TEHRAN – A restoration and rehabilitation project has been commenced on 20 Bronze-Age relics which have recently been excavated by a team of Iranian and German archaeologists at Tepe Rivi, an ancient hill in northeastern North Khorasan province.

“The relics date back to the late Bronze Age some 3,500 years ago,” CHTN quoted Ali Mostifian, the deputy provincial tourism chief, as saying on Tuesday.

“This [restoration] operation is aimed at protecting and safeguarding cultural and historical heritage, which is one of the important missions of museums,” the official said.

Teams of Iranian and German archaeologists have recently completed seven archaeological seasons across the site. Archaeological research works in Rivi started in 2012.

Since then archaeologists accessed remains of settlements from the Bronze and Iron Age, the Achaemenid, the Parthian, the Sassanid dynasties, and the early Islamic period.

The evidence, according to Mohammad-Javad Jafari who headed of the fifth season of archaeological excavation at Rivi site, indicates the sequence of settlement in the area in the aftermath of the Achaemenid era, according to the Archaeology News Network.

Evidence suggests that residents of this area sealed the urns that were loaded with particular goods then tied them with ropes, the archaeologist said.

AFM/MG