TEHRAN-- A team of Iranian archaeologists has actually just recently finished an archaeological season on a sloping hill located near an ancient mine that previously yielded well-reserved remains of entrapped miners in Zanjan.The stays of a workshop area with big quantities of ash and charcoal as well as clay and stone structures were found throughout this survey, archaeologist Abolfazl Aali stated on Saturday.

Based on the existing findings, including pottery pieces, it is most likely that the exposed works are from the Sassanid duration, which will provide us more details about the function and specific date of the site, he added.Authorized by the Research Institute for Cultural Heritage and Tourism, the excavation also intended to explore any possible connections existing in between the hill and the ancient mine of Chehrabad, he mentioned.Previous rounds of excavations of the mine yielded some well-preserved salt mummies and their possessions from 1993 onwards.

The findings have actually been placed on a show at the National Museum of Iran, Zanjans Zolfaghari Archaeological Museum, and joint Iranian and German exhibits under the names Man searching for Resources and Death in Salt.

What was a disaster for the ancient miners has become a sensation of science.

Sporting a long white beard, iron knives, and a single gold earring, the very first salt mummy was discovered in 1993.

He is estimated to be caught in the mine in ca.

300 CE.

In 2004, another mummy was found just 50 feet away, followed by another in 2005 and a teenage kid mummy later that year.In 1993, miners in the Douzlakh Salt Mine, near Hamzehli and Chehrabad villages, accidentally came across a mummified head.

The head was effectively maintained, to the extent that his pierced ear was still holding the gold earring.

The hair, beard, and mustaches were reddish, and his impressive leather boot still contained parts of his leg and foot, according to the Ancient History Encyclopedia.The first mummy, called the Saltman , is on screen in the National Museum of Iran in Tehran.

He still looks extremely remarkable.

The third, 4th, and 5th saltmen were also carbon-dated.

The 3rd body was dated and put in 2337 BP, the 4th body in 2301 BP, and the 5th mummy was dated to 2286 BP, placing them all in the Achaemenid period.The isotopic analysis of the human remains exposed where these miners were from.

Some of them were from the Tehran-Qazvin plain, which is reasonably local to the mines locality, while others were from north-eastern Iran and the coastal areas around the Caspian Sea, and a couple of were from as far away as Central Asia.Furthermore, the archaeozoological finds, such as animal bones discovered within the context of the saltmen, revealed that the miners may have eaten sheep, goats, and probably pigs and cattle.

The archaeobotanical finds taped revealed different cultivated plants were eaten, showing an agricultural facility in the area of the mine.The wealth of material and other organic material (leather) used by the saltmen have permitted a comprehensive analysis to be undertaken, detailing the resources used to make the fabrics, the processing, the dyes used to color the fibers of the garments, and not least they offer an excellent overview of the modifications in cloth types, patterns of weaving, and the changes of the fibers through time.Saltman No.

5 had tapeworm eggs from the Taenia sp.

genus in his system.

These were determined during the research study of his remains.

The find indicates the usage of raw or undercooked meat, and this is the first case of this parasite in ancient Iran and the earliest proof of ancient digestive parasites in the area.

The best preserved and most likely the most harrowing of the saltmen is Saltman No.

4.

A sixteen-year-old miner, caught in the minute of death, crushed by a cave-in.

The oldest-known mine on the historical record is thought to be the Ngwenya Mine in Eswatini (Swaziland), which radiocarbon dating shows to be about 43,000 years old.

At this website, Paleolithic humans mined hematite to make the red pigment ochre.

Furthermore, mines of a similar age in Hungary are believed to be websites where Neanderthals may have mined flint for weapons and tools.ABU/ MG