The Dynamics of Human Occupation in Khorasan during the 1st millennium CE
The Dynamics of Human Occupation in Khorasan during the 1st millennium CE
Dr Rocco Rante discusses the dynamics of human occupation in Khorasan in the 1st millennium CE.
15 November 16:00
Basement Teaching Room 1, Faculty of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies, University of Oxford, Pusey Lane, Oxford, OX1 2LE
Summary
Khorasan is the easternmost part of the Iranian Plateau and provided access to Central Asia, as well as Mesopotamia and the Mediterranean Sea.
In his talk, Dr Rante explores the triggers for population settlements in Khorasan since the Parthian era, including commerce, land cultivation, and geostrategic positioning.
He discusses settlement patterns, notably along the foothills of mountain ranges and along watercourses, and how settlements led to rapid land transformations through the excavations of underground canals (qanats) and the exploitation of mineral resources. Variations in occupation patterns over the centuries, notably after the Islamic conquests, will also feature in the talk.
About the Speaker
Dr Rocco Rante is an archaeologist at the Louvre Museum and member of the University of Sorbonne-Panthéon. He is the director of the Archaeological Franco-Uzbek mission in the oasis of Bukhara and of the Archaeological Franco-Iranian mission in Khorasan. He has published a book on Rayy and Nishapur, as well as a three-volume work on the Bukhara Oasis.
