When the reaction was carried out at lower temperatures (Table 1, entries 3 and 4), no induction was observed. Similar results were obtained by replacing Et2O with THF or MeCN (Table 1, entries 5 and 6). We then studied the reaction using the other enantiomer of the source (3b) instead of 3a (Table 1, entry 7) but no improvement was observed. At that stage, we reasoned that using the more sterically hindered thiocyanating reagent 3c will be beneficial to promote an enantioinduction (Table 1, entries 7 and 8). Hence, the reaction was carried out in Et2O at -30 °C or -40 °C, but unfortunately the racemic product was only obtained. [a] Reaction conditions: 9 (0.1 mmol, 1.0 equiv.), 3 (1.1 equiv.), K2CO3 (10 mol%), solvent (1.0 mL), T (°C) under argon for time (h). Isolated yields were provided. [b] Cs2CO3 was used instead of K2CO3.

Conclusion

In summary, original and optically pure electrophilic thiocyanating reagents 3a-b and a more sterically hindered reagent 3c were designed and straightforwardly synthesized in a two-steps protocol from readily available starting materials. The SCN-containing sources turned out to be bench stable, not light sensitive as well as air and moisture tolerant. 3a was even prepared in 87% yield on 10 mmol scale. It was then successfully applied for the electrophilic thiocyanation of electron-rich (hetero)arenes and for the difunctionalization of alkenes with the concomitant formation of C(sp 3 )-SCN and C(sp 3 ) -OMe bonds in good yields and with excellent regioselectivity. Taking benefit from these chiral reagents, preliminary tests were conducted for the asymmetric C3-thiocyanation reaction of the N-Boc-3phenyloxindole, although so far no enantioenriched product was obtained. With this newly-designed class of electrophilic and robust reagents, the construction of C(sp 2 )-SCN and C(sp 3 )-SCN bonds was efficiently achieved. We strongly believe that these chiral reagents will have an interesting potential to access enantioenriched thiocyanated molecules.

Experimental section

All reactions were carried out using oven-dried glassware and magnetic stirring under argon unless otherwise stated. Reaction temperatures are reported as the temperature of the bath surrounding the vessel. Analytical thin layer chromatography was performed on silica gel aluminum plates with F-254 indicator and visualized by UV light (254 nm) and/or chemical staining with a KMnO4 solution or a phosphomolybdic acid solution. Flash column chromatography was performed using 0.040 -0.063 nm silica gel or a puriFlash® 5.020 flash purification system or Merck PTLC on silica gel 60 F254, 2 mm. 1H NMR spectra were recorded on a Bruker DXP 300 MHz spectrometer at 300. In an oven dried round-bottom flask, covered with aluminum foil under argon was added (1R)-(+)-2,10camphorsultam 1a (2.15 g, 10 mmol, 1 equiv.) in anhydrous methanol (25 mL, 0.4 M), then the freshly prepared tBuOCl (1.7 mL, 15 mmol, 1.5 equiv.) was added to the solution and the reaction mixture was stirred for 45 min at room temperature under argon. Solvents were evaporated and the mixture was filtered through a pad of Celite® to afford quantitively 2a, which was directly engaged in the next step.

In an oven dried round-bottom flask (250 mL) covered with aluminum foil under argon was solubilized 2a (2.35 g, 1 equiv.) in MeCN (100 mL, 0.1 M). The solution was cooled to 0 °C. Then, NaSCN (1.22 g, 15 mmol, 1.5 equiv.) was added in one portion. The reaction mixture was stirred under argon and dark and monitored by TLC. After complete conversion (30 min), the mixture was filtered through a pad of Celite® to obtain the pure product 3a.

Procedure for the synthesis of N-thiocyanato-( 1R)-(+)-2,10-Camphorsultam 3b.

In an oven dried round-bottom flask, covered with aluminum foil under argon was added (1S)-(-)-2,10camphorsultam 1b (215.3 mg, 1 mmol, 1 equiv.) in anhydrous methanol (5 mL, 0.4 M), then the freshly prepared tBuOCl (170 µL, 1.5 mmol, 1.5 equiv.) was added to the solution and the reaction mixture was stirred for 45 min at room temperature under argon. Solvents were evaporated to afford 2b and the product was directly engaged in the next step without further purification. 2b was obtained after filtration through a pad of Celite® and was engaged directly in the next step without further purification.

In an oven dried round-bottom flask (250 mL) covered with aluminum foil under argon was added 2b (0.2 mmol, 1 equiv.) in MeCN (0.1 M). The solution was cooled to 0 °C. Then, NaSCN (122.6 mg, 1.50 mmol, 1.5 equiv.) was added in one portion. The reaction mixture was stirred under argon and dark and monitored by TLC. After complete conversion (30 min), the mixture was filtered through a pad of Celite® to obtain the desired product 3b.

Procedure for the synthesis of (7,7)-Dichloro-N-Chloro-(1S)-(-)-2,10-Camphorsultam 3c.

In an oven dried round-bottom flask, covered with aluminum foil under argon was added (1S)-(-)-7,7dichloro-2,10-camphorsultam 1c (667.9 mg, 2.35 mmol, 1 equiv.) in anhydrous methanol (6 mL, 0.4 M), then the freshly prepared tBuOCl (400 µL, 3.53 mmol, 1.5 equiv.) was added to the solution and the reaction mixture was stirred for 45 min at room temperature under argon. Solvents were evaporated under vacuum and 2c was obtained after filtration through a pad of Celite®.

In an oven dried round-bottom flask (250 mL) covered with aluminum foil under argon was added 2c (748.0 mg, 2.35 mmol, 1 equiv.) added CH2Cl2 (24 mL, 0.1 M). Then, AgSCN (586.0 mg, 3.53 mmol, 1.5 equiv.) was added in one portion. The reaction mixture was stirred at 25 °C under argon and dark and monitored by TLC. After complete conversion (8 h), the reaction mixture was filtered through a pad of Celite® to obtain the desired product 3c.

General procedure for thiocyanation reaction on electron-rich (hetero)arenes 4.

In an oven dried tube under argon were solubilized 3a (81.7 mg, 0.3 mmol, 1.5 equiv.) and the solid 4 (0.2 mmol, 1 equiv.) in dichloromethane (1 mL, 0.2 M). CF3SO3H (18 µL, 0.2 mmol, 1 equiv.) was added dropwise to the mixture. In case 4 was an oil, it was added after the solvent. Then, the reaction mixture was stirred for 16 h at 25 °C under air. Solvents were evaporated under vacuum. The crude mixture was purified by chromatography on silica gel to afford the desired product. Note that in case of 5a, an acetylation step was required, [5] following the procedure below: in an oven dried tube under argon, 5a (0.2 mmol, 1 equiv.) was dissolved in dichloromethane (0.5 mL). Then triethylamine (30 µL, 0.22 mmol, 1.1 equiv.) was added to the solution. The reaction mixture was cooled down to 0 °C. AcCl (14 µL, 0.2 mmol, 1 equiv.) was added dropwise. The reaction mixture was warmed to 25 °C and stirred for 16 h. The aqueous phase was extracted with dichloromethane (3 × 5 mL) then the organic phase was washed with NaHCO3 (3 × 2 mL), dried over Na2SO4 and concentrated under vacuum.

General procedure for the difunctionalization of alkenes 6.

In an oven dried tube under argon, 3a (65.4 mg, 0.24 mmol, 1.2 equiv.) was dissolved in MeOH (1 mL, 0.2 M). TMSCl (25 µL, 0.2 mmol, 1 equiv.) was added to the solution. Alkene 6 (0.2 mmol, 1 equiv.) was added before the solvent if it is a solid, after the solvent if it is a liquid. The mixture was performed at 25 °C for 16 h. The volatile reagents were evaporated under reduced pressure. The product was purified by silica gel chromatography or Puriflash to afford the desired compound.

Figure 1 .

 1 Figure 1. Overview of electrophilic thiocyanating reagents and this work.

Figure 2 .

 2 Figure 2. X-Ray structure of (1S)-(-)-N-thiocyanato-2,10-camphorsultam 3c (CCDC 2107860).

1

 1 MHz, 13C NMR spectra at 75.5 MHz and 19F NMR spectra at 282.4 MHz Chemical shifts (δ) are quoted in ppm relative to CDCl3 (1H). Coupling constants (J) are quoted in Hz. The following abbreviations were used to show the multiplicities: s: singlet, d: doublet, t: triplet, hept: heptuplet, m: multiplet. The residual solvent signals were used as references (CDCl3: δH = 7.26 ppm, δC = 77.00 ppm or relative to external CFCl3, δF = 0 ppm). High-resolution mass spectrometry (HRMS) was carried out on an electrospray ionization mass spectrometer with a micro-TOF analyzer. IR spectra were recorded on a PerkinElmer Spectrum 100, the wave numbers ( ) of recorded IR-signals (ATR) are quoted in cm 1. Optical rotations were recorded on a PerkinElmer Polarimeter 341 at 20 °C in chloroform. Melting points were reported for new compounds, recorded on a Heizbank System Köfler WME and were uncorrected. HPLC were performed on a ThermoFisher UHPLC system Ultimate RSLC with a PDA detector with columns with chiral stationary phase from Daicel (250 mm x 4.6 mm, 5 µm particle size) at 20 °C.Procedure for the synthesis of N-thiocyanato-(1R)-(+)-2,10-Camphorsultam 3a.

Table 1 .

 1 Optimization studies of C3 thiocyanation of N-Boc-3-phenyloxindole.[a]

	Entry [a]	3	solvent	T (°C)	time (h)	Yield (%)	ee (%)
	1	3a	Et2O	25	16	83	0
	2 [b]	3a	Et2O	25	16	42	0
	3	3a	Et2O	-20	16	41	0
	4	3a	Et2O	-30	28	45	0
	5	3a	THF	-30	28	9	0
	6	3a	MeCN	-30	28	21	0
	7	3b	Et2O	-30	64	43	0
	8	3c	Et2O	-30	36	61	0
	9	3c	Et2O	-40	16	51	0

Acknowledgements

This work has been partially supported by University of Rouen Normandy, INSA Rouen Normandy, the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), Labex SynOrg (ANR-11-LABX-0029), Carnot Institute I2C, the graduate school for research XL-Chem (ANR-18-EURE-0020 XL CHEM), and by Region Normandy. M.G., M.V. and T.B. thank the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation program (grant agreement no. 758710). M.G. thanks the Region Normandy for a doctoral fellowship.


Hossein Sarhaddi-Dadian

Benjamin Mutin

Hossein Moradi

New Data on the Chalcolithic and Bronze Age periods in the South-Eastern Greater Periphery of the Jazmurian Basin: Archaeological Survey along the Sarbaz Valley and in Adjacent Areas in Iranian Baluchestan

Keywords: Survey, Sarbaz River, Iran, Chalcolithic, Bronze Age

This article reports results from an archaeological survey conducted along the Sarbaz Valley and in adjacent areas in parts of Sarbaz and Chahbahar counties in the Sistan and Baluchestan province of south-eastern Iran. The surveyed area is located in the south-eastern greater periphery of the Jazmurian Basin, in-between the Bampur Valley ca. 120 km. to the north-west and the Kech-Makran region less than 100 km. to the south-east in Pakistan. Both these two regions were investigated in the past and yielded abundant archaeological records dating to the Chalcolithic and Bronze Age periods. It was particularly interesting to explore the area considered in this article to understand how it connected with these two archaeologically-rich neighbouring regions during these periods. From a broader perspective, this survey also aimed to contribute to the reconstruction of the ancient cultural spheres-the location of their spatial boundaries and intra-and inter-regional interaction routes-in the south-easternmost territories of the Iranian Plateau. As a result, twenty sites dating to the Chalcolithic and/or Bronze Age periods were found. These sites and their surface materials are here presented and discussed with reference to the broader context of these periods in these territories.

Introduction

Ten years ago, sections of the Sarbaz Valley and adjacent territories in the Sarbaz and Chahbahar counties in Iranian Baluchestan were surveyed to study and define for the first time these areas' ancient settlement. The surveyed area borders the Kech-Makran region of Pakistani Baluchestan to the east and Iranshahr County to the north-west, where the Bampur Valley lies (Figure 1). It is included within the Makran Mountain Range which extends along the Gulf of Oman and the Arabian Sea, from the Strait of Hormuz in the west to Las Bela in Pakistan in the east. It therefore essentially consists of mountains and narrow valleys. A large portion of its terrain is between 500 and over 1000 m. in altitude, with hilltops higher than 1500 m., although these altitudes decrease in its southern part (Figures 23). Sarbaz River is the major and single, perennial river of the area. It originates in the Kash Mountains in the north and flows southward through the middle of Sarbaz County and its main cities-Sarbaz, Parud, Rask, and Pishin. It then continues further to the south into the Dashtyari Plain, where it is named Bahu River, and the Gulf of Oman. In a county that mostly consists of mountains and narrow valleys, it is not surprising that, today, a large portion of its population is massed in the Sarbaz Valley; most of available land along its bed seems to have been taken advantage of for dwelling and agricultural production. The area is today also the territory of Baloch nomads.

[ Figure 1] The survey reported here recorded 39 archaeological sites, out of which 20 sites date to the Chalcolithic and Bronze Age periods (fourth and third millennia BCE). These Chalcolithic and Bronze Age sites are the focus of the present article. The rest are either dating to more recent periods (early historical periods/Middle-Age), or their surface materials are not diagnostic enough to allow clear chrono-cultural determination, and will be discussed elsewhere. No older site was identified. Located close to and in-between the archaeologically-rich Bampur Valley to the north-west and Kech-Makran region in Pakistan to the south-east, the surveyed area was likely to hold the remains of prehistoric and protohistoric sites as well as natural routes between these two regions during these periods. i Past research in the Bampur Valley indeed yielded many archaeological sites. M.A. Stein was the first to record ancient settlements in this valley in 1932, including Tepe Bampur and Khurab dating to the Bronze Age period (third millennium BCE) and other sites dating to the Chalcolithic period (fifth/fourth millennia BCE) including Chah Husaini. ii Later, in 1966, B. de Cardi excavated at Tepe Bampur and surveyed the Bampur Valley, iii while additional discoveries made around the same time in the nearby Damin Valley provided supplementary elements on the area's occupation during the Bronze Age. iv New field research projects were then conducted around thirty years later, beginning in The aggregate of these works certainly has brought significant information as to the ancient occupation in these Iranian-Pakistani borderlands, including on the Chalcolithic and Bronze Age periods between the fifth and third millennia BCE. We know more about the chronology and material cultures of the communities of these periods and in some cases about their habitats, funerary practices, and relationships. Nonetheless, the whole region-Iranian Baluchestan and Kech-Makranis over 200,000 sq. km., and many areas of this vast territory are still unexplored. The current picture of this region during the Chalcolithic and Bronze Age periods is reconstructed based on the abovementioned fieldwork and for a large part on data from the Bampur Valley area and Kech-Makran, the two areas that were studied the most and where stratigraphic excavations took place. Besides the excavated contexts in these areas our knowledge of the Iranian Baluchestan/Kech-Makran region is based on surface material, ceramic fragments in particular. Spatial analysis of the distribution of this material has revealed that separate spheres relating to different ceramic styles existed in this region between the fifth and third millennia BCE. To put it simply, based on current data the Bampur Valley may be defined as: [START_REF] Lxvii Mutin | Regional and Long-Distance Exchange." lxviii Didier, La production céramique du Makran[END_REF] An area that was included within the distribution sphere of the main ceramic styles typical of a large part of Kerman between the mid-fifth and early fourth millennia BCE-Black-on-buff ware and Black-on-red ware; it represents the southernmost zone of this sphere and none is observed in Kech-Makran where ceramics seem mostly absent in the fifth millennium BCE; (2) An area that was included within the distribution sphere of the main ceramic styles typical of Kech-Makran during the fourth millennium BCE-Miri ware and Early Shahi-Tump ware; it represents the northwesternmost area of this sphere. It was also part of the sphere that characterized Kerman at that time, represented by Aliabad ware; (3) An area that was outside of the Uruk/Proto-Elamite sphere which extends to Kerman and Sistan between the mid-fourth and early third millennia BCE, but that was part of other, larger spheres of exchange or diffusion of materials, technologies, and/or styles which covered Kech-Makran, Kerman, and Sistan and Baluchestan: e.g. Late Shahi-Tump ware around 3000 BCE; xviii xvi (4) An area whose material culture is stylistically so close to Kech-Makran during the first half of the third millennium BCE that it is included within the same cultural sphere, while parallels and exports limited to more specific types of vessels are noted between this sphere and Kerman and Sistan as well as with the Oman Peninsula; xvii and (5) In the second half of the third millennium BCE, the Bampur Valley and Kech-Makran follow separate trajectories including in their ceramics since the assemblage of the latter region includes styles typical of the Kulli Culture and Indus Civilization in Pakistan and holds the westernmost settlements relating to the Indus Civilization, including Miri Qalat and Sutkagen-Dor near the Iranian border, whereas none is recorded in Iran.

An issue remains that it is not always clear whether and where these distributions reflect the dispersals of styles, objects, or peoples, and whether and where they reflect interactions between distinct cultural groups or within a same cultural group. We believe distances had a role in the nature of the relationship; for instance, exchange of objects and ideas seems in practice easier between two sites in the Kech Valley, such as Miri Qalat and Shahi-Tump, than between this valley and the Bampur Valley, located ca. 300 km. apart. It also seems more logical to envision that the communities at these two sites in the Kech Valley had a closer relationship than with communities settled in the Bampur Valley. However, in addition to the fact that these statements are not absolutely certain, particularly the latter, at a greater, regional and interregional, scale of analysis, it becomes even more difficult to know in each case the nature of the relationship between sites having same ceramic styles and where we can define this ceramic relationship as either an intra-or an inter-territorial interaction, that is an interaction that occurred either within or between the territories of cultural groups. An additional issue is that the chronological periods we are working with are defined on the basis of ceramic styles of long durées and with relatively limited stylistic changes, apparently lasting for several hundred years and even more than half a thousand years in some cases. It is consequently difficult to assess whether the maps of material distribution we reconstruct reflect contemporaneous or successive settlements. xix Various processes were certainly at play in the construction of these spheres of ceramic distributions, processes that ranged from just the spread of stylistic trends, trade of containers and/or their contents, to settlement shifts and population replacement, and, fortunately, composition analysis helps narrow down the range of possibilities. xx Before investigating these possibilities, however, the spatial limits and internal connections-the routes-of these distributions are fundamental aspects that need greater precision in the region discussed here as well as in Iran and Pakistan in general. It is only through the combination of continuous efforts in the field and analysis of the collected material in the many, most often isolated, unexplored areas of the Iranian Baluchestan/Kech-Makran region that one will be able to slowly reconstruct these aspects. This survey along the Sarbaz Valley and in adjacent areas is such effort which, combined with other, contributes to the reconstruction of the broader picture of the ancient Indo-Iranian Borderlands.

Archaeological Sites, Surface Materials, and Chrono-Cultural Associations All sites reported here are located in the southern half of Sarbaz County and in the north-eastern corner of Chahbahar County. These sites divided into three main archaeological zones, Zones 1 to 3 (Figure 2). Zone 1 is located around the town of Murtan in the north-eastern portion of the area considered in this article. Zone 2 mostly consists of sites located along the Sarbaz River between Parud and Rask as well as one site located ca. 15 km. further south near Gaz Anguri and two sites located near Beris and Garen, respectively less than ca. 10 and 20 km. further to the north-east. Zone 3 is in the southern part of the area considered here and includes sites located mostly between Pishin and the Keshari Plain as well as one site located less than 15 km. further south. Apart from one site near Pishin, the sites in Zone 3 are all in Chahbahar County.

[Figure 2]

In Zones 1 and 2, the terrain consists of mountains topping at more than 1500 m. in altitude, cut in places by narrow and relatively narrow valleys. These are either east-west oriented, parallel to the direction of Makran range, or they cut through this mountain range in an overall north-to-south direction such as the Sarbaz Valley (Figure 3). A second type of environment is observed around the town of Pishin in Zone 3. It consists of a ca. 6-8 km. wide, east-west oriented, flat plain, bordered by a series of alluvial cones along its northern edge. This plain continues into Pakistan to the east, where it connects with the Nahang/Nihing Valley and then the Kech Valley. The archaeological sites of Shahi-Tump and Miri Qalat in the Kech Valley are ca. 125 km. east of Pishin. South of Pishin, the Sarbaz Valley is wider than between Parud and Rask and is now named Keshari Plain. The landscape in this area is mountainous, although the mountains are lower than further north, around 500 m. in altitude at most (Figure 3). Further south, the Sarbaz River becomes the Bahu River and continues into the Dashtyari Plain and the Gulf of Oman. The Dashtyari Plain is a vast sedimentary plain that spreads east of Chahbahar and connects further east to the Dasht and Makran Coastal plains in south-western Pakistan.

[ Figure 3] As noted above, 20 archaeological sites dating to the Chalcolithic and/or Early Bronze Age periods are recorded in these three zones (Tables 12). The material culture at most of these sites unsurprisingly parallels assemblages dating to between the early-fourth and the mid-third millennia BCE observed in Kech-Makran to the south-east and the Bampur Valley to the north-west. These include ceramics relating to: Miri ware in Kech-Makran Period II (first half of the fourth millennium BCE), Early Shahi-Tump ware in Early Period IIIa (around the middle and second half of the fourth millennium BCE), Late Shahi-Tump ware in Late Period IIIa (late fourth-early third millennia BCE), ceramics in Period IIIb (ca. 2800-2600 BCE), and ceramics in Period IIIc (ca. 2600-2500 BCE), as well as to assemblages recorded to the north-west, including from Tepe Bampur Periods I-VI, Khurab, Damin, Chegerdak, and Chalcolithic and Bronze Age sites recently surveyed in the Bampur Valley (Table 3). xxi These periods in Kech-Makran roughly correspond to and overlap with the Late Chalcolithic 1, 2, 3 and Early Bronze 1, 2 periods in the periodization used by Pfälzner and Soleimani in the western periphery of the Jazmurian Basin. xxii It is needless to say that the dating of these sites is based on their surface materials, which mostly consist of fine, painted ceramic fragments. And we have some reservations as to the dating of five to eight of them which yielded materials that seem compatible with these periods but no clear diagnostics. In total, seven sites are securely dated to the Late Chalcolithic period (contemporary with Kech-Makran Periods II and/or Early IIIa), and eight sites are securely dated to the Early Bronze Age period (contemporary with Kech-Makran Late IIIa and/or IIIb, as well as possibly IIIc periods). These numbers increase to 13 (or even 17) and 12, respectively, when sites with more challenging assemblages are included (Table 2). Only two sites, or possibly three, seem to have both Late Chalcolithic and Early Bronze Age occupations. Otherwise, a shift in site location is apparent between these two periods. This observation is however based on the sites securely dated only and therefore may not be true when all sites are considered.

[Table 1] 3] Zone 1: Murtan Area Two sites are near Murtan: sites 26495 and 26520. Site 26495 is located in an intermontane valley parallel to the east-west mountainous ridges of Makran range, and site 26520 is in a valley parallel to it less than ca. six km. to the south-west.

[Table 2] [Table

Site 26520

Site 26520 is ca. 3 ha. and has less than one-meter thick archaeological deposits relative to current ground surface. It yielded fragments of fine, painted ceramics of grey, light brown and pinkish surface colours, with profiles and motifs typical of (Figure 4: nos. 2,4,(6)[START_REF] Lvii | New Discoveries." lviii Beale and Lamberg-Karlovsky, Excavations at Tepe Yahya, Iran 1967-1975. The Early Periods; Garazhian, "Darestan: A Group of Pre-Pottery Neolithic (PPN) Sites"; Mutin and Garazhian, "Bam Archaeological Mission[END_REF](8)(9)(11)(12), or compatible with (Figure 4: nos. 10, 13), Miri ware in Kech-Makran II. xxiii One sherd bears a painted palm tree motif (Figure 4: no. 5). The palm motif emerges mostly with Late Shahi-Tump ware in contexts contemporary with Late Period IIIa in Kech-Makran as well as Tepe Yahya IVC in Kerman and becomes common together with the palm tree motif during the third millennium BCE from south-western Pakistan to Kerman as well as in Sistan. It is recorded in Kech-Makran IIIb-IIIc, Tepe Bampur I-VI, at Chegerdak, in Tepe Yahya IVB, at Konar Sandal South, and in Shahr-i Sokhta II. xxiv The present specimen of such motif rather relates to the later examples than those recorded in Kech-Makran Late IIIa and Tepe Yahya IVC. Additional fragments collected at site 26520 also seem to connect more to Kech-Makran IIIb-IIIc than to Kech-Makran Late IIIa (Figure 4: nos. 1,14).

Site 26495

Site 26495 is ca. 0.4 ha. and ca. 0.1 m. thick. The diagnostic fine, painted ceramic fragments from this site have parallels in Kech-Makran Late IIIa and IIIb as well as in contexts contemporary with these periods in south-eastern Iran. The friezes filled with triangles with curved sides, or garland motifs, painted on the exterior rim surfaces of two bowls in particular (Figure 4: nos. 15,17), are typical of these periods and are also observed on similar fine, painted ceramics recorded in Tepe Bampur I-II, at Chegerdak, and in Tepe Yahya IVC. xxv The rest of the ceramics collected at this site are compatible with this chronological association, although one sherd (Figure 4: no. 16) resembles more Miri ware of Kech-Makran II. One sherd bears interspersed strokes perpendicular to the rim on its exterior surface (Figure 4: no. 23). Such marks result from shaping and regularizing the vessel with a tool while the vessel was rotating. It is well-observed on fourth and third millennia BCE ceramics in the Indo-Iranian borderlands and is not in contradiction with the relationships we see between site 26495 and the above-mentioned materials from south-eastern Iran and south-western Pakistan.

[Figure 4] Zone 2: Along the Sarbaz Valley

The sites in Zone 2 consist of five sites within the Sarbaz Valley and three other sites in adjacent valleys at close distance. Only one additional site, site 26349, is located further away.

Site 26349

Around 34 km. west of, and in the same intermontane system as, site 26520, site 26349 is a flat archaeological area of ca. 0.12 ha. The few painted sherds collected at this site are comparable in fabric (fine), texture, shape, and decorations to Miri ware in Kech-Makran II (Figure 5). This is especially the case of one rim fragment (Figure 5: no. 1) which has clear parallels in this region.

Site 26212

The next site recorded by this survey, site 26212, is located ca. 12.5 km. further west of, and in the same intermontane system as, site 26349. This site is in a north-south oriented valley whose seasonal river merges with the main stream of the Sarbaz River ca. 11.5 km. to the south-south-east. It spreads over 1 ha. and has ca. 3 m. high archaeological deposits to the maximum (Figure 6). Its surface ceramics connect to Kech-Makran Late IIIa and IIIb ceramics and similar, contemporary materials in south-eastern Iran. They include bowls with the above-mentioned painted friezes filled with triangles with curved sides (Figure 5: nos. 9,16). An exterior painted motif on two ceramics, possibly a large triangle filled with a hourglass (Figure 5: nos. 8, 10), is reminiscent of motifs recorded on Late Shahi-Tump ware in Kech-Makran xxvii xxviii xxvi and related fine, painted ceramics in Tepe Yahya IVC, Shahr-i Sokhta I, and Tepe Bampur III. Bowls with parallel horizontal lines/bands painted on the exterior rim surface and lip (Figure 5: nos. 6-7), compositions made of concentric garlands (Figure 5: no. 17), hatched lozenges (Figure 5: nos. 11,13,[START_REF] Lxiv | (Stein, An Archaeological Tour in Gedrosia) and limited deposits at Miri Qalat (Besenval, "The Chronology of the Ancient Occupation in Makran"). It is also important to recall that not all researchers agree on the dating of Kech-Makran IIIb[END_REF], and what appears to be a portion of a swastika motif (Figure 5: no. 14) are all compatible with materials relating to Kech-Makran Late IIIa-IIIb and their parallels in contemporary contexts in south-eastern Iran. Parallels for vessels with painted lines are for instance observed in Tepe Bampur II-III, Kech-Makran IIIb, and at Chegerdak. They are also observed in Kech-Makran IIIc. xxix The swastika motif is characteristic of Kech-Makran Late IIIa Late Shahi-Tump ware and is also recorded in south-eastern Iran such as in Tepe Yahya IVC and particularly in Shahr-i Sokhta I. xxx Compositions made of concentric garlands are also in Kech-Makran Late IIIa-IIIb.

xxxii xxxi The rest of the fine, painted sherds from site 26212 are compatible in their textures and decorations with this chrono-cultural affiliation as is the fragment of Basket ware collected at this site (Figure 5: no. 19). This type of ceramic product, moulded inside a basket, is recorded from the fifth to the third millennia BCE in the Indo-Iranian Borderlands, including in Kech-Makran IIIa-IIIb. One sherd (Figure 5: no. 5) has a painted decoration on its exterior surface that contrasts with these materials but does not contradicts a chronological association with Kech-Makran Late IIIa-IIIb. We have observed similar decoration on material from south-eastern Iran, although we could not find published parallels for it.

Site 26232

Less than eight km. south-south-west of site 26212 is site 26232, the northernmost site recorded by this survey in the Sarbaz Valley. Site 26232 is ca. 3 ha. with ca. 1 m. thick archaeological deposits relative to ground level. Like site 26212, its surface ceramics mostly relate to Kech-Makran Late IIIa-IIIb materials and their parallels in south-eastern Iran, although part of it are types of forms that are also observed in Kech-Makran Early IIIa, and even back in Kech-Makran II. It therefore remains possible that deposits dating to these earlier periods are present at this site. Among the typical Kech-Makran Late IIIa-IIIb materials are ceramics with friezes filled with palm motifs (Figure 5: no. 20), with friezes filled with triangles with curved sides (Figure 5: nos. 22,31,33), with parallel lines/bands (Figure 5: no. 32), and with what seems to be a triangle filled with an hourglass (Figure 5: no. 30). An exterior rim frieze filled with what appears to be a hatched lozenge, observed on a bowl (Figure 5: no. 21), is a type of decorative composition also recorded within Kech-Makran IIIb ceramic assemblage, xxxiii xxxiv xxxvi as is an interior rim frieze filled with hatched garlands that decorates another ceramic (Figure 5: no. 24). Hole-mouth jar fragments collected at site 26232 (Figure 5: nos. 26-28) also have parallels in these periods, although these exemplars rather connect to Kech-Makran IIIa (Early and Late), or even Kech-Makran II, than Kech-Makran IIIb. xxxv Similar shapes, which have parallels in Kech-Makran, are also reported from the Bampur Valley. Ca. 1.5 km. further south, site 26475 is ca. 0.5 ha and has less than one-meter thick archaeological deposits. The material collected at this site consists of only three sherds and three lithics, and the ceramics are not diagnostic. Both these ceramics and the lithics however are not incompatible with a dating of this site to the Chalcolithic and/or Early Bronze Age (Figure 7: nos. 1-4).

Site 26491

Less than one km. east, site 26491 is also a small site of ca. 0.25 ha., with ca. 0.50 m. thick archaeological remains. Likewise site 26475, very few artefacts were collected at this site, and our view that it possibly was occupied during the Chalcolithic and/or Bronze Age periods is based on a handful of sherds and one black lithic (Figure 7: nos. 5-7).

Site 26521

Site 26521, slightly over one km. south-south-east of site 26491, is larger, measuring 2 ha. The archaeological remains at this site are estimated to be ca. 1 m. thick. A portion of the site is today occupied by a graveyard used by nomads. This site yielded a little bit more numerous and more diagnostic artefacts. These include fine, painted ceramic fragments relating to Kech-Makran Periods II to IIIb. Kech-Makran II is represented by a ring-base fragment decorated on its exterior surface with two painted lines/bands perpendicular to the ring and to each other and crossing each other at the base's centre. Two shorter lines/bands are painted on the lower body, perpendicularly to the lines/bands painted on the base, just above the junction of these lines/bands with the ring (Figure 7: no. 18). This type of composition is extremely common on Miri ware in Kech-Makran during Period II. xxxvii xxxviii xxxix Two sherds with hatched hourglass motifs painted on their exterior surfaces also are reminiscent of Miri ware, although this type of motif is also observed in Kech-Makran IIIb (Figure 7: nos. 15-16). One bowl fragment has an interior painted frieze filled with solid black triangles pointing down (Figure 7: no. 17), a composition that resembles decorations of Chalcolithic bowls collected in the Bampur Valley.

Lastly, two hole-mouth jar fragments (Figure 7: nos. 19-20), likewise the above-mentioned examples from site 26232 (Figure 5: nos. 26-28), also have parallels in Kech-Makran II as well as in Chalcolithic assemblages collected in the Bampur Valley. Although it is important to note again that this type of form continues into Periods IIIa and IIIb in Kech-Makran, these two fragments seem more consistent with Kech-Makran II-IIIa materials. Kech-Makran Early IIIa is represented by one bowl rim fragment (Figure 7: no. 14). This sherd has an exterior painted frieze filled with slanted hatches, which is typical of Early Shahi-Tump ware. Its profile is not in contradiction with this comparison. Four sherds connect to Kech-Makran Late IIIa-IIIb and to ceramics described above. One is a bowl with an exterior painted frieze filled with triangles with curved sides (Figure 7: no. 10); two are bowls with exterior painted lines parallel to the rim (Figure 7: nos. 11-12); and one is a fragment with a painted palm motif (Figure 7: no. 13). Lastly, two lithics were collected at site 26521. They are of the same red chert as those found at site 26475 (Figure 7: nos. 21-22).

Site 26363 Around 1.8 km. east of site 26521, site 26363 is a small site of ca. 0.25 ha. with between ca. 1.5 and 2 m. thick archaeological deposits. The dating of this site is unclear, and the few ceramic fragments collected on its surface include medieval material. Nonetheless, lithics were collected too, as well as a small rim fragment of a fine grey bowl decorated with painted lines/bands parallel to the rim (Figure 7: no. 23). As noted above, this type of ceramic with a fine fabric and painted decoration is reminiscent of ceramics from Kech-Makran IIIb-IIIc and their parallels recorded in south-eastern Iran. The lithics are of the same red chert as those collected at sites 26475 and 26521.

Site 26219

Site 26219 is a little over 4.6 km. west of site 26475, outside of the Sarbaz Valley. It is also a small site, of ca. 0.15 ha. with ca. 0.5 m. thick archaeological remains, and yielded a few ceramics (Figure 7: nos. 27-30). These are not clear diagnostics but are compatible with Miri ware in Kech-Makran II, or more generally speaking to the Chalcolithic materials observed from the Bampur Valley to Kech-Makran. This is especially the case of a bowl (Figure 7: no. 29) and a hole-mouth jar (Figure 7: no. 30).

Site 26227

Site 26227 is located ca. 14.5 km. south of the above-discussed series of sites in the Sarbaz Valley and less than three km. west of this valley in a different watercourse that eventually merges with it a few kilometres further to the south-east. This site is a very small archaeological area of ca. 0.09 ha. by ca. 0.3 m. The very limited materials collected at this site consist of plain and painted ceramics (Figure 7: nos. 8-9). These may date to the Chalcolithic and/or Bronze Age periods, although we are lacking clear diagnostics to confirm this.

[Figure 7] Zone 3: Pishin Area and Keshari Plain Zone 3 starts with site 26519, located in the town of Pishin, ca. 36 km. south-east of site 26227. Seven more sites are in the Keshari Plain, slightly more than 16 km. south-west of site 26519, and one additional site, site 26477, is located ca. 13 km. south of this plain. A glimpse at Table 1 shows that, on average, sites in Zone 3 are smaller but have archaeological deposits almost two and a half times thicker than those in Zone 2.

Site 26519

Site 26519 is a mound measuring ca. 0.25 ha. by ca. 6 m., topped by a medieval fort (Figure 6). It lies in the immediate vicinity of houses in the southern part of a sedimentary plain, an area that is today occupied by several towns. The material collected at the surface of this site includes ceramics connected to Kech-Makran Late IIIa-IIIb as well as types observed in Kech-Makran IIIc. Kech-Makran Late IIIa-IIIb-related ceramics include a fine bowl with an interior painted frieze made of garland motifs (Figure 8: no. 4) and one sherd with a palm motif (Figure 8: no. 12), two types of decoration discussed above. Other bowls with horizontal parallel lines or other types of motifs also are compatible with Kech-Makran IIIb assemblage (Figure 8: nos. [START_REF] Lxvii Mutin | Regional and Long-Distance Exchange." lxviii Didier, La production céramique du Makran[END_REF][2][START_REF]The Chronology of the Ancient Occupation in Makran," 208 fig. 16, upper right and lower right. xxvii de Cardi, "Excavations at Bampur," 286 fig. 22 no. 141[END_REF][5][6]. The profile of one bowl, with a slight carination on the upper part of its body (Figure 8: no. 2), is reminiscent of profiles that appear during this period too.

xliii xl Alternatively, a plain red, carinated bowl with a marked carination below the rim (Figure 8: no. 7) parallels ceramics more typical of Kech-Makran IIIc and Tepe Bampur VI. xli A grey ware with a ridge and painted decoration (Figure 8: no. 13) is compatible with both Kech-Makran Periods IIIb and IIIc. xlii Ridge and painted ceramics dating to the third millennium BCE are also reported from Chegerdak and Tepe Bampur II-VI as well as Konar Sandal South in Kerman. A grey rim sherd with a horizontal wavy line painted on its interior surface (Figure 8: no. 8) also is reminiscent of ridge ceramics from these periods, perhaps more of Kech-Makran IIIb material. Two hole-mouth jar fragments were collected (Figure 8: nos. 9-10). Again, as noted above, such ceramic shape is recorded from Kech-Makran II to IIIb. In this case, however, one of them (Figure 8: no. 9), with its black painted decoration on a red slip, loosely recalls red-slipped or red ceramics usually found at sites relating to the Indus Civilization, as well as ceramics recorded in Kerman during the third millennium BCE such as in Tepe Yahya IVB and at Konar Sandal South. xliv Lastly, one sherd with a painted horned animal (Figure 8: no. 11) also resembles Kech-Makran IIIb material, particularly in the way the eye of this animal is represented. xlv

Site 26496

Site 26496 is located ca. 16 km. south-west of site 26519. It is a ca. 0.06 ha. archaeological area with ca. 0.5 m. thick archaeological deposits. The material collected at this site, which consists of plain and painted ceramics, is not as diagnostic as that of site 26519 but looks like Chalcolithic and/or Bronze Age material (Figure 8: nos. 14-20). The fine fabric, fabrication marks (interspersed strokes perpendicular to the rim observed on the exterior surfaces of several sherds: Figure 8: nos. 14, 20), shapes, and decoration (painted line on the lip) of these vessel fragments lead us to believe, with reservations, that they relate more specifically to Miri ware in Kech-Makran II.

[Figure 8] Site 25892

Around 2.3 km. north-west of site 26496 is site 25892. This site measures ca. 3 ha. and has ca. 3 m. thick archaeological deposits (Figure 6). Its surface material includes many ceramics, lithics, and stone vessel fragments. The ceramic shapes and profiles have clear connections to Miri ware in Kech-Makran II as well as to Chalcolithic materials relating to this ware collected in the Bampur Valley. This is true for the necked-jars (Figure 9: nos. 1-4), hole-mouth jars (Figure 9: nos. 5-9), and the various types of bowls recorded including bowls with concave walls and inverted rims (Figure 9: nos. 10-14), bowls with concave and everted walls (Figure 9: nos. 15-19), and bowls with everted and slightly convex walls . The painted decorations on these ceramics and on additional sherds from site 25892 (Figure 9: nos. 26-29, 31-33) also have parallels with, or are close to, those observed during Kech-Makran II. These include: exterior decorations made of triangles on necked-jars (Figure 9 xlvi Some examples, however, while being compatible, do not seem to have been recorded so far in Kech-Makran such as Figure 9: nos. 16 and 25. The holemouth jars (Figure 9: nos. 5-9), while being connected to Kech-Makran, also have clear parallels in the Bampur Valley, and it is important to note again that ceramics relating to Miri ware are recorded in this valley. One should also note that one bowl decorated with an interior frieze of hatched triangles (Figure 9: no. 15) is reminiscent of ceramics common in the Bampur Valley, ceramics that are not relating to Miri ware and have not been observed beyond this valley. Lastly, several sherds from site 25892 have holes which were drilled to repair the ceramics these sherds used to belong to (Figure 9: no. 30). This practice is also current during Period II in Kech-Makran.

[Figure 9] Stone industry was recovered from site 25892's surface. It includes a complete alabaster (?) vessel as well as fragments of alabaster (?) and chlorite/steatite (?) vessels (Figure 10: nos. 1-6). Stone vessels are ubiquitous on the south-eastern Iranian Plateau and found in different protohistorical and historical periods, including in Kech-Makran during Period II, which is consistent with the abovedescribed ceramics. Lithics were also found. They mostly consist of blades in the same red chert as that reported above (Figure 10: nos. 7-18) and include one drill (Figure 10: no. 7).

[Figure 10]

Site 26527

Site 26527 is ca. 1.5 km. distant to the south-west from site 25892. It measures ca. 0.3 ha. and has ca. 1 m. thick archaeological deposits. Much less abundant than at that site, the artefacts collected on the surface of site 26527-which consists of plain ceramic fragments and fragments with traces of paint (Figure 8: nos. 21-25), including two bowls; lithics (Figure 8: nos. 26-28); and one incised green stone object (Figure 8: no. 29)-possibly date to the Chalcolithic and/or Bronze Age period(s). At a minimum, the fabrics, textures, and colours of the sherds as well as the lithics, which include blades and one drill in a red chert similar to those observed at site 25892 and in Zone 2 (Figure 8: no. 28), corroborate, or do not contradict, this hypothesis and are even more specifically reminiscent of the Chalcolithic material collected at site 25892. We however are lacking clear diagnostics to be entirely positive.

Site 25887

Less than 0.7 km. south-west of site 26527, site 25887 is a small mound of ca. 0.25 ha. and ca. 4 m. in height (Figure 6). The ceramics collected at this site include clear equivalents of fine, painted Early Shahi-Tump ware, best represented by the funerary deposits dating to Kech-Makran Early IIIa excavated at Shahi-Tump and Miri Qalat (Figure 11: nos. [START_REF] Lxvii Mutin | Regional and Long-Distance Exchange." lxviii Didier, La production céramique du Makran[END_REF][2][START_REF]The Chronology of the Ancient Occupation in Makran," 208 fig. 16, upper right and lower right. xxvii de Cardi, "Excavations at Bampur," 286 fig. 22 no. 141[END_REF][4][5][6][START_REF] Lvii | New Discoveries." lviii Beale and Lamberg-Karlovsky, Excavations at Tepe Yahya, Iran 1967-1975. The Early Periods; Garazhian, "Darestan: A Group of Pre-Pottery Neolithic (PPN) Sites"; Mutin and Garazhian, "Bam Archaeological Mission[END_REF][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][START_REF] Lxiv | (Stein, An Archaeological Tour in Gedrosia) and limited deposits at Miri Qalat (Besenval, "The Chronology of the Ancient Occupation in Makran"). It is also important to recall that not all researchers agree on the dating of Kech-Makran IIIb[END_REF][START_REF] Mutin ; Mutin | Regional and Long-Distance Exchange"; see Piperno and Salvatori, The Shahr-i Sokhta Graveyard. xxxi Didier, La production céramique du Makran[END_REF]. Early Shahi-Tump ware-related material at site 25887 includes typical goblets or bowls whose decorations consist of parallel broken lines on the exterior surface and paint drips on the interior rim surface 12,15). xlix The compositions made of parallel slanted lines/bands recorded at this site (Figure 11: nos. 5, 11) also are part of Kech-Makran IIIa's repertoire, where they are inside triangles put one on top of, or next to, the other and alternatively have opposite directions. Typical of Kech-Makran Early IIIa are also friezes filled with hatches painted on the exterior rim surface of bowls (13)(14)). l The profiles of the bowls collected at site 25887 also are similar to those of Early Shahi-Tump ware (Figure 11: nos. 6-9) as are their interior painted decorations, particularly nos. 8-10, 16-17 on Figure 11. li This site yielded fragments of large hole-mouth jars , a form common during Period IIIa in Kech-Makran. lii

Site 25888

Site 25888 is less than 100 m. distant from site 25887 to the north-west, separated from this site by agricultural fields, and these two sites are certainly in reality part of a single site which has been partly wiped out in its centre by these agricultural works (Figure 6). Like site 25887, its surface material relates to Early Shahi-Tump ware in Kech-Makran Early IIIa (Figure 11: nos. 20-36). Among the diagnostics of this material are fine bowls with friezes filled with parallel hatches or friezes or panels filled with slanted lines/bands inside triangles (25)(26)(27), decorations made with parallel wavy lines (Figure 11: no. 23), like at site 25887 (Figure 11: no. 8), and large hole-mouth jar fragments (Figure 11: nos. 24,(29)(30). The decoration of one sherd (Figure 11: no. 28), on the other hand, does not have evident parallels in Kech-Makran, although it is compatible with Early Shahi-Tump ware. Also characteristic of Kech-Makran Early IIIa are hollow-footed goblets (Figure 11: nos. 31-33). Such ceramics were found in large amounts in funerary deposits at Shahi-Tump and Miri Qalat liii and compare to vessels labelled Aliabad ware in south-eastern Iran. Aliabad ware is reported from Kerman to the Bampur Valley and chronologically corresponds to Kech-Makran II and Early IIIa. liv A few lithics were collected . They are of the same red chert as that observed at the other sites in this survey and include small blades, also likewise these sites.

Site 26497

Site 26497 is less than one km. north-west of site 25888. It is a ca. 0.09 ha. by ca. 1 m. archaeological area which yielded very little for archaeological artefacts. Out interpretation of these artefacts is the same as those from site 25527: the aspect of the ceramics, one rim profile, and the lithics from this site, which are of the same above-mentioned red chert (Figure 8: nos. 30-33), appear to date to the Chalcolithic period. This dating makes sense also given the proximity of sites relating to Kech-Makran II-IIIa, but we are lacking clear diagnostics to be completely positive.

Site 26200

Site 26200 is only ca. 0.4 km. south-south-west of site 26497. This ca. 0.7 ha. site has ca. 3 m. high visible archaeological deposits including remains of quadrangular stone architecture. Ceramics and one red lithic were collected on its surface . Unlike sites 26527 and 26497, the ceramics include rim fragments and one vessel with a complete profile, but it still remains difficult to decide whether they date to the Chalcolithic or the Bronze Age periods, although the former possibility seems more likely.

Site 26477

Site 26477 is ca. 13 km. south of site 26200 and around six km. east of Sarbaz Valley. It measures ca. 0.09 ha. by ca. 0.5 m. The profiles and painted decorations of its surface ceramics relate to Kech-Makran IIIb, Late Period IIIa to some extent, and their parallels in south-eastern Iran such as at Chegerdak and Tepe Bampur. We again observe fine bowls with parallel lines painted on their exterior surfaces (Figure 11: nos. 38,(40)(41)(42)(48)(49), and other hatched and crosshatched motifs are compatible with such material. lv The hole-mouth jars from site 26477 are consistent with this association too. One base fragment seems to bear a swastika motif (Figure 11: no. 43), a motif that, again, appears on Late Shahi-Tump ware during Late Period IIIa in Kech-Makran and continues into Period IIIb. Another one seems to display a fish motif, represented with a hatched body (Figure 11: no. 39). Although we are not certain that this interpretation is correct, it should be noted that this type of motif is recorded on Kech-Makran IIIb ceramics, as well as on Period IIIc material. We however do not see in that repertoire representations identical to the one from site 26477. lvi There is also one ceramic for which we do not find any clear parallels (Figure 11: no. 37), although its fabric, texture, profile, and type of decoration are consistent with Kech-Makran Late IIIa-IIIb material. Lastly, one lithic was collected on the surface of site 26477; it is of the same red chert as that commonly observed in the surveyed area (Figure 11: no. 50).

[Figure 11]

Synthesis and Conclusions

This survey has evidenced the presence of Late Chalcolithic and Early Bronze occupations in three sectors located in-between the Bampur Valley and Kech-Makran. This result is not surprising in view of the numerous sites dating to these periods recorded in both these two areas and of the third millennium BCE graveyard found at Keshik, just ca. 85 km. west of the Sarbaz Valley. It is neither surprising that the surface material collected in this survey relates to both regions and particularly to Kech-Makran as far as the Late Chalcolithic period is concerned. The Early Bronze Age assemblages certainly also closely relate to Kech-Makran but are overall included within the same stylistic horizon that characterizes and encompasses both eastern Jazmurian and Kech-Makran at that time, whereas differences are observed between these two regions in their material cultures during the Chalcolithic period. It is also important to note that this Late Chalcolithic and Early Bronze Age occupations do not materialize by just isolated finds or scatter sites, but also by sites with relatively thick archaeological deposits, particularly in Zone 3. These thicker sites do not seem to reflect transient or ephemeral settlements and are rather comparable in this respect and to some degree to a site like Shahi-Tump in the Kech Valley as far as Kech-Makran II-IIIa are concerned.

Several additional, more detailed observations can be made on these results. A first observation is that no ceramics relating to the mid-late-fifth and early fourth millennia BCE Black-on-buff ware and Black-on-red ware, typical of Kerman, are recorded in this survey. Such material is not recorded in Kech-Makran, and the Bampur Valley still appears as the south-easternmost limit of its distribution. lviii lvii No fifth millennium BCE Early and Middle Chalcolithic, or seven/six millennia BCE Neolithic, material has been found, whereas settlements dating to these periods are observed in Kerman at Tepe Yahya, in the Bam region, and in the Esfandagheh Valley. It is important to note that excavation at Miri Qalat and Shahi-Tump in the Kech Valley revealed that during the mid-late fifth millennium BCE these two sites were occupied by Late Neolithic communities with no ceramics, whereas the first ceramics, Miri ware, mostly appear in this region during the fourth millennium BCE. lix It is possible that similar situations existed at that time on the Iranian side, perhaps including in the area discussed here, at the same time as other communities in Kerman and Jazmurian were producing and/or using painted vessels and had been doing so for hundreds of years. A possibility also remains that pottery Neolithic sites conform to those recorded in Kerman are simply buried in the area considered in this article and cannot be detected from just surface survey.

Secondly, ceramics relating to Kech-Makran II Miri ware are observed in the Bampur Valley, lx but they are in that area associated with fourth millennium BCE Aliabad ware-related vessels as well as other types of Chalcolithic painted ceramics characteristic of that valley. In the present surveyed area, we see no Aliabad ware on sites relating to Kech-Makran II, and the assemblages of these sites are more conform to those in Kech-Makran than those in the Bampur Valley. In other words, although the boundaries of Miri ware extend to the Bampur Valley, we observe tighter connections in the material culture between the present surveyed area and Kech-Makran. This does not necessarily imply an eastto-west direction of influences or distribution whose intensity would decrease in the west; it is entirely possible that this style emerges as a result of western influences from Kerman/Jazmurian and evolved and became more localized within the south-easternmost territories of the Iranian Plateau, at least between Kech-Makran and the Sarbaz Valley. Only future research will help clarify this aspect. We also had reported a few sherds relating to Early Shahi-Tump ware in the Bampur Valley and possibly in the lower Halil Rud, lxi but records of such material remain rare at present in these areas. It is more clearly and more abundantly evidenced in the present surveyed area, which shows, as far as material culture is concerned, continuation during Early Kech-Makran IIIa of the tight relationships observed during Kech-Makran II between the Sarbaz Valley and Kech-Makran. Additionally, it is worth mentioning that, like in Kech-Makran, Aliabad ware-related typical hollow-footed goblets are associated with Early Shahi-Tump ware at one site in the Keshari Plain. Since these types of goblets are most common in Kerman, it seems rational to see their presence in this plain and Kech-Makran as the result of influences and possibly diffusions from that province. This hypothesis nonetheless certainly needs confirmation through future research.

Thirdly, we have not observed in the present survey assemblages any material relating to the Uruk and Proto-Elamite cultures dating to between the mid-late fourth and early third millennia BCE, although these are represented in Kerman and Sistan at Tepe Yahya, Mahtoutabad, and Shahr-i Sokhta, lxiii lxii as well as by a handful of sherds that resemble beveled-rim bowls at Miri Qalat. This result tends to confirm that, like the Bampur Valley, the regions south-east of it seem to be mostly outside of the boundaries of these western cultures, or cultural phenomena, as they are outside of the boundaries of the south-western Iranian Bakun-related materials and Lapui ware during the fifth and fourth millennia BCE. We also have not observed in this survey any cultural material relating to eastern Pakistani Baluchestan, although such material, some specific ceramic styles, are recorded in Kech-Makran during Period IIIa. lxiv Fourthly, certain ceramic types typical of Kech-Makran Late IIIa continue into Period IIIb, and, similarly, certain ceramic types in Kech-Makran IIIb continue into Period IIIc. Consequently, we have emphasized here that it is not always possible to determine precisely, based on limited surface material, whether a site was occupied at times contemporary with Kech-Makran Late IIIa, IIIb, and/or IIIc. This difficulty is also due to the fact that Kech-Makran Late IIIa and IIIb ceramic assemblages are defined essentially on the basis of surface material in Kech-Makran, stylistic comparisons with assemblages in south-eastern Iran, but virtually no excavated archaeological deposits dating to these periods. lxvii lxviii lxv From a general perspective, it seems that most of the Early Bronze Age surface material collected in this survey may be more securely assigned to Kech-Makran IIIb; at a minimum, it seems that Late IIIa and IIIc periods are mostly represented by ambivalent forms and/or motifs that are recorded in these periods as well as in Kech-Makran IIIb. Regardless, whether or not "true" Kech-Makran Late IIIa is represented in this collection, one assumes that ceramics relating to this period are likely to be present in the Sarbaz Valley area since they are recorded in the Bampur Valley and in Kech-Makran lxvi and as far as at Tepe Yahya and Shahr-i Sokhta, where they were exported. The same is true for Kech-Makran IIIc ceramics which have clear equivalents in the Bampur Valley.

After Late Period IIIa, which is contemporary with Tepe Yahya IVC-Proto-Elamite and Shahr-i Sokhta I, the Kech-Makran region during Period IIIb sees an important increase in sites quantity compared to the previous period. This is especially the case in the Dasht Plain, where 47 Period IIIb sites are reported, including pottery workshops. lxix It seems rational to hypothesize that, in addition to the sites discovered by the present survey, more Kech-Makran IIIb-related sites remain to be discovered directly west of the Dasht Plain, such as in the Dashtyari Plain located just beyond the Iran-Pakistan border. More generally speaking, more sites, and not only sites dating to Kech-Makran IIIb, certainly remain to be found, including in the surveyed area discussed in this article. For instance, we suspect that some are buried below the alluvial deposits in the sedimentary plain around Pishin in Zone 3.

As far as its ceramics are concerned, Kech-Makran IIIb as well as Kech-Makran IIIc appear so similar to Tepe Bampur and many additional sites in the Bampur Valley lxx that both regions are considered to be part of the same cultural sphere. lxxi This sphere certainly may be extended further west and north-west to include at least Chegerdak and Spidej. Data is then less abundant further west in western Jazmurian compared to eastern Jazmurian, although one may mention that materials similar to those typical of the east are reported in this area from Takkul. lxxii lxxiii lxxiv lxxvi Relationships with Kerman as observed at Tepe Yahya and Konar Sandal South further to the north-west are quantitively less and limited to certain categories of vessels. In contrast, more fine grey, painted ceramics relating to the Bampur Valley and Kech-Makran were recovered at Shahr-i Sokhta, and comparative composition analyses conducted on samples from these three areas have shown that this type of ceramic was produced in, and exchanged between, the three of them. These ceramic relationships within the south-eastern Iranian Plateau are noted in the previous period corresponding to Kech-Makran Late IIIa, but new ones appear with Kech-Makran IIIb. It is indeed during this period that ceramics stylistically relating to eastern Jazmurian and Kech-Makran are recorded for the first time in the Oman Peninsula, and composition analysis has demonstrated that most of the analyzed samples from that region are exports from Kech-Makran. Between the more open Dasht Plain in Kech-Makran, probably the Dashtyari Plain immediately west of this plain, and the Bampur Valley, the mountainous, seemingly less accessible territories east of the Jazmurian including those surveyed here certainly had a role in connecting these areas and both maintaining their cultural cohesion and perhaps participating in these greater, interregional exchange networks observed at that time. The petroglyphs reported from the Kajou Valley (ca. 50 km. west of the Sarbaz Valley), whose oldest images are dated to the Late Chalcolithic/Early Bronze Age periods, lxxv the graveyard at Keshik (ca. 85 km. west of the Sarbaz Valley), with cist graves that contain third millennium BCE materials relating to Tepe Bampur,and Fanuch (ca. 190 km. distant), are additional vestiges of this period along the routes that connected Kech-Makran to the Jazmurian and beyond.

Lastly, it is worth mentioning that this survey did not identify any materials relating to the Indus Civilization, although the Indus-related site of Sutkagen-Dor is located only ca. 60 km. south-east of the Keshari Plain, and the Indus settlement at Miri Qalat is ca. 140 km. east of this plain. To the best of our knowledge, these two sites remain the westernmost Indus settlements recorded at present. This situation reminds us of that observed with the above-mentioned ceramic styles relating to eastern Pakistani Baluchestan that are present in Kech-Makran during Period IIIa, but apparently not further west, at a minimum not in the assemblages collected in the surveyed area discussed here. This survey did not find either any late third-early second millennia BCE sites with materials connected to Shahdad in Kerman and to the Oxus Civilization (a.k.a. Bactria-Margiana Archaeological Complex). Such discovery would have not been surprising since such materials and artefacts contemporary to them are not only reported from Kerman in Tepe Yahya IVA and the Halil Rud Basin including at Konar Sandal North and Konar Sandal South, and from Iranian and Afghan Sistan, but also from Khurab in the Bampur Valley. lxxvii lxxviii And, in addition to Khurab, miniature stone columns from Keshik are thought to be compatible with these chrono-cultural associations, as are the material assemblage, imprints on ceramics in particular, from Graveyard B at Spidej.

The current absence of Indus-related and Oxusrelated assemblages in the Sarbaz Valley and adjacent areas does not preclude the possibility that such assemblages are recovered in the future in these remote territories of south-eastern Iran. 34 no. 326;303 fig. 35 no. 355;304 fig. 36 no. 98;307 fig. 37 nos. 107-108, 110;308 fig. 38 nos. 375, 379-380, 382;317 fig. 43 no. 483;Salvatori andVidale, Shahr-i Sokhta 1975-1978, 143 fig. 188 no. 6;[START_REF] Potts | Iran 1967-1975[END_REF]Lamberg-Karlovsky, Excavations at Tepe Yahya, Iran 1967-1975. The Third Millennium, 76 [11][12][13][15][16]117 fig. 80 no. 20;118 fig. 81 no. 3;119 fig. 82 no. 11;130 fig. 91 no. 6;133 fig. 94 no. 9;185 fig. 152 no. 5;186 fig. 153 no. 5;188 fig. 155 no. 13;196 fig. 162 no. 5;199 fig. 165 no. 9;202 fig. 168 no. 4;Mutin,"Ceramic Traditions and Interactions," 265 fig. 14.15 nos. 2,10;Mutin,355 fig. 3.38 no. 13;396 fig. 3.99 no. 9;[START_REF] Lvii | New Discoveries." lviii Beale and Lamberg-Karlovsky, Excavations at Tepe Yahya, Iran 1967-1975. The Early Periods; Garazhian, "Darestan: A Group of Pre-Pottery Neolithic (PPN) Sites"; Mutin and Garazhian, "Bam Archaeological Mission[END_REF]405 fig. 3.116 no. 3;407 fig. 3.119 no. 1;Heydari,Fazeli Nashli,Cortesi,and Yahya, Iran 1967-1975. The Third Millennium, 75 2.23 C;87 fig. 3.7 lxxvii See Mutin and Lamberg-Karlovsky, "The Relationship between the Oxus Civilization and the Southeastern Iranian Plateau" for a recap. lxxviii Heydari, Desset, and Vidale, "Bronze Age Glyptics," 139, 150.

[

  : no. 1); exterior friezes of hatched triangles or hourglasses rotated 90 degrees on holemouth jars (Figure 9: nos. 5, 8); interior bands filled with (a) wavy line(s) on bowls (Figure 9: nos. 10, 29); interior chessboard pattern on bowls (Figure 9: no. 11); interior bands filled with hourglasses and/or lozenges on bowls (Figure 9: no. 13); interior, vertical, parallel straight and wavy lines departing from the rim, including painted red examples, on bowls (Figure 9: no. 14); friezes of crosshatched triangles on the interior rim surface (Figure 9: no. 18); cross motif made of hatched triangles joined by one of their tips (Figure 9: no. 19); and interior decorations made of hatched or crosshatched rectangles (Figure 9: nos. 23, 33).xlvii xlviii

Figure 1 :

 1 Figure 1: Map of the Indo-Iranian Borderlands with location of the surveyed area and of the main Chalcolithic and Early Bronze Age sites including the sites mentioned in the text (map created by B. Mutin using Arcmap by ESRI). 1: Shahdad; 2: Tal-i Iblis; 3: sites in the Daulatabad Plain; 4: Tepe Yahya; 5: Konar Sandal South and Konar Sandal North; 6: sites in the Bam region; 7: Takkul; 8: Chegerdak; 9: Fanuch; 10: Keshik; 11: petroglyphs in the Kajou Valley; 12: Spidej; 13: Chah Husaini; 14: Tepe Bampur; 15: Khurab; 16: sites in Kash County; 17: Rubahak; 18: Rud-i Biyaban 2; 19: Shahr-i Sokhta; 20: sites in the Nahang/Nihing Valley; 21: Sutkagen-Dor; 22: sites in the Dasht Plain; 23: Miri Qalat; 24: Shahi-Tump; 25: Sotka Koh; 26: Kulli; 27: Mehi; 28: Sohr Damb/Nal; 29: Balakot; 30: Amri; 31: Chanhu-daro; 32: Mohenjo-daro; 33: Nausharo; 34: Sibri; 35: Mehrgarh; 36: Kili Ghul Mohammad; 37: Deh Morasi Ghundai; 38: Said Qala Tepe; 39: Mundigak; 40: Tell Abraq; 41: Hili.

Figure 2 :

 2 Figure 2: Detailed map of the surveyed area with location of the recorded sites and elevation transects represented on Figure 3 (map created by B. Mutin using Arcmap by ESRI).

Figure 3 :

 3 Figure 3: Elevation transects mapped on Figure 2. Transects 1 to 4 from top to bottom. On Transect 1 (north to south from left to right), the valley where site 26349 is located is between ca. km. 16 and km. 19. On Transect 2 (southwest to northeast from left to right), the SarbazValley is between ca. km. 3.5 and km. 4.2. On Transect 3 (northwest to southeast from left to right), the sedimentary plain north of Pishin, including an alluvial cone in its northern periphery, is between ca. km. 4 and km. 17.5. On Transect 4 (northwest to southeast from left to right), the Keshari Plain is between ca. km. 14 and km. 18.5. (Transects created by B. Mutin using Google Earth, ©GoogleEarth).

Figure 4 :

 4 Figure 4: Archaeological material collected on the surfaces of sites 26520 and 26495. (Drawings and photographs by H. Moradi and H. Sarhaddi-Dadian; plate composition by B. Mutin).

Figure 5 :

 5 Figure 5: Archaeological material collected on the surfaces of sites 26349, 26212, and 26232. (Drawings and photographs by H. Moradi and H. Sarhaddi-Dadian; plate composition by B. Mutin).

Figure 8 :

 8 Figure 8: Archaeological material collected on the surfaces of sites 26519, 26496, 26527, 26497, and 26200. (Drawings and photographs by H. Moradi and H. Sarhaddi-Dadian; plate composition by B. Mutin).

Figure 9 :

 9 Figure 9: Archaeological material collected on the surface of site 25892 (ceramics). (Drawings and photographs by H. Moradi and H. Sarhaddi-Dadian; plate composition by B. Mutin).

Figure 10 :

 10 Figure 10: Archaeological material collected on the surface of site 25892 (stone vessels and lithics). (Drawings and photographs by H. Moradi and H. Sarhaddi-Dadian; plate composition by B. Mutin).

Figure 11 :

 11 Figure 11: Archaeological material collected on the surfaces of sites 25887, 25888, and 26477. (Drawings and photographs by H. Moradi and H. Sarhaddi-Dadian; plate composition by B. Mutin).

Table 1 :

 1 List of the Late Chalcolithic and Early Bronze Age sites recorded in the Sarbaz Valley and adjacent areas, with indication of their occupation periods based on surface material and with reference to Kech-Makran chronological sequence when possible.

  Wright, R.P. "New Tracks on Ancient Frontiers: Ceramic Technology on the Indo-Iranian Borderlands." In Archaeological Thought in America, edited by C.C. Lamberg-Karlovsky, 268-279. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1989. The site of Tepe Bampur in the Bampur Valley is located ca. 140 km from Rask while this town is ca. 160 km distant from the site of Miri Qalat in Kech-Makran. ii Stein, Archaeological Reconnaissances. iii de Cardi, "Excavations at Bampur." iv See Tosi, "A Tomb from Damin." v See Heydari, Desset, and Vidale, "Bronze Age Glyptics," 139; Sajjadi, Bampur Tepe; Mortazavi, "The Bampur Valley"; Mortazavi and Mosapour Negari, "Past and Present." vi Mutin et al., "New Discoveries." vii Heydari, Fazeli Nashli, Cortesi, and Vidale, "A Surface Collection at Chegerdak"; Heydari, Desset, and Vidale, "Bronze Age Glyptics." viii Sarhaddi, "Pictograph and Petroglyphs of Saravan." ix Hume, The Ladizian; Miragliuolo, "Non-urban Sites." x Shirazi, "The Petroglyphs of the Kajou Valley." xi Pfälzner and Soleimani, "The ICAR -University of Tübingen South-of-Jiroft Archaeological Survey." xii Mockler, "On Ruins in Makran"; see Besenval, "Entre le Sud-Est iranien et la plaine de l'Indus," 30. xiii Stein, An Archaeological Tour in Gedrosia. xiv Dales and Lipo, Explorations on the Makran Coast. xv See Besenval, "Entre le Sud-Est iranien et la plaine de l'Indus", "Chronology of Protohistoric Kech-Makran." xvi See Mutin, "Ceramic Traditions and Interactions", "Chrono-cultural Sequence of the Bampur Valley"; Mutin et al., "New Discoveries"; Mutin, Minc, Lamberg-Karlovsky, and Tosi, "Regional and Long-Distance Exchange." xvii Wright, "Technology, Style and Craft Specialization", "New Tracks on Ancient Frontiers"; Méry, Les céramiques d'Oman et l'Asie moyenne; Méry, Besenval, Blackman, and Didier, "The Origin of the 3rd Millennium BC Fine Grey Wares"; see Didier, La production céramique du Makran, 251-286. xviii See Didier, La production céramique du Makran, 286-288. xix SeeMutin et al., "New Discoveries," 113-114. xx See Wright, "Technology, Style and Craft Specialization", "New Tracks on Ancient Frontiers"; Mutin, Minc, Lamberg-Karlovsky, and Tosi, "Regional and Long-Distance Exchange." xxi See de Cardi, "Excavations at Bampur"; Tosi, "A Tomb from Damin"; Lamberg-Karlovsky and Schmandt-Besserat 1977; Didier, La production céramique du Makran;Mutin, "Ceramic Traditions and Interactions", The Proto-Elamite Settlement and Its Neighbors; Heydari, Fazeli Nashli, Cortesi, and Vidale, "A Surface Collection at Chegerdak"; Mutin et al., "New Discoveries." xxii Pfälzner and Soleimani, "The ICAR -University of Tübingen South-of-Jiroft Archaeological Survey," 118 fig. 13. xxiii Besenval, "Entre le Sud-Est iranien et la plaine de l'Indus," 12 fig. 7 no. 1/96/X/22/11; Besenval, "New Data for the Chronology," 172 fig. 11 nos. 1/96/X/135/5, 1/96/IX/123/2; Mutin, "Ceramic Traditions and Interactions," 256 fig. 14.2 nos.1, 5, 7-8, 10, 20-21. xxiv de Cardi, "Excavations at Bampur," 279 fig. 7 no. 12; 286 fig. 22 nos. 126, 143; 288 fig. 23 nos. 185, 187; 291 fig. 25 nos. 235, 258; 296 fig. 29 no. 290; 298 fig. 30 no. 5,[25][26] 299 fig. 31 no. 63; 302 fig.

i

  fig. 2.25 D; 148 fig. 5.2 C; 188 fig. 7.7 A, B, C; Madjidzadeh and Pittman, "Excavations at Konar Sandal," 91 fig. 22 lower middle; 92 fig. 23 lower left; 92 fig. 24 lower left; Didier, La production céramique du Makran, 95 fig. 64 nos. 9-10; 97 fig. 66 nos.

  Vidale, "A Surface Collection at Chegerdak," 137 fig. 4 nos. 012, 010; 138 fig. 5 nos. a-b, f; 146 fig. 11 nos. 001, 009. xxv de Cardi, "Excavations at Bampur," 280 fig. 18 nos. 22, 35; 285 fig. 21 no. 108; 286 fig. 22 no. 142, 160; Potts and Lamberg-Karlovsky, Excavations at Tepe

Table 2 :

 2 Quantities of Late Chalcolithic and Early Bronze Age sites recorded in the Sarbaz Valley and adjacent areas sorted by their occupation periods.

	Zone Site #	Length (m)	Width (m)	Area (ha)	Archaeological deposits height (m)	Period,

with reference to Kech-Makran sequence (KM) when possible

  Zone 1 average area (ha.) and height (m.) Zone 2 average area (ha.) and height (m.) Zone 3 average area (ha.) and height (m.)

	Zone 1 26495 80	50	0.4	0.1	KM Late IIIa and IIIb
	Zone 1 26520 300	100 3	0.7	KM II, IIIb, and possibly IIIc
	Zone 2 26212 100	100 1	3	KM Late IIIa and IIIb
	Zone 2 26219 50	30	0.15	0.5	Late Chalcolithic, possibly more specifically KM II
	Zone 2 26227 30	30	0.09	0.3	Late Chalcolithic/Early Bronze Age
	Zone 2 26232 300	100 3	1	KM Late IIIa, IIIb, and possibly II and Early IIIa
	Zone 2 26349 60	20	0.12	0.3	KM II
	Zone 2 26363 50	50	0.25	1.7	KM IIIb and possibly IIIc
	Zone 2 26475 100	50	0.5	0.7	Late Chalcolithic/Early Bronze Age
	Zone 2 26491 50	50	0.25	0.5	Late Chalcolithic/Early Bronze Age
	Zone 2 26521 200	100 2	1	KM II, Early IIIa, Late IIIa, and IIIb
	Zone 3 25887 50	50	0.25	4	KM Early IIIa
	Zone 3 25888 100	40	0.4	3	KM Early IIIa
	Zone 3 25892 300	100 3	3	KM II
	Zone 3 26200 100	70	0.7	3	Late Chalcolithic/Early Bronze Age
	Zone 3 26477 30	30	0.09	0.5	KM Late IIIa and IIIb
	Zone 3 26496 30	20	0.06	0.5	Late Chalcolithic/Early Bronze Age, possibly more specifically KM II
	Zone 3 26497 30	30	0.09	1	Late Chalcolithic
	Zone 3 26519 50	50	0.25	6	KM Late IIIa, IIIb, and possibly IIIc
	Zone 3 26527 100	30	0.3	1	Late Chalcolithic, possibly more specifically KM II
				1.70	0.40
				0.82	1.00
				0.57	2.44
						Total Late
	Period		Period, with reference to Kech-Makran sequence (KM) when possible	Number of sites	Total Late Chalcolithic	Chalcolithic (confirmed KM II + KM
						IIIa)

Total Early Bronze Age (confirmed KM Late IIIa + KM IIIb + KM IIIc on KM Late IIIa-IIIb sites)

					Total Late
					Chalcolithic/Early
					Bronze Age
					(undefined)
	KM II	4
	Early KM IIIa	3
	Possible KM II	2
	Possibly Early KM IIIa	2
	Undefined	1
	Possibly KM II	1
	Undefined	4	17 incl. undefined	12 incl. undefined	4
	KM Late IIIa-IIIb	6
	KM IIIb	2		8
	Possibly KM IIIc	3

13 7 Late Chalcolithic Early Bronze Age Late Chalcolithic/Early Bronze AgeTable 3 :

 3 Simplified comparative chronology of Kech-Makran in Pakistan, the Bampur Valley in Iranian Baluchestan, and Tepe Yahya in Kerman. Note that the dating of Bampur Tepe, Tepe Yahya IVB and their relationship to the chronological sequence established in Kech-Makran are the topic of disagreement. We adapt here Didier 2013: 37 Tab. 1 for this part of the sequence. Also, there is no radiocarbon dates available from Chah Husaini, but this site yielded ceramics similar to those found at Tepe Yahya V. The sites with Aliabad ware in the Bampur Valley mentioned in this table are those reported inMutin et al., "New Discoveries."

	Dates BCE	Kech-Makran	Bampur Valley	Tepe Yahya
	2000
	2500	IV	Tepe Bampur	IVB
		IIIb-IIIc	I-VI	Hiatus
	3000			IVC
		IIIa
	3500		Sites with Aliabad	Hiatus Aliabad
		II	ware	Period
	4000
		I	Chah Husaini	V
	4500

Acknowledgements

We would like to thank M. Hasanali Sharaki, Director of the Culture Heritage, Handicraft, and Tourism Organization of Sistan and Baluchestan province and M. Adnan Hosseini, Director of the Culture Heritage, Handicraft, and Tourism Organization of Sarbaz County, for providing us with permission and support to conduct this field research. We also would like to thank the reviewers of this article for their thoughtful comments.