Archaeologists found 230 square meters of prehistoric architectural remains and Sassanid burials in the oldest area identified near Chaparabad dam.
The ancient hill of Chaparabad is located 8 km southeast of Oshnaviyeh city, in West Azerbaijan province and Nalus district. The rescue excavations of this area began before the Chaparabad dam was filled. The dam has been filled since the first days of 1402, and according to archaeologists, the water level covers the northern and eastern slopes of the area. However, it has been said that the closest ancient area to the construction of the Chaparabad dam and its distance to the dam’s crest is nearly 500 meters.
According to ISNA, archaeologists did the first season of exploration of this area in 1400 and the second season in 1402. In these two seasons of exploration, parts of the architecture of this prehistoric settlement were revealed. The third season of exploration of Chaparabad hill was carried out in 50 days at the same time as the water intake of Chaparabad dam, from September. In this season, ten trenches of various sizes were excavated following the sections excavated two seasons ago, after which more than 230 square meters of the architectural remains of this prehistoric settlement were revealed.
According to Hanan Bahranipour – head of the archaeological group present in this area, the size of the excavation is more than five times the location revealed in the first season and nearly ten times the site excavated in the second season. After three seasons, archaeologists discovered that “Chaparabad Hill” is the remnant of a small village belonging to the second half of the fifth millennium BC (nearly seven thousand years ago).
New findings in the ancient area of Chaparabad
Regarding the pottery collection obtained from the prehistoric area of Chaparabad, the supervisor of the rescue excavation said: “Chaparabad is related to the transitional phase between two important prehistoric periods in the cultural sequence of northwestern Iran, namely the “Dalma” and “Pizdali” periods. Before the Chaparabad excavation, the transition stage between these two periods had not been identified in any site. As a result of these excavations, a large part of the architecture of this prehistoric village, which was created on a rocky outcrop, was revealed. These architectures have provided important information about the functional and spatial nature of the site.
Among the findings of the third chapter of the ancient Chaparabad hill, Bahranipour pointed out the discovery of a burial related to the Sassanid period, which, according to the burial rituals in the Sassanid period, was recognized as one of the rarest burials of this period.
This archaeologist also added: “Archaeological and interdisciplinary studies on the materials obtained from the first and second seasons of the excavation have begun, among which we can mention pottery studies, sending charcoal samples for the absolute dating of the site, as well as the origin of obsidian tools.”
Excavations in Chaparabad Hill were carried out with the permission of the Research Institute of Cultural Heritage and Tourism. The supervisor of the rescue excavation of the prehistoric area of Chaparabad believes that: “Continuation of the rescue excavations in Chaparabad and the findings of the 3rd season were the result of the new policies of this research institute, which sees the need to obtain as much information as possible from the sites at risk of destruction and also budget allocation for the excavations of the third season of this area.”
According to the supervisor of this rescue excavation of the prehistoric area of Chaparabad, filling of Chaparabad dam started in September 2023, during Government week. The water level covered the northern and eastern slopes of the area. However, the remain of the architecture revealed on top of the hill have yet not gone under water. Archeologists had previously informed that the findings from behind this dam are valuable for the archeology of the south-west Azarbaijan.
