Agricultural Lands, Serious Treat to the Ancient Gohar Tepe
2006-6-21 - 23:8 - Pendar
Tehran, 25 April 2006_ Soudabeh Sadigh (CHN) -- When in the historical site of Gohar Tepe, you can see the remains of an ancient civilization surrounding by agricultural lands. For a while you take your breath to see the panorama:
A historical civilization in the heart of nature; it will give you a feeling of appreciation and pride. However, after a while you try to picture what is going to happen to this historical site considering miles and miles of agricultural lands surrounding it. Won’t the agricultural lands deal any blow to such a unique historical site? Which one should be given the higher priority to be preserved?
Evidence shows that from 7000 years ago to the first millenniums BC, a lot of people lived in the region, enjoying an urban life since 5000 years ago. The discovery of architectural structures and graves in this region are evidence of continual life during the later centuries there.
Gohar Tepe historical site, with a 50 hectare area, is located in eastern parts of Mazandaran province between the cities of Neka and Behshahr, north of Iran. It is one of the most important historical sites of Mazandaran province located near the Caspian Sea, which carries the secret of an ancient civilization. It is also believed that Gohar Tepe once enjoyed a complicated urbanization with a history that goes back to some 5000 years ago. Based on stratigraphical studies done over the past few decades on the site, the existence of Gohar Tepe dates back to the middle Bronze Age and continued to the Iron Age. However, the most ancient cultural layers found in the area belong to the Neolithic period, some 14,000 years ago, which are very similar to those found in other regional states and Central Asia. To learn more about the situation of Gohar Tepe, its background, its future programs, and the accomplishments in the area so far, CHN had an interview with Ali Mahforouzi, archeologist and head of excavation team in Gohar Tepe historical site, who has made a lot of effort to revive this historical site.
Mahforouzi believes that most of the archeological excavations carried out in Iran prior to the recent time were not based on scientific methods; however, during the last decades we have got closer to following scientific methods in our archeological research and we had an astonishing progress in this respect. “Most of our archeological researches were under the influence of eastern and western countries. Even during these excavations the main focus was on southern historical sites and the northern parts of Iran were somehow neglected and abandoned by the archeologists. However, we are doing our best to introduce potential characteristics of this part of our country such as its ancient civilization, its rich culture and art. I think holding the first International Festival of the Common Cultural Heritage of Caspian Sea and Central Asian Littoral States in Mazandaran province, which was held from 15-19 of April this year, provided us with a good opportunity not only to discuss our cultural heritage with our neighbor countries, but also considering our shared historical backgrounds, to confer with the other countries the ways through which we may cooperate in archeological activities. Establishment of an archeological research center for the regional countries in the city of Sari, capital of Mazandaran province, is one of the major accomplishments of this festival. This way the regional countries will have more cooperation in their archeological studies,” said Mahforouzi.
According to Mahforouzi, considering the geographical similarities between Mazandaran and regional states, many similar cultural evidence were found in the Caspian Sea region including Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, etc. “The more we move to the west of Turkmenistan, the more we see ourselves faced with a culture which does not belong to this country alone, and it becomes obvious that it must have its roots in the land which lies just below it. Now we are looking for the original source of this culture which most probably can be traced in the Iranian Plateau, especially the Gohar Tepe historical site. In any case, we are still studying on this subject. Although we were able to find a large number of similar black and gray clay dishes in the area, we don’t know where they are centered at. We must work harder to put the pieces of the puzzle together in order to identify the origin of this common heritage. This way we can unveil the secrets behind the origin of the culture of the area which lies southwest of Turkmenistan,” said Mahforuzi.
Archeological excavations in Gohar Tepe started from the year 2000. More than 130 pre-historic hills have been discovered in the area so far. Discovery of different burial methods such as squat burial, jar burial, fetal burial, etc., discovery of some strange burials such as the skeleton of a child wearing a necklace with the design of a cow horn, discovery of a skeleton with a bronze strap and a bronze horseshoe, discovery of a man’s skeleton inside a jar, discovery of traces of fabric on a plaster floor, discovery of big clay statuettes together with hundreds of other astonishing discoveries all have given the archeologists loads of valuable information, yet rose new questions about the culture of people who lived in this area and how it evolved over time.
Some evidence of existence of life can be traced in Ali Tepe Cave in the vicinity of Gohar Tepe. Taking into account that the first villages were established in this area, and urbanization has been formed in Gohar Tepe, for sure this region can be considered as the origin of a magnificent cultural development in the area. “I believe that it is not far from truth to trace the origin of these changes in Gohar Tepe,” said Mahforouzi.
What happened to this area which resulted in the complete abandonment of the city is not known yet. Maybe due to the geographical changes in the area and when the Aral Lake was dried out at the beginning of the Iron Age, little by little the people moved to other places. Anyway, archeologists believe that the people might have turned back to bury their dead in their motherland, which is somewhat clear due to the existence of a cemetery which was recently unearthed in the area. One theory that describes the reason behind this gradual abandonment of Gohar Tepe says that since during the Achaemenid era Fars province became the main center for the power, people moved to this province which resulted in the abandonment of most of the other sites. Most probably, there must have been a power center somewhere north of Iran during the Achaemenid era, which is not found yet and needs more excavations and studies to determine its exact place.
Anyway, the remains of industrial constructions such as clay ovens, and metal workshops indicate that the area enjoyed a very rich economical situation during the Iron Age.
“We have found a clay brick oven belonging to the Iron Age and we have constructed another clay oven similar to the original one at a 200 meter distance from the ancient oven. We are happy to announce that this year and on April 17, we produced the first series of clays simulating the ancient models to be presented to the tourists who visit the site,” said Mahforouzi.
What is obvious about Gohar Tepe historical site is that it is a mega project to be completed. Regarding the difficulties which exist in conducting archeological studies on this site, Mahforouzi believes that there should be some supports from the government so that the archeologists and other research groups would be able to preserve and revive this ancient area. Considering that Gohar Tepe is located in an agricultural area buried under agricultural lands, it is clear that the site is under a serious danger.
“We have bought three hectares of the area from their owners, but to tell you the truth, maybe more than 50 percent of the area that goes back to the Iron Age has been devastated under the weight of tractors. We did our best to protect it from the harms caused by the people and farmers, but without the support of the government and the Cultural Heritage and Tourism Organization of Iran, we won’t be able to confront with all the problems that exist here. Recently, the farmers and owners of the lands are determined to change them into citrus fruit gardens, which will be a disaster for Gohar Tepe historical site and will result in the destruction of the remains of an ancient civilization completely. We have taken the case to the court of Behshahr at least 15 times so far to prevent this activity and to stop the locals from digging deep wells in the area, but as I told you without direct support of the Cultural Heritage and Tourism Organization of Iran, it will be a very difficult task to accomplish,” explained Mahforouzi.
Mahforouzi strongly believes that Gohar Tepe is worth receiving a special attention by all authorities; and at the end he expressed hope that Gohar Tepe historical site with its potential characteristics change into one of the most attractive tourism destinations in the Caspian Sea region.
According to the public relations office of the Cultural Heritage and Tourism Organization of Mazandaran province, Delavar Bozorgnia, director of this organization with the cooperation of Mahforouzi are determined to change Gohar Tepe historical site into a museum site, to give tourists the chance to observe closely the remains of the skeletons with their burial gifts and other historical remains and feel themselves in the atmosphere and historical context these objects belonged to.
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