Publications on Iran

@article{nokey,

title = {From Sang-e Siah to Dehqaed: The archaeological legacy of Esmail Yaghmaei in the Borazjan Plain},

author = {Zohreh Zehbari},

url = {https://www.sinuspersicus.ir/article_210682.html},

doi = {https://doi.org/10.22034/sp.2024.492249.1023},

year  = {2025},

date = {2025-07-01},

journal = {Sinus Persicus},

volume = {2},

number = {4},

pages = {37-78},

publisher = {Tissapherness Archaeological Research Group},

keywords = {},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{nokey,

title = {Paleopathological assessment of the ancient Iranian salt mummies #1, #7 and #X, Chehrābād salt mine of Douzlākh, Iran},

author = {Lena Ohrstrom and Natascha Bagherpour Kashani and Roger Seilera and Beata Bode and Abolfazl Aali and Sara Khalifeh Soltani and Shapour Shirani and Gabriela Ruß-Popa and Thomas Stöllner and Frank Rühli},

doi = {https://doi.org/10.22034/JINM.2023.544674.1050},

year  = {2025},

date = {2025-01-01},

journal = {Journal of Iran National Museum},

volume = {3},

number = {4},

issue = {1},

pages = {181-188},

abstract = {A paleopathological assessment of the ancient human remains from the Salt mine of Douzlakh, which are kept in the National museum in Tehran, Iran. The ancient human remains were investigated by Computed Tomography (CT) as well as by histology. Molecular analyses are still ongoing. The analyses showed that the tissues have been very well conserved in the natural salt. Traumatic lesions can be identified by CT, as a result of the massive force which was put on the individuals during the collapses of the mine.},

keywords = {Mining, Salt},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{nokey,

title = {Predictive Modeling for Targeted Archaeological Survey of Arsacid Period Sites in the Iranian Borderland Region of the Araxes River Valley},

author = {Jiayue Wang and Mehrnoush Soroush and Sepideh Maziar and Emad Khazraee},

url = {https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10816-025-09733-5},

doi = {https://doi.org/10.1007/s10816-025-09733-5},

year  = {2025},

date = {2025-01-01},

urldate = {2026-01-01},

journal = {Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory},

volume = {33},

number = {1},

pages = {2},

publisher = {Springer},

abstract = {We have applied predictive modeling to archaeological sites, datable to the Arsacid period (ca. 3rd c. BCE–3rd c. CE), in the southern side of the Araxes River valley, in modern day Iran. Araxes River valley is a contested borderland between Iran, Armenia, and Azerbaijan. Systematic fieldwork has been historically limited by geopolitical tensions. The only systematic survey in the region and two salvage surveys have yielded a large number of sites that could belong to the Arsacid period—with varying levels of certainty—a period often undermined by scholarly attention to the subsequent Sasanian period (ca. 3rd–7th c. CE). We use this data as a training dataset to specify areas with high probability of finding more Arsacid period sites for future targeted surveys. Our paper follows previous research which has emphasized using machine learning approaches for archaeological predictive modeling. Acknowledging the inevitable oversight of social factors involved in settlement distribution, our statistical models produce probability of finding Arsacid period sites while also offering some insight into the physical attributes of settlement positioning in the Arsacid period. We tested several common machine learning (ML) models and suggested the suitability of Random Forest models for archaeological predictive modeling. We have applied Principal Component Analysis (PCA) to ensure component independence in modeling. Finally, we have investigated various theories regarding working with a subselection of principal components (PCs). Our study recommends using all PCAs, especially when the number of predictors does not create computational challenges. We support the argument made by Kvamme (2023) that lower PCs are particularly relevant for archaeological predictive modeling, but, we disagree with using them without other PCs.},

keywords = {SPP},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{nokey,

title = {Unveiling social identification, shared social identity, and collective memory as collective resilience factors: Insights from the Kura-Araxes diaspora},

author = {Sepideh Maziar and Luise M. Erfurth},

url = {https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0278416525000583?via%3Dihub},

doi = {10.1016/j.jaa.2025.101713},

year  = {2025},

date = {2025-01-01},

urldate = {2025-01-01},

journal = {Journal of Anthropological Archaeology},

volume = {79},

publisher = {Elsevier},

abstract = {During and after migration, communities can experience adaptive processes leading to collective resilience. Such processes are shaped by the challenges these communities face in adjusting to new social contexts, cultural backgrounds, and occasionally new environmental conditions. Undergoing a relocation process outside of a homeland, namely in a diaspora, is a strenuous venture. On the one hand, social psychological research shows that the loss of a close-knit community, once strongly attached to a social and natural environment, can leave individuals in precarious physical and mental states. Resilience research, on the other hand, demonstrates that specific resilience factors, such as social identification and shared social identity, strengthen communities affected by relocation, thereby buffering the negative effects on physical and mental health.

In an interdisciplinary effort, this study integrates archaeological evidence with theories from social psychology and resilience research to explore long-term mechanisms of collective resilience. Focusing on the Early Bronze Age Kura-Araxes society–one of the largest prehistoric diasporic communities in southwest Asia during the mid–fourth millennium BCE–we examine how material culture contributed to sustaining group cohesion and resilience in diasporic contexts. Our analysis demonstrates that social identification, shared social identity, and collective memory among Kura-Araxes communities functioned as resilience-enhancing factors over time. These findings deepen current understandings of collective resilience processes and open new avenues for investigating material culture as an agent of resilience. Moreover, the study highlights the potential for interdisciplinary collaboration to inform both archaeological interpretation and contemporary discussions on community resilience in the face of displacement and stress.},

keywords = {},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{nokey,

title = {Early Iron Age Settlement Patterns along the Lower Zab River},

author = {Mohammad Masoumian and Tim Skoldbøl and Florian Janoscha Kreppner and Kamal al-Din Niknami and Steve Renette and Ali Binandeh and Samran Asiabani and Mozhgan Seif Panahi and Cajetan Geiger and Obaid Sorkhabi and Salahaddin Ebrahimipour and Ali Behnia and Parisa Nekouei and Arezou Qaem Panah and Nemat Hariri and Daniel Potts},

url = {https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/epdf/10.1086/737282},

doi = {https://doi.org/10.1086/737282},

year  = {2025},

date = {2025-01-01},

journal = {Journal for Near Eastern Studies},

volume = {84},

number = {2},

pages = {253-280},

publisher = {University of Chicago Press},

keywords = {},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{nokey,

title = {Kani Charmou, an Iron Age II graveyard},

author = {Sheler Amelirad and Abbas Razmpoush and Behroz Khanmohamadi},

doi = {https://doi.org/10.1017/irq.2023.5 },

year  = {2024},

date = {2024-01-11},

journal = {Iraq},

volume = {85},

pages = {49-71},

abstract = {Examining the archaeological findings within the Mannaean kingdom, a significant association with Assyria emerges, highlighting these regions’ interconnectedness. The influence of both Urartian and Assyrian cultures on the Mannaean people becomes evident, indicating a shared cultural heritage or intimate exchanges among these cultures. Notably, the Kani Charmou graveyard in Mannaea serves as a compelling example, revealing a rich assortment of artifacts that parallel those discovered in Ziwiye, a renowned archaeological site in the region. These diverse grave goods unequivocally demonstrate the existence of a robust trade and exchange network between Mannaea and its neighbouring western counterpart, Assyria, and the profound impact of Assyrian culture on Mannaean society. This connection is also evident in religious practices, which show similarities. Through stylistic analysis and the identification of parallels in metal vessels, glazed jars, and a cylinder seal, the proposed dating of the Kani Charmou graveyard aligns with the Iron Age II period.},

keywords = {Iron, Iron Age, Kurdistan, Zagros, Zagros Highlands},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{nokey,

title = {Linking archaeology and paleoenvironment: Mid‐Holocene occupational sequences in the Varamin Plain (Iran)},

author = {Robert Busch and Reinhard Bernbeck and Morteza Hessari and Fabian Kirsten and Christopher Lüthgens and Susan Pollock and Nolwen Rol and Brigitta Schütt},

doi = {https://doi.org/10.1002/gea.21995},

year  = {2024},

date = {2024-01-01},

journal = {Geoarchaeology},

publisher = {John Wiley and Sons},

abstract = {Early human habitation of the arid to semiarid Central Iranian Plateau was strongly connected to the availability of water and associated natural hazards, such as flooding and drought events. In this geoarchaeological study, we focus on the occupation at the prehistoric site of Ajor Pazi within the formerly active fluvial environment of the Varamin Plain. Through radiocarbon and luminescence-dated sediment cross-sections, we apply multivariate statistics to sedimentological characteristics of bulk samples collected during a rescue excavation in 2018. Based on facies interpretations, we differentiate depositional processes and present their implications for the environs of Ajor Pazi. Our results show evidence of settlement activities between 6.4 and 5.6 ka cal B.P. (4.4–3.6 ka cal. B.C.E.). Phases of reduced geomorphodynamics can be distinguished when soil-forming processes take place. Our findings provide insights into the hitherto scarcely explored Transitional Chalcolithic II period during which the site of Ajor Pazi emerged and began to shape its environs.

},

keywords = {Holocene, Paleoenvironment},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{nokey,

title = {Mortuary Practices, Rituality, and Commemorative Places: A View of Kohne Tepesi in the Southern Basin of the Araxes River, Iran},

author = {Sepideh Maziar and Ali Zalaghi and Bayram Aghalari and Sepideh Asgari and Shiva Sheikhi and Marjan Mashkour},

doi = {https://doi.org/10.1080/00934690.2024.2346683},

year  = {2024},

date = {2024-01-01},

journal = {Journal of Field Archaeology},

publisher = {Taylor and Francis},

abstract = {Ritual practices as behavior, and the cognitive acknowledgment of life and death, foster a depth in social identity, collective social memory, and a societal worldview. This paper outlines the evidence of Early Bronze Age burial practices in northwestern Iran to discuss the newly discovered chamber tombs at Kohne Tepesi within the broader context of mortuary practices during the middle and last part of the 3rd millennium b.c. The findings from Kohne Tepesi support the idea that, at least for parts of Kura-Araxes society, burial rites and commemoration of the dead played a crucial role in their worldview. Furthermore, this site demonstrates that the changes in symbolic practices and social behavior during the Early Kurgan period were not spontaneous but rooted in the last phases of the Kura-Araxes period and that the perceptions of earlier traditions had been conserved in long-term social memory.},

keywords = {Bronze Age, Kura-Araxes, Social},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{nokey,

title = {Gird-i Begum – Report on the 2022 Excavations},

author = {Susan Pollock and Reinhard Bernbeck and Nolwen Rol and M. Bianca D'Anna and Hussein Hama Gharib and Clara Abai and Jana Eger and J. Lennard Schönberg and Malinda Tolay and Lisa Wolff-Heger},

doi = {https://doi.org/10.1017/irq.2024.15},

year  = {2024},

date = {2024-01-01},

urldate = {2024-01-01},

journal = {Iraq. FirstView},

pages = {1-37},

abstract = {In the summer of 2022, renewed excavations were conducted at the site of Gird-i Begum in the Shahrizor Plain, Kurdistan Region of Iraq. The project aims to examine patterns of mobility, exchange, and resource acquisition practiced by the inhabitants of Gird-i Begum over time. To do so we re-examine the stratigraphic sequence, with a focus on continuities and breaks in site occupation. While the earliest occupation of the site dates to the Halaf period, with limited occupation traces attested during the Ubaid period, the settlement appears to have reached its largest extent during the Late Chalcolithic, which was one of the main foci of this year’s investigations. Our excavations confirmed the presence of Late Chalcolithic levels on the Upper Mound, with an analysis of the pottery as well as 14C dates indicating a chronological span from LC 3 to early LC 4. Work on the Lower Mound brought to light a substantial and previously undocumented Early Bronze Age occupation phase in the early third millennium B.C.E. The massive presence of snails characterizing layers of both periods additionally raised intriguing questions about subsistence strategies and potential crisis at the site.},

keywords = {},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{nokey,

title = {Tappeh Moeinabad. A Late Neolithic Site in the Varamin Plain, Iran},

author = {Morteza Hessari and Reinhard Bernbeck and Nolwen Rol and Susan Pollock and Lisa Wolff-Heger},

doi = {doi: 10.12766/jna.2024.1},

year  = {2024},

date = {2024-01-01},

journal = {Journal of Neolithic Archaeology},

volume = {26},

pages = {1-29},

abstract = {Tappeh Moeinabad is a high mound located in the middle of the Varamin Plain. In 2006, a systematic survey was conducted by the first author and team, followed in 2010 and 2014 by soundings and in 2018 by the investigation of a profile near these soundings. This report summarizes the results of these seasons of archaeological work, describes the remains of architecture identified, and assigns dates to the systematic survey grid. We also investigate the chronology of the soundings with reference to their pottery as well as on the basis of 14C dates. We document a very long prehistoric occupation sequence, paralleling periods Sialk I to II at Tappeh Sialk. According to our analysis, connections between Moeinabad and Tappeh Sialk were particularly close during the Sialk I,3 phase.},

keywords = {},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{nokey,

title = {Salt Mining and Salt Miners at Talkherud–Douzlākh, Northwestern Iran: From Landscape to Resource‑Scape},

author = {Thomas Stöllner and Abolfazl Aali and Nicole Boenke and Hossein Davoudi and Erich Draganits and Homa Fathi and Kristina A. Franke and Rainer Herd and Katja Kosczinski and Marjan Mashkour and Iman Mostafapour and Nima Nezafati and Lena Maria Öhrström and Frank Rühli and Sahand Saeidi and Fabian Schapals and Nicolas Schimerl and Beate Sikorski and Hamed Zifar},

url = {https://iranhighlands.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/s10963-024-09183-z.pdf},

doi = {https://doi.org/10.1007/s10963-024-09183-z},

year  = {2024},

date = {2024-01-01},

urldate = {2024-01-01},

journal = {Journal of World Prehistory},

volume = {37},

pages = {61-140},

abstract = {The Douzlākh salt deposit (region: Māhneshān, Zanjān Province, Iran) is unique for its pure and crystal rock salt and was an important supplier of culinary (‘table’) salt in Achaemenid, Sassanid and Middle Islamic times. At the same time, the site was of central importance to the economic life of the rural populations in the Talkherud Basin. This article focuses on the question of which strategies were decisive for the exploitation of the salt mountain and how a potential supra-regional interest in the culinary salt was perhaps reciprocally connected with a rural hinterland. This hinterland was recently investigated in greater detail by our ongoing research. Did aresource-scape based on salt develop with specific economic and social strategies and practices around the Douzlākh? And was this development triggered by state or imperial control and demand? These questions are being pursued from a perspective utilising a variety of subjects and methods in archaeology, archaeobiology, archaeometry and geoarchaeology. In addition to a detailed on-site artefact study, several on- and off-site datasets have been collected and analysed within a multidisciplinary framework. This article synthesises the results of a major 12-year project to identify the organisational principles and daily practices within this specific salt-scape. The sensational finds of the Douzlākh salt mummies, along with the generally outstanding preservation of organic ecofacts and artefacts, allow insights into antique life-worlds that are otherwise hard to come by. The multidisciplinary study of on- and off-site data allows far-reaching insights into interdisciplinary topics, such as the social system, supply and logistics, or the presence of non-local or non-indigenous populations.},

keywords = {Achaemenid, Mining, Resources, Salt, Sasanian},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{nokey,

title = {A Possible Parthian-Era Anahita Sanctuary at Rabana in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq},

author = {Michael Brown and R. Rashid },

url = {https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/iraq/article/possible-parthianera-anahita-sanctuary-at-rabana-in-the-kurdistan-region-of-iraq/BE79898DF3B601ACFD2DB4C3C7C669E0},

doi = {doi:10.1017/irq.2023.6},

year  = {2024},

date = {2024-01-01},

urldate = {2024-01-01},

journal = {Iraq},

volume = {85},

pages = {85-102},

abstract = {Rabana-Merquly was a major regional centre of the Parthian era in the central Zagros highlands. This article explores the hypothesis that the Rabana intramural settlement was in part a ‘sanctuary’ devoted to the ancient Persian water goddess Anahita, based upon extensive architectural augmentations around an ephemeral waterfall, combined with the nearby construction of a probable fire altar. Two jar burials excavated in 2022 inside an adjacent building show this complex also functioned as a mausoleum. Carbon-14 dating of these cremation deposits supports occupation of the site during the second to first centuries B.C. Twin rock reliefs at the entrances to Rabana-Merquly indicate that the fortress was likely associated with the ruling dynasty of Adiabene, a vassal kingdom of the Parthian (or Arsacid) Empire in north-east Mesopotamia. A further link to Natounissarokerta/Natounia on the Kapros is suggested by the iconography of that city's coinage, which features an obverse image of a goddess, potentially a hybrid representation of Anahita-Tyche.},

keywords = {},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{nokey,

title = {Were Climatic Forcings the Main Driver for Mid-Holocene Changes in Settlement Dynamics on the Varamin Plain (Central Iranian Plateau)?},

author = {Fabian Kirsten and Anne Dallmeyer and Reinhard Bernbeck and Thomas Böhmer and Robert Busch and Morteza Hessari and Susan Pollock and Brigitta Schütt},

doi = {https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0290181},

year  = {2023},

date = {2023-10-31},

urldate = {2023-10-31},

journal = {PLOS ONE},

volume = {18},

issue = {10},

publisher = {Public Library of Science},

abstract = {Settlement crises in ancient cultures of Western Asia are commonly thought to be caused by climatic events such as severe droughts. However, the insufficient climate proxy situation in this region challenges the inference of clear relationships between climate and settlement dynamics. We investigate the Holocene climatic changes on the Varamin Plain in the context of the climatic history of Western Central Asia by using a transient comprehensive Earth System Model simulation (8 ka BP to pre-industrial), a high-resolution regional snapshot simulation and a synthesis of pollen-based climate reconstructions. In line with the reconstructions, the models reveal only slightly varying mean climatic conditions on the Varamin Plain but indicate substantial changes in seasonality during the Holocene. Increased precipitation during spring, combined with lower temperature and potentially stronger snow accumulation on the upstream Alborz mountains may have led to an increased water supply on the alluvial fan during the vegetation period and thus to more favourable conditions for agricultural production during the Mid-Holocene compared to modern times. According to the model, dry periods on the Central Iranian Plateau are related to particularly weak Westerly winds, fostering the subsidence in the mid-troposphere and hampering precipitation over the region. The model reveals that dry periods have spatially heterogenous manifestations, thus explaining why they do not appear in all proxy records in the wider study region. In fact, the climatic signal may depend on local environmental conditions. The interaction of the topography with the atmospheric circulation leads to additional spatial heterogeneity. Although our results provide several indications for a connection between climate and settlement dynamics, the small overall changes in moisture call into question whether climate is the main driver for settlement discontinuities on the Central Iranian Plateau. To shed further light on this issue, more high-resolution long-term proxy records are needed.

},

keywords = {Climate, Holocene, Settlement mobility},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{nokey,

title = {Role of Archaeology in the Sustainable Development of Iran; A View from Resilience Theory},

author = {Sepideh Maziar},

url = {https://iranhighlands.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Maziar.2024.Resilience-and-Sustainability.pdf},

doi = {10.22084/nb.2022.24793.2371},

year  = {2023},

date = {2023-01-01},

urldate = {2023-01-01},

journal = {Pazhoheshha-ye Bastan Shenasi Iran},

volume = {13},

number = {38},

pages = {377-402},

abstract = {The Iranian plateau has witnessed various cultural, social, and political phenomena from the prehistoric millennia to the present century. Sometimes some of them have led to prosperity, growth, and development, and others have been accompanied by war, conflict, and collapse. On the other hand, the diverse and variable ecosystem of the Iranian plateau as one of the semiarid regions in Southwest Asia leads to different environmental and climatic conditions. Like many other parts of the world, these circumstances caused prolonged droughts, floods, and other unpredictable environmental disasters or disturbances. However, ecological catastrophes, climate change, social and political transformations do not confine to this landscape or current time. Amid these circumstances, what makes a society resilient to these often unpredictable disturbances is its ability to cope with them. I do argue that learning from past experiences will enable communities to consciously manage the crisis and prevent trial and error methods. In recent decades, various theories have been proposed in anthropology and archeology. One of these theories, borrowed from ecology, is the theory of “resilience”. In this research, the role of archeology in resilience studies and different aspects of this theory is expounded. It designates how archaeology, with its multidisciplinary nature, under the resilience framework can transfer the knowledge of the past societies to us. Resilience theory is one of the rare frameworks that explore change, transformation, and development within a long-perspective environmental setting as well as its contemporary social, political, and economic contexts. Evaluating the correlations between climatic and cultural changes in Longue-durée, recognizing a degree of sustainability, finding probable past societies solutions to environmental challenges, and deciphering the long-term processes of resilience are the objectives that could be addressed under this framework. In this article, the significance of this theory as a promising bridging approach for the hazardous landscape of the Iranian plateau is demonstrated. },

keywords = {Crisis, Resilience, Resources, Sustainability},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}