TEHRAN – The Iranian police have recently discovered six historical relics, estimated to date back to the 1st millennium BC, in the northwestern province of Zanjan, a senior police official in charge of protecting cultural heritage has said.

The relics, including a clay seal and some traditional jewelry, were discovered in Tarom county after police had received reports from cultural heritage aficionados, Hossein-Ali Fazli explained on Monday.

Zanjan is one of the cities founded by Sassanid King Ardashir I (180-242 CE). The province makes a base for wider explorations with the architectural wonder of Soltaniyeh, the subterranean delights of the Katale-Khor caves, colorful mountains, and the UNESCO-registered Takht-e Soleiman ruins nearby.

The first well-documented evidence of human habitation on the Iranian plateau is found from deposits from several excavated cave and rock-shelter sites in the Zagros Mountains, which dates back to Middle Paleolithic or Mousterian times (c. 100,000 BC).

ABU/MG