Recent archaeological studies of the ancient Sialk Tepe (Iran) indicate that the first houses were built at the site about 7500 years ago. Sialk Tepe was the first ancient tepe in Iran which was excavated by archaeologists. It was first excavated by French archaeologist Roman Grishman in 1933. During his excavations, Grishman unearthed a giant structure which he called the brick structure of Sialk.
     Sadeq Malek Shahmirzadi, the head of the excavation team, said that the northern hill of Sialk was studied during the last season of excavations.
Shahmirzadi said that the excavation of the southern part of the hill and other recent studies show that many ethnic groups lived in Sialk over the course of history. The current stage of studies of the ancient tepe is complete, but a new stage of excavations will be started if the Archeological Research Center approves the project, he explained. Previous excavation seasons in Sialk Tepe led to new discoveries about this prehistoric site. A massive earthen ziggurat, some large clay jars, the skeletons of a man and a girl who were most probably buried under debris due to an earthquake, and hundreds of other historical artifacts were unearthed during the excavations.

Source: Iranmania (24 December 2005)