TEHRAN -- Director of the Archaeology Research Center of Iran (ARCI) Mohammad-Hassan Fazeli believes that the Chehrabad Salt Mine men are unique examples of preserved human remains and constitute an unprecedented world discovery.

Chehrabad Salt Mine is located in the Hamzehlu region of north-west Iran, near Zanjan.
Participating in the international conference which opened in Zanjan on Thursday, Fazeli said that the future preservation of the salt men is of great concern to the ARCI.
“We must make use of the experience of experts in order to discover the best way of conserving these remarkable specimens for future generations,” he remarked.
Experts from Britain, Germany, and Austria are taking part in the three-day conference.
He expressed hope that the specialists who have gathered in Zanjan will be able to devise suitable methods for the safeguarding of the Chehrabad Salt Mine and its extraordinary treasure.
Over the past decade, five salt men have been salvaged from the Chehrabad Salt Mine.
The First Salt Man is on display at the National Museum of Iran in Tehran and the other four are being kept at the Rakhtshuikhaneh Museum in Zanjan.
A Sixth Salt Man was recently discovered, but it was left in-situ due to the dearth of equipment necessary for its preservation.
Experts believe that the Sixth Salt Man lived about 1800 years ago.
Studies on the Fourth Salt Man indicate that the body is 2000 years old and that he was 15 or 16 years old at the time of death.
It is still not clear when the other salt men lived, but archaeologists estimate that the First Salt Man lived about 1700 years ago and died at sometime between the ages of 35 and 40