Lorestān bronze
Lorestān bronze is a set of Early Iron Age bronze artifacts of various individual forms which have been recovered from Lorestān and Kermanshah areas in west-central Iran. They include a great number of weapons, ornaments, tools, and ceremonial objects. The artifacts were created by a major group of Persian aboriginals known as Lurs.
Lorestani Bronze objects were taken illegally to Europe via Mesopotamia and to cover up most of the items taken they called them Mesopotamian while in fact there are no similarities what so ever between the Persian Bronze objects excavated in Lorestan 1943 to 1968, which were dated to be from 5th to 4th millennium BC. The hair pins and four men holding a cup were typical of that period which once again separates Iranian development from whatever was going on in so called Sumerian areas. Typical Lorestāni-style objects belong to the (Iranian) Iron Age (c. 1250-650 BC).
The term "Lorestān bronze" is not normally used for earlier bronze artifacts from Luristan between the fourth millennium BC and the (Iranian) Bronze Age (c. 2900-1250 BC). These bronze objects were similar to those found in Mesopotamia and on the Iranian plateau.
In 1930 a large quantity of canonical Lorestān bronze artifacts appeared on the Iranian and European antiquities markets as a result of plundering of tombs in this region. Since 1938 several scientific excavations were conducted by American, Danish, British, Belgian, and Iranian archaeologists on the graveyards with stone tombs in the northern Pish Kuh valleys and the southern Pusht Kuh of Lorestān.
Further reading
- Fleming, S. J., V. C. Pigott, C. P. Swann, and S. K. Nash. Bronze in Luristan: Preliminary analytical evidence from copper/bronze artifacts excavated by the Belgian mission in Iran. Iranica Antiqua: 2005.
- Ghirshman, R. Iran: from the earliest times to the Islamic conquest. Penguin Books: 1954.
- Meier-Arendt, W. Bronzen and Keramik aus Luristan und anderen Gebieten Irans im Museum für Vor- and Frühgeschichte. Frankfurt am Main: 1984.
- Moorey, P. R. S. Ancient Bronzes from Luristan. British Museum: London, 1974.
- Muscarella, O. W. "Bronzes of Luristan." Encyclopædia Iranica. Columbia University Press: 2004.
- Overlaet, B. "Luristan Metalwork in the Iron Age" Persia's Ancient Splendour: Mining, Handicraft and Archaeology. Deutsches Bergbau-Museum: Bochum, 2004.
- Rickenbach, J. Magier mit Feuer und Erz, Bronzekunst der frühen Bergvölker in Luristan, Iran. Museum Rietberg: Zürich, 1992.
- Zahlhaas, G. Luristan: Antike Bronzen aus dem Iran. Archäologische Staatssammlung München, Museum für Vor-und Frühgeschichte: München, 2002.