Tapeh Tyalineh

Tapeh Tyalineh
Tapeh Tyalineh
Shown within Iran
LocationKermanshah Province, Iran
Coordinates34°31′03″N 46°45′45″E / 34.51750°N 46.76250°E / 34.51750; 46.76250
Typesettlement
History
Founded4th millennium BC
PeriodsLate Chalcolithic, Early Bronze Age
Site notes
Excavation dates2021, 2023-2024
ArchaeologistsMostafa Doosti, Siyavash Shahbazi, Sajjad Alibaig, Shokouh Khosravi
ConditionRuined
OwnershipPublic
Public accessYes

Tapeh Tyalineh is an archaeological site in Kermanshah province, Iran on the Kouzaran plain of the Mahidasht region about 25 kilometers west of Chogha Maran.[1]

Archaeology

The site covers an area of about 2.7-hectares and rises about 2.5-meters above the plain. The Mereg River runs along the west of the site. The top of the mound has been plowed and cultivated by local peasants. The site was mentioned in a 1998 regional survey by Abbas Motarjem reporting "bichrome, Iron Age grey ware, and Parthian ceramics" on the surface and digging activity by villagers. Prompted by reports that villagers were digging and removing soil at the site (primarily in the are of the southwestern corner) Mostafa Doosti and Siyavash Shahbazi of the Ministry of Cultural Heritage, Tourism and Handicrafts office of Kermanshah conducted an initial surface survey finding 25 clay sealings and a figurine. A further survey later in the year by Mostafa Doosti and Sajjad Alibaig found 40 additional clay sealings. An initial estimate put the site at 100 meters in diameter with an area of 1 hectare. The sealings were primarily jar sealings with a few door sealings and mostly sealed by cylinder seals with a few by stamp seals. Associated pottery was from the Late Chalcolithic, Iron Age III, and Parthian periods and Uruk period bevelled rim bowl fragments were noted.[2]

Two seasons of rescue excavations led by Shokouh Khosraviwere were conducted. In 2023 two trenches were opened, one 5 meters by 5 meters by 1.5 meters deep (Trench A) and one 1 meter by 1.5 meters by 4 meters deep (Trench B). Trench A, in an early 3rd Millennium BC rubbish pit, yielded 4019 clay sealings, 127 clay figurines, a number of spherical, pyramidal, and disk-shaped clay tokens, and 1 cylinder seal. In 2024 three more trenches were opened 7 meters by 7 meters (trench C), one 3 meters by 11 meters (Trench D), and one 6 meters by 4 meters (Trench E). In that season over 3000 clay sealings, 1 cylinder seal, a number of clay figurines, and dozens of clay tokens were found.[3]

History

Tapeh Tyalineh was primarily occupied in the early 3rd Millennium BC with pottery also being found as early as the late 4th Millennium BC. There are signs of minimal occupation in the Iron Age III and Parthian periods.[3]<ref name="Khosravi2023"/ >

See also

References

  1. ^ Khayani, Ali, and Kamal Aldin Niknami, "Early Bronze Age clay sealings from Chogha Maran, the west central Zagros: a preliminary analysis", Journal of Near Eastern Studies 79.1, pp. 89-98, 2020
  2. ^ Khosravi, Shokouh, et al, "Tapeh Tyalineh: a proto-Elamite administrative institution on the Great Khorasan Road, Kermanshah, Western Iran", Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, pp. 1–28, 2023
  3. ^ a b [1]Khosravi, Shokouh, "The late prehistoric administrative artefacts from Tapeh Tyalineh, Kermanshah, western Iran", Antiquity, 1-10, 2026

Further reading

  • Matthews, Roger, et al., "Information revolutions and information transitions: counting, sealing, writing in Iran 10,000–300 BC", Journal of Ancient Near Eastern History 12.2, pp. 215-305, 2025
  • Renette, S., Khayani, A. & Levine, L.D., "Chogha Maran: a local center of the Chalcolithic and Early Bronze Age in the Central Zagros", Iranica Antiqua 56, pp. 1–169, 2021
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