Discovery of Ancient Statuettes and a Torso in Daqyanous

Tehran, 5 April 2006 (CHN) -- Archaeological excavations in Jiroft led to the discovery of some statuettes of men and women and the statue of a torso of an instrumentalist woman in the ancient public bathroom of Daqyanous city. Archeologists believe that the existence of these statuettes indicate the continuation of pre-Islamic art during the Seljuk era (900 years ago).
The Islamic city of Daqyanous, located north of the city of Jiroft in Kerman province is the only city dating back to prehistoric times which was registered as a national heritage some 70 years ago. Considering its 40-kilometer area, this city is considered one of the biggest Islamic cities, although its central part is only 12 kilometers.
“Studying the dress styles depicted on these statuettes will result in identifying the dress code of the people in Daqyanous city during the ancient times. The cloths of the men and women are very similar, consisting of trousers and coats. There is also some very beautiful ornamentation on their hats, head-covers and their trousers,” said Hamideh Choobak, head of archeological excavation team in Daqyanous city.
Considering the discovery of the statue of a torso of an instrumentalist woman in Daqyanous historical site, Choobak explained: “the statuettes indicates the continuation of the Parthian and Sassanid art during the Seljuk era since some statuettes belonging to the Elamite period have also been discovered. Later during the Parthian and Sassanid era it was common to carve images of instrumentalist women on silver dishes. Therefore, with the discovery of these statuettes we can see the influence of pre-Islamic art on that of the Seljuk period and that how they were used in the decorations of the buildings during the Seljuk era.”
Jiroft, in southeast of Iran is one of the most ancient centers of Iranian civilization comprised of archaic sites dating back to the third millennium BC up to the Islamic era. There are many historical sites in this area such as the city of Daqyanous near Halil Rud River.
Daqyanous historical city was one of the key areas in Iran through which Iran traded with eastern countries of the region. A lot of ceramic kilns and ancient layers of the prehistoric era up to the post-Islamic period can be found here. Some dishes engraved with images such as dragons, eagles, animals, temples, and idols and beads that change color when in contact with water have been discovered in Daqyanous historical site. Marco Polo, the famous Italian explorer, has described Daqyanous historical city as a magnificent city in his itinerary.
Some archeological excavations have been done by the Cultural Heritage and Tourism Organization of Iran in this historical site but only 2,000 square meters of it have been excavated so far. Archeologists believe that more than a century is needed to complete the studies here. Unfortunately some invaluable artifacts were seized during the illegal excavations by the smugglers. The latest season of excavations has been started since 17th of March and will run to 30th of April to extract more information from this historic site.