a study on the subterranean burials of the sāmen (malayer) rocky architectural complex

the handmade subterranean architectural structure is a special kind of architecture that is in its creation does not require any construction materials but it needs many efforts and hard working to be produced the different types of this kind are visible in the different parts of iran. a unique collection of this type of architecture is the troglodytic architectural complex of samen, located about 90 km from the south of hamadan, 15 km from the south west of malayer. accessibility to this complex has been possible first in 2006. this site is composed of about 50 troglodytic architectural spaces in different sizes including corridors, halls and rooms. four successive research programs (identification, documentation, clearing and archeological excavations) were carried out on this complex from 2008 to 2011 conducted by one of us; ali khaksar. field study of this complex brought to light not only the unknown characteristics of such subterranean architecture but resulted in to discover about 60 human bone fragments. our comparative analysis on the materials found from the site as well as on the human bone fragments led to conclude the site has been in use during the parthian period.