TEHRAN – Iranian police have recently confiscated 40 historical objects, estimated to date back to some 4,000 years ago, a senior police official in charge of protecting cultural heritage has announced. 

The police traced an antique smuggler in Kerman following reports by local people and finally stopped him in a car, which resulted in the discovery of 44 bronze antique objects, Abdolreza Nazeri said on Tuesday, IRNA reported. 

The culprit was detained and handed over to judiciary officials for further investigation, the official added. 

“The objects are estimated to date from the second millennium BC.” 

The first well-documented evidence of human habitation on the Iranian plateau is found from deposits of several excavated cave and rock-shelter sites in the Zagros Mountains, which dates back to Middle Paleolithic or Mousterian times (c. 100,000 BC).

Big and sprawling Kerman province is something of a cultural melting pot, blending various regional cultures over time. It is also home to rich tourist spots and historical sites including bazaars, mosques, caravanserais, and ruins of ancient urban areas.

The southern province is bounded by the provinces of Fars on the west, Yazd on the north, South Khorasan on the northeast, Sistan-Baluchestan on the east, and Hormozgan on the south. It includes the southern part of the central Iranian desert, the Dasht-e Lut.

ABU/AFM