Tepe Yahya

Tepe Yahya, ancient Iranian site located northeast of Dowlatābād in southeastern Iran; it has yielded valuable information on the economic exchange patterns of the 3rd millennium bc. Excavations (1968–70) by the American School of Prehistoric Research have revealed that Tepe Yahya was almost continuously occupied from the middle of the 5th millennium to the end of the 3rd millennium bc. It was apparently abandoned during the 2nd millennium but was reoccupied from about 1000 bc to about ad 400. The excavated materials dating to the 3rd millennium were of particular interest and indicated that Tepe Yahya may have been a centre for the production and distribution of steatite (soapstone), a material used in making vessels, seals, and other objects. The trade, at first probably locally controlled, may later have come under Elamite influence. Design motifs on steatite bowls from Tepe Yahya parallel many motifs found in Mesopotamia and the Indus Valley and indicate that Tepe Yahya filled an important position in the economic and cultural relations between Mesopotamia, the Iranian Plateau, and the cultures to the east.