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LONDON, (CAIS) - Hashtrud
region in the East-Azarbaijan province has become another
victim of the hysterical dam construction project in Iran.
Sahand Dam is going to destroy Chul Tappeh, which dates
back to 5000-years ago, while only an archaeological
survey and a preliminary excavation have been carried out.
“In
the three hectares of Chul Tappeh, we have only managed to
carry out a survey and a preliminary excavation with a
minimum budget to establish the age of the mound and
possible a rescue operation”, said Mohammad Feyzkhah,
archaeologist from ICHTO of East Azarbaijan provincial
branch.
“Although,
the test trenches has reached 5000-years-old occupational
level, but we never managed to reach the virgin soil, to
establish the exact age of the mound due to the shortage
of time and lack of finance. We speculate the mound could
be dated back to Chalcolithic
period (5000 BCE)”, said Feyzkhah.
“Chul-Tappeh,
despite the fact of its’ rarity and value to Iranian
prehistory, the ancient site now is being lost forever, as
the result of this dam construction”, he stated.
Feyzkhah
added, “There are 9 more archaeological mounds in the
vicinity of Sahand Lake, in which 4 of them will be
submerged, and the ancient road which will lead to the
rest of mounds will be submerged too”. He continued by
stating, “among the ancient monuments that will be
destroyed is the Tilu-Topor Fort, which dates back to
Saljuq period. The fort after flooding the dam will become
an island in the middle of an artificial lake. In due time
the fort will be destroyed as the result of surrounding
water and high level of damp”.
The
construction of the Sahand dam started over eight years
ago without consulting ICGTO. After 70% of the
construction had been completed the officials then
requested the ICHTO to carry out an archaeological survey.
The Report showed that in order to prepare the site for
construction the officials have sanctioned the flattening
of the Ilkhanid bridge of Gurchin (Gurchinlu) and a
Partho-Sasanian.
It
seems that there is an iron will to destroy every trace of
the country’s ancient culture through dam construction
projects, which are considered a seminal part of the
allegedly process of industrialization and modernization
and regularly hyped by Islamic government Iran.
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