News About Burnt City(Shar-e-Sokhteh)

Ancient millimeter-precise ruler unearthed

An Ancient ruler with half a millimeter precision was discovered in the Burnt City, Sistan-Baluchistan, southeast of Iran.

The Burnt City which is located a few kilometers out of Zabol, Sistan-Baluchistan province, dates back to some 5000 years ago and belongs to a developed civilization living at the time when cities of the world were just beginning to form.

Recent excavations in the archeological site of the Burnt City led to the discovery of a ruler with millimeter measurement units. Experts believe now that the ancient residents of the city used precise units for measurements and was skilled in areas of mathematics and geometry.

http://www.payvand.com/news/05/jan/1296.html

World's oldest backgammon

The oldest backgammon in the world along with 60 pieces has been unearthed beneath the rubbles of the legendary Burnt City in Sistan-Baluchistan province, southeastern Iran.

Iranian archeologists working on the relics of the 5,000-year-old civilization argue this backgammon is much older than the one already discovered in Mesopotamia and their evidence is strong enough to claim the board game was first played in the Burnt City and then transferred to other civilizations.

"The backgammon reveals intriguing clues to the lifestyle of those people," said Mansour Sajjadi, head of the research team.

"The board is rectangular and made of ebony, which did not grow in Sistan and merchants used to import it from India." He added the board features an engraved serpent coiling around itself for 20 times, thus producing 20 slots for the game, more affectionately known in Persian as Nard. The engraving, artistically done, indicates artisans in the Burnt City were masters of the craft. [continue]

http://www.iranian.ws/cgi-bin/iran_news/exec/view.cgi/2/4743

First Animation of the World Found In Burnt City

An animated piece on an earthen goblet that belongs to 5000 years ago was found in Burnt City in Sistan-Baluchistan province, southeastern Iran. On this ancient piece that can be called the first animation of the world, the artist has portrayed a goat that jumps toward a tree and eats its leaves.

The earthenware found in Burnt City, one of the most developed civilizations dating back to 5000 years ago, show the images of goat and fish more than any other subject. It seems these animals were used more than any other by the people of this city.

On this goblet, with a diameter of 8 cm and height of 10 cm, the images show movement in an intricate way that is an unprecedented discovery. Some earthenware found in Burnt City show repetitive images, but none of them implicate any movements.

�While excavating the grave in which the cream-colored goblet has been found, we came across a skeleton that probably belongs to the creator of this piece�, Mansour Sajjadi, the Iranian archeologist responsible for excavations in Burnt City told CHN.

The archeologists have managed to make an animated piece on the basis of these images in the form of a 20-second film.

Sajjadi said, �The images we have come across in Burnt City have no precedence in prehistoric times.�
After 8 seasons of research in Burnt City, this 5000-year-old site dating back to 2nd or 3rd century BC still holds many secrets within. Burnt City was civilized and developed, and cherished very important ancient crafts including jewelry making and pottery.
For Watching this ancient animation click here .

http://www.payvand.com/news/04/dec/1249.html

Disappointedly I couldn't find site with image gallery.
The best one is http://images.google.com  but there is few pictures.
Use this keywords: " Burnt City", " Shahre sokteh ", " Shahr-e-Sokhte", " shahre-sokhte".  With or without "H , E , OO , - " return different results.

5000-years-old cumin found in Burnt city

Iranian archeologists have found a large amount of cumin along with its fragrant plant in the Burnt City (Shahr-e Sokhteh) in Sistan-Baluchistan province, southeastern Iran.

The new season of excavations in the Burnt City supervised by Dr. Mansoor Sajadi started about a month ago. An Italian archaeobotanist group collaborates with the Iranian archeologists in this project. As in the previous season of excavations, archeologists have found a great amount of cumin that proves the oldest cumin in the world has been discovered in the Burnt City. [continue]
http://www.chn.ir/english/eshownews.asp?no=4651

Ancient earrings discoverd at Burnt city

Archaeologists have found a pair of silver earrings in a grave of a woman in the 5200-year-old Burnt City which disproves the theory that the inhabitants of the city never used earrings, the director of the Iranian archaeological team working in the region said on Tuesday.
A skeleton of a woman with one circular silver earring on each side of her skull was unearthed during the last days of the excavations at the cemetery of the Burnt City.
 
�This is the first time we have found a pair of earrings at the ancient site. A large mirror and a silver ring were also discovered in the woman�s grave,�

http://www.mehrnews.ir/en/NewsDetail.aspx?NewsID=164113

Burnt city Mysterious past revealing one by one

The materials for the jewelry were brought in from distant places such as Badakhshan in Afghanistan and Khorasan in northeastern Iran, and the finished products were later exported to other places such as Oman and the Persian Gulf islands.

A comb decorated with intarsia work found at the site proves that the art of intarsia was first developed on the Iranian plateau and not in China as was previously believed.

In addition, the discovery of the earliest evidence of brain surgery in history indicates the high level of civilization attained by the residents of the Burnt City.

[continue]
http://www.iranian.ws/iran_news/publish/article_5231.shtml

Burnt city Women Picky on Fashion

Women living 5,000 years ago in the Burnt City in the southeastern province of Sistan-Baluchistan were fastidious when it came to fashion, sporting the latest trends in designer dresses and jewelry.

Graves of women excavated in the devastated city each contained a funerary urn filled with eye liners, combs and jewelries, revealing their craving for fashion was trend-setter, said Mansour Sajjadi, head of the archeological team conducting studies in the Burnt City.

"They also used to wear gem necklaces and bracelets, all considered chic masterpieces 5,000 years ago."

"An eye liner bowl, a comb, a makeup box, a marble device for applying the eye liner, as along with some jewelry were dug out from the grave of an 18-year old wealthy woman," he added.
 Unearthed dresses reveal those women used to don outfits similar to the sari worn by their modern Indian and Pakistani counterparts. It seems the Burnt City enjoyed state-of-the-art textile industry and female garments came in a variety of designs and colors.
 The eighth season of research at the 5,000-year-old site would kickoff on December 2, focusing on stereotype men's clothes. Physical features of the inhabitants would be also studied, Sajjadi announced. Signs of civilization, first laid down in the Burnt City in 3200 B.C., remained intact up to 2100-2000 B.C. and during four successive periods in history. One of the prominent relics found in the Burnt City is a skull believed to be the first evidence of brain surgeries in prehistoric Persia.

Experts had earlier estimated a thorough identification and documentation of an astounding 4 billion artifacts in the Burnt City would require some 400 years, at least. Archeologists have already managed to document and profile 102 villages of the sprawling city, located south of Zabol in the eastern province of Sistan-Baluchistan.

http://www.payvand.com/news/04/nov/1265.html

Human sacrifice was common in burnt city

According to archeological research in the 5000-year-old burnt city, in eastern province of Sistan-Baluchistan, sacrificing human beings was a common practice in ancient times.
After excavating a number of graves in the cemetery of the burnt city, the Iranian archeological team came across signs of murder and generally beheaded bodies.
"During excavations in the burnt city cemetery, we came across a grave with only one skull buried along with gifts and personal items needed for the afterlife. There was also another grave in the form of a circle with 13 skulls arranged toward the outside. In the center of this circle, there were bones of a 45-year-old man and the skulls of 2 dogs", Mansoor Sajjadi, head of archeological team, told CHN.
According to Sajjadi, another grave contained a skeleton with its head below its feet along with 2 daggers. As all the deceased have been buried in religious ceremonies, it seems unlikely that they have been evil-doers punished for their crimes.
"Burying the heads in a circle is a proof for the existence of a ritual among the people in the burnt city, but we need to do more excavations and research to come to a definite conclusion about the sacrifice ritual", Sajjadi said.
Burnt city ancient site in Sistan-Baluchistan province in southeastern Iran is one of the most important prehistoric sites in Iran. Though this site has been the subject of 8 seasons of archeological research, the experts do not still know what people resided in this city.