Material Culture and Social Behavior: Reconstructing Social Behavior and Personality According to Late Islamic Material Culture in Yazd, Iran

Cultural and social phenomena in our society have deep roots in the past. In other words, at least in part, thesocial behavior of current societies has its roots in their past, institutionalized in the subconscious memory of thecitizens for hundreds or thousands of years. The cognition of social behavior of past societies and their structurescould lead to a deeper and better understanding of contemporary social behavior. One of the most important waysin reconstructing social behavior of people in the past is the study of architectural and urban spaces. ConsideringIranian cities with historical heritage, the historical texture of the city of Yazd is well preserved. The reconstructionof the social structure of Yazd (emphasizing social communication) according to the remaining spaces from thepast, with the use of space syntax, will be discussed in this paper. It seems that compact neighborhood, andsome public spaces such as neighborhood mosques could have increased social interaction among neighborhoodresidents. Increasing the level of social communication, can not only increase the cohesion and solidarity betweenthe residents, but also lead to the creation of a kind of informal social control. However, some other architecturalspaces left by them, and some principles of Islamic religion like privacy, indicate the emergence of a different typeof social behavior like pretention and dual character among residents.

Material Culture and Social Behavior: Reconstructing Social Behavior and Personality According to Late Islamic Material Culture in Yazd, Iran Keywords:

Social behavior , archaeological evidence , Islamic city , late Islamic period , Yazd