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 The
emergency rescue operation in the ancient caves of
Bolaqi Gorge that will be drowned in 6 months
kicked off with the aid of a team of Iranian and
Japanese archeologists.
A
team of Iranian and Japanese archeologists have
begun an emergency rescue operation in the ancient
caves of Bolaqi Gorge which will be drowned in six
months following Sivand dam watering.
Bolaqi Gorge is located in the southern province
of Fars in a distance of 4 km from Pasargadae
ancient site, and includes over 120 ancient sites.
Many archeologists also believe that a part of the
ancient King's Road, the oldest Iranian empire
road, crossed this site.
“In this excavation season, a team of Iranian
and Japanese archeologists have begun their
studies on the caves in which several Paleolithic
artifacts have been found. They are trying to
rescue as many artifacts as they can before the
dam is watered and the caves are drowned,”
asserted Karim Alizadeh, head of international
affairs in the Archeology Center of the Iranian
Cultural Heritage and Tourism Organization (ICHTO).
“We want to extract as much information as we
can,” added Alizadeh, “and regarding the
insufficiency of information in the field of the
Paleolithic Age, this rescue operation can be
considered critical.”
The joint team of Iranian and Japanese
archeologists including 8 Japanese experts and 6
Iranian researchers will work on the caves for a
month. Iranian ministry of energy has announced
that the dam will be watered in six months and
more than 120 ancient sites will be drowned.
Previously, 4 joint teams of Iranian-German,
Iranian-Polish, Iranian-Italian, and
Iranian-French archeologists had worked in this
site that led to the discovery of a series of
ancient sites from the 4th millennium B.C to the
Islamic era, an Achaemenid village, and several
artifacts dating back to Sassanid era.
In recent years, the construction of many dams in
several countries including Assvan Dam in Egypt,
with the aim of economic development, has
inflicted serious damages to these countries'
cultural heritage and in some cases led to the
complete destruction of ancient sites. Egypt
formed an international team under the supervision
of UNESCO for rescuing some ancient temples.
Pasargadae is the 5th Iranian ancient site
registered as a world heritage site in the UNESCO
world heritage committee conference in June, 2004.
The construction of Sivand dam in Fars province
started in 1992, regardless of the existence of
several historical sites in the region.
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