Experts excavating ancient water wells in Parsa
Tehran Times
Culture Desk
Jan. 13, 2009
TEHRAN -- A team of archaeologists are currently excavating water wells of the ancient city of Parsa near the Persepolis.
The first water well was discovered in November 2008 during the initial studies for construction of public toilets at the threshold of Paras at a distance of 500 meters west of Persepolis.
Ten intact pottery works, probably used by the people of Parsa, were discovered in the well during grading for the construction project, which was stopped due to the significance of the water well for Iranian history, team director Afshin Yazdani told the Persian service of CHN on Monday.
“Digging more trenches for study of ancient strata and searching for residential areas has resulted in the discovery of several other wells nearby,” he added.
Yazdani said that the wells had likely been dug during the early days of the town of Parsa.
“It is not clear when the wells were abandoned, but it is surmised that they were left concurrently with the eclipse of the Achaemenids,” he explained.
So far during the archaeological excavations, no related architectural structure has been found near the wells.
“The shallow depth of the wells shows that the water table was high during the Achaemenid era,” Yazdani noted.
“A special technique most likely was used for digging one of the wells, which has been bored in a conical shape with a narrow opening,” he explained.
He said that it may have been bored by a tool similar to a drill.
Many important artifacts were unearthed during the first season of excavations carried out in October and November 2008 by a joint Iranian-Italian archaeological team at the town of Parsa, which was the residential area of commoners just outside the palaces of Persepolis.
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