Kurgans: Funerary evidence of nomadic communities with insights from Iran

IF 0.9 2区历史学 0 ARCHAEOLOGY

Archaeological Research in Asia Pub Date : 2025-05-28 DOI:10.1016/j.ara.2025.100627

Morteza Khanipour , Afshin Akbari

{"title":"Kurgans: Funerary evidence of nomadic communities with insights from Iran","authors":"Morteza Khanipour , Afshin Akbari","doi":"10.1016/j.ara.2025.100627","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The kurgan burial tradition, prevalent across Eurasia from China to Europe, has been identified in northwestern Iran through archaeological surveys and excavations. During the survey of the Ahmadbiglou Dam in Meshginshahr County, several kurgans were documented, among which the Qieh-Boynou Kurgan stands out. The rescue excavation of this site was conducted in 2020. Despite the numerous kurgans excavated in Iran, a comprehensive analysis of their features is yet to be conducted. This paper examines the geographical distribution, chronological framework, and defining characteristics of kurgan burials in Iran based on findings from Qieh-Boynou and other excavated kurgans. The results indicate that this burial practice was prevalent in the region west of the Caspian Sea during the Bronze and Iron Ages. Variations in burial structures and grave goods suggest differences in social ranks, although all kurgans share the characteristic of mound construction, using diverse materials and methods. The absence of nearby settlements around many kurgans suggests that they likely belonged to nomadic pastoralist communities.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":51847,"journal":{"name":"Archaeological Research in Asia","volume":"43 ","pages":"Article 100627"},"PeriodicalIF":0.9000,"publicationDate":"2025-05-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Archaeological Research in Asia","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2352226725000376","RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"历史学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"0","JCRName":"ARCHAEOLOGY","Score":null,"Total":0}

引用次数: 0

Abstract

The kurgan burial tradition, prevalent across Eurasia from China to Europe, has been identified in northwestern Iran through archaeological surveys and excavations. During the survey of the Ahmadbiglou Dam in Meshginshahr County, several kurgans were documented, among which the Qieh-Boynou Kurgan stands out. The rescue excavation of this site was conducted in 2020. Despite the numerous kurgans excavated in Iran, a comprehensive analysis of their features is yet to be conducted. This paper examines the geographical distribution, chronological framework, and defining characteristics of kurgan burials in Iran based on findings from Qieh-Boynou and other excavated kurgans. The results indicate that this burial practice was prevalent in the region west of the Caspian Sea during the Bronze and Iron Ages. Variations in burial structures and grave goods suggest differences in social ranks, although all kurgans share the characteristic of mound construction, using diverse materials and methods. The absence of nearby settlements around many kurgans suggests that they likely belonged to nomadic pastoralist communities.

查看原文本刊更多论文

库尔干人：来自伊朗的游牧社区的陪葬证据

通过考古调查和发掘，在伊朗西北部发现了从中国到欧洲的整个欧亚大陆普遍存在的库尔干埋葬传统。在对Meshginshahr县Ahmadbiglou大坝的调查中，记录了几个库尔干，其中最突出的是切博努库尔干。该遗址于2020年进行了抢救挖掘。尽管在伊朗出土了许多库尔干人，但尚未对其特征进行全面分析。本文基于Qieh-Boynou和其他出土的库尔干人的发现，研究了伊朗库尔干人墓葬的地理分布、年代框架和定义特征。结果表明，在青铜和铁器时代，这种埋葬方式在里海以西的地区很普遍。尽管所有的库尔干人都有土堆建造的特点，使用不同的材料和方法，但埋葬结构和墓葬物品的变化表明了社会等级的差异。许多库尔干人周围没有附近的定居点，这表明他们可能属于游牧民族。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

求助全文

约1分钟内获得全文求助全文

来源期刊

Archaeological Research in Asia ARCHAEOLOGY-

CiteScore

2.50

自引率

13.30%

发文量

期刊介绍： Archaeological Research in Asia presents high quality scholarly research conducted in between the Bosporus and the Pacific on a broad range of archaeological subjects of importance to audiences across Asia and around the world. The journal covers the traditional components of archaeology: placing events and patterns in time and space; analysis of past lifeways; and explanations for cultural processes and change. To this end, the publication will highlight theoretical and methodological advances in studying the past, present new data, and detail patterns that reshape our understanding of it. Archaeological Research in Asia publishes work on the full temporal range of archaeological inquiry from the earliest human presence in Asia with a special emphasis on time periods under-represented in other venues. Journal contributions are of three kinds: articles, case reports and short communications. Full length articles should present synthetic treatments, novel analyses, or theoretical approaches to unresolved issues. Case reports present basic data on subjects that are of broad interest because they represent key sites, sequences, and subjects that figure prominently, or should figure prominently, in how scholars both inside and outside Asia understand the archaeology of cultural and biological change through time. Short communications present new findings (e.g., radiocarbon dates) that are important to the extent that they reaffirm or change the way scholars in Asia and around the world think about Asian cultural or biological history.