Iranian Symposium on Archaeometry
As an interdisciplinary and prolific branch of archeology, archaeometry draws on basic and natural sciences like mathematics, physics, chemistry, geology and metallurgy to answer archeological questions which the methodological foundations of archeology fail to provide an answer for. The social, cultural, historical and artistic fields in archeology give rise to questions for scholars whose answers can only be sought for in the natural science laboratories.
It has been more than eight decades since Iranians first archaeological efforts to understand the cultural heritage of the ancient Iran. Yet, despite the establishment in 1937 of the department of archeology in University of Tehran and dozens of other related departments that began to spread across the country since the 1990s as well as the presence of the Iranian Center for Archaeological Research, archaeometry has been the missing link in the past eventful eight decades of Iranian archaeology.
Archaeometry was finally established as a discipline in 2012 in Tabriz, the forerunner city of Iran in many respects, following two years of strenuous efforts on the part of the core fellows of Tabriz Islamic Art University in cooperation with the core fellows of University of Tehran, University of Tabriz and Sahand University of Technology in Tabriz and through the unsparing support of Prof. Dr. Mohammad Ali Key’Nejad, the Chancellor of Tabriz Islamic Art University and member of the Iranian Supreme Council of Cultural Revolution. The first MA program of the field was started with the admittance of undergraduates of conversation of cultural properties. The syllables of the MA program for archaeometry was designed after consulting the syllables of twenty American and European universities especially that of Germany, and it received the final stamp of approval in 2015 by the Iranian Ministry of Science, Research and Technology. These syllables are now the official and legal guideline for the nationwide expansion of archaeometry. Furthermore, in 2013, Tabriz Islamic Art University hosted the first national conference on the application of scientific analyses to archaeometry and the conservation of cultural heritage, during which the so-called strategic document of ‘Tabriz Declaration’ was drawn up in consultation with scholars from University of Tehran, University of Tabriz, Art University of Isfahan, ICHHTO and the then vice-president of the named organization; the document was registered in the Supreme Council of Cultural Revolution (Oct. 2013) as the official document for the promulgation of archaeometry and was communicated to the Iranian Ministry of Science, Research and Technology.
Fortunately for the department of archaeometry at Tabriz Islamic Art University, as the founder and pioneer of and the authority in the archaeometry in Iran, it enjoyed from the very beginning the strong support of its chancellor and the senate. In this regard, not only the library and laboratories of the university have become increasingly well-equipped, but also expansion of international cooperation and benefiting from the trans- regional potentials of the city of Tabriz is among the basic strategies of Tabriz Islamic Art University.
Accordingly, Dr. Judith Thomalsky, the director of German Institute of Archaeology in Iran, paid a visit to the university in October 2015 to sign a memorandum of understanding to foster scientific and technical cooperation between Tabriz and Germany in archeological sciences, research on cultural heritage and Islamic art, conservation, and Iranian studies. Archaeometry is an essential part of the said memorandum.
Positive reputation has been the dearest asset of Germany in Azerbaijan, especially in Tabriz, and luckily DAI being fully aware of the fact, has taken some steady steps towards implementing the bilateral memorandum of understanding.
After holding a technical training workshop and organizing some lectures during the year following the agreement, Tabriz is now hosting the first international symposium on archaeometry jointly held by Iran and Germany. Furthermore, some long-term and medium-term research projects have also been planned in Tabriz and its environs in cooperation with the German institute as part of the strategic plan of Tabriz 2018 event.
Tabriz Islamic Art University has organized and held two national symposiums on the application of scientific analyses to archaeometry and the conservation of cultural heritage. The university is just to convene the joint Irano-German symposium on archaeometry. The permanent secretariat of the symposium was established in the Archaeometry Department of Tabriz Islamic Art University following the approval of the university’s chancellor. The forthcoming second symposium is to be held in Germany by the DAI.
Apart from the third national symposium on the application of scientific analyses to archaeometry and the conservation of t cultural heritage in May 2017, the current international symposium is a prequel to the First International Congress on the Iranian Archaeometry which is going to be hosted in 2018 by Tabriz Islamic Art University on the occasion of the Tabriz 2018, according to what is stipulated in ‘Tabriz Declaration’ and will be preceded by national and international call for papers.
Short History
The First Iranian Symposium on the Application of Archaeometry on the Conservation of Cultural Heritage
16-17 May 2012,
Organizer institutions: Tabriz Islamic Art University.
Organizing committee:
- Bahrām Ājorloo, Tabriziau, Tabriz
- Masoud B. Kasiri, Tabriziau, Tabriz
- Mohsen Charesaz Tabriziau, Tabriz
- Mehdi Razani, Tabriziau, Tabriz
- Ali Nemati Babauloo
The Second Iranian Symposium on the Scientific Analyses in Archaeometry and the Conservation of Cultural Heritage 15-17 May 2013,
Organizer institutions: Tabriz Islamic Art University.
Organizing committee:
- Bahrām Ājorloo, Tabriziau, Tabriz
- Masoud B. Kasiri, Tabriziau, Tabriz
- Mohsen Charesaz Tabriziau, Tabriz
- Mehdi Razani, Tabriziau, Tabriz
- Ali Nemati Babauloo, Tabriziau, Tabriz
- Vahid Askarpor, Tabriziau, Tabriz
The First Irano-German International Symposium on Archaeometry
1st-4th November 2016
Organizer institutions:
- The Department of Archaeometry, the Faculty of Applied Arts, Tabriz Islamic Art University
- The Department of the Conservation of Cultural properties, the Faculty of Applied Arts, Tabriz Islamic Art University
- The Research Institute for the Conservation of Historic-Cultural Monuments & Quarters, Tabriz Islamic Art University
- Deutsches Archäologisches Institut (DAI) Tehran
Organizing committee:
- Akbar Ābedi, Tabriziau, Tabriz
- Bahrām Ājorloo, Tabriziau, Tabriz
- Judith Thomalsky, DAI, Tehran
- Masoud B. Kasiri, Tabriziau, Tabriz
- Mehdi Razani, Tabriziau, Tabriz
- Mohammad Mortazei, Research Institute for ICHHTO, Tehran
- Mortezā Ābdār Bakhshāyesh, ICHHTO, Tabriz
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