The dark greenish stone and bronze vessels had always been a mystery. Dating at least five millennia back, these chlorite, bronze and ceramic containers, vases and other decorative objects were covered in mythological scenes depicting snakes, eagles and scorpions. There were human bodies with bull heads and other anthropomorphic figures. They were found widely, in archeological digs from the Indus Valley in modern day Pakistan to the Persian Gulf and as far north as Gonur Depe, a site in Turkmenistan.
“The origin of these vessels was completely unknown,” says David Meier, an archaeologist with the University of Tehran.
