Darian Dam was constructed on the

Sirwan River The Sirwan (, , , ) is a river and tributary of the Tigris that originates in Iran. The Sirwan (or Sirvan) then runs mainly through eastern Iraq. It covers a total distance of . Course It rises near Hamadan, in the Zagros Mountains of Iran. Descen ...

between 2009 and 2015. The Dam is located in the Hawrāmān region of

Kurdistan Kurdistan (, ; ), or Greater Kurdistan, is a roughly defined geo- cultural region in West Asia wherein the Kurds form a prominent majority population and the Kurdish culture, languages, and national identity have historically been based. G ...

and

Kermanshah Kermanshah is a city in the Central District (Kermanshah County), Central District of Kermanshah province, Kermanshah province, Iran, serving as capital of the province, the county, and the district. The city is from Tehran in the western pa ...

. The Darian Dam Archeological Salvage Program (DDASP) was planned by the Iranian Center for Archaeological Research before flooding the

reservoir A reservoir (; ) is an enlarged lake behind a dam, usually built to water storage, store fresh water, often doubling for hydroelectric power generation. Reservoirs are created by controlling a watercourse that drains an existing body of wa ...

This archaeological program, under the general direction of

Fereidoun Biglari Fereidoun Biglari () () is an Iranian archaeologist and a museum curator. Career Fereidoun Biglari is co-founder and head of the Paleolithic department in National Museum of Iran which was established in 2001. He is serving as a member of the r ...

, has conducted several seasons of archaeological surveys and excavations within the area of the reservoir that led to the discovery of many important

Paleolithic The Paleolithic or Palaeolithic ( years ago) ( ), also called the Old Stone Age (), is a period in human prehistory that is distinguished by the original development of stone tools, and which represents almost the entire period of human prehist ...

and more later sites. The Main excavated sites were Darai Rockshelter (Middle Paleolithic), Kenacheh Cave (Upper Paleolithic), Ruwār tomb (Iron Age), Sar Cham (Chalcolithic and Iron Age), and Barda Mār (19th century). Except for Ruwar sites, all other excavated sites were flooded in 2015-2016. The results of these salvage excavations were presented at the First National Congress on Archaeology of Hawraman: Archaeological Salvage Excavations at the Darian Dam Reservoir in May 2018 at Kurdistan University. Some of the results of the research conducted in the area of the Darian Dam were presented at a special seminar hosted by the Iranology Foundation in December 2021 https://www.tehrantimes.com/news/468314/Archaeologists-tell-of-efforts-to-conserve-ancient-culture-near Publications *Adams, Jenny L. and Amir Saed Mucheshi, (2020) The persistence of plastering technology: Defining plastering stones as a distinctive handstone category, ''Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports'', Volume 31,102344, ISSN 2352-409X
The persistence of plastering technology: Defining plastering stones as a distinctive handstone category
*Biglari, F., (2021) Construction de barrage et archéologie de sauvetage dans le Zagros
ARCHÉOLOGIA
595: 10-11. *Biglari, F., S. Shidrang et al. (2017) Survey and salvage excavations at the Darian Dam Reservoir, Hawraman, Kurdistan and Kermanshah, ''Proceedings of the 15th annual archaeological Symposium of Iran'', pp. 49–54, Iranian Center for Archaeological Research (ICAR), Research Institute of Cultural Heritage & Tourism (RICHT), Tehran *Biglari, F and S. Shidrang (2019) Rescuing the Paleolithic Heritage of Hawraman, Kurdistan, Iranian Zagros, ''Near Eastern Archaeology'' 82 (4): 226-235.https://doi.org/10.1086/706536 *Ghasimi, T,(2019
Ruwar: an Iron Age tomb at Hawraman, Kurdistan
''Mehr-e Parseh'' 16:109-111. *Ghasimi, Taher, et al (2021). Ruwar Tomb: New Insights into Material Culture, Burial Practice and Bioarchaeology of the Iron Age Communities in the Hawraman Mountains, Kurdistan, Iran, Bulletin of Miho Museum 21:111-122. *Fiddaman et al.2023, Ancient chicken remains reveal the origins of virulence in Marek’s disease virus. Science 382,1276-1281(2023).DOI:10.1126/science.adg2238 *Manca, L., Mashkour, M., & Ghasimi, T. (2023). Between land and sea. The exploitation of marine shells from the Neolithic to the Iron Age in Iran: the site of Ruwar (northwest of Iran)
PALEO. Revue d'archéologie préhistorique
(Hors-série), 112-129. *Tehrani, N., M. Mashkour, and F. Biglari, 2018. Ethnoarchaeological studies in the Naw village and the Asparez valley, an attempt to identify seasonal migration patterns and environmental exploitation in prehistoric Hawraman, presented in the First National Congress on Archaeology of Hawraman: Archaeological Salvage Excavations at the Darian Dam Reservoir, Ferdosi Hall, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Kurdistan, Sanandaj. *Saed Mucheshi. A., and S. Khalifeh Soltani, (2019) Shiran: a submerged Iron Age grave in the Darian dam, Hawraman, Kurdistan. In Y. Hassanzadeh, Y. and Vahdati, A.A. and Karimi, Z. (eds.), ''Proceedings of the international conference on the Iron Age in western Iran and neighboring regions'', Vol. 2: 215-226, Tehran, RICHT. *Saed Mucheshi A, Esna-Ashari A, Rahmati S M, Bahadori R, Madani F S. (2019) Compositional Study of the Potteries from Sarcham, Bardemar and Kenacheh Sites, Hawraman Area, Kurdistan Province, Iran. Journal of Research on Archaeometry 5 (1):105-127. URL

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References

{{Reflist Regions of Iran Geography of Kurdistan province Geography of Kurdistan Hawraman Dams completed in 2015 Dams in Iran Dams on the Diyala (Sirwan) River Archaeological sites in Iran