A Glance at the History of Archeological Studies on Hormozgan Islands

bstract The first steps in the field of archeology in Hormozgan province were taken almost at the same time with other corners of Iran about 150 years ago and, from the very beginning of such endeavors, Hormozgan was a center of attention to related studies. Similar to other places in Iran, these activities began by Western researchers and were followed by Iranian researchers three decades later. Nevertheless, in spite of their historical and cultural richness, these islands remained unknown due to the cross-sectional nature of such studies and the absence of continuous and extensive excavations and investigations there. In this study, the author has tried to explore the shortages of this research area through a review of previous archeological activities in Hormozgan Islands. The obtained results indicate the significance of archeological studies on these islands and the necessity of expanding them more than ever before. The lack of consistency and the absence of a general plan are among the most noteworthy defects of such studies. Unfortunately,a greatamount of thecollected data during therecent decadesare kept only in theform of unpublished reports in the national library of Iran. In many cases,even these preliminary reportsare notavailable and, thus, the results of some of the related studies are not accessible. In spite of all the defects, the findings of the investigations, excavations, and speculations of the young generation of Iranian archeologists during the last two decades show signs of the beginning ofa new stage ofarcheological studies in this region in Iran. The present paper presents a chronological review of the fluctuations in archeological activities on each of Hormozgan islands.