eartHeritage – PRIN 2022JL5HLY
eartHeritage – PRIN 2022JL5HLY
PRIN 2022JL5HLY
The eartHeritage Project aims to investigate the sculptural production in clay and stucco that developed across Iraq, Iran, Central Asia, and the north-western Indian subcontinent from about the 3rd century BCE to the 8th century CE.
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The close connection with fieldwork in Afghanistan (through the ISMEO’s Italian Archaeological Mission in Afghanistan, directed by Anna Filigenzi, and the Archaeology Institute of Afghanistan) and Pakistan (through the ISMEO’s Italian Archaeological Mission in Pakistan, directed by Luca M. Olivieri) will enable the unit to include in its studies relevant materials from the Buddhist sites of Tapa Sardar, Tepe Narenj, Qol-e Tut and Khwaja Safa (for the most part unpublished); for Pakistan, the stucco assemblages from Butkara I and from newly excavated Buddhist sites (such as Amluk Dara), as well as from the urban site of Barikot.
To these sites, whose documentation is fully available to the unit, others will be added for comparison. Among them, mention can be made of Hadda, Tepe Maranjan, Fondukistan, Mes Aynak (in Afghanistan) and Taxila (in Pakistan).
Besides joining (when possible, either directly or remotely) ongoing field research, the unit members will inspect relevant museums’ collections, especially at the Musée Guimet, Kabul Museum (if allowed), Swat Museum, Taxila Museum, Museo “G. Tucci” (MuCiv), which have expressed interest in the project.
The PI will coordinate the overall activities; the Research fellow (Dr Giulia Forgione) will re-assess unsystematically published evidence and relevant dispersed photographic collections, a truly fundamental and urgent task to be undertaken; besides, she will assist the cataloguing and study of the materials; Prof. Chiara Visconti will help the collection of the relevant literature about the Chinese area; Dr Matteo Delle Donne will conduct palaeobotanical research. Qualified scholars (Dr Zafar Paiman, Dr Philippe Marquis, Dr Alexandra Vanleene, Dr Hariclia Brekoulaki) will collaborate as external consultants.
The unit will conduct studies on the most significant Parthian and Sasanian productions in clay and stucco, including materials found at sites such as Nisa, Qala-ye Yazdegerd, Kish, Ctesiphon, Hajiabad, Gawr Tepe, and Sistan. In addition to assembling a comprehensive catalog, these studies will serve as the foundation for a diachronic and comparative analysis of iconographies, modeling techniques, and materials used. To gather this data, the unit is establishing collaborations with various archaeological missions, institutions, and scholars engaged in similar research.
The drafting and implementation of the IT System—benefiting the entire Project—will be coordinated by this unit in collaboration with the “PAST – Public Archaeology and Social Transmission” laboratory within the Department of Cultural Heritage at the University of Bologna and ISMEO.
Within the unit, Dr. Luca Colliva will receive assistance from Dr. Serenella Mancini, a research grant holder, in the study of working techniques and cataloging of clay and stucco fabrics.
The research activities at Sapienza University, led by the head of the unit (Prof. C. Lo Muzio) in collaboration with a research fellow (Dr. Cristiano Moscatelli), will focus on Central Asian clay sculpture. Particular attention will be paid to northern Tokharestan, which today corresponds to the southern parts of Uzbekistan and Tajikistan (main sites: Ajina Tepe, Dalverzin Tepe, Kara Tepe and Fayaz Tepe) and the Khotan Oasis (main sites: Rawak and Dandan Oiliq).
Collections of sculptural artefacts from Buddhist sites in northern Tajikistan are currently held in institutions such as the State Museum of History of Uzbekistan and the Institute of Art History in Tashkent (Uzbekistan), the Archaeological Museum of Termez (Uzbekistan), and the National Museum of Antiquities in Dushanbe (Tajikistan). The main collections of Khotanese sculpture are held in the British Museum (London), the Übersee Museum (Bremen), the Xinjiang Archaeological Institute in Urumqi, the Hetian Cultural Museum in Khotan and various smaller regional museums (e.g. Domoko).
The Art History Institute in Tashkent has formally expressed interest in participating in the project. In addition, distinguished experts in Xinjiang archaeology and art history, Prof. Giuseppe Vignato (School of Archaeology and Museology, Peking University) and Prof. Erika Forte (Kyoto University), have confirmed their commitment to collaborate in this endeavour.
