Artifacts recently confiscated from smugglers by the Zanjan Cultural Heritage and Tourism Department (ZCHTD) have led to the discovery of an Iron Age site near Anzar village in Iran’s Zanjan Province.
     "Following the confiscation of the artifacts from smugglers near the village, they led us to an Iron Age site, including a cemetery and settlement," ZCHTD archaeologist Abolfazl Aali said. "One of the smugglers had unearthed 22 intact clay artifacts, a number of beads made of silica, and bronze and copper relics, such as daggers and bayonets, during his excavations in the cemetery," he added.
     The as-yet-unnamed site, located amid agricultural lands, is one of the few Iranian Iron Age sites which has a cemetery and settlement in the same place. It resembles the Iron Age sites in the northern Iranian province of Gilan due to its proximity to the Fuman mountains. The ZCHTD plans to excavate the site in autumn upon receiving approval for the project from Iran’s Archaeological Research Center.

Source: Tehran Times (8 August 2005)