Abstract
Bam, Iran, was destroyed by a powerful earthquake in December 2003. In what is perhaps Iran’s greatest tragedy in living memory, the majority of the mud brick houses and concrete buildings were completely flattened and more than half of the city’s population was killed. Five years after the disaster, a team of Iranian archaeologists and ethnographers excavated the remains of six houses destroyed in the earthquake. The excavated material culture demonstrates the stark contrasts between the residents’ public lives lived outside of their homes, and their private lives lived inside of their homes.
Résumé
Bam, en Iran, fut détruite par un violent tremblement de terre en décembre 2003. La majorité des maisons en briques cuites et des constructions en béton armé ont été complètement rasées, et plus de la moitié de la population a péri dans ce qui fut peut-être la plus grande tragédie qu’ait jamais connue l’Iran. Cinq ans après la catastrophe, une équipe d’archéologues et d’ethnologues iraniens a entrepris les fouilles des vestiges de six maisons détruites par le tremblement de terre. La culture matérielle mise à jour met en évidence des contrastes marqués entre la vie publique des habitants à l’extérieur de leur habitation, et leur vie privée à l’intérieur de celle-ci.
Resumen
En diciembre de 2003 Bam (Irán) fue destruido por un devastador terremoto. En lo que quizá sea la mayor tragedia que se recuerda en Irán, la mayoría de las casas de adobe y los edificios de hormigón se vinieron abajo y pereció más de la mitad de la población de la ciudad. Cinco años después del desastre, un equipo de arqueólogos y etnógrafos iraníes han excavado los restos de seis casas destruidas en el terremoto. La cultura material excavada demuestra los fuertes contrastes entre la vida pública que llevaban los resistentes fuera de sus hogares y su vida privada, dentro de los muros de sus casas.
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Acknowledgements
I should first disclose that English is not my native language, and that I received considerable editorial assistance from the guest-editors of this volume. For additional comments on a conference presentation and on drafts of this article, I would like to thank Barbara Voss, Chris Thornton, Omran Garazhian and three anonymous reviewers. The field research was supported by the Arg-é Bam Rescue Project. Finally, I thank Dr. Mokhtari, Dr. Azarnoush, M. Dezhamkhooy, M. Naeemi, F. Malek and M. Rahmati. Any errors in this article remain my own.
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Yazdi, L.P. Public and Private Lives in Iran: An Introduction to the Archaeology of the 2003 Bam Earthquake. Arch 6, 29–47 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11759-010-9127-7
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11759-010-9127-7