This monograph comprises the final publication of a study supported by the British Institute of Persian Studies and undertaken by Seth Priestman and Derek Kennet at the University of Durham. The work presents and analyses an assemblage of just under 17,000 sherds of pottery and associated paper archives resulting from one of the largest and most comprehensive surveys ever undertaken on the historic archaeology of southern Iran. The survey was undertaken by Andrew George Williamson (1945–1975), a doctoral student at Oxford University between 1968 and 1971, at a time of great progress and rapid advance in the archaeological exploration of Iran. The monograph provides new archaeological evidence on the long-term development of settlement in Southern Iran, in particular the coastal region, from the Sasanian period to around the 17th century. The work provides new insights into regional settlement patterns and changing ceramic distribution, trade and use. A large amount of primary data is presented covering an extensive area from Minab to Bushehr along the coast and inland as far as Sirjan. This includes information on a number of previously undocumented archaeological sites, as well as a detailed description and analysis of the ceramic finds, which underpin the settlement evidence and provide a wider source of reference. By collecting carefully controlled archaeological evidence related to the size, distribution and period of occupation of urban and rural settlements distributed across southern Iran, Williamson aimed to reconstruct the broader historical development of the region. Due to his early death the work was never completed. The key aims of the authors of this volume were to do justice to Williamson’s remarkable vision and efforts on the one hand, and at the same time to bring this important new evidence to ongoing discussions about the development of southern Iran through the Sasanian and Islamic periods.

Presents new archaeological data on the economic development of southern Iran and the Persian Gulf coast from the Sasanian period to the end of the 17th century.

Humanities studies on the Arabian Peninsular including anthropology, archaeology, architecture, art, epigraphy, ethnography, history, language, linguistics, literature, numismatics, theology, and more, from the earliest times to the present day or, in the fields of political and social history, to around the end of the Ottoman Empire.

This collection of essays offers an examination of the Sasanian empire based almost entirely on archaeological and scientific research, much presented here for the first time. The book is divided into three parts examining Sasanian sites, settlements and landscapes; their complex agricultural resources; and their crafts and industries.

Excavation reports from the medieval port of Sharma, discovered in 1996 at the extremity of the Ra's Sharma, 50km east of al-Shihr on the Hadramawt coast of Yemen.

This book presents pioneering research on the Indian Ocean archipelago of the Maldives in the medieval period. Primarily archaeological, the book has an interdisciplinary slant, examining the material culture, history, and environment of the islands. Featuring contributions by leading archaeologists and material culture researchers, the book is the first systematic archaeological monograph devoted to the Maldives. Offering an archaeological account of this island-nation from the beginnings of the Islamic period, it complements and nuances the picture presented by external historical data, which identify the Maldives as a key player in global networks. The book describes excavations and surveys at a medieval site on the island of Kinolhas. It offers a comprehensive analysis of finds of pottery, glass, and cowries, relating them to regional assemblages to add valuable new data to an under-researched field. The artefacts suggest links with India, Sri Lanka, the Middle East, Arabia, central Asia, southeast Asia, and China, offering tangible evidence of wider connections. The research also evidences diet, crafts, and funerary practices. The rigorous presentation of the primary material is framed by chapters setting the context, conceptual approaches, and historical interpretation, placing the Maldives within broader dynamics of Islamic and Indian Ocean history and opening the research results to a wide readership. The book is aimed at students and researchers interested in the archaeology and history of the Indian Ocean, Islamic studies, island and coastal communities, maritime networks, and the medieval period, with special relevance for the ‘Global Middle Ages’. It will appeal to art historians, archaeologists, museologists, and heritage and material culture studies researchers with related interests.