Tepe Bālūتپه بالو
Location: 7 km north of Urmia, northwestern Iran, West Azerbaijan Province.
37°37’33.5″N45°01’34.4″E
Map
Historical Period
Neolithic, Bronze, Age, Iron Age
History and description
Bālū is a conical mound located outside the present-day town of Bālū, 7 km north of Urmia. The mound is 215 x 160 m with a height of 18 m above the surrounding plain. Based on the surface pottery, the mound has a long archaeological sequence from the Neolithic to the Islamic period. The site seems to be larger as there are remains of partially destroyed mounds to the north of the main mound.
Archaeological Exploration
Tepe Bālū was discovered during an archaeological survey in northwestern Iran by an Italian team under the direction of Paolo Emilio Pecorella on behalf of the Institute of Mycenaean and Aegean-Anatolian Studies (now the Institute of the Ancient Mediterranean Studies), Italy’s National Research Council (CNR), in 1976.
Bibliography
Pecorella, P. E. and M. Salvini, Tra lo Zagros e l’Urmia. Ricerche Storiche ed Archologiche Nell’Azerbaigian Iraniano, Rome, 1984, p. 141.
