TEHRAN According to the anthropological studies conducted on the bones discovered in the ancient city of Shahr-e Soukhteh, Sistan-Baluchestan Province, the key role of women in the social and economical issued of 5,000 years ago has been confirmed.

Based on the report released by Iran's Cultural Heritage Organization, an anthropologist, Farzad Forouzanfar said that during five phases of excavation conducted at the graveyards of Shahr-e Soukhteh, a variety of flat and cylindrical stamps made of stone, marble, lime and bronze in various shapes have been discovered.

The latest survey on the discovered objects shows that the owners of the stamps have had special social and economical status in the community and that their discovery may reveal women's pivotal role in the third millennium B.C.

The discovered stamps belong to women 25-40 years old and the examination of women's skulls shows that economical issues and making investments were not just monopolized by one tribe.

However, the ratio of their quantity to the entire female population of Shahr-e Soukhteh has been quite meager, while the who were women holding stamps and were involved in economical issues comprised merely a small percentage of the entire community (13.7 percent).

The graveyard at the city of Shahr-e Soukhteh measuring 20 hectares is estimated to be include 40,000 tombs.

Shahre-e Soukhteh is among one of the most unique archaeological sites in the Middle East discovered for the first time by Sir url Steine in 1915.