Shahr-i Sokhta — Helmand Burnt City Eastern Ridge
Bronze Age (3200–1800 BCE)·Helmand culture (Shahr-i Sokhta III)·🇮🇷 Sistan and Baluchestan, Iran
About
About Shahr-i Sokhta — Helmand Burnt City Eastern Ridge
Shahr-i Sokhta — Helmand Burnt City Eastern Ridge in Sistan and Baluchestan, Iran is a Bronze Age (3200–1800 BCE) ancient-city attributed to Helmand culture (Shahr-i Sokhta III). Eastern ridge residential quarter 80 ha beyond central Burnt City with eye prosthesis burial 2800 BCE. Tosi Shahr-i Sokhta eye prosthesis burial 2800 BCE and board game 2600 BCE.
Why it mattersKey Helmand culture (Shahr-i Sokhta III) site informing Central Asian prehistory
Open questions
Mysteries & theories
Mysteries
- 01Chronology refinement
- 02Metallurgy evidence
Theories
- 01Long-distance trade route
- 02Urbanism genesis
Theories are interpretations, not findings. The seal above tells you how much scholarly weight the place carries.
History
How it came to be
- Built
- c. 3200 BCE
- Period
- Bronze Age (3200–1800 BCE)
- Culture
- Helmand culture (Shahr-i Sokhta III)
- Purpose
- Eastern ridge residential quarter 80 ha beyond central Burnt City with eye prosthesis burial 2800 BCE
- Excavation
- Partially excavated
c. 3200 BCE
Initial construction
c. 1960 CE
Modern excavation
On the ground
Structures & features
30.5900° N · 61.3200° E · 480 m · 4 mapped features
- Shahr-i Sokhta — Helmand Burnt City Eastern Ridge — Citadel / High MoundcitadelHigh citadel or fortified nucleus30.5901° N · 61.3201° E
- Shahr-i Sokhta — Helmand Burnt City Eastern Ridge — Craft QuarterworkshopWorkshop district with furnaces or kilns30.5898° N · 61.3202° E
- Shahr-i Sokhta — Helmand Burnt City Eastern Ridge — Necropolis ExtensionnecropolisCemetery30.5904° N · 61.3198° E
- Shahr-i Sokhta — Helmand Burnt City Eastern Ridge — Storage AnnexstorageStorage building30.5896° N · 61.3199° E
Gallery