ZAR BOLAGH: A LATE IRON AGE SITE IN CENTRAL IRAN

Iranica Antiqua, 2016

Due to the exciting discovery of major Bronze Age urban centers in southeastern Iran, such as Shahr e Soukhte, Shahdad and Konar Sandal (Jiroft), most scholarly attention has been given to the 3 rd millennium BC. As a result, the cultures preceding the Bronze Age in particular the 4 th millennium BC have been often neglected. In early 2011, the Iranian Center of Heritage and Tourism Organization (ICHTO) of Kerman Province conducted a rescue excavation at Khaje Askar near the city of Bam, in which several graves and complete funerary vessels were discovered (about 15 graves had been bulldozed previously). As a result of the excavations, a total of 9 graves and 53 funerary goods were uncovered; the burial goods included ceramics, stone and clay beads, stone vessels, clay objects, shells and a unique metal blade. In this article, we state the results of excavations at Khaje Askar cemetery and describe the burials and funerary goods and according to a comparative analysis based on the ceramics of other excavated settlement sites of southeastern Iran and Pakistan such as Tale Iblis, Mahtoutabad, Mehr-garh and Shahi Tump, we argue that Khaje Askar cemetery belongs to the Aliabad culture (Iblis IV) and dates to the 4 th millennium BC.

International Journal of the Society of Iranian Archaeologists, 2017

2011 and 2012. Third season of excavation continued in August 2014. The survey and excavation yielded materials from the Late Bronze and Early Iron Age. Recently, a survey covering 30 ha at the second millennium B.C. site of Zardkhaneh, located near the city of Ahar in the province of Eastern Azerbaijan, brought to light 95 stone burials indicating that Zardkhaneh was a large cemetery, related to the adjacent settlement and defensive fortress. Our preliminary study shows that the large stone graves and kurgan type burials of Zardkhaneh had close connections with the material culture of areas today located in Azerbaijan, Armenia, and Turkey during these periods.

ARWA Xpress, 2021

Abstract Tepe Rezvan located in Hosseinabbad Kalpoush in northeastern of the semnan province. Kalpoush area at an altitude of 1379 meters above sea level located in the north eastern part of Miami and 210 kilometers distance from the Shahroud. This area is restricted Golestan forest from the north, jajarm area in Khorasan province from the east, Minoodasht town in Golestan province from the west and eastern Kalate part of the Miami from the south. Big east Khorasan road that would connect the east world to west is located on this highway. evidence from several ancient hills indicated that this area was on the part of business and economic way road to Gorgan and Khorasan and connected 3 provinces of Semnan, Golestan and Khorasan together. There are several ancient hills in Kalpoush, one of which is Tepe Rezvan was being explored. In addition of saving excavation project was defined for instruction of dam Kalpoush, the importance of the hill is related to being a suitable reign for detection and study of the cultural status. The study aimed to explore the history and transformation of settlement, survey and identification of the Iron Age I cemeteries, structure of graves, burial methods and also to save some remnant of damage. in This article, structural date obtained of this hill will be studied. Compared to the other regions, northwest Iran has not received as much attention in the history of archeological studies despite, decent geographical condition and critical geopolitical location, it has been a home to huge human settlements from the prehistoric period up till now. The Iron Age cultures appeared in a very short time and the on Iranian cultural structure is imposed by the Iranian immigrants in the mid the second millennium. The Iron Age is categorized based on the typology of the pottery in this age. Young offers three categories for this age based on the pottery: old gray pottery (pottery horizon 1), late gray pottery (pottery horizon 2), and buff pottery (pottery horizon 3). The pottery of the Iron Age III is plain and in some cases painted having replaced the gray pottery of the Iron Age I and II. Some samples are found in Hassanlu III and Zivieh (Young,1965:53-58). Dyson categorizes the Iron Age into 3 periods: the Iron Age I (1450-1200), Iron Age II (1200-800) and the Iron Age III (800-500). But Danti, based on his carbon 14 tests, provides a new categorization: the Iron Age I (1250-1050), the Iron Age (1050-800), and the Iron Age III (800-550 BC)(Danti 2013). Generally speaking, the studies on the Iron Age are performed in the northwest more than any other part in Iran of which we can name the studies on the basin of Uromiyeh Lake (Kroll 2005), Dyson explorations in Hassanlu (Dyson 1989), Dinkhah Tape (Muscarella 1974), Haftvan Tape (Burney 1969) and Guy Tape (Burton 1984). The regions in north and northeast of Iran are of the significant historical places in Iran belonging to the Iron Age of which one can name Amlash, khaloraz, Marlik, Talesh and khorvin.

Proceedings of the 6th International Congress of the …, 2010

Shamshirgah is located 20 km South of Qom and on the road Qom-Kahak. This site was reported for the fi rst time by Kleiss (Kleiss 1983) under the name of Khowrabad, but since the fi rst archaeological activities season under its local name "Shamshirgah". Shamshirgah is located between two rock ridges, lining the southern edge of the Dasht-e Kavir. Unfortunately some part of the architectural remains in this important Iron Age site in the central Iranian plateau was destroyed by illegal digging and also other activities. After visiting the site in 2003, I started an archaeological project in Shamshirgah (Fahimi 2003). In 2005 we began with topographical mapping, systematic survey and also excavation of a trench (CX57) in the center of site, North of natural gate of Shamshirgah. According to this excavations, the architectural remains and archaeological fi nds in this part of the site dated to Iron Age II (1200-800 B.C). The most important architectural remain from this period is a mudbrick wall, with a fl oor and stone wall. The size of the mudbricks is 36x36x10 cm. These mudbricks can be compared with mudbricks found from the Platform and other buildings of Sialk VI in Sialk South mound (Ghirshman 1939: Pl. XXXIII-XXXIV; Fahimi 2006: 110). In the excavated trench a stone wall 80 cm large, forming the outer wall of one corner of a building, was documented, that was covered, especially in the northern part, by debris and wall collapse. Three rooms inside the building were constrained within the limits of the trench (Azarnoush and Helwing 2005: 226). Shamshirgah was a great fortress with two big stone walls to the east and west and two long natural walls (rock ridge). The pottery associated with the building in trench CX57 is grey ware dating from Iron Age II. Shamshirgah is an

Genaveh County is located on the NE coast of the Persian Gulf with an area of about 1837 Square kilometers, 165 kilometers Northwest of Bushehr. Our information about the prehistoric period of the coastal province of Bushehr is very limited. The few studies conducted in this area have not been systematic and have not pursued a specific goal. Only for the Paleolithic period has some research been done. Therefore, our systematic study in this region has attempted to identify the cultural status of this area. The Chahar Rustayi archaeological site (34°68′47′′N; 57°69′32′′E; 87-meter elevation) is located within 5 kilometers of the west bank of the Shoor River and 2 kilometers south of the village of Chahar Rustayi. Realizing the importance of the Chahar Rustayi site (Eman Zadeh Hill or Tepe Emam Zadeh) to the understanding of regional exchanges, and the utility of pottery in identifying prehistoric cultures, as well as the role of pottery shapes and designs in assigning the sequence of cultural eras, our goal was a thorough analysis of the cultural materials obtained in a methodical study of the site to clarify the cultural succession of the region. After mapping and 10 × 10 m 2 gridding of the area, alternative sampling was performed on 50% of the squares (207 squares). Pottery and lithic material recovered during the surface survey showed that this site had been settled from the late Neolithic Period until the end of Chalcolithic Period.

HISTORIA I ŚWIAT, 2016

In the summer of 2015, a preliminary visit was carried out by the authors with the goal of identifying and documenting archaeological cemeteries as well as giving a relative chronology of them at two villages of Kuik and Qaleh Bahador i in the Zahāb Plain, located in Sarpol-e Zahāb County in Kermānshāh p rovince of Iran. Numerous tombs were identified in four cemeteries. Mostly they were located in the hillside of mountains. The pile of stones on the ground can be an indicator to assess them. Structurally all tombs are the same. All around the tomb's wall was elevated with different size of stones in several rows; after putting the dead body, the tomb has been covered with three or four cap stones. Then the pile of stones was put on top of it. Nevertheless these cemeteries were been looted by smugglers, still some intact tombs can be seen among them. Unfortunately, no cultural materials were found in these areas except for few potsherds; so this caused some difficulties to date the tombs. The morphology of their structure and comparative study with peripheral regions suggest probable chronology of Iron Age III for the tombs. It is evident that certain results will be achieved on the basis of archaeological excavations.

Iranica Antiqua 47, 2011

An Iron Age graveyard, for the most part dating from the 8 th -7 th century BC, was accidentally discovered in 2008 during road works near Sanandaj, Iranian Kurdistan. Rescue excavations were conducted by the Cultural Heritage Department in Sanandaj. The present contribution reports on these first excavations during which more than 20 graves were discovered in two squares and a trench. A selection of the graves and the burial goods are discussed.

An Iron Age graveyard, for the most part dating from the 8 th -7 th century BC, was accidentally discovered in 2008 during road works near Sanandaj, Iranian Kurdistan. Rescue excavations were conducted by the Cultural Heritage Department in Sanandaj. The present contribution reports on these first excavations during which more than 20 graves were discovered in two squares and a trench. A selection of the graves and the burial goods are discussed.

Iran

This paper is an investigation into the western extent of a regional school of funerary architecture that developed in the Ildegüzid ruled lands of northwest Iran in the sixth/twelfth century. The formal, decorative and epigraphic elements of two octagonal tombs, the Yūsuf ibn Kuthayyir tomb in Nakhchivan, (Azerbaijan) and the Mengücek Ghazi tomb in Kemah, (Turkey) are examined in detail. By comparing these two buildings, and demonstrating the similarities and differences, the dynamic nature of the architectural development in Anatolia in the late sixth/twelfth century may be better understood.