Discovery of Achaemenid Settlements in Marvdasht

LONDON, 07 March 2006 (CAIS) -- Second season of excavations by a joint Iranian-French team in Marvdasht foothills in Fars province resulted in the discovery of some settlement areas belonging to the Achaemenid dynastic era. “The previous excavations in Marvdasht historical site were merely focused on the plains. The recent excavations by Iranian-French joint team in Marvdasht foothills led to the discovery of some residential areas belonging to the Achaemenid dynastic era for the first time in this region. Our main aim was to find out traces belonging to the Achaemenid period and the first millennium BC in Marvdasht plain”, said Mohammad Feizkhah, Iranian head of the team.
Little information have been obtained so far about the way of urban and rural living during the Achaemenid dynasty which is one of the questions occupied the mind of archaeologists about this period.
According to Feizkhah, most of these settlements areas are rural houses, located on the foothills and archaeological excavations in this historical site would provide some important information about the system of ordinary peoples’ life during the Achaemenid dynasty.
“During the excavations near the plain rivers, we found a barrier used to function as small dam, which must have belonged to the Elamite period. This joint was destroyed in the course of history and during the Achaemenid dynastic era a settlements were constructed over it,” added Feizkhah.
The recent discoveries during the second season of excavations in Marvdasht have encouraged the archaeologists to head for a third season, commencing in spring 2006.