Sir Aurel Stein’s Diaries – a “European Nomad” in South-Eastern Iran

Sir Marc Aurel Stein laid the foundations for archaeological research in south-eastern Iran like no other. He was the first foreign scholar travelling through south-eastern Iran to combine a keen interest in archaeology with meticulous precision in recording and publishing what he had seen. His collections, publications and maps still provide thestarting point for many archaeological investigations today. His publications are a treasure trove of archaeological information, but they only hint at the more tangible circumstances of his expeditions. His unpublished diaries bear witness to the meticulous and systematic habits he used to record his explorations. He gives detailed daily accountsof distances covered, hours spent, and places discovered, and notes observations on the environment, the archaeology and the people he encountered. In this paper, I explore how Stein’s diaries can shed light on hitherto undiscussed aspects of his expeditions and help us to reconstruct his daily movements. They provide us not only with information onthe archaeology but can serve to better understand what it means to move in the fractured landscapes of south-eastern Iran, particularly how heat, wind, rain and topography affect those en route. This information adds an experiential component to our understanding of the landscapes, past and present. In his diaries, Sir Aurel Stein actually providesthe thread that links the disparate archaeological sites of the Chalcolithic and Bronze Age in south-eastern iran.

کلیدواژه ها:

south-eastern Iran ، Sir Aurel Stein ، landscapes ، movement ، Chalcolithic ، Bronze Age