November 18, 2006	Saturday	Shawwal 25, 1427

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ISLAMABAD, Nov 17: An archaeological mission of the Italian Institute for Africa and the East (IsIAO), engaged in excavation in the Swat valley, Frontier province, celebrates its 50th anniversary.

In this connection the mission, in collaboration with the Italian embassy and the Ministry of Culture and the Department of Archaeology and Museums, has organised a photographic exhibition to be inaugurated at the Sir Syed Memorial Building here on Saturday (Nov 18), said a press release here.

A similar exhibition will also be held in Rome on December 14.

The Italian mission, led by the great orientalist Prof Giuseppe Tucci, started excavation in the former Swat state in 1956. Since then, the mission in collaboration with the Department of Archaeology and Museums has remarkably contributed to the knowledge of the past of the region.

The objective of the mission has been to the study the Swat valley from the earliest traces of human presence un till the recent past of the last century. Among the most relevant contribution was the excavation of the Buddhist sanctuaries of Butkara and Saidu Sharif; by which the former director of the mission, Prof Domenico Faccenna, has opened up the scientific study of the Buddhist architecture and art known as “art of Gandhara”.

The sculptures from his excavations enrich the Swat Museum in Saidu Sharif and account as one the most relevant treasures of the cultural heritage of Pakistan.

In the pre-historic and protohistoric field, the activity carried out during more than 30 years by Prof Giorgio Stacul has resulted in the discovery of the remains of the important culture which characterised Swat during the Bronze and Iron ages.

The study of the historic period, the excavations at Barikot, directed by the present director of the mission, Prof Pierfrancesco Callieri, has shown the importance of this town founded by the Indo-Greeks two centuries after the passage of Alexander the Great, which has been so important in the transmission of the Hellenistic art to the local craftsmen which later on realized the superb sculptures of Gandhara.

For the Islamic period, the Italian mission account for the excavation of earliest mosque of northern Pakistan, dating to the Ghaznavid period and brought to light at Udegram by the late Prof Umberto Scerrato. One of the latest projects is that of the archaeological map of the Swat valley, coordinated by Dr Luca Olivieri and Massimo Vidale, which is introducing the most updated techniques such as the GIS for the surveying and record of cultural heritage.

The same usage of update technology in the field of cultural heritage is at the base of the project of the informatised corpus of Gandharan sculptures, directed by Dr Anna Filigenzi in tile, Swat Museum.

In all these activities, the participation of the Pakistani archaeologist has been a constant and fundamental presence, which has made possible the achievement of the scientific success and the international acknowledgments.