dependent on the wetland's products. For example, beds of reeds provide livestock food, cooking and heating fuel, and the raw materials for structures and handicrafts. Water availability affects the income derived from fishing and hunting, an important source of income. The result of the drought has been the collapse of the local economy as well as destruction of the wetland's ecological system, causing damage to the agriculture in the delta based on the Helmand River's irrigation. Archaeology For more than 5,000 years the Sistan basin has been inhabited by sophisticated cultures and thus contains some key archaeological sites. The Shahr-i Sokhta, or "Burnt City", in Iran, built in 3100 B.C. near a currently dried-up branch of the Helmand River, was abandoned one thousand years later, most likely due climate changes that altered the river course. Also, Shahdad, located further to the west, on the western side of Lut desert, is a related site from the Bronze Age. Kang and Zaranj in Afghanistan were major medieval cultural hubs, now covered by sand. Here, signs of historical irrigation systems, including canals, are still visible in the Dasht-e-Margo and Chakhansur areas while elsewhere canals are filled with silt and agricultural fields buried by shifting sand. Today the area is sparsely populated. Excavations have also revealed a citadel complex, and the remains of a Zoroastrian fire temple, on Mount Khajeh. There are other important sites in this area. Dahan-e Gholaman is a major Achaemenid archaeological site. It is believed to be the capital of the ancient satrapy of Zranka/Drangiana. Ram Shahristan (or Abrashariyar) was an ancient capital of Sistan. See also Arachosia Bahram III Notes External links Dust storm over Afghanistan and Pakistan From Wetland to Wasteland: The Destruction of the Hamoun Oasis Freshwater Fishes of Iran: Introduction - Drainage Basins - Sistan Endorheic basins of Asia Regions of Iran Regions of Afghanistan Helmand River Landforms of Sistan and Baluchestan Province Sistan Landforms of Iran Drainage basins of Afghanistan Landforms of Nimruz Province Landforms of Kandahar Province Landforms of Zabul Province