Sasanian Archaeology: Settlements, Environment and Material Culture

✍ Scribed by St. John Simpson (editor)

• Publisher: Archaeopress
• Year: 2022
• Tongue: English
• Leaves: 538
• Category: Library

✦ Synopsis

The Sasanian empire was one of the great powers of Late Antiquity, and for four centuries ruled the vast region stretching from Syria and the Caucasus to Central Asia. Classical, Armenian, Jewish and Arab written sources throw light on its history, and studies of its rock reliefs, stuccoes, silver, silks, coins and glyptic have created a picture of a rich courtly culture with a strong Iranian character. However, the everyday material culture is much less understood, as is the economy which sustained and supported the Sasanian empire and underpinned its consistent military superiority over its western rivals. This collection of essays looks at these aspects and offers an approach based almost entirely on archaeological and scientific research, much presented here for the first time. This book is divided into three parts which in turn examine evidence for Sasanian sites, settlements and landscapes, their complex agricultural resources, and their crafts and industries. Each section is preceded by an essay setting out the wider research questions and current state of knowledge. The book begins and ends with a general introduction and conclusion setting out why this new approach is necessary, and how it helps change our perceptions of the complexity and power of the Sasanian empire.

✦ Table of Contents

Cover
Title Page
Copyright page
Contents Page
General Introduction
St John Simpson
PART ONE: Sites, Settlements and Landscapes
Part One: Sites, Settlements and Landscapes - Introduction
St John Simpson
Parthian and Sasanian Site and Settlement Patterns on the Deh Luran Plain, Khuzistan Province, South-West Iran
J.A. Neely
The Sasanian Colonisation of the Mughan Steppe, Ardebil Province, North-West Iran
Jason Ur1 and Karim Alizadeh2
The Army and Urbanism at the Sasanian Empire’s Northern Frontiers:Fieldwork on the Linear Barriers, Fortresses and Cities at the Margins of the Gorgan Plain (Results of a Joint Project Between the Iranian Cultural Heritage, Handicraft and Tourism Organisa
Hamid Omrani Rekavandi (HO), Eberhard W. Sauer (EWS), Tony J. Wilkinson (TW),† Ghorban Ali Abbasi (GA), Roger Ainslie (RA), Francesco Caputo (FC), Mohammad Ershadi (ME), Morteza Fattahi (MF), Nikolaus Galiatsatos (NG), Kristen Hopper (KH), Julian Jansen V
A Temple Among the Fields: Preliminary Reconstruction of an Agricultural Landscape in the Serakhs Oasis, Southern Turkmenistan
Barbara Kaim
Excavations at Kirpichli depe in Dehistan
A.E. Atagarryev
The First Season of Excavations at the Sasanian Site of Tole Qaleh Seyfabad (TQS), South-west Iran: Preliminary Report
Parsa Ghasemi,1 Reza Noruzi2 and Azizallah Rezaei3
Sasanian and Early Islamic Settlement Patterns North of the Persian Gulf
Ahmadali Asadi,1 Seyed Mehdi Mousavi Kouhpar,2 Javad Neyestani,2 Alireza Hojabri Nobari3
Bushehr, Dashtestan and Siraf: the Transformation of the Maritime Trade Network in the Middle Persian Gulf
Seth, M. N. Priestman
PART TWO: Environment and Resources
Charcoal and Wood in Fuel Residues in Sasanian and Early Islamic Merv: Wood Resources and Environmental Implications
Rowena Gale
Exploitation of Wood at Kush (Ras Al-Khaimah, UAE) in Sasanian Times: Results of the Charcoal Analysis
Margareta Tengberg
Two Sasanian Archaeofaunas from the Hamrin Basin, Eastern Iraq
F.G. Fedele
Fracture Patterns Amongst Sasanian Bones at Merv
Ian Smith
PART THREE: Material Culture
Part Three: Material Culture - Introduction
St John Simpson
Sasanian Pottery: Archaeological Evidence for Production, Circulation and Diachronic Change
St John Simpson
Imitations and Innovations in Kushano-Sasanian Pottery
V.A. Zavyalov†
Parthian, Sasanian and Islamic Pottery and Occupation of the Deh Luran Plain, South-west Iran
David V. Hill
Magic and Inter-Communal Relations in Sasanian Iraq: the Case of the Incantation Bowls
Ali G. Scotten
The Dating of Sasanian Glass in the Light of Excavated Finds from Bahrain
S.F. Andersen
Reconstruction of the Process of Cutting of Two Sasanian Glass Bowls in the Okayama Orient Museum and the British Museum
Tami Ishida
Sasanian Swords and Scabbards in the British Museum: A Scientific Analysis
J. Lang1 and St J. Simpson2
General Conclusion
St John Simpson
Bibliography
Index
Contents
General Introduction
St John Simpson
Part One: Sites, Settlements and Landscapes - Introduction
St John Simpson
St John Simpson
Parthian and Sasanian Site and Settlement Patterns
J.A. Neely
The Sasanian Colonisation of the Mughan Steppe
Jason Ur and Karim Alizadeh
The Army and Urbanism
Hamid Omrani Rekavandi
A Temple Among the Fields
Barbara Kaim
Excavations at Kirpichli depe in Dehistan
A.E. Atagarryev
The First Season of Excavations at the Sasanian Site
Parsa Ghasemi
Sasanian and Early Islamic Settlement Patterns
Ahmadali Asadi
Bushehr, Dashtestan and Siraf
Seth, M. N. Priestman
Part Two: Environment and Resources - Introduction
St John Simpson
St John Simpson
Charcoal and Wood in Fuel Residues
Rowena Gale
Exploitation of Wood at Kush
Margareta Tengberg
Two Sasanian Archaeofaunas from the Hamrin Basin
F.G. Fedele
Fracture Patterns Amongst Sasanian Bones at Merv
Ian Smith
St John Simpson
Part Three: Material Culture - Introduction
St John Simpson
Sasanian Pottery
St John Simpson
Imitations and Innovations in Kushano-Sasanian Pottery
V.A. Zavyalov
Parthian, Sasanian and Islamic Pottery and Occupation
David V. Hill
Magic and Inter-communal Relations in Sasanian Iraq
Ali G. Scotten
The Dating of Sasanian Glass
S.F. Andersen
Reconstruction of the Process of Cutting of Two Sasanian Glass Bowls
Tami Ishida
Sasanian Swords and Scabbards in the British Museum
J. Lang and St J. Simpson
General Conclusion
St John Simpson
Bibliography
Index