an analytical look at archaeology and its place in iran

almost a century and a half ago, the name or concept of archeology was not commonly known in iran. as a branch of human sciences, archeology emerged in iran as a consequence of the political-economic influence of the west, and reached its present condition after many vicissitudes; presently, therefore, archeology has penetrated into diverse levels of the iranian society. this, however, is a very general statement; by a survey on the overall outlook of archeology in iran, it is very much noticed that there is the need for a criticism, which is by itself something natural. concerning the definitions given to archeology as a word, a field, or a craft, several cultural layers can be distinguished at the present time: common people who constitute the major corpus of the society; educated people who are not archeologists; politicians and lords of media, mainly those of the radio and television who represent the political system, and finally the iranian archeological society, which includes university professors and students and those working in the field. with a view to the general cultural, social and historical conditions in iran, it is expected that there be differences and similarities among the above four classes in terms of their interpretation of archeology, awareness of which can be useful and serve as a source of warning for the iranian archeology and the archeological society of iran.