Kohne Tepesi: A Kura-Araxes and Parthian settlement in the Araxes River Basin, Northwest Iran

Résumé En

From an archaeological perspective, the Araxes river basin is still one of the lesser known areas, either its northern or southern sides. Recent archaeological surveys and excavations at different sites in the recent decade shed more light on the cultural development of the basin, especially in the Khoda Afarin and Jolfa Plain as well as the Mughan Steppe. However, the basin still suffers from the lack of systematic excavation or survey in many parts. Among these recent projects, the Khoda Afarin rescue project was a focal point in the archaeology of this area. It retrieved new information from the Chalcolithic, Bronze Age, Iron Age as well as Parthian periods. Kohne Tepesi, one of the excavated sites, is an important site that yielded crucial findings from the Early Bronze Age and Parthian period. A cemetery from the modern period, which consists of graves without artifacts, partially damaged the large-scale stone architecture dated to the Parthian period. The exact function of this fortified structure remains to be determined. Nevertheless, based on comparable structures throughout the basin, it might be interpreted either as a garrison or part of a feudal socioeconomic organization. The main occupational phase of the site is related to the Kura-Araxes culture with six meters of deposits and two chamber graves that raises new challenges and questions regarding the nature of this tradition. In this paper, we briefly discuss the architectural structures, graves, pottery, chipped stone assemblages, as well as faunal remains of each period.