Shah Tepe

Shah Tepe is a prehistoric archaeological site located in the Gorgan Plain of Northeastern Iran, about 13 km north – northwest from the city of Gorgan and 20 km east of the Caspian Sea. Topographically, it is an oval mound with a longitudinal axis pointing north – south. The eastern side is steeper and straighter, while the western is strongly rounded and more gently sloping. The length of the mound is about 165 meters and breadth 135 meters. The top of the mound forms a rather even plateau about 7 – 7.5 m in height. The highest point is 8.11 m. The anthropic deposit of the site, excavated by the Swedish archaeologist T.J. Arne by means of eight square shafts (10 x 10 m, square E was 10 x 15 m) in 1933, witnesses three main periods of development. The archaeological material and photos from the excavations are kept at The Museum of Mediterranean and Near Eastern Antiquities. The earliest (Shah III) is dated back to the Chalcolithic period and is represented by numerous graves containing black or grey ware and painted pottery decorated by black patterns on a reddish ground. Shah IIB and IIA are both referred to the Bronze Age and contain burials characterized by black or grey pottery and alabaster vessels. The uppermost layer (Shah I) contained Muslim graves in association with other material of the same period. As a rule, the graves seem to have been dug under the floor of the

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