A Review on the Persian translation of "Drawings Archaeological Finds, A Handbook"

Drawing archaeological finds is one, among the other means of documentation and information transfer in archaeological science. A wide range of objects are drawn during archeological activities. The present paper criticizes the translation of a book on the drawing of archeological objects. The main book in original language is an outdated, but relatively reliable source. Considering that this book was regarded as one of the most important sources of drawing even before translation, its translation into Persian doubles its importance to Iranian archaeologists. The translated version of the book, which is published in Iran, suffers from literal translation, unfamiliar and unusual equivalents and low quality of the printed images, which play a major role in increasing the readers’ understanding of the content of the book. It should be considered that mastering English language and having extended knowledge of the wide range of objects and archaeological finds is necessary for the translation of source books.