{"product_id":"ceramics-from-the-excavations-in-the-historic-settlement-at-b-r-ko-ghwa-ai-barikot-swat-pakistan-1984-1992-by-pierfrancesco-callieri-and-luca-m-olivieri","title":"Ceramics from the excavations In the historic settlement At Bīr-Koṭ-Ghwaṇḍai (barikot) Swat, Pakistan (1984-1992) By Pierfrancesco Callieri and Luca M. Olivieri","description":"PRESENTATION\u003cbr\u003eBy Adriano V. Rossi\u003cbr\u003eAfter the very important results obtained up until 1982 in Domenico Faccenna’s\u003cbr\u003elargescale excavations in the Buddhist sanctuaries of Butkara I, Panr I and Saidu\u003cbr\u003eSharif I, and the excavation of the Bronze Age and Iron Age graveyards and\u003cbr\u003esettlements, an important change of direction regarding methodology and\u003cbr\u003eobjective occurred when Pierfrancesco Callieri undertook the exploration of the\u003cbr\u003eancient urban site of Bīr-koṭ-ghwaṇḍai (Barikot).\u003cbr\u003eDespite the important results obtained at Barikot, the IsMEO Italian excavations\u003cbr\u003estill are, in the whole of Gandhara, amongst the few extensive diggings of an\u003cbr\u003eEarly Historic site to be carried out after the 1960s. Indirectly, this is a proof of\u003cbr\u003ethe “vitality” of a methodology which gives priority to the three-dimensional\u003cbr\u003einformation that only the excavation of an urban centre can provide, and which\u003cbr\u003eIsMEO (now ISMEO) has always considered as the specificity of its\u003cbr\u003earchaeological missions throughout in the world.\u003cbr\u003eAfter 36 years of campaigns (not counting those by Giorgio Stacul in the 1970s),\u003cbr\u003eBīr-koṭ-ghwaṇḍai, the identification of which with the ancient town of Bazira-\u003cbr\u003eBeira\/Vajīrasthāna is now certain, can be considered, together with Sirkap, the\u003cbr\u003emost crucial excavated settlement site in the North-West of the Indo-Pakistani\u003cbr\u003eSubcontinent. We are pleased that this has happened not only for the work of two\u003cbr\u003eof the Authors of this volume, two distinguished ISMEO scholars, but also\u003cbr\u003ethrough an international collaboration that is outlined by the introductory words\u003cbr\u003eof Cameron A. Petrie and further demonstrated by the many co-authors whose\u003cbr\u003enames appear on the front page of this volume.\u003cbr\u003eAlthough the site has been regularly published, for the pottery material we had to\u003cbr\u003ewait more time than planned originally. In fact, the tragic earthquake that hit\u003cbr\u003enorthern Pakistan in 2005 had a dramatic effect on the pottery collections\u003cbr\u003econserved in the two godowns of the ISMEO Italian Mission at Saidu Sharif (see\u003cbr\u003ebelow the Introduction to the volume). This circumstance would have only partly\u003cbr\u003eaffected the possibility of homogeneously integrating the descriptive data. As\u003cbr\u003ematter of fact, the complete dataset had been brought to the Mission headquarters\u003cbr\u003eat the IsIAO before the event occurred.\u003cbr\u003eUnfortunately, though, following the dissolution of IsIAO by the Italian\u003cbr\u003eGovernment authorities due to lack of funds (IsIAO was the Institute on which the\u003cbr\u003eItalian Mission had depended from 1995 to 2012) the offices of the various\u003cbr\u003earchaeological missions kept in Rome were vacated. The following numerous\u003cbr\u003echanges of venue affected the archaeological deposits before a temporary place\u003cbr\u003ewas found in the storerooms of the Museo Nazionale di Arte Orientale ‘Giuseppe\u003cbr\u003eTucci’, now in the Museo delle Civiltà (EUR, Rome). Meanwhile a good\u003cbr\u003eproportion of the pottery records were lost. The event had a particular effect on\u003cbr\u003ethe records of the inscribed sherds, as narrated in the introductory note of the\u003cbr\u003ededicated chapter.\u003cbr\u003eThe present volume adds to other published in the series ACT-Field School\u003cbr\u003eProject Reports and Memoirs from the well-deserved publisher Sang-e-Meel\u003cbr\u003ePublications, Lahore. The ceramic material from the most recent excavations\u003cbr\u003e(2012-2014, Kushano-Sasanian phases) was published with Massimo Vidale in\u003cbr\u003eviii\u003cbr\u003eVolume II (2014): The Last Phases of the Urban Site of Bir-kot-ghwandai\u003cbr\u003e(Barikot). The Buddhist Sites of Gumbat and Amluk-dara (Barikot).\u003cbr\u003eThe ceramic material of the excavations 2014-2017 (Indo-Greek and Saka-\u003cbr\u003eParthian phases), was studied together with the contemporary phases from the\u003cbr\u003eexcavations on the Acropolis of 1998-1999 by Elisa Iori in her doctoral thesis\u003cbr\u003e(University of Bologna “Alma Mater”, 2018), and it is pretty much ready for final\u003cbr\u003epublication in this same series (Special Volume 2.3: Ceramics from the\u003cbr\u003eExcavations in the Historic Settlement at Bīr-koṭ-ghwaṇḍai (Barikot) Swat,\u003cbr\u003ePakistan (1998-2017). The Early-Historic Phases, to be printed in 2021).\u003cbr\u003eAll these important scientific and editorial results are due to the incessant activity\u003cbr\u003eof the past and current Directors of the Italian Archaeological Mission in Swat,\u003cbr\u003ethe two Authors of this volume, who continue at the highest level the work of a\u003cbr\u003egreat master like Domenico Faccenna in a part of the world to which the names of\u003cbr\u003eItaly and ISMEO are now inextricably linked.\u003cbr\u003eWhat has been said so far brings to light how important has been the role of\u003cbr\u003escholars operating under the aegis of the IsMEO (1957-1995), then of IsIAO\u003cbr\u003e(1995-2012), and finally of the reestablished ISMEO (2012-) in the\u003cbr\u003ecomprehensive analysis of the ceramics from the first phase of excavation at Bīrkoṭ-\u003cbr\u003eghwaṇḍai between 1984 and 1992.\u003cbr\u003eMoreover, in the most recent period, starting in 2012, the assignment to the\u003cbr\u003eMuseo delle Civiltà of all materials of archaeological interest of the\u003cbr\u003eIsMEO\/IsIAO Missions created the conditions for a global scientific\u003cbr\u003ereconsideration to which this study (and other similar ones) will certainly provide\u003cbr\u003esignificant contributions. This is the area of collaboration in view of which a\u003cbr\u003eformal agreement has been signed between ISMEO, that I have the honour of\u003cbr\u003epresiding over, and the Museo delle Civiltà, and also the reason why a specific\u003cbr\u003ebudget line of the five-year MIUR Project “Studies and research on the cultures of\u003cbr\u003eAsia and Africa: tradition and continuity, revitalization and dissemination” is\u003cbr\u003edevoted to the reordering of the IsIAO archives.\u003cbr\u003eA final word on the close collaboration between IsMEO\/IsIAO\/ISMEO, Italy and\u003cbr\u003ethe political and cultural authorities of Pakistan and the Province of Khyber\u003cbr\u003ePakhtunkhwa. A paramount achievement was the acquisition, after a long\u003cbr\u003enegotiation process, of one third (5 ha) of the archaeological site of Barikot at a\u003cbr\u003ecost of 1 million Euro in December 2109. Without the constant support of all the\u003cbr\u003eauthorities in Pakistan nothing could have been done. I sincerely hope that\u003cbr\u003eISMEO, the authorities and the people of this important region will continue – on\u003cbr\u003ethe model of the work that is presented here – a collaboration designed to make\u003cbr\u003eavailable to the international community the immense riches, material and\u003cbr\u003eintangible, that the Italian research has been able to harvest over time.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eTitle: Ceramics from the excavations In the historic settlement At Bīr-Koṭ-Ghwaṇḍai (barikot) Swat, Pakistan (1984-1992)\u003cbr\u003eAuthor: Pierfrancesco Callieri and Luca M. Olivieri\u003cbr\u003eSubject:\u003cbr\u003eISBN: 9693533127\u003cbr\u003eLanguage: English\u003cbr\u003eYear of Publication:\u003cbr\u003eNumber of Pages: \u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Sang-e-Meel Publications","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":68036698636371,"sku":null,"price":20000.0,"currency_code":"PKR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0639\/9144\/7635\/files\/9693533127.main-400401.jpg?v=1793898551","url":"https:\/\/sultanislamicbook.com\/ur\/products\/ceramics-from-the-excavations-in-the-historic-settlement-at-b-r-ko-ghwa-ai-barikot-swat-pakistan-1984-1992-by-pierfrancesco-callieri-and-luca-m-olivieri","provider":"Maktaba Sultan e Alamgir","version":"1.0","type":"link"}