Excavating in Iran and Central Asia: Cooperation or Competition

In the study of the human past, the Iranian plateau and Central Asia have the privilege to host some of the most significant historical, archaeological and cultural developments on the planet. From around the 2nd millennium BC, the Iranian plateau participated in the realization of a series of ever larger and powerful political units, culminating in the Achaemenid dynasty of the first millennium BC, and the numerous chiefdoms and state political formations, many of which nomadic in character, in Central Asia. The activities of the archaeological research in Iran and Central Asia, therefore, provide a framework for placing some of the most significant events of the past. In today's ongoing European cultural and economic expansion, with Iran as a future near neighbour and Central Asia as a kind of suburban farther, but at the Western border with China, the need for a more in-depth understanding and appreciation of their past and, therefore, of the present, can hardly be procrastinated over time. Those areas have been essential in the history of humanity, regardless of their historical, linguistic and ethnic background, and their political/national outcomes in the modern and contemporary times as well. The archaeological activities within those areas have been at least since one century essential as well in order to understand the related Western and native consciousness of their historical past

The Uzbek-Italian Excavations at Kojtepa (Samarkand Area) Uzbekistan First results and work perspectives

This paper summarises the work of the Joint Uzbek-Italian Archaeological Mission in Kojtepa in the district of Pastargom, Samarkand. The project is based on a collaboration between the Università di Napoli “L’Orientale”, Napoli (UNO) and the Institute of Archaeology Uzbekistan Academy of Sciences, Samarkand (IAASU). The project began in 2008–2009, and after several excavations is on-going. Preliminary results have confirmed that the site – which consists of an almost conical central tepe surrounded by a quadrangular wall and beyond that an outer channel originally filled with water – is characterised by a form of agricultural settlement that played a role in controlling the near northern area frequently visited by pastoral nomads on the Karatyube piedmont chain. For the moment, the time span covered stretches from the late Hellenistic era to the Kushan period and beyond

Maurizio Tosi (1944–2017)

Obituary for Maurizio Tosi the friend, the colleague, the scholar inextricably linked. Complex and contradictory his life, in which existential aspects have always mixed with academic, professional and political ones. His friendship, often awkward, but always loyal, has been an essential reference point for many of us, and for the colleagues of all the Universities where he taught, including Università degli Studi di Napoli "L'Orientale"

A. Gass, with contributions by J. Fa«binder and J. Gresky, Das Siebenstromland zwischen Bronze- und Friiheisenzeit: Eine Regionalstudie

This volume by Anton Gass deals with the archaeological remains, dating between the Bronze and the Iron Age, in the so-called 'Land of Seven Rivers' in Kazakhstan. This small region in the Eurasian steppes {in Russian, Semirech' e), is constiruted by the basins of the Ili, Karatal, Bien, Aksu, Lepsa, Baskan and Sarkand rivers. For his srudy G. emphasises the role played by the cemeteries and settlements located in the south-eastern part of the area - from Almaty to Kegen - located just south of the Karachagai reservoir and alongside the northern border of Kyrgyzstan

Ceramics and the Archaeological Achaemenid Horizon Near East, Iran and Central Asia, Series Minor, LXXXVI, ISMEO, Associazione Internazionale di Studi sul Mediterraneo e l’Oriente, Serie Orientale Roma, 14, Orientalia Romana 1

The volume includes the proceedings of a workshop held in January 2016 with the contributions of a group of Italian scholars who discussed the relationship between the Achaemenid archaeological horizons and the material documentation, in particular the ceramic production

Activities in the Masjed-e Jom‘e, Isfahan

Located in the historic centre of Esfahan, the Masjed-e Jom̒e (‘Friday Mosque’) can be seen as a stunning illustration of the evolution of mosque architecture over twelve centuries, starting in 841 CE, and now is one of the major Iranian sites inscribed on UNESCO World Heritage List. The Italian restoration activities carried out in Esfahan during the 1970s were planned and organised in collaboration with the Service for the Restoration and Preservation of the Historical Monuments of Iran (now Iranian Cultural Handicraft and Tourism Heritage Organisation) (ICHTHO) and the Istituto Italiano per il Medio ed Estremo Oriente (IsMEO, afterwards IsIAO). The restoration activities headed by Arch. Prof. Eugenio Galdieri and the excavation activities headed by Prof. Umberto Scerrato in the Friday Mosque were aimed in particular at identifying the earlier constructional phases of the building: amongst them the Abbasid, Buyid and Saljuq. Historical circumstances did not allow for long time (1979-1998) any Italian team to continue working at Esfahan. Only between 1999 and 2002 an Italian IsIAO team, under the invitation of ICHO (now ICHTHO) and with the direction of the late Prof. U. Scerrato went back to Esfahan, starting again the work in the Mosque jointly with the Iranian colleagues. Many years after the end of the actual excavations, a joint Iranian- Italian Project named ADAMJI (A.rchaeological D.igital A.rchive M.asjed-e J.om̒e I.sfahan) has been aimed at providing a gradual transformation of the whole set of original data and information (written, graphic, photographic etc.) in a digital archive. The Italian/ Iranian Project jointly coordinated and directed from the Iranian side by Dr. Faribah Saeidi Anaraki and from the Italian side by Prof. Bruno Genito, started in 2003 and ended in 2010

Italy VI, Italian Excavation in Iran (2) Excavations in Sistan

The author in this article of the Encyclopaedia Iranica, points out the historical aspects of the Italian presence in Sistan in the 60s of last century. Starting with the excavations at Shahr-i Sokhta important site of the Bronze Age, and arriving to that of the Achaemenid capital of Dahan-e Ghulaman, the author emphasizes the important role played by the Italian scholars in a particular regional area of Iran

The most Frequent Pottery Types at Dahan-i Gholaman (Sistan) and Their Spatial Variability

The article included in the 9th International Conference of the Association of South Asian Archaeologist is dealing with a proposal of pottery typology of the materials coming from Dahan-e Ghulaman (Sistan, Iran), where worked the Italian Archaeological Mission in Iran by MAE, IsIAO and Università degli Studi di Napoli, l’Orientale in the 60s of the last Century. The ceramic assemblage presents different open and closed forms is framed inside the provenance according to the private and public buildings present in the settlement. Some typological variations are also documented in the assemblage from Building QN2 and Building QN3 unlikely from the assemblage of the private houses like QN4, QN6, QN7

Digital Archaeology from the Iranian Plateau (1962-1977). Collected Papers on the occasion of the 10th anniversary of the demise of Umberto Scerrato

Long time has pass since the Iranian-Italian archaeological activities in Iran in the 70s of the last century were conducted. It took 50 years c. for an archaeological publication regarding those projects to be almost in print, and this is still a very preliminary volume related to two different important projects of the time: ARCHAEOPRO.DI.MUS. and ADAMJI. This was not a very long time in itself, and the “time” that passed by, felt much longer than it actually was, and not just because of the usual practical and technical aspects of publishing an editorial work of such a nature. Long time has gone by since the ideas and the concepts that led IsMEO (then IsIAO) and now again ISMEO, IUO (now UNO) and the Service for the Restoration and Preservation of the Historical Monuments of Iran (now Iranian Cultural Handicraft and Tourism Heritage Organization) (ICHTHO) to start those archaeological projects, were elaborated, and also the time when Umberto Scerrato was very eager to involve many of us in those archaeological field activities in Iran