TEHRAN -- A roughly 
six-month-old male infant has been discovered buried at the Izgam-Dasht archaeological site in Ramsar, northern Iran, during the third season of excavations at the Bronze Age settlement.
The infant’s skeletal remains were identified in the upper layers of the Bronze Age deposits at the site near Jannat-Rudbar, where archaeologists have been investigating evidence of human occupation spanning several periods. The third excavation season began earlier this month with the aim of expanding research into the site’s several-thousand-year history.
Physical anthropologist Farzad Forouzanfar, a member of the excavation team, said the infant’s dental remains indicate that teeth had only recently begun erupting through the gums at the time of death.
He described the skeleton as particularly delicate and frail, adding that its condition raises the possibility that the child suffered from an illness or other health condition. Further specialist examination will be required before any diagnosis can be made.
Detailed study of the infant’s teeth could provide additional information about the child’s health and biological condition, as well as aspects of early life in the community that occupied the site during the Bronze Age.
The burial is also potentially significant for understanding the population history of the region. According to Forouzanfar, physical-anthropological studies of this and other burials at Izgam-Dasht have pointed to differences between the populations living around Ramsar and those farther east and west, raising the possibility of a demographic or cultural boundary in the area.
The interpretation remains preliminary, however, as the third excavation season has only recently begun. Forouzanfar said some of the evidence from the first trenches differs from findings documented during earlier seasons, and further excavation could reveal additional information about the biological, demographic and cultural characteristics of the ancient population.
Izgam-Dasht has already yielded substantial evidence of past occupation. Earlier excavations identified a cemetery dating to the Middle Bronze Age, approximately 3,600 years ago, while subsequent work uncovered burials and material remains from the Bronze Age, Iron Age and later historical and Islamic periods.
The latest excavation is expected to contribute to efforts to preserve and interpret the site, which is being considered for development as a historical archaeological site museum.