Correlation of Absolute Dating (C14 AMS) and Relative Chronology of Iron Age Cemetery of Masjed-e Kaboud in Tabriz

The Iron Age cemetery of Masjed-e Kaboud in Tabriz is one of the most sites associated with the Iron Age period in the eastern part of the Urmia Lake Basin and so far 5 seasons of archeological excavation have been conducted in site A preliminary date with the end of the Late Early Iron Age and the Middle Iron Age (1200-800 B.C) based on the pottery assemblage has been proposed for the cemetery by the excavator. In this paper, by using of the Accelerator Mass Spectrometer (AMS) method, the samples taken from the human remains were subjected to absolute dating and the results were measured and compared with the result of relative chronology. In order to carry out this analysis, 4 pieces of bones and a single tooth were taken from the available human remains and all 5 samples were analyzed in the radiocarbon laboratory of Poznan, Poland. Confirming the proposed relative dating, the results of this research indicate that the site date backs to the Iron Age I and II. This research can be important from the point of view that the absolute dating of the Masjed-e Kaboud cemetery in Tabriz as a predominant site of the Iron Age in the east side of Urmia Lake will act as chronological references of other sites of the contemporary period in the Urmia Lake Basin.