9,000 Year Old Mysterious Burial Ritual Discovered in Iran

The Ancient Sialk Ziggurat located near the city of Kashan

Reported on May 18th, 2009, archaeologists at Iran's Sialk Mound discovered a mysterious burial ritual that is dated as old as 9,000 years.  Sialk is located in the center of Iran and is seen as one of the focal origins of technology and religious thought.  This discovery had shed new light on religious rituals in ancient Iran because it revealed practices they had never known existed.  Hassan Fazeli, the Director of Iran's Archaeological Research Center, explained that four bodies had been burned at temperatures ranging from 400-700 degrees.  A combination of Ash and remains were found buried in jars at the site.  Traces of red petals were also found in these jars which were believed to signify life and eternity in ancient Persia.  What made this discovery so important was that this kind of burial ritual involving burning and the containing of remains in jars had never been discovered before in Iran.  The excitement of the discovery brought together archaeologists from not just Iran, but from France, Italy, England, and Germany.

I had found quite a few other news articles on this same discovery, but they were all posted within a few days of each other, so it's hard to say that this discovery held it's excitement for any extended period of time.  I found this article interesting because it's not everyday I read an article about an archaeological finding in Iran.  It has actually inspired me to look more closely at archaeological findings in the middle east, and see how these compare to those found in Europe.  How will their mortuary practices differ? How will status be represented? So many new interesting things to learn!

http://www.kavehfarrokh.com/iranica/maps-of-iran-5000-bc-651-ad/9000-yr-old-mysterious-burial-ritual-discovered-in-iran/