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07
August 2005
Artifacts
recently confiscated from smugglers by the Zanjan
Cultural Heritage and Tourism Department (ZCHTD)
have led to the discovery of an Iron Age site near
Anzar village in Iran’s Zanjan Province.
“Following
the confiscation of the artifacts from smugglers
near the village, they led us to an Iron Age site,
including a cemetery and settlement,” ZCHTD
archaeologist Abolfazl Aali said on Sunday.
“One
of the smugglers had unearthed 22 intact clay
artifacts, a number of beads made of silica, and
bronze and copper relics, such as daggers and
bayonets, during his excavations in the
cemetery,” he added.
The
as-yet-unnamed site, located amid agricultural
lands, is one of the few Iranian Iron Age sites
which has a cemetery and settlement in the same
place. It resembles the Iron Age sites in the
northern Iranian province of Gilan due to its
proximity to the Fuman mountains.
The
ZCHTD plans to excavate the site in autumn upon
receiving approval for the project from Iran’s
Archaeological Research Center.
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