TEHRAN – A team of Iranian archaeologists and researchers has recently unearthed pre-historic to Islamic-era relics and fragments of objects from a piece of land, which is speculated to be once a historical cemetery, in Asiabsar village, northern Mazandaran province.

Affiliated with the Research Institute for Cultural Heritage and Tourism, the team has dug 16 trenches inside and outside of a piece of land whose landlords accidentally found historical objects while preparing parts of the land for housing construction, IRNA reported on Tuesday.

Of the trenches, nine yielded both architectural and transportable pottery pieces, complete or fragmented earthenware, glass pieces, iron and bronze objects, stone blades and spindles.

Moreover, the researchers have found architectural and portable objects that date from various Islamic eras such as the Ilkhanate times (1256–1335/1353), Safavid-era (1501–1736), and Qajar epoch (1789 to 1925).

An extensive scientific research is needed to fully explore the site that is nicknamed by the team as “a cemetery for various civilizations,” the report said.

Soaked in a vibrant history, Mazandaran (also known as Tabarestan) was a cradle of civilization since the beginning of the first millennium BC. According to Britannica Encyclopedia, it was almost overrun in about 720 CE by the Arab raiders.

Its insecure eastern and southeastern borders were crossed by Mongol invaders in the 13th and 14th centuries. Cossacks attacked the region in 1668 but were repulsed. It was ceded to the Russian Empire by a treaty in 1723, but the Russians were never secure in their occupation. The area was restored to Iran under the Qajar dynasty. The northern section of the region consists of a lowland alongside the Caspian and an upland along the northern slopes of the Alborz Mountains.

AFM/MG