Ancient Caves to Turn into Site Museums

With the consent of Iran’s Cultural Heritage and Tourism Organization, Hutu and Kamarband, two ancient caves in Mazandaran province, north of Iran, are going to turn into site museums.

Hutu and Kamarband are among the most prominent archaic caves of Iran in which evidence of 7000-year-old residence have been discovered during archaeological excavations.

Pointing out the issue, Ali Mahforouzi, head of the research centre of Mazandaran Ancient Caves said, “A budget of over 11,000 dollars is allocated to change Hutu and Kamarband into site museums. This budget is now deposited to the center’s account and will be handled over to a reputable company which is in charge of the project.”

“There are numerous caves in Mazandaran province of which Hutu and Kamarband are the most important; archaeological excavations in these two caves were started before the Islamic Revolution of 1979,” he added, “with archaeological discoveries at these sites, they are potentially suitable to be changed into site museums.”

Using evidence from early settlements in these caves, experts have managed to find some aspects of ancient lifestyles prevailing in the area 7000 years ago. They have discovered that people residing there were nomads who used the caves as a temporary encampment.

Kumishan is another important cave in Mazandaran province which may enjoy a rich treasure of ancient remains and artifacts, however, they are yet to be unearthed.

Noting the previous excavations at these sites, Mahforouzi explained, “At first Americans were in charge of excavations at these caves but their project was left incomplete by the outbreak of Islamic Revolution.”

Some of the evidence discovered in these caves dates back to some 13,000 years ago. However, studies on a stone artifact, unearthed recently in one of ancient caves in Mazandaran, are suggesting that the artifact belongs to an era of 400,000 years ago. Archaeologists predicted that further studies may even date back the artifact to some earlier time.