Discovery of 6000-Year-Old Archaeological Site in Qom

LONDON, 21 February 2006 (CAIS) -- Digging in an area about 300 meters from the Cultural Heritage and Tourism Organization building of Qom city, near the tomb of Masumeh, sister of eight Shiite Imam, resulted in the discovery of a 6,000-year-old historical site in this old texture of the city.

“When the loaders were removing the earth near the building of the CHTO of Qom, their blades dug into the remains of a historical site. Archaeological studies on this region indicate that the human settlement in this area dates back to the 4th millennium BC,” said Siamak Sarlak, an archaeologist of the ICHTO and director of archaeological team in Qom.

With discovery of this historical site, construction activities in the area were stopped and a letter was submitted to Iran’s Archaeological Research Center requesting this center to carry out archaeological research in this historical site.

Prior to this accidental discovery, archaeologists in Qom had found remarkable evidence in Qoli Darvish Historical Tappeh which by itself proved the importance of the city of Qom in historical context.

This new discovery has partially answered the questions archaeologists were facing with during their excavation at Qoli Darvish Tappeh.

“Archeological excavations in Qoli Darvish historical Tappeh faced archaeologist with a lot of questions. There is a long historical gap seen in Qoli Darvish historical site which we do not know anything about. The layers belonging to the fifth and third millennium BC have been identified during the archaeological excavations in this historical site. But nothing has remained from the fourth millennium BC. Since the Qom River flooded several times in the course of history, it is believed that the people of the region must have migrated to other regions during this one millennium interruption. Now with the discovery of this historical site belonging to the 4th millennium BC, it is supposed that the inhabitants of Qoli Darvish migrated to the present-day city of Qom and then they returned to Qoli Darvish hill after 1000 years,” explained Sarlak.

Only 100 square meters have been survived from this 6,000-year-old historical site.

“The discovered artifacts in this historical site indicate the existence of a rich culture in the region. Most of the potteries have been decorated with animal designs such as leopard and duck, while geometrical designs seem to be popular during that time. The remained residential areas in this region exhibit a mud-brick architectural style, some parts of which has remained intact,” explained Sarlak.

Discovery of this pre-historic site indicates that the residency in the city of Qom dates back to the fourth millennium BC.