TEHRAN — Five years of joint research by archaeologists from the University of Tehran and the University of Warsaw have produced a new picture of life at Qareh Tepe in Iran’s Qazvin Plain, challenging the longstanding assumption that communities in the Central Iranian Plateau were predominantly mobile pastoralists during the Iron Age.
The research examined human remains from an Iron Age II and III cemetery, dating roughly to 1100–750 BCE, using osteological studies alongside stable carbon and nitrogen isotope analysis and radiogenic strontium analysis.
The findings indicate that the people of Qareh Tepe were largely settled agropastoralists with strong ties to the local environment, rather than a predominantly nomadic population. 
The evidence points to intensive agricultural practices, livestock raising and sustained use of the resources of the Qazvin Plain in the centuries before the emergence of the Median state.
The project was jointly led by Mostafa Dehpahlavan of the University of Tehran and Arkadiusz Sołtysiak of the University of Warsaw, with Iranian and international researchers including Joanna Trębicka, Rafał Fetner, Elham Farnam, Marjan Mollabeirami and Zahra Alinezhad.
Osteological analysis of at least 52 individuals revealed evidence of dental disease, physiological stress and physical trauma. Dental caries affected about 21 percent of individuals, consistent with regular consumption of carbohydrate-rich agricultural foods.
Researchers also identified porotic hyperostosis and cribra orbitalia, skeletal markers associated with physiological stress and possible iron deficiency. 
Evidence of trauma caused by sharp and blunt-force impacts was found on the skulls of two adult men and one woman, indicating episodes of interpersonal violence or social tension.
Analysis of carbon and nitrogen isotopes from 53 human dentin samples and 30 animal samples revealed unusually high nitrogen values among the Qareh Tepe population compared with contemporary sites elsewhere on the Iranian Plateau.
The researchers argue that the elevated nitrogen signatures cannot be explained simply by heavy meat consumption. Instead, they may reflect intensive agriculture and widespread use of animal manure to fertilize fields in the confined agricultural landscape of the Qazvin Plain.
Differences in carbon isotope values between men and women also
 suggest variations in the sources or consumption patterns of staple grains.
Radiogenic strontium analysis of the dental enamel of 60 individuals provides further evidence against a predominantly mobile population.
About 80 percent of those examined displayed signatures consistent with local origins, while around 15 percent showed regional signatures and approximately 5 percent were likely from beyond the Qazvin Plain.
The evidence does not suggest that the population was completely immobile. Rather, it points to a settled community with limited regional movement and occasional arrivals from farther afield.