Tehran, 21 September 2006 (CHN Foreign Desk) -- The joint Iranian-British archeology team has started the second season of excavations on Gorgan’s defensive wall in Kolaleh, Gonbad Kavus, and Turkmen port, all located northern Iran.

 

The team consists of 17 experts in archeology, archeo-geology, geophysics, history, architecture, archeo-anthropology, and laboratory.

 

According to Hamid Omrani, head of the Iranian-British archeology team, undertaking studies on the kilns in western part of the wall and finding their relation to the central and eastern parts, studying the interior architectural style of the adjacent defensive towers and their usage, geophysical studies for identifying architectural remains in the lower layers of the earth, archeo-geological studies to find the date of construction of the wall, sounding works, and testing different cultural evidence collected in the area such as clays, coals and bones to determine the exact age of the wall are the main programs of the archeology team during this season of excavations on Gorgan’s wall which will take 45 days.

 

Finding the political and social significance of the wall during the Parthian and Sassanid dynastic periods and its relation to the residential areas, as well as examining the influence of the wall on the architectural style and social beliefs of the inhabitants of the region are among other goals for this excavation.  

 

Gorgan’s historical wall is the most ancient wall in Iran, constructed to prevent invasions by the Heptai tribes from north side of the country. Extending for 200 kilometers, it is the second most extended wall in Asia after the Great Wall of China. Some archeologists believe that the two historical walls were constructed simultaneously. The wall of Gorgan connects to the Caspian Sea from the west. However, it is not yet clearly known where the wall starts from on its eastern end.

 

 

Soudabeh Sadigh

foreigndesk@chn.ir