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Article: Iran's 5,000 Years of Recorded History
- Article from:
- The Washington Report on Middle East Affairs
- Article date:
- April 30, 1996
- Author:
CopyrightCopyright American Educational Trust Apr 30, 1996. Provided by ProQuest LLC. (Hide copyright information)
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Iran's 5,000 Years of Recorded History
By Richard H. Curtiss
The written history of Iran begins some 5,000 years ago, but the archeological record begins long before that. Obsidian flakes found under alluvial deposits from the last glacial epoch show that humans traversed Iran's great central plateaus in the Paleolithic period. More flint implements show hunters again were present at the end of the last glacial period some 10,000 years ago.
By 4,000 B.C. small villages existed in the valleys where the mountains met the plains, and the designs on clay pots show plant and animal motifs indicating the inhabitants were at least partly settled agriculturalists. Layers of ashes and abrupt changes ...