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Archeologists have discovered quarries mined for stones used in constructing and decorating Persepolis, the splendid capital city of the Achaemenid Empire (550-330 B.C.). Working on the Parse and Pasargadae Project, experts found out stones used in Persepolis had been quarried from some mines located in the Marvdasht plateau. “Over the past year, we have discovered 11 mines in the highland area, all pointing to the fact that they had been the main source for different kinds of stones used in Achaemenids’ palaces,” said Hamid Amanollahi, head of the research team in Marvdasht. He added the archeologists are going to continue...

Rag and bone cup dates to 300BC Last Updated: 9:40PM BST 27/05/2008 The grandson of a rag and bone man who acquired a small metal cup is in line for a windfall after discovering it is a pure gold vessel dating back to the third or fourth century BC. A rag and bone man gave his grandson the pure gold vessel, which is from the third or fourth century BC The piece could be worth hundreds of thousands of pounds. The 5½ in cup, believed to be from the Achaemenid empire, has two female faces looking in opposite directions, their...