Journal of Sistan and Baluchistan Studies
Volume:2 Issue: 1, Jun 2022

The Old and Middle Persian w, although shifted to v in New Persian (NP), is still found in some Iranian languages and some Persian dialects, such as Sistani, Bakhtiari, Roodbari, etc. This study traces the ancient sound w of Middle Persian (MP) in the Sistani dialect (SD).  SD is spoken in southeastern Iran in Sistan, where its name comes from the Old Persian Sakastana, and its original name Zarangiana comes from the Old Persian Zranka, ‘waterland’. The words of Sakzi, the language of Sistan since ancient times, were found in the translation of the old Qorān-e Qods into Persian, the translation in which w can be traced. Sistani has preserved some characteristics of MP, such as initial consonant clusters and long /eː/ and /oː/. The finding of this study is the existence of MP w in Sistani that can be interpreted in different ways: 1- w as an allophone of the phoneme v, which mostly occurs between [o] and the syllable break, 2- w as the phoneme descending from MP and still existing in Sistani, and v as its allophone in some environments, 3- w analyzed as a vowel in the sequence of [ow] forming diphthong [oʊ], 4- w is in the halfway of transition: shift of w to v in some words and still preserved in some other words. However, the shifting process of MP w to v seems not to be yet completed in this dialect, and it is possible to assume Sistani is a stage between MP and NP.  The data for the study was gathered from all districts of Sistan, from non-literate and graduate consultants. The pure Sistani words were used as much as possible. Auditory pretest, articulatory/acoustic phonetics examinations, and Wavesurfer/Praat software were used. The method of analysis was adapted from Burquest (2006). The data were transcribed in IPA, and phonemes/allophonic variations were determined by the contrastive method of minimal pairs, analogous, and complementary distribution patterns. This study can be useful for documentation, reconstruction of the older Iranian languages, and help show the manner of a shift in ancient sounds.

Phosphate is unique among the elements in being a sensitive and persistent indicator of human occupation. It has long been of interest to archaeologists because of its potential to inform them about the presence of past human activity and to offer clues regarding the type and intensity of human occupation. In fact, the soil of settlements is part of the phosphorus reservoir. The reconstruction of the human activities areas of archaeological sites using soil phosphate analysis is a well-known technique. This study aims to identify and compare the activity area at ancient mounds of Rivi through the measurement of the quantity of phosphates in the soil. In this study, 29 soil samples were collected from the study area, and phosphorus quantity was measured using Spectrophotometry. Multivariate statistical methods were used to classify the obtained results. The results showed that the phosphorus concentrations in the ancient areas were higher than in the control area, and among the ancient areas, the phosphorus quantity related to Rivi B was higher than in other mounds. Previous studies have shown that the Rivi area has been inhabited from around 2900 years ago to the last Sassanian years (1,500 years ago), and in the middle of the Islamic age (1000 years ago), it was a great village. In total, the archaeological site of Rivi was inhabited during the Iron Age, Achaemenid, Parthian, Sassanid, and Islamic periods, and that is why there was a high concentration of phosphorus in the Rivi area compared to the control area.

At the same time, with the expansion and flourishing of the ancient site of Shahr-i Sokhta in southeastern Iran in the third millennium BC, many satellite sites formed around it. Population growth, productivity boom, specialization, and the development of this ancient city led its residents to seek habitation in new and separate regions in connection with the main center of the colony; that is, Shahr-i Sokhta, to create these satellite villages around it. Thus, in the second and third periods of Shahr-i Sokhta, various satellite sites around this ancient city appeared. The most important is in the mounds of the Rud-i Biyaban in the second period of settlement in Shahr-i Sokhta. Tepe Sadegh in the southern area of Qale Rostam is one of the most significant satellite sites of the third millennium BC. Its excavations began in 2009 by the Archaeological Committee of Sistan and Baluchestan University. The result of the excavations is the discovery of remarkable and valuable cultural findings, including architectural structures, pottery, stone artifacts, metal artifacts, and statuettes. Valuable discoveries from the excavations of this ancient site indicate the depth of extensive cultural relations of this site with Shahr-i Sokhta and other neighboring historical regions. This research is done based on the data obtained from laboratory studies of buff ware obtained from the Tepe Sadegh by various instrumental methods, including X-ray diffraction (XRD) and X-ray fluorescence (XRF). A comparative study of this experimental study results with the results of the analysis of buff ware samples obtained from Shahr-i Sokhta has indicated that the pottery discovered from both areas has a very similar structure and chemical composition. It suggests that the potters of Shahr-i Sokhta and the surrounding satellite sites, such as the Tepe Sadegh, may have used the same clay deposits to produce their pottery. In addition, laboratory experiments indicate that with the establishment of specialized centers for the production of pottery products in the form of satellite sites around Shahr-i Sokhta, the quality of ceramic products in terms of construction, compared to Shahr-i Sokhta, has improved somewhat.

The eastern and southeastern regions of Iran have long been of great importance due to the existence of metal mines. Although new research has been conducted in recent years on geology and mining, little research has been done on the site's ancient mines. In 2013, an archaeological survey in Sarbisheh County identified a number of mines and metal smelting furnace. These historic sites are located in the central district of Sarbisheh County in the southern part of the county and in places called Koohakrud, Mesgaran, and Kasrab. In all, nine mines and three metal smelting furnaces were discovered, the largest of which is located in the Koohakrud area, 25 km south of Sarbisheh. The purpose of this research is to introduce the mines and study sites in the central district of Sarbisheh County, how to extract ores and how to melt metals. In this regard, questions have been raised about the period of mines and metal extraction furnaces? What metal is the most extracted metal and how was the metal extraction method done? Mineral fragments from all these mines and a large amount of slag from the furnaces, and in some of these mines, clay finds have been obtained. The dating of identified mines is very difficult due to the lack of data. However, according to the cultural materials obtained from around these mines and furnaces, the Middle Ages to the late Islamic Middle Ages can be considered for these sites. According to the evidence of metal smelting, the most common mineral used in smelted rocks is copper, and the method of extracting metal mines has been surface and underground mining. The research method in this research was descriptive-analytical, and data collection has been done in a field and library method.

Tabas city in South Khorasan province is one of the regions that have high capacities in terms of mining and metallurgy studies, and compared with the other regions of Iran, this region is unknown. The abundance of smelting areas and accumulated slag and the presence of mineral cavities to extract minerals in the central part of Tabas are proof of extensive mining and metal production in this region, which plays an important role in the economy and ecological sustainability of the region along with other economic activities. Regarding the quantity and quality of the studies prepared so far on mining and metallurgy in this city, the cultural and historical capacities of this cultural area have not been introduced as they should be. During the archaeological studies conducted by experts hired by the Cultural Heritage Office of South Khorasan, working in the central part of Tabas city, a mining site and two slag sites have been identified and studied, which indicates the role and importance of the mining and metalworking in the social and economic life of the central cultural region. Citing the results of the field method, reviewing texts and written sources related to the central part, identifying evidence related to the metalworking industry, smelting technology and type of the ore deposit thoroughly, this study has been provided to understand better the process and cycle of ancient metalworking, which includes three stages of mining, extraction, and melting.  By typological and comparative studies of discovered slag with adjacent metal centers, it seems that the composition of slag includes the main elements of iron, lead, and copper. The typological and comparative studies of slag discovered in neighboring metal centers indicate that the composition of slag includes the main elements of iron, lead, and copper.  The archaeological field studies conducted on the mines and smelting verify the fact that metallurgists in this area used open and underground methods to extract the ore, and after transferring the mineral parts to the smelting workshops and furnaces, they used the roasting method.

The Qobbeh Sabz building in the historical context of Kerman was one of the relics of the Qutlugh-Khanids period in southeastern Iran and part of an extensive architectural complex including educational, religious, and mausoleum buildings in the city. Today, the only main porch of the Qutlugh-Khanids complex survives, and it is called the Qobbeh Sabz porch. During the Qajar period, a building was built in the southeastern corner of this porch as a Tekiyeh Qobbeh Sabz and still stands. One of the serious ambiguities about this Qutlugh-Khanids multipurpose complex is the process of its formation and historical course, as well as the reasons for its destruction. Accordingly, the present article studies the evidence from archaeological soundings in this complex. It analyzes the content of historical sources in order to answer these questions: What was the formation process, historical developments, and reasons for the destruction of the Qobbeh Sabz complex? What are the factors that caused its widespread destruction? However, some scholars have suggested the role of the 1896 earthquake in the widespread destruction of the complex. They believe that Qobbeh Sabz survived before this earthquake. The results of the second author's archeological soundings in 2020 and the analysis of historical texts by the method of "content analysis" showed that the process of extensive destruction of Qobbeh Sabz began some time ago, and probably some of these destructions consciously took place during the reign of Vakil al-Molk Nouri, ruler of Kerman from 1261 to 1284 AH. Based on these results, after the destruction of many parts of this multipurpose complex, part of its debris was scattered and leveled in the surrounding area. Another part of its debris was moved to another place - probably Qal’eh Dokhtar in Kerman - and then constructions took place in the Qobbeh Sabz area in the late Qajar period. Finally, the earthquake of 1896 caused damage to the last remnants of the Qutlugh-Khanids’s complex, the main dome.