ACT Archaeological Fieldwork in Swat (2012)

Abstract

Almost 60 years after the foundation of the Italian Archaeological Mission in Swat, Italy and Pakistan launched a new project to revitalize Swat Archaeology (Olivieri, 2009). “ACT (Archaeology, Community, Tourism) - Field School” is a project carried out by the Italian Archaeological Mission in Pakistan and the Directorate of Archaeology and Museums of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (Pakistan), and financed by the Italian Government (Olivieri, Vidale and Meister, 2012). The Project started in March 2011 and now will complete its second year. Four 2-month long archaeological seasons were carried out so far. To the fieldwork actively participated also students and faculty staff of the Taxila Institute of Asian Civilizations (Quaid-i Azam University) and Hazara University. Here we are briefly presenting three archaeological projects: Amluk-dara, Barikot and Udegram. Other activities, like Gumbat-Balo Kale, the reconstruction of the Swat Museum, the restorations of the Udegram mosque, of the Main Stupa at Saidu Sharif I, and of the Jahanabad Buddha, the latter three in their final stages, are not included, as they were thoroughly addressed in other occasions (Olivieri, Vidale and Meister, 2012).