TEHRAN -- The discovery, in the excavations of the Burnt City, of two fretwork combs dating back to more than 5,000 years ago, has altered the hypothesis suggesting that was created in China and then conveyed to Iran during Safavid dynasty.

On the sidelines of an international archaeological conference in Iran, Dr. Mansour Seyed-Sajjadi, archaeologist and the excavator of the Burnt City said, "On the blank handle of the comb fretwork figures have been installed, which are similar to the patterns and stairs drawn on the first period of settlement in the Burnt City (dating back to Bronze Age in 5,000 years ago).

Relics unearthed in different archaeological excavations show that the Burnt City was a prosperous, large city some 5 millennia ago. Now, after all these eons, it is a mound 57km south of Zabol, 8 to 12 meters high and covering an area of 2.5sq.km, in the shape of a triangle as seen from air. Excavation work on the Burnt City was initiated in 1967 when Professor Maurizzio Tosi and his colleagues joined hands with Iranian archaeologists. Later, in 1988-89, excavations were resumed by Dr. Sajjadi under the auspices of the Cultural Heritage Organization.

The outcome of the research so far is reflected in 170 books and papers in Persian, English, Italian, Japanese, German, and Spanish, all of which have been contributed to an immense change in the theories regarding human civilization.

According to the excavations and researches, the Burnt City has come to be known as one of the most important proofs of the independence of the eastern part of Iran from Mesopotamia. 

Furthermore, based on relics found in Burnt City buried unscathed under layers of salt and nitrate, archaeologists have come across objects such as rope, basket, cloth, insect larva, fingernails and hair, seldom remaining in other archaeological sites.

One of the prominent relics found in the Burnt City is a skull that according to the anthropological studies, is the first evidence of brain surgeries in prehistoric Iran.

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