Qanats as an Endangered Traditional Hydraulic Heritage. An Integrated Methodology for Documenting, Restoring and Reusing an Ancient Iranian Qanat.

Qanats represented a major technological solution for water supply in arid and semi-arid regions for millennia. Thanks to their multiple social and economic benefits, qanat-like systems spread from Iran through the Middle East in most of the arid and semi-arid regions of the world. In recent years, this valuable traditional hydraulic technology has been neglected in the preservation and reuse due to the lack of management as well as the lack of legal support. This precious heritage and sustainable water supply system according to their sustainable structural features has been replaced by modern water collection and management systems such as dams and other hydroelectric infrastructures along with new pumping technologies. Nevertheless, there is a growing consensus on the number of short, medium and long-term issues emerging from these systems including pollution and other environmental damages, regional conflicts, political pressures as well as their limited lifetime and structural instability. The purpose of this paper is to show qanats as an example of endangered heritage which could also represent a sustainable and clean technology. To do so, we apply a multi-disciplinary perspective integrating archaeological, architectural, sociological and conservation methodologies on a specific case study from the Tabriz region in Northwest Iran: the “No-Ras” qanat

A Multi-temporal Satellite-based Risk Analysis of Archaeological Sites in the Qazvin Region (Iran)

In recent decades, we have witnessed a dramatic increase in the risks and damages to archaeological sites and heritage places across the globe. By analysing a case study (the Qazvin plain) in northern Iran, we propose a classification of the types of risks and damages to archaeological sites and we assess the impact of each type over the last 40 years (1980s–2020s). Our research methodology consists of the cross-correlated multi-temporal analysis of different sets of satellite imagery with 167 archaeological sites in the Qazvin plain to determine the types, extension and evolution of the damages over the time. This methodology allowed to develop a three-tier hierarchical framework based on the drivers, threats, and actions jeopardizing the cultural heritage of the region. The result of this study permits to overturn current narratives inferring that the most impacting risks to archaeological sites and heritage places are caused by natural hazards, looting and violent destruction rather than agricultural activity or construction. Consequently, based on this evidence, we draw a distinction between ‘silent’ but constant and pervasive and ‘loud’ but short-living and circumscribed risks