The 7000-year-old mound of Pardis in the Qarchak region has been bulldozed to make way for a brick production factory. This has been reported by the Iranian based new sites of Mehr on September 10, 2008 (in English), the English language Tehran Times on September 11, 2008 and CHN (in Persian) which deals primarily with Iran’s cultural and archaeological affairs.
According to the Mehr news agency the director of the Archaeology Research Center of Iran (ARCI), Mohammad-Hassan Fazeli Nashli, had warned cultural officials of the illegal excavations activities at the site. This was first noted during an interview with the CHN in Persian a few days before the reprot by Mehr. According to Nashli:
“The excavations have completely destroyed about 70 percent of the site…”
Nashli did not give further information about the affiar but noted that
“Despite the unique character of the site and its potential to become a site specific museum, the Tehran Cultural Heritage, Tourism and Handicrafts Department has no plans for the site, which is in danger of destruction…Based on the third season of archaeological excavations carried out at Pardis, the site could shed light on the nature and the date of many important developments that occurred in the central Iranian Plateau,” explained Fazeli Nashli, who is also the director of the archaeological team currently working at the site.”
The good news is that in April 2006, a joint team of Iranian archaeologists and experts from Kingston University, Durham University, and the University of Leicester in England colluded in the third round of archaeological excavations in April 2006. According to Mehr News, Ornaments discovered were:
“Iron necklaces, bracelets, and some other ornaments were discovered in the graves of the site’s cemetery during the excavations.”
