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.CAIS NEWS© ARCHAEOLOGICAL & CULTURAL NEWS OF THE IRANIAN WORLD |
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4800-Year-Old Artificial Eyeball Discovered in Burnt City
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11 December 2006 |
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Dr Mansur Sayyed Sajadi with the artificial eyeball (Click to enlarge) |
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(Click to enlarge) |
Shapour Suren-Pahlav
LONDON,
(CAIS) -- Archaeologists in Burnt City announced
unprecedented discovery of an artificial eyeball, dated to 4800 years ago, in
this historic site.
Announcing
this news, director of Burnt City archaeology excavation team, Mansur Sajadi,
said that this eyeball belongs to a sturdy woman who was between 25 to 30 years
of age at the time of death. Skeletal remains of the woman were found in grave
number 6705 of Burnt City’s cemetery.
Regarding
the material used to make this artificial eyeball, Sajadi said: “The material
this artificial eyeball is made of has not yet been determined and will be
assessed through later testing. However, at first glance it seems natural tar
mixed with animal fat has been used in making it.”
Initial
studies on the eyeball also suggest formation of an abscess in the eyelid due to
long-term contact with the eyeball. Moreover, remaining eyelid tissues are still
evident on this artificial eyeball.
According
to Sajadi, even the most delicate eye capillaries were drawn on this eyeball
using golden wires with a thickness measuring less than half a millimetre. There
are also some parallel lines around the pupil forming a diamond shape. Two holes
are also seen on the sides of this eyeball to hold it in the eye socket.
Initial
anthropological studies on the remaining skeleton of the woman to which this
artificial eyeball belong revealed that she was a hybrid woman who died 4800
years ago between the ages of 25 to 30.
A
number of clay vessels, ornamental beads, a leather sack, and a bronze mirror
have also been found in the grave of this woman.
In
the past few years’ archaeologists have discovered a number of important and
unique artifacts including a 10-centimeter ruler with an accuracy of half a
millimetre in the ruins of the ancient city. They have also unearthed an
earthenware bowl at the Burnt City which bears images of what experts believe is
the world’s oldest “animated” picture drawn around it, as well as the
oldest dice in the world.
Located
57 kilometres from the city of Zabol in Sistan va Baluchestan province,
southeast Iran, Burnt City is one of the most important prehistoric sites of the
country which was well developed during the third millennium BCE.
Spreading
over a 300,000 hectare area, Burnt City was recently recognized as
mainland-Iran’s largest prehistoric site. The city experienced four stages of
civilization and was burnt down three times, which is why it was named ‘Burnt
City.’ Discovery of hundreds of historical sites including 166 satellite
villages together with large numbers of archaeological relics, skeletons, and
ancient structures in the archaeological site of Burnt City makes it holder of
an unparalleled record in the history of archaeological activities in Iran.
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"History is the Light on the Path to Future" |
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Encyclopaedia Iranica
The British Institute of Persian Studies "Persepolis Reconstructed"
The British Museum
The Royal Asiatic Society
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