Numerous are the pins found in the Luristan cultural sphere, the most important site being the Surkh Dum shrine. In its temples pins were deposited in large numbers. They also appear regularly in burial contexts, but occasionally in settlements, suggesting a dominant ceremonial connotation. Yet simple straight garment pins with plan upper shanks were indeed used in the area from the 3rd millennium BC onwards until they were superseded in the 8th century BC, when the fibula, or safety pin, replaced them.In the late Bronze Age and early Iron age period they became much more ornate and increasingly decorated with animal or floral shaped heads. Although some of these pins could be light enough to be worn as dress pins, many are much too large and heavy for a mundane function and possibly had a ritual connotation, such as those found in the already cited Surkh Dum shrine, which were built into the stone walls and served as religious symbols or icons.

Antiquities
Ancient Near East