Following a set of anthropological studies on remains of 8 children unearthed inside the embankment of the Bam Citadel, experts diagnosed no disease as their death cause but said they dated from the Islamic era.

“The remains belonged to girls and boys aged 1 to 8 and since they are buried in accordance with Islamic burial rituals, they most probably used to live after the invasion of Arabs into Iran in the 6th century,” said Iranian anthropologist Farzad Forozanfar.

He reckons since in Islam vertical interment is prohibited, the kids were buried in an emergency situation, say when the 2,500-year-old adobe fort was surrounded by foes. The remains are mainly intact since they were entombed inside the embankments of the citadel and the weather in the southern city of Bam, almost completely ruined during a terrible quake last December, is arid.
“We are, later on, going to conduct DNA tests on them to determine their exact age and to confirm the theory on their death which contends they were starved,” added Forozanfar.