Search goes on for 1st villages formed in southern Caspian Sea

The Public Relations Office of the Research Institute of Cultural Heritage and Tourism (RICHT) quoted Fazeli as saying that the purpose of this project which is underway in collaboration with Tehran University and the Research Institute of Archaeology, is to find out the origin of the first villages which have been formed in the southern part of the Caspian Sea.

'The area is located between the Eurasia and the Middle East,' Fazeli said, and reiterated that therefore the archeological studies are important for the Middle East and as a bridge for Eurasia which connects these two regions together and thus is valuable in terms of archaeology.

Elaborating further on the implementation of the project, he said major research projects which have been launched in conjunction with the Neolithic and becoming Neolithic have been focused on west of Iran; Zagros, Iraq, parts of Turkey, Syria, Lebanon and Palestine, adding that many researchers have conducted broad works in the area in connection with the origin of the Neolithic communities.

Fazeli noted that the archaeologists are still facing the question whether this transformation, based on what Carlton has researched in north of Iran, started 3,000 years after Zagros.

If Neolithic communities which are assumed to have come here from Zagros and promoted this life style and culture in this region, why they were 3,000 years late and how did this transition stage occur as they were expert hunters, he added.

Defining the probing project for determination of the limits and privacy of the area and archeological explorations in Komishani, Fazeli referred to the complete destruction of Kamarbandi cave and reiterated: 'In this project the remaining part of a cave in Rostam Kola which is exposed to destruction by a stone mine and its entrance has been completely blocked will be salvaged.'

He described the Komishani area as the largest Neolithic village in the entire Iran the span of which has spread up to the surrounding gardens. He said Komishani is one of the oldest Pre-Pottery Neolithic villages which is located outside the cave in north of Iran.

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