Stone Sources of Takht-e-Soleymān Complex: A Survey and Reconnaissance Based on Archaeological Studies and Petrologic Analyzes

Numerous archaeological studies associated with the site so called “Takht-e-Soleymān” have been carried out, however, to make a better and deeper understanding of this lithic complex we may require to achieve more scientific researches. Petrographic analyses of this complex are worthy from a few aspects. Such a study, for the first time, invokes attention particularly to identifying the morphological characteristics of the stone pieces, and to examining them in thin cuts, as well as to identifying suitable materials for protecting and repairing flat stones used in constructing “Takht-eSoleymān” complex. Based on the petrographic and palaeontological investigations done on thin sections of samples collected either from the ancient quarries or from the complex, a few interesting resemblances can be observed between samples collected from the structures and the ones extracted from several specific quarries such as quarry Tepe Chāl (A and B), Kochka Barz, and the quarries located in Sur and Bābānazar Mountains. Yet, the relevant sources for some other samples such as yellow limestone, yellow sandstone.