The team discovered skeletons of a woman and her child, who were buried with a dog and its puppy. They have also found a skeleton of a man buried seated upon his horse at Narges-Tappeh, which is located in northern Iran near Gorgan, Golestan Province.
“We discovered the mother buried in a squatting position and her child, which date back to the early first millennium BC, and the dog and its puppy were buried a little above and to the left side (of her),” team director Qorban-Ali Abbasi said.
“It was a custom for the people living in the region at that time to bury the dead with their belongings. Thus the dog and its puppy may have been buried alive,” he added.
The skeleton of the child was found between the legs of its mother, and three pottery works were also discovered beside them.
The archaeologists believe that the woman and her child were not from the upper class due to the small number of belongings buried with them.
The team previously discovered a goat statuette and a bas-relief of a lizard buried with the skeleton of a woman in the cemetery of Narges-Tappeh.
The excavations are being carried out to save Narges-Tappeh, which is located near the runway of an airport currently under construction in Gorgan.
The mound covers an area of about 17,000 square meters.
Archaeologists found traces of architecture, pottery, and a dozen other monuments and artifacts, some dating back to about 5000 BC, at the ancient site during the previous phase of excavations in 2004.
MMS/HG
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MNA