The head of the team said that almost thirty graves dating back to the early Islamic era were also found near the Parthian fire temple, a new discovery over the past few weeks.
Due to certain types of structures in the fire temple, the archaeologists surmise that the monument had been used as a mosque (after the advent of Islam in Iran), Hassan Rezvani added.
He also stated that all the corpses but two were aligned toward south with burial gifts inside the graves, a tradition of pre-Islamic era persisting up to that time. In addition, a coin bearing the holy verses of Fatehah surah belonging to the early Islamic era was also found near the graves.
Archaeologists believe that the flowing Shian fountainhead encouraged the first settlements in the region in about 2400 BC. They have identified a great number of historic and ancient sites in the region from the Parthian to the Islamic eras.
Shian Dam is scheduled to come on stream in 2007.
RM/ML
End
MNA
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