Looting Savages New Site

N EWS F OCUS the date and authenticity of the huge cities, 100 square hectares in size,” Well traveled. Stone vessels like vessels are open to dispute; the marvels Jean Perrot, who led French digs at those found at Jiroft have also turned artifacts themselves are impounded Susa before the revolution. Majidzadeh says, up everywhere from Uzbekistan to by the courts in Kerman. But many “This area covers 400 square kilometers and the Arabian Peninsula. Iranian and foreign archaeologists had some cultural political unity.” But much and art historians who have exam- of the material is buried under 3 to 4 meters a vast area, from the Persian Gulf ined the objects or photographs date of sedimentation, say Iranian archaeologists. to Central Asia,” says Azarnoush. them to mid–3rd millennium The origins and demise of the Jiroft peo- These artifacts—although usual- B.C.E. based on similar vessels ple are obscure, although some scholars sus- ly devoid of carving—have found elsewhere. pect they might have influenced the Bactrian- turned up in the Royal Tombs Azarnoush ordered a survey last Margiana Archaeological Complex, which of Ur, the Sumerian city of year when he heard about massive developed to the north in later centuries (see Mari in today’s Syria, and the looting in the area, and excava- p. 979). “This is another Bronze Age civiliza- Arabian Peninsula. A few tions began this year. “We hope to tion comparable to the Indus and Meso- pieces have been found as far be able to find the center of pro- potamia, but smaller in scale and less com- north as Uzbekistan and duction of these goods,” he says. plex,” says Holly Pittman, an art historian at Turkmenistan. During the intense heat of sum- the University of Pennsylvania in Philadel- Scholars had guessed mer, a survey team examined phia. “It will be extremely important.” that this region was the the sources of the Halil in the The prospect of revealing Jiroft’s secrets source, and Lamberg- northern mountains to ascertain excites researchers. “This is going to be one Karlovsky found one manu- the boundaries of this civiliza- of the major excavations in the next 10 facturing center at nearby Tepe tion; this winter, a team led by years,” says retired archaeologist Robert Ya hya during the 1970s. But the sheer num- Majidzadeh will resume digging. Dyson of the University of Pennsylvania. ber of vessels from Jiroft as well as the mas- They have quite a task ahead of them: “This changes fundamentally our under- sive number of large mounds make it the Azarnoush estimates that there are nearly standing of southeast Iran,” adds Lamberg- likely central homeland, Lamberg-Karlovsky 300 tells, or mounds, in the area yet to be Karlovsky. “And it is something quite new.” says. Because the Jiroft material was looted, examined. “The first excavation hints at –ANDREW LAWLER CREDITS: YOUSEF MAJIDZADEH AND ALI (TOP) BANI ASADI on March 12, 2012 Looting Savages came recently from the Jiroft New Site area and was purchased by the TEHRAN—The looters brought Louvre Museum picnics, and whole families dug in Paris. together. Villagers in southeast- Majidzadeh ern Iran, suffering from an ex- says that not www.sciencemag.org tended drought during 2000, much was done were desperate. So when a rare to stop the loot- flood along the Halil River ex- ing at first. “Offi- posed a grave with decorated cials did not pay stone vessels, people rushed to attention, since the site to dig up strange dark the peasants were jars and beakers, which they poor because of Downloaded from then sold. “There was unbeliev- the drought, and able destruction,” says Yousef they thought that Free-for-all. At first, officials did little to stop the looting at Jiroft. Majidzadeh, an Iranian-born ar- it was one way chaeologist who is in charge of for them to get some money.” archaeologist at New York said an ICHO official who legal excavations there. Eventually the authorities City’s Metropolitan Museum of worked in the Jiroft area was Now, at least 400 people stepped in and seized hundreds Art, says that researchers will arrested during an internation- are in jail, including a govern- of artifacts from nearby vil- never even have proof any of al archaeology meeting in ment official accused of com- lages, but these have little sci- these vessels came from the Tehran for alleged involvement plicity, and many hundreds of entific value because it is ex- graves. “It doesn’t mean every in a looting ring. ICHO repre- vessels have been impounded tremely difficult to date stone object is a forgery,” he says. sentatives decline to discuss as evidence. The impact of the vessels once they are removed “But if there are no answers, we the matter. looting—which continues over from the ground. “We know the have to start at square one.” Beheshti says in the past a vast area around Jiroft—is context of none of this,” says Seyyed Mohammed Be- there had been little looting in also rippling overseas. The Iran- Holly Pittman, an art historian heshti, director of the Iranian this part of Iran, which is re- ian government hopes to re- at the University of Pennsylva- Cultural Heritage Organization mote from the capital. He be- trieve a piece that it and a nia in Philadelphia. “We know it (ICHO), says that the 400 peo- lieves that during the drought, prominent French archaeologist is coming from graves, but we ple detained each face up to 10 drug smugglers turned to lu- believe—based on the style don’t know if [fakes] were years in prison under Iranian crative antiquities trafficking and type of the stone bowl— added.” Oscar Muscarella, an laws. News reports in August and are now organizing target- 974 7 NOVEMBER 2003 VOL 302 SCIENCE www.sciencemag.org N EWS F OCUS PROFILE: SEYYED MOHAMMED BEHESHTI A: This started 4 years ago, and now we have cooperation with many nations. We are quite Bringing Cultural Heritage aware that Iran is an important place archae- ologically. Therefore it is our duty to provide Out of the Shadows facilities and possibilities for such work. We have to become part of the larger interna- In a few short years, this unorthodox official has transformed the Iranian Cultural tional system of archaeology; otherwise we Heritage Organization and is turning Iran into a destination of choice for archaeologists will be left behind. So it is good to have this cooperation, but we have our own terms and In a nation where somber, turbaned clerics ICHO, which oversees archaeology and had standards. If there is to be scientific cooper- dominate politics, Seyyed Mohammed Be- long been a backwater in the Ministry of Cul- ation, it should be real cooperation. That heshti stands out. Shortly after he took over ture and Islamic Guidance. He has won means 50-50. as head of the Iranian Cultural Heritage Or- greater government funding, instituted an im- ganization (ICHO), a colleague complained pressive news service and Web site, and that he didn’t go to the mosque for public championed the return of foreign archaeolo- prayers. “But if I did, my toupee would fall gists. “He is a breath of fresh air, and the rea- off,” he replied. Beheshti’s striking reddish- son we’ve been able to do anything is because blonde mop is only the superficial manifes- of that man,” says University of Chicago ar- tation of his nonconformist approach. chaeologist Abbas Alizadeh. Son of a senior parliamentarian and friend Beheshti recently spoke with Science on of Iranian President Mohammad Khatami, the grounds of the shah’s former Niavaran Beheshti is a leading reformist. As head of Palace in northern Tehran. the Film and Serials Group in the 1990s, he won acclaim for his bold support for the blos- Q: What challenges does archaeology soming Iranian film industry, considered to- face here? day as a star of international cinema. Since A: We have to deal with more than 200,000 CREDIT: A. LAWLER 1997, he has brought his skills to bear on archaeological sites around Iran. Because of development projects on March 12, 2012 threatening so many ed looting in places such as purchased by the Louvre bears of these sites, we don’t Jiroft. “They are getting a lot all the stylistic hallmarks of a even get to choose our of money in this market and Jiroft piece. He says he has no projects. We have to forcing villagers to do the il- proof, just a strong suspicion come up with a strate- licit excavations,” he says. that it is part of the cache gy to save them. Fresh air. Seyyed Mohammed Beheshti is a “We are trying to control this coming recently out of the The other problem leading light in the push to bring back foreign new wave of looting through Jiroft graves. is that we don’t have researchers. various means: army, laws, But his accusation meets many international www.sciencemag.org whatever we can.” with a hot denial from Annie connections, and our Q: But are there enough trained Iranian The Iranian government re- Caubet, head curator of the current knowledge in archaeologists for this to work? cently announced the creation Louvre’s Department of Ori- archaeology is limit- A: We do have some knowledge foreign del- of a special brigade called ental Antiquities. In a 17 Sep- ed. But we’ve started egations don’t, because this is our land. A Guardians of Cultural Heritage tember letter to Perrot, she to change this in the foreigner might try to understand mud-brick to fight illegal digs and antiq- said she was “dismayed by the past 4 years, and structures, but we are still living in mud- uities trafficking.

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