Tehran, 28 December 2006 (CHN Foreign Desk) -- Anthropological studies on the remaining skeleton of a child, found recently wrapped in a white garment in the historic site of Taleb Khan Tepe, revealed the cause of death to be lack of Vitamin B12.

 

Announcing this news, Farzad Forouzanfar, director of the Anthropology Department of Iran’s Archeology Research Center, said that the child was five years old at the time of death and suffered from severe anemia as a result of Vitamin B12 deficiency.

 

“The disease is caused by lack of Vitamin B12 which ultimately results in disorder of blood platelet function and decrease of red and white globules,” explained Forouzanfar, adding that evidence pointing to the cause of death can still be traced on the child’s skull.

 

The new discovery was made during the third season of archeological excavations in Taleb Khan Tepe, a historic site close to the famous Burnt City, southeast Iran. The skeleton of the child, whose milk teeth have still remained, was found in a supine position at the foot of a wall, buried 120 centimeters below the ground level.

 

Discovery of the skeleton of this child, which according to latest dating belongs to the second millennium BC, shows that life continued in Taleb Khan Tepe even after the nearby historic Burnt City was abandoned by its inhabitants.

 

 

Maryam Tabeshian

foreigndesk@chn.ir