Pictory

CURRENT WORLD ARCHAEOLOGY (Images and full text PDF): It is longer than Hadrian's Wall and the Antonine Wall taken together. It is over a thousand years older than the Great Wall of China as we know it today. It is of more solid construction than its ancient Chinese counterparts. It is the greatest monument of its kind between central Europe and China and it may be the longest brick, or stone, wall ever built in the ancient world - and yet few have ever heard of it. This wall is known as "The Great Wall of Gorgan" or "the Red Snake". An international team of archaeologists has been at work on the snakelike monument and here they report on their findings.

The "Red Snake" in northern Iran, which owes its name to the red colour of its bricks, is at least 195km long. A canal, 5m deep or more, conducted water along most of the Wall. Its continuous gradient, designed to ensure regular water flow, bears witness to the skills of the land-surveyors responsible for marking out the Wall's route. Over 30 forts are lined up along this massive structure. Their combined size is about three times that of those on Hadrian's Wall. Yet these forts are small in comparison with contemporary fortifications in the hinterland, some of which are around ten times larger than the largest Wall forts. The "Red Snake" is unmatched in so many respects and an enigma in yet more >>> Images and full text PDF

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