مجله مطالعات باستان شناسی پارسه
پیاپی 20 (تابستان 1401)

Miankouh Area is contractually known as a district of southern part of the Central Zagros in the southwest of Iran. Despite its small area (680 km2), due to its location between highlands there are two distinct micro ecozones with natural resources and an abundance of plant and animal species and has been suitable for the vertical seasonal movements throughout the year in order to access to various resources in the subsistence from the Pleistocene to the present. Our knowledge of its Mousterian cultures is derived from three-season field surveys between 2009 and 2011 years in both Low Altitude (LAZ) and High Altitude Zones (HAZ) with an average altitude of 1510 and 2601 meters above sea level (m.a.s.l). This paper seeks to answer (1) what is the position of Miankouh’s MP cultures among the well-known Mousterian cultures in the Zagros Mountains of Iran? And (2) what is the radius of movement of MP hunter-gatherers of in the landscape of Miankouh through the study of the stone assemblage of both LAZ and HAZ? Totally, 1454 stone artifacts were collected from the Middle Paleolithic Open-air sites of both zones. Preliminary results show that the MP hunter-gatherers of Miankouh exploited both zones with relatively a homogeneous tool kit influenced by the permanent rivers in LAZ and pool resources available in HAZ within the daily radius of movement at a distance of 5 to 20 km, which had often been turned into flakes and various tools using several techniques. They also used the type of tools that are commonly recognizable in the stone industries of other MP cultures of Zagros.

One of the most important and controversial prehistoric cultural periods is Proto Elamite period, which can be considered as a revolution in the development, growth and development of communication and interaction of the people of that period, in the period of 3300 to 3000 B.C Many changes took place in this golden age, which itself is due to the existence of political and social complexities. During this period, livestock unions were formed, which had an Proto Elamite  writting on the inscriptions of this period. The union’s livelihood was based on animal husbandry. The economies of monogamous and farming communities are fully integrated with the livestock nomadic economy, and farmers are therefore the direct economic dependents of nomadic unions. Of course, it goes without saying that nomadic ranchers also need farmers, but this was not always the case. Farmers provided some of the farmers’ grains, but the farmers continued to cultivate. They usually had rainfed agriculture. But in general, the most important livestock economy is herding, and farmers needed to migrate to find forage, and on the other hand, the very hot weather in the area of Susa was not tolerable for livestock, and farmers had to migrate to colder areas. The inscriptions are very important in this cultural period. Inscriptions changed from counting mode to scrolls for managing office and animal documents that were thought-provoking. One of the most significant areas of the fourth millennium BC is the area of Susa, which in this period has a lot of livestock inscriptions. In this article, the authors try to analyze the type and number of livestock inscriptions, the existence of a nomadic union, and subsequently the bipolarity of the Susa community in the early Elamite period.

One of the most critical found objects from the site of Shahr-i Sokhta are lapis lazuli stones and beads, which were used as stone jewelry and ornaments. One of the site’s most significant archaeological and archaeometry topics is the way of manufacturing and types of stone structures into these objects. The Shahr-i Sokhta’s lapis lazuli beads manufactured with flint borers are in the forms of lens, lozenge, circle, etc., and were used as jewelry and ornaments such as bracelets, anklets, necklaces, etc. The main discussion in this research is recognizing the structure and studying the mineralogy of lapis lazuli beads discovered from Shahr-i Sokhta. Hence, by using laboratory-device methods such as petrography of thin sections, X-ray energy diffraction microanalysis, Raman Spectroscopy analysis, and gemology methods, this research studies the structures of three samples of lapis lazuli beads and stones of Shahr-i Sokhta. The results of laboratory studies show that Shahr-i Sokhta’s structure of lapis lazuli stone consists of lazurite minerals with a high percentage of calcite mineral impurities, which causes a reduction of transparency and purity of the lapis lazuli stones; also, elemental studies represent the presence of lazurite minerals. Raman structural and gemological studies show the structure, the amount of absorption coefficient, and its specific weight in the main structure of lapis lazuli stone. Chemical and structural studies indicate that the stones are similar in terms of composition.

The Iron Age in the Middle Asia and an important part of it that called Khorasan is a Transitional period between prehistory and historical period. This period always has many ambiguities and questions; Especially in Khorasan, where the lack of archaeological studies is strongly felt. In this area, the Neyshabur Plain has a special position in terms of archeology and is undoubtedly influential in understanding the cultural components of the Iron Age in the region. In the current study, Milad Tape, which is located almost in the middle of Neyshabur Plain, was sampled as a systematic survey. The purpose of this work is to obtain information that can be used to advance the long-term goals of interpreting the Iron Age in Khorasan, especially Neyshabur. In this regard, the most important question is how Iron Age in the perspective of recent studies of Khorasan cultural field. In Milad Tape, whose surface is flat and smooth, sampling of cultural materials has been carried out in the framework of a systematic survey in order to study the Iron Age in a comparative approach with the typology and classification of pottery. Also, by using the settlement pattern of the area and other settlement components of Milad Tape, it is possible to fully examine and read part of the unknown structures of the Iron Age of the Neyshabur Plain and, accordingly, Khorasan. According to the research results, Milad Tape, which has a settlement sequence in the Iron Age, can be interpreted in the framework of the Early to Late Iron Age of the region. Pottery typology studies, also show similarity with the Central Asia Iron Age, which is known as Yaz I to III based on the material cultural of Yaz Depe area. In general, in the comparative approach, Milad Tape samples are closely related to Yaz pottery tradition.

Khānqah-E Gilvan cemetery is located on the western skirt of the MT. Talesh approximately 60 km southeast Khalkhal. The cemetery lies between the villages of Gilvan and Khānqah, and is part of the administrative district of Khalkhal in Ardabil province.The cemetery was discovered in 2006 during the road construction project in village of Khānqah. It has been in use from Middle Bronze Age to Iron Age I, II and Parthian Period after a centuries of gap; it is not still clear whether the cemetery was used during the Late Bronze Age or not, but the funerary practices in the Iron Age I, II were continued. Pottery similarities with ceramics from the Middle Bronze Age allows us to suggest that the initial using phase of the cemetery can be attributed back to the last quarter of the 3rd millennium BC(Zabanband et al., 2021: forthcoming) In this research, our focus is mainly on the graves related to initial phase of cemetery. During the Middle Bronze Age of Khānqah-e Gilvan, a variety of funerary practices along with types of tombs such as kurgan, pit grave, etc. unknown in other Iranian northwestern sites such as Geoy Tepe, Dinkhah Tepe, can be seen. The funerary practices of the tombs discovered in the cemetery are more or less homogeneous. It is probable to reconstruct funerary behavior of these populations.The diameter of the 7 kurgans excavated at the Gilavan burial site varies roughly 2 to 5 m. circle stone alignment is a common feature these burials, that is carefully laid out, heaps of stone (pebble/slab…)covered the pit burials. In addition to a detailed description of the graves, we will also try to point out some of the hierarchical features of the cemetery according to structure and grave association of the tombs,

Qal’eh Dokhtar, as one of the important historical sites on the eastern outskirts of Kerman, has been described in historical texts with different names such as Qal’eh Kooh and Qal’eh Kohan, as a place of political and social events. One of the important features of this castle is its special location in Kerman plain, as well as the extent of its architectural structures and type of materials. The purpose of this study is to analyze the nature, function, and chronology of Qal’eh Dokhtar. This study was done based on the results of an archaeological survey, sounding, and archaeological excavation in 2019 in this site. This study can explain the role and position of Qal’eh Dokhtar in the social and political developments of Kerman during the Islamic era. Data collection was done by documentary and field methods and the research method is descriptive-analytical. The questions are: When were the foundations and renovations of Qal’eh Dokhtar made and what were the functions of this complex? For this purpose, the data of previous archaeological research and recent field activities of the authors were studied and reviewed, and while studying the historical geography of the region, a correct idea of the nature, formation, and function of this building in relation to cultural developments, Political and social of this area in the different period were presented. The study of cultural materials along with the study of historical sources shows that this site is probably almost continuously inhabited from the pre-Islamic period and certainly from the first centuries of Islam to the tenth century AH. The results show that this structure has played a decisive role in the political and social developments in the region. It seems that Qal’eh Dokhtar was probably constructed and reconstructed from the pre-Islamic period and certainly from the first centuries of Islam to the Safavid era for establishing a military and defense base, as a place to hold political prisoners, a treasury, a safe haven for sit-ins and the rulers and their families.

The troglodytic architecture complex in Arzanfoud (Arzanpoul) is located 30 km southeast of Hamadan, 2 km south of Arzanfoud village. The complex accidentally recovered following mining activities at 2010. There have been four seasons of archaeological activities including excavations, documentation, earthworks, and identifications. According archaeological activities, more than 70 troglodytic spaces revealed that dated to historic and Islamic periods relying on pottery findings. There are questions on variations, forms, techniques, and decorations including 1) what dates are pottery types of troglodytic spaces? 2) What are common techniques and decorations of potteries? Considering descriptive-analytic method, findings, collected of fieldworks and bibliographic studies, qualitatively analyzed. Conclusions indicate that pottery findings date to historic period, Parthian and Sassanid, and middle and late Islamic periods (Seljuq, Ilkhanid, Timurid, and Safavid). Among the most important historic potteries are Clinky wares, grooved rims, and hump-like rims; while the most significant Islamic potteries are stamped wares, painting underglaze, lusterwares, Sgraphiato, enamled wares, and blue and white. Regional soils studies, and nearby Mica and Quartz mines indicate that potteries with Mica and Quartz in temper are, probably, local productions, while the others are probably exotic.

Coin minting is basically a symbol of the formation and confirmation of a political sovereignty. The Shiite rulers of al-Boyeh were among the local and regional governments of the geographical area of Iran, that  after the establishment of a political government in the year 322 AH and in imitation of the previous governments, according to the usual practice, coins were minted after the formation and stability of the political government. It seems that in the early days of the rule, the Al-Buyeh family used some of the symbols of the Abbasid dynasty and before it in their coins to validate and legitimize their political rule. that with the passage of time and the entry of this Shia political rule into the middle and final period; All the symbols of other local and regional governments have been removed from the front and back of the coins and replaced by symbols that show Shiite vision and thinking, and gradually with the passage of time, these symbols have reached a stage of maturity and complete guidance . It is one of the very important topics that the current research has aimed at, in addition to searching and analysing historical sources and new researches, to explain the reasons, motivations, and existing platforms for this change and transformation in the coins of Al Boyeh. to do and the nature of using these symbols and why not using another symbol as well as their growth and excellence from 322 to 454 Hijri, a period of 123 years with this question; What are the indicators of the minting of the coins of the Shiite Albuyeh rulers in Iran? How to challenge its adaptations, innovations and differences to other coins? Preliminary studies show that the Albuyeh ruling family, like other ruling families of their time, had to first legitimize the newly established system. They use the symbols of Bani-Abbas and before that in their coins and with the passage of time and the establishment of political rule, they tried to include Shia and Iranian symbols on their coins and their rule by minting dinar coins. (gold) and dirhams (silver) to everyone.

Since there are few works of painting from the Seljuk period, and on the other hand, most of them were written without data and place, so there are no common opinion about most of the painting works of this period. On the other hand, because most researchers, do not use the correct scientific method in their research, it adds to the existing problems in this field. One of the painting works of this period, which is the subject of this research and has a writing data, is the Al-Tariaq book attributed to Galen, which has written in 595 AH/1199 AD, written and kept in the National Library of Paris. Due to the fact that the place of its writing is not included in this manuscript, there is a difference of opinion about where the said version was written and illustrated. This version has been attributed by different people to different places such as Iran, Jazireh, Dyarbakr, Mousel and Baghdad. Therefore, the basis of the main problem of the current research is the location of the place of writing and illustration of this manuscript, which is analyzed and criticized by descriptive-analytical and comparative methods based on library studies, and the views of researchers will be examined with comparison, it will be shown that the version of Al-Tariaq cannot be attributed to any other country than Iran. By examining and comparing the illustrations of this book and other Iranian works of arts, especially pottery and metalwork, it can be said that the view of most researchers of the illustrations of Al-Tariaq book is more similar to the way of recording Iranian art than to Iraq, so, it can be said that the origin of this manuscript is Iran and other views are incorrect.

The native and traditional architecture of each region has been derived from the climate and geography of that region, and mosques as the most important permanent building of Islam in different cities and climates have developed and survived over time by maintaining their unique characteristics in accordance with the climate of each region. The survival of the structure of the historical mosques of Hamedan has also been influenced by the climatic indicators of the region and the climate has guaranteed the structure of the mosques for many years and has provided the possibility of peaceful coexistence of architecture with the environment and its integration. On this basis, this question can be asked that to what extent did climatic characteristics influence the process of forming mosques? In other words, to what extent have climatic factors been effective in creating similar shapes and forms in the building of Hamedan mosques? Its purpose is to recognize Hamedan’s climatic indicators in the structure of mosques by relying on study sources and field surveys to provide a basis for answering the mentioned questions .Considering that the quality of the structural model and the materials used in the mosques of Hamadan city have many similarities with each other due to the high foothill climate of the region ,and the design matching the climate in most of the mosques of this region is similar to other cities of the high foothill climate and mountainous has been observed, as a result, by studying and comparing architecture and climate, the degree of adherence to climate in the architecture of these valuable structures can be obtained. In order to understand the architecture of the historical mosques of Hamadan city, all the documentary, library and field data have been reviewed in a comprehensive way to reveal the effects of climate on the architectural structure of the mosques.

The purpose of this research is preliminary studies and speculation on a shipwrecked ship off the coast of Talesh city in Gilan province related to the Qajar period. In this regard, field studies and sampling of various parts of the hull (wood, metals, water and soil inside and outside the hull) as well as microorganisms such as fungi and moss on the hull have been done. It is noteworthy that the samples were taken from both the open parts and the buried parts of the hull and the surrounding area. After that, the necessary analyzes were performed. The purpose of collecting and interpreting the data resulting from the analysis in this study is to provide a suitable solution for the protection, restoration and maintenance of this valuable historical monument to be considered at the national level and its location as a special tourist museum site. A region should be given priority and the heritage and cultural value of this work should be heard by foreign and domestic tourists. Therefore, the first step of this research has been field studies, speculations and necessary analyzes in the field of protection and restoration, which in the next stages should be considered by considering the appropriate conditions of maintenance and application of reconstruction processes with special protection instructions. And restoration, this ship should be formed in its original form and the lost parts should be restored. In this study, water samples inside and outside the ship were measured with a pH meter. After performing relevant analyzes, including spectroscopy of samples of wood textures of the hull, the presence of hydrocarbon compounds and petroleum derivatives (bitumen) has been determined from FTIR analysis. Other essential analyzes in this study are microbial tests taken from samples. Analyzing the results obtained from the cross section of the samples, this ship was Russian, which was used to transport petroleum products with a wooden structure made of Russian pine (coniferous leaf). In terms of antiquity and time, during the Qajar period and before that, for unknown reasons, it has blossomed on the shore of Ghorogh in the Talesh section of Gilan province.

Despite the importance, position and high role of the city of Hamadan in the political, economic, social and cultural developments of Iran during the Qajar era, targeted studies that determine the spatial organization and social structure of this city during that period have not been carried out, and there are many questions regarding the nature of the changes in the context. Its history remains unanswered. The current research seeks to answer questions about the transformation and development of the spatial structure of Hamedan city during the Qajar era by relying on written sources, architectural works and archaeological evidence. In order to achieve this goal, while using all the written sources related to this city in the mentioned period, the changes of the urban context and the structural characteristics of its spaces were determined and the factors affecting the growth and development of the city were determined during this period. The result of the research made it clear that due to its ancient background, special geographical location, benefiting from suitable environmental capabilities such as abundant water resources, and also due to its location on the path of important trade-pilgrimage routes in the Qajar period, Hamedan was one of the cities with social and economic importance and status. It has gained merit and accommodates a relatively large population and has attracted the attention of various social groups, especially merchants. Thus, suitable conditions have been created for the construction and discovery of numerous architectural works and monuments with different functions (defense facilities, residential neighborhoods, squares and plazas, markets and caravanserais, mosques, schools, baths, churches, etc.) and the urban space, especially in aspects The south and southeast have developed and expanded significantly.

Inscriptions in the decorations of building of the Islamic period have been noticed by artists since the early Islamic centuries. Overtime, inscriptions are damaged by various factors and need to be restored. Considering that every year in the country, a large amount of restoration operations are carried out on damaged historical monuments, including inscriptions. It was seen through the investigation that in most cases the restorations are tasteful and sometimes incorrect. In order to find the most important causes of incorrect restoration in written inscriptions, the qualitative method was used, and the grounded theory method was used to analyze the data. This research is practical in terms of purpose. The data was collected through field observations and interviews with 12 people related to the restoration of inscriptions and by purposeful sampling, and the data continued until theoretical saturation was reached. The results of the research showed that in addition to the lack of criteria that agree with the theoretical foundations of restorations, due to the prominence of the calligraphy and category, factors such as self-centered empiricism, the variety of viewpoints, knowledge and awareness of the traditional master craftsman and the rules of restoration and the lack of the artistic perspective of the traditional master craftsman. For various reasons, inscriptions have led to incorrect restorations, and of course, the lack of training courses by the institutions in charge of restoration has also been involved. Also, the variety of approaches in the restoration of inscriptions and lack of attention to the rules governing the art of inscriptions are considered as the most important consequences of the restoration of inscriptions.

Archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of the remained material culture. The prerequisite for the development of archeological knowledge in the country is access to equipped laboratories, hiring experienced specialists, and expanding national, and international cooperation. Due to rapid advances in instrumental analysis, relevant people in the fields of art and archeometry should be aware of the advantages and limitations of different types of instrumental analysis. In this paper, facilities and research opportunities in analytical archeometry using natural science in Iran are presented and discussed. To introduce the technical capacities of the country in this field, the available equipment and facilities for performing nuclear analysis techniques and their related data analysis are investigated. Moreover, to identify the materials used in the cultural heritage samples and to determine their origin, characterization of some of these samples has been done using nuclear analysis methods. The activities performed in this research include X-ray and neutron imaging of the structure of an ancient jar belonging to the early Qajar period, elemental analysis of miniature in an ancient manuscript using elemental analysis method, investigation of the golden threads in the precious carpet belonging to the Safavid period using elemental and structural, and elemental analysis of luster tiles belonging to the Kashan using elemental analysis. The results of this research show that the existing technical capacities in the country can provide new opportunities for archeologists to understand the nature of the cultural heritage samples in more depth and to provide more accurate analysis of the investigated samples.

Cultural Heritage is the historical existence of a nation. Cultural heritage has internal, national and international functions and has intrinsic value. Among the most important values is “symbolic hegemony”. The symbolic value of cultural heritage and its transformation into cultural assets in the destination countries has made the superpowers think of acquiring the cultural assets of the countries, especially in the countries with rich cultural heritage, and has formed the “cultural assets conflict”. Cultural heritage is the symbol and manifestation of collective efforts of a nation in the context of time and storage of knowledge and ability of past generations. Therefore, cultural property and its diverse forms are like living beings that can always be restored/reconstructed and protected and have diverse and numerous uses for countries on a continuous basis; Superpowers by taking the cultural property and emptying these countries of cultural heritage; In fact, they drain the symbolic power of countries. Superpowers by taking the cultural property and emptying these countries of cultural heritage; in fact, they drain the symbolic power of countries. . The purpose of this article is to explain the values, especially the value of “symbolic hegemony” of cultural heritage. The theory of “symbolic hegemony and conflict of cultural assets” is a reflection of the story and cultural narrative of imperialism that has taken place around the country of Iran and countries with geo-cultural value. Considering cultural heritage as cultural assets and its geo-cultural values for a land; it is a special narrative type of cultural heritage that does not have much place in Iran’s cultural heritage literature.