year 9, Issue 33 (12-2025)
Parseh J Archaeol Stud 2025, 9(33): 143-177 |
Back to browse issues page
Download citation:
BibTeX | RIS | EndNote | Medlars | ProCite | Reference Manager | RefWorks
Send citation to:
BibTeX | RIS | EndNote | Medlars | ProCite | Reference Manager | RefWorks
Send citation to:
Shirvani G. (2025). Six Burials Attributed to the Neo-Elamite Period from Fort Mound (Tell-e Geser); Revisiting Details, Placement, and Chronology. Parseh J Archaeol Stud. 9(33), 143-177. doi:10.61882/PJAS.833.1086
URL: http://journal.richt.ir/mbp/article-1-1086-en.html
URL: http://journal.richt.ir/mbp/article-1-1086-en.html
PhD Candidate in Archaeology, Department of Archaeology, Faculty of Art and Architecture, Bu-Ali Sina University, Hamedan, Iran. , qadershirvani@gmail.com
Abstract: (637 Views)
The archaeological site of Tell-e Geser has long suffered from the absence of a comprehensive final excavation report and the fragmented publication of its materials. This problem is particularly evident in the interpretation of five burials discovered in the Fort Mound, which have been inconsistently dated and stratigraphically positioned in successive publications. Previous studies have attributed these burials broadly to the Neo-Elamite period, often assigning a single burial assemblage to multiple and widely separated chronological phases. This paper presents a critical reassessment of the burial data from the Fort Mound through a systematic re-examination of published excavation plans, stratigraphic sections, elevation records, and associated grave goods. Using a historical-archaeological methodology that combines stratigraphic reasoning with comparative typological analysis, each burial is evaluated independently rather than as part of a presumed homogeneous group. The results demonstrate that several inconsistencies in earlier interpretations stem from errors in plan orientation, misreading of elevation data, and the cumulative misinterpretation of archival materials. When these issues are corrected, the burials can be placed within a coherent stratigraphic sequence, revealing that they do not belong to a single chronological horizon. Instead, the evidence indicates multiple phases of burial activity spanning from the Middle Elamite to the late Neo-Elamite period, allowing the identification of six separate burials in a relatively regular chronological sequence that were previously conflated and misidentified as five. This reassessment not only clarifies the burial sequence at Tell-e Geser but also highlights the broader methodological risks of relying uncritically on legacy excavation data.
Type of Study: Research |
Subject:
Special Archeology
Received: 2024/09/22 | Accepted: 2025/02/1 | Published: 2025/12/22
Received: 2024/09/22 | Accepted: 2025/02/1 | Published: 2025/12/22
References
1. - Alizadeh, A., (2014). Ancient Settlement Systems and Cultures in the Ram Hormuz Plain, Southwestern Iran: Excavations at Tall-e Geser and Regional Surveys. Oriental Institute Publications 140. Chicago: The Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago.
2. - Alizadeh, A., Ahmadzadeh, L. & Omidfar, M., (2016). Ancient Settlement Systems and Cultures in the Ram Hormuz Plain, Southwestern Iran. (M. Karami & R. Yeshmi, Trans.). Tehran: Research Institute of Cultural Heritage and Tourism (RICHT). (In Persian).
3. - Álvarez-Mon, J., (2010). “The Arjan Tomb: At the Crossroads of the Elamite and the Persian Empires”. Acta Iranica, 49. Leuven: Peeters.
4. - Álvarez-Mon, J., (2013). “Elam in the Iron Age”. In: D. T. Potts (Ed.), The Oxford Handbook of Ancient Iran (pp. 457–477). Oxford: Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199733309.013.0017
5. - Caldwell, J. R., (1968). “Tell-i Ghazir”. Reallexikon der Assyriologie und Vorderasiatischen Archäologie, 3: 348–355.
6. - Carter, E., (1971). “Elam in the Second Millennium B.C.: The Archaeological Evidence”. (Unpublished PhD dissertation). University of Chicago, Chicago.
7. - Carter, E., (1994). “Bridging the Gap between the Elamites and the Persians in Southeastern Khuzistan”. In: H. Sancisi-Weerdenburg, A. Kuhrt & M. C. Root (Eds.), Achaemenid History VIII: Continuity and Change (pp. 65–95). Leiden: Nederlands Instituut voor het Nabije Oosten.
8. - Carter, E., (1996). Excavations at Anshan (Tal-e Malyan): The Middle Elamite Period. Malyan Excavation Reports II. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology.
9. - Delougaz, P. & Kantor, H. J. (1996). Chogha Mish I: The First Five Seasons of Excavations, 1961–1971. (A. Alizadeh, Ed.). Oriental Institute Publications 101. Chicago: The Oriental Institute.
10. - Gasche, H., (1973). La poterie élamite du deuxième millénaire av. J.-C. Mémoires de la Délégation Archéologique en Iran 47. Leiden: E. J. Brill; Paris: Paul Geuthner. https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004659438
11. - Ghirshman, R., (1954). Village Perse-Achéménide. Mémoires de la Mission Archéologique en Iran 36. Paris: Presses Universitaires de France.
12. - Ghirshman, R., (1966). Tchoga Zanbil (Dur Untash) I: La Ziggurat. Mémoires de la Délégation Archéologique en Iran 39. Paris: Librairie Orientaliste Paul Geuthner.
13. - Gorris, E., (2020). “Power and Politics in the Neo-Elamite Kingdom”. Acta Iranica, 60, Leuven: Peeters. https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctv1q26vdb
14. - Hansman, J., (1972). “Elamites, Achaemenids and Anshan”. Iran, 10: 101–125. https://doi.org/10.2307/4300468
15. - Lambert, M., (1969). “Review of Das Reich Elam by W. Hinz”. Syria, 46: 368–370.
16. - McCown, D. E., (1949). “Archaeological News: Iran”. American Journal of Archaeology, 53(1): 53–54. https://doi.org/10.2307/501213
17. - McCown, D. E., (1954). “The Relative Stratigraphy and Chronology of Iran”. In: R. W. Ehrich (Ed.), Relative Chronologies in Old World Archaeology (pp. 56–67). Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
18. - de Mecquenem, R., (1922). “Fouilles de Suse: Campagnes des années 1914–1921–1922”. Revue d’Assyriologie et d’archéologie orientale, 19: 109–140. https://www.jstor.org/stable/23296844
19. - de Mecquenem, R., (1930). “Les derniers résultats des fouilles de Suse”. La Revue des Arts Asiatiques, 6: 73–88. https://www.jstor.org/stable/43475486
20. - de Mecquenem, R., (1953). Les documents épigraphiques de Tchoga Zembil. Mémoires de la Délégation Archéologique en Iran 33. Paris: Presses Universitaires de France.
21. - de Miroschedji, P., (1978). “Stratigraphie de la période néo-élamite à Suse (c. 1100 – c. 540)”. Paléorient, 4: 213–228. https://doi.org/10.3406/paleo.1978.4223
22. - de Miroschedji, P., (1981a). “Fouilles du chantier Ville Royale II à Suse (1975–1977)”. Cahiers de la Délégation Archéologique Française en Iran (DAFI), 12, 9–136.
23. - de Miroschedji, P., (1981b). “Observations dans les couches néo-élamites au nord-ouest du tell de la Ville Royale à Suse”. Cahiers de la Délégation Archéologique Française en Iran (DAFI), 12: 143–168.
24. - de Miroschedji, P., (2003). “Susa and the Highlands: Major Trends in the History of the Elamite Civilization”. In: N. F. Miller & K. Abdi (Eds.), Yeki Bud, Yeki Nabud: Essays on the Archaeology of Iran in Honor of William M. Sumner (pp. 17–38). Cotsen Institute of Archaeology Monograph 48. Los Angeles: University of California Press.
25. - Mofidi-Nasrabadi, B., (2007). Archäologische Ausgrabungen und Untersuchungen in Čogā Zanbil. Münster: Agenda-Verlag.
26. - Overlaet, B., (2003). “The Early Iron Age in the Pusht-i Kuh, Luristan. Luristan Excavation Documents IV”. Acta Iranica, 40. Leuven: Peeters. https://doi.org/10.2143/IA.40.0.583198
27. - Potts, D. T., (1999/2016). The Archaeology of Elam: Formation and Transformation of an Ancient Iranian State. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511489617
28. - Shishegar, A., (2015). Tomb of the Two Elamite Princesses of the House of King Shutur-Nahhunte Son of Indada. Tehran: Research Institute of Cultural Heritage and Tourism (RICHT). (In Persian).
29. - Stolper, M. W., (1984). Texts from Tall-i Malyan: I. Elamite Administrative Texts (1972–1974). Occasional Publications of the Babylonian Fund 6. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Museum.
30. - Stolper, M. W., (2013). “Sugirs of Anšan”. In: K. De Graef & J. Tavernier (Eds.), Susa and Elam: Archaeological, Philological, Historical and Geographical Perspectives (pp. 399–415). Leiden: Brill. https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004207417_024
31. - Sumner, W. (1974). “Excavations at Tall-i Malyan, 1971–72”. Iran, 12: 155–180. https://doi.org/10.2307/4300508
32. - Vallat, F., (1996). “Nouvelle analyse des inscriptions néo-élamites”. In: H. Gasche & B. Hrouda (Eds.), Collectanea Orientalia (pp. 385–395). Neuchâtel: Recherches et Publications.
33. - Vallat, F., (1998). “ELAM i. The History of Elam”. Encyclopaedia Iranica, VIII (3): 301–313. http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/elam-i
34. - Whitcomb, D. S., (1971). The Proto-Elamite Period at Tall-i Ghazir, Iran. (Unpublished Master’s thesis). University of Georgia, Athens.
35. - Wicks, Y., (2019). “Between Highlands and Lowlands: The Ram Hormuz Plain in the Neo-Elamite and Early Achaemenid Periods, and Comments on Five Burials from the Fort Mound at Tal-i Ghazir”. ARTA 2019.002. http://www.achemenet.com/pdf/arta/ARTA_2019.002_Wicks.pdf
36. - Wright, H. T., (1969). “Archaeological Survey in the Areas of Ram Hormuz, Shushtar and Gutwand”. (Unpublished Manuscript). University of Michigan Museum of Anthropology, Ann Arbor.
37. - Wright, H. T. & Carter, E., (2003). “Archaeological Survey on the Western Ram Hormuz Plain, 1969”. In: N. F. Miller & K. Abdi (Eds.), Yeki Bud, Yeki Nabud: Essays on the Archaeology of Iran in Honor of William M. Sumner (pp. 61–82). Los Angeles: Cotsen Institute of Archaeology.
Send email to the article author
| Rights and permissions | |
 |
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License. |