Within the depths of an ancient Chehrābād salt mine in Iran , multiple miners encounter a grisly end 1000 of year ago . Over the last few decades , their mummified remains , some of which show the terror they faced at the time of their deaths , have been turn up by archaeologists . Now , late research has offered fresh brainstorm into the enigma surrounding these so - called “ Saltmen ” and the chronicle of the mine that take their lives .
The Saltmen mummies
The Chehrābād mine is locate in the Douzlākh salt depository , in the Māhneshān Mountains , which is northwest of where Tehran is today . Most of the Saltmen mummies recovered from the situation day of the month back to theAchaemenid Dynasty(550 - 330 BCE ) , which was the largest empire of its sort in the ancient world . At its peak , the Achaemenid Empire extended from Anatolia and Egypt across westerly Asia and northerly and central Asia .
The first mummy fragments were happen upon in 1993 , which begin the first phase of excavations in the salinity muckle . This first Saltman ’s discerp question was preserved with a thick snowy beard and a single gold earring , and was found with iron knife , a leather boot , and pieces of woollen boxers that were tarnish with piss and excreta residue .
This individual is thought to have died around 300 CE , at the sentence of theSasanian Dynasty . Then , in 2004 , another Saltman was discovered around 15 time ( 50 pes ) from the first man . By 2010 , another six mammy had been recovered from the internet site . One of the most iconic , and true tragic , mummies belong to a 16 - year - erstwhile boy whose preserved remain show him with raised manus , as if he was protect himself from something .
The severed and mummified head of the first Saltman to be recovered in 1993. The head is now held at the National Museum, Teheran.Image credit: G. Najaflu / Stöllner et al., J. World Prehist., 2024 (CC BY 4.0)
Subsequent research into the Saltmen shows that they all sustain crack and compaction injury , suggestingthey were crushed by accidents in the mine .
In increase , the physical structure of the 5th mummy to be excavate revealed solid sum of tapeworm testicle in his intestine , which likely came from a diet of raw and uncooked substance . This outcome became do it as theoldest exampleof enteral sponge in Iranian history .
“ The salt mum from the Douzlākh mine are certainly among the most exciting recent discoveries in the archaeology of mining ” , Thomas Stöllner , a mining archaeologist , and co-worker explain in their recent review paper that explores the mine ’s story .
The tragic remains of Saltman 4 reveal the horrible nature of his final moments as his body has become fixed in a state of panic.Image credit: K. Stange, AVTention Marienheide; Graphic: Th. Stöllner / Stöllner et al., J. World Prehist., 2024 (CC BY 4.0)
“ Several excavation chance event are visible from the bodies , which bring out legion details of these accident and the life history of the individuals . ”
“ The mummies are particular for several reasons . Unlike other famous human mummy find , we are deal not with a sole somebody , but with several comparable people from unlike work teams . They yield a unique chance to study the effects of such saving conditions on human mild tissue . ”
The mummies owe theirpreservationto the high Strategic Arms Limitation Talks capacity of the mine , which basically dehydrated their bodies and prevented decomposition .
The life of the mine
Despite the unbelievable details and evidence ply by the Saltmen mummies , there is much we do not know about the mine itself . We do know that the mine was extensively overwork during the Achaemenid menstruation . At some pointedness around 405 and 380 BCE , however , the mine was empty for about 200 years after an fortuity killed three miner .
The mine was also worked during the Sasanian full point , around the second or third century CE . It look as though the mine remained in operation until sometime in the 5th to early seventh century , when there is evidence of another catastrophe ( which resulted in the expiry of Saltman 2 and 6 ) .
There is then grounds that the mine was in use of goods and services during the Seljuk period ( a gothic Turkish imperium that ruled the region between 1081 and 1307 CE ) , and the Ilkhanid period ( a medieval Mongol dynasty that rule Iran between 1256 and 1353 CE ) .
There is also grounds that the mine was used well into the Middle Moslem period ( also bed as the Medieval Islamic Empire ) .
“ Over the centuries , extraction positioning and the organization of extraction changed many multiplication ” , the author pen . “ As mining shifted to more productive locations , outer space create during earlier operation could be used for other aim . ”
This complex process have in mind investigator can retrace how and when the mine was used by studying its stratigraphy , along with artefact recovered from the sites .
But how long was the mine in use for prior to the Achaemenid period ? This is where the berth becomes even more unreadable .
Stöllner and colleague get out together selective information from 18 nearby archeologic dig - sites that span from prehistoric contexts to the Islamic menstruation . Their belief being that the Douzlākh “ table salt dome ” would have “ assumed a central office in the economic life of rural universe . ”
dig have recovered evidence of settlements that date back as far as the Chalcolithic or Copper Age ( 5,000 - 4,000 BCE ) , and maybe even the Stone Age . However , just because there were the great unwashed living in the area during these time does not mean they actively mined the salt from it . At present , there is small grounds to bear witness they did so .
If these prehistoric communities did exploit the mine , their methods for doing so have been lost to history or were too disorganized to lead a tincture .
The bailiwick is published in theJournal of World Prehistory .
