TEHRAN - Sadegh Malek-Shahmirzadi, a top Iranian archaeologist who supervised several excavations across the Iranian plateau, died on Monday morning in Tehran. He was 80.

Born in 1940, in Shahmirzad, Semnan province, Shahmirzadi graduated from the University of Chicago in June 1969 with a master's degree and received his Ph.D. in 1977 from the University of Pennsylvania.

He was employed by the Department of Archeology of the University of Tehran in July 1970 and served there until 2000. In addition to his educational activities, he supervised several excavations in the Sagzabad, Zagheh, Poeinak, Aq-Tepe, and he also launched the Sialk Reconsideration Project in 1999 that continued until the mid-2000s. The silk project carried out under his guidance is considered as one of the successful archeological programs in Iran.

In October 2015, an official celebration was held by the National Museum of Iran and Research Institute of Cultural Heritage & Tourism (RICHT) for his efforts in education and research in the field of archeology.

He has left dozens of books and articles on the late prehistoric archaeology of Iran. Among his successful books is "Prehistoric Iran: Archeology of Iran from the Beginning to the Dawn of Urbanism" and "Glossary of Archeology", which are the main textbooks in the archaeology departments in Iranian universities.

His latest book on the Caspian Iron Age culture was recently published by the National Museum, and the Research Institute for Cultural Heritage and Tourism.

AFM/MG