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

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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.