نشریه پیام باستان شناس
پیاپی 28 (بهار و تابستان 1402)

Determining the authenticity of ancient artifacts is one of the important issues in the field of cultural heritage, which, due to the diversification of forgery methods, leads researchers to use more practical methods to determine the authenticity of cultural artifacts. Sassanid silver plates are among the objects that are of special importance because they reveal some cultural and artistic features of the Sassanid period. Until now, the identification of the authenticity of these plates has been mostly based on morphology and explanation of motifs. Considering the ease of creating motifs of this period, the mentioned method is not enough to identify fake plates and there is a need for additional methods. The research question is whether it is possible to find out the authenticity of a cultural artifact based on the identification of the construction and decoration techniques and the damage caused to the object. To address this research, a comprehensive investigation has been conducted on a sample set comprising 50 Sassanid silver plates sourced from prominent museum collections including the Reza Abbasi, Miho, Metropolitan, Hermitage, and British Museums. This investigation encompasses both technical analyses and pathological examinations. The results show that silver analysis, comparing the concentration of elements with the original sample and the technique of mercury gilding, as well as bimetallic corrosion with special characteristics and observation of filamentous corrosion can help recognize the authenticity of such artifacts in addition to the originality of the form and motif.

As one of the most important cultural finds, pottery has an essential place in the chronology of sites and the reconstruction of regional and extra-regional cultural interactions. Therefore, it is very important to know the pottery of each period. In some of the northwestern areas of Iran, sites belonging to the Iron Age I and II have been identified and explored. Therefore, there is a relative understanding of the pottery of this region. However, in some areas, especially Heris County, the Iron Age situation is not well known. The exploration of Sarand-Daghdghan cemetery is very important in understanding the cultural situation of this city in the Iron Age, and introducing and presenting the pottery collection of this site is beneficial for regional studies and the relative chronology and recognition of pottery types in this area. In this research, which was conducted by field and library method, the pottery finds obtained from Sarand-Daghdaghan cemetery were studied, typologically, compared, and analyzed. Here, a comparative study of the pottery of Sarand-Daghdaghan cemetery with the pottery of other sites has been done with the aim of typology of the collection of pottery of this cemetery and relative chronology of cultural materials. In this cemetery, 6 types of pottery forms have been identified and documented, which are comparable to the data of some Iron Age I and II sites in Iran, the South Caucasus, and East Anatolia. According to the conducted studies and relative chronology, it can be stated that the clay collection of Sarand-Daghdaghan Heris cemetery is related to Iron Age I and II.

Due to suitable environmental conditions, some caves have been the center of human settlement and human activities for a long time, and therefore, the sedimentary layers of the bottom of the caves and their rocky walls always contain valuable evidence of the evolution of human societies. Moneh Cave is one of the ancient places of Landeh County in Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad Province, which has been the focus of past humans due to its special conditions. The emergence of disputes and conflicts among the residents of the region due to their unauthorized excavations in this cave provided the ground for its archaeological excavations. The archaeological research conducted on the cave led to the identification of three halls and a communication corridor between the halls. In addition, the exploration of two boreholes in this cave brought the time of its use to the Late Chalcolithic Age until the late centuries of the Islamic era. During this period, the cave was temporarily used by the herdsmen of the region. The investigation of the surroundings of the cave also led to the identification of the remains of the stone walls of Setregi, 200 meters west and northwest of the cave. Thermoluminescence dating of the pottery of this cave indicates that they belong to the Abbasid period.

Mount Ashkawt in the northeast of Mahmoudabad town contains extensive archaeological remains that have not been systematically surveyed and no information published about it yet. There are collapsed stone structures probably related to the defensive fortifications of a castle on the west, north, and south sides of the mountain. Further, there are scattered stone structures in the form of low barrows and regular wall bases on top of the mountain. Based on the methods of construction, materials, potsherds, and paleoclimate indicators, the chronology of the site has been established; the architectural remains may be attributed to the Parthian and Sassanid periods according to comparative studies. During a preliminary survey on the remains illegally excavated places by looters, several potsherds including the edge, handle, bottom, and body of the buff ware vessels were found to correlate with the Parthian period. Natural and human factors have changed the structure of Mount Ashkawt and the architectural remains on it over time. Besides, Unauthorized excavations are an important factor that damaged the architectural structures of this large natural-archaeological site. Therefore, cultural heritage officials must pay attention to conservation and management programs.

In 2004, a relief was discovered outside of Iranian borders in the far northeast of Afghanistan in a place that was the ancient way to enter the Indian subcontinent. According to the rules and conventions of art in ancient times, as well as the clothing of the main person present in the relief, it was identified as a Sasanian work. The relief was urgently examined and scanned by the French archaeological team present in Afghanistan and also issued in French and English articles in 2005 and 2007, respectively. Because of destroying face and crown of relief, it cannot be confidently attributed to one of the Sassanian kings. However, Francis Grenet believes that this relief belongs to Shapur I. Unfortunately, it is not possible to see and examine the relief up close due to the political and military situation in the area where the relief is located which has been involved in several conflicts between the parties during past years. This study deals with the comprehensive investigation of Rag-i Bibi relief and the comparison of its parts with other Sasanian reliefs, as well as the analysis of the political and cultural background that caused the creation of such a work out of the main centers of Sassanian reliefs of this period. It is concluded that the presence of Bahram II as the hunter King in the center of the relief is probably more correct.

Studies on the Urartu Civilization took a serious form from the beginning of the 19th century when Schulz was sent by the Asian Society around Lake Van. As a result of Schulz’s discoveries and other studies, Urartu rose from silence for centuries. Decoding cuneiform lines helped researchers in other fields read Urartu inscriptions. Urartu research in Northwest Iran, with the discovery of an inscription related to the second rulers (680-646 BC) near the village of Bastam, located in the north of Lake Urmia, drew the attention of the Urartu research community to Iran. Archaeological excavations by Wolfram Kleiss started in 1967 and continued until 1978. The study of the post-Urartian deposits in the Bastam area and its comparison with the Urartian deposits in other Urartian sites, including eastern Anatolia, indicate the Urartian collapse from the time of the collapse of Assyria by the Medes, and even before that. The Urartian lands in Northwest Iran were occupied by the Medes at that time. The impact of the post-Urartian deposits found in the investigated sites is one of the objectives of this research. Historical, analytical, and descriptive methods were used for this research, and the information collection method was the library. Finally, based on the investigation of the post-Urartian deposits and historical analysis, it was concluded that the collapse of Urartu started in about 635 BC, and according to the cultural and architectural works found from Bastam and Sansem Along with other sites in eastern Anatolia, the eastern lands of Urartu were occupied by Medes and Iranian tribes.

One of the methods to study and identify the factors in archaeological studies is to study the pattern of settlement and settlement analysis, which examines the formation of ancient sites in a variety of environmental contexts. Fanouj County is located in the Baluchistan region in southeastern Iran. This county leads to Iranshahr City from the north to Kerman City and Bandar Abbas City from the west and to Nikshahr City from the east and south. The total area of Fanouj County is about 7730 square kilometers and its height above sea level is about 700 meters. Unlike other parts of Southeast Iran, this area is not well known from an archaeological point of view. This region is very diverse in terms of natural and geographical environment. The people that have lived in this land for millennia have adapted to the difficult environmental conditions of the region. However, this region covers areas from the Bronze Age to the Islamic era has placed itself. This study for the first time recognizes the issue of settlement patterns in this county. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to identify and why the formation of ancient sites in Fanouj County. In this regard, using ArcGIS and SPSS softwares, the settlement patterns of Fanuj County about various factors of natural geography have been analyzed and identified. According to the mentioned studies, it was found that most of the areas of the region were dependent on environmental and natural factors and often established their settlements near water sources.

The emergence and origin of burial patterns are not exactly known, but the burial patterns and customs of burying the dead in each region are directly related to; Beliefs and worldviews of ethnic groups, class level of people in terms of socio-economics, local traditions, and natural geography features of that region. Burial patterns in ancient times, as an important approach in archaeological studies, have always been the focus of archaeologists and researchers since the beginning of archaeological activities. One of these periods is the Parthian period. Therefore, the most important goal of this article is to clarify the types of grave structures of the Parthian period in the southern region of the Caspian Sea and their various interpretations, to gain a correct understanding of the types of grave structures of the people of this region and their relationship with other regions under the control of the government. Let's find a party. In the typology of the structure of graves, the theoretical issues of grave architecture, that is, space, shape or form, and type of materials, have been discussed. The information of this research was collected based on library studies and field research and analyzed qualitatively. The results of the research show that (1) the inhabitants of the southern region of the Caspian Sea in the Parthian period used burial patterns such as; They used a simple pit, a crypt, a pot burial, four stone layers, and a shelf to bury their dead; (2) Several burial patterns of the Parthian period in this region are the continuation of the burial tradition of the past era and show cultural continuity in this region.