The “Sialk Hills” is a large ancient archeological site in suburb of the city of Kashan in central Iran which was built around the 8th century BC. A joint study between Iran's Cultural Heritage Organization, the Louvre, and the Institut Francais de Recherche en Iran also verifies the oldest settlements in Sialk dating back to 5500–6000 BC. A cemetery near the structures has also excavated by the Louvre team which is dated back as 7,500 years.
“Sialk Hills” is a mud-brick platform, possibly a support for some kind of building standing at top of the platform but not necessarily a temple. Some have speculated it is a ziggurat, but the evidences do not point to that kind of structure. At the Sialk site, there are actually two structures (necropolises) situated several hundred meters apart from each other.
Sialk is thought to have first originated as a result of the pristine large water sources nearby that still run today. The “Cheshmeh ye Soleiman” (Solomon's Spring) has been bringing water to this area from nearby mountains for thousands of years.
Sialk was excavated for three seasons (1933, 1934, and 1937) by a team headed by Roman Ghirshman. Excavation was resumed for several seasons beginning in 2002 by a team from the University of Pennsylvania and Iran's Cultural Heritage Organization.
Artifacts from the original dig ended up mostly at the Louvre, while some can be found at the British Museum, the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, the National Museum of Iran and also in the hands of private collectors.
The site remains in the list of UNESCO to be registered as a World Heritage Site.
More pictures of this place:
http://www.pbase.com/k_amj/sialk