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.CAIS ARCHAEOLOGICAL & CULTURAL NEWS OF IRAN© |
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Kerman Historical Sites at Risk
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02 March 2006 |
LONDON, (CAIS) -- Historical sites in the south-eastern city of Kerman are threatened by ongoing development projects which are being implemented by 15 governmental organizations.
According to Persian Service of CHN, despite the legal obligation for
governmental and private sectors to seek permission from Iran’s Cultural
Heritage and Tourism Organization (ICHTO) before implementing any development
projects, cultural heritage sites in the historic city of Kerman are being
threatened by construction works.
Director of the ICHTO Department in Kerman province, Ali Karnema said that the
people are not allowed to undertake construction activities near historical
sites whereas state institutions are overstepping their limits.
He said that some 352 cultural heritage sites have been registered by ICHTO in
Kerman so far and preliminary studies which are being conducted on listing 300
other sites are expected to be completed within six months.
“Registration of cultural heritage sites empowers the ICHTO to safeguard their
precincts and prevent encroachment,“ he said.
Kerman is as old as history; - Kerman province is considered a paradise for palaeontologists given the abundance of vertebrate fossils from different geological eras.
Fossils which have already been identified are Placoderm (jawed and jawless
armoured fish dating back to Devonian era or first geological era (395 to 365
million years ago).
Dinosaurs and their traces dating back to the Jurassic era (195 to 65 million years ago) and fossils of mammals from the Third Geological Era (ranging from two to seven million years ago).
The history of human settlements in the territory of Kerman dates back to the 4th millennium BCE.
This vicinity can be considered as one of the ancient regions of Iran, and with the passage of time, valuable historical vestiges have in turn amassed here. Jiroft is an example, where a previously unknown settlement dating back to around 2500 BCE has recently been established by archaeologists.
Historical documents refer to Kerman as Karmania, Kermania, Germania and "Žermania," which means bravery and combat. Post-Sasanian Geographers have recorded Kerman's ancient name as "Go'asheer" (Bardesheer).
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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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