gems, turquoise, Iran, Persian turquoise, archaeology, archaeogemology, history of turquoise mining and processing, lapis lazuli

Around the same time, flint drills were discovered in large numbers in Shahr-i Sokhta. A comparative study between the turquoise waste found in the archaeological site’s layers and turquoise beads discovered in burials indicates that turquoise came to the town in the form of finished products, in contrast to lapis lazuli, which was manufactured on-site (because of the larger quantity of extracted lapis waste) (Tosi 1973).