Biggest Pre-Historic Cloth Collection in Burnt City

Tehran, 30 January 2006 (CHN) -- With discovery of enormous pieces of cloths, belonging to the third millennium BC in Burnt City, this historical site has become the owner of the most complete pre-historic cloth collection in Iran. 50 kinds of these cloths have been categorized into several groups.
Archeological excavations in Burnt City resulted in discovery of different kinds of cloths in this historical site. While discovering pieces of cloths is a rare phenomenon in historical sites, Burnt City is considered an exception in this respect.
“Following the establishment of a new workshop in Burnt City during the ninth season of excavation, we discovered several cubbyholes full of cloths, clays, and evidence of clay stamps. The architectural style of these rooms indicates that they must have been used as storage areas,” said Mansour Sajadi, head of excavation team in Burnt City.
“One of the things that has been found abundantly in Burnt City is pieces of cloths in small storage rooms, never seen before in any other historic places of Iran. We still don’t know what exactly was stored in these rooms,” added Sajadi.
Burnt City, located in Sistan va Baluchistan province in southeast of Iran, is a 5000-year-old ancient site with historicl 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.
“Considering the large number of discovered cloths in Burnt City, we have a collection of pre-historic cloths belonging to the third millennium BC in this historical site. 50 kinds of cloths in this large collection have been identified by now; and we are currently on the process of making a bilingual catalogue in which more information about these cloths will be available to others who wish to learn more details about them,” explained Sajadi about the discovered cloths in Burnt City.
Sajadi believes that with categorizing the discovered cloths in Burnt City, the process of textile industry during the third millennium BC would be identified and introduced to the world.
The discovered rooms next to the “monument building” (or building no. 1) in Burnt City were full of dust, clays, cloths, evidence of clay stamps and other historical relics, which have not been identified yet. Based on the historical evidence found so far in Burnt City, these rooms must have been used during the second period of settlement in the site, which were restored and reconstructed during the later periods. The usage of these rooms changed during the third period of settlement in Burnt City and most probably they were turned into industrial workshops.
Burnt City is one of the prominent historical sites of Iran. The first archeological excavations at this site were carried out by the Italians, later on followed by the Iranian archeologists. The site has so far undergone 9 seasons of excavations, which have led to the discovery of some interesting articles, some of which are unique in the world.