KHAJE ASKAR: A 4TH MILLENNIUM BC CEMETERY IN BAM, SOUTHEASTERN IRAN

Due to the exciting discovery of major Bronze Age urban centers in southeastern Iran, such as Shahr e Soukhte, Shandad and Konar Sandal (Jiroft), most scholarly attention has been given to the 3rd millennium BC. As a result, the cultures preceding the Bronze Age in particular the 4th millennium BC have been often neglected. In early 2011, the Iranian Center of Heritage and Tourism Organization (ICHTO) of Kerman Province conducted a rescue excavation at Khaje Askar near the city of Bam, in which several graves and complete funerary vessels were discovered (about 15 graves had been bulldozed previously). As a result of the excavations, a total of 9 graves and 53 funerary goods were uncovered; the burial goods included ceramics, stone and clay beads, stone vessels, clay objects, shells and a unique metal blade. In this article, we state the results of excavations at Khaje Askar cemetery and describe the burials and funerary goods and according to a comparative analysis based on the ceramics of other excavated settlement sites of southeastern Iran and Pakistan such as Tal-e Iblis, Mahtoutabad, Mehrgarh and Shahi Tump, we argue that Khaje Askar cemetery belongs to the Aliabad culture (lblis IV) and dates to the 4th millennium BC.