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CAIS ARCHAEOLOGICAL & CULTURAL NEWS OF IRANIAN WORLD© |
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Esfahan's Gavkhooni Swamp Shrinks to One-Tenth Since Antiquity
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20 May 2006 |
LONDON, (CAIS) -- Studies on Gavkhooni (Gâvkhuni) Swamp in southeast of Esfahan near Zayandeh-Roud River will continue during the current Iranian year (started March 21), a senior official with the provincial Cultural Heritage and Tourism Department stated.
Talking to ILNA, head of the department’s Archaeology Office said the ancient
site had been placed on the radar screen of archaeologists last year. More archaeological
excavations revealed that in ancient times Gavkhooni Swamp was in fact extended
over a vast tract of land much larger than its current size.
Experts estimate that during fourth and fifth millenniums BCE, Gavkhooni Swamp
was ten times larger than what it is at present.
“Gavkhooni which had been a huge lake in ancient times gradually dried up and
was changed into the present swamp,“ Mohsen Jaberi, explained.
According to him, various civilizations settled in the area from the fifth
millennium BCE up until the mid-post-Sasanid era.
Objects found in a historic site excavated near Gavkhooni Swamp recently suggest
that the first communities had settled in the area during the prehistoric period
and most probably in the Neolithic Age (some 10,000 years ago).
Last year, archaeologists came across a Neolithic site near Gavkhooni Swamp.
Throughout history, civilizations have always been established along riverbanks.
Therefore, it is probable that ancient civilizations had been formed along the
banks of Zayandeh-Roud River.
Meanwhile, he said that excavations would continue in Ashena Hill of Chadegan.
Second season of archeological activities will also be carried out at Hassan
Abad’s caves. The office has plans to conduct archaeological surveys on
Freydunshahr, Chadegan as well as Shahreza.
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The British Museum
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