Konar Sandal
Konar Sandal is a Bronze Age archaeological site, situated just south of Jiroft, Kermān Province, Iran.
It consists of two mounds a few kilometers apart, called Konar Sandal A and B with a height of 13 and 21 meters, respectively. At Konar Sandal B, a two-story, windowed citadel with a base of close to 13.5 hectares was found. Also found in Konar Sandal were tablets with scripts of unknown nature.
, Iran. 3rd millennium BC - National Museum of Iran
The site is associated with the hypothesized "Jiroft culture", a 3rd millennium BC culture postulated on the basis of a collection of artifacts confiscated in 2001, criticized for conjecture about material not found in secure archaeological contexts and probably including forgeries. So the excavation of Konar Sandal is important in discovering artefacts in context.
Yousef Majidzadeh, head of the archaeological excavation team in Konar Sandal which began work after the 2001 confiscation, has identified the site as an "independent Bronze Age civilization with its own architecture and language". Majidzadeh suggests they may be the remains of the lost Aratta Kingdom. Other conjectures have connected the site with the obscure city-state of Marhashi.
