www.chnpress.com Archeological research Khuzestan led into identifying 300 prehistoric and historic sites in the vicinity of the city of Ramhormoz with the most ancient one  dating back to the 8th millennium BC.

The discoveries came after only one month since experts of the provincial department of Cultural Heritage and Tourism Organization in Khuzestan started their work in the area in an attempt to prepare the archeological map of the province.

أ¢â‚¬إ“Ramhormoz is the first city in Khuzestan which we chose to start our research in order to prepare the archeological map of the province. What came as a surprise was to find 300 historic and prehistoric sites during such a short period in a one part of the city, a fact which brings into light the archeological richness of the area and Khuzestan province as a whole,أ¢â‚¬آ‌ explained Hosseini, director of the research center of Khuzestanأ¢â‚¬â„¢s Cultural Heritage and Tourism Department, to CHN.

According to Hosseini, the  discovered areas  consist of various historical sites including hills and architectural remains  ranging in date from the prehistoric to historic periods, among which some Elamite (3400-550 BC), Parthian (248 BC-224 AD) and Islamic era (650 AD afterwards) remains have been identified. Evidence shows that the majority of the discovered structures were likely to have been residential settlements and fortresses dated back to the Qajar dynastic era (1787-1921 AD).

 Based on previous plans, experts are currently working on preparing an archeological map on which distribution of archeological sites in different Iranian provinces including Khuzestan is pinned down in an effort to protect them against possible damages caused by development projects in the country. However, due to the ignorance of Iranأ¢â‚¬â„¢s Cultural Heritage and Tourism Organization to give a full record of its projects in the year 1386 (Iranian calendar), the budget for preparing the archeological map of the country was cut out from the next yearأ¢â‚¬â„¢s Iranian budget calendar which was decided upon during the  past few days by the Iranian Parliament putting  the future  of this project in a state of ambiguity.