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Pithos burial is a common burial method in Arsacids era. Various cemeteries of this era have been unearthed until now but there wasn’t any reference about historical and archaeological condition of Marivan’s region and the existence of pithos because of the lack of enquiry and archaeological studies. Fortunately, by with research effort, some pithos cemeteries with diverse burial from Arsacids era were discovered and excavated. The study attempts to describe some invaluable information regarding migrant Arsacids religious out look and their burial practices near Zaribar lake.

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The valley of Alamut is situated in the north – east of Qazvin province. The region is an enclave in the form of a U shape valley in the central Alborz chains and opening up to the fertile Qazvin plains. The mountains of Alamut were ideal for construction of castles. The natural heights contains a section of the defensive structure of the castles. In 1090 A.D, Hassan Sabbah , the leader of Ismailites in Iran , chose the Alamut region , as his headquarter to campaign , preach and convert new followers. This proved to be a turning point for destiny of Alamut Valley. The result of over two centuries Ismailite stronghold, the region witnessed innumerous castles throughout, of which at least 20 “castles “dating back to this era have been identified. The most magnificent castle in the Alamut Valley is the Alamut or the Hassan Sabbah castle, which is built on top of a high rock reaching 2163 m above sea level near the Gazor Khan Village .The rock is 200 m high, with its steep slope and deep and dangerous ravine, the rock is practically inaccessible and forms a part of the Fort’s structure. Covering an area of 20,000sq.m. Currently only ruins of the fort and some towers are apparent and it is only through archeological excavation the mains can be discovered. During the7 seasons of excavation (2001- 2007) more than 5000 Sq.m were unearthed. The discoveries include: main entrances, road networks, steps and stepsflanked, workshops, water reservoirs, depots, living quarters, significant main portal and mosque. With molded and carved delicated brick decoration, as well as broken pieces of turquoise glazed tiles, luster painted tiles, these findings speak of the magnificents architecture of the castle during the Ismailite. Excavations show that the castle has undergone at least four major alterations, first in the 11 century A.D (Hassan Sabbah period), and then during his seven successors ( until 13th century AD ) and before the attack of Hulaku Khan in 1257 AD during the reign of Roknoddin Khorshah , the last lord of Alamut, the Safavid era 16-17A.D; when castle was used as prison and exile for political opponents and was referred to as “oblivious castle” and finally during Qajar unfortunately ravaged for treasure hunting.

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The Douzlakh salt mine at Chehr Abad, Zanjan Province, Iran has provided a rare organic preservation of human remains, and associated cloth and clothing. This textile evidence offers a window into a poorly known but pivotal era of textile history. Moreover, the context is of accidental burial of miners at work, rather than deliberate burial of elites. At least six bodies have been recovered, one of which was very well preserved, being fully clothed and carrying items of personal equipment. This paper is a summary of preliminary findings on the textile assemblage.

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Bari Castle is located on the western side of Urmia Lake. The castle enclosed with stony walls measuring several meters high, encompasses a widespread area. It was used in the first millennium BC considering the castle’s architectural features and potsherd remains found on its surface. For almost 150 years, from the middle of the 9^th century to the end of the 8^th century, the Urartian areas in Iran did not witness any attack from Assyrians. It was only during the reign of Sargon II, clashes erupted between Urartu and Assyria. The reason was that Urartu interfered more and more in the affairs of the kingdom of Mannea, which Assyria considered a tributary. The first half of the 7^th century is when Mannaean seized the power in that area. It was the time which saw the expansion of Mannean more than ever, especially its dominance on the Urmia plain, hence; the Bari castle was of the Mannaean Empire.

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Environmental and climatic factors have been found to play a fundamental role in the formation of ancient societies. The Godin III period or the New Bronze Age (1400-2600 BC) has actually been the most important Bronze Age stage in western Iran, which played a key role in the cultural structure and urban formation. The main goal of this research is to reveal the spatial distribution of the Godin III period in relation to climatic conditions and geography of Lorestan province’s Silakhor plain. The results of the spatial autocorrelation analysis indicate that the spatial distribution of Godin III followed a linear cluster pattern, with two climatic factors of precipitation and vegetation being the most important environmental elements. The frequently distributed ancient sites of the Godin III period have a spatial correlation of 0.75 with vegetation in Silakhor Plain showing that more than 75% of the investigated sites fall into the maximum rainfall category. The results dedicated that 90% of the investigated sites are located less than 1 km away from permanent rivers, especially the Silakhor River. Rainfall, vegetation, and surface water sources have created a linear cluster spatial distribution pattern for ancient sites of the Godin III period at the lowest elevation level. The results indicate that the lowest elevation provided the main platform for the Godin III period thus there was the absence of a major threat from the foreign enemy to the mind.