Review of Alireza Askari Chaverdi and Pierfrancesco Callieri, Report on the Field Work Carried out by the Iranian-Italian Joint Archaeological Mission in 2008–2009, Oxford: BAR Publishing 2017. Pp. 310. ISBN: 9781407316086

This volume represents the final report on fieldwork carried out by the Iranian-Italian Joint Archaeological Mission in 2008-2009 at Persepolis West, an area in the surrounds of the World Heritage Site of Persepolis, an imperial centre of the Achaemenid Empire. The fieldwork was undertaken as part of a five-year project entitled "From Palace to Town", started in 2008 by the Iranian-Italian Joint Archaeological Mission, which included archaeology and conservation works. The project aimed to shift attention away from the 'palaces' of the imperial Terrace which had been almost exclusively the focus of archaeologists in the past, to the inhabited settlement known from written sources, the 'town'. The current volume is the second of four in the "From Palace to Town" series. "Persepolis West" is the name given to one of the Achaemenid settlements identified in the plain and specifically within the broad area named the "Persepolis settled zone". The great value of this volume is in presenting and making available to the academic community the results of this important fieldwork project. The geophysical survey and ground-truthing of this data are pivotal to our understanding of the settlement landscape of Persepolis. The pottery assemblage retrieved through controlled stratigraphic excavation fills the gaps in the Achaemenid and post-Achaemenid ceramic sequence, with radiometric dating supporting these results

The architecture of Achaemenid Qaleh Kali

This study presents the results of three seasons of excavations at the site of Qaleh Kali, Fars province, in south western Iran, with a specific focus on the architectural elements found at the site. The study of Qaleh Kali has a long and fragmented history, but since its discovery by western archaeologists in the early 20th century, the site has been known to contain the remains of clearly identifiable Achaemenid architecture. The site was the subject of archaeological investigation in 1959. The results of those excavations were limited, and left many unanswered questions regarding the role of Qaleh Kali in the heartland of the Achaemenid sphere, roughly 140km north west of Persepolis. In 2003, members of the Mamasani Archaeological Project, a joint collaboration between the Iranian Centre for Archaeological Research (ICAR) and the University of Sydney, undertook a preliminary survey of the site. Many of the surface remains noted by previous scholars remained and a decision was made to reopen excavations, commencing in 2007. Excavation revealed extensive architectural remains that confirmed the presence of an important Achaemenid structure. In addition to the bell-shaped column bases of Persepolitan style, other in situ elements included a masonry portico with stairs, a crenellated parapet and massive mudbrick wall foundations. The current study presents an analysis of these architectural elements in detail, with the overall aim to place them contextually, stylistically and chronologically within the broader Achaemenid architectural canon. This has been achieved by undertaking a thorough review of comparanda from other sites incorporating Achaemenid architectural attributes, and at varying scales. Throughout the study, the analysis has been informed by an examination of how the different construction techniques and decorative features used at Qaleh Kali work at an imperial level. The stylistic decisions made at Qaleh Kali provide an important insight into regional architectural styles

Archaeoseismicity of the Mounds and Monuments along the Kāzerun Fault (Western Zāgros, SW Iranian Plateau) since the Chalcolithic Period

Our multidisciplinary investigation represents off-fault archaeoseismic indicators recorded in the archaeological remains at mounds and structural elements of monuments situated along the Kāzerun fault in the western Zāgros Mountains since the Chalcolithic period. The study revealed two large magnitude earthquakes (~Mw > 7.0, possibly ~7.3) ca. 3850-3680 BC and ca. 3030 BC with return periods of ~735 ± ? years at Tol-e Spid. Detecting only two earthquakes during the 4000 year life span of archaeological mound is incompatible with the 3.6-3.9 slip rate along the Kāzerun fault. After a long gap in data, a strong earthquake indicator is recorded ca. 400-200 BC in Qal'eh Kāli; all located to the north of the Kāzerun fault bend. On the contrary, in addition to the vandalism episodes during the invasions of the Moslem Arabs (16/637), the Mongol hordes (1219-1250), and Timur (1370-1405), the structural elements of the royal Sasanid city of Bishāpur, located to the south of the fault bend, indicated archaeoseismic indicators of four possible earthquakes within a period of 800 years. The limited data indicate that the archaeological sites located to the north of the fault bend (Tol-e Spid, Tol-e Nurābād, Qal'eh Kāli, Tal-e Gachgaerān, Mil-e Ezhdehā, and Naubandégān) were subjected to stronger (larger magnitude) earthquakes with longer return periods. Whereas the sites located to the south of the fault bend (Sasanid royal city of Bishāpur and Kāzerun) showed evidence of earthquakes with slightly lower magnitudes and shorter recurrence periods of ~270 ± ? years. The study has shed light on the approximate magnitude and return period of earthquakes which could not have been achieved through the short term regional historical earthquake records. The distribution of settlements from the Chalcolithic to the present in closely associated with the trend of the Kāzerun fault. The archaeoseismic events in the past were disasterous to urban areas and the fault constitutes a continuing hazard to the local population and their irreplaceable monuments

Queen Mary and Westfield College Physics and astronomy

SIGLEAvailable from British Library Document Supply Centre-DSC:7168.13917(Q91/99) / BLDSC - British Library Document Supply CentreGBUnited Kingdo

EXCAVATIONS AT THE DARBAND-I RANIA PASS, KURDISTAN REGION OF IRAQ: REPORT ON THE 2016 AND 2017 SEASONS

International audienceThis paper presents the results of the work of the new field initiative launched by the British Museum at the Darband-i Rania pass in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. The pass is located at the northeastern corner of Lake Dokan, where, though now subsumed into the lake, the Lower Zab flows from the Peshdar into the Rania Plain. It is a strategic location on a major route from Mesopotamia into Iran, and control of both the road and the river must always have been important. The aim of the work, which commenced in autumn of 2016, is to explore a cluster of sites that commanded the pass, with a particular focus on the first millennium b.c. Excavation is being carried out principally at two sites: Qalatga Darband, a large fortified site at the western end of the pass, and Usu Aska, a fort inside the pass itself. The occupations of these two sites are predominantly Parthian and Assyrian respectively. Smaller operations have also been carried out at Murad Rasu, a multi-period site situated on a headland across the waters on the southern shore of Lake Dokan. The results have included the discovery at Qalatga Darband of a monumental complex built of stone and roofed with terracotta roof tiles containing the smashed remains of Hellenistic statuary. Other features indicative of Hellenistic material culture are Mediterranean-type oil-presses and Corinthian column bases and capitals. At Usu Aska remains are being uncovered of an Assyrian fortification of massive proportions