Art

Figure 1: Location of Makhunik village in East of Iran. Makhunik is one of the villages of southern Khorasan Province in eastern Iran (Figure1). The village is located at 60° 24'east longitude and 32° 27' north latitude and a height of 1650 meters . This settlement is located in the mountainous and rugged wildlife, for this reason, has been restricted with peripheral communities, as well as access to natural resources from fertile soil and water . The main feature of Makhunik is the different architecture of the traditional texture in this village . An important feature of Makhunik village are architectural structures comparable to prehistoric sites. These features include small dimensions of structures, components and materials used (doors are 30 × 50 cm and houses are 3 × 4 meters) (Figure ).

In 2014–2015 we combined questionnaires with direct observation
to study the architectural transition of a remote Iranian village in
order to assess the relationship between the layout and
architecture of the settlement and the cemetery, and to assess the
ways the characteristics of the settlement were or were not
reflected in the cemetery. The architecture of the settlement site
in Makhunik has undergone considerable transformation from its
inception to the present and this is still visible in the current
architecture; however, changes in the cemetery are limited.

The system of storage and resource management is one of the main features of the early societies in dealing with internal
and external factors. Given the small archaeological evidence of the early societies, the mechanism of this system is not clear to
us. Ethnographic studies are one of the most practical ways to clarify such issues. The Kanik structure in the Makhunik village is a
dynamic example of such spaces. The Makhunik village is a documented and reliable repository for analyzing and interpreting such
topics because of a similar cultural background to prehistoric periods such as architecture, subsistence and pottery. In this paper, we
have tried to study and analyze the approach of experimental studies in the cultural-historical context of Makhunik with different
angles of the Kanik structures and its functions in order to explain and understand more about the storage management system in
the early societies.

Living economy is one of the most important parts of the life of early societies that is very important in the research of archaeologists .This
research needs to high costs in laboratory studies and also the quality and mechanism of this economy is not very clear to us. Ethnoarchaeology
studies is one of the most practical ways to study such topics. the village of Makhonik is a reliable study example for interpreting these issues because
of a cultural context similar to prehistoric times (such as architecture, storage, and pottery). I studied in this article different sectors of the village’s
livelihood economy by the method of ethno-archaeology in the cultural-historical context of Makhunik to interpret and understand more about
livelihoods and food preparation in early societies.

The response surface method (RMS) was used to optimize the color strength (K/S) of the wool fibers dyed with Isatis tinctoria. The eight independent variable terms, in which two of them are categorical and the other six numerical, were selected at two levels (low and high). The ANOVA test results of the linear model showed that the model terms, including reducing agent amount, dyeing temperature, dyeing time, and dyestuff percentage, have a significant effect on K/S. The actual values agreed with the predicted values and the suggested equation model was satisfactory and accurate.

The molecular interactions of polyacrylonitrile (PAN) and cellulose acetate (CA) were investigated thoroughly via dilute solution viscometry in dimethylformamide (DMF) as a common solvent at 30°C. The intrinsic viscosities and viscometric interaction parameters were experimentally determined for both binary (polymer/ dimethylformamide) and ternary (PAN/CA/dimethylformamide) systems. As all investigated PAN/CA ternaries evidenced negative viscometric interaction parameter values (δb & δk <0), the existence of repulsive intermolecular interactions was deduced, and PAN/CA blends were assigned as immiscible. Moreover, the results of microscopy photograph analysis indicated that pure PAN film evidences a homophasic structure, and the size of the phase domain increases gradually with increases in CA. In DSC analysis, it was determined that the glass transition temperature of the blend film increased slightly with increases in the CA content of the blend film.

Color strength of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) fabrics, which were constructed by microfibers, was can be increased by various pre and after treatment and also changing the condition of dyeing procedure. Alkali and plasma pretreatment on micro polyester fabric leave an insignificant effect on spectral reflectance of the treated colored fabric. However, the liposome dyeing as well as increasing the dyestuff percentage, as a change in dyeing condition, has the highest effects on increasing color strength.

Silver nanoparticles are being used increasingly in various applications due to their antibacterial properties. Cotton fiber
can act as a template to stabilize and control the growth of silver nanoparticles. Silver nanoparticles were synthesized
on cotton fibers by in situ method in presence of TiO2 nanoparticles. Sodium Hypophosphite (SHP) (NaPO2H2) was
used as a reducing agent. The surface of loaded cotton fabric was characterized by low voltage scanning electron
microscopy, and attenuated total reflection-Fourier transform infrared spectrometry. The cotton fabrics loaded with
Ag/TiO2 nanocomposite at different TiO2 nanoparticles concentrations were examined by thermo gravimetric analysis
(TGA), and atomic absorption spectrometer. The presence of white TiO2 nanoparticles enhanced the properties of load-
ed cotton fabric and reduced the yellowness index of cotton fabrics loaded with silver nanoparticles.

Botteh motif or Paisley Pattern is of great status in the Islamic art. This motif in a variety of different types is used in Islamic artworks such as textiles, carpets, stucco, etc. During recent centuries, the variety of this motif has persuaded scholars to do research on the origin of it.  None of these are comprehensive, and they cannot be attributed to all the motifs called Botteh; therefore, various new hypotheses have already been raised about the origins of this motif. They are always looking for the cause of this dispersion of opinions and trying to justify these various ideas.
In this paper, by asking three questions, the quiddity of this motif and the cause of the dispersion of ideas about its origin are investigated.
1. What is the reason for the dispersion and incompleteness of the ideas about the origin of the Botteh motif?
2. If the reasons for the dispersion of ideas are motifs that are similar in appearance but have different meanings and origins, then what are the properties of a Botteh motif that distinguish it from other motifs?
3. What are the historical, cultural and artistic evidences that confirm the cypress tree as the origin of this motif?
The main hypothesis of the paper is that a group of motifs with different origins is imagined alike due to similarity in form. Then all of them were named “Botteh” which is the most known motif among these types of motifs.
The second hypothesis is as follows: The origin of the Botteh motif is a kind of conifer, but it cannot be a cypress.
In order to answer the research questions and to test the validity of the hypotheses, firstly the most important opinions of the researchers of the field of Islamic art studies on Botteh motifs were briefly reviewed. And then they were classified in three groups of plants, animals, and other ideas to better enable us to analyze them.‏ In the following, the meaning of the name of this motif was studied in Lexicons. By comparison of the results of these two sections and image examples called Botteh, it is inferred that several types of motifs with various origins are imagined to be the same due to the similarity of the apparent form.
In the second part, the idea of the cypress, as one of the most important opinions about the origin of the Botteh motif, is criticized.
The most important outcome of this research is getting to the point that several types‏ of motifs with different origins are considered to be the same because of their evident formal similarities.‏
The second result of this research is suggestion of some distinctive properties for the Botteh motif. Some of them are as follows: The first property is the conical shape of the motif. The second property, according to the meaning of the name of this motif, is the separation of tree motifs from non-tree motifs; with the help of components and details such as stems, branches, trunks, etc. or other indications that allude to the motif of the tree.
In this paper it is shown that there was no mention of the sanctity of the cypress in the old Zoroastrian scriptures until the eighteenth century. Ferdowsi's Shahnameh is the oldest book in which it was recorded. On the other hand, the precise examination of Persepolis petroglyphs shows that these trees are not of the Cupressaceae family, and it seems that they belonged to the Pinaceae family, such as the Pinus, Abies, etc.‏ The third point, according to Parham, is regarding religious rigors in drawing of the cypress tree. Among the artworks of the Islamic era in Iran, plant motifs and various trees, including cypress, have been replicated very often. Even since the third century AH, animal and human motifs have also been used in many examples of Islamic arts.
The method of research is historical-analytical and it is conducted using library resources and the internet.