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The extraordinary burial of the Bronze Age was found in the spot of the Tepe Chalow, in the remote province of North Khorasan in northeast Iran. | Credit: © Ali Vahdati
Iranian archaeologists revealed a generous teenage grave that lived more than 3000 years ago when the region was part of the great Khorasan civilization.
The woman died for about 18 years, probably for natural reasons. Her rich cemetery, including gold jewelry, shows that it comes from a wealthy family with a “hereditary status”, according to a study published on April 21. In the magazine Iran;
The tomb in the Tepe Chalow archaeological location in the remote province of Northeast Iran in North Khorasan is one of the richest ever of the Great Khorasan Civilization (GKC), the main author of the study Ali WahdadiLive Science archaeologist at the Iran Ministry of Cultural Heritage told e -mail. In the letter.
One of the most prominent graves of goods was a rectangular box made of black stone, which is rich in chlorite minerals, which was decorated with snake and scorpion carvings.
The box has been used for cosmetics or Kohl to hold – a black mineral that is often used in ancient times as an eyeliner drawing. The snakes and scorpion images “could perform ritual or protective functions,” the study authors wrote.
The unlike box was previously found in the grave of the Bronze Age to the north of the Tepe Chalow in the ancient Bactrian region, which now covers part of Afghanistan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan; It looks like the Tepe Chalow box was also made of stone imported from Bacttria, Vahdati said.
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from closely excavated goods in the grave
Archaeologists believe that the tomb was derived from the third millennium BC. BC, when ancient settlement was part of the great Khorasan civilization.
excavated tomb with a human skeleton from close proximity
The ancient young woman’s tomb found in the city of Tepe Chalow is one of the richest graves of the great Khorasan civilization.
Great Khorasan
Vahdati first in 2006 During Persian, he found the location of the Tepe Chalow (Chalow Hills) during the archaeological study of the nearby river basin, but could not return to it until 2011.
In total, 48 graves have been dug in widely arranged clusters and covered with low mounds that give the site its name.
Most of the graves are dated to Bacttria-Margana Archaeological Complex (BMAC), which was part of the Great Khorasan Civilization-Bronze Age policy with reinforced settlements and monumental architecture that traded for both of both of them Mesopotamia and The Valley of the Indo Until it began to decline in the 13th century BC, Vahdati said.
However, several graves date back earlier, since the fourth millennium of the late chalcolitis (“Copper Stone”). BC, when the first was resolved by the Tepe Chalow.
The tomb of a teenage woman known as Grave 12 was found in 2013, but a new study is the first time it was described in detail, Vahdati said.
The exact age of the grave is still unknown, but it is believed that a woman buried there lived in the third millennium BC. BC, said the authors of the study.
The authors wrote that she was buried in a bound position and lying on the right side, and the face turned southeast, which seemed to be an ancient tradition on the Opet Chalow website, the authors wrote.
Closely engraved blue boxes
One of the most amazing graves is this black stone box, which apparently once used for cosmetics and decorated with snakes and scorpions carvings.
Blue boxes with a snake engraved on the side
Archaeologists say that the almost identical box was found in another grave of the Bronze Age north of the Tepe Chalow and that this box was probably imported from there.
“Hereditary status”
In addition to the complex cosmetic box, there were two gold earrings in the young woman’s tomb; golden finger ring; Several pins of ivory and bronze, including one shape as the hand; bronze mirror; several ceramic dishes; and the bronze stamp stamp, depicting human legs.
Vahdati argued that similar stamps stamps were found in the bronze age archaeological sites in South Iran, and that it was one of several stamps found in the grave, meaning an active woman’s role and social status in her community.
He added that Lapis Lazuli ivory pins and beads indicated that its community had distant trade relations with other regions of ancient regions, including what is now Afghanistan and the Indian Valley.
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12 The woman buried in the tomb was an important person, but was too young when she died that she had reached such status, Vahdati said. Instead, it is likely that she inherited her social status and wealth from her family during birth or marriage.
“The presence of such wealth in the teenager’s grave remains unique during the greater archaeological record of Khorasan civilization,” said Vahdati. “At this stage, we can only talk about the elite status passed through the line that corresponds to the hierarchical nature of GKC society.”