۱.
North-western Iran comprises diverse geographical landscapes, including pastures of piedmonts, mountains, and well-watered plains. The present chronology of this region, nevertheless, is based exclusively on data collected from sites around the Urmia Lake, other regions being almost totally ignored. During the late Bronze Age (hereafter LBA) a new way of life took shape in the mountainous region, the most outstanding characteristic of which was fortified settlements. This paper attempts to revise the chronology of North-western Iran by deciphering LBA materials from some of these sites.
۲.
With the publication of one complete edition of the journal Expedition in 1989 on Hasanlu project by American archaeologists, engaged there during pre-revolutionary period, the present study highlights some of the accepted mistakes in the explanation and interpretation of the facts in the articles of that journal on one hand, and the beginning of the activities by Iranian archaeologists in 2000 which necessitated the changes in chronology and stratification, on the other. Dyson also implied tracing the relics found at Hasanlu IV with the Mannaean state despite the opposition by some of the investigators. However, the accepted errors with regards to the lineage of 2nd defensive wall to Mannaean, although formally declared to that of Urartian and the continuation of Urartian in Hasanlu up to later 7th and early 6th century B.C. and attributing of rooms inside the fort to them, is not verifying the findings of Iranian team. Further, going through the part of the Urartian mud brick defensive wall and the way the layer was stratified need more study and consultation. With regards to the above –mentioned changes, writer, being the head of Iranian team at Hasanlu present a new chronological chart against the one presented by Dyson in 1989.
۳.
In March 2004, a fluxgate gradiometer survey was conducted over Tepe Ghabristan, covering approximately 6ha of ground. It identified further areas of the Iron Age cemetery with possible grave pits (Areas B and C). In addition, an irrigation channel was discovered which could be contemporary to these Iron Age graves (Area D). The anomalies in Area E can be interpreted as buried structural remains, possibly linked to metalworking.
۴.
Pithos burial is a common burial method in Arsacids era. Various cemeteries of this era have been unearthed until now but there wasn’t any reference about historical and archaeological condition of Marivan’s region and the existence of pithos because of the lack of enquiry and archaeological studies. Fortunately, by with research effort, some pithos cemeteries with diverse burial from Arsacids era were discovered and excavated. The study attempts to describe some invaluable information regarding migrant Arsacids religious out look and their burial practices near Zaribar lake.
۵.
Persian carpet weaving is one of Iran’s most famous industries that has attracted the world’s attention to Persian arts through the centuries. What above all, have given prominence to Persian carpet as a beautiful work of art are the pattern and its composition in a two-dimensional space. The diversity of patterns, use of deep and beautiful colors, good composition, harmony of colors, delicate and poetic composition are among the most outstanding features of Persian carpet. Industrial advancement and development of transportation in the 19th century led the western explorers to travel eastward making them acquainted with the cultural heritage of these civilizations. William Morris, the leading thinker and artist of the British Arts and Crafts Movement is among the first to conduct a research on Persian carpet’s patterns and designs. In this paper, we are proposing a semiotic approach to the transaction between Persian artists who made beautiful and ever-lasting carpet designs and William Morris as a pioneer of Pre-Modern Movements in Europe, who studied and recognized the underlying principles of Persian art (mostly carpet), and applied them in a creative way to his own remarkable hand-made designs.
۶.
The demonstration of female figures on Sasanian silver vessels was an interesting subject to Sasanian silversmiths which caused much dispute among the scholars over whose character the female figure represents. Are they representations of the goddess Anahita or members of her cult? Is there any connection between them and the cult of Asiatic Dionysus? The other question that arises is whether they are secular objects or bearing a religious significance. This paper aims to review previous studies and then, on the basis of an iconographical study and also referring to the Sasanian religious text, present a new interpretation of themes.
۷.
Two oriental and western symbols are recorded in the memory of the world. Kamal Al-din Behzad (1460-1535.A.D./ 865-942 A.H.) is the painter of Iran's golden era and Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519.A.D./ 857-925 A.H.) is the verstile artist of Italian Renaissance. The life stories of these two artists are more or les similar. During childhood, both experienced a hard time and during youth and adulthood their artistic styles not only changed the art of their own time but have greatly influenced the future generation. Aim: Finding the common artistic opinions, thoughts and behaviors of the two contemporaries but with two quite different artistic, social and cultural styles. Method: In this study, attempt is made to review the works and approaches of the two artists, comparatively and analytically using the archive method. Findings: The common and coincidental features being observed are as follows: 1-Applying dramatic expressionism 2-Applying intuitional and emotional expressionism, particularly in portraiture (expression) 3-Creating emotional relationship among the figures 4-Associating the figures with architectural and natural backgrounds 5-Creating extraordinary figures 6-Directing conflicts 7-Giving conscious attention to war themes (More than a typical narration of an exciting event) 8-Employing spiral infrastructure in composition Conclusion: Some basic common changes occurred simultaneously at two distant places in the Iranian and Italian arts. Although the two artists had been living in two completely different geographical and cultural environment, even working with two different styles in the visual arts, they had rather similar features regarding their ideas and artistic issues. By comparing the works of these two artists, we can find their imaginative behaviors in terms of visualizing ideas and themes as well as narrating religious and war subjects.
۸.
If we go through the evolution of human society, we will come to know that plants have always played important role in human life. Human settlement, quite often, shifted from one place to another in search of natural vegetation. Whether man was hunter, or concentrated on animal husbandry, or even became cultivators, they needed green surrounding for their day-to-day life. The present paper tries to highlight the historicity of botanical environment on the basis of plant remains, from the different archaeological sites of Iran. To ascertain the relationship between human being and plants, in Iran or elsewhere, archaeologists followed various techniques and analyses such as pollen analysis, charred seeds and woods analysis, organic residue analysis as well as ethno- archeology. This paper, particularly on the basis of archaeobotanical analysis, tries to show how the plant and seed remains demonstrate cultural interregional contacts.
۹.
This article contains the views of different scholars and their researches about Allah Verdi Khan Bridge. In this brief study two important points have been highlighted. First, who is the probable constructor of the bridge and what the references tell about it. Secondly, the explanation about the grave mistakes of the foundation and completion dates of the bridge and thus argument about the exact date. In addition to these two points various architectural characteristics have also been highlighted.
