The Iranian Heritage of the Petroleum Industry: the Archaeology of the Bitumen Industry and its Elamite origins

General consensus is that the history of the Iranian petroleum industry started in 1908 when a drilling team under George B. Reynolds struck oil in Masjid-i-Sulaiman. It was not only the first successful oil well in Iran, but also of the entire Middle East marking the start of a new era. However, the 20th century is far from the start of the export of petroleum-related products. Current research shows that an industry in Iranian petroleum-related products was already happening around 2000 B.C. Archaeological research has uncovered that bitumen with Iraqi origins becomes present and used at various settlements in the Persian Gulf from around 5000 B.C. But around 2000 B.C., suddenly this petroleum-related material becomes abundant. Multidisciplinary research combining Separation Sciences, Petrochemistry and Archaeology has made it possible to determine the origins of this archaeological bitumen. One of the most astounding results of this study, was that practically all of the bitumen around 2000 B.C. (and later on) in the Persian Gulf originate from Iranian seepages. There are clear indications of intentional overexploitation of seepages with the intentions of overseas export. It means that the bitumen trade was a significant and individual economy on its own. It operated outside of any cultural framework and was organized by an indigenous Iranian Elamite population. In such a way, we could name it the immediate predecessor of the current-day petroleum industry. In this talk, we will outline all the evidence that supports the theory of an organized trade in bitumen initiated by an Iranian Elamite population. However significant advances have been made in the field of the archaeology of the petroleum industry, this interdisciplinary study is still in its infancy which creates unique opportunities for further research. Therefore, this talk also features a project outline highlighting future research- and survey activities in a joint-project between the Geological Survey Mineral Explorations of Iran (GSI) and Ghent University (Belgium). The aim is to survey the areas where liquid hydrocarbons surface and to identify and sample every seepage. This will provide a reliable reference database for further identification of archaeological materials. At the same time, we will investigate the immediate vicinities of seepages in order to identify any archaeological remains linked with the extraction of bitumen. The major aim is to uncover the way this industry was organized and how transport was facilitated.