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

由于在2004年和2005年发现了一些盐质木乃伊，赞扬附近的切拉巴德的Douzlakh遗址(东经47o51度，北纬36度55度)突然引起了国际关注。已经出土了五具木乃伊，第六具木乃伊的部分于2010年曝光。由于有机保存的良好条件，该遗址有大量的纺织品、木材和食物遗骸，还有6具人类木乃伊，其中一些组织保存了下来。尤其是盐人4号保存完好。这一特殊的考古情况使伊朗考古学面临着一个迄今不为人知的领域：对这些Salt Ottzis进行医学考古和人类学调查，以及对它们的设备和其他有机发现以及遗址的碎片进行调查。与此同时，可以清楚地看到，这些矿工是由于矿井发生的各种灾难而死亡的。自2005年秋季以来，建立了一个国际科学家网络，致力于一个多学科项目；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参与其中。第一次国际调查是在2010年和2011年进行的，并在2012年至2014年期间进行了评估和审查；在这里实施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，特别是阿切美尼德时期的灾难。在盐矿，已经坍塌的中央矿场计划向下挖掘到最古老的层。这些调查将使矿山周围的挖掘工作暂时完成。我们打算在取得初步有希望的结果后，继续进行地质考古调查。这些措施应能首先重建与矿场直接相关的微型区域的生态条件和安置区。另一个主要重点将放在加强我们对矿工来源、健康状况以及生存问题的研究上。研究应通过对这一杰出遗址的文物和考古植物生态文物进行分析和文件工作来完成。英国同事将通过同位素化学和放射计量学研究，进一步确定该矿有机物质的年代学和来源。

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.