The article concerns some problems occurring within the study of the area surrounding Persepolis. A systematic survey effectuated by Sumner revealed seven phases, of which only the latest – phase VII – is historical and dated to the 2nd half of the 1st millennium BC. The problems of this phase are linked with chronology, the distribution and typology of the surveyed sites and the diversity of activities in the region common during the Achaemenid period. It is tentatively concluded that – beca...