LONDON,
(CAIS) -- Tests carried out by Oxford University
Radiocarbon Accelerator Unit (ORAU) on the remains and clothing of two
saltmen discovered in Chehr-Abad (Chehr-Âbâd) salt mine,
14C assigned
date to the late Parthian dynastic era (1745 BP). The
results proved Iranian archaeologists' hypothesis correct.
Both
saltmen numbered 1 and 2 were the victims of collapsed
tunnels.
The
remains of other three saltmen known by numbers 3, 4 and 5, which
were also victims of collapsed tunnels 14C have
placed them in post-Achaemenid
period
(2245 BP).
The
earliest evidence of salt mining in Chehr-Abad goes back to
2,500 years ago, during the Achaemenid dynastic era.
Radiocarbon
dating is a method of obtaining age estimates on organic
materials. It has been used to date samples as old as
50,000 years. The method was developed in the 1950s by a
team of scientists under Professor Willard F. Libby
of the University of Chicago, and has provided age
determinations in archaeology, geology, geophysics and
other branches of science.
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