The Study of a Distinctive Middle-Bronze-Age Burial in Khanghah Gilavan Cemetery

Throughout history and prehistory, death has been one of the most important issues occupying the minds of humans. They wondered as what causes death, why and when it comes, and whether any portion of an individual survives after such occurrences. Accordingly, they formulated answers to these questions and incorporated them into religious beliefs and practices.
The Khanghah Gilavan cemetery, extending over 2000 hectares, is one of the unique sites located in the northwestern Iranian province of Ardabil. Until now, four archaeological excavations, have been carried out at this cemetery that have resulted in burials from the Middle Bronze Age up to the Parthian period. We have witnessed a variety of burial traditions practiced there over the course of two thousand years.
One of the most distinctive burials in this cemetery is Number 29 burial in which the skeleton has been buried in prone position and its skull has been separated from the spot of its maxilla’s joint to the mandible, and then put 39 cm far from the body. This burial belongs to the Middle Bronze Age, and is comparable with the one obtained from the Caucasus. In this paper, we attempt to study this rare burial and compared it with other excavated sites to chronology it.