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.CAIS NEWS© ARCHAEOLOGICAL & CULTURAL NEWS OF THE IRANIAN WORLD |
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Evidence of 9000-Year-Old of Settlement Discovered in Qazvin Plain
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26 November 2006 |
LONDON,
(CAIS) -- Archaeological excavations in Qazvin Plain
which originally started with the aim of identifying pre-historic sites led into
discovery of pieces of clays, possibly belonging to the 7th
millennium BCE, buried in the lower geological layers of two ancient Tappehs
(archaeological mounds) in this area.
Earlier
this month, results of Carbon 14 tests on the clays and other historic evidence
found on Tepe Zagheh (zāgé)
in Qazvin revealed age of this prehistoric Tappeh to be 7500 years, 1500 years
less than previously thought. However, it seems that the new discoveries have
the potential to once again change all the old theories regarding the age of
Qazvin Plain.
“The
result of Carbon 14 tests made archaeologists ponder about the starting point of
human settlement in Qazvin Plain and start excavations in two ancient Tappehs of
Ebrahim Abad and Chaharboneh (čahārboné). The excavations resulted in the
discovery of new types of earthenware never seen before,” said Hassan Fazeli
Nashli, director of Iran’s Archaeology Research Center and head of the
excavation team in Qazvin Plain.
According
to Fazeli Nashli, the new discoveries were made underneath the archaeological
layers which had previously been dated to the period of Zagheh, approximately
7200 years ago. This leaves archaeologists with no doubt that the new
discoveries are from a period that preceded that of Zagheh.
“While
there are abundant numbers of spinning-wheels in the ancient layers known as
Zagheh, no such thing was found in these newly found layers. This tells us that
we are most probably dealing with a period in which animals had still not been
domesticated. These layers belong to a period within the Neolithic Age (7th-6th
millennia BCE),” said head of the excavation team at Qazvin Plain.
“The
discovered shards are estimated to have belonged to as far back as the 7th
millennium BCE. However, this needs to be confirmed through Carbon 14 tests,”
added Fazeli-Nashli.
The
discovered fragmented clays were found on Ebrahim Abad Tappeh at a depth of 10.5
meters. The same discovery was also made on Chaharboneh Tappeh at a depth of 6
meters.
Known as the origin of human settlement in Iran’s Central Plateau, Qazvin Plain has always been the centre of archaeological activities. Tepe Zagheh is one of the oldest sites of this region in which evidence of pre-historic dwellings were found, suggesting that this ancient Tappeh was once a populated village, probably around 5500 BCE.
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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, transparent, 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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