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.CAIS NEWS© ARCHAEOLOGICAL & CULTURAL NEWS OF THE IRANIAN WORLD |
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5000-Year-Old Children Remains Unearthed in Taleb-Khan Tappeh
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02 January 2007 |
LONDON, (CAIS) -- Following the discovery of remains of a child buried in a white shroud from the 2nd Millennium BCE in Taleb Khan Tappeh (tappé - an archaeological hill), southeast Iran, archaeologists recently unearthed three more children from the same period at the ancient hill along with a number of prehistoric artifacts, reported CHN on Monday.
Announcing this news, Mehdi Miri, head of the team of archaeologists at Taleb Khan Tappeh (tappé tāleb-xān) and chairman of the department of archaeology at Zabol University, said that the recent discovery was made by university students during the third season of archaeological excavations at the site.
The first discovery of skeletal remains of a child at Taleb Khan Tappeh was made last month when archaeologists found remains of a girl who was buried at the foot of a wall sometime between 3000 and 2500 BCE. Archaeologists were puzzled when they saw the skeleton wrapped in a white shroud, a fact which points to a unique burial method which might have been practiced at the time at this ancient hill.
Later studies revealed that the skeleton belongs to a girl who was about 7 years of age at the time of death. Anthropologists also found the cause of death to have been some kind of severe anaemia caused by lack of vitamin B12.
“In addition to this child, skeletal remains of three other children were found in residential houses [at Taleb Khan Tappeh]. One of the skeletons is so small that archaeologists assume it could have belonged to a foetus,” added Miri.
Architectural remains and several baking ovens were also found in residential houses in Taleb Khan Tappeh, a prehistoric site close to the ancient Burnt City.
According to Miri, animal statuettes including heads of birds and a cow as well as those of humans, mostly male figures, were also unearthed in the area. He further said that the discovered statuettes do not exhibit much similarity to the one found in the nearby Burnt City.
In addition, large numbers of clay vessels, stone tools, and small earthenware-balls used possibly for counting are among other major discoveries in the region during the third stage of archaeological excavations.
Based on the discovered earthenware, archaeologists concluded the settlement of Taleb Khan Tappeh date to the second stage of civilization at Burnt City - that is 2300 BCE - and continued to the 1000 BCE. The site was continuously inhabited up until the Iron Age and was an active village even after its inhabitants abandoned the city around 1800 BCE.
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Extracted From/Source: Cultural Heritage News Agency (CHN) Please
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the above-news is NOT a "copy & paste" version from
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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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