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.CAIS NEWS© ARCHAEOLOGICAL & CULTURAL NEWS OF THE IRANIAN WORLD |
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Anthropologists to Study Teeth & Jaws of Burnt City Skeletons
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24 December 2006 |
LONDON,
(CAIS) -- A team of Iranian and French paleoanthropologists at the Burnt
City (Shahr-e Sikhtә) has recently started some paleopathological studies on
the teeth and jaws of 600 skeletal remains discovered in this historic site,
located in the southeastern Iranian province of Sistan va Baluchestan. Experts
are hoping that their studies will lead them into revealing more information on
the anthropology and diet of Burnt City ancient inhabitants.
“More
than 600 skeletons have so far been discovered in Burnt City’s ancient
cemetery. The skeletal remains are now kept in special chambers and a number of
anthropologists from the joint Irano-French archaeology team have recently
started their studies on the teeth and jaws of these skeletons,” said Dr.
Farzad Forouzanfar, director of the anthropology department of Iran’s
Archaeology Research Centre and member of Burnt City excavation team.
According
to Forouzanfar, anthropological studies on the skeletal teeth would give clues
to the diet of Burnt City inhabitants who populated this area during the 3rd
millennium BC: “Since the ancient people had no means to remove the bacterial
plaques that formed on their teeth, we are certain that we can still find them
on the remaining teeth through laboratory analysis,” added Forouzanfar.
An
earlier study at the Burnt City had led archaeologists into proposing a theory
that suggested mothers of the ancient Burnt City suffered from malnutrition at
one period of time as skeletons of a number of stillborn foetuses were found in
the site’s cemetery.
One of the most important pre-historic sites of Iran, Burnt City boasts a civilization history of more than 5000 years. Ten seasons of archaeological studies in this ancient city resulted in numerous findings, some of which – such as the recent discovery of a 5000 year old woman with artificial eye – have astounded world archaeologists.
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Extracted From/Source: Cultural Heritage News Agency (CHN) Please
note
the above-news is NOT a "copy & paste" version from
the mentioned-source. The news/article above has been modified with
the following interventions by CAIS: Spelling corrections;
-Rectification and correction of the historical facts and data; -
Providing additional historical information within the text; -Removing any
unnecessary, irrelevant & repetitive information. All these measures have been taken in order to ensure that the published news provided by CAIS is coherent, transparent, accurate and suitable for academics and cultural enthusiasts who visit the CAIS website.
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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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