Papers by Raffaele Biscione
The archaeological research of Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, CNR (National Research Council... more The archaeological research of Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, CNR (National Research Council) in Iran began in 1976 with a survey in the Urmia plain aimed at the study of the Urartian expansion into Iran, carried out by of the Istituto di Studi Egeo-Anatolici. The survey came to an end with the Islamic Revolution of 1979. The institute, that after 2000 changed its name into Istituto di Studi sulle Civiltà dell'Egeo e del Vicino Oriente, ICEVO (Institute of Studies on the Civilizations of Aegean and Near East), continued its studies and connections with Iranian scholars, and after 1998 it was possible to resume fieldwork in northwestern Iran. After 2006 a series of bureaucratic reasons made it impossible to
Iran. Campagne 2007-2008 a Shahr-Sokhta (Sistan, Iran Orientale) e nuove ricerche sulla crisi del... more Iran. Campagne 2007-2008 a Shahr-Sokhta (Sistan, Iran Orientale) e nuove ricerche sulla crisi dell'urbanizzazione della fine del III millennio a.C. L'obiettivo delle nostre ricerche in Iran Orientale (fig. 1), condotte con un contributo del Ministero per gli Affari Esteri, è lo studio della parte finale della sequenza di Shahr-i Sokhta, in particolare della transizione fra periodo III tardo e periodo IV, negli ultimi secoli del III millennio a.C. Gli scavi sono state condotti nel quadro delle ricerche della Missione Archeologica a Shahr-i Sokhta del Pazhuheshkadeh-ye Bastan Shenasi (Centro Iraniano per la Ricerca Archeologica), diretta dal Dr. S. M. S. Sajjadi. La ricerca ha come scopo ultimo contribuire allo studio della crisi dell'urbanizzazione che, alla fine del III millennio a. C., investì tutti gli insediamenti proto-urbani fra Teheran e la valle dell'Indo (tranne quelli della parte più meridionale dell'Iran), che si ridussero notevolmente di dimensioni e successivamente furono quasi tutti abbandonati, determinando un periodo buio che durò fino alla fine del II millennio-inizi I. Nella sequenza di Shahr-i Sokhta l'effetto della crisi si manifestò pienamente nel periodo IV ed alla fine di questo periodo il sito fu abbandonato per sempre.
Grave 12 of Tepe Chalow is the richest burial excavated to date at the site. It is a typical GKC ... more Grave 12 of Tepe Chalow is the richest burial excavated to date at the site. It is a typical GKC pit grave in which was buried a female adolescent younger than 18 years. In the grave were found 34 objects: 12 typical GKC pottery vases; 4 stone objects of chlorite, white and black stone, serpentine, and lapis lazuli; 13 metal objects of gold, bronze, typical GKC, and two ivory pins. The burial matches the funeral rituals attested at Chalow. The grave was oriented NE-SW and the body crouched on the right side with the hands near the face, looking toward the SE. Ceramic vessels were placed behind the back of the skeleton, from the head to the feet; there were two pins near the shoulders and two bracelets on the arms; the large vase near the feet contained a significant object. The chlorite objects were grouped near the face of the deceased, and so were the metal objects and ivory pins, with the exception of a small bronze jar and two pins. The beads also were near the face and the neck...
Pinhasi wishes to recognize the fi nancial support provided by the Irish Research Council for the... more Pinhasi wishes to recognize the fi nancial support provided by the Irish Research Council for the Humanities and Social Sciences (IRCHSS) and the Science Foundation of Ireland (SFI). The geoarchaeological survey is supported by funds from the British Academy awarded to Pinhasi and Wilkinson and funds secured by Adler and Pinhasi. Finally, thanks are due to the numerous students and volunteers who participated in the fi eldwork and laboratory analyses, and to our Armenian colleagues who provided their great expertise and energy to our survey of the Hrazdan Gorge.
Les Dossiers D Archeologie, 2007
Vers 780 av. j-C, la rive occidentale du lac Sevan servit de frontiere au royaume d'Ourartou ... more Vers 780 av. j-C, la rive occidentale du lac Sevan servit de frontiere au royaume d'Ourartou qui y laissa, par la suite, des traces archeologiques importantes. Comme cette region a ete habitee depuis le Chalcolithique, il existe beaucoup de vestiges archeologiques interessants comme des remparts et des necropoles. Les etablissements depourvus de defense sont inconnus dans la region ce qui signifie, probablement, que la population habitait a la fois dans des fortifications et dans des fermes dispersees, c'est-a-dire dans des habitations qui laissent peu de traces et qui sont, de nos jours, irrecuperables car elles ont ete erodees ou enterrees sous plusieurs metres de depot d'alluvions.
Iran and Italy: 60 years of collaboration in cultural heritage, In.: Callieri, P.F., Rossi, A., and Sajjadi, S.M., Research Institute of Cultural Heritage and Tourism, Tehran., 2021
The paper summarizes the results of the field researches of Iran-Italy expedition in Khorasan and... more The paper summarizes the results of the field researches of Iran-Italy expedition in Khorasan and Sistan between 2011-2018. In Khorasan the studies focused on the excavations of Tepe Chalow and on the process of formation and expansion of the “Oxus Civilization” or “Greater Khorasan Civilization" (GKC) also known as "Bactria-Margiana Archaeological Complex” (BMAC) in eastern Iran at the end of the third millennium and early second millennium BC. In Sistan the focus of the study was on the important Parthian-Sasanian site of Kuh-e Khwaja, and they included: photogrammetric and laser scanner survey; study on the location of the wall paintings discovered, detached and published by Stein and Herzfeld in 1915-1932; three-dimensional reconstruction of the site and insertion of the images (photos, drawings, sketches) of the paintings in their proper places; automatic generation of maps, prospects and sections of buildings; geological studies and sampling of existing mud-based plasters and mortars for petrographic studies.
... The distribution of pre-and protohistoric Hillforts in Iran. Autores: Raffaele Biscione; Loca... more ... The distribution of pre-and protohistoric Hillforts in Iran. Autores: Raffaele Biscione; Localización: Studi micenei ed egeo-anatolici, ISSN 1126-6651, Vol. 51, Nº. 1, 2009, págs. 123-143. Fundación Dialnet. Acceso de usuarios registrados. ...
Труды Маргианской археологической экспедиции/T.8, 2021
The main purpose of this paper is to discuss Bronze Age funeral practices in necropolis of Chalow... more The main purpose of this paper is to discuss Bronze Age funeral practices in necropolis of Chalow (late 4th Mill.–early 2nd Mill BC)– the site of the Greater Khorasan Civilization (GKC) / Bactria-Margiana Archaeological Complex (BMAC), situated in the plain of Jajarm (ca. 200 km north-west of Nishabur in the North-Eastern Iran), excavated by joint Irano-Italian team and their connections with synchronous sites of Bactria and Margiana.
Основная цель данной статьи – обсудить погребальные практики некрополя Чалоу бронзового века (конец
IV – начало II тыс. до н.э.) – памятника Великой Хорасанской цивилизации / Бактрийско-Маргианского
археологического комплекса, расположенного на равнине Джаджарм (примерно в 200 км к северо-западу от Нишапура в Северо-Восточном Иране) и их связи с синхронными памятниками Бактрии и Маргианы.
Journal of Iran National Museum (JINM)
Grave 12 of Tepe Chalow is the richest burial excavated to date at the site. It is a typical GKC ... more Grave 12 of Tepe Chalow is the richest burial excavated to date at the site. It is a typical GKC pit grave in which was buried a female adolescent younger than 18 years. In the grave were found 34 objects: 12 typical GKC pottery vases; 4 stone objects of chlorite, white and black stone, serpentine, and lapis lazuli; 13 metal objects of gold, bronze, typical GKC, and two ivory pins.m The burial matches the funeral rituals attested at Chalow. The grave was oriented NE-SW and the body crouched on the right side with the hands near the face, looking toward the SE. Ceramic vessels were placed behind the back of the skeleton, from the head to the feet; there were two pins near the shoulders and two bracelets on the arms; the large vase near the feet contained a significant object. The chlorite objects were grouped near the face of the deceased, and so were the metal objects and ivory pins, with the exception of a small bronze jar and two pins. The beads also were near the face and the neck, probably forming one or more necklaces. Remains of ovid/caprid bones inside a pottery bowl indicate a food-offering for the burial. All of these burial goods and funeral rituals of grave 12 at Chalow have close parallels at many burial grounds of Bactria and Margiana indicating close cultural ties between the area of northern Khorasan with the Bactro-Margiana cultural sphere.m
The World of the Oxus Civilization, Edited by Bertille Lyonnet and Nadezhda A. Dubova, Routledge Publisher., 2020
In Eastern Iran were recently found settlements and graveyards with BMAC/GKC materials in areas e... more In Eastern Iran were recently found settlements and graveyards with BMAC/GKC materials in areas either previously occupied by other cultures/civilizations, or unoccupied. In some regions, the material was entirely BMAC/GKC, in others it was mixed with the local one. An actual movement of people is certain, but the relationships were peaceful. The reasons behind this movement are unclear. Some sites can certainly be interpreted as trading outposts, but they are too many to be considered as such. Considering the area concerned by the BMAC/GKC expansion, the authors relate it with the Greater Khorasan known in later periods and prefer to use this term to that of BMAC or Oxus Civilization.
THE IRANIAN PLATEAU DURING THE BRONZE AGE DEVELOPMENT OF URBANISATION, PRODUCTION AND TRADE edited by Jan-Waalke Meyer, Emmanuelle Vila, Marjan Mashkour, Michèle Casanova and Régis Vallet, 2019
First season of archaeological excavation at the pre- and proto-historic site of Tepe Chalow in n... more First season of archaeological excavation at the pre- and proto-historic site of Tepe Chalow in northern Khorasan Province, NE Iran, was carried out by a joint Irano-Italian expedition in autumn of 2011. The joint team opened 9 trenches in the core zone plus 28 small testing
pits in the periphery of the site to evaluate accumulation and extension of archaeological layers. Archaeological analysis of the material and data gathered through excavation show influence of different cultural areas including Damghan (Hissar I‑II) and Gorgan plain (Shah
Tepe III‑II) to the south and north of Alborz Mountain, respectively, as well as piedmont zone of the northern Kopet-dagh in southern Turkmenistan (NMZ III, VI).
One of the most important results of the first campaign is the discovery of a large mid‑late Bronze Age necropolis with the material culture of Namazga VI, the so-called “BMAC”.
A total of 6 graves with BMAC/GKC materials were excavated in the first season which yielded not only the luxury objects but also the ordinary, household objects and the pottery identical to the contemporary assemblages from Bactria and Margiana.
The bio-archaeological studies during the first season of excavation at Chalow show that agriculture and herding were important components of the economic activities of the site all through the occupational sequence.
Studi Micenei ed Egeo-Anatolici 53 , 2010
participated, from the Iranian one Sa'id Shanjamali and Behzad Ali Talesh besides the authors.
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Papers by Raffaele Biscione
Основная цель данной статьи – обсудить погребальные практики некрополя Чалоу бронзового века (конец
IV – начало II тыс. до н.э.) – памятника Великой Хорасанской цивилизации / Бактрийско-Маргианского
археологического комплекса, расположенного на равнине Джаджарм (примерно в 200 км к северо-западу от Нишапура в Северо-Восточном Иране) и их связи с синхронными памятниками Бактрии и Маргианы.
pits in the periphery of the site to evaluate accumulation and extension of archaeological layers. Archaeological analysis of the material and data gathered through excavation show influence of different cultural areas including Damghan (Hissar I‑II) and Gorgan plain (Shah
Tepe III‑II) to the south and north of Alborz Mountain, respectively, as well as piedmont zone of the northern Kopet-dagh in southern Turkmenistan (NMZ III, VI).
One of the most important results of the first campaign is the discovery of a large mid‑late Bronze Age necropolis with the material culture of Namazga VI, the so-called “BMAC”.
A total of 6 graves with BMAC/GKC materials were excavated in the first season which yielded not only the luxury objects but also the ordinary, household objects and the pottery identical to the contemporary assemblages from Bactria and Margiana.
The bio-archaeological studies during the first season of excavation at Chalow show that agriculture and herding were important components of the economic activities of the site all through the occupational sequence.
Основная цель данной статьи – обсудить погребальные практики некрополя Чалоу бронзового века (конец
IV – начало II тыс. до н.э.) – памятника Великой Хорасанской цивилизации / Бактрийско-Маргианского
археологического комплекса, расположенного на равнине Джаджарм (примерно в 200 км к северо-западу от Нишапура в Северо-Восточном Иране) и их связи с синхронными памятниками Бактрии и Маргианы.
pits in the periphery of the site to evaluate accumulation and extension of archaeological layers. Archaeological analysis of the material and data gathered through excavation show influence of different cultural areas including Damghan (Hissar I‑II) and Gorgan plain (Shah
Tepe III‑II) to the south and north of Alborz Mountain, respectively, as well as piedmont zone of the northern Kopet-dagh in southern Turkmenistan (NMZ III, VI).
One of the most important results of the first campaign is the discovery of a large mid‑late Bronze Age necropolis with the material culture of Namazga VI, the so-called “BMAC”.
A total of 6 graves with BMAC/GKC materials were excavated in the first season which yielded not only the luxury objects but also the ordinary, household objects and the pottery identical to the contemporary assemblages from Bactria and Margiana.
The bio-archaeological studies during the first season of excavation at Chalow show that agriculture and herding were important components of the economic activities of the site all through the occupational sequence.