Archaeologists in southern Iran have uncovered an early Elamite jar burial and dense cultural deposits of kiln waste near Persepolis at Tol-e Roubahi Kenareh, reshaping views of the ancient settlement. The site also appears much larger than previously believed, extending at least 200 meters (660 feet) east to west and 100 meters (330 feet) north to south.
The findings point to both ritual activity and pottery production during the Banesh period of the early Elamite era, more than 4,000 years ago.
Jar burial and kiln waste uncovered
Thirteen one-by-one-meter (three-by-three ft.) trenches have been excavated at the site, revealing the burial jar and thick layers of kiln waste. Archaeologists say these discoveries mark Tol-e Roubahi Kenareh as a significant center of settlement and craft activity on the Marvdasht plain.
Fazlollah Habibi, head of the excavation team and archaeologist at the Persepolis World Heritage Base, said the work confirms the mound’s importance. “Tol-e Roubahi [Kenareh] is one of the significant prehistoric settlements of the Marvdasht plain associated with the Banesh period (early Elamite),” Habibi said.
Project aims and preservation goals
The excavation is part of a broader project to define the settlement’s limits and create a preservation zone. Habibi said the goals include mapping the site, designing safeguards against environmental and human threats, documenting discoveries, and assessing damage and environmental changes.
The team is using test trenches, drone imaging, DGPS surveys, and laboratory analysis of surface finds. Funding is provided by the Persepolis World Heritage Base, and the results will support emergency conservation, long-term preservation planning, and research into settlement patterns during the third millennium BC.
A larger site than expected
Early surveys had suggested the mound covered an area of about 100 by 100 meters. New evidence shows it stretches twice that length, underscoring its greater scale and importance.
The site lies less than two kilometers (1,2 miles) south of Persepolis and about 1.5 kilometers (0,9 miles) northwest of Tol-e Bakun, another well-known prehistoric settlement.
Persepolis in historical context
Persepolis, or Takht-e Jamshid, was founded by Darius the Great around 518 BC as the ceremonial capital of the Achaemenid Empire.
Built on a vast terrace about 60 kilometers (37 miles) northeast of Shiraz, it was destroyed in 330 BC during the conquests of Alexander the Great. Its ruins — including the Apadana Palace and the Hundred-Column Hall — remain among the most renowned archaeological sites in the world.
Ancient historians such as Plutarch and Diodorus Siculus wrote that Alexander burned the palace in retaliation for the Persian sack of Athens. They described a scene of revelry in which Alexander, urged on by his companion Thaïs, set fire to the complex.
Diodorus claimed Thaïs threw one of the first torches into the palace. Alexander’s general Parmenion reportedly opposed the act, warning it would cast him as an unjust conqueror.
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