Excavation of the “old Sufian hill” led to identification of an area belonging to the old coper and stone age (Dalma culture) in the highlands of Northwestern Iran. Archaeologists believe this discovery will add to Iran’s knowledge of the culture of the fifth millennium BC, nearly 7000 years ago.
According to Isna, Mahnaz Sharifi, head of the archeology team of the Old Sufian Hill, said about the details of this excavation: The Old Sufian Hill includes two hills, I and II. The old hill of Sufiyan I dates back 7000 years ago and belongs to the “Dalma culture,” or ancient copper and stone.
Pointing to the fact that Sufian is one of the important civilization centers of the 50th millennium BC, in the Oshnavieh plain, she said: “The results of the excavation of the Sufian hill show that Sufian is one of the valuable areas of the southern basin of Lake Urmia and a key area in the northwest and an important settlement from the old copper and stone age, which is not far from Dalma Hill, so changes in the cultural tradition of this region were seen in the exploration.”
This archeologist pointed out: “The purpose of excavation of the “old Sufian Hill”, in addition to rescue of the Chaparabad dam, is to study the formation phase of the Dalma Pizdeli culture in the Oshnavieh plain, study of the method of transmission, the study of the cultural traditions of Hasanlu IX in the northwest area based on archaeological findings and analysis of the cultural interactions of residents of the area with the neighboring areas and investigation of the old architecture of Sufian.”
The head of the archeology team of Sufian Hill said: “In this exploration, we tried to achieve, with years of research, is the clearer situation of the ancient copper and stone cultural horizon (Dalma culture) in the north-west of Iran.”
The discovery of permanent settlements 7000 years ago in the southern area of Lake Urmia
Sharifi continued: The initial results of the excavation show the remains of solid and permanent architecture that indicates that Sufian was used for permanent settlement, and this project deserves more attention from the point of view that before this period most of the sites belonging to the 5th millennium BC had weak architecture.
She added: “In the excavation, Dalma pottery and the Pizdeli type (BOB) were discovered simultaneously, which indicates the overlapping of Dalma and Pizdeli cultures, and for the first time in Sufian exploration, the simultaneity of these two cultures was found in stable layers and also in a thick deposit.”
She stated that in Sufian, solid brick construction was found with stone foundation, and this method of construction was seen for the first time on this hill. she said that since stone foundation under brick wall has not been reported elsewhere, so far, this finding adds to the importance of this hill.
The head of the archeological team of Tepe Sufian continued: inside the architectural space, clay pots were found, which were made in the basket method. Dalma itself is the continuation of the culture of “Haji Firouz,” which is the continuation of the culture of “Hasuna.”
Discovery of a thermal structure, five-pot burials related to newborns, and a Bronze Age cemetery
Sharifi also announced the discovery of a brick platform in this excavation and explained: Another significant point in this excavation is the discovery of a structure (probably a furnace or a thermal system) which is unique and has not been found in this area of the same period.
She stated that in the excavations of sufian, in residential spaces, five pot burials of babies were identified, and said: In the 5th millennium BC sites, the custom of burying babies in pots and placing them in residential spaces was common. Burial of children in large pots or bowls is common in vast areas of the Caucasus (Helving 2012:207), and a similar example is found in Alchan Tepe in the Caucasus and also in Tepe Gawra (Tobler 1950: XI-VIII), in the South Caucasus (Ovcular Tepesi). (Marro et al., 2011:70), Alchan tepe (Akhundov, 2011:232), and Leyla tepe of the Caucasus (Narimanov et al. 2007) have also been reported.
Sharifi added: “I have reported examples of this kind of burial in Iran, in Dalma Tepe itself and then in the Neolithic period in Gradashwan in the Piranshahr plain.”
Among the other valuable points in this excavation, she mentioned finding pots that were used as drains or funnels, which were not reported elsewhere in archeological excavations.
According to the report of the public relations of the research institute of cultural heritage and tourism, this archaeologist stated that the result of the excavation of the old Sufian hill led to the identification of an area from the Old Copper and Stone Age (Dalma culture) in the highlands of Northwestern Iran, adding: Sufian cultural materials showed that the inhabitants of that expanse had connections with distant regions, as evidenced by obsidians (a type of natural volcanic glass).
According to the head of the archeological board of Tepeh Sufian, more than three and a half meters of accumulation from the 5th millennium BC phase was identified in this area during archaeological excavations. Also, a Bronze Age cemetery with megalithic graves was identified in Tepe Sufian II.
According to ISNA, Ronak Tasa, the head of the Oshnavieh Cultural Heritage Department, recently announced the acquisition of 111 historical artifacts from the second season of Chaparabad Dam rescue excavations in this city after one month. According to him, in the salvage excavations, pottery vessels, human burials, and several bronze artifacts have been found, which have been transferred to the museum of one of the cities.
According to the announcement of Oshnavieh Cultural Heritage Department, in the year 1400, the salvage excavation of four areas of the Chaparabad Dam catchment area, such as Sheikh Rash 1 and 2, Kani Hawa, and Chaparabad Hill, was carried out by ten experts in the form of four archaeological groups. Archaeologists believe that the results of these excavations are a turning point for the archeology of South West Azerbaijan, considering the 7,000 years age of the site and the objects found.
Rescue excavations are being carried out in this area. At the same time, according to the previous statements of the General Director of Oshnavieh Cultural Heritage, 13 identified ancient sites would be flooded with the water intake of Chaparabad Dam.
