Partian and Sasanian Burials at Bavanat River Basin, Fars

Burial is part of the spiritual and material culture of each nation, which has its own characteristics in each region and period. Since the burial method originates from the thoughts, ideas and culture of the society, by studying them, it is possible to reconstruct the process of cultural evolution of ancient societies. Studying burial practices and rituals has always been of the interest of researchers in the Sassanid field, and as a result of the researches, we see diversity in the burial practices of this period. Archaeological survey at the Bavanat River Basin, which took place in 2015, revealed evidence of two burial methods, including cairn burial or Khereft Khane, as well as pillar ossuary. Considering the variety of burial methods of this period in Fars, what were the burial methods of the Parthian and Sassanid eras in the Bavanat and what are the characteristics of the burial places? Therefore, the current research with a comparative-descriptive approach tries to explain the burials of the historical period of Bavanat in order to answer the raised questions. On top of the most of the Bavanat River basin Mountains, cairn burials have been identified that have a circular plan and are accumulate with stones of various dimensions with no mortar. Due to the wide distribution of cairn burials from Pakistan to southwestern Iran and the southern coasts of the Persian Gulf, different chronologies have been provided for such burials, however, according to the cultural materials obtained from other parts of Fars and comparing them to identification burials, this type of burial can be attributed to the Parthian and Sassanid periods. There are different opinions about the function of the second type of burial, pillar ossuary that according to the inscriptions obtained around of the city of Istakhr, they can be considered as having a burial function related to the Sassanid period that were identified at Pahneh Mil Fenjan and Cheraghkoshi sites.