Parthian grave

[Jim Webster]

https://www.ancient-origins.net/news-history-archaeology/parthian-warrior-0013665

Also https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/gravedigger-unearths-2-000-year-old-parthian-warrior-jv0rrrjrk but behind a pay wall

Here's a few selected highlights from the ancient origins article

"An ancient skeleton and burial artifacts of a Parthian warrior have been unearthed in  Iran while excavators buried COVID-19 victims.

The skeleton and collection of ancient artifacts were discovered in a cemetery in the village of Paji (or Pachi) in Mazandaran Province, northern Iran, during the burial of a COVID-19 victim when an industrial digger brought them to the surface.

Mazandaran Province to the south of the Caspian Sea was one of the worst-hit  Iranian provinces by the coronavirus pandemic and it is still categorized as a "red zone" by the  Ministry of Health and Medical Education . Historian Mehdi Izadi, the Deputy Head of the  Ministry of Cultural Heritage, Tourism and Handicraft Organization  in Mazandaran Province, who is himself from the village of Paji, said the Iranian protocol for the burial of COVID-19 victims requires digging to a depth of 3 meters (9.8 feet) but in this instance "the ancient remnants were discovered at a depth of 2.5 meters (8.2 feet)."

Parthian Warrior Armed to the Teeth
Situated in the Alborz mountains close to the ancient Hecatomopylos ("Hundred Gates"), today's Damghan and Tepe Hissar archaeological sites dating back to the 5 th millennium BC, the tiny village of Paji has a population of less than five hundred people. Two years ago during expansion work in the same ancient burial site, the skeleton of a young girl was discovered buried in an earthenware jar with bronze necklaces and bangles, which dated back 5000 years.

Historian Mehdi Izadi was present at the funeral of the COVID-19 victim, and he told  Radio Farda  that "parts of a skeleton, a sword, a quiver and arrows, a dagger, a shield and an earthen vessel" were unearthed, dating back to the  Parthian (Arsacid) period, which suggests this was the skeleton of a Parthian warrior.

The skeleton discovered in the village of Paji didn't have a compound bow or plate armor, but he did have a sword, and if it was a functional weapon and not ceremonial or ritual addition to the man's grave, it suggests he once belonged to the Parthian infantry, who were relatively small in numbers, but their roles were no less important as they were primarily employed as frontline guards tasked with protecting Parthian forts.

[Duncan Head]

Very interesting - thanks, Jim. I hope that at some stage we'll get a proper analysis of the grave contents, especially the weapons. The identification as a garrison infantryman is tempting, at least if we assume "No horse-furniture" means "not a cavalryman", which may not be all that safe. On the other hand, what can we say about the location? Mazandaran is more or less Hyrkania, which at times had its own king, so we might be better thinking of him as a vassal-state or tribal warrior rather than directly part of the Arsacid royal war machine.

[Jim Webster]

Very interesting - thanks, Jim. I hope that at some stage we'll get a proper analysis of the grave contents, especially the weapons. The identification as a garrison infantryman is tempting, at least if we assume "No horse-furniture" means "not a cavalryman", which may not be all that safe. On the other hand, what can we say about the location? Mazandaran is more or less Hyrkania, which at times had its own king, so we might be better thinking of him as a vassal-state or tribal warrior rather than directly part of the Arsacid royal war machine.

It's interesting to see how far out across the thin ice we can push this without too much ominous creaking

My guess is that he didn't have a composite bow but was it just not buried with him? Quiver and arrow length might help here?

Certainly there is no sign of the collection of equipment that would point to a classic horse archer, composite bow and horse harness etc
The fact he was buried with a sword, an expensive item, indicates perhaps that he wasn't buried on the cheap so that wasn't the reason for leaving stuff out.

I too would be tempted by an infantry archer, but a sword might indicate he was somebody expected to fight hand to hand (Was it the archers of Mithridates who were reduced to stabbing Romans with handfuls of arrows because they had nothing else?)

Fear not, in forty years time when the excavation report is published and the finds are conserved and presented, all will be made clear 

[Erpingham]

Fear not, in forty years time when the excavation report is published and the finds are conserved and presented, all will be made clear 

Yes, they may have other things occupying them at the moment