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A group of Iranian
archaeologists,
studying historical sites in south and west of the
northeastern Khorasan province, which are thought to be
5000-7000 years old, have concentrated their studies on
the Bronze Age.
The western rim of the province where it reaches
Iran’s central desert, has been residential since 5
millennia B.C. The archaeologists are going to date the
residential areas in central and southern Khorasan,
which are believed to be 7000 years old, in the second
phase of the studies.
Head of the Khorasan pre-historic exploration team Omran
Gazharian said the second phase was set to start in
mid-September in order to recover information needed for
the excavations.
Referring to the field works, library studies and the
data analysis in the first phase, he said the activities
started from southern Neishabur, near the desert rim,
and continued in the Khorasan heights, including those
near Sabzevar, Jovin, Jajarm, Maneh, Samarqan, Quchan
and Shirvan.
Gazharian remarked the second phase would cover cities
in southern and central Khorasan, including Gonabad,
Qa’en, Torbat Heydarieh, Sarakhs and Fariman,
stressing their work concentrated on the Bronze Age.
On results of the first phase studies, he pointed out it
has been revealed that there had been a large
concentration of settlements dating to 5-3 millennia
B.C. in the western edge of the province, while the
settlements of the Bronze and Iron age were concentrated
near Bojnurd and the Atrak river valleys.
These findings suggest, he concluded, that the pattern
and dispersion of settlements east of the country were
different from those in western Iran.
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