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Salt-man No.4 is the 4^th natural mummy discovered in the archeological excavation in Chehr-Abad salt mine located in the western Iranian city of Zanjan in 2005. The mummy was a complete body, fully clothed and with leather boots, a silver earring and a few gadgets such as a metallic knife, ceramic pots and an oil lamp. Radiocarbon dating revealed that the mummy dates back to Achaemenid era 330-550 B.C. Total coverage and clothing as well as anatomy of the mummy including its forearm, delicate fingers and lack of beard and mustache raised some questions about its gender. In the light of the physical status of the mummy at its burial time, the other question was the cause of its death. It was necessary to get information about physical conditions and the severity of the damage incurred to the mummy in order to take conservation and preservation measures. X-Ray radiography and CT scan revealed the gender of the mummy as being a 15 to 16-year-old boy who had died as a result of crushing caused by the collapse of heavy stones at the mine that buried him underneath. The sudden death was caused by multiple bone fractures (trauma) and heart compression and rupture as a result of crushing falling stones.

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The fifth season of archeological excavation of Konar Sandal Mound Hill in Jiroft (located in southeast of Iran) in 2006 was characterized by discovery of a clay monument on the wall of one of the architectural spaces there. With dimensions of 110 × 95 cm and 18cm thickness, the monument is regarded as the unique and oldest clay relief ever discovered (third millennium BC). On the one hand, historical and artistic values of the unique monument and its location in the site and environmental and human threats causing serious damages to it on the other hand, has made its documentation ever more necessary. The study of constituting materials and building techniques of the monument was done through macroscopic (field and visual study) and microscopic (optical and electron) methods as well as chemical analysis of elements and compounds on the clay foundation and its color layers (FT-IR, XRF, XRD, and SEM-EDS). The results suggest that the clay monument was built in two parts, namely the built-on torso and lower torso (skirt) which was carved out on a cob wall. Then, a delicate finish layer made of clay was put on the colored layer. The finish layer was made by using mineral pigments such as limonite (yellow) for covering the body (i.e. arms, chest and waist scarf), and Ochre hematite (red) and carbon (black) for ornament of embossed skirt. The used clay soil is of montmorillonite type which reacts, expands and contracts significantly due to humidity variation.