Sunday
18 March 2001
Tehran
-- The Cultural Heritage Organization here
Saturday announced that restoration work on a
collection of invaluable relics unearthed in the
ancient "Burnt City" by archaeological
excavation teams over the past two years has been
completed.
The
restoration of a 5,000-year-old ancient
establishment situated in the southeastern border
province of Sistan-Baluchestan was conducted by
experts of the research enter for the preservation
and rehabilitation of historical-cultural relics.
During the restoration period, research studies
were also conducted on the historical collection
which comprises 80 pieces of clay, wooden and
metal pots. Experts believe that the thick
layer of salt which covers almost all the
unearthed objects prevented the growth of
biological decomposing agents during the thousands
of years when they remained under subsoil.
The
invaluable collection are to be put on public
display on the sidelines of an international
conference on archaeology set to be held in
southeastern Iran sometime in the next Iranian
calendar year (starting March 21).
Archaeologists have unearthed scores of graves
during excavation work conducted on the Burnt
City, the largest and most ancient of historical
sites in the Middle East. Objects found inside the
graves are indicative of the living conditions of
those interred. Various industrial and
residential units, as well as cemeteries and
monumental relics, litter its 151-hectare area.
Archaeologists
last year discovered human settlements in the city
which is over 1000 square meters in area and
includes 400 meters of excavated territory.
According to Mansour Sajjadi, the head of the
archaeological team, the discovery of hundreds of
human and animal clay figurines lends further
proof to the belief that the place was once used
as a temple site.
The
figurines, measuring 8 to 10 centimeters in
length, were discovered scattered individually or
in groups in their burial sites. Experts
believe that the discovery of a large number of
seals and mathematical calculation devices in the
site proves that it was, in addition to being a
religious place, used as a center for economic
activities.
The signs of earliest human civilization, first
revealed in the Burnt City in 3200 B.C., remained
intact until 2100-2000 B.C. and during the four
successive periods of history.
Source:
IRNA
