TEHRAN - An urgent archaeological excavation is currently underway near the village of Kalateh-ye Yavari in Bojnord county, North Khorasan province, after remains from four Bronze Age burial chambers were discovered.

The excavation, authorized by the Research Institute of Cultural Heritage and Tourism, aims to preserve and document the historical relics uncovered during a construction project.

The site was initially discovered in 2021 when villagers accidentally unearthed ancient remains during a housing development project. In 2023, a team led by archaeologist Kourosh Mohammadhkani conducted a magnetometry survey, identifying several anomalies across the area, which led to further examination.

Ali-Akbar Vahdati, the head of the archaeological team, has recently confirmed that human burials and architectural remains from the Bronze Age were found during the dig. So far, four trenches have been opened, revealing four burial spaces dating back to the Bronze Age, Vahdati said.

The burial sites, found in sandy and gravelly layers, consist of simple pit graves scattered around the central part of the ancient site. Three of the graves contained burial offerings, including pottery, bronze pins, and beads made of stone or bone—items commonly associated with the Greater Khorasan civilization. One of the graves was discovered without any offerings.

Vahdati highlighted that similar Bronze Age burial sites have been found in other archaeological areas across northern Khorasan and neighboring regions, pointing to cultural, political, and social connections across eastern Iran during this period.

The urgent excavation is expected to continue until all areas containing historical artifacts are fully excavated and preserved. The housing construction project has been temporarily halted to allow for the safe completion of the archaeological work.

Khorasan — meaning the “Land of the Sun” — is a historical region and realm comprising a vast territory now lying in northeastern Iran, southern Turkmenistan, and northern Afghanistan. The historical region extended along the north, from the Amu Darya (Oxus River) westward to the Caspian Sea and, along the south, from the fringes of the central Iranian deserts eastward to the mountains of central Afghanistan.

AM