Archaeologists shed light on early settlement eras of Iran’s Manujan

A team of Iranian archaeologists has found ancient relics and evidence that could shed new light on early settlement eras of Manujan county in southeastern Kerman province.

Credit: Tehran Times

The team commenced new rounds of survey and excavations back in January at a ruined fort (locally known as Manujan fort) and its environs. At that time, a restoration project was also started on the mudbrick citadel.

Excavations at the fort has yielded a special kind of pottery as well as pieces of jewelry and glassware works that throw light on different periods of the area, ILNA reported on Tuesday.

“The [newly-excavated] pottery is simple and handmade and it can be classified as rough potteries,” archaeologist Alidad Soleymani said.

Paint of the earthenware is resembling pottery-painting manners, which were practiced in prehistorical eras, the archaeologist explained.

“We are trying to revive the way they build this [kind of] local pottery,” he said. “We have evidence that testifies glassware and even jewelry were made [in workshops] in the region.”

Most of the pottery [pieces] found [in Manujan] are broken and only about two flawless pottery have been discovered in the area, he added.

In January, Soleymani said during previous rounds of excavation, the fort had yielded relics and remains dating to various Islamic eras.

Manujan fort is nested on top of a smooth natural rock and in the heart of a city of the same name in Kerman province, which is bounded by the provinces of Fars on the west, Yazd on the north, South Khorasan on the northeast, Sistan-Baluchestan on the east, and Hormozgan on the south.

Source: Tehran Times [August 06, 2019]