Discovery of skeletons of a mother and her infant in a joint grave with a dog and its whelp dating back to the 1st millennium BC in the historical site of Narges Tepe, northern Iran, has astounded archeologists.

Tehran, 8 October 2006 (CHN) -- Emergency excavations by archeologists in Narges Tepe, located in the northern Iranian city of Gorgan, led into discovery of a grave belonging to 3000 years ago containing skeletons of a mother and her infant as well as a dog and its whelp. Archeologists at Narges Tepe have also been able to unearth a grave containing the skeleton of a man buried while sitting on his horse.

Regarding the recent findings in the pre-historic site of Narges Tepe, Ghorban-Ali Abbasi, head of the excavation team at this ancient site said: "Our excavations resulted in finding skeletons of a mother and a child who died and were buried in this grave some 3000 years ago. On the left corner of the grave right above the skeleton's head we also found skeletons of a dog and its whelp. There used to be a custom in this area at around the same time according to which a person was buried after death with all his or her belongings; so it is possible that the two dogs were buried alive along with their owner when she was being buried."

According to this archeologist, the child is found buried between the mother's legs with three clay vessels placed on the sides. "We did not find any other burial gifts in this grave which indicates that the woman may not have had a high social position at her time," added Abbasi.

Abbasi also said that the skeletons of the man and his horse which were found in another grave in the same area belong to the first millennium BC as well.

Archeological excavations in Narges Tepe which originally started with the aim of saving the historic evidence in this ancient site from threats posed by the construction of an airport traced history of Narges Tepe as far back as 5000 BC.