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.CAIS NEWS© ARCHAEOLOGICAL & CULTURAL NEWS OF THE IRANIAN WORLD |
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Remains of Various Races Discovered at Ancient Gandab Cemetery
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07 November 2006 |
LONDON, (CAIS) -- A team of Iranian archaeologists working at the Gandab ancient cemetery near the city of Semnan have unearthed skulls of various shapes during the third phase of excavations, which is currently underway at the site.
The
team discovered dolichocephalic (long skulls), mesocephalic (medium skulls), and
brachycephalic (short-headed or broad skulls).
“Humans
are classified based on the shapes of their skulls, which determine the race of
the ethnic groups living in a certain region. We discovered humans with long
skulls, medium skulls, and short-headed (skulls), which raise many questions for
us,” team director Farzad Foruzanfar told the Persian service of CHN on
Tuesday.
“A
variety of races is rarely seen in a cemetery, so the Gandab cemetery is an
exceptional ancient graveyard of our country,” he added.
The
Gandab cemetery, which is located 50 kilometers northeast of the city of Semnan,
dates back to the first millennium BCE.
“We
began the third phase of excavations in order to study the various styles of
burials and to determine the size of the cemetery. The cemetery was much wider
than we originally thought, so we made numerous trenches, which led us to the
graves with different burial styles,” Foruzanfar explained.
These
new discoveries changed the team’s ordering of the graves and classification
of the burial types in the cemetery, he noted.
The
team has discovered skeletons buried in squatting and supine positions in graves
of various construction, he added.
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Extracted From/Source: Mehr News 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, 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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