Researchers from the Cyprus Institute, in collaboration with the Iranian Center of Archaeological Research, have worked around the clock for a week on ID16A to discover more about the lifestyle of our ancestors.
How did people live 5000 years ago? What did they eat? What can we learn of their health? Were they exposed to contaminants? To answer these questions with various techniques researchers first need to understand more about the preservation state of ancient human hair. In order to do this, a team from Cyprus Institute is scanning hair remains found within burials at the ancient site of Shahr-I-Sokhta, in Iran.
In this urban settlement, at a crossroads of important ancient trade routes that later became part of the Silk Road, there was busy commercial and manufacturing activity around metal and precious materials as evidenced by the artifacts found onsite during archaeological excavations. Archaeologists have also found remains of the inhabitants of the city dating to the 3rd millennium BC, and their state of preservation is remarkable. “The climate in this area is very arid and hot, and this has led to preservation of body tissues not often found with human skeletons, including hair”, explains Kirsi Lorentz, assistant professor at the Cyprus Institute.
>Read more on the European Synchrotron (ESRF) website
Image: Aerial view of the Shahr-I-Sokhta site, in Iran.
Credit: Media Rahmani