Posted on 10/12/2005 6:04:13 PM PDT by blam
Bones of dismembered warriors unearthed at ancient Tul Talesh
TEHRAN, Oct. 12 (MNA) -- Archaeologists recently unearthed a great number of skeletons at the ancient site of Tul Talesh which are believed to be the remains of warriors who were dismembered and killed in battle, the Persian service of the Cultural Heritage News (CHN) agency reported on Tuesday.
The skeletons were found without heads, feet, and hands in the cemetery of Tul Talesh, which covers an area of 350 hectares. Located 140 kilometers northwest of Rasht in Gilan Province, the cemetery is one of Iran’s unique ancient burial grounds. Tul Talesh dates back to circa 1000 BC.
“In a section of the cemetery, we discovered some skeletons buried with military equipment, including daggers and arrowheads; however, some of their body parts, such as heads, feet, and hands, are missing. The skeletons were found in graves of simple structure, unlike some other megalithic graves that had previously been found at the site. In addition, there are fewer artifacts buried with the bodies in comparison with the belongings found in the megalithic graves. The lower number of artifacts shows that the skeletons belong to persons of a lower class,” the director of the archaeological team working at the site said.
“We cannot talk with certitude in archaeology; we are only able to rebuild some parts of the history in this way. Thus, the evidence points toward the fact that the people buried in the graves were probably dismembered in war,” Mohammadreza Khalatbari added.
“We surmise that the bodies belong to a number of warriors killed in war and were buried based on a ritual common to the period. The inhabitants living in the region were neighbors of the Mannai kingdom and the powerful Urartu Empire,” he explained.
Experts have not been able to determine the ethnicity of Tul Talesh’s inhabitants so far.
Khalatbari announced on Monday that his team has unearthed skeletons of a man with military equipment and a woman wearing ornaments from a dolmen at Tul Talesh.
In addition, archaeologists recently discovered a cemetery dedicated solely to horses at the site.
Last year, they also discovered a cromlech at the site in which members of a family had been buried. The body of a woman with a golden goblet and a cuneiform inscription had been buried in the upper part of the cromlech.
This stuff is fascinating, blam. Unfortunately, I'm getting a redirect error. Suggestions?
It was Bush's fault.
Strange, I can't get back to the site now either. Don't know.
Don't worry about it. Just keep posting whatever you find. :)
You might find these two articles in The Guardian from today interesting as well.
Apologies if they have already been posted:
End of the vine
The Islamic revolution abolished Iran's ancient tradition of wine-making but the residents of Khollar are showing some bottle, writes Robert Tait
Wednesday October 12, 2005
http://www.guardian.co.uk/elsewhere/journalist/story/0,7792,1590302,00.html
Also this:
Persia in pieces
British Museum director Neil MacGregor introduces five objects that tell the story of the largest political unit the world, in 500BC, had ever seen
See a gallery of the artefacts here
Wednesday October 12, 2005
The Guardian
http://www.guardian.co.uk/arts/features/story/0,11710,1589965,00.html
"Scientists have provided a more precise explanation. They analysed six containers discovered more than two decades ago in Hajji Firuz Tepe, a Neolithic village in the Zagros mountains, and concluded that wine was being made in Iran as far back as 7,000 years ago - 2,000 years earlier than previously thought. Now, at the beginning of the 21st century, the ancient practice is forbidden by the strictures of Islamic rule."
Yes interesting indeed. As a young child before the revolution I do remember the most distinctive and delicious grapes of Shiraz. The question for the french taking credit for the origins of Shiraz wines, they must be kidding right? The name itself is dead giveaway!!!
Please FREEPMAIL me if you want on or off the
"Gods, Graves, Glyphs" PING list or GGG weekly digest
-- Archaeology/Anthropology/Ancient Cultures/Artifacts/Antiquities, etc.
Gods, Graves, Glyphs (alpha order)
Looks like I forgot to give you a GGG Ping.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.