Location and facilities
The purpose built institute, built in 1976, lies adjacent to the British Embassy Compound in Qolhak. The simple but comfortable and affordable accommodation is available for both visiting students and scholars, for up to one month. In addition to a lecture hall, there is also an excellent specialist library on the archaeology, art and history of Iran. This is now open to students, scholars and Iranian readers. The Institute building is in good order and houses an active library.
Facilities
The excellent specialist library on the archaeology, art and ancient history of Iran is open to Iranian readers and visitors staying at BIPS. The library is staffed by a specialist librarian and open five days a week on a reference basis.
Prehistoric Iran
BIPS is consolidating and expanding its support of research focused on identifying and explaining the transformations which occured within the settlement, subsistence, production and landscape patterns of Iran between the seventh and first millenia BCE.
BIPS is coordinating a network of scholars to encourage further collaboration and the sharing of approaches, methods and results. We are also sponsoring training workshops for the continuing professional development of established scholars, as well as field and laboratory training opportunities for postgraduate and undergraduate students from both Britain and Iran. Support for workshops organised by project directors in Iran is offered, allowing greater numbers of Iranian students to be introduced to new fieldwork and laboratory methods and techniques.
Our first workshop focused on fieldwork techniques and was held in Tehran in April jointly with Tehran University’s Institute of Archaeology. With an attendance of 60 staff and students, the workshop was a significant success with papers on geoarchaeology, GIS mapping, settlement survey and excavation techniques. Our second workshop on scientific approaches within archaeology was held in the spring of 2007.