Gilan Welcomes Japanese Archaeologists for a Final Season

04 June 2005

A team of Japanese archaeologists are traveling to the northern province of Gilan in August for the fifth and final season of their work.

The Japanese team which started their work 5 years ago will be accompanied by Iranian archaeologists, aiming to complete their studies on the ancient life of the province which is still unknown for the most part.

The joint activities have so far revealed invaluable pieces of Gilan’s past, including architecture from the Iron Age and historical hills from Neolithic era.

Since no architectural remains were found in the province before the project by Iranian and Japanese experts, it was thought that architectural structures of Gilan were of wood and therefore ruined throughout the ages. But their discovery of mud brick structures dismissed all previous beliefs.

The discovery of a Neolithic hill in the area reveals that even before the Iron Age small groups of people were settled in the area.

According to the Iranian head of the team, Jebrael Nokandeh, the Japanese have been greatly responsible in their cooperation with Iranian archaeologists. “By completion of each excavation season, meetings were held in Iran and Japan to discuss the discoveries of the season and the results attained. The reports of the works have also been published,” explained No Kandeh.

Alongside their archaeology work, the Japanese team also carried out anthropology and zoology studies in Gilan, the results of which have also been published.

The final season of work on Gilan sites is aimed at summing up all the information gained throughout the cooperation of Japanese and Iranian experts.

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