Iranian Archaeology

The modern looting of a Bronze Age grave located at the site of Mahtoutabad (near Konar Sandal South, Jiroft) has, for the first time, revealed a range of ceramic materials that accompanied the carved chlorite artifacts of the Halil Rud or Jiroft style. In this paper, we present and examine an assemblage of recovered finds including a carved chlorite shard and their archaeological context followed by a discussion specifically related to the original funerary deposit. Finally, by conducting a cross-comparative survey between the recovered objects and those from other Early Bronze age sites of the region, we provide a possible, preliminary chronology for the looted grave of Mahtoutabad.

Historical texts and archaeological studies attest to the maritime and trade importance of the Persian Gulf since the Sassanid Empires. Nonetheless, there is a paucity of data regarding ancient navigation and the reasons for a shift in maritime trade from the western (e.g. Shatt-al-Arab) to eastern (Siraf) Persian Gulf by the Abbasid dynasty. For some scholars, Siraf was occupied between 360 and 977 CE, after which time an earthquake entrained the demise of the city. However, it is unclear when Siraf was founded and how natural navigation conditions changed for ocean-going vessels in harbours of the NW Persian Gulf. To address this knowledge gap, we here present new geoarchaeological data from Siraf. Two anthropogenic facies were detected in drilled cores. They suggest that Siraf dates back to 2 BC-317 CE. After a hiatus, a second occupation phase began during the reign of Shapur II. Relative Sea-Level (RSL) fluctuations, climate change and Persian Gulf bathymetry all affected the p...

Within the territory of the ancient province of Persia, which corresponds approximately to the present-day region of Fars in southern Iran, numerous remains of hydraulic structures are known and reported. These have rarely benefitted from detailed studies, however, which results in functional uncertainties and unconfirmed chronological suggestions, including in particular hasty attributions to the Achaemenid period. The territory of the plain of Pasargadae, situated at the center of this province, was well suited to irrigated agriculture, exemplified by the famous gardens created in the capital of Cyrus in the first period of the Achaemenid Empire. As the region is situated in a mountainous and semi-arid environment, irrigation is necessary for regular agricultural production throughout the year. The region of Pasargadae contains many hydraulic features that are relatively well preserved. However, their dating and their functions still remain unclear, which has stimulated new research and examination of all the evidence concerning the hydraulics, using a combination of methods and approaches, including systematic regional mapping, photo-interpretation, precise topographic readings, and dating experimentation through OSL analyses. This article presents a synthesising study of the remains of the Ju-i Dokhtar canal and the dam of Sa’adatshahr, which is located at the outlet of the canal. These structures probably formed the backbone of a system of water exploitation, that included all of the south-east part of the plain of Pasargadae and the plain of Sa’adatshahr further downstream.

The Kalat region is located in north-eastern Iran between the Kopetdagh and Hezarmasjid mountain ranges, which act as natural defensive features. Overlooking the main routes passing through these ranges, the strategic town and fortifications near Kalat have played an important role in both the mythology and history of Khorasan. At least one middle Persian manuscript and several Islamic period historians and travellers testify to the defensive significance of Kalat throughout history. Archaeological surveys carried out in April 2012 and October 2016 in the Kalat region have succeeded in identifying abundant evidence to support the textual accounts, confirming the important role of this region in the defensive landscape of north-eastern Iran. Monuments explored include linear walls following the crest of steep mountain ridges, guarded by chains of watchtowers, a large hilltop fortress (the Arg-e Forud), and gorge-blocking barriers that likely controlled movement into and out of the re...

Over the past few decades, several excavations that have been performed in the Fars Neolithic sites have resulted in the presentation of different chronologies for the region. Most of the research in Fars centered on the Kur River Basin (KRB). Fars has always had a different environment for the formation of different cultures over time, therefore, in order to reach a better understanding of the prehistoric cultures of the region it is necessary to make a brief review of the geographical zones of the plains and valleys of Fars province. Taking into account the existence of several questions and ambiguities regarding Neolithic Fars, the Hormangan site, located in the Bavant River Basin, was excavated. During the excavation, two settlement phases were identified that contained cultural materials relatively comparable to Tol-e Mushki, Tol-e Jari B, Kushk Hezar, and Rahmat Abad sequences. The goal of this paper is to explore the absolute chronology of the Hormangan site as well as other ...

مسجد «مقصودبیک» از بناهای معماری مهجور اصفهان است که به روایتی قوی آرامگاه «میرعماد»، یکی از نام‌آورترین و بزرگترین خوشنویسان ایران و جهان اسلام در آن قرار دارد. این مسجد کوچک در چهارراه شکرشکن، چهارراه کرمانی، کوچۀ میرعماد واقع شده و به‌عنوان یک اثر ملی به ثبت رسیده است. مسجد، یادگاری از معماری صفوی در اواخر سدۀ دهم و اوایل سدۀ یازدهم ﻫ.ق است و توسط مقصودبیک (وزیر بیوتات) که یکی از مشاوران شاه عباس اول بوده ساخته شده است. در میان مردم اصفهان این مسجد به نام مسجد «ذوالعماد»، «ذوالاموات»، «ظُلمات» و «تاریکی» نیز مشهور است. برخی علت این نامگذاری را به‌خاطر مجاورت آن با تکیۀ ظلمات دانسته‌اند؛ اما برخی به این نکته اشاره کرده‌اند که چون میرعماد به دستور شاه‌عباس صفوی توسط عده‌ای در تاریکی نیمه‌های شب در این محل به قتل رسیده است، این نام نشانه‌ای از تاریکی و ظلمت آن واقعه است. به روایات دیگری نیز احتمال می‌رود چون این محل، گذر تاریکی بوده است به مسجد تاریکی شهرت یافته است.

In the early Islamic period, Khorasan was referred to as “Place of Sunrise” that stretched from the eastern side of the Lut Desert to the Hindukush Mountains. This region was divided into four parts or “quarters” of Neyshabour, Merv, Herat, and Balkh during the early centuries of Islam. The region that finally became the capital of Taherid dynasty was one of the important political, religious, and geographical centers during those years. A New York Metropolitan Museum’d expedition under Charles Carl Wilkinson was carried out on 3,500-hectare area of the ancient city of Neyshabour, from 1937 to 1948 AD.

Iranian Azarbaijan and the southern Caucasus have relatively good environmental conditions for the formation of ancient settlements. These include the Lake of Urmia and the coasts of Aras in northwestern Iran and the basins of the Kora River, Mill-Moghan (mountainous areas) in the South Caucasus. The archaeological evidences and recent researches in the two geographical areas provide commonalities and cultural similarities of the period. The main purpose of this article is to introduce traditions of pottery and sites and determine the chronological sequence in the study areas. In order to achieve cultural interactions in the studied geographical area in the Chalcolithic period, the following questions are proposed: What is the status of chronological sequence in the two cultural domains? The main hypothesis in this regard is the existence of chronology is almost identical in the two geographical areas. How do the settlement layers and the sequence of habitation from the Neolithic to the Chalcolithic period in ancient sites show the issue of cultural continuity and transmission? The present writing is done by descriptive-analytical method. As a final result, it can be said that similarities and differences of archaeological data, including the features of pottery, architectural structure, burial etc. point out that by studying areas such as Dalma Tepe, Jolfa’s Kul Tepe, Khoy’s Dava Göz, etc. in Northwestern Iran and Leila Tepesi, Qalayeri, Poylu Tepe, etc in the South Caucasus region have been obtained and in terms of chronology, the millennium BC includes 5000 BC to 3700-3600 BC.

The highland communities of the Iranian plateau faced hazardous circumstances that bound them to certain strategies to secure
their subsistence and their vision of their lifescapes. The article discusses the relation to subsistence strategies of mining communities and especially the relation to husbandry on the basis of the prehistoric and historic mining sites of Veshnaveh and Chehrabad, Iran