Salt-mummies and Salt-mine of Chehrabad, Zanjan, Iran: An interdisciplinary Study on the Social-History, on the Economy and the Technics of a northern Iranian Salt exploitation in Antiquity. Part II

2004年和2005年，赞詹附近的切赫拉巴德的杜兹拉克遗址（东经4751年，北纬360至55年）的一些盐木乃伊的发现突然引起了国际社会的关注。五具木乃伊已经被挖掘出来，第六具木乃伊的部分于2010年被发现。由于有机保存的条件很好，现场有大量的纺织品、木材和食物遗骸，还有六具人体木乃伊，有一些组织保存。尤其是《盐人4》保存得很好。这种特殊的地形学情况使伊朗考古学面临一个迄今为止未知的领域：对这些盐-Ötzis及其设备和其他有机发现和现场碎片进行医学考古和人类学调查。与此同时，人们也清楚地认识到，这些矿工的死亡是由于矿井中的各种灾难造成的。自2005年秋季以来，并自2007/2010年以来得到加强，建立了一个国际科学家网络，以开展一个多学科项目；与此同时，波鸿、牛津、德黑兰、苏黎世、维也纳、贝桑松、巴黎和阿姆斯特丹的合作伙伴也被纳入其中。第一次国际调查于2010年至2011年进行，并在2012年至2014年期间进行了评估和检查；这里应用的项目的主要重点将是进一步挖掘和调查采矿灾难的情况，特别是阿契美尼德时期的一次。在盐矿，已经坍塌的中央采矿室计划被挖掘到最古老的层。这些调查将使挖掘工作暂时完成。在矿区周围取得初步有希望的结果后，我们打算继续进行地质考古调查。这些应能够首次重建与该矿直接有关的微区域的生态条件和定居区。另一个重点将放在加强我们对矿工的来源、健康状况以及生存状况的研究上。研究应通过对这一杰出遗址的文物和考古植物生态事实进行分析和记录工作来完成。英国同事将进一步作出贡献，进行同位素化学和放射学研究，确定该矿的有机物质的年代和来源。

By discovery of some salt-mummies in 2004 and 2005 the site of Douzlakh, Chehrabad near Zanjan (47o51 E, 36o 55 N) suddenly attracted international attention. Five mummies have been excavated, parts of a sixth one came to light in 2010. Because of the excellent conditions for organic preservation, there are large quantities of textile, wood and food remains from the site, and also six human mummies with some tissue preservation. Especially Salt-man 4 is excellently preserved. This special taphonomic situation confronted the Iranian Archaeology with a field so far not known: the medical-archaeometrical and anthropological investigation of these Salt-Ötzis but also of their equipment and other organic findings and debris from the site. In the meanwhile it got clear that these miners suffered death by the reason of various catastrophes in the mine. Since autumn 2005 and more intensified since 2007/2010 an international network of scientists has been established to work on an multidisciplinary project; partners of Bochum, Oxford, Teheran, Zurich, Vienna, Besancon, Paris and Amsterdam got included in the meanwhile. First international investigations took place in 2010 and 2011 and got evaluated and examined between 2012 and 2014; the main emphasis of the project applied here will be further excavating and investigating the circumstances of the mining catastrophes especially that one of the Achaemenid period. At the salt-mine the central mining chamber that has been collapsed is planned to be excavated down to the oldest layers. These investigations shall bring the excavation work to an interim completion In the surrounding of the mine we intend to continue the geo-archaeological surveys after having reached first promising results. These should enable a first reconstruction of the ecological conditions and the settlement zone of the micro-region directly related with the mine. Another main focus will be put on the intensification of our studies on the provenance, of the health status but also on the subsistence of the miners. The studies shall be completed by analytical and documentation work on the artifacts and the archaeobotanical ecofacts from this outstanding site. The British colleagues will further contribute by isotopical-chemical and radiometrical studies on chronological and provenance determinations of organic materials from the mine.