4000-year-old Residential Area Discovered near Persepolis

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   4000-year-old Residential Area Discovered near Persepolis

Archeological excavations in south
of Persepolis led to the discovery of residential units belonging to
the second millennium BC.

Tehran, 16 January 2006 (CHN) --
Archeological diggings in southern Barzan in south of Persepolis which
originally started with the aim of finding early Achaemenid clays,
resulted in the discovery of a residence area which dates back to the
second millennium BC. 

How the Achaemenid dynasty came to power
and took the control within its domain is still a matter of
controversy. Since archeologists were unable to find any clay relics
from the beginning of the Achaemenid era, the time of Cyrus and
Cambyses reigns has remained a mystery. 

�The famous Timuran
clay, identified and categorized by an archeologist named Wanderburg,
is one of the most important clays found in the area. This clay relic
dates back to the Elamite to the Parthian eras and was discovered in
Marvdasht near Persepolis historical site. Archeologists believe that
such kind of clay was made by the local people in second millennium BC.
After that, Timuran clays were not produced any longer until the
Achaemenids came to power,� said Kamyar Abdi, Iranian archeologist in
the United States and head of the excavation team in southern Barzan. 

�Based
on historical evidence, Achaemenid dynasty came to power around 550 BC
in Fars, but there is no evidence on the way in which they come to
power. We do not know what happened in the region between the years 800
to 550 BC which led to the stopping of the production of the prominent
clay of the Elamite era and a historical standstill took place until
the empowerment of the Achaemenid dynasty in the region,� added Abdi.

Based
on archeological excavations in Tal e Timuran, Wanderburg studied the
Timuran clays concluded that they belong to two distinct groups, namely
Timuran A and Timuran B. The clays of the Elamite era are categorized
in the Timuran A, and the characteristics of the clays unearthed in
Central Plateau and places such as Gudin Tepe and Hasan Lu belong to
the Timuran B group. Wanderburg carried out some excavations in the
north of Persepolis in Jalabad area and discovered some clays there
which were similar to those of the Sialk cemetery.

Considering
Wanderburg�s discoveries, Abdi explained, �We believe that Timuran A
clay was the prominent clay made during the Elamite era in the region.
Later, between the years 800 and 550 BC, some kind of clay was imported
to the area from the Central Plateau which caused changes in the forms
of these clays and ultimately raised new questions. Something that has
still remained a mystery is the shape of the clays of the beginning of
Achaemenid era.�

According to Abdi, the discovered clays in
Pasargadae historical site belong to the end of the Achaemenid dynasty,
which means the time of Alexander�s attack to Persepolis, and have no
relations to Cyrus� era. 

�Between the years 1967 and 1973,
another archeologist, Akbar Tajvidi, unearthed some dwellings in
southern Barzan. In his report Tajvidi says that after passing the
sedimentary layers he was faced with a residential area in which a kind
of clay was discovered which was different with those of the Achaemenid
era. However, he did not give any further explanations about this clay
in his report, and thus we do not have any information about the way
this clay looked like. Therefore, we concluded that the sedimentary
layers were the foundations of the Achaemenid castle and that the clay
he had found most probably belonged to the Cyrus and Cambyses eras,�
explained Abdi.

With this conception, the archeologists started
excavations in southern Barzan by digging a 3 by 2 meter trench to
study the area.

�The sedimentary layers Tajvidi mentioned them
in his report were in fact natural sediments formed over the course of
a thousand years. After removing these layers we faced the �Golbeie�
clays which belong to 4000 years ago, contrary to what we had
previously anticipated. Most probably these clays belong to some
settlements from this period near Persepolis which have remained
unknown so far. Although we discovered these clays, since they were not
what we were looking for, we are going to continue our excavations to
discover some clays belonging to the beginning of the Achaemenid era,�
explained Abdi about the result of the excavations.

According to
Abdi, Mohammad Taqi Atayi from archeological research center and the
Parse- Pasargadae Research Center cooperate in this project. 

According
to the historical evidence, there used to be a city called Matezish
near Persepolis historical site, from which nothing has remained. This
city was a residential area during the Elamite and maybe Achaemenid
eras. It is not clear yet what happened to this city after the Elamite
period. However, for sure it existed during the ancient times and it
might have been in located in the present-day Barzan or Firuzi cities
or the perhaps the west of Persepolis. 