Khuzestan Cities under Water 5000 Years Ago - CAIS Archaeological & Cultural Daily News of Iran©

Some cities of the southwestern province of Khuzestan had been under water 5000 years ago, showed geophysics, paleontology and archeological studies carried out in the province by the archeology group from the Belgian Ghent University.

The archeology team headed by Michael Tanderd and Herman Gash traveled to the area last year to carry out field work on ancient and historical matters, and afterwards in January 2004 headed by Professor Gash to complete the geophysics data of the case.

Researchers believe that several cities of the province were under water before the Ilamite period and signs of life have been found in the area just afterwards.

According to an archeologist who accompanied the team of Gash, Peymani, the completion of data and the details of life in the area necessitate stratigraphy analysis and sediments study, which will probably be resumed once the Belgian team returns to Iran in September 2004.

The Belgian team has taken with themselves samples collected from ground levels 10-meter deep to carry out the necessary experiments on them.

Khuzestan is home to many historical and ancient monuments, and Professor Gash believes that the changing routes of waters in the area have largely influenced the life of different ethnic groups living there; also the various cultures of the province are the result of moving from one era to the other.

Professor Gash had also been part of the excavations carried out by Girshman team in Susa some 40 years ago, and now that he is back in Iran he is saddened to see that 80% of the invaluable ancient areas surveyed then are now under cultivation and out of reach of archeologists.

Copyright © 1998-2008 The Circle of Ancient Iranian Studies (CAIS)