Chehrabad Salt Mine

Douzlākh / چهرآباد

Iran · Zanjan

Mine / workshopIntermittent excavation
Approximate period600 BCE — 2,000 CEApproximately from the Achaemenid period to the 20th century; intermittent use See on the map ↓

In brief

The remains of miners who died in collapses during different periods were found in the salt mine northwest of Zanjan. The salty environment preserved clothing, wooden tools and animal remains as well as human tissue.

What was found?

  • 1Human remains preserved in salt

    The bodies of people who died in the mine were preserved through natural desiccation in the salty environment. The preservation of soft tissues allows health and living conditions to be studied.

  • 2Iron pick with a wooden handle

    The iron pick, preserved with its handle, documents the mining tools used. The tools and excavation marks show that salt was extracted by creating chambers and leaving supporting pillars.

  • 3Textile and clothing fragments

    Fabrics preserved in salt allow the study of fibers, weaving, and dyes. Clothing and production techniques from different periods can be compared.

  • 4Mummified sheep leg

    Well-preserved DNA has been obtained from a sheep leg approximately 1,600 years old. The find shows that the salty environment can also preserve animal tissues and genetic data.

What does it point to?

Çehrabad offers an opportunity to investigate ancient mining techniques alongside the everyday lives of the people who worked there. According to researchers, the finds suggest that the mine's labor and supply arrangements differed between the Achaemenid and Sasanian periods.

What did it teach us?

  1. Documented that salt can naturally preserve human and animal tissues.
  2. Tools and working traces showed that salt was extracted using the room-and-pillar method.
  3. Layers and dating made it possible to distinguish Achaemenid and Sasanian mining phases.
  4. Preserved textiles enabled the study of changes in clothing materials and weaving techniques over time.

Latest news / selected archive

Research published in 2021 reported that exceptionally well-preserved ancient DNA had been recovered from an approximately 1600-year-old sheep leg found in the mine.

Record

Culture
Achaemenid; Sasanian; Islamic-period Iranian communities
Team / historical
Abolfazl Aali ve Thomas Stöllner; Zencan kültürel miras kurumu, Alman Madencilik Müzesi ve Ruhr Üniversitesi Bochum
Coordinates
36.9144°, 47.8569°

Sources

  1. antiquity.ac.uk
  2. journals.plos.org
  3. tcd.ie

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