A team of archaeologists recently discovered some 7000-year-old stone tools in Kerman Province (Iran). Researchers say that the tools, which were unearthed at the historical site of Tall-e Atashin, located 30 kilometers from Bam, date back to the 5th millennium BCE.
     "Once we were informed that villagers were farming in the region, our experts began conducting excavations, leading to this precious discovery," Cultural Heritage and Tourism Organization expert Narges Ahmadi said.
     Team director Sonia Shidrang said that the archaeologists have examined almost 200 items, including blades, chips, chisels, and serrated edge tools from the Chalcolithic Era (copper-stone age, 4500-3300 BC), adding that the simple and unsophisticated design of the new discoveries indicates that the region’s inhabitants were not expert toolmakers.

Source: Tehran Times (31 July 2005)