Sialk – the Archeological Site

This archeological site has been inhabited for about three or four thousand years, its earliest level dating back to at least the fifth millennium B.C. one of the oldest known figurines of Near Eastern man was found here in the shape of a carved bone knife handle, depicting a man wearing a cap and a loincloth; it is now in the Tehran Museum.

In the first period of occupation, the finds included carved bone and shell ornaments, a little metal work, stone axes, and implements, and handmade pottery. The dead were buried in a contracted position beneath their partly wooden huts and the corpses were stained red. on the next level of occupation, the pottery is made using crude wheels and with black painted realistic designs of animals and greater use of metal. The north mound was abandoned for unknown reasons and the south mound shows the earliest evidence of trade. Many more precious objects were buried with the dead at this time and copper was melted and used. A fierce fire, the ashes of which can still be found in the side of the mound ended this period. After 2000 years the place was invaded by people from the northeast who brought with them the art of ironwork, toward the end of the second millennium. They also built a fortified mansion surrounded by a wall flanked with towers.