Accidental Discovery of Ancient Armaments in Ardabil

Tehran, 8 May 2006 (CHN) -- Widening the road of Gilvan village in Ardabil province led to the accidental discovery of some ancient graves and historical relics. Soon after this discovery, a group of experts from Iran’s Archaeology Research Center were dispatched to this region to examine these relics. “As soon as we learned about this accidental discovery, we sent a letter to the Archaeology Research Center and informed its experts of the case and asked them to send some of their specialists to the region as soon as possible to study these ancient objects in detail and continue excavations in the area if necessary,” said Yahya Naghizadeh, head of the Cultural Heritage Police Department of Ardabil province to CHN.
After the archaeologists settled in the area, they started their excavations which resulted in the discovery of large numbers of historical relics including three gold coated metal daggers, 25 clay pieces, ornamental beads, and metal armaments.
“For the time being, all construction activities have been stopped in the area to bring it under strict protection until the Archaeology Research Center decides what it wants to do with this historic site,” added Naghizadeh.
Considering that the raining season has already started in the area, Naghizadeh believes that the rainfall might in fact cause serious damage to this historical site, and therefore it is necessary to take an action within the shortest time.
“After visiting the site, the expert team will prepare a report on the situation of this historical site and then the final decision will be made by the Archeology Research Center,” explained Karim Alizadeh, head of the dispatched team to Gilvan historical site. Based on the historical evidence unearthed so far in this site, archaeologists believe that the history of Gilvan goes back to at least first millennium BC.