The Salt Men of Iran: the salt mine of Douzlākh, Chehrābād

Abstract

The Salt Men of Iran: the salt mine of Douzlākh, Chehrābād

During 2004, 2005, and 2010 scientific excavations took place at the salt mine of Chehrābād. According to the work conducted and further scientific investigations, the beginning of salt exploitation dates to the mid-first millennium BC. Some indications possibly hint to mining activities during the Late Arsacid period. Salt extraction certainly was taken up again during the Sassanian period and might have continued up to the Early Islamic period. The extraction was car- ried out as a chamber-pillar mining; no wooden props have been found so far, although the mummified bodies of mine workers and the context bear ample witness of instabilities and mining catastrophes. The first two campaigns were conducted by the Iranian Cultural Heritage Organization/Miras Farhangi under the auspices of Abolfazl Aali. The excavation in 2010 laid the basis for the establishment of a multinational group of scientists, comprising research facil- ities in Iran, Germany, Great Britain, France, and Switzerland.