Abstract
Having a favorable environment, the southern coasts of the Caspian Sea have hosted human settlements for millennia. So far, as a result of archaeological excavations as well as illegal diggings, a considerable number of ancient artifacts have been unearthed from archaeological sites in this region. The nature of many finds from unauthorized excavations and accidental discoveries are still unclear. These objects, generally found as hoards, often have unknown provenance and unknown fate. However, some of the objects, which are discovered from the Mazandaran region during the last centuries, are unique and their analogous have never been found from elsewhere. These are the main questions this research tries to answer: 1. given quantitative aspects of the accidental or unauthorized finds from Mazandaran, what sorts of information can be achieved by the study of these objects? 2.Which groups of sources can be helpful for the study of historical objects found by accident in the territory of the Mazandaran province? In this research, we will focus on certain historical objects from Mazandaran, which have been discovered either accidentally or by unauthorized diggings during the last two centuries. A number of these objects are currently kept in museums not only in Iran, but also in some western countries. Their provenance and fate can sometimes be traced in historical books, newspapers, travelogues and oral narratives. This study attempts to show the necessity of reconsideration of the provenance of certain objects as well as their historical and artistic significance. 
Keywords: Mazandaran, Ancient Objects, Qajar and Pahlavi Periods, Unauthorized Excavations, Accidental Discoveries.

Introduction
The name of the treasure and desire to achieve it, has always been tempting for some people, even kings and princes. Treasure finding, antiques, buying antiques and collecting of antiques have been prevalent among the Iranians, at least since the Qajar era. At the time of Naser al-Din Shah (1264-1313 AH), some scattered concessions have been granted to the various western governments for excavation in some historical sites of Iran. In the historical books of Mazandaran, during the Islamic Middle Ages and even in the works of ancient poets such as Omar Khayyam Neyshabouri (440-536 AH), have been mentioned to the treasury and the legend of its discovery, which some of them are fictional. For example, in the book of Tabaristan history, have been mentioned to the digging of Hissam al-Dawlah Ardeshir (636-647 AH) in the city of Amol and discovering of a woman’s skeleton. As well as it is said about the Marashians that they seized the property of the defeated clans and people’s and buried part of it underground and hiding another in the fort of Mahaneh-sar. This treasury was so important that Taimur Gurkan (771-807 AH) always said that the Marashian Treasury was more than the property of several monarchs which he had dominated over them. In common belief, historical objects have often of a commercial and profit-making nature, and of course many exaggerated stories and narratives have been made and discussed about it. In the past few centuries, some of the folk tales about the monuments of Mazandaran have been mentioned by Orientalists and Western travelers. Similar to such stories that derives from the folk notions about the historical treasuries, is heard from the whole of Iran. In general, the narratives related to the discovery of historical objects in Mazandaran are scattered, but significant. This article points to the discovery of historical objects in Mazandaran that are more relevant to the contemporary period (before the Islamic Revolution of 1979).

Discussion
In the contemporary era, many unique historical objects have been obtained in Mazandaran while digging in agricultural lands, road construction, landslides, floods and so on. According to Ezatollah Negahban, before the excavations of Marlik and Pileh-Qaleh, most of the ancient artifacts in the Mazandaran and Gilan areas were obtained as a result of unauthorized and commercial diggings.  many of these discoveries are including of silver objects, especially silver coins. In generally regarding to the accidental way in which such objects were discovered, the available sources do not give much detail about them and the available references are usually transient and sometimes ambiguous. Some of the most important artifacts or collections found in the Mazandaran accidental discoveries that have been specifically studied in this article include: Historical objects obtained from the cemeteries of Voraw, Ozirak and DerooshKor all located in the vicinity of Kandlus village in Kojur section of Nowshahr city at the time of Nasser al-Din Shah Qajar, which included pottery wares, earrings, necklaces, beads and so on. The accidental discoveries of Konim village and Hezar-jerib of Mazandaran which discovered by a shepherd in time of ruling of Nasser al-Din Shah including three inscribed vessels belonged to the Islamic period, the Sassanid silver mirror frame discovered from Chalus with a Pahlavi inscription, three Sassanid silver vessels discovered from Sari in 1333, three other Sassanian vessels from Mazandaran purchased for the National Museum of Iran in 1334; the Kelardasht treasury discovered in 1318 in Reza Shah palace including exquisite objects such as a famous gold cup and some Sasanian silverwares, the treasury of Adineh mosque of Jawaherdeh acquired in 1330, the Sawadkuh Shirgah treasury discovered in 1334, 129 silver coins belonging to the Sassanid and Islamic periods from the village of Islamabad and Zaid and some other scattered objects which discovered from accidental discoveries of Mazandaran.

Conclusion
Undoubtedly, the Mazandaran region is one of the most prominent historical and cultural regions of Iran. A look at the position of this region in the Iranian history and mythology as well as the quality of its historical monuments and artifacts remain from different periods attests the historical importance of Mazandaran. In the folk narratives about Mazandaran have repeatedly referred to the discovery of historical artifacts by various rulers which indicating their attention to such objects and artifacts. However, many of the existing narratives are exaggerated and some time the validity of some of them is questionable. The treasure and trove searching has historically been popular among the people in this area, which some of them has been mentioned in this study.
In this article, we only study some historical objects discovered from unauthorized excavations or accidental discoveries during the last two centuries until the Second Pahlavi Period. The mean of accidental discoveries is the artifacts which discovery in result of actions such as plowing, various constructions, floods, unintentional destruction, and so on and constraint by related offices. The sources cited in this article are mainly are historical texts and documents, travelogues, and press of the Qajar and Pahlavi periods. The fate of many historical objects discovered from unauthorized diggings or accidental discoveries is unknown. Some of these objects are scattered in internal museums or in the foreign museums and private collections. These objects are often unorganized and have not an obvious condition. However, some of the artifacts found in Mazandaran, including the Gold Cup of Kelardasht and the Sasanian silverwares, are unique in terms of artistic and historical value. In this article, we tried to explore some of the hidden and explicit angles related to these objects. Achieving better results depends on the efforts of other researchers.

Abstract
Ashraf, the modern Behshahr, was built in 1021 AH (1612 AD) by Shah Abbas the Great. The flooring of its royal buildings was made by carved stones, some of which have the mason’s marks of Safavid sculptors. Despite the great importance of this collection, apart from a short reference by De Morgan in the late 19th century, no independent study has been done on the mason’s marks of the Behshahr collection. In this research, which was conducted based on both field research and library studies, 266 blocks, including 309 mason’s marks from the Safavid period, were identified and documented in Bagh-e Shah and Abbasabad in Behshahr. The aim of this research is to answer questions about the nature and meaning of the mason’s marks in the Behshahr collection, their classification, and to obtain information about the constructions of the aforementioned collection through the study of mason’s marks. To achieve this goal, the aforementioned marks have been studied and classified, and some of the visual and conceptual aspects of these marks have been clarified through comparative comparison with similar examples in Iran and other neighboring regions. The result of this research indicates that some of the mason’s marks of the Behshahr collection have similar examples, even among the oldest examples from the Achaemenid to the Qajar periods. Most of the mason’s marks of the Behshahr collection can be classified as geometric marks, then tools and objects, and a smaller number can be classified as plant or animal motifs. Some signs have similarities with the Armenian and Georgian alphabets, which probably indicates the presence of sculptors from these regions in the construction of Behshahr complex. However, almost none of the signs can be called religious motifs with certainty.
Keywords: Behshahr, Ashraf, Safavid, Shah Abbas, Bagh-e Shah, Abbasabad Palace, Mason’s Marks.

Introduction
In the book Tarikh e Alam-ara-ye Abbasi, it is stated that in 1612 AD, in Ashraf (modern Behshahr), one of Mazandaran’s towns, urban development was carried out by the order of Shah Abbas the Great and palaces, gardens, baths, and buildings were constructed there (Skandarbeig, 1971: Vol. 2, 855-856). Today, in Behshahr, only remnants of the Safavid palaces of Chehelsotun, Abbasabad and Cheshmeh Amarat have remained, albeit with many changes from the Afshariya, Qajar and Pahlavi periods (Fig. 1). During the Authors visit to Bagh-e Shah and Abbasabad Palaces, traces of mason’s marks were observed on a large number of stone blocks used in the construction of the building’s floor. This study investigates the mason’s marks in the Behshahr complex, including the palaces of Bagh-e Shah and Abbasabad.

Research Background
In 1890, De Morgan traveled to Mazandaran and prepared a sketch including 25 mason’s marks of the stone blocks of Bagh-e Shah (Fig. 2). However, a significant number of signs registered by the Authors are not seen among De Morgan’s sketch, and this article is the first research dedicated to the mason’s marks of Behshahr exclusively.

Data 
Safavid Complexes of Behshahr 
a. Abbasabad: The palace of Abbasabad, named after its founder Shah Abbas I, was built in 1020 A.H. at the same time as the city of Ashraf was founded by him. Some parts of the Abbasabad complex, including the floor of traffic routes, stairs and the bottom of the pool are paved with stone blocks. The stone blocks are made in both square blocks with dimensions of about 45 cm and rectangular blocks with dimensions of about 25 x 60 cm. The average thickness of these stone blocks is about 7 cm. The Authors observed mason’s marks on four stone blocks located in the northeastern part of the Abbasabad complex (Fig. 3).
b. Bagh-e Shah: Bagh-e Shah is one of the most important complexes in Behshahr, dating back to the period of Shah Abbas I, with many changes since then. According to Della Valle, during Shah Abbas’s reign, the building was called Diwan-khaneh (Della Valle, 1991: 217). The mason’s marks of Bagh-e Shah are carved on a number of stone blocks on both sides of the stream, about 365 meters in length (Fig. 6). The dimensions of the largest stone slab recorded by the Authors in Bagh-e Shah were 110 x 192 cm and the smallest was 82 x 57 cm. The average thickness of the stone blocks is about 15 cm. On many stone blocks, depending on the dimensions of the stone, there are one or more small holes called “candle place.
Despite extensive changes to the Bagh-e Shah complex in the last four hundred years, due to their large size, the stone blocks have not been moved and have preserved their original state. In the Authors’ survey, 262 stone blocks were identified in Bagh-e Shah, each with one or more mason’s marks on their surface. Therefore, considering the four marked blocks of Abbasabad, the total number of identified blocks in the Safavi complex of Behshahr will be 266, with a total of 309 signs identified. All the mason’s marks in the Behshahr complex, including Bagh-e Shah and Abbasabad, are engraved on the flat surfaces of stone blocks. Most of the engraved marks are about 4 to 5 cm long, with an average depth of about 1 cm.

Discussion 
All the remaining examples of mason’s marks in the Behshahr complex are those that were engraved only on the carved stones used in the floor. Although most of the marked stone blocks of the Behshahr collection bear only one mason’s mark, a considerable number of stone slabs have more than one sign, mainly two or three signs (Fig. 8).
Among the 309 signs identified in Bagh-e Shah and Abbasabad, by removing duplicate and similar signs, 56 independent and separate signs can be identified. Additionally, all six mason’s marks identified in the Abbasabad collection are also seen among the Bagh-e Shah samples. In general, the signs identified in the Behshahr complex can be divided into different categories such as geometric shapes, animals, plants, objects, and alphabets. The largest number of mason’s marks in the Behshahr collection are geometric signs such as circles, ovals, curved types, triangles, rhombuses, squares, multi-branched shapes, wavy lines, straight lines and cruciform shapes, etc. The most frequently occurring sign in the Behshahr complex is number 28 with a total of 45 (Fig. 9).
Some signs in the Behshahr collection, such as signs No. 38 and 50, may be animal motifs (scorpion and goat). Some other signs like numbers 15 and 18, could represent plant motifs. Additionally, a significant number of signs seem to depict war tools such as swords (25), bayonets (24), bows and arrows (23). Some signs may represent specific objects, for example, a hookah (No. 21), which, due to its popularity in that period, could have been used as a mason sign. Tavernier, a French traveler of the 17th century AD, provided an interesting description of hookah and hookah-smoking habits of Iranians in the Safavid era (Tavernier, 1382: 309).
Some other signs in the Behshahr collection resemble Arabic and Persian alphabets (for example, numbers 53 and 54) and even alphabets of northern peoples such as Georgian and Armenian (for example, symbols of numbers 5, 35, 39 or 44). De Morgan referred to many signs in the Behshahr collection as Georgian letters. European travelers like Della Valle and Chardin have mentioned the presence of Georgians and Armenians in Iran during the reign of Shah Abbas I (Della Valle, 1370: 212-13, 216; Chardin, 1350, vol.4, 25-6).

Conclusion 
While some specific marks and shapes in the Behshahr complex, such as cruciform motifs (No. 44), may be ideological and religious symbols (possibly related to Christianity due to the presence of Christian sculptors from the Caucasus region), overall, none of the mason’s marks in the Behshahr collection can be definitively classified as a religious symbol. Additionally, none of the letters and signs in the Behshahr collection have a clear connection with the official religion of the Safavids (Islam/Shi’a).
Some mason’s marks in the Behshahr collection have similar or identical counterparts among the Achaemenid mason’s marks of Persepolis (Herzfeld, 2002: Fig. 339; Schmidt, 1953: 144-45), Pasargad (Herzfeld, 2002: Fig. 338), Susa (Maras, 2010: fig. 18.2) and signs on Achaemenid pyramidal seals and coins from Asia Minor and other places (for example, see Boardman, 1998: fig.1, D1, D1.1, D1.2, D11, D37, D51.1, D.52.1, Fig. 4). They also bear resemblance to the signs of other periods, such as the Anahita Temple of Kangavar from the Achaemenid to Sassanid era (cf. Kambakhsh Fard, 1987, Figs 2-6), the Parthian site of Bisotun, as well as the marks on Sassanid buildings, like Takht e Suleiman (Shah-Mohammadpour, 2013), Shahr i Gur of Firozabad, and the Sassanid collection of Bisotun including Khosrow’s palace, Farhadtarash and Khosrow’s bridge (Alibaigi, 2013). Among works related to the pre-Islamic era, the mason’s marks in this collection perhaps have the most similarity with the Caucasian Darband collection (Narin Qala) (Gadjiev, 2010: 147).
However, a larger number of the mason’s marks in the Behshahr collection are similar to the mason’s marks of the Islamic era, especially the Safavid period. A significant number of mason’s marks in the Behshahr collection can be found among the signs of the Safavid period in Isfahan, such as Pol e Khaju, Chehel-sotun, Ali-Qapu and Shah-Musa. The mason’s marks of the Behshahr collection can be considered an important source for studying the system of mason’s marks of the Safavid period.