ASPS Virtual Events Series XII: One Thousand and One Sherds: The Material History of the Bukhara Oasis

One Thousand and One Sherds: The Material History of the Bukhara Oasis

With Gabriele Puschnigg & Jacopo Bruno (Institute of Iranian Studies, ÖAW)

This event will present the results of a collaborative research project between the Institute of Iranian Studies at the Austrian Academy of Sciences and the MAFOUB (Mission Archéologique Franco-Ouzbèke dans l’Oasis de Bukhara) and Uzbek authorities. For more than a decade the MAFOUB project conducted fieldwork, including surveys and excavations, covering the whole extencion of the Oasis and some of its main sites. The surveys and excavations produced a large amount of ceramic material. The goal of our study is to outline the breadth and multi-facetted potential of this huge assemblage, including a fresh approach to the narratives of cultural and socio-economic developments as well as the reconstruction of a material history of Bukhara’s population based on the comprehensive and integrated study of the ceramic material. In this presentation, we highlight the main themes of our current research, combined methodologies and approaches as well as our main results so far. Introducing our most significant site assemblages, we provide an overview over the main characteristics of the material and its archaeological contexts, the challenges we face and the different types of analyses we apply.

Respondent: Michael Shenkar (Hebrew University of Jerusalem)

Friday June 21, 12:00 PM EST (18:00 CET)

Hosted by the Association for the Study of Persianate Societies and the Sharmin and Bijan Mossavar-Rahmani Center for Iran and Persian Gulf Studies, Princeton University