An Anatomic Study of Wood Charcoal Discovered from the Archaeological Site of Kelar, Kelardasht in North of Iran

Document Type : Original Research Article

Authors

1 Associate Professor of Archaeology, Shahrekord University, Iran

2 Professor of Archaeology, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran

Abstract

This study aims to present qualitative and quantitative explanations of eight kinds of charcoal discovered from an archeological site at Tepe Kelar in northern Iran. The excavations were carried out in 2006 and 2008. In addition to cultural remains, different kinds of charcoals were discovered hence, their descriptive analysis provided valuable information about culture and ecology of the region during the prehistoric period. To analyze the samples, thin transverses and their radial sections were prepared and analyzed using Electron Microscope, and specifications of the vessels, tissue, wood rays, and other elements of them were measured and recorded. The identification of the woods was initially conducted through the microscopic properties of hardwood and the findings were then compared with the Atlas of woods in North of Iran. The taxonomic identification using the wood anatomy showed that four samples belong to the genus Fagus Orientalis Lipsky 1898, one of which belongs to genus Corylus Avellana 1753 and the remaining three samples were not recognizable due to their small size. In the third trench, ruins of a metal melting kiln were discovered together with large pieces of charcoals. It is likely that wood species identified in this study were used to melt metals in the Bronze and Iron Ages.

Keywords

Main Subjects

🔓 © 2021 The Author(s). Published by Tissaphernes Archaeological Research Group, Tehran, Iran. Open Access. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDeriv- atives License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits non-commercial re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited, and is not altered, transformed, or built upon in any way. The ethical policy of Persica Antiqua is based on the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) guidelines and complies with International Committee of Persica Antiqua Editorial Board codes of conduct. Readers, authors, reviewers and editors should follow these ethical policies once working with Persica Antiqua. The ethical policy of Persica Antiqua is liable to determine which of the typical research papers or articles submitted to the journal should be published in the concerned issue. For information on this matter in publishing and ethical guidelines please visit www.publicationethics.org.

References

Asouti, E., (2003a). ‘‘Woodland vegetation and fuel exploitation at the prehistoric campsite of Pınarbaşı, south-central Anatolia, Turkey: the evidence from the wood charcoal macro-remains’’. Journal of Archaeological Science 30, 1185-1201.
Asouti, E., (2006). ‘‘Factors affecting the formation of an archaeological wood charcoal assemblag’e’ (http://pcwww.liv.ac.uk/~easouti/).
Asouti, E and J. Hather, (2001). ‘‘Charcoal analysis and the reconstruction of ancient woodland vegetation in the Konya basin, south-central Anatolia, Turkey: results from the Neolithic site of Çatalhöyük east’’. Vegetation History and Archaeobotany 10, 23-32.
Fairbairn, A, E. Asouti, J. Near and D. Martinoli, (2002). ‘‘Macro-botanical evidence for plant use at Neolithic Çatalhöyük, south-central Anatolia, Turkey’’. Vegetation History and Archaeobotany 11, 41-54.
IAWA Committee, (1989). IAWA List of Microscopic Features Woods. A Guide for Archaeologist and Conservators. Archetype Publication, London.
Kuniholm, P. I., (1997). ‘‘Aegean dendrochronology Project’’, December 1997 Progress Report, (http://dendro.cornell.edu/reports/report1997.pdf).
Lashkarbolouki, E, D. Parsapajouh and H. Familian,  (2009). ‘‘Comparative study of wood anatomical structure of two successful poplar clones (Populus deltoids 77/51 and 69/55) in Guilan’’, Iranian Journal of Biology 21 (4), 730-736.
Mousavi Kouhpar. S. M., (2007). Final Report of Archaeological Survey in the North of Iran: Kelardasht Project. Publication in the Iranian Center for Archaeological Research (In persian).
Mousavi Kouhpar. S. M., (2008). Final Report of Archaeological Survey in the North of Iran: Mazandaran Project. Publication in the Iranian Center for Archaeological Research (In persian).
Mousavi Kouhpar. S. M, R. Abasnejad and M. Heydarian, (2007). ‘‘Preliminary report of archaeological excavations at TepeKelarKelardasht (First Session) 2006’’. Proceedings of the 9 rd Annual Symposium on Iranian Archaeology. Tehran. Volume. One. 473-509 (In persian).
Newton, M. W. P. I. Kuniholm, (2001). ‘‘A revised dendrochronological date for the fortress of Rusa II at Ayanis’’: Rusahinili Eidurukai. (http://dendro.cornell.edu/articles/newton2007.pdf). 
Parsa Pajouh, D and FH. Schweingruber, (1988). Atlas des bois du nord de l’Iran. Teheran University Publications No. 1932.
Pour Babaei, H and Kh. Dado, (2006). ‘‘Species diversity of woody plants in the district No.1 forests, Kelardasht, Mazandaran province’’, Iranian Journal of Biology 18 (4), 307-322.
Prior, J and P. Gasson, (1993). ‘‘Anatomical changes on charring six African hardwoods’’. IAWA J 14, 77‐86.
Ramazami, S, M. Talaeipour, M. Aliabadi, A. Tabeei and B. Bazyar, (2013). ‘‘Investigation of the anatomical, biometry and chemical characteristics of juvenile and mature poplar (Populus alba) wood’’, Iranian Journal of Wood and Paper Science Research 28 (1), 182-193.
Riehl, S, and E. Marinova, (2008). ‘‘Mid-Holocene vegetation change in the Troad (W Anatolia): Manmade and natural?’’ Vegetation History and Archaeobotany 17, 297-312.
Sabeti, H., (2003). Forests, Trees and Shrubs of Iran, Yazd University.
Tennessen, D, R. B. Blanchette and T. C. Windes, (2002). ‘‘Differentiating aspen and cottonwood in prehistoric wood from Chacoan great house ruins’’. Journal of Archaeological Science 29, 521-527.
Toghraei, N, J. Sabori, H. Ali Mohamdian, E. Hagh Farshi and A. Yousefi Rad, (2011). ‘‘The discovery of Pliocene tree trunks and stems fossils in the North East of Tabriz, their describe and identify’’, 31th Symposium of Geosciences, Geological Survey and Mineral Exploration Organization. Tehran, Iran.
Willcox, G., (1974). ‘‘A history of deforestation as indicated by charcoal analysis of four sites in eastern Anatolia’’. Anatolian Studies 24, 117-133. 

Files

History

  • Receive Date: 27 April 2021
  • Revise Date: 23 May 2021
  • Accept Date: 30 May 2021

Share

How to cite

Statistics