Schmidt E.F., van Loon M.N., Curvers H. The Holmes Expeditions to Luristan: Plates

The University of Chicago Press, 1989. — 279 p. — (Oriental Institute Publications 108).This long-awaited report is a major contribution to the archaeology of Iran. Its multiple authorship epitomizes its prolonged gestation. Schmidt (1897-1964) was one of the founding fathers of field archaeology in Iran at a time when the skills of an archaeologist had to be combined with the tenacity of an explorer and the resourcefulness of a general to achieve anything. The first Holmes Luristan Expedition was directed by him during October and November 1935, when he excavated the primarily Chalcolithic and Bronze Age sites of Kamtarlan I and II and Chigha Sabz; the second in May and June 1938, when work was concentrated on a shrine of the mature Iron Age on the slopes of Surkh Dum-i-Luri mountain. Surveys, some from the air, were an integral part of the research program, which opened up central and eastern Luristan to archaeology.