Referring to the details of the operation, Mahnaz Sharifi explained that the ancient mound is located in the western part of a village with the same name in Piranshahr city.

She said the historical site is of prime architectural importance as it belongs to the fourth millennium BC and though it was considered as part of a civilization used to exist in the south of an area now hosting the Urmia lake, new excavations in the area have revealed it belonged to an older one, known as "Zab".

This mound is especially important due to its 9 meters thickness and also because no other architectural clues had found before in any point of Iran belonging to the fourth millennium BC, said the head of the archeological excavation.

The potteries, too, show a common cultural existence with peoples living then in the northwest of the area like in Anatolia, Caucasus, Mesopotamia and Syria, she said, noticing that the position of GerdAshvan is located close to Turkey.

Piranshahr is a city in West Azarbaijan province, in northwestern Iran. 

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