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Earlier this year, a series of stone engravings of strange animals with melded bodies reignited speculation about the earliest forms of animation. Using 3D models and virtual reality software to bring ancient etchings to life, the team of archeologists argued that the stone artworks might have been dynamic representations of animals in motion if viewed in firelight...Another example lay for centuries covered in ash and dust in Shahr-e Sukhteh, an archaeological site in southeast Iran known as the 'Burnt City'. Here, researchers found an unassuming goblet bearing burnt red sketches of a jumping goat that springs to life when the...

“The clay tablet bears some signs some of which depict the types and quantity of shipped goods… it also has signs that are still unfamiliar for us.” ...The figurines include various animal designs, especially cows, as well as human statues, which are in the form of sitting women and standing men... a kiln has been unearthed... not yet determined to be a pottery oven or a metal smelting furnace......archaeologists have already discovered the remains of a prehistoric monkey... Based on surveys and scientific studies on the monkey’s skeleton, the animal was dead in captivity in a cage and it was...

“One of the odd burials is in Grave 1003, which had been excavated by our Italian colleagues,” Sajjadi said. The skeleton of 45-year-old man is located in the center of the circle-shaped grave and skulls of two dogs are placed above his head. In addition, 12 human skulls were placed on the north side of the grave, he stated, adding that to date, no other example of such a burial has been discovered in the Burnt City. Due to the structure of the grave, Sajjadi stated, “The grave undoubtedly belongs one of the peoples who had migrated from the Central...

The reconstructed version of the 5,000-year-old skeleton was unveiled during a ceremony attended by head of Iran's Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts and Tourism Organization Hamid Baqaei and Iran's ambassador to Italy Seyyed Mohammad-Ali Hosseini. The woman, whose face has been reconstructed by a group of Iranian and Italian researchers, is famous for carrying the first prosthesis to have been used by man, ISNA reported. This is a great scientific achievement which shows that Persians used innovative medical equipment 5,000 years ago, Baqaei said during the opening ceremony of the exhibition. The unique discovery was the result of excavations in the Burnt...

Archeologists in Burnt City announced unprecedented discovery of an artificial eyeball, dated to 4800 years ago, in this historic site... [D}irector of Burnt City archeology excavation team, Mansour Sajadi, said that this eyeball belongs to a sturdy woman who was between 25 to 30 years of age at the time of death. Skeletal remains of the woman were found in grave number 6705 of Burnt City's cemetery. Regarding the material used to make this artificial eyeball, Sajadi said: "The material this artificial eyeball is made of has not yet been determined and will be assessed through later testing. However, at...

Archeological studies have found that the female inhabitants of Iran's ancient site of Burnt City outlived the male members of their community. According to head of the Burnt City archeology team Farzad Forouzanfar, men died between the ages of 35 to 45, while women lived well into their 80s. Forouzanfar said that the area witnessed considerable population drops and that "the number of the female inhabitants of the area was more than the males." "The team also found that the remains of nearly 30,000 burials exist in Burnt City," he added. Demographical studies also showed that over 6,000 people lived...

Tehran (Iranian Cultural Heritage News Agency) -- An animated piece on an earthen goblet that belongs to 5000 years ago was found in Burnt City in Sistan-Baluchistan province, southeastern Iran. On this ancient piece that can be called the first animation of the world, the artist has portrayed a goat that jumps toward a tree and eats its leaves. The earthenware found in Burnt City, one of the most developed civilizations dating back to 5000 years ago, show the images of goat and fish more than any other subject. It seems these animals were used more than any other by...

Some paleo-anthropologists believe that mothers in the Burnt City had social and financial prominence, director of the team working at the Burnt City in Sistan-Baluchestan Province, southeastern Iran said recently. Addressing the archaeology students at Zabol University, Seyed Mansour Seyed Sajjadi said that 5000 year-old insignias, made of river pebbles and believed to belong only to distinguished inhabitants of the city, were found in the graves of some female citizens... In December 2006, archaeologists discovered the world's earliest artificial eyeball in the city's necropolis, thought to have been worn by a female resident of the Burnt City... Microscopic research has...

A team of Iranian and British anthropologists working on human remains discovered at the 5200-year-old Burnt City have identified a male rider who they believe was a messenger in ancient times... “The marks indicate that he had gathered his right leg while riding. Thus the riding was carried out on a big animal like a camel or ox,” Foruzanfar explained. There is evidence that draft animals were used in the Burnt City in ancient times, but gathering a leg while riding is something someone does while riding a camel over long distances. Thus, it is surmised that the man was...

December 20, 2006 4800-Year-Old Artificial Eyeball From the announcement by the Circle of Ancient Iranian Studies, an educational and research group out of UK: Archaeologists in Burnt City announced unprecedented discovery of an artificial eyeball, dated to 4800 years ago, in this historic site. Announcing this news, director of Burnt City archaeology excavation team, Mansur Sajadi, said that this eyeball belongs to a sturdy woman who was between 25 to 30 years of age at the time of death. Skeletal remains of the woman were found in grave number 6705 of Burnt City's cemetery. Regarding the material used to make...

Shrouded 5000-year-old child unearthed in southeastern Iran TEHRAN, Dec. 19 (MNA) -- The skeleton of a 5000-year-old child wrapped in a winding sheet was discovered at the foot of a wall in the Taleb Khan Mound, which is located near the Burnt City in Sistan-Baluchestan Province. “The skeleton was discovered in a room of a house, while remnants of a white cloth were found around it. The cloth shows that the child had been shrouded before burial,” Mehdi Miri, the director of the archaeological team working at the site, said on Tuesday. “It was common for children to be buried...

French archaeologist says Ur royal tomb artifacts came from Burnt City TEHRAN, Dec. 14 (MNA) -- French archaeologist Michèle Casanova said that the artifacts unearthed from the royal tombs in the ancient Sumerian city of Ur came from Iran’s 5200-year-old Burnt City, the Persian service of CHN reported on Friday. “Now, we are almost certain that the beautiful artifacts discovered in the city of Ur had been brought from the Burnt City, Jiroft, and Central Asia. This fact raises many questions, including why trade relations were established between the regions,” Casanova said. Casanova, who is also an expert on ornamental...

TEHRAN -- Anthropological studies indicate that females constituted about sixty percent of the population of the 5000-year-old Burnt City, director of a team of anthropologists working on the ancient Iranian city said on Monday. “We have excavated 208 graves in the cemetery of the Burnt City within seven phases carried out over the past years. 113 of the graves belonged to the female,” Farzad Foruzanfar added. The Burnt City is located 57 kilometers from the city of Zabol in Iran’s Sistan-Baluchestan Province and covers an area of 150 hectares. It was one of the world’s largest cities at the dawn...

"There is a high probability - we are almost certain - that the building is a 5000-year-old temple. However, to prove the hypothesis in the world of archaeology, we need to search for further evidence," he added... The Burnt City is located 57 kilometers from the city of Zabol in Iran's Sistan-Baluchestan Province and covers an area of 150 hectares. It was one of the world's largest cities at the dawn of the urban era. It was built circa 3200 BC and destroyed some time around 2100 BC. The city had four stages of civilization and was burnt down three...

5000 Years Ago, Women Held Power In Burnt City, Iran Dec 23, 2004, 11:34 CHN According to the research by an archeological team in the burnt city, women comprised the most powerful group in this 5000-year-old city. The archeological team has found a great number of seals in the women's graves. In ancient societies, holding a seal was a sign of power, and was of 2 kinds: personal and governmental. The burnt city ancient site located in Sistan-Baluchistan province, southeastern Iran, dates back to between 2000 and 3000 BC. "In the ancient world, there were tools used as a means...

Ancient earrings discovered at Burnt City disprove ornament theory Tehran Times Culture Desk TEHRAN -- Archaeologists have found a pair of silver earrings in a grave of a woman in the 5200-year-old Burnt City which disproves the theory that the inhabitants of the city never used earrings, the director of the Iranian archaeological team working in the region said on Tuesday. A skeleton of a woman with one circular silver earring on each side of her skull was unearthed during the last days of the excavations at the cemetery of the Burnt City, Mansur Sajjadi added. The Burnt City is...

The prostrate figure burial of a young man were unearthed for the first time during the archeological excavations in the historical site of Burnt City which has surprised archaeologists who were faced with such a strange burial method. It seems that the young man died when he was lying prostrate on the floor some 5000 years ago in the Burnt City and was buried in the same position.

12/27/04Human Sacrifice Was Common in Burnt City Tehran (Iranian Cultural Heritage News Agency) -- According to archeological research in the 5000-year-old burnt city, in eastern province of Sistan-Baluchistan, sacrificing human beings was a common practice in ancient times. After excavating a number of graves in the cemetery of the burnt city, the Iranian archeological team came across signs of murder and generally beheaded bodies.“During excavations in the burnt city cemetery, we came across a grave with only one skull buried along with gifts and personal items needed for the afterlife. There was also another grave in the form of a...

Burnt City, located in Sistan va Balushistan province in southeast of Iran, is one of the prominent historical sites of Iran. It is a 5000-year-old ancient site with historical graveyards and buildings with unique architectural structures. The city was the habitat of a developed civilization with a rich culture and economy. Studies show that the site was once the center of international trade.