Document Type : Original Article
Authors
1
Graduate Student, Department of Archaeology, Faculty of Art and Architecture, Mazandaran University, Babolsar, Iran
2
Associate Professor, Department of Archaeology, Faculty of Literature and Humanities, Neyshabor University, Neyshabor, Iran
Abstract
One of the important and influential cultures in the societies of the Middle Ages in Central Asia is the culture of Bactria-Margiana/Khorasan. The cultural materials of this culture developed in the late third millennium and the first half of the second millennium BC (Middle and New Bronze Ages) in a wide geographical area including Greater Khorasan, southeastern Iran, and Central Asia. The distinctive features of this culture include characteristic pottery types and household items made of metals such as gold, silver, bronze, as well as precious and semi-precious stones (turquoise, carnelian, chlorite, and marble). A collection of artifacts with ritual functions such as miniature marble columns, composite figurines, power rods, trumpets, ceremonial axes, and burial practices (animal burials, diversity and abundance of grave goods, placing food with the dead, and commemorative tombs) have played a role in the formation of this collection. Among the most important grave goods are miniature columns and round plaques found in cemetery contexts and ritual spaces. What is important and forms the basis for the present research is the interpretation of the distribution, typology, function, and iconography of miniature columns and round plaques. Based on the conducted research, miniature columns and weight stones (round plaques) have been a prestigious item in the most important urban settlements of Central Asia available to the elite of society. They can be interpreted as weight stones, a type of ritual table, and a symbol of some Indo-Iranian beliefs and Zoroastrian religion, such as pressing the Haoma plant and Barsum. Additionally, based on archaeological evidence, a date range of 2500/2300 to 1800/1750 BC can be proposed for this type of prestigious artifacts.
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