TEHRAN – Archaeologists have found further evidence about prehistorical metal smelting workshops that are scattered in the Shahdad region of Kerman province, southern Iran.

“Due to its special location and environmental conditions, this area is one of the oldest centers of bronze production…” Mehr quoted Iranian archaeologist Soraya Elikai-Dehno as saying on Saturday.

“We have discovered a technical diversity of metal relics that date from the Bronze Age. The progress of the metalworking in the Shahdad region owes a lot to the existence of mines here,” the archaeologist said.

Covering some 131 hectares, the investigated area is situated about 1.5 km east of Shahdad city on the western edge of the Lut Desert. The area has a length of 1750 meters from the northeast to the southwest and a width of 750 meters from the northwest to the southeast, she explained.

“Our team has found historical and cultural evidence such as copper smelting remains, copper objects, stone tools, and pottery pieces that date from the early prehistorical times till the beginning of urbanization,” Elikai-Dehno said.

The raw pieces of copper ore scattered on the surface of the Shahdad site indicate the easy access of the ancient communities to the copper sources, which were easily accessible in the nearby mountains in the west of the Lut desert, she said.

The archaeologist said that based on available evidence, ancient smelting workshops in the Shahdad region date back to the Chalcolithic Period (Stone Copper Age) and the Bronze Age.

Iran was once a major supplier of metal ores to the early communities of Mesopotamia and its neighbors due to its rich natural resources. However, from about 6000 BC onwards, metallic copper had been used in Iranian Late Neolithic communities to shape dreamers, points, and hooks through mechanical working and annealing. Copper objects are reported in various places in all areas of Iran. Moreover, from the beginning of the 4th millennium BC, copper smelting becomes a regular craft activity in the Chalcolithic communities of the Iranian highlands.

Shahdad is home to shifting sands, salt plains, meteorite fields, and rocky terrain, which offers visitors breathtaking vistas and unparalleled serenity of the intact nature and wilderness. It has long been a destination for adventurers, nature lovers, off-roaders, and trekkers.

AFM