Archeologists unearth Achaemenid city in northeast Iran

Archeologists have unearthed remains of an Achaemenid residential area during excavations on an ancient mound in Iran’s North Khorasan Province.

“The remains belong to an Achaemenid city spanning an area of more than 110 hectares,” IRNA quoted Mohamad-Javad Jafari of the North Khorasan cultural heritage office as saying.

“Archeological evidence shows that the site had been a residential area from the Iron Age until the Islamic era,” he added saying that the most flourishing time in the history of the site was during the Achaemenid period.

The Riba Mound, where the new discovery was made, also yielded remains of a Parthian castle which was built when Parthia was a political entity in Achaemenid lists of governorates.

Jafari warned about vandalisms and destructions in the area blaming three brick kilns for causing damage to more than 30 percent of the historical site.

The Riba Mound is located three kilometers west of Ashkhaneh in Iran’s North Khorasan Province and will host archeologists until May 20, 2012.
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