International Journal of the Society of Iranian Archaeologists
Volume:1 Issue: 1, Winter-Spring 2015

Iran is justly famous for its spectacular record of Bronze Age, Iron Age, and later cultures, making it one of the world’s premier centers of emerging early civilizations. Far less is known about Iran’s Paleolithic record, which almost certainly spans nearly two million years and represents more than 99.5% of the country’s archaeological record. This paper highlights some of the most interesting new findings in paleoanthropology, archaeology, and genetics that are transforming our understanding of the human story in Eurasia. Not surprisingly, however, much is in flux and many issues and questions have arisen that are unresolved or poorly understood. The goal of this paper is to underscore the tremendous potential of Iran’s rich but underappreciated Paleolithic record for contributing to our understanding of this dynamic and fascinating stage in the human career.

The Middle-Upper Paleolithic transition (ca. 40,000 years BP) and the following Upper Paleolithic period witnessed a major leap in human creativity. In this period we see far more objets d’art, more complex tool-kits, and evidence for an increase in human capacity for ritual and belief compared to previous stages in human evolution. In correlation with the aforementioned progress perhaps the most significant development in biological history of humankind is the prevalence of a new species of Homo, i.e., Homo sapiens sapiens, aka Behaviorally Modern Human. In this paper it has been attempted to discuss the underlying cognitive abilities for the development of creativity in Homo sapiens sapiens by using archaeological finds left behind from latter change as well as finds indirectly pertaining to developments such as ritual and burial rites, artistic exprssions, abstract reasoning, and ultimately an apparently coherent and structured language, As conclusion, we will explore the ramifications of these novelties in what it means to be human.

A sizeable number of sites with Aurignacian assemblage have recently been discovered in Central Asia, as well as in Iran. At the same latitude as Europe and widely open to the north of the Black Sea, these sites suggest a clear movement of people westwards, from Asia to Europe, bringing both new techniques and new populations as early as 40 thousand years ago. As there has been no other break in the European prehistory since then, all these populations seem to be the real first Indo-Europeans, extending from northern India to the farthest parts of western of Europe.

Neanderthals exhibit a unique midfacial morphology that distinguishes them from their non-Neanderthal contemporaries and from the generalized hominid face. Neanderthal zygomatic and maxillary regions are more sagittally oriented than those of modern people, so the midface projects in a manner, and to an extent, not found in modern humans. This is known as midfacial prognathism (MFP). A decrease in the expression of MFP is a significant point of distinction between Neanderthals and modern humans, and some consider it an important aspect of morphological ‘modernity’ in general. This research assesses the degree of resemblance in the midfacial region of Upper Pleistocene European hominids including Neanderthals and Upper Paleolithic people. To assess the degree of midfacial resemblance, a new method called Geometric Morphometric 3-Dimensional Analysis (GM3DA) is developed. A computer program transforms morphological raw data into comparable curves that can be analyzed statistically to assess the degree of similarity and difference in the midfaces of different hominids. Using these methods, the results indicate a clear morphological difference in the midfacial region when Neanderthals are compared with Upper Paleolithic Europeans. The results suggest that European Neanderthals constitute a distinct morphological population, at least so far as the midface is concerned.

Here are presented the preliminary results of excavations in buildings Nos. 1 and 20. The first one is large, with tens of rooms/ spaces and 6 structural levels (Levels A-F) of periods II and III. Level A is the oldest and most structures of this level are storage rooms, containing seals, seal impressions and other administrative objects. Level B is not well-documented, although changes are seen in the use of the architectural complex. Level C is somehow similar to the previous one. In Level D the Building becomes a large structure, perhaps attesting growing social complexity in Sistan. The main entrances are on the southern side, living spaces are on the central axis and storage spaces on the eastern and western margins. About 50 Spaces were excavated in Level E, but the main part of the structures of this level consists in 10 rooms. Level F is the last one, later on this part of the settlement was abandoned. Building 20 lies northwest of Building 1. Excavations lasted only 25 days and are not complete. The complex has 12 spaces disposed in a northsouth direction with a coherent architecture of mud bricks. Rooms have right angles and walls approximately 70 - 80 cm thick. The main entrances of building were generally painted with two layers of red and white plaster. In spaces 4 and 5 were found two very large fireplaces, filled with a large amount of ash and charcoal. The exterior of the fireplaces were coated with white clay plaster. According to the very few materials, mainly pottery, this building can be dated to period IV.

Fire held a special place and enjoyed respect and holiness among ancient people. We can trace the holiness of fire among various ancient nations, but this is less-studied in the case of Urartians. Usually there was a deity with the function of “Fire Deity” among ancient people, but this is not the case for Urartians. This is strange, as Urartians lived in a cold environment and therefore one can safely assume that fire must have had significant importance for them.There is no explicit reference regarding the importance of fire or a specific Fire Deity in Urartian royal inscriptions, but it is possible to trace the function of the Fire Deity in Urartian texts with respect to the most important Urartian god Ḫaldi.This paper is an attempt to study some pieces of evidence, such as a depiction of Ḫaldi on a shield from the archaeological site of Anzaf and fireplaces at the site of Ayanis to show that a fire was lit for Ḫaldi and this could be called the “Triumph Fire”. Also Ḫaldi, himself, may have been the Fire Deity and had the characteristics of the Triumph Fire such as ever-burning, relation with Triumph God, burning in temples and maybe even in demanding sacrifice and offerings.

Queen Āzarmīgduxt was the last queen from the Sasanid dynasty who ruled Ērānšahr during the 7th century CE. In this paper we intend to review her life and her decision to revive the memory of her father Khusro the Second (Parwez). One of Āzarmīgduxt’s actions was to mint coins with the image of her father, but her own name. In this paper, we propose a new theory about Āzarmīgduxt’s decision to do so. The paper concludes with an analysis of the reasons behind Āzarmīgduxt’s assassination by a group of Arsacid nobility Spāhbed Farrox-Hormizd and his son, Rustam ī Farroxzādān.