Salt Man
Encyclopedia
The Saltman was discovered in Iran
, in the Chehrabad salt mines located on the southern part of the Hamzehlu village, on the west side of the city of Zanjan
, in the Zanjan Province
. The head and left foot are currently on display in a glass case at the National Museum of Iran
in Tehran
.
, a beard
and some artifact
s. These included the remains of a body, a foreleg inside a leather
boot
, three iron
knives
, a wool
len half trouser, a silver
needle
, a sling
, parts of a leather rope
, a grindstone
, a walnut
, some pottery
shards, some designed textile
fragments, and finally a few broken bone
s. The body had been buried in the middle of a tunnel of approximately 45 metres length.
Five other corpses, including a teenager and a woman, were discovered later in the same salt mine. Four are kept at the Rakhtshuikhaneh Museum in Zanjan. A sixth was left in place at the salt mine. 300 pieces of fabric were found, some of which retained designs and dyes. In 2008 the Ministry of Industries and Mines canceled the mining permit.
of different samples of bones and textiles, the Salt Man was dated to about 1,700 years ago. By testing a sample of hair, the blood group
B+ was determined.
Three dimensional pictures (scans
) show the fractures around the eye and other damage that occurred before death as result of a hard blow.
Visual characteristics presented long hair and beard and a golden earring on the left ear indicating that he was a person of rank or influence. The reason for his presence and death in the salt mine of Chehrabad remains a mystery.
Three bodies are dated to the Parthian
(247 BCE-224 CE) and Sassanid
(224-651 CE) eras, and the remainder to the Achaemenid Dynasty (550-330 BCE).
Iran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
, in the Chehrabad salt mines located on the southern part of the Hamzehlu village, on the west side of the city of Zanjan
Zanjan (city)
Zanjan is the capital of Zanjan Province in northwestern Iran. It is an Azeri inhabited city. It lies 298 km north-west of Tehran on the main highway to Tabriz and Turkey and approximately 125 km from the Caspian Sea...
, in the Zanjan Province
Zanjan Province
Zanjan Province is one of the 31 provinces of Iran. Located in the North West of Iran, its capital is Zanjan city. Zanjan province with an area of 36,400 km² has a mostly rural, population of 964,601 . The province lies 330 km northwest of Tehran, connected to it via a freeway.Zanjan...
. The head and left foot are currently on display in a glass case at the National Museum of Iran
National Museum of Iran
The National Museum of Iran is a museum in Tehran, Iran. It is the combination of two museums, the old Muze-ye Irân-e Bâstân , and the modernistic white travertine National Arts Museum , inaugurated in 1972...
in Tehran
Tehran
Tehran , sometimes spelled Teheran, is the capital of Iran and Tehran Province. With an estimated population of 8,429,807; it is also Iran's largest urban area and city, one of the largest cities in Western Asia, and is the world's 19th largest city.In the 20th century, Tehran was subject to...
.
Discovery
In the winter of 1993, miners came across a body with long hairHair
Hair is a filamentous biomaterial, that grows from follicles found in the dermis. Found exclusively in mammals, hair is one of the defining characteristics of the mammalian class....
, a beard
Beard
A beard is the collection of hair that grows on the chin, cheeks and neck of human beings. Usually, only pubescent or adult males are able to grow beards. However, women with hirsutism may develop a beard...
and some artifact
Artifact (archaeology)
An artifact or artefact is "something made or given shape by man, such as a tool or a work of art, esp an object of archaeological interest"...
s. These included the remains of a body, a foreleg inside a leather
Leather
Leather is a durable and flexible material created via the tanning of putrescible animal rawhide and skin, primarily cattlehide. It can be produced through different manufacturing processes, ranging from cottage industry to heavy industry.-Forms:...
boot
Boot
A boot is a type of footwear but they are not shoes. Most boots mainly cover the foot and the ankle and extend up the leg, sometimes as far as the knee or even the hip. Most boots have a heel that is clearly distinguishable from the rest of the sole, even if the two are made of one piece....
, three iron
Iron
Iron is a chemical element with the symbol Fe and atomic number 26. It is a metal in the first transition series. It is the most common element forming the planet Earth as a whole, forming much of Earth's outer and inner core. It is the fourth most common element in the Earth's crust...
knives
Knife
A knife is a cutting tool with an exposed cutting edge or blade, hand-held or otherwise, with or without a handle. Knives were used at least two-and-a-half million years ago, as evidenced by the Oldowan tools...
, a wool
Wool
Wool is the textile fiber obtained from sheep and certain other animals, including cashmere from goats, mohair from goats, qiviut from muskoxen, vicuña, alpaca, camel from animals in the camel family, and angora from rabbits....
len half trouser, a silver
Silver
Silver is a metallic chemical element with the chemical symbol Ag and atomic number 47. A soft, white, lustrous transition metal, it has the highest electrical conductivity of any element and the highest thermal conductivity of any metal...
needle
Sewing needle
A sewing needle is a long slender tool with a pointed tip. The first needles were made of bone or wood; modern ones are manufactured from high carbon steel wire, nickel- or 18K gold plated for corrosion resistance. The highest quality embroidery needles are plated with two-thirds platinum and...
, a sling
Sling (weapon)
A sling is a projectile weapon typically used to throw a blunt projectile such as a stone or lead "sling-bullet". It is also known as the shepherd's sling....
, parts of a leather rope
Rope
A rope is a length of fibres, twisted or braided together to improve strength for pulling and connecting. It has tensile strength but is too flexible to provide compressive strength...
, a grindstone
Grindstone (tool)
A grindstone is a round sharpening stone used for grinding or sharpening ferrous tools. They are usually made from sandstone.Grindstone machines usually have pedals in which to speed and slow the stone to sharpen metal to the point of perfection....
, a walnut
Walnut
Juglans is a plant genus of the family Juglandaceae, the seeds of which are known as walnuts. They are deciduous trees, 10–40 meters tall , with pinnate leaves 200–900 millimetres long , with 5–25 leaflets; the shoots have chambered pith, a character shared with the wingnuts , but not the hickories...
, some pottery
Pottery
Pottery is the material from which the potteryware is made, of which major types include earthenware, stoneware and porcelain. The place where such wares are made is also called a pottery . Pottery also refers to the art or craft of the potter or the manufacture of pottery...
shards, some designed textile
Textile
A textile or cloth is a flexible woven material consisting of a network of natural or artificial fibres often referred to as thread or yarn. Yarn is produced by spinning raw fibres of wool, flax, cotton, or other material to produce long strands...
fragments, and finally a few broken bone
Bone
Bones are rigid organs that constitute part of the endoskeleton of vertebrates. They support, and protect the various organs of the body, produce red and white blood cells and store minerals. Bone tissue is a type of dense connective tissue...
s. The body had been buried in the middle of a tunnel of approximately 45 metres length.
Five other corpses, including a teenager and a woman, were discovered later in the same salt mine. Four are kept at the Rakhtshuikhaneh Museum in Zanjan. A sixth was left in place at the salt mine. 300 pieces of fabric were found, some of which retained designs and dyes. In 2008 the Ministry of Industries and Mines canceled the mining permit.
Research
After archeological studies which included C14 datingRadiocarbon dating
Radiocarbon dating is a radiometric dating method that uses the naturally occurring radioisotope carbon-14 to estimate the age of carbon-bearing materials up to about 58,000 to 62,000 years. Raw, i.e. uncalibrated, radiocarbon ages are usually reported in radiocarbon years "Before Present" ,...
of different samples of bones and textiles, the Salt Man was dated to about 1,700 years ago. By testing a sample of hair, the blood group
Human blood group systems
The International Society of Blood Transfusion currently recognises 30 major blood group systems . Thus, in addition to the ABO antigens and Rhesus antigens, many other antigens are expressed on the red blood cell surface membrane...
B+ was determined.
Three dimensional pictures (scans
Computed tomography
X-ray computed tomography or Computer tomography , is a medical imaging method employing tomography created by computer processing...
) show the fractures around the eye and other damage that occurred before death as result of a hard blow.
Visual characteristics presented long hair and beard and a golden earring on the left ear indicating that he was a person of rank or influence. The reason for his presence and death in the salt mine of Chehrabad remains a mystery.
Three bodies are dated to the Parthian
Parthian Empire
The Parthian Empire , also known as the Arsacid Empire , was a major Iranian political and cultural power in ancient Persia...
(247 BCE-224 CE) and Sassanid
Sassanid Empire
The Sassanid Empire , known to its inhabitants as Ērānshahr and Ērān in Middle Persian and resulting in the New Persian terms Iranshahr and Iran , was the last pre-Islamic Persian Empire, ruled by the Sasanian Dynasty from 224 to 651...
(224-651 CE) eras, and the remainder to the Achaemenid Dynasty (550-330 BCE).
Sources
- Description of the exhibits, National Museum of IranNational Museum of IranThe National Museum of Iran is a museum in Tehran, Iran. It is the combination of two museums, the old Muze-ye Irân-e Bâstân , and the modernistic white travertine National Arts Museum , inaugurated in 1972...
, Tehran. - Ramaroli1,V, J. Hamilton, P. Ditchfield, H. Fazeii, A. Aali, R.A.E. Coningham, A.M. Pollard 2010 The Chehr Abad “Salt men” and the isotopic ecology of humans in ancient Iran, American Journal of Physical Anthropology, Volume 143, Issue 3, pages 343–354