THE SALT MAN – 1700 years old, Iran 
He was discovered in 1993 in the Chehrabad salt mines of Zanjan
Province, Iran. Miners found remains of the body itself, a foreleg encased in a leather boot, three iron knives, a woolen half-trouser, a silver needle, a sling, fragments of a leather rope, a grindstone, a walnut, pottery shards, intricately designed textile fragments, and several broken bones.
The man’s appearance, marked by long hair, a beard, and a golden earring in his left ear, suggests he held a high social status.
Later, five more bodies, including a woman, were uncovered. Studies at Oxford and Cambridge dated the first two Salt Men to the Sassanid era (224-651 AD) and the others to the Achaemenid period (550-330 BC).
This particular Salt Man, dated to 1,700 years ago, had blood type B+ based on hair analysis. His remains are now displayed in the Ancient Iran Museum, Tehran.
(Photo credits: Ali Majdfar. Note: The copyrighted photos shown here are posted with the author’s permission)
