Pictory

Tepe Hissar, the largest known urban settlement in northeastern Iran, is located about 90 km. to the southeast of the Caspian Sea, near the modern city of Damghan, and west of Turkmenistan. For six decades the site has provided the primary archaeological record in the region, with its continuous habitation levels from the fifth to the second mill. BCE (4,500-1,900). Its strategic location along the major East-West trade route, between southern Mesopotamia, Iranian plateau and Central Asia, further heightens its presumed economic and political role in the region. The importation of lapis and turquoise implies connections with the east, and at the same time links with the west have been documented by blank clay tablets reminiscent of Proto-Elamite tablets, and a cylinder seal. Its importance, therefore, as a cornerstone of chronology, cannot be overemphasized. University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology Films.