By Marie Haaland

Staff writer

In conjunction with the Archaeological Institute of America/Long Island Society (AIA/LIS) Lecture Series, Dr. Stefan Heidemann, professor of Islamic studies at the Universität Hamburg in Germany, gave a lecture at Hofstra on Sunday, March 13, about Mes Aynak, an archaeological site in Afghanistan located in an area of Taliban control.

Mes Aynak, located in the Logar region of Afghanistan, is an ancient Buddhist site. There is currently an archaeological excavation underway to remove important artifacts with the hopes of restoring and preserving them. The site is also home to the largest surface deposit of copper on earth.

Heidemann has visited the site twice after being invited by the Ministry of Mines, a branch of the Indian government that is responsible for the survey and exploration of coal and minerals and for administering mining-related legislation.

The historian’s focus is on ancient coins and he spent time in Afghanistan analyzing coins found in different locations, including Mes Aynak. Coins, when pulled from sites, are corroded and mineralized. Heidemann and his team do triage, sorting and prioritizing of the coins, reducing the extra material on the surface, documenting and registering the coins and finally creating a catalog before they go to a museum. Many of the artifacts go to the National Museum of Afghanistan.

Mes Aynak was first explored in 1963, but was rediscovered by American geologists in 2001. There is a lack of written text from the time that people lived at this location, thus much of the history of the time period and of Mes Aynak itself, is unknown. The coins and other artifacts provide history about the region.

“Very careful observation of the coins’ changing types can establish a chronology for the political history; who were the rulers? Some of the rulers we know only from the coins and put into numerical sequence, we know who ruled,” Heidemann said. “We wouldn’t know about them if they didn’t produce any coins, because no text is telling about them.”

“Well, it’s all very interesting,” Naomi Taub, a member of AIA, said. “Coins are not exactly my thing, but I understand that they need the coins to do the dating.”

In connection to the Taliban, four of the terrorists in the 9/11 attacks were reportedly trained near the archeological site. Heidemann explained some people join the Taliban not because they believe in the cause, but because they need to feed their families. Recruiting people from the local villages for the archeological site provides them with jobs and potentially gives them reason to not join organizations like the Taliban.

“I like the fact that [Heidemann] did bring up the population that needs work. I mean, if they can be employed they won’t shoot you, which is positive,” Peggy Gaulin, another member of AIA, said.

The future of the site is currently unknown. Due to the large amount of copper located at Mes Aynak, China wants to set up a mine and harvest the mineral. Afghanistan’s government feels like this will provide jobs for people, and China has promised to help industrialize the area, which could be beneficial to minimizing the need for locals to join extremist organizations.

After looking at pictures of the site and the work being done there, Gaulin said, “I don’t understand how anybody in their right mind could look at that site and say that there was an industrial application there, with workers and transportation and marketing … it looks so barren and inhospitable, that I don’t see the future of industrialization right there.”

Heidemann hopes the government realizes that having an archaeological site may be just as beneficial as a mining operation.

“The best future would be if the mining operation will be postponed and the authorities in Afghanistan realize that for the future of the Logar region, it is much better to have a touristic site,” he said. “An archaeological site, a carefully developed archaeological site, can be a source of revenue for the state, for the local people, for an indefinite future. They can show what Afghanistan has achieved.”