ARHEOMETRIE / ARCHÉOMETRIE / ARCHAEOMETRY

MATERIALE ŞI CERCETĂRI ARHEOLOGICE (serie nouă), XVI, 2020, p. 267– 278 COMPARISON OF VULNERABILITY CONDITIONS OF ADOBES’ STRUCTURE – THE STUDY OF HISTORICAL AND RESTORED ADOBES OF KOOH-E KHAJEH ANCIENT SITE (KOHAN DEZH CASTLE) IN SISTAN, IRAN

Introduction

Sistan is located in a vast territory in the southeastern Iran, a large part of it being today part of Afghanistan. The Sistan region, along with Baluchestan, make the Sistan and Baluchestan Province of Iran (see Moradi et alii 2013; 2014; Mutin 2017; Sarhaddi-Dadian 2015a; 2015b; 2017a; 2017b; 2020). Kooh-e Khajeh is the only elevated feature in the Sistan plains, located 30 kilometres away from the city of Zabol (See Fig. 1). The complex consists of Islamic and pre-Islamic structures, which are considered to be Iran’s most prominent adobe monuments (Sarhaddi-Dadian 2013). Adobe has been one of the oldest and most important construction materials used for building both houses and giant and stately structures, from the prehistoric period up to the present day. The monuments located at Kooh-e Khajeh in Sistan are unique adobe structures with special value. On this mountain are located special architectural structures, including Kohan Dezh Castle, Kok Kohzad Castle, Chehel Dokhtaran Castle and other scattered structures and tombstones. The most important of these structures is an imposing castle called by the locals Kohan Dezh. The extraordinary value of this