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CAIS ARCHAEOLOGICAL & CULTURAL NEWS^©

12 September 2005

300 holes in Qasemabad plain, 200 in Zarabad, and more than 200 in Chegardak in Sistan va Baluchistan province indicates of activities of illegal excavators in the historical site of Delegan.

The ancient site of Delegan, is one of the key sites of Jazmoorian plain, which dates back to 3000 BC. After the illegal excavations in Jiroft had been stopped, a lot of smugglers headed to this ancient site and began to dig and plunder the remaining of historical artifacts dating back to 5000 years ago.

“One of the problems for undertaking excavations in the area is the extremely hot weather of the region on one hand and lack of facilities and enough budget on the other,” says Mohamad Heidari, director of the Cultural Heritage and Tourism Organization of Sistan va Baluchistan province, adding that when archaeologists starting their work on the site could help move out the illegal smugglers whose number has raised due to improper safeguarding of the area and insufficient budget.

According to Heidari, evidence from excavations of Chegardak indicates that they are unique objects which can hardly be found in other archaeological sites. Despite all these facts, the historical cemetery is being plundered everyday by the smugglers. Sometimes 50 people are simultaneously looting the site and as the area is far from the nearest inhabited village (about 100 kilometers), they feel free to do whatever they wish. If the diggings continue, everything will vanish within a few months. Aware of the fact that the value of the remaining objects of the site are comparable to those of Jiroft, the smugglers have now targeted Chegardak.

This cemetery is located in Delegon area of Chah Hashem plain and the system of burials indicate that it must belong to the 3rd millennium BC.

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