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CAIS ARCHAEOLOGICAL & CULTURAL NEWS

02 October 2005

(Iran Daily) - An archeology laboratory has been established to determine the DNA of the people who lived in the 'Burnt City' (Shahr-e Sukhtah) some 5,000 years ago, reported CHN.

A French team has undertaken to conduct DNA tests in the ancient city in southeast Iran.

The DNA tests will prove various theories by determining the race and the original nationality of the residents of the Burnt City (if they immigrated to Iran from other territories), color of their skin and hair and other information about their culture and civilization.

Archeologist and head of team of experts involved in the Burnt City excavations, Mansour Sajjadi said that the DNA tests on the skeletons will provide complete knowledge about assumptions made by archeologists in several rounds of studies in the Burnt City.

"It will help turn assumptions to facts and respond to all the questions which have so far remained unanswered," Sajjadi said.

"We have invited French and German geneticists to help us determine the DNA of the residents of Burnt City and we have also asked Italian herbalists who have conducted two rounds of studies at the site to come and resume their work," he added.

Eight rounds of archeological studies have been carried out in the Burnt City which was unearthed in the vicinity of Zabol, Sistan-Baluchestan province.

The Burnt city stretches over an area of 150 hectares and studies indicated it was once the cradle of a flourishing civilization.

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