page_title: Pasargadae
section_title: Archaeology
hierarchical_section_title: Pasargadae / Archaeology
caption_attribution_description: English: The Dovetail Staples from Pasargadae - World's oldest staple - 6th c. BCE
context_page_description: Pasargadae was the capital of the Achaemenid Empire under Cyrus the Great, who ordered its construction. Today it is an archaeological site and one of Iran's UNESCO World Heritage Sites, about 90 kilometres to the northeast of the modern city of Shiraz. A limestone tomb there is believed to be that of Cyrus the Great.
context_section_description: The first capital of the Achaemenid Empire, Pasargadae lies in ruins 40'40 kilometers from Persepolis, in present-day Fars province of Iran.
  Pasargadae was first archaeologically explored by the German archaeologist Ernst Herzfeld in 1905, and in one excavation season in 1928, together with his assistant Friedrich Krefter.  Since 1946, the original documents, notebooks, photographs, fragments of wall paintings and pottery from the early excavations are preserved in the Freer Gallery of Art, Smithsonian Institution, in Washington, DC.  After Herzfeld, Sir Aurel Stein completed a site plan for Pasargadae in 1934.  In 1935, Erich F. Schmidt produced a series of aerial photographs of the entire complex.
  From 1949 to 1955, an Iranian team led by Ali Sami worked there.  A British Institute of Persian Studies team led by David Stronach resumed excavation from 1961 to 1963. It was during the 1960s that a pot-hoard known as the Pasargadae Treasure was excavated near the foundations of 'Pavilion B' at the site. Dating to the 5th-4th centuries BC, the treasure consists of ornate Achaemenid jewellery made from gold and precious gems and is now housed in the National Museum of Iran  and the British Museum. It has been suggested that the treasure was buried as a subsequent action once Alexander the Great approached with his army, then remained buried, hinting at violence.
  After a gap, work was resumed by the Iranian Cultural Heritage Organization and the Maison de l'Orient et de la Méditerranée of the University of Lyon in 2000.  The complex is one of the key cultural heritage sites for tourism in Iran.
caption: Dovetail Staples from Pasargadae
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