On the morning of June 1st, the “Silk Road” archaeological team of University of Science and Technology of China (USTC) held a meeting in the school of Humanities on preparation for a second-time archaeological excavation in Iran.

the archaeological excavation mobilization meeting

Given the background of the first cooperation with the University of Neyshabour for field investigation and mapping of Bori relics in 2018, USTC’s “Silk Road” team will join hands with it for the second time to extend the prehistoric Borj relics exploration in the southern and southwestern partsof Iranian plateau. The whole archaeological project aims at taking the Borj ruin as a sample to explore how the ancient humans living 8000 years ago in Iranian plateau developed their early agriculture and advanced their stoneware, ceramics, metallurgy and other techniques.

“Silk Road” team will go into the connections between early technological development and the history of civilization within Iranian plateau, preparing the way for ancient technology and culture research and communication along the silk road of the east and the west of Asian continent.

the “Silk Road” archaeological team of USTC

Prof. SHI Yunli emphasized that the personal safety was the most important issue during the Iranian archaeological work and all members should respect local religious beliefs and customs and keep continued communication and cooperation with Iranian staffs. As the excavation method of Iranian researchers has a little difference from that of Chinese researchers, the two sides should fully communicate to ensure the excavation going smoothly. In this point, Prof. ZHANG Juzhong emphasized the importance of continued communication. He also made specific comments on the location, shape, size of the plots in the archaeological excavation of the Borj ruin and the publication of the research results.

A/Prof. YANG Yuzhang added some arrangements on preparations before the excavation and divided up the work of Chinese researchers. He encouraged team members to exert their own strengths, make various research plans and pay attention to sampling work. Then the attendees also discussed the preparations for this stage's excavations and specific work programs in detail.

Since 6 June, the first group of the archaeological team has departed from Hefei, by way of Beijing, Teheran, Meshed, to Neyshabur to launch the excavation and research work led by Prof. SHI Yunli. Prof. ZHANG Juzhong and A/Prof. YANG Yuzhang will lead the second and third group of the team into the work later.

Prof. SHI Yunli, the head of the Department of History of Science and Scientific Archaeology and the head of the “Science and Civilization on the Silk Road” project, held this meeting. The captain Prof. ZHANG Juzhong, the executive captain A/Prof. YANG Yuxi and other team members also participated in the discussion.

(Written by ZHAO Xiaona, WANG Jinhua, edited by YE Zhenzhen)