September 2015 | BIPS Research Grant
Introduction:
This is the preliminary report on the first fieldseason of this new project exploring the material culture and memories of Zoroastrian and comparable Muslim villages in the Yazd region of Iran.
Research question:
Zoroastrianism is recognised as one of the world’s oldest and most influential religions, and has been the subject of considerable scholarship. It has been studied as a world religion through textual analysis, anthropology, and archaeology (e.g. Boyce 1979, 2001; Stausberg 2003). The archaeological studies have focused on temples and other monumental sites, for example the Sasanian fire temple in Vigol in Iran, or the Mele Hairam project in Southern Turkmenistan (Kaim 2002, 2004). This project undertakes the comparative study of a series of abandoned and semi abandoned Zoroastrian villages and abandoned Muslim villages to learn about the ways in which very specific religious practices have shaped domestic and village space, and the impact this has had on material culture. Methodologically, this project combines ethnography and the recording and analysis of built space and material culture, and standard archaeological excavation, in order to explore the ways in which memory is constructed within this particular social grouping, and the impact of memory on history and heritage.
Drawing together building and spatial analysis, ethnographic interview, and small scale excavation, this project will explore selected Zoroastrian villages and the lives of the people who occupied it (as opposed to monumental and ritual sites), and also consider the ways in which the memorable past can be exploited for its social and economic value in contemporary heritage developments, and the ways in which memory has impacted on the creation and expression of recent Zoroastrian history and identity. In order to provide meaningful comparison, an abandoned village occupied by Muslims will also be studied in future using the same methodologies. In line with good academic practice, an investigative visit took place (September 2014, funded by BIPS), during which suitable village sites were identified. We have now completed the first of three planned field seasons to carry out building recording and analysis, ethnographic interview, excavation, and analysis of material culture, in order to explore the use of space in shaping social structures such as religion, and how social structures impact on the creation of space.
The heritage element of this project is considered critical, as a way of not only raising awareness of the minority Zoroastrian community still living in Iran, but also in providing a model for developing ‘heritage sites’ based in archaeological and ethnographic fieldwork. Involving Zoroastrian communities is obviously vital for this, and from the very beginning of our work we are holding informal, open meetings to explain what we are doing and why, and invite community participation. We also believe we have a role as a conduit for information between government bodies and the Zoroastrian communities around possible heritage developments. The enthusiasm of the Institute of Cultural Heritage and Tourism Organisation for developing Zoroastrian tourism beyond visiting fire temples and external viewings of the towers of silence (dakhma) is currently very high, and we aim to show that there is sufficient potential in these villages to warrant government action – firmly based in the results of fieldwork and community inclusion. Perhaps most importantly, we hope that our work will be of importance to the Zoroastrian communities in terms of recording and remembering their own past, and be a means of allowing individual and group stories and identities to be presented in ways that different community members can relate to.
Location and team members:
This first exploratory field season focused primarily on the village of Mazray Kalantor, near Meybod in the region of Yazd. Although we had initially planned to spend most of the first season at the abandoned village of Asrabad, strong community engagement at Mazray Kalantor was a key driving factor, and as outline in our research proposal above, community involvement and needs are extremely important in this project. Mazray Kalantor comprises a majority Zoroastrian population still in residence, a very small Muslim population still in residence, and significant abandoned structures, formerly occupied by both Zoroastrian and Muslim households. This extremely interesting and rare current and former demographic, coupled with the keen interest in our work by the Mazray Kalantor community spokespeople and the wider community itself made the decision to begin our project working here an easy one.
In addition to our work at Mazray Kalantor we also began planning at Asrabad and began to make contact with former occupants at both Asrabad and Hosseinabad, which will allow us to move forward with arrangements for ethnographic interviews and site visits in our next fieldseason. We also made strong links with another Zoroastrian community in a second village called Hosseinabad, and carried out interviews with a sample of this community. Further details of work at Asrabad and Hosseinabad are given below.
The team was based at the Meybod Free Islamic University and received invaluable support from Dr Taha Hashemi (Deputy V-C, Free Islamic University of Iran) and Dr Islami (V-C of the Free Islamic University of Yazd). The team comprised:
Dr Hassan Fazeli Nashli, University of Tehran, Iran Co-director
Dr Ruth Young, University of Leicester, UK Co-director
Dr Hossein Azizi, Deputy of Cultural Heritage, Iranian Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts and Tourism Organization Field Director
Two University of Tehran MA students Building planning and analysis
One University of Tehran PhD student Interview, historical background
One University of Tehran PhD student Village planning, aerial photography
One University of Tehran MA student Building planning assistant
One former PhD student, University of Tehran Building analysis
Results
In Mazray Kalantar we carried out planning of the whole village via aerial drone, producing a series of detailed aerial photographs which have been subsequently rectified to form a village plan showing all structures. These structures include houses, fire temples, shrines, the mosque, guest houses and museum, and cover both the inhabited structures and those that have been abandoned.
A similar mapping process via aerial drone was carried out at Asrabad.
In Mazray Kalantar a sample of abandoned buildings were planned and analysed in detail, along with public buildings still in use. The public buildings were the three village shrines, the Fire Temple, and the mosque. The abandoned buildings were two Zoroastrian houses and two Muslim houses. This preliminary investigation has already proved incredibly useful, and we are already beginning to build up an understanding of the material characteristics of Zoroastrian private and public buildings and how these differ from Muslim private and public buildings. Additionally, we were invited into numerous private houses still occupied by Zoroastrian villagers and talked through the architectural and artefactual elements that they considered important in their identity and religious practice.
We interviewed thirteen people in total: three Zoroastrian men, five Zoroastrian women, one Muslim woman and one Muslim man, from Mazray Kalantar; one Zoroastrian male, and two Zoroastrian women from Hosseinabad. This information has also proved very useful and interesting, and has helped shape our understanding of village social and physical structures.
Meetings and workshop
In line with this projects key commitment to working with and for the Zoroastrian communities linked to our study area, we have had a lot of contact with individuals and groups, talked through our project aims, taken on board feedback and suggestions from the community, and worked at building up trust and communication. We had meetings with community leaders in both Mazray Kalantar and Hosseinabad, and had open meetings with the community at both. We were also involved in a series of social events and celebrations in both villages, and were taken to Chak Chak shrine as both a study visit and a social event. Any project that is serious about community engagement has to take time to build up both trust and communication, and we are aware that this will take years to achieve; however, we are deeply committed to ensuring that all of those who might be interested in or affected by our study have multiple opportunities and channels to be involved and to share their views with us. This is ongoing work.
Our final day in the field culminated with a workshop held in the community hall of the Fire Temple at Mazray Kalantar. This workshop was attended by over 100 people from Mazray Kalantar, Hosseinabad, Meybod and Yazd, and as well as a strong Zoroastrian contingent, also drew a significant Muslim audience. In addition to Dr Taha Hasemi and Dr Islami, notable attendees included Mr Niknam (Yazd City Councillor), the Governor of Yazd, the Governor of Meybod, representatives from the City Council of Meybod, the V-C of the City Council of Yazd. In terms of raising the profile of the Zoroastrian community in the region, we received extensive positive feedback from attendees, and in terms of raising issues around Zoroastrian heritage, we also received extensive positive feedback from attendees. The local community were particularly supportive and encouraging.
Next steps
We will write up our methodology, results, etc as a preliminary article and submit it to an appropriate journal for publication. We will communicate with those we have met in the course of this fieldseason to discuss directions of the second fieldseason, and we will apply for further funding.
This first fieldseason was funded by:
The Zoroastrian Trust Fund of Europe from the Zartoshty Brothers Fund for Zoroastrian Studies
Iran Heritage Fund
The British Institute for Persian Studies
We hope that the success of the first fieldseason will encourage funders to continue support and we will of course be approaching further funders as well.
Dr Hassan Fazeli & Dr Ruth Young
23 June 2016