TEHRAN – A team of Iranian archaeologists has commenced work on Tappeh Pir, an ancient human settlement estimated to date from the Bronze Age.

“Situated in the Sistan region of the southeastern Sistan-Baluchestan province, Tappeh Pir is one of the 900 local archaeological sites dating from the Bronze Age,” CHTN quoted archaeologist Javad Alaeimoqaddam as saying on Saturday.

So far, a main human settlement and a temporary one have been found in Tappeh Pir after archaeologists dug two trenches measuring six by eight meters, Alaeimoqaddam explained.

The outer surface of Tappeh Pir, which measures 70 by 95 meters, is covered by a layer of pottery fragments, the archaeologist said.

Based on archaeological findings, the site has yielded adobe ruins whose distinctive features are small rooms and surrounding corridors, he explained.

Preliminary studies show that Tappeh Pir settlements date from the second half of the third millennium BC to the beginning of the second millennium BC, and after that, they remained abandoned or used as temporary settlements for nomads and herders, Alaeimoqaddam added.

In addition to the residential structures, the archaeologists have discovered evidence of industrial activities of the time that included pottery and metal smelting, he stated.

Studies show a significant connection existed between the human settlements in Tappeh Pir and the civilizations of the Jaz Murian region in the south and the Merv-Balkh culture in the Greater Khorasan area, he added.

The archaeological work is financed by the University of Zabol in close collaboration with the Research Institute for Cultural Heritage, he stated.

The collective province — Sistan in the north and Baluchestan in the south — accounts for one of the driest regions of Iran, with a slight increase in rainfall from east to west and an obvious rise in humidity in the coastal regions. In ancient times, the region was a crossword in the Indus Valley and the Babylonian civilizations.

The province possesses special significance because it is located in a strategic transit location, particularly Chabahar, which is the only ocean port in Iran and the best and easiest access route of the middle Asian countries to free waters. Moreover, it is home to several distinctive archaeological sites and natural attractions, including two UNESCO World Heritage sites, namely Shahr-e-Soukhteh (Burnt City) and Lut desert.

AFM