TEHRAN - Archaeologists have discovered evidence of an early Elamite jar burial and traces of kiln waste at Tol-e Roubahi Kenareh, less than two km south of the UNESCO World Heritage site of Persepolis in southern Iran.

The finds were made during a project to define the boundaries and propose a protective buffer zone for the site, located in Marvdasht county, Fars province, the Research Institute of Cultural Heritage and Tourism (RICHT) said in a statement carried by ISNA.

Fazlollah Habibi, head of the Tol-e Roubahi Kenareh excavation team and an archaeologist at the Persepolis World Heritage Base, said the work aims to identify the settlement limits of the mound and to establish a preservation zone.

“Tol-e Roubahi [Kenareh] is one of the significant prehistoric settlements of the Marvdasht plain associated with the Banesh period (early Elamite). It lies less than two kilometers south of Persepolis and about 1.5 kilometers northwest of the well-known site of Tol-e Bakun,” Habibi said.

He added that the project’s objectives include mapping the ancient settlement, designing protective measures against environmental and human threats, documenting discoveries, and assessing damage and environmental changes. Techniques include test trenches, drone imaging, DGPS surveying and laboratory analysis of surface finds, he said.

Funding for the project comes from the Persepolis World Heritage Base, and the results will support emergency conservation, long-term preservation planning, and research into settlement patterns in the Marvdasht plain during the third millennium BC, Habibi said.

Thirteen test trenches measuring one by one meter have so far been dug, yielding significant results, including the jar burial and dense cultural deposits of kiln waste.

Habibi said surveys indicate that contrary to earlier assumptions of a roughly square site measuring 100 by 100 meters, Tol-e Roubahi extends east-west with an estimated length of at least 200 metres and width of 100 metres, underscoring its greater scale and importance than previously believed.

Persepolis, also known as Takht-e Jamshid, was founded by Darius the Great around 518 BC as the ceremonial capital of the Achaemenid Empire. The vast terrace and palatial complex, located 60 km northeast of Shiraz, was destroyed by Alexander the Great in 330 BC. Its ruins, including the Apadana Palace and the Hundred-Column Hall, are regarded as one of the world’s foremost archaeological sites.

AM