“The sites have been determined based on priorities and each team will be working on specific sites,” Alireza Asgari added.
Situated in Fars Province, Tang-e Bolaghi is located only four kilometers away from Pasargadae, the first capital of the Achaemenids (about 550-330 B.C.) and the residence of Cyrus the Great. Pasargadae was registered on UNESCO’s World Heritage List last July.
Once part of the renowned imperial route to Persepolis and Susa, Tang-e Bolaghi will be flooded by the Polvar River when the Sivand Dam is completed in March 2006. Part of Pasargadae will be buried under mud, and even the mausoleum of Cyrus the Great is believed to be at risk.
Tang-e Bolaghi also contains sites from the Neolithic and Paleolithic periods, the middle and late Elamite era (2700-645 B.C.), and the Sassanid era (224-651 C.E.).
The Japanese archaeological team has been assigned to work on the Neolithic and Paleolithic sites, the Australian team will be working on the Elamite sites, the Italian team will be working on the Achaemenid sites, and the Polish team will be working on the Sassanid sites.
The French team is to work on a prehistoric site, and the German team will study the ancient kilns and mines discovered in the region.
Last November, a team of archaeologists was tasked with saving the cultural heritage at the ancient site of Izeh in Khuzestan Province that is threatened by the rising waters of the reservoir of the Karun-3 Dam, which became operational on November 8, 2004.
Archaeologists have identified 80 sites in the region from the Epipaleolithic period (20,000-10,000 B.C.), including 13 caves and four rock shelters. The river valley also has a large number of rock-carved reliefs, graves, ancient caves, and other monuments and artifacts from the Elamite era, many of which are now underwater.
A number of other dams, all in advanced stages of construction, have been identified as threatening Iran’s ancient sites.
The Gilan Cultural Heritage and Tourism Department announced last November that 16 historic sites would be submerged by a dam that is to be constructed on the Pol-Rud River near the city of Rudsar in Gilan Province.
Archaeologists have also said that the Gilan-e Gharb Dam is threatening a number of ancient sites dating back to the first millennium B.C. in Iran’s western province of Kermanshah.
Over ten ancient sites, some from the fifth millennium B.C., near Hashtrud in East Azerbaijan Province are to be submerged by the Sahand Dam, which will become operational in 2006.
MMS/HG
End
MNA
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