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Rocking The Cradle (Older Than Mesopotamia, Iran?)
The Smithsonian ^ | 4-25-2004

Posted on 04/25/2004 5:42:18 PM PDT by blam

Rocking the Cradle

In Iran, an archaeologist is racing to uncover a literate Bronze Age society he believes predates ancient Mesopotamia. Critics say he may be overreaching, but they concede his dig will likely change our view of the dawn of civilization

Discoveries made during a dig in southeastern Iran have convinced archaeologist Yousef Madjidzadeh that a desolate valley here was once home to a thriving—and literate—community. He calls it nothing less than "the earliest Oriental civilization." It's a dramatic assertion, but if he's right, it would mean the site, near Iran's Halil River, is older than Mesopotamia, a thousand miles to the west in what is today Iraq and long acknowledged as one of the earliest civilizations. Confirmation would overturn our understanding of the critical period when humans first began to live a literate urban life. It would also give sudden prominence to this forgotten corner of Iran.

It took an unlikely combination of events—a flood in this region, combined with a political thaw in distant Tehran, the Iranian capital—to bring Madjidzadeh here in the first place. Starting in 2001, local villagers began plundering ancient graves that had been exposed earlier that year by a flash flood. Iranian police confiscated hundreds of finely worked stone vessels carved with images of animals and architecture and decorated with semiprecious stones. Madjidzadeh strongly believes most were made in this valley more than 4,000 years ago.

But other scholars are cautious about Madjidzadeh's ideas, since no radio-carbon tests have been done and there isn't enough research on the area to conclusively cross-reference the finds with other sites. Even Madjidzadeh's American collaborator, University of Pennsylvania archaeologist Holly Pittman, gently suggests that there is not enough evidence yet to back up Madjidzadeh's claims. "He's a typical archaeologist," she says with a smile and a shrug. "His site is the center of the universe." Still, she adds, it is "a very exciting site. The fact that this was a third millennium civilization adds tremendously to our knowledge of the time."


TOPICS: News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: archaeology; cradle; economic; ggg; godsgravesglyphs; history; iran; mesopotamia; rocking

1 posted on 04/25/2004 5:42:20 PM PDT by blam
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To: farmfriend
GGG ping.
2 posted on 04/25/2004 5:43:23 PM PDT by blam
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To: blam; *Gods, Graves, Glyphs; A.J.Armitage; abner; adam_az; AdmSmith; Alas Babylon!; ...
Gods, Graves, Glyphs
List for articles regarding early civilizations , life of all forms, - dinosaurs - etc.
Let me know if you wish to be added or removed from this ping list.
3 posted on 04/25/2004 5:47:14 PM PDT by farmfriend ( Isaiah 55:10,11)
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To: blam
Some day every Bronze Age society will be literate...
4 posted on 04/25/2004 6:18:27 PM PDT by Wilhelm Tell (Lurking since 1997!)
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To: Tax-chick
Later
5 posted on 04/25/2004 6:41:30 PM PDT by Tax-chick (I was swimming with dolphins whispering imaginary numbers in the fourth dimension.)
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To: Wilhelm Tell
BWAHAHAHA!!!
6 posted on 04/25/2004 6:43:05 PM PDT by Cogadh na Sith (The Guns of Brixton)
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To: Wilhelm Tell
I read that!
I look forward to the day when the past is current.
7 posted on 04/25/2004 6:58:57 PM PDT by ValerieUSA
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To: blam
read later
8 posted on 04/25/2004 7:09:41 PM PDT by LiteKeeper
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To: blam
There's not enough information here to understand his claim. The article mentions artifacts "more than 4,000 years" old, but he will need to date any tablets with writing on them more than 5,000 years old for his site to be "the earliest [literate] Oriental civilization."
9 posted on 04/25/2004 7:28:18 PM PDT by Fifth Business
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To: Fifth Business; blam
There's not enough information here to understand his claim. The article mentions artifacts "more than 4,000 years" old, but he will need to date any tablets with writing on them more than 5,000 years old for his site to be "the earliest [literate] Oriental civilization."

Agree. I don't know whether that's a reflection on the scholar or just on the article's news reporting. I'd like to see more about the find--sounds interesting in any case.

10 posted on 04/25/2004 8:34:13 PM PDT by Fedora
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To: blam
Just updating the GGG information, not sending a general distribution.

To all -- please ping me to other topics which are appropriate for the GGG list. Thanks.
Please FREEPMAIL me if you want on or off the
"Gods, Graves, Glyphs" PING list or GGG weekly digest
-- Archaeology/Anthropology/Ancient Cultures/Artifacts/Antiquities, etc.
Gods, Graves, Glyphs (alpha order)

11 posted on 08/07/2007 10:39:02 PM PDT by SunkenCiv (Profile updated Tuesday, August 7, 2007. https://secure.freerepublic.com/donate/)
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