Name
Tepe Jalāliyeh, Kalurazتپه جلالیه،کلورز
Map
Historical Period
Iron Age, Parthian
History and description
Kaluraz is a village on the left bank of the Sefid Rud, 1 km to the west of the present Qazvin-Rasht road. At a distance of about 85 km from the sea, Kaluraz lies at an altitude of 360 m on a watercourse joining the Sefid Rud. The mounded site known as Tepe Jalāliyeh seems to be a settlement with a nearby cemetery. According to the schematic plans published in one of the reports, some ten tombs were uncovered during the excavations. Some of the tombs contained bronze weapons, gold and silver vessels, and other objects; the skeletal remains are not less interesting since some of the tombs revealed equine skeletons. The excavations revealed the stone foundations of several buildings constructed of wooden material. Tombs were found near these buildings and on both banks of the Kaluraz River. According to Ali Hakemi, the main excavator of Kaluraz, there were two types of tombs, both dating to the same period. The first type consisted of elliptical tombs dug out of the bedrock, the depth of which varied from 1 m to 1.80 m. The second type included square tombs which varied in depth from 2 to 4.50 m. The excavator observed that the dead were buried in a contracted position on a north-south axis. The funerary contents of the cemeteries at Kaluraz were particularly rich in grey-black vessels of different forms as well as in gold and silver objects. More recent excavations at Kaluraz have revealed further interesting tombs, the contents of which are varied in date. However, some of the graves have yielded ceramics typical of the early Iron Age Gray Ware known from Marlik.
Archaeological Exploration
The site was the object of two seasons of excavations between 1965 and 1967 by Ali Hakemi on behalf of the Iranian Department of Archaeology. Mohammad Reza Khalatbaro carried out fresh excavations at the site on behalf of the Iranian Center for Archaeological Research in 1995-96.
Finds
Pottery: A varied corpus of ceramic objects has been excavated at Kaluraz. Most of the pottery types are known from other Iron Age I and II sites. A study of the Kaluraz ceramics shows that some of them are later in date, possibly Parthian.
Metals: A variety of weapons in bronze and occasionally in iron; they include daggers, spearheads, arrowheads, and blades. Personal ornaments in bronze or in silver. The excavations also yielded a number of gold and silver vases.
Objects in stone and bone consist of beads, pestles, and grinding tools.
Bibliography
Hakemi, A., “Kaluraz et la civilisation des Mardes,” Archéologie Vivante, vol. 1, 1968, pp. 63-65.
Hakemi, A., “Ashyā'e feleziy-e makshufeh dar Kaluraz Gīlān,” Memorial Volume of the Vth International Congress of Iranian Art and Archaeology, vol. I, Tehran, 1972, pp. 2-16.
Hakemi, A., “Excavations in Kaluraz, Gilan,” Bulletin of the Asia Institute, No. 3, 1973, pp. 1-3.
Khalatbari, M. R., “Kavosh dar Kaluraz,” in The Archaeological Symposium at Susa, February 1995, M. Mousavi (ed.), 1376/1997, Tehran, pp. 65-98.
Ohtsu, T., J. Nokandeh, and A. Takuro, “Excavation Research of Tappe Jalaliye,” in T. Ohtsu, J. Nokandeh and Y. Kazuya (eds.), Preliminary Report of the Iran-Japan Joint Archaeological Expedition to Gilan. Second Season, 2002, Tokyo, 2004, pp. 48-83.
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