Khaje Askar: a 4Th Millennium Bc Cemetery in Bam, Southeastern Iran
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IranicaAntiqua, vol. LI, 2016 doi: 10.2143/IA.51.0.3117828 KHAJE ASKAR: A 4TH MILLENNIUM BC CEMETERY IN BAM, SOUTHEASTERN IRAN BY Nader A. SOLEIMANI1, Mojgan SHAFIEE1, Nasir ESKANDARI2 & Hekmatollah M. SALEHI1 (University of Tehran1, University of Jiroft & Université de Lyon II2) Abstract: Due to the exciting discovery of major Bronze Age urban centers in southeastern Iran, such as Shahr e Soukhte, Shahdad and Konar Sandal (Jiroft), most scholarly attention has been given to the 3rd millennium BC. As a result, the cultures preceding the Bronze Age in particular the 4th millennium BC have been often neglected. In early 2011, the Iranian Center of Heritage and Tourism Organ- ization (ICHTO) of Kerman Province conducted a rescue excavation at Khaje Askar near the city of Bam, in which several graves and complete funerary vessels were discovered (about 15 graves had been bulldozed previously). As a result of the excavations, a total of 9 graves and 53 funerary goods were uncovered; the burial goods included ceramics, stone and clay beads, stone vessels, clay objects, shells and a unique metal blade. In this article, we state the results of excavations at Khaje Askar cemetery and describe the burials and funerary goods and accord- ing to a comparative analysis based on the ceramics of other excavated settlement sites of southeastern Iran and Pakistan such as Tal- e Iblis, Mahtoutabad, Mehr- garh and Shahi Tump, we argue that Khaje Askar cemetery belongs to the Aliabad culture (Iblis IV) and dates to the 4th millennium BC. Keywords: Southeastern Iran, Khaje Askar cemetery, burial patterns, Aliabad culture (Iblis IV) Introduction The village of Khaje Askar is located 5km west of Bam city in Kerman province and 300m south of the Kerman - Bam Road (fig. 1). In 2011, during construction activities in this region, a prehistoric cemetery was accidentally found. Khaje Askar cemetery is located on the east bank of Chelleh Khane River in the Bam plain. From the construction activities, 15 complete vessels and some bone fragments were found which proved the existence of a cemetery, so the construction activities were postponed and a rescue excavation was conducted by a team of archaeologists from 58 N.A. SOLEIMANI – M. SHAFIEE – N. ESKANDARI – H.M. SALEHI Fig. 1. Google earth Map showing the location of Khaje Askar cemetery in the west of Bam. ICHTO of Kerman. The rescue excavation lasted for 1 month and 7 experts and 15 workers helped us during the fieldwork. The objectives of rescue excavations at Khaje Askar were to identify any intact graves and to liber- ate the parts of natural hill on which the cemetery was located. According to the landlords, during the construction activities about 15 graves had been bulldozed in the west side of the natural hill. All graves found through excavations were on the eastern part of the hill. The interesting point is that no graves were discovered in the southern part of the hill. There are many 3rd millennium BC excavated cemeteries in southeastern Iran, such as Shahr-e Soukhte (Piperno and Tosi 1975, Sajjadi et.al. 2003), Shahdad (Hakemi 1997), Mahtoutabad (Madjidzadeh 2008), Konaro (Rahbar 1376/1997), Khurab (Stein 1937), and Rameshk (Choobak H.: “Cultural Sequence of Jazmurian, The Islamic City of Jiroft”, Unpublished PhD, Tarbiat Modares University, Iran, 1383/2004), Damin (Tosi 1970), Khina- man (Curtis 1988), Espidezh and Chagerdak excavations recently led by M. Heydari (Heydari 1384/2005, 1384/2007: Unpublished ICHTO reports on rescue excavations at Espidezh and Chagerdak cemeteries), which prove the use of cemeteries was frequent in this period and give us some infor- mation about the burial patterns. In contrast, Khaje Askar is the first cem- etery belonging to 4th millennium BC to have been found in southeastern KHAJE ASKAR 59 Iran. This suggests that the culture of using cemeteries dates back at least to the 4th millennium BC in this region. Tal-i Iblis (period IV), Mahtoutabad and Yahya (period VA) are the key sites of 4th millennium BC cultures of southeastern Iran. In Tal-I Iblis, period IV or Aliabad culture represents the 4th millennium BC culture. The pottery of Iblis IV comprises Aliabad plain, Aliabad painted, Aliabad bichrome, Aliabad brushed and Aliabad ridged (Caldwell 1967: 182-88, figs. 21-28). Aliabad pottery is handmade as in preceding periods. The color of the paste is generally pinkish brown and buff color in surface. There are some indications of a transition from Iblis III to Iblis IV and layers of “Early Aliabad” contained both Dashkar and Aliabad sherds suggesting a true ceramic transition between the two periods (Caldwell 1967: 180, Pl. 8). The suggested dating based on C14 for Early Aliabad is the 2nd quarter of 4th millennium BC, although we don’t know how far the old Iblis datings are reliable. Excavations at Khaje Askar cemetery and the graves The cemetery of Khaje Askar was accidentally discovered and a rescue excavation was conducted by a team of archaeologists under the supervi- sion of Soleimani in 2011 (A. Soleimani 2011: unpublished report pre- pared for ICHTO). The cemetery is located on a natural hill of one hectare. There was a modern workshop on the north part of the hill and its western part was bulldozed by the construction activities. Thus, the east and south parts of the hill were the only areas left intact and excavations were carried out in these areas (figs. 2, 3). In addition to the damage caused by con- struction activities, the existence of a modern channel (70 cm wide and 1 m deep) through the eastern part of the hill had caused significant dam- age to the cemetery, especially grave 105 which was barely recognizable. In Khaje Askar cemetery, 7 trenches named A-G were opened covering 460 square meters of the hill. Nine graves were uncovered from the trenches on the eastern part of the hill. They were labelled from 101 to 109. In the following section, we describe the burials and funerary goods. Grave 101 This grave is located in the eastern part of the hill and in trench A. The tomb structure is a simple pit. The body is placed on its back cross-legged. 60 N.A. SOLEIMANI – M. SHAFIEE – N. ESKANDARI – H.M. SALEHI Fig. 2. Topographic map showing the location of the graves. KHAJE ASKAR 61 Fig. 3. General view of the Khaje Askar cemetery, from South. The orientation is approximately west-east with the head to the west and the skeleton dimension is 60 x 100 cm (fig. 4). There are 7 burial goods in this grave including 4 objects near the head and 2 near the skeleton’s waist, while the last one is too deteriorated. The soil used in the pit differed from the surrounding soil; it seems after putting the body in the hole, it was filled with a sandy soil; this tradition can be identified in the other burials. All the burial goods included conical goblets, the diagnostic ceramic of the Aliabad culture. Six of them were simple and one of them was painted. The painted ceramic was decorated with an oblique chain which started from the rim and covers the mid-sections. The burial goods had been dis- turbed by the sediments. It should be mentioned that no identification of the bones was done by a physical anthropologist; however, the big size of the bones suggests strongly that they belonged to a man. Grave 102 This grave is located in the eastern part of the hill and in trench A, 235 cm east of grave 101. It was partly disturbed by a channel; but from the intact part we could identify the burial structure and the location of grave goods. The tomb structure is a simple pit. The body is placed on its right 62 N.A. SOLEIMANI – M. SHAFIEE – N. ESKANDARI – H.M. SALEHI Fig. 4. Skeleton and the position of burial goods in grave 101. side. The orientation is approximately west-east with the head to the west and the skeleton dimension is 110x140 cm (fig. 5). The soil used in the pit differed from the surrounding soil; it seems after putting the body in the hole, it was filled with a different soil. Eight grave goods were found including 6 pottery vessels, one stone bowl and a clay object. The pottery was all located near the head on the east side of the body and the 2 remain- ing objects (clay and stone objects) were found near the legs. Three of the pottery ceramic vessels were plain and the others were decorated. Typo- logically, 5 ceramics were goblets of the Aliabad culture while another was a painted jar with checkered motifs. Grave 103 This grave is located in the east side of graves 101 and 102 in trench A (fig. 6). A simple pit burial could be identified. The body was deposited KHAJE ASKAR 63 Fig. 5. Skeleton with burial goods in grave 102. in a crouched position, lying on its right side. All parts of body except the skull was disturbed by flood layers and the body could not be removed. Not only the body but also the burial goods, including 5 ceramic vessels and a shell, were disturbed. All objects were situated near the legs of the skeleton. In the shell traces of red ocher were still visible. Some would consider ocher as a cosmetic, but both men and women used cosmetics in ancient times. Grave 104 This grave is situated east of graves 101-103. A simple pit burial could be identified. The body was deposited in a crouched position, lying on its right side. The body dimension was about 60x125 cm suggesting it prob- ably belonged to an adult (fig.