Archaeologists to Excavate Ancient Industrial City of Arisman - CAIS Archaeological & Cultural Daily News of Iran©

A group of German and Iranian archaeologists plan to start the third season of excavation in the 6,000-year-old city of Arisman to learn more about metalwork in pre-historic times.

Arisman is Iran’s biggest ancient industrial complex, where archaeologists have already unearthed the relics of furnaces as well as silver, copper and earthenware tools and vessels.

“In the latest season we and our German colleagues intend to look for remnants of blast furnaces, metal workshops and architectural structures,” said Majid Ghazian, coordinating executive of the “Mining and Metalwork in Ancient Iran” project

“We believe Arisman had been an industrial hub, where ironsmiths, silversmiths and goldsmiths had a brisk business.

The artifacts can clearly indicate an industrial management in ancient times in the area, making an industrial city a more deserving title for it.” Arisman has produced artifacts from the 4th millennium BC. One can find metal artifacts and scraps littered in an area of 40 hectares".

Archaeological

This prehistoric settlement Arisman (fig.: general view of the site with the Karkas Mountains in the background) is located about 60 km southeast of Kashan and 10 km east of Natanz, in Isfahan province. It consists of several separate elevations or shallow tells that cover several hectares along the northeastern foothills of the Karkas mountains, close to the desert fringe. They can be distinguished in three areas, Arisman I-III. Surface finds suggest settlement activities over the whole area from the late 5th to the 3rd millennium BC, while Arisman II must have also been in use during a later time, towards the end of the 2nd mill. BC.

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