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Journal of Sistan and Baluchistan Studies

Journal of Sistan and Baluchistan Studies

ARCHAEOLOGICAL STUDY OF MINES AND METAL SMELTING FURNACES IN THE CENTRAL DISTRICT OF SARBISHEH COUNTY - SOUTH KHORASAN, IRAN

Document Type : Original Research Article

Authors
1 Department of Archaeology, University of Birjand, Birjand, Iran.
2 Expert of the General Administration of Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts and Tourism of South Khorasan, Iran.
3 Ph.D. in Islamic Archaeology of University of Mazandaran, Iran.
Abstract
The eastern and southeastern regions of Iran have long been of great importance due to the existence of metal mines. Although new research has been conducted in recent years on geology and mining, little research has been done on the site's ancient mines. In 2013, an archaeological survey in Sarbisheh County identified a number of mines and metal smelting furnaces. These historic sites are located in the central district of Sarbisheh County in the southern part of the county and in places called Koohakrud, Mesgaran, and Kasrab. In all, nine mines and three metal smelting furnaces were discovered, the largest of which is located in the Koohakrud area, 25 km south of Sarbisheh. The purpose of this research is to introduce the mines and study sites in the central district of Sarbisheh County, how to extract ores, and how to melt metals. In this regard, questions have been raised about the period of mines and metal extraction furnaces. What metal is the most extracted metal and how was the metal extraction method done? Mineral fragments from all these mines and a large amount of slag from the furnaces, and in some of these mines, clay finds have been obtained. The dating of identified mines is very difficult due to the lack of data. However, according to the cultural materials obtained from around these mines and furnaces, the Middle Ages to the late Islamic Middle Ages can be considered for these sites. According to the evidence of metal smelting, the most common mineral used in smelted rocks is copper, and the method of extracting metal mines has been surface and underground mining. The research method in this research was descriptive-analytical, and data collection has been done in a field and library method.
Keywords

چکیده: مناطق شرقی و جنوب‌شرقی ایران به دلیل داشتن معادن فلزی از گذشته تاکنون از اهمیت زیادی برخودار بوده است. هر چند در سالیان گذشته تحقیقات جدیدی در زمینة زمین‌شناسی و معادن انجام شده است، با این وجود در رابطه با معادن باستانی این منطقه تحقیقات اندکی صورت گرفته است. در بررسی باستان‌شناسی شهرستان سربیشه در سال ۱۳۹۲ تعدادی معدن و کوره ذوب فلز شناسایی شد، این آثار در بخش مرکزی شهرستان سربیشه در منطقه جنوبی شهرستان و در مکان‌هایی به‌نام کوهک رود، مِسگران و کَسراب واقع شده‌اند. در مجموع، از این بررسی‌ها، نُه معدن و سه کوره ذوب فلز کشف گردید که بزرگترین این کوره‌ها و معادن در منطقه کوهک رود در ۲۵ کیلومتری جنوب سربیشه واقع شده است. هدف از انجام این تحقیق معرفی معادن و محوطه‌های مورد مطالعه در بخش مرکزی شهرستان سربیشه، نحوه برداشت و استخراج کانسار و شیوه ذوب فلزات است. در این راستا پرسش‌هایی مطرح شده اینکه معادن و کوره استخراج فلزات مربوط به چه دوره‌ای است؟ و فلز مورد استخراج بیشتر چه فلزی بوده و شیوه استخراج فلزات به چه شکل انجام می‌شده است؟ از تمامی این معادن، قطعات سنگ‌های معدنی و از کوره‌ها، حجم بسیار زیاد سرباره و در تعدادی از این معادن یافته‌های سفالی نیز به ­دست ­آمده است. تاریخ­گذاری معادن شناسایی شده به دلیل کمی داده‌ها بسیار مشکل است. ولی با توجه به مواد فرهنگی به ­دست ­آمده از اطراف این معادن و کوره‌ها، می‌توان قرون میانی تا متأخر اسلامی را برای استخراج و ذوب فلز در این محوطه‌ها در نظر گرفت و با توجه به شواهد ذوب فلزات بیشترین کانی مورد استفاده در سنگ‌های ذوب شده فلز مس است. نحوه استخراج معادن فلزات به صورت معدن روباز و زیرزمینی بوده است. روش تحقیق در این پژوهش، از نوع توصیفی-تحلیلی و جمع آوری اطلاعات به شیوه میدانی و کتابخانه‌ای انجام شده است.

کلیدواژه: شهرستان سربیشه، معادن باستانی، کوره‌های ذوب فلز، مس، سفال.

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Volume 2, Issue 1
June 2022
Pages 29-40

  • Receive Date 09 April 2022
  • Revise Date 20 April 2022
  • Accept Date 10 June 2022
  • Publish Date 20 June 2022