Preliminary Report of the First Season of Excavation at the Achaemenid Period (Iron Age IV) Cemetery in Mersin, Semnan Province, Iran

ABSTRACT

This article presents the results of the first excavation season of the Mersin cemetery, in the Semnan region, Iran. The cemetery was discovered through surface reconnaissance for the documentation of the area’s archaeological heritage before the construction of the Finesk Dam. Rescue excavations were then conducted in 2014 in three distinct areas of the necropolis. Particularly interesting were results were obtained from trench 3 in which 15 tombs dating to the Achaemenid period were found. This discovery is of particular importance because it reveals interesting information about the Late Iron Age in the area, which was virtually unknown prior to these investigations.

KEYWORDS:

• Iron Age IV
• Achaemenid period cemetery
• Mersin
• Semnan region
• Iran

Disclosure Statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 The content of this article was developed jointly by all the authors. Specifically, M. Malekzadeh and R. Naseri wrote “Excavation of the Mersin Cemetery: Geographical Setting and Methods”, R. Dan wrote “Cemetery Description”, A. Cesaretti wrote “Finds from the Cemetery (Pottery, Metal Objects, Other Finds). “Introduction”, “Some Thoughts on the Burial Rituals” and “Conclusions” were written jointly.

2 The archaeological excavations were carried out under the mandate of the Iranian Center for Archaeological Research (ICAR) under the direction of Prof. Mehrdad Malekzadeh. Archaeometric analyses and osteological, taphonomic and anthropological determinations were carried out on the site; in part these comprised a preliminary study referred to here (Sołtysiak et al., “Human Remains from Mersin, Iran, 2014,” 136–141), which will be presented in the final publication of the cemetery. The human remains from Mersin were studied in October 2017 in the facilities of the Institute of Archaeology, Tehran University, using the standard protocols mainly presented in Buikstra and Ubelaker, Standards for data Collection from Human Skeletal Remains.

3 The authors want to thank Dr Maria Flavia Gravina of the University of Rome “Tor Vergata” for help in the identification of the shells found during excavation of the cemetery.

4 36°03′05′′N, 53°27′36′′E; 1630 m a.s.l.

5 Sołtysiak et al., “Human Remains from Mersin, Iran, 2014,” 136.

6 The surface treatment and colour of the pottery from the Mersin cemetery has an interesting parallel in the so-called Orange Ware horizon (Arimatsu, “Homogénéisation de la céramique fine de la deuxième moitié de l’âge du fer au nord de l’Iran dans le cadre de l’horizon à céramique de type Orange Ware,” 213–232) attributed to the second half of the eighth to the mid-sixth century BCE in northern Iran. However, it must be emphasized that with regard to vessel shapes there are some marked differences and it is not known whether this is due to a difference in the type of context or to more markedly chronological issues. In any case, the chronological framework of the so-called Orange Ware horizon remains under study.

7 Haerinck, “The Achaemenid (Iron Age IV) Period in Gilan, Iran.”

8 See for example the gold specimen with goat-shaped terminations from Pasargadae (Curtis and Tallis, Forgotten Empire, 137, fig. 152) and the gold specimen with griffin-shaped terminations from the Oxus treasure (Curtis and Tallis, Forgotten Empire, 138, fig. 153).

9 Haerinck, “The Achaemenid (Iron Age IV) Period in Gilan, Iran,” fig. 5.1–2.

10 Khalatbari, Archaeological Investigations in Talesh, Gilan-2, fig. 7.10,12.

11 Haerinck, “The Achaemenid (Iron Age IV) Period in Gilan, Iran,” fig. 1.

12 Negahban, Marlik. The Complete Excavation Report, tav. 84.360–361.

13 On the complex problem of Triangle Ware, see Haerinck, La céramique en Iran pendant la période parthe (ca. 250 av. J.C. à ca. 225 après J.C.), Khatchadourian, “Pottery Typology and Craft Learning in the Near Eastern Highlands,” 179–265, Summers and Burney, “Late Iron Age Pottery from North-Western Iran,” 2012.

14 On this topic, see Dan and Cesaretti, “Local Trajectories in the Achaemenid Empire,” 1–15.