Journal of Research on Archaeometry
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Showing 9 results for Abedi
A Review of Obsidian Studies in Iran, Provenance the Source and Prehistoric Obsidian Artifacts, Researches and Questions
Akbar Abedi,
year 1, Issue 1 (Semi-Annual 2015)
Abstract

Obsidian artifacts is frequently used materials in prehistory and found widely in archaeological sites. Provenance studies of obsidian has been an issue of intense research and debate between archaeologists and geologists. Since different provenance studies has been carried out from 1960s up to 2015 in Anatolia and Caucasus but obsidian studies in Iran is in very early stage and consider as terra incognita. Recent research on obsidian mines in Iran accompanying by prehistoric obsidian provenance studies give this opportunity to establish of a database, as well as outlining a horizon and perspective for obsidian studies in Iran. This paper will try to discuss about old and new researches on obsidian studies in Iran. After a brief introduction of obsidian studies in Anatolia and Caucasus by Renfrew, Cann and Dixon, the paper addresses some recent researches that took place concerning obsidian provenance studies in Iran. Additionally this study also look for have a review and survey on obsidian sources in Iran as well as obsidian artifacts from sites like Kul Tepe Hadishah, Dava Goz Khoy, East Chia Sabz, Choga Gholan, Tepe Boinou, surveyed sites of East of the Lake Urmia, Typical sites like Yanik, Hasanlu, Pisdeli, and relationship and comparison of ancient obsidian artifacts with known sources in order to studying obsidian sources and provenance of obsidian artifacts in Iran. This research proved that most of the analyzed obsidian artifacts of Iranian archaeological sites originated and imported from Caucasus and Anatolia in line with long-term inter-regional trade, although a handful of obsidian mines and sources have been brought to light in NW Iran that could be considered as second part of the raw material to supply the demands of local and indigenous communities of the prehistory of Iran. The implications of the findings will discuss along with limitations and future research directions.


Absolute (14c Ams) and Relative Chronology of Dava Göz Khoy; New Evidence of Transitional Chalcolithic, Dalma and Pisdeli Cultures in Nw Iran
Akbar Abedi,
year 2, Issue 1 (Semi-Annual 2016)
Abstract

The settlement of Dava Göz situated about 15km SW of Khoy and 1.5km north of the Dizaj Diz town in NW Iran. Dava Göz is a small site at north of the Lake Urmia, measuring about 100×100m (ca. 1ha). The first season of archaeological excavation primarily aimed to clarifying the chronology, settlement organization, and respond to some of the fundamental questions such as the transition process from Late Neolithic to Early Chalcolithic (Hajji Firuz to Dalma) and identifying different cultural horizon including Middle and Late Chalcolithic (LC1 and LC2) periods and also outlining cultural condition of the region during prehistoric periods. The present paper is intended to expose six absolute radiocarbon data from the site and preparing new data for revising prehistoric chronology of NW Iran. According to fresh absolute  C14 radiocarbon date the stratigraphy and chronology of the settlement is now well understood and covers Transitional Chalcolithic (Dava Göz I: 5400-5000 BC), Early Chalcolithic or (Dalma Dava Göz  II: 5000-4500 BC) and Middle and Late Chalcolithic 1 (Pisdeli, LC1: Dava Göz III: 4500-4200 BC) and Late Chalcolithic 2 (Chaff-Faced Ware horizon, LC2: Dava Göz IV: 4200-3900/3800 BC) phases of the regional culture of north of the Lake Urmia Basin. Actually, Dava Göz is one of the scant well excavated settlements that give new and fresh information on the developments of the Lake Urmia Basin communities between the sixth to fourth millennium BC (5400-3700/3600 BC), and on their relationships with the contemporary Caucasian cultures as well as with those located further west and south, in Eastern Anatolia and in the Syro-Mesopotamian region. The first preliminary result of excavation, suggest special function for Dava Göz. It seems clear that this site could be consider as winter land for some agro-pastoral groups of Lake Urmia Basin who trying to find some pasturelands and preparing same raw materials like obsidian for the settlements of Urmia region The implications of the findings will discuss along with limitations and future research directions.


Dam Rescue Excavation Projects of Iran; Emergency Excavation Or Restoration!!?
Akbar Abedi,
year 2, Issue 2 (Semi-Annual 2017)
Abstract

Since two decades ago with the increase in dam construction projects in Iran, a major part of the ancient and historic sites of the country went under water. As mostly, do not exist desirable and sufficient relationship between Iranian Cultural Heritage, Handicraft and Tourism Organization (ICHHTO) and other organizations like Ministry of Energy, the budget allocated to the study of ar­chaeological sites behind dams (that will go under water) has been delayed and postponed. The consequences of this situation reveal as fast and emergency rescue excavations that in some cases certainly this haste greatly will reduce the quality of archaeological studies.

From scientific and technical perspective and according to directors of dam excavation projects experience, generally believe that fast and emergency excavation it is not only and surest way to preserve and protect of ancient sites; why, given the little time and lack of adequate funding for dam archaeological projects, of course, excavations excavate only a small parts of the archaeological sites. Archaeological excavation experience carried out in several dams like, Seimareh, Sivand, Got­vand, etc, shows that more than one hundred archaeological sites have been surveyed and intro­duced behind the dams and only a handful of them were excavated in one or two seasons, which is only includes less than 10% of the sites and this method cannot be a good strategy for carrying out research projects. Using the boat for going to the sites for excavation, as well as other serious problems in this regard should be add to emergency excavation projects problems...


Chemical-Mineralogical Analyses of the Exquisite Pottery of Life Cycle from Prehistoric Cemetery of Keshik in Sistan and Baluchistan, Southeast Iran
Yasin Sedghi, Akbar Abedi, Mehdi Razani, Mohammad Heydari,
year 3, Issue 2 (Semi-Annual 2017)
Abstract
Notwithstanding the existence of such famous sites as Shar-i Sokhta from the Bronze Age, southeastern Iran represents a lacuna in Iranian archaeology. Chance discovery of the prehistoric, third millennium BC, site of Keshik in Nikshahr, Sistan and Baluchistan Province provides an opportunity to study new archaeological finds from this quarter of Iran. The main part of Keshik was a Bronze Age cemetery, which yielded important metal and ceramic objects, not to mention burial remains. The excavated assemblages included a distinct ceramic jar which warranted more detailed systematic observations by virtue of the symbolic motifs ornamenting its exterior surface. The jar has received the designation the Life Cycle because of these figurative designs arranged in six alternative panels which depict round the upper body of the vessel in a symbolic form the life cycle of a goat. The related panels show: 1) the figure of a goat native to Sistan, 2) the mating of goats, 3‒5) the mother goat feeding her baby goat, which gradually grows up from the 3rd to 5th panel, and 6) the baby goat together with its mother. The major archaeological question with regard to this idiosyncratic vessel was its chemical-mineralogical characterization. Hence, a chip specimen was sampled to address such issues as its geological source, manufacturing techniques, firing and kiln conditions, local or foreign provenience, and the nature of pigments involved in the paint. To determine the crystalline constituents, different mineralo-chemical investigations were undertaken. The major phase compositions of the vessel’s body as well as the pigments were determined using quantitative X-ray diffraction (QXRD), and scanning electron microscopy with energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (SEM/EDX). Also, the the thin-section of the pottery was analyzed by optical microscopy techniques so as to petrographic identification of the minerals. The result of phase identification showed that the sample generally contains quartz, plagioclase, diopside, berlinite calcite, hematite, and enstatite as main crystalline phase constituents. Moreover, mineralo-chemical investigations demonstrated a regional alluvial soil origin related with the Keshik River, suggesting an indigenous provenience for the vessel. Further, the paste lacked any mineral variety. Firing in an oxidizing and reducing atmosphere was also evident given the carbon peaks and the poorly fired gray core of the thin-section. Analyses of the paint used in the decorative designs revealed the presence in the pigment of iron and manganese. The two elements were typically used because of their long-term sustainability and mineral base, and in combination with each other, they created a brown to black tone. In short, the study suggested that the so-called Life Circle jar was locally produced using the local clay on the potter’s wheel, was fired at a temperature of 900-1000 oC in a closed oven under oxidizing and reducing conditions, and was decorated with a paint containing iron and manganese pigments.

The First Obsidian Source in North-Western Iran for Provenance of Local Prehistoric Lithic Artifacts
Akbar Abedi, Bahram Vosough, Mehdi Razani, Masoud B. Kasiri, Daniel Steiniger, Ghader Ebrahimi,
year 5, Issue 1 (Semi-Annual 2019)
Abstract
Obsidian is a dark glass formed by very rapid solidification of volcanic lava, but in the archaeological view, this volcanic glass is an important source for prehistoric tool-making and artifacts such as arrowhead, point, flake, blade, hand axes, micro-blades and etc. Therefore, obsidian artifacts are frequently used material in prehistory and found widely in archaeological sites around the world. The provenance study of obsidian has been an issue of intense research and debate between archeaometrist and geologists. Hence, different provenance studies carried out in Anatolia and Caucasus since 1960s up to 2015, but the obsidian research in Iran is in very early stage and consider as terra incognita. According to the occurrence of lithic obsidian artifacts in most of the prehistoric archaeological sites in north-west of Iran have been recovered during last decades, various questions have been rise on the subject of the provenance of these materials. New studies on prehistoric obsidian artifacts have been done by other scholar specially Iranians during the recent years, where the main part of these studies focus on the characterization and classification of the obsidian artifacts by chemical analysis, in order to find an evidence of sourcing and provenance. More recent research showed that some obsidian tools might have come from unknown sources located in Iran (perhaps Sahand and Sabalan Mountain). This paper will try to discuss the new obsidian mine in north-west Iran in western Asia. After a brief introduction of obsidian studies in north-west Iran, the paper addresses preliminary report of recent researches that took place concerning 10 local obsidian mine samples from Tajaraq of Miyaneh and Ghizilja of Bostababad, around of Bozghoosh Mountain in the skirt of Sahand volcano. This study was realized by portable X-ray fluorescence (pXRF), as a non-distractive technique for elemental analysis, to differentiate between local obsidian mine. From 10 mine samples, 8 samples from Tajaraq of Miyaneh and 2 samples of Ghizilja of Bostanabad were selected and analyzed. This mine samples could be consider as the first obsidian source specimens in association with prehistoric lithic artifacts of north-west Iran and give the chance for detail and comparative studies of these sources with prehistoric site artifacts for provenance studies, as local or imported materials to this part of Iran. The research has been carried out with a focus on locating the origins and resources of obsidian procurement in the northwest of Iran, in order to rethink and reconstruct the regional and supra-regional trade and exchange networks in future. The project clearly identified the three groups of geochemically different obsidians named Tajaraq A, Tajaraq B, and Ghizilja. Due to the fact that Tajaraq obsidian is of a higher quality than the Ghizilja ones, it seems likely that the samples of Tajaraq obsidians have had the ability to be used for tool-making in the past, as the samples of Ghizilja, Bostanabad are too fragile and perlitic in structure. Hence, as the two groups of Tajaraq A and Tajaraq B have the ability to be used for ancient tools in all probability, they can be introduced as candidates for obsidian mining in prehistoric times in the northwest of Iran. In fact, the proposed hypothesis is still at a very early stage and future scientific studies and field research have to be followed. Comparing the new results with prehistoric sites in the cultural areas of Miyaneh and Bostanabad, it becomes obvious that the Tajaraq B obsidian overlaps in some trace elements with published data Anatolian sources. If this overlap could be found also by comparing other elements and their combination, and if it will be confirmed by other methods in future, it could lead to a complete review of all previous obsidian analysis from Iran. In other words, several samples that were up to now thought to be from Anatolia could come in reality from source B of Tajaraq. This is a serious and peculiar hypothesis, which means, at first step, more data have to be collected at the geological outcrops and especially, by analyzing the archaeological finds from well stratified context. The implications of the findings will discuss along with limitations and future research directions.

Application of Strontium Isotope Analysis of Bone and Tooth in the Study of Ancient Immigrations
Masoud B. Kasiri, Akbar Abedi,
year 6, Issue 1 (Semi-Annual 2020)
Abstract
One of the important questions of archaeology is the study of the mobility and immigration of human groups. A common method for addressing these issues is to refer to the artifacts and archaeological findings left behind by the earlier cultures and to compare the forms, motifs, and production methods used among various ancient cultures, and hence, to explore the relationships and cultural exchanges between the societies. But, in the last three decades, the analysis of strontium isotopes in human tooth and bone samples (and even animals) has made it possible to study ancient immigration using a new method. According to the results of scientific researches, 87Sr/86Sr in each region is different due to the geological complications and the genus and stony sediments with 87Sr/86Sr of other regions. By measuring 87Sr/86Sr in bone and skeletal samples and comparing it with the average 87Sr/86Sr geological ratio in the region, the samples of the studied skeletons can be either indigenous or migratory. Since the people of the Piranshahr area in Iran have still traffic to the cities of Erbil and Sulaimaniyah in Iraq, and according to the studies, most villagers from Silveh village migrated to this region during the past century from the Iraqi Kurdistan, the immigration study of skeletons found in Tepe Silveh archaeological site could be interesting. The purpose of this study was to use the analysis of stable isotopes of strontium of the teeth and bone samples of skeletons obtained from the archaeological site of Tepe Silveh, Piranshahr, in order to determine their native or migratory nature. Tepe Silveh or as villager named “Tepe Sheikh Esmail Silveh” (N: 36° 48' 099'' – E: 45° 05' 937'' – altitude: 1567 m) is located exactly 100 m north of the Silveh village. Tepe Silveh is located in the center of intermountain river valley on the northern margin of the village, which has already been demolished and abandoned. As explained above, the reason for the destruction of the village was the sinking in the basin of the Silveh Dam. Seven Excavation trenches in Tepe Silveh have revealed, important materials from Early Chalcolithic Dalma (5000 BC) culture, Late Chalcolithic, Early Bronze Age culture of Hasan Ali or Nineveh V (3500- 2700 BC), Iron Age and Parthian periods. After a gap, Tepe Silveh have re-settled during Millde Islamic Periods (Seljuk era) and continued up to the late Islamic Period. According to the important location of Tepe Silveh and different occupation of the site deformation from Early Chalcolithic Dalma period to Islamic era, it should be suggested as a particularly important case study of migration, because it has been active and dynamic during different periods. Proximity of the site to the Iran, Iraq and Turkey adds to the importance of this study. To achieve this, the 87Sr/86Sr of the samples was measured. By comparing the ratio of strontium isotopes, it was possible to determine whether the samples were indigenous or migratory. The results obtained showed the different proportions in the analysis of strontium isotope, so that all samples could be considered non-native. Of course, this comment is only expressed on the basis of these five skeletons, and more specimens and analysis are needed to comment on the archaeological site of Piranshahr.

Absolute (c14 Ams) and Relative Chronologies of the Little Zab River Basin’s Bronze Age Cultures; the Genesis of Cultural Identity Against the Backdrop of the Late Chalcolithic Developments Iran By Micro-Pixe
Ghader Ebrahimi, Reza Rezaloo, Michael D. Danti, Ardeshir Javanmardzadeh, Akbar Abedi, Barbara Helwing,
year 7, Issue 1 (Semi-Annual 2021)
Abstract
Accounting for only a rather limited part of northwestern Iran, the Zab basin has historically assumed a prominent, strategic role as a bridge between Mesopotamia and the Lake Urmia Basin. The Zab region has not received due scholarly attention notwithstanding its great importance to the Early Bronze Age (EBA) research, in particular the regional developments characterizing the Late Chalcolithic-Early Bronze transition. As a crossroads, northwest Iran links Mesopotamia to Caucasia on the one hand and the regions to the north to the central Iranian plateau on the other, hence its important place in archaeology of Iran and the broader Middle East. Meanwhile, the Zab basin as the home for the major lines of communication linking southern Mesopotamia to the Urmia Lake basin and thence the mineral rich region of Caucasia is of great importance. Thus, an inquiry into local cultural developments, viz. the spread of cultural contacts in the ancient Near East, at the onset of the Bronze Age, is vital.

Explanation of the Settlement and Cultural Patterns of the Northwestern Basin of Lake Urmia in During Chalcolithic Period
Afrasiab Garavand, Akbar Abedi, Fatemeh Malekpour,
year 7, Issue 1 (Semi-Annual 2021)
Abstract
Northwest of Lake Urmia, which includes seven cities: Salmas, Khoy, Garaziaadin, Chaldoran, Showt, Poldasht and Maku; It is located on the south bank of the Aras River. Due to the geographical conditions and communication route between the South Caucasus, Eastern Anatolia, the Central Plateau and the south of Lake Urmia, as well as suitable environmental capacities, has been the basis for the presence of human societies in different historical and cultural periods.
Although the southern basin of Lake Urmia has been the subject of archaeological studies since the 19th century, the northern part of it, which has many capabilities and capabilities, has not been studied scientifically and the lack of scientific and methodical research in prehistoric times, especially Chalcolithic period is very noticeable. Considering that the set of environmental factors play an important role in the formation and spatial distribution of human societies in different cultural eras, it seems that human interactions with the environment in the northwestern basin of Lake Urmia show a different perspective. The present study for the first time will explain the settlement and cultural patterns of 21 Chalcolithic settlements and sites in the northwestern basin of Lake Urmia, which will suggest the time span from the beginning of the fifth to the middle of fourth millennium BC. The most important research question is what role and effect have environmental factors had on the formation, distribution and cultural interaction of copper and stone settlements in the northwest of Lake Urmia? In this regard, environmental factors such as altitude, climate, water resources, geology, roads and direction and the slope of the earth in relation to 21 Chalcolithic settlements were analyzed using the Geographic Information System (GIS) and the results showed that the most fundamental environmental factors in the formation and cultural interaction of Chalcolithic sites and settlements in this basin are three factors: "access to permanent water resources", "altitude" and "communication routs". The three factors indicate the dependence on water resources in a linear fashion, dependence on the field of land and plains for agriculture and dependence on transportation routes for trade.

A New Method for Measuring Permeability and the Insulation Property of Earthen Materials Against Moisture and Rainfall in Archaeological Sites and Monuments
Masoud Bater, Hossein Ahmadi, Jahangir Abedi Koupai ‎,
year 7, Issue 2 (Semi-Annual 2021)
Abstract
Today, accurate and scientific study of archaeological findings and historical and cultural property in many studies, especially in archeometry and restoration, relies on the use of experimental methods. The ability to replicate and generalize the results of applying practical methods using laboratory methods on the statistical population makes researchers more confident in analyzing the results of objective experiments to achieve reality. However, access to scientific and standard laboratory methods is one of the essential requirements of experimental techniqes that can be employed to accurately measure and evaluate the various physical, chemical, and mechanical properties of historical and cultural samples. The purpose of this study is to find a standard test that can use to measure the permeability and insulation properties of materials used in historical buildings against moisture. To achieve this goal, for the first time, falling head method was used to measure the permeability and insulation of traditional and ancient Kahgel plaster against moisture in historical buildings and architectural heritage. The samples of Kahgel plaster improved with different additives were compared to the typical Kahgel plaster samples as a control sample. Results of the study showed that using the laboratory method, reconstructed the conditions and behavior of water during adsorption and penetration into historical samples materials and represent their actual performance against moisture and rainfall. Therefore, it is possible to measure their permeability and insulating properties of earthen materials against water ‎quantitatively‏ ‏in saturated conditions with this method.

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