TEHRAN -- Two tombs carved out of rock were recently discovered at the Qal’eh Kuchak mound by the team of archaeologists working at the Jiroft ancient site.

The team began the fifth phase of excavations of Jiroft, which is located in the Halil-Rud River cultural area, in late October.

Due to their magnificent structure, the archaeologists believe they may be the tombs of kings who ruled the region.

“The ancient inhabitants of the region constructed a place like an orthogonal room measuring 2.5x2.5 meters. The place has some stairs leading to two cave-like tombs,” team director Yusef Majidzadeh told the Persian service of CHN on Saturday.

“Carving such tombs in the heart of rock is a difficult task. Thus, we believe they may be the tombs of kings who ruled the region. The tombs have very remarkable and beautiful architecture and require a comprehensive study,” he added.

The team has found human hand bones scattered in one of the tombs. Majidzadeh said that the tombs may have been looted in ancient times.

In this phase of the excavations of Jiroft, which is known as the “archeologists’ lost heaven”, the team is also scheduled to excavate southern and northern Konar-Sandal as well as the ancient cemetery near Matutabad.

Since 2002, four excavation seasons have been carried out at the Jiroft site under the supervision of Majidzadeh, leading to the discovery of a ziggurat made of more than four million mud bricks dating back to about 2200 BC.

Many ancient ruins and interesting artifacts have been discovered at the site.

A number of Iranian and foreign experts see the findings in Jiroft as signs of a civilization as great as Sumer and ancient Mesopotamia. Majidzadeh believes that Jiroft is the ancient city of Aratta, which was described as a great civilization in a Sumerian clay inscription.