Abstract:
Throughout history and prehistory, death has been one of the most important issues
occupying the minds of humans. They wondered as what causes death, why and when it
comes, and whether any portion of an individual survives after such occurrences.
Accordingly, they formulated answers to these questions and incorporated them into
religious beliefs and practices.
The Khanghah Gilavan cemetery, extending over 2000 hectares, is one of the unique
sites located in the northwestern Iranian province of Ardabil. Until now, four
archaeological excavations, have been carried out at this cemetery that have resulted in
burials from the Middle Bronze Age up to the Parthian period. We have witnessed a
variety of burial traditions practiced there over the course of two thousand years.
One of the most distinctive burials in this cemetery is Number 29 burial in which the
skeleton has been buried in prone position and its skull has been separated from the spot
of its maxilla’s joint to the mandible, and then put 39 cm far from the body. This burial
belongs to the Middle Bronze Age, and is comparable with the one obtained from the
Caucasus. In this paper, we attempt to study this rare burial and compared it with other
excavated sites to chronology it.
Machine summary:
"(رجوع شود به تصویر صفحه) Fig. 1 Location of the Gilavan Cemetery in NW Iran Background Studies From the excavated sites related to the Middle Bronze age in North-West Iran, one burial obtained from Dinkhah Tepe named as Tomb B10a B27 (Rubinson 1991) while three burials excavated from the period D in Geoy Tepe named respectively as Tomb A, B and H (Brown, 1951:100).
The comparable sample ware obtained from gifts in Geoy Tepe D (Burton Brown, 1951: Fig. 20 N809), Haftvan VIB (Edwards, 1981:Fig. 16 N24), Dinkha Tepe V (Rubinson, 1991: Fig 27, Ng) and in Sos Hüyük VI (Sagona, 2000: Fig. 18 N7) that has been dated to the Middle Bronze Age. It seems that this was prevalent form the early Bronze Age and the comparable forms can be seen from Yanik tepe of the Early Bronze Age (Summers, 1982:Fig. 65 N1).
It can be compared with the sample ware obtained from the placed gifts in Haftvan VIB (Edwards, 1981:Fig. 13 N14) and Sos Hüyük VIb (Sagona, 2000: Fig. 23 N5) that has been dated to the Middle Bronze Age. B29:N7: The open-mouth vessel with two handles and black is hand-made.
The comparable sample ware obtained from the placed gifts in Geoy Tepe D (Burton Brown, 1951:Fig. 19 N846), Haftvan VI B (Edwards, 1981:Fig. 16 N19) and Dinkha Tepe IV (Rubinson, 1991:Fig. 27 Ng) that has been dated to the Middle Bronze Age. It seems that this was prevalent form the Early Bronze Age and the comparable sample forms can be seen from Yanik Tepe of the Early Bronze Age (Summers, 1982:Fig. 10 N6)."