Dataset on Caravanserais and Qanat Networks in Khorasan, Iran

This dataset comprises 280 caravanserais and over 750 associated qanat irrigation systems in Iran's Khorasan region. Caravanserais were roadside structures that provided shelter and services to travellers, while qanats are subterranean channels designed to transport water from underground aquifers across long distances. Together, these infrastructural systems played a critical role in shaping trade, agriculture, and settlement patterns across the Iranian Plateau since ancient times. Compiled by the EAMENA project at the University of Oxford, the dataset enables analysis of the spatial relationship between caravan routes and qanat networks, as well as the preservation status of these sites and the threats they face. It covers sites across the three Khorasan provinces and Semnan, which, although now administratively separate, historically formed part of key caravan corridors.本数据集收录伊朗呼罗珊（Khorasan）地区的280处商队驿站（caravanserais）与750余处配套坎儿井（qanat）灌溉系统。商队驿站为沿路修筑的休憩建筑，可为过往旅行者提供落脚场所与配套服务；坎儿井则是一类地下输水渠道，用于从地下含水层跨远距离输送水资源。自古以来，这类基础设施共同对伊朗高原地区的贸易、农业与聚落格局的塑造发挥了至关重要的作用。 本数据集由牛津大学的EAMENA项目编制完成，可用于分析商队路线与坎儿井网络的空间关联，同时支持对这些遗迹的保存现状及其面临的威胁展开研究。数据集覆盖呼罗珊三省与塞姆南省（Semnan）境内的相关遗迹——尽管如今这些区域行政上分属不同辖区，但历史上均属于核心商队通行走廊。