TEHRAN–Iranian police have recently confiscated three clay relics, estimated to date back to the 1st millennium BC, a senior police official in charge of protecting cultural heritage has said.

The relics were discovered in a historical site in Tarom county after police had received reports from cultural heritage aficionados, Hossein-Ali Fazli explained on Wednesday.

Some digging tools were found by the authorities as well, the official added.

Zanjan is one of the cities founded by Sassanid King Ardashir I (180-242 CE). The province makes a base for wider explorations with the architectural wonder of Soltaniyeh, the subterranean delights of the Katale-Khor caves, colorful mountains, and the UNESCO-registered Takht-e Soleiman ruins are nearby.

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

ABU/AM