By IRNA,
London : A two-day conference, starting Tuesday, is being held at Durham University in northern England, looking at the key role the vital waterway has played in the development of human settlements in the region from the pre-historic to the present.
Unlike many previous workshops on the Persian Gulf that have focused on single issues, themes and periods, the international conference is taking a broader, multi-disciplinary approach through a series of examinations to define its distinctive character.
Speakers presenting papers includes many British academics as well as from Australia, Italy, the US and France as well as from the Iranian Centre of Archaeological Research (ICAR) in Tehran.
The first day explores the regional context of the Persian Gulf, which covers an area of 240,000 square kilometers and stretches from the Euphrates, Tigris, Karun, Jarrahi and Karkheh rivers in the west to the Arabian Sea in the east.
Subjects being specifically addressed include developments in seafaring, the nature of commodities being traded within the Persian Gulf and the techniques used to identify them as well as issues of environmental change and sea level change and the effect nature has had on human communities.
Also being examined is the relationship between religion and identity within the Persian Gulf with particular reference to Islam, the location and longevity of centres and entrepots and the spread and identity of communities within the Persian Gulf.
The second day will comprise posters and presentations from invited delegates on new research in the Persian Gulf region from prehistory to the Islamic period.
The two-day international conference is being sponsored by the Iranian Cultural Heritage, Handicraft and Tourism Organisation, the British Institute of Persian Studies, and Durham University, which hosts a Centre for Iran Studies.