From ‘collapse’ to urban diaspora: the transformation of low-density, dispersed agrarian urbanism.

In the tropical regions of southern Asia, Southeast Asia and the southern Maya lowlands, the management of water was crucial to the maintenance of political power and the distribution of communities in the landscape. Between the ninth and sixteenth centuries AD, however, this diverse range of medieval socio-political systems were destabilised by climatic change. Comparative study reveals that despite their diversity, the outcome for each society was the same: the breakdown of low-density urban centres in favour of compact communities in peripheral regions. The result of this, an ‘urban diaspora’, highlights the relationship between the control of water and power, but also reveals that the collapse of urban centres was a political phenomenon with society-wide repercussions

The evolution of ceramic manufacturing technology during the late neolithic and transitional chalcolithic periods at Tepe Pardis, Iran

Discovery of the earliest archaeological evidence of wheel throwing in the Near East-Middle Asi

Holocene alluvial sediments of the Tehran Plain: sedimentation and archaeological site visibility

Iran has long been the focus of archaeological studies which have examined the early development and spread of the Neolithic culture (Coningham et al., 2004). Though Early Neolithic sites have been found in western Iran, few early sites have been discovered on the Central Plateau. This may be a direct result of the development pattern of farming communities, but the effects of archaeological visibility within arid landscapes have often been ignored. In order to test this visibility, a collaborative team from the Universities of Tehran, Bradford and Leicester started an intensive settlement survey and excavation programme in the Tehran Plain, which forms part of the Central Plateau, in 2003. Initial results from two seasons of survey and excavation suggest that Late Neolithic levels are present, but covered by 4-5 m of alluvial sediment from adjacent alluvial fans. This suggests that Early Neolithic levels may be even deeper (Coningham et al., 2004: in press). This paper will discuss our findings, and assess the nature and rate of sedimentation and potential site visibility in the Tehran Plain

From Susa to Anuradhapura : reconstructing aspects of trade and exchange in bitumen-coated ceramic vessels between Iran and Sri Lanka from the third to the ninth centuries AD

In contrast with artefactual studies of long-distance trade and exchange in South Asia during the Prehistoric and Early Historic periods ( Ardika et al. 1993; Gogte 1997; Krishnan and Coningham 1997; Tomber 2000; Gupta et al. 2001; Ford et al. 2005), few scientifically orientated analyses have focused on artefacts from the region's Historic period. During excavations at the ancient city of Anuradhapura, Sri Lanka, a number of buff ware ceramics with a putative organic coating on the interior were recovered ( Coningham 2006). Dated stylistically to between the third and ninth centuries ad, analysis of the coatings using gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC–MS) and stable isotope analysis (carbon and deuterium) confirmed that the coatings are bitumen—an organic product associated with petroleum deposits. There are no known bitumen sources in Sri Lanka, and biomarker distributions and isotopic signatures suggest that the majority of the samples appear to have come from a single bitumen source near Susa in Iran. The relationship between the bitumen coatings and the vessels is discussed, and it is suggested that the coatings were used to seal permeable ceramic containers to allow them to transport liquid commodities. This study enhances our knowledge of networks of trade and exchange between Sri Lanka and western Asia during Historic times