The Chronology of the Third Cultural Period at Tepe Hissar

Kot Diji and Hissar III

“…While this small piece of evidence helps in understanding the Iranian or Western Asiatic cultural traits in the Harappan, it also helps in dating the third cultural phase at Hissar. Gordon (1951) rejected the dating of McCown, which ranged between 2700-2300 BC or 2300-2100 BC, and suggested a much lower date of 2000-1500 BC. This was also the view of Piggott (1943, I~o ) , who equated Hissar I11 with the Jhukar Culture (Chanhu-daro 11).…”

“…The immediate ancestor of this human head and bucranium with flowers set in each of its wings seems to be Iranian, particularly Hissar IIIc, where five gold sheets with a mouflon (wild mountain sheep of southern Europe) according to Schmidt (1937), or ibex (Gordon, 1961), were found in a hoard. The horn sheets bore additionally seven pairs of perforations which pierced the long, coiled horns and the beard of the animal so that this gold ornament -probably with some ritualistic significancecould be stitched on cloth or leather as inferred by Schmidt (1937, 189).…”