Keywords:
sasanians
north-west india
archaeology
achaemenids
glyptics
persepolis
pottery
iran
Persian Gulf
1-Archaeological study and research on Fars (Southern Iran) between
the beginning of the Achaemenid empire (6th century BC) and the end
of the Sasanian empire (7th century AD). Since 2005 research has
extended to field activity thanks to a MOU with the Iranian Centre
for Archaeological Research. 2-Zoroastrian religious architecture
(3rd-7th century AD). 3-Study of seals and sealings of Middle asia:
iconography, technique and style, function. 4-Study for the
publication of the excavations at the site of Barikot (Swat,
Pakistan), directed by Callieri until 2000. 5-Informatic processing
of the database on the pottery from Barikot.
1- Archaeology of Fars (Southern Iran) between the 6th century BC
and the 7th century AD. The research directs to a period of the
history of Iran which is extremely important, between the beginning
of the Achaemenid empire and the end of the Sasanian empire. The
research started in 2002 with the title: At the roots of the
Sasanians: Fars in the post-Achaemenid period, and included the
critical review of all the archaeological, epigraphical and
literary sources to date available on the little known
post-Achamenid period. Since 2005 the research extended to field
work thanks to the invitation by the Iranian Centre for
Archaeological Research (ICAR) to taking part in the programme of
rescue excavations of the area to be submerged by the Sivand Dam
lake, in the area of Pasargadae. The Irano-Italian joint
Archaeological Mission of the University of Bologna and ICAR,
having as the Italian co-director prof. Callieri, has carried out
in 2005 and 2006 three excavation campaigns in two seleceted sites,
bringing to light two rural settlements of the Achaemenid and
post-Achaemenid periods, the first sites of rural nature to be
excavated in Fars for the age in question.
Thanks to a new agreement with the ICAR, in October 2006 a new
project started, with excavations on the central tell of
Pasargadae, a site of great importance for Iranians due to the
presence there of the tomb of Cyrus the Great, where the passage
between the two ages could be studied thanks to the excavation of a
trial trench in 2006 and 2007. The ceramic sequence obtained from
the stratigraphic excavations is a reference for the whole region
during the period 5th-1st century BC, also thanks to the several
C14 datings on charcoal samples. The scientific importance of the
project as well as the noteworthy international prestige resulted
in a great effort of human resources and funding, with the
participation of the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs as well as
of the Italian Institute for Africa and the East. In 2008 the
multidisciplinary project "From Palace to Town", centered on
Persepolis, started, aiming at locating the possible town
settlement recorded by the written sources near the Achaemenid
Terrace and at bringing a methodological update in conservation on
the stone monuments. Ten excavation campaigns were conducted in 2008, 2009, 2011-2018 (Tol-e Ajori Monumental Gate in the Bagh-e Firuzi area) and four conservation campaigns, between 2008 and 2011. In 2019 a new project dedicated to southern Fars, between Firuzabad and the Persian Gulf, in the Early-Sasanid period was launched.
2-Religious architecture of Iran in the Sasanian period
3-Pre-Islamic glyptics of Iran and Central Asia
4-Urban archaeology in NW India during the Hellenistic period
5-Pottery of NW India (4th century BC - 11th century AD)
