13 May 2001

The remains of an ancient civilisation have been uncovered in Central Asia.

Archeologists working in former Iranian provinces in Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan have uncovered new evidence of Iranian people living in the area more than 4,000 years ago who used a form of writing.

The most recent discovery is of a small stone object, engraved with four or five red-coloured symbols or letters which bear no resemblance to any other writing system of the time.

"You can say we have discovered a new ancient civilisation," Dr Fredrik Hiebert told the New York Times. The area has opened up to US archaeologists since the end of the Cold War . "We are rewriting all the history books about the ancient world because of the new political order in our own time," added Dr Hiebert.

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