TEHRAN – Scottish archaeologist David Stronach, who was director of the British Institute of Persian Studies in Iran in the 1960s and 1970s, has died aged 89.

Died on June 27, Stronach is most famed for conducting archaeological excavations at the UNESCO-registered Pasargadae that was once the capital of the Achaemenid Empire under Cyrus the Great who reigned mighty Persian Empire from 559 to 530 BC, ISNA reported on Sunday.

Born in 1931, he was an emeritus professor at the University of California, Berkeley.

He was educated at Gordonstoun and Cambridge University, from which he obtained a Master of Arts in 1958. He was also the recipient of the 2004 Archaeological Institute of America (AIA) Gold Medal for “Distinguished Archaeological Achievement”.

AFM/MG