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.CAIS NEWS© ARCHAEOLOGICAL & CULTURAL NEWS OF THE IRANIAN WORLD |
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Burnt City Recognised as Mainland-Iran’s Largest Prehistoric Site
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21 November 2006 |
LONDON,
(CAIS) -- Latest archaeological excavations and studies in the vicinity of
Burnt City (Shahr-e Sūkhtә) revealed that the historical-cultural domain of
this 5000-year-old prehistoric city spans over a 300,000 hectare area. This way,
the Burnt City has become known as the biggest prehistoric site of Iran-Proper.
“Archaeological
excavations for identifying satellite villages in the vicinity of the Burnt City
led archaeologists into finding the historical-cultural domain of Burnt City as
it was in the ancient times. Based on latest studies in Burnt City historical
site, some 5000 years ago, when the city was at its peak of prosperity, the
cultural domain of Burnt City spanned over a 300,000 hectare area,” said
Alireza Khosravi, head of Cultural Heritage Center of the Burnt City.
Since
this is the first time that a prehistoric city is reported to have had such a
vast area, archaeologists believe that Burnt City enjoyed the largest cultural
domain of all the prehistoric cities.
According
to Khosravi, the Cultural Heritage Centre of Burnt City has proposed official
registration of Burnt City’s historical-cultural domain. “Once registered,
the cultural landscape of Burnt City will increase up to a radius of 300,000
hectares,” added Khosravi.
One
of the main activities of the Cultural Heritage Centre of Burnt City is
identification and documentation of Burnt City’s satellite villages located on
nearby historic hills. “It is possible that the cultural domain of Burnt City
once spread for 40 kilometres from its central archaeological hill. This is
while until now archaeologists have succeeded in discovery of 330 satellite
villages located within a radius of 12 kilometres from the Burnt City,”
explained Khosravi.
Khosravi
believes that the number of satellite hills in Burnt City might reach to 1500,
which will be a significant record in the number of satellite villages ever
found for a historic site.
The
10th season of archaeological excavations in Burnt City recently
opened up, engaging Iranian, Italian and French archaeologists. One decade of
research in Burnt city will come to an end by the end of this season of
excavations. The outcomes of scientific studies at this prehistoric site will
then be compiled in a book in which major archaeological findings of this
ancient site will be documented.
Located
57 kilometres from the city of Zabol in Sistān va Baluchestān province,
southeast Iran, Burnt City is one of the most important prehistoric sites of the
country. Archaeological evidence of this old city proves that Burnt City was
well developed during the third millennium BCE.
About
30 years ago, Italians carried out some excavations in this historical site
which led to discovery of 40 satellite villages in the vicinity of Burnt City.
The excavations were then picked up by Iranian archaeologists who made some
valuable discoveries in this prehistoric site.
Based on the discoveries made in the region, it became evident that urbanization existed in Burnt City some 5000 years ago and that the city was the converging point of the great civilizations of mainland-Iran, Greater-Iran, Mesopotamia, India, and China in the ancient times.
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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, 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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